Written By: Oratile Ndimande
Special thanks to my mother and Freddy Nyezi for editing.
“Around here, there’s one thing that is more important than a attending a tutorial. That is to wake up in time for it. And more importantly, o rapele gore you don’t have to attend a tutorial at eight o’ clock in the morning.” Odirile remembered this caution from Thabiso as he searched for his name in the results posted on the wall the previous Friday.
It seemed his prayers, once again, hadn’t worked in his favour in the beginning of the semester. He wasn’t much of a morning person, but he had figured so long as he did the assignments and came in the last twenty minutes of the sessions could manage to show up to, he’d be in the clear, right?... Where was his name on the list, he wondered?
Thabiso’s cautions kept ringing in his mind, “O ka leka go bua le motataisi wa gago, ka gongwe le tla kgona go loga leano. O botse mogakolodi wa baithuti fa o tlhoka thuso. O s’ka tshaba go nteletsa mogala”… He thought to check from the top of the list again, perhaps he missed his na- there it was!
“Ke kopa o e tlhokomele, pele o ipona o boeletsa this course gape ka ngwaga o o tlang. O gopole gore o mo basaring, ga o batle o iphitlhela o amogela molaetsa o tshosang. This is your second major we’re talking about” … He was shocked. Go tshwanetse gwa bo go le phoso gongwe, he thought. For a moment he found it difficult to breathe, but the wall of semi-polite students pushing from behind him was what was taking his breath away. Only after climbing his way out of the crowd could he think about what he was going to do next. “O s’ka tshaba go nteletsa mogala…”, the offer rang and rang in his mind until he picked up his phone to call Thabiso.
…
It is forty minutes past eight o’ clock in the morning of the fifth. A stubborn and unamusing tutor stands between a dusty brown door and an even dustier chalkboard. Most of the students don’t know it yet, but he and a student are concluding their exchange about the unique uses of punctuation in poetry. One could swear they are snobby, studious stereotypes rather than a pair of humans. Their voices are so heavy with a monotoned amour borrowed from the Elizabethan era that the already weighty words they uttered beat at the eardrums of the rest of the class. Instead, they defend themselves from this boring exchange with light wonders and whispers to each other about more impressive and less depressing issues. They whisper about a young man who was in class two weeks ago wearing a pair of orange shorts. “Oddie? Ordeal, was it? Odirile! What happened to him?”
“I thought he’d dropped out already”, “Maybe he found out he failed and couldn’t face us?”, “Imagine failing this course? I would die!”, “Oh, my word. Lol, what if he actually did die?” they whisper.
…
“Oh, my word. What if he actually did die?” the disgruntled flatmate whispers back in room 106, while the landlady is mid-call with the paramedics. Odirile’s body is still and hasn’t moved in the last five minutes. The alarm rings again and beeps as though it is greeting the small curious, congregation gathering at the door to witnesses this strange site, this scary sight. The alarm eventually snoozes its greetings, making way for a slight siren approaching from a distance. The sleuthing, silent stares are what wakes up a dazed and groaning Odirile…
End of Part One
Glossary
o rapele gore… – pray that…
O ka leka go bua le motataisi wa gago, ka gongwe le tla kgona go loga leano. O botse mogakolodi wa baithuti fa o tlhoka thuso. O s’ka tshaba go nteletsa mogala. - You can try to negotiate with your tutor, perhaps you can work something out... Ask a student advisor if you need any more help. Don’t be scared/hesitant to give me a call
Ke kopa o e tlhokomele, pele o ipona o boeletsa this course gape ka ngwaga o o tlang. O gopole gore o mo basaring, ga o batle o iphitlhela o amogela molaetsa o tshosang. – Please be careful before you repeat this course again next year. Remember that you’re here on a bursary. The last thing you want is a scary email.
Go tshwanetse gwa bo go le phoso gongwe – Surely this was a mistake
O ska tshaba go nteletsa mogala- Don’t be scared/hesitant to give me a call
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