Hoofstuk 9
Chapter 9
Dis koud in die tweede kwartaal. Tina het genoeg geld om vir haar ‘n
pajamabroek by Peps te koop om onder haar skoollangbroek te dra. En dit nadat
sy haar biblioteekskuld afbetaal het.
It's cold in the second term. Tina has enough money to buy her pajama pants
from Peps to wear under her school pants. And this after paying off her library
debt.
Sy skryf haar naam op vir netbal en land in die vierde span. Juffrou Dale rig hulle
af. Haar netbalafrigting is net so eksentriek soos haar oorringe en sy laat hulle
op rympies balle aangee en spandeer weke daaraan om hulle te leer van
voetfoute. Dis naderhand so erg dat Tina haar betrap dat sy die trappe klim met
haar landingsvoet in gedagte, op dieselfde voet draai as sy haar toets by die
onderwyser se tafel gaan haal en ongemaklik voel as sy nader as drie voet aan
iemand in die rye staan.
She writes her name up for netball and ends up in the fourth team. Miss Dale
coaches them. Her netball coaching is just as eccentric as her earrings and she
lets them pass balls on rhymes and spends weeks learning them about foot
errors. It became so bad afterwards that Tina caught herself climbing the stairs
with her landing foot in mind, turning on the same foot as she was about to take
her test at the teacher's table and feeling uncomfortable as she stood closer
than three feet to someone in the rows.
Stefaans Marais het altyd ‘n rede om Vrydae in die dorp te wees. Sy begin teen
haar sin daarop staatmaak dat hy voor die koshuis sal wag. As sy moet inbly vir
netbal, gaan laai hy haar af by ant Ketlin. Uncle David sê die prokureur betaal
hulle as sy in die naweek daar bly.
Stefaans Marais always has a reason to be in town on Fridays. She begins to rely
on that he would wait in front of the hostel. If she must stay for netball, he drops
her off at Ant Ketlin. Uncle David says the lawyer pays them if she stays there on
the weekend.
Meestal ry hulle in stilte. Soms vra hy hoe dit gaan. Sy sê dit gaan goed, dankie.
Mostly they drive in silence. Sometimes he asks how things are going. She says
it's fine, thank you.
“Juffrou Dale sê jy is goed met besigheid,” sê hy twee naweke in die kwartaal in.
"Miss Dale says you're good at business," he says two weekends into the term.
“Dis sy wat laat ons begin het met die tjokbrokke.”
“Its her that made us start with the cookies.”
“Dit vat vasbyt om aan te hou.”
“It takes guts to keep going.”
Sy weet nie wat om te sê nie, maar sy voel belaglik goed oor sy goedkeuring.
She doesn't know what to say, but she feels ridiculous good about his approval.
“Maak jy baie geld?”
“Do you make a lot of money?”
“So twintig rand ‘n week, maar ons deel dit.”
“About twenty rand a week, but we share it.”
Hy knik. Toe hulle voor die huis stilhou, haal hy ‘n rienrandnoot te voorskyn. “Ek
sal alles wat jy maak, verdubbel van nou af.”
He nods. When they stop in front of the house, he takes out a ten rand note. "I'll
double everything you make from now on."
Sy kyk verstom na hom. Dis nou die man wat nie eers ‘n lekkergoedgeldjie kon
saamgee nie?
She looks at him stunned. Is this the man who couldn't even give money for a
sweet with?
Die volgende week se netbaloefening ontaard in ‘n slagveld. Al is haar voetwerk
perfek, kry sy nie ‘n bal raak gevang nie. Almal in die span is ongeduldig met
haar. Ten einde raad leen juffrou Dale vir haar ‘n bal waarmee sy moet oefen,
maar Lindiwe en Loisie speel meer daarmee as sy.
The next week's netball practice turned into a battlefield. Even though her
footwork is perfect, she doesn't catch a ball. Everyone in the team is impatient
with her. For advice, Miss Dale lends her a ball to practice, but Lindiwe and Loisie
play with it more than she does.
Sy teken hulle waar hulle by die doelpale oefen. Sy teken die bal. Sy teken hulle
skoongeskropte tekkies op die wasgoeddraad. (Hare is ‘n verwaarloosde
vaalpienk).
She draws them where they practice at the goal posts. She draws the ball. She
draws their scrubbed sneakers on the laundry wire. (Hers is a neglected pale
pink).
Hulle speel gelykop in hulle eerste wedstryd teen die buurdorp se vierde span.
Tina weet dis omdat die ander span net soveel foute as hulle gemaak het. Haar
spanmaats is geneig om die bal verby haar te gooi, omdat sy dit aanmekaar
misvang.
They draw in their first match against the neighbouring towns fourth team. Tina
knows it's because the other team made as many mistakes as they did. Her
team-mates tend to throw the ball past her because she keeps missing it.
Juffrou Dale roep haar eenkant toe na hulle eerste oefening na die wedstryd. Sy
trek haar vingers deur haar wit hare wat nou langer in die winter is en nie meer
so regop staan nie. “As jy vir my ‘n ander speler bring, hoef jy nie meer te speel
nie,” sê sy. “Ek het met meneer Plaatjies gepraat. Jy kan die skool se
sportverslaggewer wees.”
Miss Dale calls her aside after their first practice after the game. She runs her
fingers through her white hair that is now longer in winter and no longer stands
up. "If you bring me another player, you don't have to play anymore," she says.
“I spoke to Mr Plaatjies. You can be the school's sports reporter."
“Loisie, Juffrou. As sy in my plek kan speel …?”
“Loisie, Miss. If she can play in my place …?”
“Loisie het kamstig nie tyd vir skoolwerk nie. Netbal gaan nog meer tyd neem.”
“Loisie apparently does not have time for schoolwork. Netball will just take up
more time.”
“Loisie speel meer met die bal as ek, Juffrou. En sy kan doel ook.”
“Loisie plays more with the ball than I do, Miss. And she can shoot goals too.”
“Nou toe dan maar.”
“Okay then.”
Loisie is ‘n ongekwalifiseerde sukses op die netbalbaan.
Loisie is an unqualified success on the netball court.
“Hoekom het jy nie lankal kom speel nie?” vra juffrou Dale.
"Why do you only come and play now?" Miss Dale asks.
Loisie laat haar kop sak. Tina sê nie dat Loisie nie sportklere het en dat sy met
Tina s’n speel nie.
Loisie lowers her head. Tina does not say that Loisie does not have sports clothes
and that she plays with Tina’s.
Juffrou Dale laat Tina nie egter toe om smiddae in die koshuis te bly as die ander
gaan netbal oefen nie. Sy moet saam opwarm en vir ‘n halfuur om die baan draf
terwyl die ander oefen. “Moenie die ou dik busse glo wat dink dis vroulik om
stadig te loop nie,” sê sy. “Hulle dink hoe minder jy doen, hoe beter. Hoe fikser jy
is, hoe beter sal jy teken.”
Miss Dale, however, does not allow Tina to stay in the hostel in the afternoons if
the others go to practice netball. She has to warm up together and jog around
the track for half an hour while the others practice. "Don't believe the old fat
buses who think it's ladylike to walk," she says. “They think the less you do, the
better. The fitter you are, the better you will draw.”
Teen die middel van die tweede kwartaal hardloop sy al tien keer om die baan.
Waar dit in die begin ‘n wilstryd was om een tree voor die ander te sit, gebeur dit
nou dat sy byna gedagteloos hardloop. As sy verby moeg is dan tog voortgaan,
kom daar ‘n drywende, dwalende gevoel oor haar wat haar oneinde laat voel.
By the middle of the second term, she already runs around the track ten times.
Where it was a struggle in the beginning to put one step in front of another, it
now happens that she runs almost thoughtlessly. If she is tired, then she keeps
on, there is a floating, wandering feeling about her that makes her feel endless.
Dis ‘n keer soos hierdie dat sy bewus word van Jakob wat saam met haar
hardloop. Sy onreëlmatige, hygende asemhaling laat haar opkyk. Hy hardloop
sleepvoet, ongekoördineerd, maar hy hou gemaklik by. Hy het ‘n groen sweetpak
en wit tekkies met groen veters aan.
It's a time like this that she becomes aware of Jakob running with her. His
irregular, panting breath make her look up. He runs on drag foot, uncoordinated,
but he stays comfortable. He is wearing a green tracksuit and white sneakers
with green laces.
Sy loer skuins na sy gesig en kyk toe weer vinnig voor haar. Die sweet irriteer sy
vel sodat die littekens erger as gewoonlik uitstaan. Die rowe op sy gesig is nie so
erg nie en gelukkig loop sy neus nie meer nie.
She glances at his face, then glance quickly in front of her. The swaet irritates his
skin so that the scars stand out worse than usual. The roughness on his face is
not so bad and fortunately his nose no longer runs.
“Wat maak jy hier?” vra Tina.
“What are you doing here?” Tina asks.
“Ek hardloo’ …” Hy hyg.
“I am running …” He says
“Hoekom?”
“Why?”
Hy trek net sy skouers op en hardloop verder.
He just shrugs and continue running.
Daarna gebeur dit byna elke keer dat hy saam hardloop, soms al van die derde
ronde af. Tina vind dat sy begin uitsien daarna om saam met hom te hardloop,
want om een of ander rede is dit makliker om aan te hou as iemand by is. Sy
kom agter dat hy soms die pas versnel en dat sy moet uithaal om by te bly. As
hy stap, stap sy saam met hom. Soms hardloop hulle tussen die bome op die
sportterrein, agterom die tennisbane en oor die B-rugbyveld.
After that, it happened almost every time that he runs together, sometimes even
from the third round. Tina finds that she is looking forward to running with him,
because for some reason it is easier to keep going when someone is around. She
finds that he sometimes speeds up the pace and she have to pull out to keep up.
When he walks, she walks with him. Sometimes they run among the trees on the
sports field, behind the tennis courts and across the B-rugby field.
Hy hou klaarblyklik nie daarvan om onnodig te praat nie en hulle hardloop in
stilte.
He obviously doesn't like to talk unnecessarily and they run in silence.
Niemand anders lewer kommentaar nie. Al wat juffrou Dale sê, is: “Ek sien jy
doen nou fartleks. Wie het dit vir jou geleer?”
No one else comments. All Miss Dale says is, “I see you doing fartlex now. Who
taught you that?"
“Wat is fartleks, Juffrou?”
“What is fartlex, Miss?”
“Dis wanneer jy afstande vinniger en stadiger hardloop. Ek bedoel jy wissel dit
af.”
“That's when you run distances faster and slower. I mean you vary it. "
Tina trek haar skouers sonder kommentaar op. Sy hou nie daarvan om oor Jakob
te praat nie.
Tina pulls up her shoulders without any comment. She does not like talking
about Jakob.
