by Javi Reddy
“You want to show me how it’s done?”
“Me and hard work? As you were, laddy…”
Jay dipped tea cups into the sink that was filled with foamy water.
“Why don’t you use the dishwasher? It’ll save you time and water.”
“What’s with the water campaign, Captain Planet?”
“Yes, well, it’s your life.”
“Not when you’re here.”
Jay dropped a plate and it disintegrated into mini white porcelain shards over the light-brown-tiled floor. His head sunk. James ambled towards him and closed the taps.
“Leave this. I’ll do them later. Promise. Let me make you a sandwich.”
Jay accepted and walked back to the lounge as James swept up the remnants of the plate. He brought Jay a chicken-and-mayonnaise sandwich on brown bread. Jay had his feet up on an ottoman.
“So, Vinny wanted you as part of his team. You gonna tell me about that?”
Jay lowered his shoulders and sat back to find the most comfortable position possible. It brought him slight peace, knowing that Layla was going to tell James a lot about his life. If he wasn’t in the mood, she’d fill in the blanks. “I wanted to play for him. There seemed like no other way at the time. Vinny said all the right things. He was so good at that. He turned me away from teammates and a coach whom I had respected for as long as I could remember.”
“So, what happened?”
“It was my duty to let Rosebank know. No more secrets. Expulsion was last on my list. I needed time to figure out a plan, so I did some research. The laws said that I could not play for a high school sports team whilst attending a different academic institution. Vinny’s team, however, was not part of an academic institution—it merely focused on sports. He told me that, in the long run, he wanted to set up a school for them, but until then, it was just a football team that would challenge at a school level. His aim, after all, was to give hope to those kids without an education through the most powerful tool he could find—sport.”
“At least, it was a noble pile of bullshit coming out of his mouth.”
“Everything was in place for me. It was a done deal. I was going to tell McArthur and OMZ face-to-face on Monday morning. I didn’t want them to hear it through the overworked grapevine that resided within Rosebank. Especially not Coach. I owed him too much.”
“So, how’d they react to everything?”
“Well, before Monday, there was still the weekend that needed to pass. And during that particular weekend, there was a party to attend…”
13 July 2013. Sunrise Mall
Sunrise Mall used to be a fixture in this part of the world. People would come here to get their groceries, their electronics, their clothes. And their kicks. Now, it was another faded enterprise where the hopelessly loyal visited because they were too comfortable or too predictable to go anywhere else. The rest of the world had given up on this little mall just outside of the Randburg CBD1.
The recession hit places like this hard. No one bothered to reinvest in Sunrise or to give it a new hope. Everyone moved onto the ‘super’ malls—those architecture marvels, designed to give people the ultimate shopping experience. Whatever that really was. It disheartened Jay to think about how magical this place once was. Like his abandoned ballroom. Even the government had given up on this mall. No security guards were underpaid to watch the property which made the parking lot an ideal venue for a drunken teen bust-up.
Somehow, Keith had not only convinced Jay to come, but he’d also gotten him to ride with him in his uncle’s Golf Chico.
A seventeen-year-old driving another seventeen-year-old to an unsupervised, under-aged party filled with booze, horny kids, and all sorts of other enticements. Their brightest plan yet. Images of Zondi wringing their necks flashed through Jay’s head. Although, that didn’t scare him nearly as much as the image of Zondi dropping his head in disappointment. He wasn’t sure how OMZ would act when he told him that he’d be joining Vinny on Monday.
There was yellow tape cornering off the parking lot to mark the territory. Their party. The same tape had been put across on either side of a battered road that was dotted with pot-holes and rusty debris that had led them to Sunrise. It would guide lost souls on a desperate search for a night filled with illegal insanities.
Keith and Jay inhaled the frenzied festivities. Lithe bodies ground against each other in a lustful pool, as they poured and poured into their cups and into each other’s mouths. The parking lot was absolutely choked. Everyone had a carefree grin on their face. No rules to follow; only those to break. Jay walked around and took in the games on show.
There was the Salt-and-Ice Challenge. Kids would wet their skin, pour table salt on it, then hold down an ice cube on it for as long as possible, gladly risking second degree cold injuries similar to frostbite. There was also car surfing. Those brave (or drunk) enough were surfing atop of cars whilst their buddies sped across a designated space in the parking lot for them. Perhaps smashing their brains against the solid tar would improve their mental state, Jay thought. But these acts seemed nothing compared to those that were happening in a section in the parking lot that had been dubbed ‘The Ring’. Inside the circle, ‘contestants’ would go head-to-head with each other using nothing but a fire lighter and a deodorant can. Jay had seen a boy walk out with skin blazed like a pig on a spit. “Where have you brought me to, Holmes?”
Keith smiled coyly.
“Let’s mingle, man. I don’t recognise anyone from school here. Let’s make some memories. How about a drink?”
“Nothing’s changed. I still don’t drink.”
“Not even Sprite?”
“You really think they have Sprite here?”
They moved through the crowd and stumbled across deck-chairs where participants would lie across, so that vodka shots could be dropped into their eyes. The quickest way to get drunk was to let the alcohol enter the bloodstream, through veins at the back of the eye.
Behind the bar, people mixed ‘Purple Dranks’, which a lot of the hip-hop stars in the US drank. Sprite, Jolly Ranchers candy and prescribed cough syrup were supposed to go into the drink, but who knew what was going in theirs. At least, there was Sprite available. Jay moved forward to grip a can, when he was stopped by a girl in the shortest of mini-skirts. She fiddled with her auburn hair and pouted her cerise lips at him.
“Wanna play a game?”
“I’m okay, thanks.”
His awkwardness lay in not knowing how to let an attractive girl down easily. “Hey, aren’t you from Rosebank’s first team? I wanna play too!” said another girl in a mini-skirt. Her legs were far more toned than the first girl’s. She also pouted at Jay. As he tried to look around for Keith, who had lost himself within the carousing of the night, yet another girl came over. Her blonde hair and sky-blue eyes were right up in front of Jay. She was so close, he could count the freckles on her cheeks.
“Come on, hero. Just one game.”
Her warm breath grazed the tip of his nose. Then, it finally hit him. They all had different lipsticks on. He knew exactly what they wanted to play. It’s what was referred to as a ‘Rainbow Party’. Girls each wore a different shade of lipstick and performed oral sex on the chosen one. When they were done, he’d gaze upon his nether regions and, voila, the rainbow-effect revealed itself. It was a different sort of Kaleidoscope.
Jay was supposed to be honoured because it was the highest reward bestowed upon someone at this type of party. Yet, all he wanted was a Sprite. He wished he’d brought his iPod along too. He couldn’t even decipher the genre of music that was on.
The first girl giggled mischievously.
“Let us reward you. You’re always doing things for others. Winning games for them, making them happy. Let us make you happy.”
“Erm, maybe later?”
His shoulders tightened as they drew nearer to him. “We’ll be waiting, superstar.”
The blonde one’s warm breath teased him again
. They were soon gone and he eventually got his Sprite. He couldn’t find Keith, but he did find an upside-down milk crate which was fairly secluded from everyone else. He sat down and crisply clicked open his can of soda. A petite hand caught him off guard as it delicately perched itself on his shoulder.
“Look, when I said later, I didn’t really mean…”
He turned around and caught Amritha’s still eyes penetrating his discomfort. “So, girls just follow you wherever you go, big shot?”
“I’m not really sure what they wanted.”
“Serious? You’ve never heard of a Rainbow Party? You’re so sheltered, Rosebank.” They paused for a second and then laughed together.
“What on earth are you doing here, madam? This is like Dusk till Dawn meets Hotel California.” He offered her some Sprite.
“Those are both really old. What are you, like 50?”
“There’s old. And there’s vintage.”
“And there’s cheesy.”
“I take it back. I don’t want to give you any Sprite now.” “You just want my lips to touch something of yours.”
“I… I…”
He was a gawky schoolboy in front of her, even without his uniform on.
“My friend, Samantha, likes to let loose every now and then. Not Rainbow loose. Just to take in a mad party every here and there. I come because I like to know that she’s safe.”
“How sweet of you. I wish someone would worry about my safety.”
“I suppose, I could keep an eye out for you as well. I really am that sweet.”
“In case you’re wondering, I’m here because my friend Keith is my Samantha. He needs the craziness. Otherwise, he’ll become normal. Heaven forbid that happens.”
“Well, he certainly brought the life of the party with him. You always turn down girls, to sit alone on a milk crate with your Sprite?”
“Sometimes, I have a Coke.”
She leant on his shoulder this time. From out of the squeezed-in bodies in front of them came a tall figure, wearing a tight, powder-blue Polo golf shirt. He was much larger than Jay, although as he drew nearer, Jay wondered if he was not using a smaller sized shirt to accentuate his chest and biceps. He had a hooped earring on his left lobe and his spiked hair gleamed with gel. He was as Indian as Jay and Amritha, yet strutted forward as if he were of his own superior race. The large boy parked himself behind Amritha, who didn’t even know he was there until his brawny forearms locked around her delicate waist. He kissed her on the neck.
“Hey, babe, where’d you go?”
She didn’t heed his call at first but eventually turned around rather calmly to face her colossal hugger. They shared an awkward stare for a second, then he kissed her, properly this time, and she didn’t pull away. Jay threw his can into a nearby bin.
“I’ll see you around. I better find Keith.”
Jay didn’t look back as he fluttered away. The music beat harder against his lamenting soul. People kissed and embraced as their sweaty bodies rubbed against each other. They took in each other’s lust for life, in the dark blanket of another soulless evening. What he’d looked at in disgust, he now quietly resented for not being able to be a part of. He walked around, alone. The ache of not being able to belong filled his lungs and spread to his gut.
Finally, he saw Keith who was passionately pressing his lips up against a far taller girl in a denim skirt and brown leather boots. He thought of home. Home was where Layla was. At least, he had her. He caught a glimpse of a bucket filled with ice and booze. One drink—why not? He was no longer on the team. And he had seizures even when he was sober. Why not? Just one. He reached towards the bucket and heard Amritha scream. He ran to her, for nothing else made sense. She grabbed his hand with as firm a grip as he had ever felt from her.
“Help me, please. I need you.”
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Sammy. She’s hurt real bad. I don’t know what to do. Please, help me.” She was shaking. Still, he took a jab at her.
“Where’s your boyfriend?”
“He…I don’t know. I can’t find him.”
Jay was silent. This time, Amritha pleaded with her eyes.
“Come on, show me where.”
Her hand locked firmly into his again and she pulled him forward. They raced towards a group of old and withered trees where Samantha was on the dried grass below. She was surrounded by a few other girls, who didn’t seem to be fully aware of their bearings as their eyes grew smaller. Jay froze when he saw Samantha. She was convulsing on the floor with her tongue sticking out. So, this is what it looked like.
“I think her drink was spiked. What do we do?” Amritha said, holding back whatever tears she could. She tried to hold Samantha’s arms down.
“Don’t do that.” Jay turned to everyone.
“We have to give her space. Move back. All of you.”
They watched on in awe and obeyed his command. He rolled her onto her side so that if she vomited, she would not choke on any of it. He placed a jacket under her head so that it hit something a little more comforting than the ground. He then removed her chain. The seizure lasted for about half an hour. He held Amritha close as it went on. He smelt the polystyrene cup from where Samantha was drinking and could pick up a slight smell of hand sanitizer. Slight, but enough to do the job. Amritha was barely keeping it together, but he had to tell her anyway.
“We’ll need to take her to the hospital once she wakes up. There’s a method that spikers have these days of using salt to separate the alcohol from hand sanitizer to get a potent full proof shot. That amount of alcohol can be very dangerous,” he told her.
Your boyfriend had a salt shaker sticking out of his pocket, he didn’t tell her.
* * *
CBD – Central Business District↩
Chapter 18
30 September 2013. 8:02 AM
“You and your high-school drama. You belong in a TV series.”
“If not for my help, you’d belong in a cell.”
“Ooooooh, and the cat has his claws out today.”
Jay put his empty tea cup down on the glass table next to him and scratched his knee. James was still busy sipping on his as he babbled on with his mouth half filled.
“Was she ok? Samantha? Did you become the knight in shining armour to a princess betrothed to the village ogre? You enjoy playing the modern-day nobleman, don’t you?”
James eventually put his cup down and moved for the last chocolate-chip cookie. “Want to split it?”
“Sure.”
He gave Jay the bigger piece.
“I had just assumed that hand sanitizer was the main ingredient. But who knows what else had gone into her drink? The key was to get her to a hospital as quickly as possible.”
“So, how did you do that?”
“Keith had a few too many drinks, so he couldn’t drive. I won’t lie, I was scared to risk it. If it was just me and him—no problem. But with Amritha and Samantha in the car as well—I was too hesitant to be a part of that.”
“See, modern-day nobleman.”
“‘Sweet mercy is nobility’s true badge.’”
“And he quotes the Bard of Avon!”
“I had to help, so I got behind the wheel. There was no time to let fear cripple me.”
“Have you ever driven?”
“Not really. Epilepsy made me nervous. I always replayed the worst things in my mind. The grotesque reality of having an attack whilst passengers were with me. I don’t know how I’d carry that with me for the rest of my life. Assuming that I survived.”
“Fair point.”
“In the end, I put Keith in the front passenger seat, and the girls in the back, started the Chico and prayed for the best. In the end, I did pretty okay on the road. Only stalled twice. But as we neared the Olivedale Clinic, my luck ran out.”
“The police?”
“Yup. I had no licence to show them. My gambling card, however, was Sammy. They saw her in the backseat
, dreary and fatigued. Her eyes were drained and her body lay as lifeless as ever on Amritha’s lap. They let me take her to the hospital but not without taking down my details. I would have to appear in court the following week. And if I lost, well, it wouldn’t have mattered which team I chose to play for—football would be ending for me. I would be spending my time in a juvenile correctional facility instead.”
“And just like that, a good deed turns into prosecution.”
“Samantha was okay. No real injuries. She went on some antibiotics and was told to rest for the next few days. Seeing her open her eyes in that ward and seeing Amritha hold her close made my decision to drive them, worth it. It came at a cost, but I knew I did the right thing. I would have to ask Vinny if I could play for him even if I no longer attended Rosebank. I was pretty sure that they would expel me, seeing that this certainly wouldn’t enhance the Rosebank image. I had lied to them about my condition and now, I’d be appearing in court.”
Jay took his feet off the ottoman and sat up straight.
“Then, everything changed. So, so quickly. Within days, Rosebank wanted me back. The court appearance was dropped. And Amritha wanted to see me, alone.”
“I guess, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.”
“Actually, there’s such thing as a headmaster’s daughter.”
James looked at him slightly bewildered before the connection clicked. “Samantha? Headmaster McArthur? The world really is that small!”
Jay dipped his head up and down, slowly, as he stared into space.
"I didn’t know Samantha because she didn’t attend our school. Amritha said that it was because she didn’t revel in the role of being the headmaster’s daughter. So, just like Amritha, Samantha attended Morningside High, where she could go about her own life. Because of her father, she was meant to behave a certain way, all the time. That’s why she needed to let loose now and then. That’s why she went to those parties.
“When McArthur found out what had happened, he did everything he could to look out for me. He was well known everywhere—a man like him doesn’t get to the top without being connected—and he pulled strings to make sure that I’d never have to go to court. Then, he came pleading to me that I should join the team again. That they’d love me back. I could ignore his fickleness, it didn’t bother me too much. But what irked me was the fact that it didn’t feel right going back. Vinny’s offer had really opened up a whole new world to me.”
