SECOND PLACE – ELOUISE DRAGE! (SHORT STORY COMPETITION 2020)

Congratulations to Elouise Drage for placing second in our first annual short story competition. Elouise was not afraid to touch on a current topic when she wrote on “a problem faced in South Africa”. She is a grade 11 pupil at Steinkopf High School and aspires to be a lawyer. Here is her empowering story:

“BEAUTIFUL CHILD” BY ELOUISE DRAGE

“To my little dark-skinned girl,

Momma never meant for this to happen. For me leaving this world so soon, and not seeing you blossom into the young and beautiful lady you are today. Mr and Mrs Van Der Buik promised to give you the life I could only dream of and I knew I only had a few weeks to live before the cancer would take me, so I took their offer and gave them my precious one-year-old baby, with only this letter and tears in my eyes. I know what it is like out there in their world. By your skin you will be hated, by your eyes you will be judged…’’

This is as far as Bongile can read before the tears run down her cheeks. Her reflection in the mirror is labelled as “flawed” because of her demons. The very demons she has to fight every night; the ones that never back down, but find joy in her tears. They crawl up her skin like a plague, stick to her like glue, and eat her up from the inside. She starts to say her favourite line from Snow White.

“Mirror, Mirror on the wall… Tell me, who is the fairest of them all?”

The answer she gets every time makes her stomach turn and she hurls down and cleans her stomach out. If only she could get rid of all her demons like that.

She recalls her very first demon, going by the name of Pieter. Oh, those ocean-blue eyes…Those arms that made her believe she could hide there when needed. Hahaha – if only she had known that she was just another trophy to win, another bet between the light-skinned people.

“Foolish girl. Did you really think I could love, let alone like, you?”  the words of her first heartbreak echo through her mind.

High School Boksveld - her own personal hell. Almost every day, when walking in, another trap set is for her by her fellow learners. At school the teachers speak of a rainbow nation, unity and accepting one another, unaware that in the halls of this “perfect” school she has to fight for her life – she, their punching bag, the odd one out. She recalls times when the bullies beat her, and how the lies had slid down her tongue, “I tripped and fell down the stairs.” Jokingly, it had been said that the bruises wouldn’t even be visible because she was “too black”. 

Her adoptive parents have come to slowly realize her demons.

 Who am I? Where do I come from? I love you guys, but you don’t know my struggles, Bongile had always thought.  And so she had always appeased their concerns with the lie,  “Nothing is wrong, nothing is the matter,” and never failed to give a smile.

But Bongile felt that the time had come for her to stop being the outcast “Oreo” for once and for all.

Much to her surprise, in an effort to help, Mrs Van Der Buik takes her on a trip down to the “bad side” of town. Insecurities start to crawl up Bongile’s skin and she asks with tears in her eyes, “Mom, why are we back here? Are you taking me back? You had enough of me?”   

Mrs Van Der Buik answers, “No, Bongile. I love you too dearly. I promised your mother that the day you turn sixteen I will take you to see your wise, old Gogo.”

Bongile is so lost in her own miserable thoughts that she does not even realize they have come to a stop.

On the porch is an old lady, busy sewing an old blanket. She looks up and shouts, “Usefikile! O, ingane enhle emnyama!” 

Bongile is confused. Zulu is the one thing this little black girl cannot speak nor understand.

At the end of the road a boy hears, and sees the confused look on Bongile’s face. “She has arrived! Oh, beautiful black child,” he says when he is next to her.

Bongile turns pale and her eyes widen at the boy who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. She cannot utter a word; communication is not really her strong point.

“That is what Gogo’s words mean”, he says as soon as he sees a further look of confusion. “I am Thato. You must be Bongile. It is so nice to finally meet you.”

Bongile feels like this boy surely knows a lot for someone she has just met. “Uhmm, heeey,” she stutters. She shakes her head as if she is reprimanding herself, “Stop it, you foolish girl.” 

“Ooooh, my dear! You surely are one masterpiece, just like your Momma said”, the old lady says.

Bongile is a wreck because, to her knowledge, this is the same Gogo who never made an effort to see her, and the one who did not even know she existed until now. Her only reply is a false smile. She cannot help but think about the ‘what ifs’… What if she had grown up at her Gogo? Would her life have been different? Would she be more of a Zulu girl than an “Oreo”? All these are questions that she will never find answers to. Or so she thinks…

Tears are shed when Bongile tells her Gogo about the life she has had and the demons she has to face. It feels as if mountains are removed from her shoulders and she can finally breathe. 

Gogo now looks at her grandchild, not with pity, but with pride. This black girl, a future black woman – even though she cannot see it herself - is a masterpiece; one created by God.

Thato has listened to the story of this girl who does not know her worth. He takes her hand in his. Uncomfortably, she looks at him for she does not like physical contact.

“It’s okay. I want to show you something.” Walking to the mirror, he tells her, “Uncover yourself, Black Child, and tell me what you see.”  

Bewildered, she looks at him.

He laughs, “Remove your hoodie. It hides your beauty.”

With hesitation, she removes her hoodie and turns to the mirror with closed eyes. 

“Why are you closing your eyes? Please tell me, what do you see?” he pleas. He just cannot see how this girl can be afraid.

Slowly opening her eyes, she answers, “I see a girl with many flaws and imperfections. I see a broken child with no future.”

He asks, “You want to know what I see?”

She answers with only a nod.

“I see a beautiful, dark-skinned girl who doesn’t know her worth. She believes the words of her bullies and yes, I know all about you, Bongile Nxaba. We attend the same school. You must be wondering how come you are the only one they pick on. Easy. They bully the ones who forget their worth, the ones who have demons of their own and who believe they do not belong.”

A tear slips down Bongile’s cheek as she looks at him.

“Don’t cry. Keep that gorgeous smile of yours,” he says while looking deep into her eyes. “Your skin is only darker because the sun kisses it more than others. Your eyes are bigger because they hold the galaxy and universe. So, Black Child, own that skin of yours and let it shine like it is supposed to.”

That night, when Bongile arrives home, she stares at the mirror with a new perspective, for the wise words of her Gogo and Thato did not go in vain. She  has finally won the battle between herself and her demons.     

The following day she goes to school feeling like a new person.Her view of the world has changed. She now sees herself not for what other people believe her to be, but for who she really is.

For the first time, she allows the sun to kiss her skin, whispering, “Momma, finally I am free…”

 She meets up with Thato and takes his hand while walking off together to face the many struggles to come at High School Boksveld.

Together…

WELL DONE, ELOUISE!

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