The Mechanic

4

The sun came shining through the wide open lounge blinds and Sebina groaned as she sat up. Last night she had slumped on the couch as soon as she came in and today she was regretting yesterday's drinks because dammit! Her head was throbbing, feeling like it was breathing painfully on its own.

She quickly got up and headed to the bathroom, grabbing a medical bag that held all sorts of medication. She grabbed two paracetamols and swallowed them dry then quickly showered and changed into more comfy clothes that included a skin tight sleeveless turtleneck bodysuit and an oversized pair of white sweatpants. She put a white cap over her essence (cornrows/back lines).

Her phone rang as she made her way to her car and she quickly answered when she realised that it was Maeraa. She put her on speaker then drove out of her yard.

"Yes?"

"Sorry about last night. He was so hammered he tried to take a dump in the sink."

Sebina chuckled. "He did what?"

Maeraa groaned. "He did that. We are on our way to Wimpy for breakfast. Wanna join us?"

"I can't. I've got to head home to get Tebello. She starts third grade Monday morning and we have to get a few things from the stores before then."

"Kiss my niece for me then, ugly. We'll see you when you're back. Michael is in the bathroom puking his intestines out."

"Tell him hi for me," Sebina laughed as she dropped the call.

When she pulled into the yard of her father's mini farm, a young girl came running out of the house as Sebina got out of the car, already grinning.

The girl ran straight into her arms, burying her head into her stomach before standing on tiptoes to kiss Sebina.

"Look at you!" Sebina exclaimed as she kissed the girl all over the face, making her giggle. "You're almost as old as me now."

Tebello hugged her again, grinning. "I missed you," she said shyly, brushing her fingers through her short relaxed her.

"I missed you too but I had a bit more work this week, my baby. Where's Papa?"

"He's in the kitchen. Did you come to fetch me?"

They walked towards the house.

"Yes. Go and get your stuff ready while I talk to Papa."

Tebello ran to her room while Sebina made her way to the kitchen, already salivating from the smell of her father's famous roasted cinnamon pumpkin and lamb stew.

"What were you and that little girl talking about for so long?" Papa laughed as he pulled out the pumpkin wedges from the oven and placed them on a cooling rack. His graying hair seemed to be becoming grayer by the minute but he was still as youthful as an almost sixty year old man could look with his bronze slightly wrinkly skin.

"About her. She's grown so much since I last saw her. When did my brother bring her back from the holidays?"

"Yesterday. He wanted to see you but the bus back to the mountains was leaving early so he couldn't. He should be calling any day now."

"Remind me to send him some money for his expenses. I know how he gets when he has to spend money on a child that is not his. Such a stingy human," Sebina laughed. "By the time he's thirty, he has to have at least a car. Speaking of 30, it's his and Tebello's birthday in a few weeks. How did Ma do it? Give birth to two of her children on the same date? It makes me wish I shared a birthday with them too."

"You know it was just coincidence. Tebello wasn't exactly planned."

"The Miracle baby," Sebina laughed. "How old was mom again when she had her?"

"55."

They spent the day reminiscing about the good old days while Tebello tried to get them to leave already. After saying goodbye to their father, the two made their way back to the city, to Sebina's house.

As soon as Tebello was settled, they headed to town to get her school supplies and when that was done, they bought some takeaways from the street vendor to eat for supper.

"Aus'aka (sister)," Tebello said. "Am I staying with you this time? I don't want to go back to boarding school."

Sebina had worked as hard as she could to find a way to make this work because Tebello had constantly been telling her how horrible boarding school was. She didn't want a nanny and she had eventually enrolled her in an after school programme so that she would be able to pick her up after 5 even though school ended at 3pm everyday.

"You don't have to go back to boarding school. Papa and I talked and decided that you'll come and live with me here."

The girl wiggled in her seat with excitement as they pulled up at the house to retire for the night.

Monday morning, it was hard waking up early so that she could get Tebello ready on time. By the time the school bus arrived, she had still not gotten ready herself and she regretted having changed her lifestyle like this immediately.

By the time she made it to the office, she was in a sour mood and it didn't help that she found the staff lazing around when they were supposed to finish electroplating a car as soon as today evening because that's when they had told the client to come get it.

"Guys," she said, touching the bridge of her nose. "I'm in a bad mood today so please, let's work hard and stop sitting on our asses, alright? I don't wanna blow."

"Blue monday?" One worker asked as they got to work immediately.

"Bluer than the bluest," she groaned as she made her way to the office and immediately stole some of Ntai's coffee even though she didn't drink coffee.

"What are you doing?" Ntai asked as soon as he came in and caught her red handed with the flask to her mouth.

The Coffee burned her mouth and she almost threw the flask away. "I was stealing," she whispered, fanning her burnt lips.

"That's what you get for not asking first," Ntai laughed as he grabbed the flask and poured her some coffee in a cup. He handed the cup to her and she took some time before drinking the cooled down coffee.  "Long weekend?"

"No. I brought my little sister to live with me and I regret it. I have to wake up earlier than usual to get her ready for school on time and get myself ready for work on time. This is why I don't have a kid...I hate kids."

"How old is she for you to be trying to get her ready? Can't she take care of herself?"

Sebina looked at him. "Would you believe me if I told you a woman my age has a little sister that is still in primary school? Third grade for that matter? She's eight."

Ntai stared at her with shock. "You have an eight year old sister? Are you sure there's something you're not telling me? Like you had a kid and gave it to your parents to raise as your sister? Kind of like used to be done traditionally when someone was a young mother?"

"My mother had the audacity to go and get pregnant when I was twenty five! She was a fifty year old woman and she left me and Papa and my brother to raise that little girl. She's like the daughter I will never have. I love her, don't get me wrong but sometimes I wanna kill her. Like this morning. She took her sweet time doing everything...and i mean everything!"

Ntai laughed. "Welcome to motherhood."

She gulped her coffee. "Can I please have some more?"