Nocturnal Wenchy

My lovely daughter born from my heart, Kyla asked me to do the same questions asked but as Wenchy, the six year old. I have very few pictures of me as a little person, I am perhaps four years old here with my baby sister, Rentia on my lap.

Age I was given: 6

I lived in: Paradise. I lived with my Oupa Mike and my Ouma Chrissie and they provided a solid foundation that was never shaken. I never heard yelling, screaming, nor fighting. I heard laughter and I love you and home cooking. There was routine and trust. I was safe. There was a dragon that lived on the side of the garage where moss grew. It was purple and it loved me. We never told anyone about dragon.

In a relationship with: At six I was entering grade two, and yes, even as a six-year-old Wenchy had the same boyfriend…. from grade two, until grade six. Jaco Barnard. He was very cool and could ride without holding the bars on his bike.

I feared: the DARK with such great depth. I feared being separated from my grandparents. I feared my Mammie because she would be cross about all the bad things I did during the week when she visited on Sundays. I feared my father would take too long before visiting again. I feared that nobody would understand that I didn’t believe what we were told at Sunday school and my Oupa Joe was a pastor, so that would have been very bad. I feared that the black men whom we were told were terrorists. I was scared they would not know that I am not like them (the other white people), I didn’t believe they were bad, I was just scared cause I didn’t know them.

Perhaps mostly I feared Sunday afternoons the most. My Mammie would come to visit and after all the bad I did was dealt with, she would take Rentia and I to the park. I was scared of the high slide but I went anyway because I hated being scared of anything more than anything. I wanted to be free. Sometimes Mammie would take us to the pool. It was next door to the big slide. I liked going to the pool although I couldn’t swim. I would hold onto the sides and go round and round the big pool. Sometimes I would hold on to where Mammie was sitting in the sun (she was very beautiful) and kick my legs and she would say “See, you can do it!”.

We would go home where there was a great celebration of food with big pudding. Oupa Mike got the biggest plate of all! Only for pudding. Oupa Mike loved pudding. In the afternoon, my Mammie would leave. We would stand outside and wave and I would try to smile and pretend it was okay. After Mammie left, everyone had to have an afternoon nap. I hated afternoon naps. I didn’t have to sleep. I just had to keep it silent in the big house. I was scared of silence and being alone and I would cry in the pillow of the blue room because my Mammie left. I would wait for Oupa Mike and Ouma Chrissie to wake up so we can have toast. We always had toast on Sunday nights.

I worked at: Jumping off the highest pavilion at school into the sand. I would be so scared, but I did this over the entire course of my primary school career…. practised at not being scared.