The Boy Next Door Read Online Free PDF Page A

who encase their bottoms in tight fitting trousers or paint their lips with bright red lipstick. These are the two things
     that make him most angry when we Window Shop, and it is best to cross the road if you spot them before he does.
    The other good thing about Baysview is that it is close to the Drive Inn. Daddy likes going to the Drive Inn because it is
     a chance to take the Cortina for a drive and check the work he has done on it during the morning on Saturday. Sometimes we
     will not reach the Drive Inn because he hears a strange noise and turns “the Old Lady” back. We unpack the baskets of food
     and blankets and watch ZBC instead.
    When we
are
at the Drive Inn, my heart beats very fast no matter what movie is showing. I sit outside on the gravel, leaning against
     the front of the car, covered with a blanket and eating the sandwiches Mummy has brought. Most of the time I’m not watching
     the movie on the giant screen but the groups of young white people who are calling out to each other, kissing, laughing, talking
     in their style.
    “Hey Mike…!”
    “Howzit!”
    “What’s happening down your neck of the woods?”
    “Did you check…?”
    They are my movie. Daddy also likes the Drive Inn because it is near the airport and it has the best view for seeing British
     Airways going back to England.
    Now, Baysview is full of blacks.
    The McKenzies were the last remaining whites on our street.

6.
    Mr. McKenzie Senior
died in his sleep. Rosanna said that he was having such a good time in his dreams that he forgot to wake up. Maphosa gave
     her a bad look and said that the only thing that was called for was for Mphiri to be finally allowed to go home and rest.
     That old Bhunu had died in his own home not bothered by anyone; Mphiri should do so, too.
    Daddy said that it was all that running and trying to be a young man that was probably the root cause of it all. Mr. McKenzie
     Senior’s body had got worn out and given up the struggle. An old man could not compete with young men; he only ended up making
     a fool of himself. What’s more, there was the hair dye, earrings, and leather jacket Mphiri had mentioned to Rosanna that
     Mr. McKenzie Senior had started wearing just before his death. The man had obviously felt pressurized.
    Mummy suspected Foul Play. She had never heard of someone dying like that. What had he eaten the night before, for instance?
     And look how happy Mrs. McKenzie seemed. She was not even dressed in mourning.
    Daddy said that Mrs. McKenzie was not even white. She was a Cape colored, and everybody said that Mr. McKenzie Senior had
     picked her straight off the streets. Mummy pointed out that she must be reverting back to her old ways; day in, day out, the
     gate was clanging open and shut, all types of men coming in and out.
    As far as we could make out, there had been no wake or gathering of sympathizers at the McKenzies. Even though Daddy and Mummy
     had had only a very limited contact with Mr. McKenzie Senior, they went to the funeral out of respect. When I got home from
     school, they were still talking about the disgraceful way Mrs. McKenzie had behaved.
    “She was smelling of beer,” Mummy said. “She couldn’t even stand properly.”
    Daddy said that there had been very few people there and the boy had come over and thanked him for coming. He had introduced
     his mother, who had also come from South Africa, to them.
    “A very nice woman,” Mummy said. “Very good. She even shook my hand. Sarah. Sarah Price, yes, that’s it.”
    Mrs. McKenzie had then come pouncing on them, talking nonsense, accusing the boy of trying to throw her out of the house and
     already plotting to get his hands on her rightful inheritance, saying that he and his mother were spreading lies all over
     Bulawayo about her.
    “She even tried to attack him with her claws,” said Mummy. “She had to be dragged away.”
    Daddy went back to work, and Mummy went to rest because she had a headache.
    I started