Grade 6, Yeoville Community School
In Becker Street in Yeoville, lived a girl named Thoko. She lived with her grandmother, Ms Mkhize who did not want her to know her surname because it meant trouble for her and her family.
Thoko’s grandmother always told her to follow her dreams. She did exactly that and really wanted to know her surname. She needed to find a job because they needed to pay rent. The landlord had told them he would kick themmout and Thoko saw her grandmother struggling to pay rent. Thoko’s dream was to be a teacher. All her friends were something and she got annoyed. Her friend, Jabu Mbatha, betrayed her when she got a boyfriend. Thoko did not trust anyone except for her grandmother. She did not know that her grandmother was a two-faced monster.
Her grandmother said her parents did not pay lobola and got married and this was a disgrace to their culture. Thoko always fought with her grandmother about her surname. There was a guy who knew her surname and was about to tell her but her grandmother killed him and buried him in the yard.
Thoko smelt a stench in the yard but her grandmother kept quiet. Thoko found a knife with blood and knew something was wrong.
It was the final month for them to pay rent and they had no money. The landlord threw them out and they had to find a new place to live. Thoko’s grandmother had a plan to kill the landlord and Thoko overheard her grandmother and packed her bags and ran away.
Her grandmother knew she was nothing without Thoko and felt guilty. Thoko went to her grandfather’s house and he welcomed her with open arms. She knew her grandfather was going to tell her grandmother so she stayed only one night. Then she went to an abandoned shack to go and see what was there. She found a picture of her parents there and looked at it. On top of her mother’s head, it was written Mkhize and on top of her father’s head it was written Mbatha.
She put the picture in her bag and ran away. She looked inside her bag and her phone was ringing and she answered it. Her aunt was calling her and told her not to come to her house. Thoko heard a gunshot. She went to her uncle’s house and told him to phone the police. Her uncle was shocked and did it anyway. It was a gunshot and they knew her grandmother was outside and they hid.
Her grandmother kicked the door wide open and said she wanted Thoko. Thoko’s uncle came out from where he was hiding and told her not to hurt Thoko but her grandmother laughed and shot him in the leg. Thoko ran to the kitchen a got a knife and stabbed her in the stomach. She heard the sirens of the police who came in and asked questions. Before her grandmother could go, she said she wanted to see her one last time. She asked her uncle before he could go to the hospital who she was. Her uncle said she was an Mkhize because her father did not pay lobola and it was a disgrace and asked her not to make the same mistake. The next day Thoko became a teacher at Yeoville Community School and was very happy with her life.