Grade 8, Basa Institute
In a place called Mountain City, lived a boy called Thabang. He was 17-years-old and he was in Grade 11. Thabang lived with his mother and his four siblings. He loved school and his family.
Thabang learned at a school called Sakhisizwe Secondary School where he was one of the best students at the school. He was always determined with his school work and always did well. Thabang and his family never lived a flashy or luxurious life. They just lived in a medium-sized shack and his mother got income from working at a hotel as a waitress. His brother and his little sister were still in primary school and his older sister, Palesa, had finished school but was unemployed. They were a happy family.
Thabang had very clever and kind friends and he was known as the most respectful boy in the neighbourhood. Everybody loved him. He was also very kind and caring to every human being, even ones that were complete strangers.
Things were going on as usual in his life. One day, he came back from a long day at school, greeting everyone in the streets. He got to his house and his siblings were happy to see him, “Thabang!” they screamed as they ran to him. He was also happy to see them. He then went inside the house and found his mother there. He was surprised because at that time his mom was normally still at work. “Hau! Hi, Mom. You’re back so early?” he said to his mom. She was happy to see him, “Hey, so how are you?” she asked with a smile. “I’m good but you haven’t answered my question,” he smiled back. “They let me go early as I was not feeling well, my child,” she responded. “Oh, but what’s wrong, Mama?” he asked in a concerned tone. “It’s nothing you should worry about, my child. I just had dizzy spells, nothing much,” his mother said. “But you seem so tired, maybe you should get some rest,” said Thabang. “No, I’m not. I was sleeping an hour ago. Don’t worry. I’m fine.” She touched his face with her cold hands. “Your hands are freezing!” Thabang said. “I said I’m fine!” she snapped.
Thabang remained worried but he thought this was a slight sickness and carried on with his day. He changed his uniform and did his homework. His mother kept coughing in the kitchen while she cooked. This made Thabang even more worried but he chose to stay quiet about it. Night came. They ate dinner and they all went to bed. His mother coughed the whole night.
In the morning Thabang woke up and did his normal routine: eating, bathing and preparing his siblings for school. He went to his mother’s bedroom to check on her, “Morning, Mama!” He jumped on her bed with a very big smile on his face. His mother did not respond. He panicked and started shaking her, “Mama, mama, wake up,” he said. She coughed a few times and said, “Ay man, Thabang, what is it?” Thabang sighed with relief and he hugged her very tightly. “You were not moving and that really freaked me out,” he said. “Thabang, you worry too much, my boy. Go to school. You’ll be late,” she said to him with a warm smile.Thabang went to school and carried on with his day but his mother was worrying him the whole day. He lost his focus in all the lessons and that worried his teachers and his friends. School was out and Thabang headed home. He found his mother lying helplessly on the floor. He got her up quickly. “Mama, what happened?” he asked in a horrified tone. His mom couldn’t answer him as she felt numb and her skin had turned really pale. “Thaa….” she coughed. She couldn’t even open her mouth. Thabang called an ambulance and it took her to the hospital. When they got there, they were told that the hospital was full and they couldn’t take his mom. He became infuriated about this and he took his mother back home.
Chapter 2
Thabang decided to stop going to school so that he could take care of his mother, as his older sister had decided to sell her body because they needed money for survival. Nobody else worked as their mother was their only breadwinner, but then she was sick and couldn’t do anything. Palesa sometimes never came back home.
Thabang’s mother was sick for months and months. She got worse almost every day. Thabang had missed his mid-year exams and his end-of-year exams. This meant that he could not go to Grade 12 and he would have to repeat Grade 11. He didn’t care about anything else but his mother.
After some time Thabang’s mother passed away. Thabang felt like it was the end of his world and he had nothing to live for. He then changed from being a good child to being the neighbourhood’s most feared person.
He became ruthless, savage and evil. He started selling drugs, killing people, robbing and mugging people. He also now has his own dangerous gang. His life completely changed.