Sweef | Nog iemand vir pynappel op pizza? – Elmarie Botes | English Summary

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Nog iemand vir pynappel op pizza? – Elmarie Botes

Tiaan angrily tells his mother that he doesn’t want to be there and storms off, struggling to get the front door open. Being new to town, he has no idea where anything is, but Suzanne gave him a piece of paper with her address written on it. When he looks closer at the paper, he sees that it’s a little map that shows him how to get there from his house. He has no idea how she knows where he lives, but he brushes it off and heads over, the conversation he had with his mother replaying in his head. He heads over and notices the houses getting bigger the further he goes. He turns right and goes up the hill to find 105 Welgelegen Street – the last house, the biggest house.

He presses the doorbell, and while waiting, he gets nervous about who might answer the door. If Suzanne’s mother answers the door, he won’t be able to give a good reason why he’s there since he's there to copy Suzanne’s science homework. Soon the gate opens, and Tiaan walks onto the property, and at the door, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl with big earrings welcomes him. He notices how she looks different from school. As they walk through the house, Suzanne shouts for a Riami to bring drinks for both herself and Tiaan. The name rings a bell for him, but he’s not too sure.

When they get to her room, she tells him that her dad has been busy setting up her bookshelf and so it’ll be a little messy, but Tiaan thinks that she hasn’t cleaned up in weeks. As she takes out her science textbook, Tiaan notices a CD – Four Seasons by Joshua Bell. He excitedly asks if she could play it. Her aunt sent it to her for Christmas. As they listen to it, they do not speak, and Tiaan is a little embarrassed that his mind is running a mile a minute just because of a guy who plays the violin. “Oh no, not another concerto fan!” The voice surprises Tiaan, but not so much as the sight does – Riami, the short-haired girl to whom he initially thought the name belonged, stood in the doorway with a bottle of Coke and four glasses. She looks different from the way she does at school, with her short hair spiked up and dyed purple.

Struggling to get the bottle open, she asks Tiaan to do the honours and pour Coke for them, while she reaches for balls of wool and begins to knit. She asks if he can swim because she needs someone for her relay team. He starts telling her that he was in the swimming team at his old school, but before he can finish, she tells him they’ll meet on Monday at 5 o’clock for practice. At this point, Tiaan’s nerves have calmed down, and he’s finding it difficult to hold in his laughter. He isn’t showing up as someone on a swimming team; he’s just going to swim as Tiaan.

The doorbell rings and Suzanne gets up to answer – it’s Richard, a learner in Grade 9C. Richard says hi and pours himself some Coke and also tops up Tiaan’s Coke without him having to ask. Suzanne, Riami and Richard talk about things that Tiaan is unfamiliar with, and after a while, he remembers that he only came to borrow a book. He also remembers that he left the house without telling his mother where he was going, but he sits and listens to the voices around him, which now sound distant. He thinks about his previous life and how distant it feels to him now. The life of swimming, swimming and more swimming all so everyone can see him as a real sportsman.

Suzanne tells the others that she’s hungry and suggests they go to the kitchen to make pizzas. Riami gestures at Richard and tells Tiaan that she hopes he doesn’t eat only sushi and Indian curry the way Richard does. In the kitchen, Tiaan struggles with the grater and cheese, very nearly cutting himself on the sharp edge of the grater. Meanwhile, Richard- with-the-muscles is dexterously chopping up onions – it turns out he makes the best pizzas ever for his rugby friends.

Suzanne then takes him to the garage where she shows him her bright red motorcycle. She’s just waiting to turn 16 and then she will be able to ride it. They hear the sound of Richard playing the piano and it sounds beautiful. Tiaan asks how long he has been playing. Richard says it has been 8 years. He asks Tiaan if he also plays the piano, but Tiaan actually plays the violin.

SummariesKeroshan PillayComment