Makoti

Makoti

Makoti

The year is 1985, I am at my mother’s house in Pimville Soweto .I have sneaked into my room with a girl .It is now 4:30 am and it is time to escape out of the house before my mother wakes up and bust into the room to give me my weekend chores by 6:30 before she dashes of to her 7:00 morning mass at St.Fransis Anglican church in Rockville.

I am now a bit awake and still enjoying the romantics with a beautiful blonde girl that I had brought home.

Now, not only am I violating the immorality act, am also violating my mother’s ‘ no girl allowed in my house rule’ .At this point I am not sure what I should be more afraid of. My mother or the Apartheid police lurking outside? What makes matters worse is that I can hear gun shots at a distance.

You see, of all the guns that have been manufactured, none, make a sound as distinct as the AK-47. And if you had lived through South Africa’s turmoil years from 1976.You knew the sound of this Gun.

This is a gun that has widowed more women that any gun. What they do not tell you is that many young unmarried men and boys have also been killed by this gun.

Knowing all of the above I have to make a move!

My white Honda Ballade 160i,’Air Wolf ‘was great during the day but was useless in the early morning fog since it had no camafludge.One could see it glowing in the dark. This fact put some pressure on me to get out and go.

So I gently woke up my date and as lovingly as I can possible be under the circumstances got her dressed up for the escape. The high heels are great the night before and they show off that beautiful figure and that great back side but dam they are useless on my mother’s tiles in the morning. Particularly if you are trying to make a silent exit. By the time we got to ‘Air Wolf’ I swear I think I can hear so movement from somewhere in the house and some noise that sounds like a window tap is getting a bit loud. So we stop before we close the car doors to listen.Darm, it is ‘Spider’ my dog just getting excited that I am awake and he needs his morning pat on the head just to reassure him that I still loved him.

So now ,I am caught between the heart and the rock place. If I do not go back to calm him down, he would wake up the whole neighbourhood because he thinks that I am leaving without saying goodbye or giving him his morning pat on the head at least.

I then set my date roughly in the cold car, sneak back to my bedroom window to pat Spider on the head .As soon as he is calm I dash back to the garage to do my silent door opening trick (I cannot make this trick public since teenagers could be reading this.)Once the door is open. I slide Air Wolf out for the Great Escape.

Then I still had to take my route 206 to avoid the road blocks and the Comrades with their AK-47 to get out of Soweto.

As soon as I hit the Golden Highway I know that I am now clear and I can get back to the business of loving and comforting my date. Throughout all this she would be tensely by my side. Holding me occasionally and believing in me that I can pull this trough.

While silently believing that this is all a new adventure to us. Deep down she knew that I had done this before since I had been breaking the Immorality act since I was 16 and in the bigger scheme of things, It did not matter. We have had a great evening sneaked in and out of Soweto. All that mattered is that she is now my new ‘Makoti’.

And for the next 18 years we Trans versed what was then Apartheid South Africa!

Makoti-