The letter.

Months went by and Rowena was still adjusting to carry on with life without the presence of those who cared the most about her. Life is like that sometimes, what else could she do except to accept her fate and move on. As for the little soul that was her, she had so much to endure. All she could do was to concentrate on her school work to take her mind off things and then she would attend the dance classes and aerobics for extra distraction. And that worked. She was putting all her effort to become the best as they were preparing to compete for aerobics in a biggest tournament that was going to be held in Johannesburg. She was excited about going to a big city that everyone was crowing about. Her dreams to be in Johannesburg vanished the day she lost her last relative while they were travelling. She washed her hands in that fateful day that she would never go there again. There were many stories she heard about Johannesburg and some of them were scaring him. The only thing she heard about the city was that it was a place of money and elite. There were some who would lay it with a trowel that money was delivered in dishes in Johannesburg. They said that because there were mines that produced gold and diamonds and the mining magnates were making millions out of those precious stones. The reality was that the mining magnates who were the group of capitalists were using the poor people to dig the stone in return of the leftovers that came as a wages for the hard work they performed in the mines. The miners who were the poor people from the villages would dig up these precious stones from depth of the earth and afterwards they proclaim victory not for them but for the white man to become richer while they become poorer. That is how the things worked in a capitalist world. The poor make the rich to be richer,

As for Rowie, the only thing she knew about Johannesburg is the clothes Themba bought for her. She still loved those clothes. Everytime she missed her family she would wear them. She would feel much closer to them as now that she believed that they were her ancestors and were watching her everywhere she was going. Sometimes she would dream about them. In her dreams she would be that happy child who was showered with so much love and things would be seem real until she walked up to face the reality. They were gone and were not coming back. This made her she a little tear but console herself afterwards for she knew that no one would ever console her So, everytime she wanted to uplift her mood, she would take her suitcase and look for everything that will remind her of them. One day she was seating on the floor searching for anything that would remind her of her aunt who just passed away. She came a cross a brown envelope. She opened it and found photos and a letter. Apparently the envelope belonged to her late aunt. She put it in Rowena's bag when they were packing to prepare their journey to Johannesburg. She was about to read the letter when the matron came to check their dormitory. She came to Rowena's passage and passed by her while she was opening the letter. She caught the glimpse of the photos that were enclosed with the letter. She became curious and asked Rowena to give her the photos so that she could look them at a closer inspection. They were the photos of Rowena while she was still young. Then the photos of her late mother and a white young man who was mentioned as Rowena's father. What made caught the matron attention was the name written at the back of the picture. It was written ' Owen Miller father of Rowena Mathebula.

The matron was reading the letter with much interest and her eyes were growing bigger as she continued reading. It was quite apparent that she was taken up by the information she was grasping from that letter. She made occasional sighs as she was reading. " What was it that concerned her in Rowena's family letter? Only God knew what was going on in her mind. After she read it she quickly left with returning it to Rowena. Rowena was surprised and she could not even ask the matron to return the letter and the pictures. She was dying to Know what was written in the letter. She couldn't even take a closer look at the photos. She remained there like she was hit by major storm. After a while she stood, collected her clothes and put them back in her bag. She put it in her locker and leaned against it while in deep thoughts. She was scared that she might be in trouble. She kept wondering what it was that caught the attention of the Matron in those pictures or the letter. Was she wrong to open the letter infront the matron? She kept wondering.

After an hour later the bell rang in the dining hall. She hesitated to go there as she was scared that she might not be in the matron good books although she was not sure what crime she committed. She went to the dining hall crossing her fingers that the matron could forget about the incident of the letter incase she was in trouble. She entered the hall and quickly sat in the back row of the seats. She kept looking around while she was eating. She ate hastily and quickly went back to the dormitory. She took her book and did her school work. After finishing her school work, she put her books in her school bag. The matron came to their dormitory and ordered them to make an evening prayer. She then left without saying anything to Rowena. Rowena went to sleep feeling a bit relieved. The following morning, the matron did not say anything. Rowena was convinced that maybe she had forgotten about the photos and she told herself that she would not remind her. She decided to let the sleeping dogs lie. And that was it, she did not hear anything about the photos again. She even forgot about them.

The day of the aerobics tournament arrived. They were excited about the trip. The matron and her assistants prepared them for the journey. They made sure that each and everyone of them was looking clean and tidy. They carried snacks and drinks in their backpacks. The bus took off and the children were screaming with excitement. They sang songs and enjoyed their snacks. Rowena was seating next to the window enjoying the view. She was crunching the cookies and sweets while others were chatting and laughing. She was not speaking to anyone because she had no close friend. The only thing that made her happy was travelling a long distance and the snacks she was eating. She could not wait to be in Johannesburg. She kept wondering how big it was.