Chapter 2
Lizzy had first met Kym when she was 4 years old, and had just moved to Africa. Kym had a native mother and a white father, but his upbringing was still very traditional. He'd taken Lizzy under his wing immediately and shown her his world. By the age of 8 they were practically siblings, nothing was ever secret between them and Lizzy knew the land and animals as well as any native. By now she was fluent in Kym's language as well as knowing bits of the various other tribal languages, and the pair communicated in a garble of English and tribal. Every spare moment was spent together, out in the plain or just within the edge of the jungle. They both attended the local school, but Elizabeth also received home schooling from her mother and was a grade above Kym. She supposed it was the amount of time she spent with him that made her such a tomboy. Sure she socialised with the girls at school, but dolls and skirts had never interested her. Though she loved pink, especially the pink of her hair ribbon.
I will run for shelter
endless summer lift the curse.
It feels like nothing matters
in our private universe.
The pair had slowed to a crawl now. The ground was steep, probably a hill and John was struggling with the climb, partly because of his hold on Elizabeth and partly because he was plain tired. He shook the wrist he held but got no response. Looking back he saw Elizabeth's unfocused eyes, yet concentrated look. Her lips moved but no sound came forth. He turned back and continued on. There was no time to stop.
I have all I want, is that simple enough?
A whole lot more I'm thinking of.
Every night about six o'clock
birds come back to the pond to talk.
They talk to me -- birds to talk to me
if I go down on my knees.
Something was changing in Lizzy's world. Silences stretched between her parents and often, lat at night she would hear them argue. She still walked with her father to the town every Saturday and their chess games in the evenings never changed. Similarly the time with her mother was likewise the same. This wasn't her only problem; in school the class had been divided in the afternoons. The boys went out into the playground with Mr Sims, while the girls stayed in the classroom with Miss Gabby. The talks were about puberty and the changes that would soon be happening to their bodies. Lizzy was 10 and for her the changes had already started. Her mother answered any questions she had, but Lizzy still found the changes alarming and took great comfort in knowing that Kym was going through the same thing.
"You got hair yet?" the pair were making wreaths out of long grass in the afternoon.
"No, but mom, says I'm starting to get boobs." She undid her overalls and pulled her top tight to show Kym the two swollen lumps on her chest.
"Cool, just like Mama." Lizzy shrugged.
"I don't like them, they get in the way." The next day after school Kym waved her over and together they set off for the plain.
"Look! I got boobs too!" He stuck his chest out to show two suspicious mounds.
"What?" He laughed and lifted up his top to revel newspaper scrunched into balls, and stuck to his chest.
"They're not real, but I figured since you didn't like yours, if I got some maybe you wouldn't feel so bad. Mama helped." Lizzy smiled, but then frowned.
"Something's wrong with my parents Kym." She began to cry and Kym held her till the sun set.
Elizabeth was shot back to reality when the ground disappeared from beneath her feet and her and John went tumbling down a steep slope. They rolled for what seemed like forever before coming to an abrupt halt in the pouring rain, both of them soaked through.
"Under the fern, warmer." John barely hard Elizabeth's words as the she dragged him under the plant, and in from the rain. They curled together for warmth and Elizabeth told him all she had remembered that day.