Mandy

Her whole life Mandy was treated like a Princess. Except for her parents no one dared raise their voice at her. In the past her parents had taken away her gadgets and allowance as punishment but they have never raised their hand at her. Now she was whipped with a sjambok by a teacher at a government school she hated on her first day! She couldn’t believe it and cried even louder.

“Stand up and stand in front so the whole class can see you” He commanded.

Mandy who was now shaking, did as she was told. Thandi felt sorry for her. It was their first day, this punishment was ver harsh in her eyes. The rest of you sit down, he ordered.

“Number 21, tell number 8 why she got eight strikes” He commanded again. He knew all their names but preferred using their desk numbers. Numbers made sense to him.

The girl who was sitting on desk numbered 21 stood up and stated eight things Mandy did wrong.

“You are wearing a blouse not school shirt, your skirt is not the school skirt, you not wearing socks, you not wearing school shoes, your nails are long and painted, you are wearing earrings and you did not stand to greet Mr Q.”

Mandy was not wearing the school uniform. She was wearing expensive designer clothes in school colours instead. The school uniform was simple and cheap, her mother had bought her five pairs of it for each day of the week but she refused to wear it. Her whole life she never had to wear similar clothes as everyone else. To her school uniform was boring and embarrassing.

“Tomorrow I will double the stiles for each mistake, do you understand?” He roared again.

“Yes Sir” Mandy responded with a low shaky voice.

“Good, sit down” He commanded.

Mandy walked back to her seat and sat next to Thandi.

Thandi felt so sorry for Mandy that she instinctively scratched her left hand under the desk and held Mandy’s right hand. Mandy did not resist, the sat like that the whole hour listening to Mr Q listing his many rules that can not be broken. Before he walked out, he told told everyone to bring their books tomorrow and must be neatly labelled and covered.

Everyone sighed with relief as soon as he walked out. The boys cheered themselves for not getting in trouble today.

The teachers that followed were all strict but friendly. They patiently explained what was required of them this year. Mandy could still feel the pain on her back but she was less agitated now.

She thought of many reasons why Thandi would offer her hand to comfort her. Was it empathy or was she trying to gain her favour like most people she has met? Mandy’s family was not among the top 10 richest in the country but was in the top 5 in the province, so people she did not know knew her. This was a government school with pupils mostly from poor families, some from middle income families and few from rich families who like her were expelled from the prestigious private schools and whose families wanted to teach them a lesson by bringing them to the school.

Mandy could tell from Thandi’s back pack that she was either from a poor or middle income family. So she probably was being nice so she can get something from her! Mandy was so tired of these girls. They wanted to be her friend either because they wanted her money or fancied her brothers or both. She would like to have a genuine friend for once. She decided to give Thandi a cold shoulder, she would rather not have any friends than have fake ones.

During lunch break, Thandi asked if Mandy wanted to go to the bathrooms with her to freshen up but Mandy just ignored her. She got off her desk and went to the bathrooms alone wondering how she offended Mandy. When she returned to the classroom Mandy was surrounded by pupils. The girls were from different grades and had come to welcome Mandy to the school. Some were complementing her appearance, her designer clothes. Some had bought her chocolates, some snacks. It was like a competition of who could buy her more. These were girls were mostly from poor families using all the allowance money they had for the month to impress Mandy who did not look a bit impressed by their gesture. Mandy was used to getting more expensive gifts which she would turn down because her family could buy her anything she wanted and turning down gifts made her more mysterious. She fought the edge to tell everyone to get lost and stop being so fake but instead she turned each one of them down with a smile. She was not stupid, she did not want to offend the pupils in this school on her first day. With teachers like Mr Q she might need them in the future.

Thandi wandered if Mandy was a celebrity. She had never heard of her but clearly she was well known here. This did not surprise her though, she was from a village in a rural area where people did not have time to pay attention to the media and celebrities. Except for the news at 7 o’clock in the evening , her family hardly watched television. There was just too much to do than spend hours sitting down watching television.

Instead of going back to her desk which she shared with Mandy she started talking to the other new pupils in the class. They exchanged names and soon had full conversation. Thandi soon discovered that Cindy, also new was staying two blocks from her Aunts house and decided to walk together to and from school from now on. They were all not from rich families so except for Mandy, this school was an upgrade to them and they were very excited for the opportunity. They spoke about how nice the other teachers were except for Mr Q who terrified everyone.

Once the girls left Mandy’s desk, Thandi went back to her desk and sat next to her. They were desk mates but had not spoken to each other. Thandi decided to introduce herself first.

“Hi, I’m Than....”

“Don’t bother, not interested” Mandy lifted her palm and interrupted before Thandi could finish.

The bell rang again, few more teachers came to introduce themselves and expectations. It was time to go home. Everyone stood up and left the classroom.

Thandi and Cindy walked towards the school gate herding home. They did not pay any attention to the exquisite cars parked at the gate to collect the rich kids.

Beside her desk mate being so rude and Mr Q terrifying everyone, it was a good first day at school and Thandi was looking forward to more school days.

Thandi got to Noli’s house, eat her food and helped with the chores.

The car stopped in front of the pant-house, Mandy got out and banged the door and ran to her father’s study. She opened the door without knocking and started complaining about an awful day she had. Her parents were in the middle of the conversation when she got in without knocking or greeting and were annoyed by her behaviour.

Before they could respond Mandy lifted her blouse to show the sjambok latches. She was sure her father will deal with Mr Q harshly. She was so shocked when he asked her what she had done to deserve the punishment. When she told them about the 8 rules she broke and the 8 lashes her parents thought she deserved it!

“What!, how can I deserve it?” Mandy asked sulking.

“We bought you 5 pairs of school uniform and you still choose to wear your own clothes. It’s about time you act and behave like other pupils in the school.”These were her parents words. How could they! Mandy was very upset. Something must be wrong with her parents, she thought.