Sweef | ‘n Pa vir Saterdag – Christo Davids | English Summary

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‘n Pa vir Saterdag – Christo Davids

Tino daydreams about being the standout player in his rugby team, scoring three consecutive tries and having his teammates lift him in adoration. His father in the crowd is screaming proudly. However, this is but a daydream, as Tino has been sitting on the bench looking out at the now empty rugby field since the match began. His team has a meeting in the changerooms and Martin makes fun of him for barely getting any time out on the field. Next week it’s Father-and-Son day, meaning that the team must all bring their fathers along to play in that rugby match. When his teammates leave, Tino remains seated, and the coach asks him if his father will be at the match next week. Tino lies and says he’ll be there. The coach promises that he’ll let Tino play both halves in the next game. The only problem is that Tino does not have a father to bring. He knows he has a father because he’s seen the wedding pictures, but he can’t ask because it upsets his mother too much. His father isn’t dead, and that’s all he knows.

On his way home, Tino wonders how he’ll bring a father to the next match. He sees some of the older boys and quickly dirties his clothes in order to look like he actually participated in the match. Jerome, someone who is unemployed but has mysterious ways of making money, sees Tino and asks how the match went. Jerome lies and tells him he scored three consecutive tries and was the man of the match. Proud, Jerome hands him R10, saying it’s from himself and “the boys” to show their pride in their little man. Tino lies again saying he’s going to be playing in the first team the following week, adding that he expects R20.

At home, he tries to tell his mother that he needs to bring his father to the next match, but she is in a hurry to get to her nursing job. Monday morning breakfast is awkward when Tino brings up the subject of his father again. His mother is adamant on not telling him about his father, and when Tino gets to school, he has the unpleasant experience of having to lie to Martin, one of the better players in the team, about his father. Martin’s father played for their school’s first team. Tino lies, saying that his father played provincial rugby, but it’s clear that Martin doesn’t buy any of it. For the following days, Martin keeps asking questions about Tino’s father and the lies build upon each other.

On Wednesday, Tino tries to get Jerome to stand in as his father, but Jerome doesn’t think people will believe it. At rugby practice, Martin keeps pushing the issue. Tino lies to him saying his father is in Holland, working for a big company there. Martin makes a big announcement to the coach and teammates that Tino’s father played for Western Province, and thus, there will be a celebrity participating in the match on Saturday. The coach’s eyes fall on Tino, and he can see the suspicion burning behind them.

Friday night, a few hours before the match, Tino is nervous because he still doesn’t have a father to bring to the game, but also because it is the first time he is being picked for the squad. He feels like the jig is up, but he can’t tell them the truth because they’re all going to laugh at him. He takes a walk outside and finds the street practically empty aside from a few stray noises here and there. He goes past the garden gate and steps into the backroom to fetch the ladder. He sets it against the side of the house and slowly climbs up to the very top. Now on the roof, he carefully walks over to the side of the roof overlooking the road. He can see a lot from up there and the street remains empty apart from a man on a bicycle whistling as he rides by and a stray dog that comes to urinate on one of the streetlights.

The cold sets in and Tino sits on the roof until he can no longer bear it and as he climbs down from the roof, his legs feel stiff from the cold. A car can be heard as it passes by but he takes no mind of it. As he closes the backdoor, he stares across the passage at the door to his mother’s room and hesitates.

He eventually heads into his mother’s room, which he hardly ever enters. It smells of perfumes and various products. He finds the photo album and pages through it, finding the wedding photo with the picture of his mother and father smiling like there’s no one else in the world. “So what if they find out the truth tomorrow? I’ll just tell them I had them all fooled”. He decides that if he ever has a son, he’ll go to all his rugby games.

SummariesKeroshan Pillay1 Comment