Suddenly she’s at my side, arms wrapped around my waist and whispering, “Gelukkige verjaarsdag, Wrentjie.”?1
My cheek catches on the name tag pinned to her jumper as I melt into her hold, inhaling the heavy scent of cinnamon. I’ve sought her during the busier dips in her schedule, desperation guiding me forward. Her arms are probably the safest place since Mum died, and now I’m folded here, but my brain’s a right bastard.
It’s replaying last night, the candle burning in my room, one I trusted instinctively because this woman right here has been buying me candles since I could count. It can’t be her. Not my Lydia. But the link is there, all rusted and wrong, so I hold her tighter in the hopes that I could smother that intrusive thought out of existence.
“Dankie?2,” I mutter against her clavicle, the word nearly lost amongst the quick kisses she presses to my head. She cups my face and pulls back to land a wet one on my nose. “Jy klink soos iemand wat net bly is ek het dit tot hier gemaak.?3”
She gives a teary laugh and pats down my cheeks, subconsciously searching for injuries. If she notices my tenseness as her hands approach my neck, she doesn’t reveal it.
“Moenie speel nie, kindt van my. Ek’s eintlik bly jy’s nou hier, al is dit net om my senuwees te kalmeer.”?4
“Jou toon maak my ’n bietjie bang, neh. Wat gaan aan?”?5
She pulls me aside and tucks us both into the alcove where a broken refrigerator used to be. “Ai, I nearly had a heart attack when I heard people downstairs were getting sick. When Margot brought my dough and she said‘flu’, I thought that if there’s a germ in the air, it’s coming straight for you.”
Well, she’s not wrong there. My immune system clocks out at the first sign of a sniffle. “I know my luck’s usually bad, but evenI’mnot that unlucky. C’mon, it’s my birthday.”
What happened wasn’t the flu; I seemed to have ordered the murder attempt instead. Nothing unusual for a Sheffolk girl, after all. No big deal.
Lydia doesn’t even crack a smile, just checks over her shoulder to see if anyone’s listening, but they’re too busy trying to keep up with Gran’s schedule.
“So after I hear that, I’m already planning the soup and looking for the Vicks, and then Susannah tells me it’snotthe flu. Eish, three juniors were smokingdagga?6 in their room while the rest of us are working ourselves into the ground! Next thing, they’re all sick, and Susannah’s marching them out,” she hisses. “Fokkol?7 shame, and then they get themselves fired on ball day. Of all days,nogal?8.”
But there’s a thorn beneath the thin skin of my throat, a warning trying to draw my attention to the map of last night’s violence. No such thing as a coincidence in the House of Sheffolk.
“What kind of sick, Aunty Lydia?”
“Eish, bad. They said their throats were burning and they couldn’t breathe properly. Couldn’t stop coughing, and they were dizzy, man. That skinny one, George, lost his voice for an hour. Susannah said it was like they breathed in something bad, and I wanted to yell,‘Ja, dagga!’Fools, all of them,tsk.”
Breathed in something bad.
The next few seconds pass by in a blur, Lydia whipping out her phone from her apron pocket. It folds over in the middle, and I remember the way she gasped the day I bought it for her, like the screen breaks and reheals itself every time. Next thing I know, there’s an email shoved into view.
Subject:Conduct Breach – Dormitory 4A
From:Susannah [email protected]
To:Department Heads (Maintenance, Household, Events, Wardrobe, Kitchen)
Cc:HR; House Manager
Team,
In the early hours of this morning, 3 junior staff members were taken ill in Dormitory 4A after consuming what we believe to have been a contaminated cannabis mix. The symptoms experienced – dizziness, nausea, ocular irritation, and respiratory irritation – required Security and House Manager intervention.
Air testing showed traces of cannabis, acetone and, alarmingly, formaldehyde. Read that again. Involved individuals are safe and have been removed from the rota. The area has been ventilated and cleared. Operations continue as scheduled.
This is your reminder:
• The possession or use of drugs/alcohol in staff areas is prohibited.
• If you engage in these activities off property, it is your responsibility to ensure it is safe and legal. Unknown mixes are not smart. Watch what you consume.
• Do not report for duty impaired.
• Do not endanger your colleagues by contaminating shared spaces.
Our commitment is to provide a safe working environment, and we encourage all to uphold that standard. Please keep movement calm and routine; we have a high-profile event and a full house. Pull it together. If you encounter a capacity gap, contact Pascoe for floaters.
