Timwa Lipenga (1975- ) Timwa began her career as a Journalist for The Nation, Malawi's main daily newspaper. She has a Master's Degree in Francophone Literature from the Sorbonne (Paris, 2002), and a Master's Degree in English Literature from the University of Malawi (2005). She is a lecturer in French Literature at the University of Malawi, Chancellor College. Introduction This story is about the lifelong bond between two sisters, Linda and Aisha. As a child, Linda idolises her older sister Aisha and follows her everywhere, even if it means taking risks and breaking rules. The sisters grow very close and have fun together - especially swimming in the stream, which is forbidden. But as they grow up and life gets harder, the sisters choose different directions. Linda chooses marriage, home and community, while Aisha leaves for the city. In the end, the sisters are re-united through shared tragedy. Key literary features The story is in the genre of , touching on the social issues of IDS. The plot structure is unusual in that there is no real climax or resolution. In the end, all the conflicts in the story are overtaken by an even bigger, more tragic and hopeless conflict that we know will never be resolved. Yet there is a message of hope in the sisters’ loyalty and love for each other. 35 Powered by CamScanneroo 4. Swimming partners Timwa Lipenga She was born two years before me, my leader. As our parents had no more that I had Aisha’s full attention, and | wa: sense of the word. and by virtue of bir children after my bit pene s her dedicated follower nt ver 4 " From the time | could talk, | tried to talk like Aish ind wit, finally walk, | followed her everywhere. The most ominous threat |g ‘A receive from my mother was that, if | was naughty, Aisha Would run ou So | generally behaved, for | could not bear to be separated from wi, sister. 8 We both attended the village school. She was two dl me and, when I was in Standard One, | used to wait unti Threes knocked off. | would sit a few metres outside waiting, tired and hungry. 58S ahead of il the Standag her classroom Her friends teased me because of the way | followed Aish; 1a around, There were those who were nasty and called me ‘Slave’, There were those who were anes Pha tagging along and called me ‘Shadow’ Aisha herself oscillated between these two moods, Sometimes she would get irritated and try to sneak away from me. At other times she would just accept me as her shadow, and would make plans for both of us. | would not be consulted, | would just be told what we would be doing on that particular day, One day, soon after | had turned seven, Aisha informed me, ‘We are going to the stream today.’ We had just knocked off from school and we were on our way home. I stared at her. ‘To draw water?’ She giggled. ‘No silly. | didn’t say the well. | said the stream. Let's go.” | 36 Powered by CamScannerAs | followed her, | could not help feeling a bit nervous. Mother never allowed us to go to the stream. We only ever went to the well, and we would draw enough water from the well for cooking and bathing. What would Mother say if she ever found out? But this was Aisha, | reassured mysell, everything would be all right, We got to the stream around 3 o'clock. Aisha started taking off her school uniform and | decided to do the same. Then she stepped into the water, | stood watching her. ‘Come on in, It’s fun!’ she yelled, splashing about. ‘Ican't.' | said, my voice barely audible. She stopped, surprised. It was the first time | had ever refused to do anything she had said, ‘What did you say?” ' cleared my throat. ‘I can’t. | don’t know how to swim.’ She gave a heavy, exaggerated sigh to show her irritation. ‘Linda. | don’t know how to swim either. | am playing. Now, are you going to come into this stream or are you going back home? With that ultimatum the choice was very easy to make. | stepped into the water. Oh, but it was cold! | shivered the way | did whenever we went to draw water during the month of June. During that cold, cold month, as we made our way to the well at dawn, | sometimes felt as if the cold was entering my body through the cracks in my feet. My legs would feel unbearably cold, then it would be my arms, and then my teeth would start chattering. | would walk the rest of the way to the rhythm of my chattering teeth. That was the feeling | had now, but Aisha was happy and splashing about. | tried to do the same. If Aisha was doing this, surely it could not be so bad. She splashed some water at me. | ‘Aisha-a-al’ | screamed. | decided to hit back. We started chasing, 37 Powered by CamScanner—_— ar, 1 soon forgot each other around, each one trying to splash at the other. | ¥ the cold and started enjoying the game. i joying the ga into our schoo! uniforms We le ing. We got ; le left the water towards evening. We fe shivering. She did not talk again and started running towards home. Both of us wer When we got home, our mother was lighting the fire. to us until she had finished stoking the fire. ‘You two girls are not coming from school. Where have you been?’ she asked suspiciously. ‘Um, we were looking for firewood.” Aisha said, looking down. ‘Linda, is that true? Were you looking for firewood?’ Mother asked, | was in an awkward position. | did not want to lie to Mother. Both our parents had punished us before for lying. But then | did not want to betray Aisha either. So | took the safest but most damning way out: silence. yn] auidencra! The silence seemed to drag on forever. Although | aboided my mother’s gaze, | could tell she was still looking at us, searching for clues, | was still shivering, both from the cold and from fear. ‘Why are you trembling like that?’ Mother came close and touched my head. Then she touched Aisha’s, That was when | raised my head to look at her. | saw confusion on her face, then anger. “You went swimming?’ she asked in a frighteningly calm voice. ‘We were not swimming ... we were just ... p-p-p-playing”’ I stammered. There was another silence. Then my mother turned to Aisha. ‘As the firstborn, | expected you to show more responsibility,’ she said in the same calm voice. ‘I did not think you would drag your sister, who trusts you so much, into such a dangerous situation. | am very disappointed.’ Then she turned to me. ‘Linda, you do not know how to swim. 38 Powered by CamScannerYou could have drowned in that stream. You know that you catch cold easily, and yet you went ahead and swam. You worry me because you cannot think for yourself. You-arefike-the-khope-bird-which; although: [Link], ‘etsiselfbe carried in any-direetion-that thewind chooses to blow’ Lin. fie CEE SRT Ea. Ket © Then came the judgement. ‘I'm not going to tell your father about this, He has enough problems worrying about how we have not managed to harvest enough maize this year. We do not even know if we will manage to get a good price for it in the city. Why should I bother him about two disobedient dalighteest jvivevit aiet We heaved a sigh of relief. My father, strict disciplinarian that he was, would surely have used his leather belt on us for such blatant ii ee Wt hevet disobedience, not to mention the risk to our lives. Mother continued: ‘!*¥ ‘But just to show you that | am not happy with what you have done, there will be no supper for you tonight. If you had wanted supper you would have been here to help me prepare it.’ | stared at her in dismay. Aisha showed no reaction. | could see from my mother’s face that she would not be Rvayed ivthis matter Ea We lingered by the kitchen, which was a separate and small hut, away from the main house. My mother had prepared pumpkin leaves with groundnut stew, my favourite. Then she took another pot and started dishing out dried-fish stew. | thought | would collapse with hunger. She covered the food and took it inside the house together with the thickened maize porridge, nsima. The food was for my father. Mother then came back into the kitchen. She put the nsima, vegetables and fish that had remained on a plastic plate and started eating. Aisha and | watched her hungrily as she swallowed each mouthful. | thought | would cry, but as Aisha would probably have laughed about it, | kept quiet. We learned a lot from that experience, but the most valuable lesson was ‘to be more careful next time’, 9 E17 Weridi he sre |? 39 Powered by CamScanneroF “ade| a Buynoqysiau a Ul pany OYM SIYIOI ABPJO JY a4oM ayoy) Yoyow Aw woy yedy asnoy sno Uy UoOWAaYe aL) UI Pfay sem SuNaaW ayy “BundoW Aquey ® aq pinom axaup IU SN joy ays Aepimes e Uo ‘Kep au ‘spuayaem Uo Jay dyay Aluo pinoo am os pue are awoy awes Mjersn am ang ‘Jooyas Atepuodas Aep B 0} UaM a “pooYtfant| NO J0y Ps 01 ose ang ‘poo; 40) Aju Jou Y8noua Bunsamey pue Play aziew ayy Sugeagyno yo yse) Su8uayjeys au) YIM parey Mou sem Jayjow Ay “sn jo. 20} aun NOYIp e seA\ | “asnoy ano Jo Joos ayy BulyDyeyp a Ym Jappe| 54) WO} 9) 3} “palp sayey ano “| sem | pue gL sem eysiy uayy “ajt] 1No jo ped e wou Aq sem “Suwums 94} WO sn Ja}ep JOU PIp UaLuOM BuIaq 19, /e2yIWWOD 24) 0} suay: P omy Aed 0} aney JIM squaed ANoA Jo 'P YUM sanjasinok PNPUOD “uap}IyD JOU ‘MoU UALIOM aye NOA, ‘SP, ysiuowpe 0) BuiBuIs stay) jJo 94019 Map ny 7 i aul se pardnuzalut aq of pey Auowaras ay) SAL] [eIaA|S “aU wo ayquinus Pinom eysiy day uaaq pey ‘sayew-a8e ajeway ‘sn A ep tena, OMI B41 YDIYM UL WOO! pasofouD ay} fine 98 § M J9P|9 By) JO aos sy ‘Ayaqnd paypea jsnf pey Soa, UNOK Joy Ajjenuue PIPY sem yoiyar ‘Auowaiad uoneNtUL ayy ua POPS am “¢ seny | pur S| sem ays uaym ‘Moy Jaquiawual YR spay ays “ASS & ULYL a1OW seAK eysiy awn sin) Ag ha “wei m UN Luang a tuead}s BY) 0} JUaM Pr YO Y>Pa Ie Ino payse O48 Jang Pane *dwo> PINOM aan Aj Ooy>s ye 1S [Ins am Ing AsayuNy ayy UMS SOW PUP WIS 0} sadjasiNo 1YyBNe) Pakejd 3M sawed ay) jo Aue uey) snorard ovo Yiu! Bu1aq anoge Wopaay Ulead eB SLA aJOYL “WROIS ye Paroosip pey 1 Aiqeqoid ya OM auoy Ms WHO Hung 3M Ing ‘spuany sno yr Av OF low Ay ‘au poo# ur yoeq ated aA IY) Jaq 1POOmauy Jo 1RYs NO paypid aay ains ape ISN! AM id ™ eH sy paysaap JOU pey juawysiund s,20y10/W Powered by CamScannerHer brother Petulo started speaking, ‘Last week, your mother came to me with a problem, She has been struggling to make ends meet since your father passed away. She has made a decision and asked me to support her in that decision.’ He turned to her. For the first time in her life, my mother looked nervous. “Your uncle is right. You all know how we are suffering. Money was difficult enough to come by when your father was around, It is worse now. Linda and Aisha, every term you are chased away from school because you have no school fees. The house we live in is only partly thatched.’ She was close to tears now. ‘I can no longer afford to send you to school. | do not have enough money. Please understand.’ Aisha spoke in a hushed voice. ‘Mother, are you saying we should stop going to school?’ Mother nodded. ‘I tried to avoid such a decision, and | have been around the village, borrowing money. But it is difficult. No one is rich enough to help me to pay for the two of you, no one.’ We were stunned. Although we had indeed been humiliated by being sent back home because of no fees, we had always taken school as a given entity. We had never thought the day would come when we would [Link] leave school. My mother continued. ‘I even talked to our Member of Parliament about you, but he said that he already assists three orphans from this village. He says he does not have enough money for two more students.’ And so we stopped going to school. Instead, we would now go to the maize field very early in the morning; then we would be back at home in the evening. | think the maize field marked our transition into womanhood more pins the melee Pee Meakey Sul hee eee than-the initiation ceremony had ever done. For the first time in our lives, we could no longer go swimming. 41 Powered by CamScanneros a az fel that two of the village's promising young farmers, Yakobe and tice my to take more than a polite interest in the two of us, When u, Sy Y thy le, helping 8 the, Itwas while we were occupied with the m was not around, the two pos accompany us hom, maize sacks. | iG Jot if: , Then one day, after an exhausting day, evening. Aisha turned tome it the ‘Linda, | can’t take this anymore. I’m leaving the Village,’ she | was alarmed. ‘Why?’ “clay ‘If don’t go, | will always be stuck here, It breaking work, day in, day out. | know that Ya my hand in marriage, and it will probably be on you. There must be more to life than this, leave tomorrow. will be the same kobe is Boing to Bk iy SOON. Itimu has his Come with Me, We yi ‘But Aisha, how will we survive in town?’ ‘We will find jobs. We may not have school certificates, but at leas we are literate.’ | was scared. | had never been to the city. Life in the village was har but I was used to it. But taking a plunge into the city ...2 ‘I can’t, Aisha.’ She stared at me, then played her trump card. ‘Then | will eave you tomorrow.’ But it did not work. She left alone the next day as, for the my life, | stood by my decision and refused to go with her. As she had predicted, | soon got married to Itimu, Over a period of three years we had two daughters, the pride and joy of my ageing mothe. They sometimes reminded me of Aisha and me. | missed her a lot, but there was a lot to occupy me in the village: taking care of the children managing our maize field, and trying to keep an eagle eye on imu, whe Was seen, if not as an eligible bachelor, at least as an attractive calc first time in 42 a - Powered by CamScannerBy the village standards, the fact that we had a corrugated-iron roof over our heads showed that we were rich, and there were many who wanted to share this ‘wealth’, Aisha came back last week. It was the first time we had met in five years. She is a pale version of herself, all skin and bones, with a dry rasping cough. | have taken her into my house to look after her. It was a decision | had no difficulty in making. Since my husband died six months ago | have wanted an adult companion in the house. And what better companion could | have than my childhood one? We do not talk much, as she spends most of her time sleeping. But | know that she has got the deadly AIDS'. She told me, during one of those moments when she was lucid. 9" \ $*@_ Perhaps, one of these days I, too, will have the courage to tell her that it is not only wealth that Itimu shared with me, it was AIDS, too. Perhaps one of these days, | will tell her: ‘Aisha, you and | are still swimming. partners.’ Until then, | am acting the part of the stronger sister. Sy We wie GLOSSARY by virtue of: because of; as a result of deterred: prevented; stopped ‘ominous: worrying; warning of danger —_vigour: energy; enthusiasm; spirit oscillated: moved back and forth admonish: scold; reprimand; warn ultimatum: challenge; final demand taking a plunge (literal meaning): damning: giving evidence of guilt Jumping or diving into water disciplinarian: authoritarian; very strict__ taking a plunge (idiomatic meaning): doing something difficult or risky that person blatant: obvious; deliberate requires courage swayed: persuaded; made to change lucid: clear; reasonable; making sense ‘one’s mind ' In the setting for this story, there is no cure or treatment for AIDS so it is described as deadly. However, in South Africa, some people with HIV or AIDS are now able to live long and healthy lives with anti-retroviral drugs. 43 Powered by CamScannerto compare jer the Fi s below und: obedient, a leader, follower, confident, trusting, dedicated, takes independent, respects authority, wants more from life, indecisive, 17) ther says she is like the khope bird. Is cautious, risks, decisive, loves freedom re-read the paragraph where there truth in this comparison? love swimming? Quot am was SO preciou: to leave school and work i in her and go to the city, Linda is afraid of takin, the significance of the idiom taking a plunge a Linda's mot Give reasons. ea sentence from the story that s to them. rf in the maize fields? 7 Cr Why did the girls explains why the stre Why do the girls have When Aisha asks Linda to joi plunge into the city? Explain the context of the story. Do you think Linda's life as a marries .d woman in the village is happy? Give ; reasons, a) For how long does Aisha stay away from the b) Why does she return? Aisha into her house at the end of the story, Linda says, - When she takes adecision |had no particular words? Linda takes In the last paragraph of the story Linda and Aisha exchange roles: But is she really stronger now than Aisha? on the role of the stronger sister. Q) ge before returning? (y) difficulty in making. Why do you think the author uses th lese ) () Q Powered by CamScanner Explain your answer.