the wrong one. Whenever we're on the open road playing road-cricket, we're not allowed to choose Beetles, because there are thousands of them, and whoever chooses them always ends up winning.
Mum fits in her singing lessons between the driving around. At the beginning of each week, Use and I must tell her exactly when we have after-school activities. That way Mum can cancel some of her lessons in advance if one of us needs to be picked up or dropped off somewhere. Jan Van Riebeeck Primary finishes earlier than the high school, so I'm not as dependent on Ma, because I just go and wait for her at Frikkie's house after cricket or rugby. This year Frikkie and I also started doing karate at the gym in Buitenkant Street.
On Friday afternoons we have Voortrekkers. I'm the team leader and Frikkie is my deputy. Our team is the Lions and our motto is: Voorwaarts. The Spiro twins are Boy Scouts and we always fight about which is better: Voortrekkers or Boy Scouts. We always say the Boy Scouts is naff. Use used to be a Voortrekker until last year. But when she came back from Holland, she said she was lagging behind in her school-work because of all her activities. When she stopped Voortrekkers, Dad was very disappointed, because Use would definitely have become a Presidentsverkenner; only the top Voortrekkers become Presidentsverkenners.
Because Use is so good at everything and because she's older than me, she has more after-school activities. In the
The Smell of Apples
winter she plays netball on Mondays and Wednesdays, and in summer she sometimes has athletics three times a week. Besides her sport, she also has an extra music lesson on Friday afternoons at the College of Music, and she also accompanies the Jan Van Riebeeck choir. For the hour Use's music lesson lasts, Mum waits in the car. Even though it can't be nice for Mum to sit in the car like that, I don't care much that the music lesson is on Friday afternoons because it gives Dad and me some time to be alone. Dad has installed a modern radio and tape-player into the Beetle for Mum to listen to music while she's driving around or waiting.
Before, when we had to wait for Use, we used to visit Tannie Karla, when she still lived in a flat in Sea Point. But after Mum and Tannie Karla had the big argument, we never went back.
Other afternoons, while we wait for Use at the high school, Mum and I listen to the Afrikaans serials on Springbok Radio. My favourite is Die Wildtemmer, about the ranger on the game-farm. The woman in the story is Jenny, with red hair like Zelda Kemp. The ranger in the story's name is Le Grange, and the game-farm is Randall's Ranch. The story always makes me think of Oupa Erasmus in Tanganyika. Uncle Samuel has lots of cines and photographs of Oupa going on safari close to Kilimanjaro and Meru. In the winter, when it's cold and rainy, we sometimes drive out to Grabouw, and watch Uncle Samuel's films. Dad and Uncle Samuel always tell us great stories about Tanganyika and about Oupa Erasmus and about how good it was to live in East Africa.
Dad was only three weeks old when Oupa and Ouma took him on his first elephant safari. Sanna Koerant loves telling the story about the time only the women were in the camp and the Masai came. Dad was sleeping in his cot
Mark Behr
and Sanna Koerant, Ouma Erasmus and Tannie Betta were playing cards on camp chairs close by. Some Masai women came out of the bushes and walked up to Dad's cot. Before Ouma could do anything, one of them picked him out of his cot and held him against her while all the others came and stood around. Ouma wanted to scream or fire some shots to scare them off, but Sanna Koerant put her hand on Ouma's arm and told her to sit still. She said the Masai were giving Dad their blessing. As soon as the half-naked women had strolled off, Ouma rushed to the cot to see if Dad was all right. Because the Masai never wash and because they drink real blood, Ouma was worried that Dad would catch some terrible
Mum fits in her singing lessons between the driving around. At the beginning of each week, Use and I must tell her exactly when we have after-school activities. That way Mum can cancel some of her lessons in advance if one of us needs to be picked up or dropped off somewhere. Jan Van Riebeeck Primary finishes earlier than the high school, so I'm not as dependent on Ma, because I just go and wait for her at Frikkie's house after cricket or rugby. This year Frikkie and I also started doing karate at the gym in Buitenkant Street.
On Friday afternoons we have Voortrekkers. I'm the team leader and Frikkie is my deputy. Our team is the Lions and our motto is: Voorwaarts. The Spiro twins are Boy Scouts and we always fight about which is better: Voortrekkers or Boy Scouts. We always say the Boy Scouts is naff. Use used to be a Voortrekker until last year. But when she came back from Holland, she said she was lagging behind in her school-work because of all her activities. When she stopped Voortrekkers, Dad was very disappointed, because Use would definitely have become a Presidentsverkenner; only the top Voortrekkers become Presidentsverkenners.
Because Use is so good at everything and because she's older than me, she has more after-school activities. In the
The Smell of Apples
winter she plays netball on Mondays and Wednesdays, and in summer she sometimes has athletics three times a week. Besides her sport, she also has an extra music lesson on Friday afternoons at the College of Music, and she also accompanies the Jan Van Riebeeck choir. For the hour Use's music lesson lasts, Mum waits in the car. Even though it can't be nice for Mum to sit in the car like that, I don't care much that the music lesson is on Friday afternoons because it gives Dad and me some time to be alone. Dad has installed a modern radio and tape-player into the Beetle for Mum to listen to music while she's driving around or waiting.
Before, when we had to wait for Use, we used to visit Tannie Karla, when she still lived in a flat in Sea Point. But after Mum and Tannie Karla had the big argument, we never went back.
Other afternoons, while we wait for Use at the high school, Mum and I listen to the Afrikaans serials on Springbok Radio. My favourite is Die Wildtemmer, about the ranger on the game-farm. The woman in the story is Jenny, with red hair like Zelda Kemp. The ranger in the story's name is Le Grange, and the game-farm is Randall's Ranch. The story always makes me think of Oupa Erasmus in Tanganyika. Uncle Samuel has lots of cines and photographs of Oupa going on safari close to Kilimanjaro and Meru. In the winter, when it's cold and rainy, we sometimes drive out to Grabouw, and watch Uncle Samuel's films. Dad and Uncle Samuel always tell us great stories about Tanganyika and about Oupa Erasmus and about how good it was to live in East Africa.
Dad was only three weeks old when Oupa and Ouma took him on his first elephant safari. Sanna Koerant loves telling the story about the time only the women were in the camp and the Masai came. Dad was sleeping in his cot
Mark Behr
and Sanna Koerant, Ouma Erasmus and Tannie Betta were playing cards on camp chairs close by. Some Masai women came out of the bushes and walked up to Dad's cot. Before Ouma could do anything, one of them picked him out of his cot and held him against her while all the others came and stood around. Ouma wanted to scream or fire some shots to scare them off, but Sanna Koerant put her hand on Ouma's arm and told her to sit still. She said the Masai were giving Dad their blessing. As soon as the half-naked women had strolled off, Ouma rushed to the cot to see if Dad was all right. Because the Masai never wash and because they drink real blood, Ouma was worried that Dad would catch some terrible
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