Tandia (11 page)

Mama Tequila, who had missed the fact that Tandia hadn't been served a glass of sherry, now noticed the lemonade. 'Juicey Fruit Mambo, I do declare! You go back now and bring Miss Tandia a glass sweet sherry like everybody else! She a working girl too, you know.' She fanned herself lazily with the ostrich feather fan.

Juicey Fruit was not happy as he accepted the glass of lemonade back from Tandia and left the room. He returned in a few minutes with a single glass of sherry in the centre of the tray. Tandia took up the tiny glass. She had never tasted alcohol and she was actually quite frightened at the prospect; she imagined all sorts of things happening to her which would be quite beyond her control.

This was the first time she had been in this magnificent room with its rich cedar panelling and beautiful pink velvet curtains which fell from scolloped velvet pelmets above two large windows, to the floor sixteen feet below. The breakfront covered an entire wall and was filled with dark green morocco leather volumes, the titles embossed in gold on the spine of each book. On the three remaining walls were four large portraits of pretty ladies dressed in the silks and satins of Edwardian England, the decolletage of each allowing a provocative display of creamy bosom. Several pink chaise longues and formal chairs, small tables and pink Persian carpets seemed to be arranged or scattered haphazardly around the room, and the beautiful yellowwood floor, where it showed in places not covered by carpets, kicked back the light from a huge crystal chandelier that cascaded from the centre of an ornate plaster-moulded ceiling composed of garlands of fruit and flowers, onto which clung a heavenly host of fat cherubs. Above the pink marble fireplace was a huge pink ceramic bowl of peonies. To give the beautiful room a final touch of distinction, to the side of the window furthermost from where Mama Tequila sat was a pink grand piano. (It was in fact a pianola but Tandia had no way of knowing this.) The room had a warm, flushed presence and Tandia had never seen anything as breathtakingly beautiful in her life.

Mama Tequila raised her glass, which looked like a topaz coloured bauble in her enormous hand. 'Welcome, Tandia, to Mama Tequila's salon. You is now one of us, a working girl, only perhaps your work is a bit different. Tonight and from now on you only got one name, you hear? You Miss Tandy, jes' like Miss Hester, Miss Sarah, Miss Jasmine.' As Mama Tequila spoke a girl's name, the girl in question would empty the glass of sherry in her hand. 'Miss Colleen, Miss Hettie, Miss Doreen, Miss Johanna and Miss Marie. Now it your turn, Miss Tandy, you and me, we drink to your success, to Bluey Jay and to old Mama Tequila.' She lifted the glass above her head.

'Welcome to Bluey Jay, Miss Tandy!' all the girls chorussed as Tandia threw back her head and screwed her eyes up tightly in anticipation of a foul-tasting liquid. To her surprise she tasted only the slightly bitter taste of cold tea. She opened her eyes, her surprise showing.

'Hey, man, we got to watch this one, she likes it!' Hester squealed and the large room filled with the laughter of the Bluey Jay girls. It was the first time in her life Tandia had ever belonged to anything or anyone other than Patel. Despite the fact that Juicey Fruit Mambo had substituted cold tea for her sherry she felt a warm glow inside her. A thing which glowed between the chest and the pit of her stomach but also seemed to include her heart, it was a feeling which made her want to cry and laugh at the same time.

Juicey Fruit Mambo entered the room to collect the glasses. When he reached Tandia he grinned and as he took her glass he whispered, 'Dis skokiaan not for you, Miss Tandy, you must be very, very strong for the learning.'

The girls crowded around Tandia offering their congratulations and welcoming her to their society. In a few moments Juicey Fruit Mambo was back and he whispered into Mama Tequila's ear. She nodded and he left the salon again. Mama Tequila clapped her hands for silence and pointed to the door. All eyes turned as in walked Sonny Vindoo, carrying a large "flat brown paper parcel on outstretched hands. 'Greetings and felicitations to the Madam Mama Tequila and her very, very beautiful girls and double greetings to Miss Tandy!'

He turned and bowed to Tandia, jerking his head forward in an almost military fashion, whereupon his glasses slid off his nose and landed on the parcel. The effect on Mr Dine-o-mite of losing his eyes was instant. Still holding the parcel he turned completely around twice and then headed blindly off in the direction of the grand piano. Without his spectacles Sonny Vindoo seemed unable to speak, and it was the light of the setting sun coming through the window beside the piano that attracted him. Tandia ran quickly ahead of him and grabbing his glasses from where they had landed on top of the parcel she slipped them onto the bridge of his nose and around his ears. The effect was equally instant. Mr Vindoo stopped on the spot and his voice returned, 'My goodness gracious me, you are a very, very kind young lady, Miss Tandy.' He turned to face Mama Tequila again. 'Your instructions, Madam, obeyed to the very last letter, everything in order, shipshape and Bristol style.'

'Honey, you got da verbal diarrhoea tonight, that for sure! Come now, give Mama Tequila that parcel. If you gone and done like I say,' she winked at Sarah, 'Miss Sarah, she in big trouble next Wednesday!'

Sonny Vindoo giggled and shook his head. 'You are talking about naughty-naughty time! That Sonny Vindoo is not this Sonny Vindoo. This Indian gentleman of very excellent morals who is standing here and who has even met the great Mahatma Gandhi himself, is very, very pure in his thoughts. It is the other one, the one who is coming up with a very excellent transcendental meditation plan!'

'Come again, Mr Dine-o-mite, what this transil-meddle jazz?' Mama Tequila asked.

'This is a very clever idea invented by an Indian holy man. You are closing your eyes and you thinking only very pure and excellent thoughts and next thing, by golly, you are travelling anywhere you want to go, sitting even in Buckingham Palace taking cha with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth!'

He smiled and looked around at the girls, who were giggling politely behind their hands. Only Hester laughed aloud. To emphasise his point the little Indian tailor removed one hand from the parcel and wagged his finger at Mama Tequila. 'Only, I am not using it like this to have cha with the Queen. I am sitting in the back of the Chevrolet like a proper nabob and I am saying to Abdulla, "Abdulla, it is Wednesday". Then I am closing my eyes and thinking very hard with all my might about this very beautiful establishment,' he stepped forward and placed the brown parcel on Mama Tequila's lap and then, stepping back, spread his hand wide. 'That is why, when I am here, I am not here!'

'My God, I'm being fucked by a ghost!' Sarah yelled in mock consternation.

The room rocked with laughter and Tandia had never enjoyed herself so much. She'd forgotten for a moment about the gym frock, but now Mama Tequila, still giggling, began to open the parcel on her lap. 'Tandia, come here, baby,' she beckoned. The girls all crowded round to look.

Only Hester remained slightly to one side, silent for once in her life. The crackle of the paper seemed to take an eternity and then Mama Tequila withdrew a bright pink gymslip. She held it up and the slip fell over her knees. 'My, that pretty! What you say, baby?' The girls all oohed and aahed and Tandia, despite her dismay, managed to smile. Mama Tequila handed the gym frock to her and delved back into the parcel. 'That ain't all, baby!' She produced a blouse and a pair of pink woollen stockings and a bright pink beret.

'You gonna be the prettiest li'l girl that school did ever see!' Tandia burst into tears. Despite the terrible embarrassment the pink garments represented for her, she was loved. They cared, all of them, they cared about her, Tandia Patel. She wouldn't think of Monday, only about now, about the warmth and the love surrounding her. She handed the clothes to Hester and embraced Mama Tequila, her tears making dark, wet stains on the woman's pink gown. Then she turned to confront a grinning Sonny Vindoo. She hugged him as well. Thank you, Mr Vindoo, my clothes are very lovely,' she said tearfully.

'Miss Tandy, I am hearing you are going to Durban Indian Girls' High School, a very excellent institution. My daughter, she is married now, she went to this school, where she is getting first-class honours in her matriculation!'

Mama Tequila once again clapped her hands to gain attention, for Juicey Fruit had entered and nodded to her from the door. 'Hey-ho! Party time, darlings! The fine young men from them boats they here already in the other salon! Oh, hot Let the business of Bluey Jay begin! Them honkytonk fisherman boys they gonna die 'less they get their snake medicine tonight!'

She turned to Tandia. 'Miss Tandy, you be nice now and show Mr Dine-o-mite out the back door.' She turned to Sonny Vindoo, her eyes wide. 'Unless of course, he want to tran-sil-meddle-tate hisself back into the loving arms of Mrs Vindoo!'

Tandia woke early on Monday morning. Outside her window the bush doves were cooing in the wild fig trees, and although it was only a few minutes past five, the sun was already up. In the distance she could hear a couple of cockerels crowing. A soft breeze billowed the terylene curtains in her bedroom, carrying with it just a hint of wood smoke from the African
kraal
down by the river. It was a perfect early November morning and it had all the makings of a perfectly ghastly day for Tandia.

She had slept fitfully, the matter of Mama Tequila's pink school uniform never quite leaving even her subconscious. In the month since Patel's death much had changed for her. She found herself increasingly gregarious in the company of the girls and a special friendship with Juicey Fruit Mambo was rapidly developing She felt entirely safe with him around her, a new feeling for her, and one which she found simply wonderful. With Juicey Fruit Mambo it was the way she had always believed it might become with Patel. But she was still a shy, frightened little girl and today the best friend in the world couldn't help her, she was on her own. Juicey Fruit Mambo would drive her to the school gates and from that moment on she was alone. She cringed inwardly as she thought about it. She was going to be the laughing stock of the whole school and she had no doubt she would be held up to ridicule in assembly by Miss Naidoo.

Tandia went down the hall to the bathroom to shower and to clean her teeth. After she'd completed her toilet she returned down the quiet passage, the smooth, polished yellowwood floors cool on her bare feet. Her own room was on the furthest end of the long corridor and she had to pass the rooms of all the sleeping girls except Hester. As she walked past the door to Sarah's room she noticed that it was slightly ajar and she moved over to close it. Mama Tequila, for reasons she had never explained, insisted that the girls sleep with their bedroom doors closed. Tandia's hand was on the door knob and, on a sudden impulse, she opened Sarah's door a little further. The room smelled of cigarettes and slightly stale perfume; on the dresser beside the bed was an empty half-jack of brandy and a used glass. Sarah was naked, lying on her side facing the door, her sheet kicked into a crumpled heap at the end of the divan bed. Tandia started to withdraw in embarrassment but then held still. There was something vulnerable about the way Sarah lay, she had her knees tucked up and she sucked on her thumb like a child. In repose her scrubbed face, small round breasts and slender shoulders made her look younger than she was.

Sarah suddenly opened her eyes, seemingly from a deep sleep. She showed no surprise whatsoever at Tandia's presence in the room. She turned over and reached for the Wesclock which rested on the floor beside the bed. 'Christ, Tandy, it's only a quarter to six, go back to bed, it's still night time.' She sat up and reached for the sheet, pulled it up over her body and rolled over in bed, turning her back to Tandia.

'I couldn't sleep, I'm used to getting up early.' She turned to go but suddenly blurted out, 'Sarah, what am I going to do!'

Sarah groaned and turned back to face her, 'What's the matter with you kid, can't a person get some sleep around here?' Tandy flushed and started to apologise, backing out of the door. 'I'm only playing, jong. Come and sit here,' Sarah said, patting the divan beside her.

Tandia walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed as Sarah propped herself up onto one elbow. 'C'mon, kid, you better tell me, are you in trouble or something?'

'It's Monday, Sarah, I've got to go back to school today!'

'So? You got new everything, you should be very excited, you a very lucky girl, what Mama T did was nice.'

'Sarah, the school colours are brown! A brown gymslip and white blouse. Mama Tequila has made everything in pink!'

'You mean you the only one in the whole school with a pink uniform? Why didn't you tell Mama T?'

Tandia shook her head. 'I wasn't supposed to know, it was a surprise, remember? Sarah, what am I going to do?' Sarah looked at Tandia. School carried no cherished memories for her, she had left at eleven and her impression of her time there was one of constant harassment, punishment and humiliation. 'Simple, man, don't go. Wait till Juicey Fruit drives away and then don't go in. Go to the bioscope, there's a good picture at the Odeon, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, they got a ten o'clock matinee.' She reached for her bag on the dresser beside the bed. 'Here, I'll give you some money.'

'But Sarah, I want to finish school. Mama T said I could do that. They all going to laugh their heads off, all the girls and the teachers too. Miss Naidoo is going to send me home, and then what?'

Sarah sat up in the bed and took Tandia into her arms. 'Come now, Tandy, it's not so bad, sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never harm you.' Tandia had wrapped a towel around her when she'd come from the bathroom and her shoulders were bare. 'Sometimes it's good to be different, Tandy.' Sarah kissed Tandia gently on the top of the shoulder and then as gently on the neck. 'When you on the game, being different is normal.' Her hand pulled at the folded towel between Tandia's small, firm breasts and opened it up. Tandia's heart was pounding. Sarah's hands seemed to be melting her body as though years of tension were being run through her caressing hands. Tandia had never felt like this before, it was as though her body had grown another dimension, had become another place. Sarah's tongue was caressing her neck and then moved downwards to her breast, 'Sshhh! don't say anything, Tandy, everything will be orright.'