We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2025
In this scene zenzile plays herself as well as taking on the voices of her childhood friend musa and his friends.
zenzile: But the stories people were telling got so bad that my gogo kept me from going back to school for many weeks. When I finally did, you would never believe what those boys did to me there! Ai, ai, ai, Nkulunkulu, kubuhlungu uma ngicabanga loluyasuku.
A rumble of thunder. The musical underscore takes a darker turn.
zenzile: They caught me in the playground … pushed me into the toilet and pinned me down. The other children were crowding around. Musa was at the front telling them each to pay him fifty cents. After he collected their money he tore my shirt off. Buttons went spinning across the tiles. I stood there … nginamahloni … covering my chest.
zenzile tears her jersey off and clutches it to her breast. As she makes this sudden movement, she turns her back to the audience. The lights dim, revealing an intricate pattern of lightning projected and smouldering across her back. The lightning scar resembles an upside-down tree.
zenzile: ‘Bheka … bheka … Ngangiqinisile,’ said Musa, pointing. ‘See, I’m telling you the truth. Look how Impundulu has licked her with its tongue of fire!’ ‘Hayibo!’ said another. ‘She even wears the marks of its wings on her back.’
‘Ungumthakathi,’ they chanted. ‘She's a witch … Ungumthakathi … Ungumthakathi.’
Lights come up as zenzile turns her attention skyward, ranting now at Nkulunkulu.
zenzile: Why must you punish me like this, Nkulunkulu? Why must you make me stay in this ugly city for so long while my house is never finishing? Is it for those things I did in my past? [Beat.] Was it because I was rude? Yah, I was rude when I was younger. I used to say and do whatever was on my mind. That lightning left me with a terrible temper. My head would overheat like an old car engine and I could no longer keep my thoughts to myself … They would just fly off my tongue and fall on someone else's lap before I had the chance to catch them.
zenzile's focus now shifts from Nkulunkulu to the memory of musa on the road in front of her. She eyes him bitterly.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
