Her Tattered Prince

Chapter 1

With her Walkman in the pocket, Katlo removed her headphones and placed them around her neck, although most would wear them around their neck for fashion use as a form of jewellery. For her it was sorely to listen to music.

She considered herself a music expert but hip hopap was her favourite genre.  It even influenced her fashion style.

She was wearing a ripped high waisted jeans with combat boots and an oversized shirt with a crop top.  She accessorised with a black choker on her neck.

The year was 1992. This was the era where there was no technology addiction. The world had no web browsers, search engines and cell phone networks, so social media had not yet made social life attenuated.

Portable media player known as a Walkman was “the” gadget, before the introduction of ipods. 

Leaning against the wall she looked through her back pack for another cassette so as to change the one she had been playing.

Her mother had bought her the cassette Walkman after she passed high school with flying colours.

She smiled at the prospects of being free at last, away from her overbearing mother. She knew her mother wanted the best for her but that did not take away the fact that she made her teen years awfully boring.

She thought her mother had been too strict with her. She had set clear rules in the household with consistent disciplinary action if those rules were broken.

She did not have many friends because of the curfews imposed. As such she missed out a lot on the parties, especially those which were raging house parties thrown by kids whose parents went out of town.

The only hanging out which was a physical thing then, was probably during the day when they would spend time at the mall all day and not buy a single thing but to wander around and hopefully catch an eye of the cute boys hanging out as well.

Most girls her age were dating however, her mother would have none of it. She could not even invite a boy over for a night of blockbuster or horror movie.

Dating for her was way out of the question. There was the notion of ‘no s*x before marriage’. Her mother had drummed that into her. So, when most teens her age were dating and indulging in other activities, she buried herself in her school books or listened to music. She found solace in music and her collection. She would spend time writing down the lyrics of the popular songs in her nicely covered and decorated book.

It was not surprising at her excitement when she signed up for the national service and was accepted.

National service was a requirement for every citizen to undertake upon completion of high school. One had to work for the Government for a year in a public institution. It was intended to provide a gap year between finishing secondary school and entering a tertiary institution.

Proof of service in the form of certificate was given at the end of the service. This certificate was required for further education or job opportunities.

The most interesting aspect of the programme was the cultural exchange; to appreciate other languages within the country and to learn different cultures of the country. Since the country was diverse and had different ethnic groups.

Individuals were placed in very remote areas of the country to work in primary schools, health posts or clinics in bigger villages. Participants from the city, towns and bigger villages were usually the ones posted to the remote areas.

Even though another objective was to improve personal development of the participants, for most of the volunteers, this was the main reason why they looked forward to this programme: The thought of being independent, away from parents or guardian was stimulating. It was even more enticing because volunteers were given a monthly allowance for their upkeep.

She had put her heart and soul preparing for the day she would be leaving together with other participants for an orientation.  It took her weeks of running around with her mother, buying all that she needed for months to come. Her mother made sure she had ample of canned food and toiletry to last a lifetime. She was determined to have the time of her life. Her excitement grew at the prospects of experiencing life for the first time and she was going to have the time of her life, in every way possible.

***

She was one of the earliest to arrive at the railway station. For the first time the participants were to be ferried by train to their respective places of orientation.

After some time, she decided to walk around in hope of meeting some participants from her former school.

She made her way through the jabbering crowd. She was fortunate to spot three girls who were in her class and coincidentally they were to be orientated at the same place as her.

A bond developed and the four were inseparable for days that followed.

After a week of fun, activities and bonding in the district headquarters, the day finally came. It was judgement day! Participants were being posted to their places of work.

Unfortunately the four friends were still coming to terms with one of them having to go back. The pregnancy test that was a requirement for female participants was conducted, they were woken up very early morning for their urine samples and the girl’s results came back positive. She was sent back the same day

The region was known for having the remotest areas in the country. It was mostly very small settlements, cattle posts and grazing fields.

There was a lot of excitement among the participants. The now three friends were huddled together with uncertainty. Katlo was a bundle of nerves. She did not want to be separated from her friends.

Her worst fear was being posted to one of those remote areas that were doing rounds among the participants. Of the three, she was the first to be called, she stood up.

She had butterflies in her stomach. She broke into a cold sweat. With her heart in her mouth she waited for her fate. The other girls were equally holding their breaths.

“Xanaga” announced the Coordinator.

“What?” the hall echoed in disbelief.

There were some giggles that could be heard from some girls who had no reason to be celebrating her demise other than that they were being malicious or spiteful. If looks could kill, they would have dropped dead as she turned and glowered at them. It was fortunate for them she was not anywhere near otherwise she would have throttled them. The bickering stopped instantly.

She felt numb. This was not supposed to be, why her of all people. There were over three hundred participants.

       Just then an idea crossed her mind, for now she would comply. Silently she sat down and drifted into oblivion.