blood-brothers.'
'What does the oath sound like?'
'One of us makes up the oath and the other repeats it after him. At the end you say Amen.' Frikkie looks at me with his brown eyes and asks softly: 'So ... do you want to be my blood-brother?'
I don't know what to do. Frikkie knows exactly how to soften me up and sometimes I wish we never became such good friends. I sit for a while, and then I have a plan:
'OK. But only if I can say the oath and you repeat after me."
Mark Behr
'OK,' Frikkie says. 'Get the elastic bands.'
I take two elastic bands from the desk. We each tie a band around our forefingers, and the tips turn red almost immediately.
'I don't have a pin . . .' I say, and look at Frikkie.
'Go fetch one quickly.'
'No, I can't go downstairs again. Dad thinks we're asleep already.'
'Where's your compass?' he asks, and shows me his finger turning blue. Mine is a funny purple. I search around the drawer and find my pencil tin. I find the compass amongst the pens and pencils.
'Stick it into my finger,' he says, and holds out his finger to me. Frikkie bites his nails and now the skins are all curled up around the nail of his forefinger.
'Do it yourself,' I say, and hold out the compass to him.
'You must do it, otherwise it doesn't work. Hurry up or else our fingers might fall off. The blood is completely cut off He gives me his hand to hold in mine. With my free hand I push the compass against his finger that's looking like a mulberry.
'You'll have to press harder, else nothing will come out. Stick it in.'
This time I shove harder and Frikkie jumps back when the point goes in too deep. 'Ouch!' he groans. 'That's too much.' Almost at once, there's a drop of blood on his fingertip.
'Let me do yours quickly,' he says. 'Before the blood falls off mine.'
I hold out my finger to him. I close my eyes as he comes towards me with the compass. I feel the jab and when I look again, there's a drop of blood, pushing up from the skin. Then we rub our fingers together until it's sticky.
The Smell of Apples
'Now we must make the oath/ I say, and start moving over to the Bible.
'Take the elastic off! Your finger's going to fall off.'
I put the Bible on my bed and we kneel beside each other, with our fingers on the Bible's black leather cover. I make up an oath as I go along, and Frikkie repeats after me:
'We swear before the cross of Jesus Christ.' And I wait for him to finish before carrying on:
'That from now on we're best friends.'
'That from now on we are best friends,' he repeats.
'That we'll never ever repeat what one of us has told the other.'
'That we'll never ever repeat what the one has told the other.'
'Amen,' I say, and open my eyes.
'You can't say Amen yet! First you must say that we'll tell each other everything and that we'll give our lives for each other. And then you say "One for all and all for one", and only then Amen.'
'That we'll tell each other everything,' I say, and he repeats.
'That we will die for each other.'
'That we will die for each other.'
'One for all and all for one.'
'One for all and all for one.'
'In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'
'In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'
'May God strike us dead if we ever tell someone else about things that are our secret.' I open my eyes to look at Frikkie. He gives me a quick glance and looks me in the eye while he repeats:
'May God strike us dead if we ever tell someone else about things that are our secret.'
Mark Behr
'We swear on our mothers' lives . . .'
'Marnus!' he starts, but I tell him to repeat it or else we're not going to be blood-brothers.
'We swear on our mothers' lives.'
Then we say Amen. We get up off our knees and climb back into bed.
'Now you can tell me,' he says.
I look across at him. I'm still not sure.
'Remember that God's going to strike you down dead if you tell anyone. And Dad'll chuck both of us into prison.'
'Marnus! We're blood-brothers now,' he answers.
'Ja, I know. I'm just reminding
'What does the oath sound like?'
'One of us makes up the oath and the other repeats it after him. At the end you say Amen.' Frikkie looks at me with his brown eyes and asks softly: 'So ... do you want to be my blood-brother?'
I don't know what to do. Frikkie knows exactly how to soften me up and sometimes I wish we never became such good friends. I sit for a while, and then I have a plan:
'OK. But only if I can say the oath and you repeat after me."
Mark Behr
'OK,' Frikkie says. 'Get the elastic bands.'
I take two elastic bands from the desk. We each tie a band around our forefingers, and the tips turn red almost immediately.
'I don't have a pin . . .' I say, and look at Frikkie.
'Go fetch one quickly.'
'No, I can't go downstairs again. Dad thinks we're asleep already.'
'Where's your compass?' he asks, and shows me his finger turning blue. Mine is a funny purple. I search around the drawer and find my pencil tin. I find the compass amongst the pens and pencils.
'Stick it into my finger,' he says, and holds out his finger to me. Frikkie bites his nails and now the skins are all curled up around the nail of his forefinger.
'Do it yourself,' I say, and hold out the compass to him.
'You must do it, otherwise it doesn't work. Hurry up or else our fingers might fall off. The blood is completely cut off He gives me his hand to hold in mine. With my free hand I push the compass against his finger that's looking like a mulberry.
'You'll have to press harder, else nothing will come out. Stick it in.'
This time I shove harder and Frikkie jumps back when the point goes in too deep. 'Ouch!' he groans. 'That's too much.' Almost at once, there's a drop of blood on his fingertip.
'Let me do yours quickly,' he says. 'Before the blood falls off mine.'
I hold out my finger to him. I close my eyes as he comes towards me with the compass. I feel the jab and when I look again, there's a drop of blood, pushing up from the skin. Then we rub our fingers together until it's sticky.
The Smell of Apples
'Now we must make the oath/ I say, and start moving over to the Bible.
'Take the elastic off! Your finger's going to fall off.'
I put the Bible on my bed and we kneel beside each other, with our fingers on the Bible's black leather cover. I make up an oath as I go along, and Frikkie repeats after me:
'We swear before the cross of Jesus Christ.' And I wait for him to finish before carrying on:
'That from now on we're best friends.'
'That from now on we are best friends,' he repeats.
'That we'll never ever repeat what one of us has told the other.'
'That we'll never ever repeat what the one has told the other.'
'Amen,' I say, and open my eyes.
'You can't say Amen yet! First you must say that we'll tell each other everything and that we'll give our lives for each other. And then you say "One for all and all for one", and only then Amen.'
'That we'll tell each other everything,' I say, and he repeats.
'That we will die for each other.'
'That we will die for each other.'
'One for all and all for one.'
'One for all and all for one.'
'In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'
'In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.'
'May God strike us dead if we ever tell someone else about things that are our secret.' I open my eyes to look at Frikkie. He gives me a quick glance and looks me in the eye while he repeats:
'May God strike us dead if we ever tell someone else about things that are our secret.'
Mark Behr
'We swear on our mothers' lives . . .'
'Marnus!' he starts, but I tell him to repeat it or else we're not going to be blood-brothers.
'We swear on our mothers' lives.'
Then we say Amen. We get up off our knees and climb back into bed.
'Now you can tell me,' he says.
I look across at him. I'm still not sure.
'Remember that God's going to strike you down dead if you tell anyone. And Dad'll chuck both of us into prison.'
'Marnus! We're blood-brothers now,' he answers.
'Ja, I know. I'm just reminding
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