59

I'm having a very bad day. It starts with the weather. When I wake up and look outside, it is raining, cold, and there isn’t a blue speck in the sky.
On my way to the dining hall, I run into a tall figure.
“Sorry,” I mumble, picking up my phone and pocket mirror.
A manly voice curses in a foreign language.
When I look up, T'bose is glaring at me and by the time my eyes adjust he’s poured the contents that are in the white plastic cup on my blouse. The coffee smells metallic and creates a somewhat reddish black stain on my blouse.
My eyes are the size of saucers and I remain still for a second, waiting for an apology that never comes, instead I fall prey to his unwavering hostile glare. A cold chill stabs through my spine. If I don't get out of here within a second I'll kill him, literally.
I rush to the bathroom and viciously try to get the stain out but to no avail. I give up and make my way to breakfast. I am already fifteen minutes late.
The second I enter the dining hall, I lose my appetite. Elder Mdu spits to the floor every few seconds. He even blows and picks his nose and doesn't bother washing his hands. He uses the same hands to pick through the thin slices of bread.
This is when the room just clears, stampeding through the door.
There are trainees in front of the door, dressed in the same black-and-blue uniform I wear with great detest (I look like a squashed, frozen sausage in the damned tunic). They're rendering the halls with their easy banter and infectious, ringing laughter. I dive forward. My foot gets wedged in front of the door jamb and I spill into the hallway, falling right into Adunbi's brother, the one from the arena who looks like Loliwe, Madam Thembi's Potbellied Pig. The similarities don't just lie in the same small erect ears, short legs, or short neck but he also has a pronounced potbelly.
He loses his balance (the last thing my great day needs) and I land with a thump on top of him. He scowls.
"I... sorry," I mumble, embarrassed, feeling my face grow warm.
He is so angry his ears turn red at the tips, much the same as Loliwe when she’s throwing a tantrum, demanding extra carrot to eat. He puts his fox-face right up close to mine. "ya will be."
I give a nervous glance at him and try to get up, my knee-length skirt catches and the horror slams into me then. Half of my skirt is locked inside of the dining hall.
Adunbi’s brother keeps making these snarling sounds through the nose(sounds similar to those made by a chicken fighting a flu).
With an intake of breath (which makes him look like an angry frog) he shoves me off of him. He uses so much force that the back of my head bounces against the wall and then I go face first onto the cold hard floor.
Quickly, I cover my face with my hands. As luck would have it, I manage to avoid bruises on my face that would've sent D'ziko to a state of panic, but the same can't be said for my skirt.
The familiar sound of fabric tearing haunts me until the rip stops at my upper thigh. Oh Gods no, not this too.
The other kids form a ring around me and raucous laughter fills the corridors. Of course these slimy-booger eaters find this hilarious.
I lean my hands, palm first, on the walls, push myself to my feet and brush the dirt off me. Chin up. Shoulders back. Can never keep a Ntola down.
This amuses the crowd more. Trying to sew back my skirt with my fingers is of no use.
But then Kaseke, bless him and his purple socks, is suddenly here. Mute. He helps me into my shoes (when did they come off?) and takes off his jacket and then turns around to look, no, glare at the trainees before us. The laughter dies so suddenly that I think I must've imagined it in the first place. Some guiltily shrink back against the crowd and then hurry for the exit.
Only a handful remain, standing as far away from Kaseke as the hallway allows.
He removes his shirt, buttons it up and leaves the last two buttons undone. He hands it to me and it takes me a second to realise he's made a makeshift skirt for me. His thoughtfulness gives my heart a sudden warmth. I quickly pull his shirt under my ruined skirt and make a knot with the sleeves at my waist to hold it in place.
I remove my skirt and toss it in the garbage bag, just outside the door. I search for my backpack that had my change of clothes and frown when I see Kaseke dangling it, smiling. He gestures with his hand for me to follow him and a sense of... gratitude washes over me as I walk beside him. The blue dye would certainly come off in this rain.
"What are ya doing?" I ask him when we break outside, my voice raising with alarm as he pulls me under the shade of his umbrella while he gets drenched.
His expression turns hard. "It's pouring buckets."
"So?"
This seems to horrify him. "ya don't actually expect me to let ya walk in the rain, did ya, Steel?"
I shrug. Why does it matter to him?
Kaseke clenches his jaw but doesn't speak. I stumble in the muddy trail that cuts through the woods from my new house to the training facilities.
I've never used this route before, even though it is safe and the other kids use it frequently, Mama always worries I'll get butchered or worse yet, barbecued by some strange drifter with missing front teeth and orange hair(possibly a character she made up when she was younger). Mama, before marriage and kids, wrote novels that will most likely never leave her desk. I tried to read one when I was seven, (I say tried because I couldn't get past the first chapter) the scenes were just too horrific for middle grade. It was a horror with very vivid descriptions and a villain that preferred to eat uncooked pre-teens(with a particular interest on their private parts) for his lunch.
My stomach's been turning since I woke up. I'm not one to ignore my intuition and so I know the second I enter the training room that my day won't get better. And I'm right.
The second Elder Mdu comes in, he pairs us up. My partner is Stone.
It isn't until five minutes later that I find out Stone isn't my partner at all. He's my opponent and today we fight. Against each other.
When I hear this, my heart forgets what it was made for. It's beat doesn't return for what seems like hours.
It scares me, like I'm stripping naked in front of strangers
Stone is muscle (of course he is. He deals with stone weight everyday), I don't remember him being so tall (it's disturbing). What a weird combination. As muscled and ripped as tree trunks and tall as a basketball player. Hmm. That's not right. He wasn't this...this inhuman the last time I saw him, was he?
I jerk to the girl next to me. "Hey," I say. "Do ya know if he drank something?"
She laughs, as though I've made a joke. "Like?"
I shrug. "I don't know” --I lean over and whisper in her ear -- “Some sort of potion that's helped him sprout muscles?"
The girl laughs again. But I'm not trying to be funny.
"I know exactly what ya mean," she says, taking my hand and squeezing it. "It's unfair that they pair ya with a guy. He's so strong. He'll win for sure."
I don't know why but I want to prove this stupid girl wrong. Somehow her words feel sexist to me. Like I don't stand a chance just because I'm a girl. It's like she doesn't consider anything other then my gender. I work hard dammit. It'd have been better if she said I don't stand a chance because I'm not as muscled, that it's unfair because he lifts weights and I don't. But she's basing her theory, which if I'm being honest is point on; I will lose, on my gender.
Stone is already waiting for me in the small arena. He flexes those rock muscles and my stomach writhes. I hope I don't vomit on him. If I do, how can I ever command respect from these kids? It wouldn't do me any good.
The girl pushes me forward, murmurs good luck, and flashes me her crossed fingers.
I walk towards him, taking my time, thinking about how to best approach this...fight. It feels wrong calling this a fight. In my head, I beat him to near death. He begs for mercy. But now that I'm standing some four paces away from him fear takes over. My heart pounds so fast that I feel it in my fingertips.
Run. My brain screams at me. Run.
I press my feet firmly on the floor and get into position. I should be fine. I took self defence lessons, didn't I? Didn't he?
Oh Leza!
"Goddess Imani," he says. His bow is stiff. "I'll go easy on ya. I wouldn't embarrass ya like that. I'll hit ya once or twice and then it's yer turn. Don't worry about me. I can handle pain."
If I'm winning this match then it's because of my abilities. How can I expect to win against the Essence Thief should the day come, if I can't give training my absolute best.
Knowing that he knows he will win is even worse. But I swallow the rising sick feeling in my stomach, and ball my fist.
"Do no such thing," I say, pleased by how calm my voice sounds. "If ya win, so be it."
His eyes narrow as he gives me a confused look.
If? If? Why did I say that? When he wins sounds about right.
He nods but I see it in his eyes. He won't fight me. He won't fight me the way he'd fight my brother. He won't fight me the way he'd fight the Essence Thief. Dammit, he won't even fight me the way he would any other girl. My position somehow makes me fragile in his mind. Is this how they all see me? Not an opponent but someone they should protect, always?
He's looking out for me. For my reputation. I don't need a babysitter right now. Tough love, anyone?
I slap him once. His skin flushes black with blood. He's like Mama, his kids would die in the event of his death. He gives me the other cheek and this makes me so damn angry that I punch him in the jaw. I hope this tells him what he's refusing to hear. I want a fight. I want him to take me seriously.
He stumbles a few steps and I ran towards him, blind with rage. I swing my fist, it hits his nose, the second time and he snaps out of it. He punches me in the stomach so hard that I fall backwards.
I'm so glad I skipped breakfast.
He moves so fast. Don't his feet touch the ground anymore? He kicks my side. My shoulder.
I crawl to my feet. I must get up. I swing. He dodges. Why is he so fast? It's impossible. I swing again. Always for his face. He moves back just in time.
He kicks my side, my ankle. I won't submit to defeat. I must keep to my feet.
I keep swinging. I don't care that I'm missing. I have only one goal. To get him up against the wall. Since he refuses to hit me anywhere above my neck, I will hit him only in the face. This is the only place I can do most damage.