Swirl

2. The Reckoning.

A/N: Hey guys. I thought I'd put up a few definitions to help you understand what's going on better.
1. Apartheid : basically, systematic segregation based on race that was predominant in 20th century South Africa.
2. Passbook: legal documentation during the age of apartheid required to be held by black people to allow them to be found in certain areas.
3: Wrapper: a large piece of material with tribal prints often wrapped around the lower body of African women as a form of dress.

Some translations I'll be using often, too:
Ja : yes.
Aikona: no way.
Wena: you, but can loosely be translated as a form of exclamation.

As always, let me know what you think.
Happy reading.
Please vote and comment.💕

~~~

The following day, Achim's spirit was deeply unsettled. He spent the day packing because over the weekend, he'd be journeying back to school for the beginning of the next semester. However, he was less than thrilled. He was currently battling with feelings of failure.

He felt like he had failed humanity, personally. After he spoke to his mother the previous day, she consoled him and told him that there was nothing he could do but treat everybody equally, be they black or white, servant or master.

But that wasn't enough for him.

Have I really been this ignorant? He thought.

Granted, he was more of a home body, but considering what he was studying, he felt like he should have at least tried to make a difference.

Twenty-three.

He was twenty-three years old and never in his short life had he seen such blatant disrespect to black people. Sure, he heard about it, but as the saying goes, 'Seeing is believing.'

Honestly, he felt utterly gutted to identify with a group of people that thought it was normal to degrade one race because they 'looked' thuggish.

And that was just the thing. To Achim, he didn't see thugs. If anything, Mamello and Kopano looked sincerer than a lot of the people he'd encountered in his life.

But, society.

Society was implicitly plagued with this disgusting mentality that people of different colored skin were not equal. What does it matter if we all bleed red? If our tears are all colorless? He thought.

Achim then thought about a parallel universe.

Suppose the tables were turned and instead, black people were the dominant race in society. Would white people have wanted the same courtesies they extended to black people? No, they would all cry wolf in kind.

His heart ached physically. He tried to ignore it but the more he thought about the injustices that had been going on under his own nose, the more it hurt. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest, like his heart was breaking.

He took a break from folding his shirts, and decided to sit on the bed. Bowing his head, he felt so useless and above all stupid. He let out a low growl signifying his frustration.

A soft knock on the door interrupted his agony. Raking his hands through his hair, he looked up and yelled "Come in!"

Gently, the door opened and his line of vision was met with Lerato, Patience's daughter.

He was surprised (and it showed in his wide eyed stare) because rarely, if ever, did he see her inside the house. It's not like she wasn't allowed to be in it, but she preferred to keep to herself in the quarters.