chapter1.1
The advantage of sunset, apart from the beautiful view, is that the cool evening air is gone, and the heat and hard work of the day are gone, at least for those who don't work nights. I live in a building sandwiched between two others, so I never see either sunrise or sunset. What's more, for me, evening means the end of one ordeal and the start of another. I work by day in a secretariat and by night in a seedy club in SOWETO, a town located in the south-west of Johannesburg, one of South Africa's richest cities but also one of its poorest. Situated on the side of a bumpy, dusty road, the lack of drinking water and electricity makes living conditions even more difficult, although it's a good thing the garbage collection service is provided by the local council. What comforts me a little is knowing that I don't live on the Motsoaledi side of the street, where living conditions are worse. I stay in Chrie Ani, where the houses are made of brick and living conditions are better.
Situated on the side of a bumpy, dusty road, the lack of drinking water and electricity makes living conditions even more difficult, although it's a good thing the town council provides garbage collection. What comforts me a little is knowing that I don't live on the Motsoaledi side of the street, where living conditions are worse. I stay in Chrie Ani, where the houses are made of brick and living conditions are better. I live in a 15 square meter room divided into a bedroom and a kitchen with the bare minimum. The kitchen contains a few dishes, cooking utensils, a kerosene stove, two small basins and a table, while the bedroom has a single bed, a small table and a chair at the left end of the bed, and two bags containing my clothes. As for the walls, they're pale glass. I'd say rather worn by time and mildew. As for the walls, they're a pale glass, I'd say rather worn by time and mildew.
I forgot to mention that my name is Carla Bosh, but I like to be called Lalie. Unfortunately, it was my mother who gave me that nickname, as she passed away 4 years ago. It was a very difficult time, the darkest period of my life. I'll never forget that Sunday, April 14th, when that doctor in a white coat gave me the worst news of my life, I didn't even have enough time to realize that my mother was gone and wouldn't be coming back. After I was already in front of her closed grave, with a few unfortunate wreaths of flowers and after the mourning rites, I never went back there again at first. It was due to lack of money, then shame due to the lifestyle I was leading. I knew it wouldn't make her proud of me. I left school a few months later, after my exams, to force my way into working life.
. No more big dreams, school training, big job, a big house, several cars, a husband and children before I'm 28, despite the fact that I've never been very good at school, I'm quite intelligent or rather wise. I graduated from high school at the age of 21, but the delay was due to a lack of money to pay school fees. I started as a housewife and I can say today that it was the worst job there is, the working conditions were good, and I was housed and fed. On the other hand, the members of this family treated me like an underling, even though the pay wasn't really convincing, but I stuck it out. I was able to save up and move into my own little room a year later, where I started doing odd jobs, waitress in mini-markets, selling in stores or even working as a warehouse assistant, before landing a job in a secretariat. I do typing, photocopying, printing - in short, everything that secretarial work entails - and six months later, I started working in this seedy bar called the Green. Even the name doesn't make any sense, it's a mix of French and English, and the color doesn't match the all-colored, dirty place that the Green is.
I've just finished getting ready to go to the green, but I'm not really looking forward to it because the work clothes are very short. I'd say they're just scraps of fabric to cover our genitals, which is the last straw, is that we have to tease the customers for pittance tips and not whine when they decide to take our bodies for items that need to be palpated to test the merchantability - fortunately for us waitresses, we can still say no to indecent proposals from customers. I have a rather ordinary physique, with a slender height of 1.80 m. I've never felt that I had a very generous figure either. My skin is black, and I'm thin, in fact, I'm 60 kilos at the drop of a hat. I've never found my face to be famous, so I don't think there's anything special about me.
-Lalie! Finally, you've arrived, Prince came by earlier. I had to tell him that you went to the toilet, cause you've eaten something bad during the day. Greeted me Ana once I was through the gates of the Green. She was literally the only person I sympathized with on this earth.
- thank you so much Ana, you saved my life
- You're welcome, my lielie, you know how Prince takes great pleasure in reducing your salary every minute you're late, and I know you really need the money, it's only normal.
- I'm going to change quickly, before he comes back and sees the deception.
We both laughed about it and I hurried off to the locker room to change and start the service. Everything went on as usual during the service, indecent touching, which I dodged as best I could, dirty talk, a few tips here and there, loud music and people dancing as if they only wanted to form one flesh, strong smells of sweat and alcohol flowing freely, to think it's Wednesday, the middle of the week and people are partying like it's the weekend until practically 2am.
When I got home, I fell straight asleep to be able to start tomorrow morning at eight o'clock as usual. Ana was the only person in my life who came remotely close to being a friend, and we hardly saw each other outside of work either. She has other friends and a busy social life, unlike mine, which is home, work, the beach and sometimes church. I have no other activities, and I know that no one would envy my life, cause it's a dull routine. Today, it's Sunday and I have to go to mass. I often go to Sandton, to look at the handsome guys. At least in church the poor can mix with the rich and I can quietly admire the pleasures of nature even though i can't have any of them, at least I can see if you haven't understood. I was referring here to the male gent populating the streets of Sandton. I have an ordinary physique, so at the age of twenty-five, I've never kissed or been in love, let alone had s*x, yet I want to kiss, I want to experience one of those kisses like the ones you see on TV or those romantic scenes described in novels. In any case, I have a lot of crushes, it's better than nothing, isn't it? I've had to go to Ana's a few times to watch TV. In fact, I don't have one at home; when my mother died, my brothers and sisters rushed to take the few TVs we did have, and in fact, they took everything I had. To distract myself, I often went to the library to read novels and escape the emptiness of my life
