Grade 10, Thlokomelo Child Care Centre
Ever since I knew Cleo, she was a neat, kind and open-minded girl. Cleo used to live with her mother. Her father died when she was young. We were friends for a long time. I met her in primary school. We never had a conflict before.
A few months ago, I noticed that there was something changed about her. Cleo came to school untidy- that’s what had changed. Her hair was uncombed and her socks were tattered. That had not happened before. During lunch time we were catching up.
‘’What’s up with you lately? You are changing and absent- minded,” I said. ‘’Nothing. I’m ok,’’ Cleo said. “But you seem… not okay,” I said. “I said I’m fine!’’ she shouted, outraged all of a sudden. She quickly grabbed her lunch box and went back to the classroom. That made me wonder what was happening.
While I was at home, I told my mother about everything. We were both worried so I took my cellphone and called Cleo but she didn’t answer. I couldn’t sleep that night. I kept on tossing and turning on the bed. The following day I called her. Fortunately, she answered this time around. “Hey, I have been worried about you,’’ I said. “Hey,’’ she said coldly. “What’s going on?’’ I asked. She began to cry. “Why don’t we meet at our usual spot?” “Sure, no problem,” I said. We both hung up our phones. I went to my bedroom and took my hat then rushed to the park. It was where we usually met. I waited at the park for a little bit then she appeared. We hugged each other. “What’s happening?” I asked curiously. “My mother got retrenched at work during this lockdown, so the situation is bad. We don’t know what to do for a living,” she said. I started to think out of the box, ‘’Why don’t we go shoplift? Yeah, just for today.’’ “No, we can’t. It’s a crime,’’ said Cleo.
I insisted we go there. I kept on persuading her. She finally agreed. We went to the nearest mall. When we arrived there, it was full of people. We entered one of the shops. We were both scared. I snatched two slices of cheese and put them in my back pocket because my T-shirt was over-sized. Cleo took the rolls and put them in her jacket. While we were approaching the exit door, the security shouted, “Search them!’’ We both looked at each other. They searched us. They found the goods on us. They took us to the store room. We were sitting there for hours, upset and hungry.
They called our parents. Of course, they had to pay for the things we took. When we arrived at home, I told my mother about Cleo’s situation. She managed to understand. She offered us some food. Cleo was gobbling it up as if she had never eaten before, but I understood.
My mother and I helped Cleo’s mother with some food and toiletries. Her mother was hired a few days ago to clean offices. That made things much better. I can’t believe we ever did such a horrible thing. I hope we won’t do it again.