Chapter 13 | Yellow fish that floated in the rain

I remember many of my primary school teachers but none of them stand out for me as much as Mrs. Begg. I idolized her and even though I never knew that I myself would one day teach, she was exactly the kind of teacher I wanted to be.

She had straight black hair, cut shoulder length, which she wore lose on most days. I found her mannerisms rather demure and I always thought she was one of the most beautiful teachers I had ever had.

I think her name was Yasmin. I can't be too sure.

Everyday before we came to class she would give us some insight into her personal life. Whether she updated us on the renovations underway on her house in Greenside, or spoke to us about the reason for her choice of outfit for that day, it made me feel like she was real.

An actual person with whom ordinary people could relate. I loved that about her. When I think about it now, I realize that in some significant way she had an astounding effect on me and without understanding it then, I had aspired to be like her.

Miya and I used to walk to school every morning, on our own. I was seven, she six.  

Someone reading this might possibly criticize my parents saying; how could they allow a children of such a young age to walk to school, on their own.

I say; I don't regret it. In fact, I am grateful for it. It made me fearless and in the face of all I was to encounter, that was exactly what I needed.

It was the year 1995. The Sultan Bahu Musjid on 4th Avenue was still a church. The demolition of which, began not that long after.

Miya and I were walking with identical umbrella's in hand. To our left was the park we spent most of our childhood in, to our right was the church and then some houses.

I had walked that street without incident, until that day. I heard a dog barking, a blackened garage door opening and a white car reversing. Out of nowhere a ginger haired dog raced towards me exuberantly locking his jaw into my ankle. No one came to my rescue, not the owner of the dog, nor the people sprawled over the grassy patch nearby.

I was closer to home and yet, I continued my walk to school. I wasn't paralyzed by my pain, in fact it didn't deter me in the slightest. It was only when I got to school did I stop to assess the damage. I noticed then, the tear in my pants and the pus that seeped out of the teeth marks etched around my ankles.

I went up to Mrs. Begg, patiently waiting while she dealt with another student. I told her what had happened, lifted up my trouser to show her my wound, unsure.

To this day I will never be able to forget her reaction. She shouted, called for a substitute teacher, swooped me in her arms, placed me in her white toyota corolla and asked that I direct her to my house.

This was around 8:30. We had woken Papa from his sleep. I don't know what shocked her more; the way Papa looked when he just woke or that he started shouting at me for being so 'stupid' (his words not mine) to not come home immediately.

The very next day, I walked the same route to school.

Even after all that, I wasn't afraid of dogs. Miya however, raced in the opposite direction whenever she saw one.

I neither remember the pain of the moment or the tetanus shot that came thereafter but I do remember the blue umbrella I held so firmly in my hand and the yellow fish on it that floated in the rain.