Antoinette (13/365)

A final memory of SA.

My grandparents lived in an area that was all-white. It was always a matter of time before they would get kicked out, but somehow, that day never did come. My grandmother had sisters who had been forced to sell their homes for pittances when the Group Areas Act came into being, but somehow, by the sheer grace of Allah, it didn’t happen to my grandparents. Maybe it was because hers was a rural community, and enforcement was not as tight? Who knows, but it certainly was not due to the kindness of the neighboring farmers, because they all waited for the day when her farm would be put up for sale.

I used to spend many vacations there, and never had any friends, just my grandparents and aunts and uncles, and a huge backyard to lose myself in. One day, at the gate, was this little girl, white, blond, and in beautifully ragged clothing (the ragged that comes when you have climbed one treetoo many ), staring at me, smiling. I said hello, she responded, I let her come in, and we became the best of friends. Her parents knew she was at our place, but they only took her home at dusk-time, everyday. I remember saying “Antoinette this” and “Antoinette that” and my parents never knew who I was talking about. One day, they came to pick me up from my grandparents house, and Antoinette was there. Their shock when they realized Antoinette was a little white girl is still indescribable. After a couple of years, we came to the States, and by the time we went back home for a visit a few years later, Antoinette and her family had moved away.