Balaclava Boy (2 page)

2

Monday Break-Time

We walked around the playground with the new boy, one on each side. After all, Mr Rasool said we must be kind.

“My name's Dumisani,” said Dumisani. “And this guy's Doogal. Or you can call us the Doo Dudes. That's our aka.”

Tommy nodded his balaclava.

Then we started asking him question after question. Where did you live before? What school did you go to? Is your dad at the Coal Mine or the Power Station? Most of our dads work at the Coal Mine or the Power Station. Some of our moms too. Way off over the roof tops, you can see the huge cooling towers puffing steam into the air. Sometimes you can hear the steam engines carrying coal from the Mine.

Do you have brothers and sisters? Do you have a Play Station?

I wanted to laugh. We sounded just like a stupid boring Comprehension ourselves! The only question we didn't ask was: Why are you wearing that thing on your head?

Tommy answered all the questions through his redand-orange stripes. It was quite hard to hear what he was saying. At last he sat down and opened his lunch-box. Dumisani and I sat down too, one on each side of him. We held our breath.

But we held our breath for nothing! Tommy didn't take off his balaclava. He just pulled the stripes away from his neck and his mouth and slid his tomato sandwich up underneath. It was very disappointing.

Our friend Obakeng was yelling at us now. “Hey, Doo Dudes. Let's have ourselves some soccer! Bring that new guy along.”

Tommy was a bit nervous at first. “Me too? Are you sure? I only ever played a few times before. So I'm not sure …”

But Dumisani promised he'd help and explain stuff. And then we ran down to the field. X-man and Riyaad and Johan Eksteen Clayton and Moketsi from our class were there already. Plus some guys from Grade Four JH.

Tommy turned out to be one mean player. Very mean! Especially for someone with most of his head covered.

When the bell rang, Obakeng, aka Ostrich Legz, yelled, “Hey, Balaclava Boy! Tomorrow you're on my side. Okay, bru?”

“You shouldn't be so nosey!” Cherise was bossing us around from the girls' line. “It's Tommy's private business. If Mr Rasool says he's allowed to wear it, then it's got nothing to do with you two.”

We were lined up on the netball court with the rest of the school. Obakeng yanked Tommy into the front of the boys' line with him. But Dumisani and I got stuck halfway down, close to Cherise. She was giving us a lecture as usual.

“You wait!” Dumisani told her. “Straight after school, soon as we're out the gates, we're going to ask him. Straight out. When there's no one else around. Then first thing tomorrow we'll tell you why!”

“Yeah,” I added. “Because you're dying to know, Cherise. Come on, don't pretend. You and everyone else.”

And it was the truth! All the rest of the Grade Fours were staring at our new boy. Plus the Grade Five NM bullies. Even the Grade Six snobs were having a good look.

Miss Venter waited to lead us back to class for stupid boring Geography. Well, it was stupid and boring at the moment. Who cares where maize gets grown? Who cares when apples get ripe?

“First thing tomorrow, Cherise,” Dumisani was promising. “You just wait …”

But Miss Venter was on our case again. “Dumisani! Doogal! Cherise! Dear! Dear! Dear!”

3

Tuesday Maths

“So, Double Trouble? Did you find out?” Cherise wanted to know, first thing on Tuesday morning.

It was early, long before line-up. The Power Station siren was only just going off. Thandi and Hannah were only just starting their clapping game, chanting at the tops of their voices. Thandi and Hannah do everything at the tops of their voices!

It was weird, being at school early. Usually I have to wait and wait outside Dumisani's house. Usually he comes rushing out, still eating his toast. And with his bag and his tracksuit half-zipped. And then we have to run like mad to get to school before the line-up bell. This morning, instead, he was the one waiting for me!

“And so, Double Trouble? What's the answer then?” Cherise was there on the netball court with her hands on her hips.

Dumisani and I hate being called Double Trouble. Our proper nickname is the Doo Dudes. Or else, the Big Ds. Even though only Dumisani is big. I'm quite small. Nearly as small as Yasmiena.

So we put down our bags and pretended Cherise wasn't even there.

“That's strange, Doogz,” Dumisani said. “I thought Cherise said we shouldn't be nosey.”

“Yeah, you're right, Dumz,” I said. “I'm sure she said it was Balaclava Boy's private business.”

Cherise was getting annoyed now. “Grow up!” she told us. Cherise is always telling Grade Fours to grow up. Especially us.

Dumisani seemed like he was going to tease Cherise some more. But then he changed his mind. “Okay, Cherise. We asked Tommy. Straight out, right? And he said, ‘Because.' That's all.”

“Because?” Cherise frowned hard under her fringe.

We nodded. That was the truth. That's the only answer Tommy gave us there outside the school gates.

Cherise put her hands on her hips again. “That's not a proper answer! It has to be ‘Because – something.' You can't say ‘Because' and then stop. That doesn't make sense!”

Just then, Tommy walked through the school gates. Today he was wearing a navy blue balaclava.

For a second, I wanted to run over and yank that navy blue balaclava right off his head and see what was underneath. But of course you can't do stuff like that. No matter how much you want to. It's rude. It's mean.

Cherise said, “You watch, Big Ds. I'll get a proper answer. I'll use psychology.”

‘Psychology'! That sounded like a good word! I said it over in my mind a few times to remember it.

But Dumisani laughed. “Bet you it doesn't work, Clever Clogs.” Then we ran down to join the early morning soccer game. Tommy was already there, playing on Obakeng's side. He even scored a goal! We had a great time. Well, until the Grade Five NM bullies stole our ball. The Grade Five NM bullies are always doing stuff like that.

But the line-up bell was going anyway.

All through stupid boring Maths and stupid boring decimal fractions, Dumisani and I kept quiet. We were waiting to hear Cherise start her psychology. The other Grade Fours were surprised, I think. They aren't used to us two working in silence.

First Obakeng, aka Ostrich Legz, pretended he needed to sharpen his pencil. On his way to the bin, he whispered, “Hey, Doo Dudes. What's wrong, my bruz? Are you guys sick or something?”

Then Johan Eksteen Clayton, aka JECO, pretended he needed to borrow Riyaad's ruler. He also whispered as he passed our desk. “Eish! Are you okay, Big Ds?” That's his favourite word: ‘eish!' He uses it every time he speaks. No matter what else he's saying!

And then Thandi, who is very noisy anyway, blew her nose extra-loud. She went to throw her tissue away, then bent over our desk. “Wazzup, Dumisani? Wazzup, Doogal? Have you taken a vow of silence?”

Miss Venter was getting annoyed. She told them to stop behaving like jack-in-the-boxes. Then she told Dumisani and me that she was very pleased with us for working so quietly.

And then she told Billy de Beer, aka Lost In Space, to stop staring out the window. Billy de Beer spends all his time staring out of windows. That's why he's called Lost In Space.

Finally, finally, Cherise got going. We were already doing sum number 5.

“Tommy,” we heard her say. So we leaned back to hear better. “Tommy, do you know why we call Miss Venter the Dragon Lady?”

“Nah. Why?” Tommy said through his balaclava.

“Because,” said Cherise.

“What do you mean, ‘Because'?” said Tommy. “Because why?”

“Oh, do you mean you want a reason?” We could hear in Cherise's voice that she was smiling. “Okay, well, I'll give you a reason. It's because Miss Venter pats her chest and then her powder comes puffing out. And last year we learned a song called ‘Puff the Magic Dragon'. So that's why.”

Dumisani and I looked at each other and shook our heads. This psychology stuff took one long, long time to start working!

“Okay, Tommy. Now I'm going to ask you a question. And you have to give me a reason too.”

Dumisani and I held our breath.

But Miss Venter was on Cherise's case. “Is that you talking? Again? What's got into you this week, my girl? Dear! Dear! Dear!”

That kept Cherise quiet for the rest of the lesson. She hates getting into trouble with teachers! We didn't hear another sound from her until stupid boring Maths was over and stupid boring Natural Science started. Well, it was stupid and boring at the moment. Who cares what fishes' fins get called? Why can't we rather do great white sharks? Or tsunamis?