Chapter 5.
1974.
That was a nice evening. He thought. I wonder if it was true what Attie and Marianne said yesterday that the two of them aren't happy. I didn't notice it. He got him-self a whisky out the fridge then dropped a block of ice inside.
After having drunk enough he decide to go to bed. He lay with his head against the board and suddenly the whisky took effect and he fell asleep thinking about Kim and the first morning he met her. It was such a cold and rainy winter's morning and I don't want to get out of bed but I know that mom knows all the excuses and tricks I use when I don't want to go to school so I have no option but to get up and dressed.479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2owLMi9OMJ
His dream was so vivid that he felt himself getting ready to go to school, all I have to do is make myself something to eat for breakfast and collect my lunch box. When I had reach the bottom of the staircase I look up and see her for the first time. A little surprised, I stop and my eyes are focused on her. Man she is a beauty. Wearing her school uniform she comes down the stairs holding onto the balustrade. 479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFwAMWJJ4S
With her head held high she takes every step with the utmost precaution. She stops. "Hello who are you?" She asks before going further.'479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdrKeCBRTVj
Stuttering. Da...Davy. He sees himself Iooking to the floor because he is embarrassed that he had stuttered.
How old are you Davy?
Eight. He replies
He smiles in his sleep. When she got to the bottom of the staircase she whispers in his ear. Oh.. I thought you were eleven. He says that again in his sleep. Oh..I thought you were eleven. Then he sees her pretty face with a thick mane of blond hair and a mischievous smile that dimpled her cheeks. My name's Kimberley but you can call me Kim if you want. She says nonchalantly without me asking.
How old are you Kim
I'm twelve. She replies as she walked towards the kitchen.
Not knowing what to do I watch her for her for a few seconds as she walks ahead. She turns"Well aren't you going to join me?" She asks.
I follow her into the kitchen, where we chat about school while we prepare our cereal for breakfast. I'm feeling really good that she is paying so much attention to me but it doesn't last long because as soon Veronica and Delvine walk in all her attention is directed to them.
She is in standard five, her last year at primary school and so is Delvine and we all go to the same school. She is very popular at school because of her sport achievements and she's not only liked by the pupils but by the teachers as well. Never before is a pupil from our school selected to represent the province for any sport but she is selected for two sports, hockey and tennis. She has put the school on the map and often she is called up to the stage at assembly and congratulated in front of all the pupils for her latest achievement.
As he dreamt all the memories of the times they had spent together came flooding back.
'In her room I watch her while she does her homework then we are talking about what she has read in yesterdays newspaper that her father left for her. We're talking about something in the sport column because we both enjoy sport. Was it fair that so and so still got a medal after bumping another athlete off the track and here look at this. Simons is not selected for the rugby teem. She looks at a photos of her mother and the one that she thinks is really special is framed and stands on the table next to her bed. She holds it close to her chest with her folded arms and tell me stories about her even if she doesn't know her.
One day you will look just as beautiful as your mother, Kim." But looking at her tonight, she is more beautiful. I want to kiss her.
When we are alone she brings out her battery gramophone and plays one of her records and while she listened to the music she lays on the carpet reading her girly magazines. I say put on a rock n' roll number and grab her hand and we dance.
One day when I meet Kim going upstairs to her room I say. Kim you are really beautiful.479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡleKXFug6sA
How could I say that to her? I am only eight years old.
How do you know that? She replied. Nobody has ever said that to me before.She is surprised that I say a thing like that to her.
I'm telling you. You look just like Hayley Mills.479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgTr7aLfAR
Davy you are so sweet. She says then carried on up the stairs and when she gets to the top she turns and smiles at me and I say I love you. She comes back down and they kiss.
Suddenly he is awakes. He hasn't undressed. Then he remembered it was all a dream. 479Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwO0rqBS1qC
He sits up on the side of the bed and remembers the day they were leaving and him going to say good-bye to her."Hello Davy, what wrong , why are you crying?"She had asked.
He remembers looking down at the floor and saying to her. "Kim I'm never going to see you again."
"Oh come on Davy. You can always come and see me when you come back to Cape Town for a holiday."
"But that will be a long time." He said sniffing back the snot drops from his nose."And by then you would have forgotten me."
"I will never forget you. You will always be my friend. Don't feel blue Davy. "She said looking at him. "Everything will come right, you'll see."
She took his hand. Then held it tightly and bent forward to kiss him. He put both his arms around her neck and held her tightly as they both began to cry."Davy please promise me if you ever come back here you will visit me."
He pulled away from her." Okay I promise." He said, then walked away wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.
Now 18 years later as he lay in bed his last thought was. 'Will I ever see her again.'
Sometime in 1979 he had a golf game on the Sunday morning with a chap by the name of Arnold. He also worked at Modern Assurance but he was in direct sales, selling life assurance. On the nineteenth hole they were having drinks in the club house after the game.
"So what is it that you actually do at Modern?"Arnold asks in surprise.
"This and that." David replies.
"What's this and that?" He asked.
"I'm in the pensions department." He took a sip of his drink. "To be specific, I handle claims, settle disputes, plan new pension schemes and ensure that pension schemes run smoothly."
"David." He says,"I bet that if you joined me in sales, within a couple of months you will be earning double whatever you're earning now,"he pauses to take a sip of his drink, Cardu single malt whisky,"If not treble, and what's more you will be enjoying what you're doing."
"You don't know what I'm earning."David said.
"It doesn't matter. I bet you'll do a lot better in sales."He takes another sip."You're a born salesman David. I bet that if you wanted to, you could sell me anything."
"How do you know that?"David asked.
"Because I study people. Just by talking to them, I can suss out what type of person they are. Are they liars? Are they thieves? Would I like them as a friend or a brother and if they were doing my job, would they be as successful as me."
"Tell me," David went on, "and how do you see me?"
"I would like you as a friend. Does that say anything to you, that I want you as a friend?"
"I don't know anything about you, Arnold. But I'm going to think about our conversation we've had here today and let you know what I'v decided."
"David, listen bud. You're not doing me a favor. I'm doing you a favor. In a years time, you'll come back to thank me."
He wasn't convinced but when he was driving out the parking, he saw Arnold at his car. A top of the range Mercedes Benz. That was then that he decided that he would give it a go.
The next morning he walked into his manager's office and asked for an internal transfer. He tried to convince David to stay. What ever positives Arnold had mentioned he had said exactly the opposite. "It's a dead-end job, only twenty percent succeed, you'll starve, David you will have to work day and night to earn what you are earning now."
David gave him his letter of resignation and went to see the managing director of sales and the next morning was given an office. It was august 1979.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
