Documents
SCENE 12: DOCUMENTS
AUNTIE is seated at the head of her table.
AUNTIE: (shouting) Silumko! Kholo! Yizanohlala nam etafileni. [Come and sit with me at the table.]
SILUMKO and KHOLO take seats on either side of her, facing each other.
AUNTIE: Silumko, I have received a message from your mother. She has asked us to help you with the compensation forms. Kholo, get the envelope.
KHOLO goes to SILUMKO’s togbag and retrieves the yellow envelope of documents.
SILUMKO: Hey! Have you been going through my stuff?
AUNTIE: Ewe mntanam, Siyifemeli. [yes, we are family]. Family doesn’t keep secrets from each other. Now, we are going to look through these together. I don’t want any complaints. Your mother is worried that you don’t know how to do it and that you won’t get enough money from them.
SILUMKO: I am busy with them. I have until the end of the month to finish.
AUNTIE: The sooner the better. Your mother is desperate. We all are. Kholo, read this to me.
She hands KHOLO a piece of paper.
[...]
SILUMKO: Were you there, Kholo? Were you there when it happened?
AUNTIE: Silumko –
SILUMKO: I want to know.
KHOLO: I wasn’t there. I didn’t see anything.
SILUMKO: Liar. I checked the log book in the office. I know you were working that day.
[...]
KHOLO: (rising) Ngaze phinde undibize ngexoki, kunya kwakho! [Don’t you call me a liar, you piece of shit].
SILUMKO: Tell me. Tell me what happened that day.
KHOLO: I can’t talk about it. I’m not… allowed.
AUNTIE: Kholo!
SILUMKO: Not allowed? Kholo, we are family. Family doesn’t keep secrets, remember?
Beat.
KHOLO: They threatened us. Said we would lose our jobs. Made us sign a paper to say we wouldn’t talk about what happened.
[...]
KHOLO: Listen man. You must just leave the whole thing. We all signed the paper they gave us. No-one wants to lose their jobs. We don’t need you coming here and causing us all to be out of work.
SILUMKO: So what am I supposed to do?
KHOLO: Just use the report the supervisor wrote, fill in the forms and you will get your compensation. Don’t make a whole story.
SILUMKO angrily shakes off KHOLO’s grip and stalks off.
AUNTIE is seated at the head of her table.
AUNTIE: (shouting) Silumko! Kholo! Yizanohlala nam etafileni. [Come and sit with me at the table.]
SILUMKO and KHOLO take seats on either side of her, facing each other.
AUNTIE: Silumko, I have received a message from your mother. She has asked us to help you with the compensation forms. Kholo, get the envelope.
KHOLO goes to SILUMKO’s togbag and retrieves the yellow envelope of documents.
SILUMKO: Hey! Have you been going through my stuff?
AUNTIE: Ewe mntanam, Siyifemeli. [yes, we are family]. Family doesn’t keep secrets from each other. Now, we are going to look through these together. I don’t want any complaints. Your mother is worried that you don’t know how to do it and that you won’t get enough money from them.
SILUMKO: I am busy with them. I have until the end of the month to finish.
AUNTIE: The sooner the better. Your mother is desperate. We all are. Kholo, read this to me.
She hands KHOLO a piece of paper.
[...]
SILUMKO: Were you there, Kholo? Were you there when it happened?
AUNTIE: Silumko –
SILUMKO: I want to know.
KHOLO: I wasn’t there. I didn’t see anything.
SILUMKO: Liar. I checked the log book in the office. I know you were working that day.
[...]
KHOLO: (rising) Ngaze phinde undibize ngexoki, kunya kwakho! [Don’t you call me a liar, you piece of shit].
SILUMKO: Tell me. Tell me what happened that day.
KHOLO: I can’t talk about it. I’m not… allowed.
AUNTIE: Kholo!
SILUMKO: Not allowed? Kholo, we are family. Family doesn’t keep secrets, remember?
Beat.
KHOLO: They threatened us. Said we would lose our jobs. Made us sign a paper to say we wouldn’t talk about what happened.
[...]
KHOLO: Listen man. You must just leave the whole thing. We all signed the paper they gave us. No-one wants to lose their jobs. We don’t need you coming here and causing us all to be out of work.
SILUMKO: So what am I supposed to do?
KHOLO: Just use the report the supervisor wrote, fill in the forms and you will get your compensation. Don’t make a whole story.
SILUMKO angrily shakes off KHOLO’s grip and stalks off.
