Grade 11, Bophelong Secondary School
One day, a unique girl was born in the Nhlapo family. This family was full of life and happiness. The baby girl lived with her mom, Percy, her dad, Thabiso, her uncle, Tokollo and her grandmom. The girl’s name was Lewatle. She used to watch her mom and uncle as they teased each other, having little sibling fights and sharing their love for each other. Lewatle grew up and went to pre-school. She was so intelligent in class, but she wasn’t aware of it. She didn’t have any friends and just wanted her mom, Percy and her dad, Thabiso by her side always.
One day, her mom and dad had a fight. Soon after that, there was a family meeting. That’s when her parents decided to break up and Lewatle stayed with her mom just like she had before. After her mom, Percy and her dad, Thabiso separated, Thabiso used to contact Lewatle every year on her birthday to wish her a happy birthday.
As time went by, Lewatle started attending primary school at Bophelong Primary School. At school she had no friends; her classmates used to look at her as if she was not from their area, but she couldn’t care less. Then one day, they were issuing out certificates for dedication and guess what? Her name was on the list! After that she started making friends. Her mom found a new lover and they got engaged. When Lewatle reached the second grade, her mom gave birth to a precious little girl.
She loved her younger sister very much and kept looking at her in awe. She was so happy that now she had someone to share her heart with and play with. Her little sister’s name was Happy. Soon after the birth of her little sister, Lewatle’s mother moved out to stay with her fiancé and Happy. Lewatle was left to stay with her grandmom and her uncle, Tokollo.
Her mom used to bring Happy during weekends when she went to work, to play with Lewatle.
The two siblings were so full of happiness. One day, Lewatle reconciled with her father. Things were much better. Her life was now full of happiness. She started building up a relationship with her father and a strong bond formed between them. Lewatle would visit her dad on weekends sometimes. Her father would get really excited when he saw her. Time went by and Lewatle’s mother started getting sick.
It started out so small but as time went by Lewatle’s mother grew weaker. That’s when she returned home so that her mom — Lewatle’s grandmom — could look after her. Lewatle would become so sad seeing her mom look like that. One day her mother was much worse than any other day and her brothers took her to the hospital. When they took her, Lewatle cried a lot. She was so hurt to see her mom like that. Lewatle and her grandmom waited outside for them to return. In the afternoon, her mom’s brothers returned. As soon as they returned, the extended family members started parking their cars around the house. When Lewatle saw many cars on the street she knew that her mom was gone forever; she would never return to her.
Her mom was now an angel in heaven. Lewatle shed many tears. Upon hearing Lewatle’s loud cries, neighbours came to see what was happening only to find out the bad news. After her mom’s funeral, Lewatle was in pain. She lived with her grandmom and her sister, Happy, as her uncle moved out to stay with his wife. One day, Lewatle took Happy to crèche in the morning and when she fetched her in the afternoon, Happy’s father refused to let Happy go back with Lewatle. That is how Lewatle was separated from Happy and never saw her again.
This added even more to her pain. As time went by, Lewatle started having problems. She always fainted but soon enough her problems of fainting were dealt with traditionally. As much as she was always in pain, she loved her grandmom so much and got used to staying with only her in the house.
As if Lewatle’s pain was not enough, her grandmom then started getting sick. There were only the two of them in the house and whenever something happened to her grandmom, Lewatle would call the neighbours and her uncles to rush and help. Her grandmom went in and out of hospitals, but she didn’t get any better. Lewatle started praying for her grandmom. She put her faith in God for her granny to get well. As days went by her grandmom started getting worse. Lewatle became scared.
Soon her grandmom was so weak that she couldn’t take it anymore and she passed away. Lewatle had never cried like that before. She felt that she had lost all her faith in God. Her life was full of pain. She was damaged by all the times God had failed her. After her grandmom’s funeral, she continued to stay where she had lived with her grandmom, but now, she lived with her dad.
Her dad was a happy person, but Lewatle was not always happy because of her pain. Her dad realised that Lewatle was usually sad and not in a good mood. He wondered if it was because of all she’d been through.
One day he asked her, “My child, for how long will you always be angry and sad?” That got Lewatle thinking. She asked herself what made her happy and when she would be happy again, but she never got an answer.
’Til today, she’s still asking herself, “When will I be happy?”