When Hoopoes Go to Heaven Read Free Page B

his lap.
    The bookshelf was another thing he loved about this house. It was something completely new. Baba was an educated somebody, he was Dr Pius Tungaraza, but any books he had were about his work so
he kept them at his office; and Mama always said she wasn’t an educated somebody who read books. Every second Saturday the children went to the public library in Mbabane, but borrowing and
returning books was just not the same as having a bookshelf full of books to choose from at home. They weren’t the Tungarazas’ books – they belonged to the house like all the
furniture and the pots and plates and sheets and towels – but Benedict could read them whenever he wanted. Amongst them was a whole entire set of encyclopaedias! Okay, not quite a whole
entire set. Somebody had stolen XYZ so he could learn only as far as W. But still.
    That night he was paging through the book about all the birds you could see in southern Africa, smiling to himself as he saw the picture of the shy Burchell’s coucal, the bird with the
water-bottle call that he had managed to see in the garden that afternoon, so he was already smiling when he looked up as Titi came in from cleaning up in the kitchen. She smiled back at him before
quietly taking her place next to Grace on the couch. His attention distracted from the book, he tuned in to what Mama and Baba were talking about.
    ‘Only five cakes this whole time! Five! ’
    ‘I know, Angel, but—’
    ‘It’s my business , Pius. I’m a businesswoman, a professional somebody. Baking cakes is what I do. It’s how I contribute to the family.’
    ‘I know that, Angel.’
    ‘But it’s not just that I’m not contributing. What am I supposed to be doing with all this time on my hands? It’s not like I have to do all the housework
myself.’
    ‘I know.’
    ‘I’m bored, Pius! Bored!’
    ‘Well—’
    ‘ Eh! Boredom is a terrible thing! Terrible.’ She shook her head. ‘Uh-uh-uh.’
    ‘Well...’ Baba took a deep breath. ‘Maybe you could... learn something new?’
    Benedict knew that Baba would suggest learning something new. He had heard him suggesting it to lots of other people. If somebody was unhappy, Baba suggested learning something new. If somebody
wasn’t getting very far in life, Baba suggested learning something new. Learning something new was Baba’s answer to almost any problem.
    ‘ Eh! Me? ’ Mama put her hand to her chest. ‘You know I’m not an educated somebody, Pius. I’m not somebody who reads books.’
    Benedict smiled, moving his eyes down to the bird book so that neither of them would notice that he was listening.
    ‘Books are not the only way to learn, Angel.’
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘Well... haven’t you taught other ladies how to bake cakes?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And did they need a book to learn how?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘You see?’
    ‘What? What are you saying? That I must learn something that doesn’t take books? That I must learn how to milk cows? Because what else am I going to learn here on this
farm?’
    Baba was quiet for a long time, and Benedict knew that he was thinking. It was Mama who spoke next, and it sounded like she had been thinking, too.
    ‘Maybe I could manage the downhill walk to the highway to catch a minibus taxi, then I could get to some kind of class in Mbabane. Those taxis are dangerous... overloaded... not looked
after. But not all of them crash! But, eh , I don’t know about the long uphill walk up the driveway to get home again...’
    ‘ Eh! Angel!’ Baba sounded like he’d just had a very good idea.
    ‘What?’
    ‘Why didn’t I think of this before?’
    ‘What?’
    ‘You could learn to drive!’
    ‘ Eh? ’
    ‘Yes! It’s perfect!’
    ‘ Eh! ’
    ‘I mean, I have the Corolla that comes with the job, the Microbus just sits here in the garage during the week, and you just sit here at home without your business keeping you
busy—’
    ‘But am I not too old?’
    ‘What are you talking about? Your