When Time Fails (Silverman Saga Book 2) by Marilyn Cohen de Villiers Page A
Authors: Marilyn Cohen de Villiers
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election.
It was so different to other times she had voted. And not only because this time it was a case of “spot the whites” in the queue. Before there had been only whites voting, and hardly a queue at all. But it had never been so friendly and happy.
She actually hadn’t bothered to vote that first time after she turned eighteen. Everyone knew the National Party would win and the Herstigte Nasionale Party was a joke. It hadn’t been worth the effort of finding someone to take care of Arno while she went to the polling station, although Thys ’ oum a had offered. Thys had voted in Thaba ’Nchu in the polling station set up by the army. Her vote wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
It had been different at the next election. It was all the teachers could talk about as they sipped their coffee and dunked their rusks during every break in the staffroom. Annamari hadn’t joined in the heated discussions. She didn’t really know what to think and they wouldn’t have been interested in the opinions of the new nursery school teacher anyway. She hated it when the National Party people came knocking at their door, trying to convince them that PW Botha was the best thing for the country, even if he had given the Coloureds and Indians the vote. And they came nearly every day, usually just as she was getting De Wet ready for his bath or was hearing Arno’s homework reading. The new opposition party, the Conservative Party usually just pushed pamphlets in their post box and said that PW was a traitor.
She’d gone with Thys to vote at the High School hall. It was a little scary. All the political parties with their tents and posters were outside the gate, and people rushed at them and tried to persuade them to vote for their party as she and Thys made their way inside. She’d stared at the ballot paper, still not sure who to vote for. Thys had told her that he was going to vote for the Progressive Federal Party, but she was sure he was only joking. That Helen Suzman woman and the other PFP people might be white, but they were communists, like the terrorists. They wanted to give the country away to the blacks. She was sure Thys didn’t really vote for them. He’d just been teasing her. Finally, she put her shaky cross in the squares next to the NP and the KP/CP logos and walked out the hall. She knew she’d spoiled her vote but she really didn’t think her single, solitary vote would have made a difference. Then she and Thys went to the CP/KP tent for tea, because Thys said Tannie Sannie’s koeksusters were the best.
The next time she’d had to vote was the referendum in ’92. Now that had been totally different. No political party tents. All the party workers around the polling station grim and tense. No one knew who was going to win. This time, Thys told her, every vote was important. Really important.
‘You mustn’t spoil your paper, Annamari,’ Thys said. ‘If FW doesn’t win, we could have a full scale civil war. People think the violence is bad now, but I don’t want to think what will happen if the No vote wins. There will be blood in the white areas too, not just in the townships. For sure. But anyway, voting Yes is the right thing to do. It’s the Christian thing to do. It really is.’
She’d started to put her cross in to the Yes square, but she couldn’t. How could she vote for change that everyone knew would put the terrorists who had murdered her family in charge of the country? What would Thys say if she voted No? She clutched the blunt pencil tightly and made her cross in the No square, careful not to go outside the lines. Then she’d walked quickly out of the school hall and smiled brightly at her husband. There was no way he’d ever find out what she’d done.
When the Yes vote won, she’d stretched her lips into a falsely radiant smile and celebrated with Thys while trying to suppress the fear that gripped her heart .
So now she was standing in a queue full o f kaffir s – no, no t
It was so different to other times she had voted. And not only because this time it was a case of “spot the whites” in the queue. Before there had been only whites voting, and hardly a queue at all. But it had never been so friendly and happy.
She actually hadn’t bothered to vote that first time after she turned eighteen. Everyone knew the National Party would win and the Herstigte Nasionale Party was a joke. It hadn’t been worth the effort of finding someone to take care of Arno while she went to the polling station, although Thys ’ oum a had offered. Thys had voted in Thaba ’Nchu in the polling station set up by the army. Her vote wouldn’t have mattered anyway.
It had been different at the next election. It was all the teachers could talk about as they sipped their coffee and dunked their rusks during every break in the staffroom. Annamari hadn’t joined in the heated discussions. She didn’t really know what to think and they wouldn’t have been interested in the opinions of the new nursery school teacher anyway. She hated it when the National Party people came knocking at their door, trying to convince them that PW Botha was the best thing for the country, even if he had given the Coloureds and Indians the vote. And they came nearly every day, usually just as she was getting De Wet ready for his bath or was hearing Arno’s homework reading. The new opposition party, the Conservative Party usually just pushed pamphlets in their post box and said that PW was a traitor.
She’d gone with Thys to vote at the High School hall. It was a little scary. All the political parties with their tents and posters were outside the gate, and people rushed at them and tried to persuade them to vote for their party as she and Thys made their way inside. She’d stared at the ballot paper, still not sure who to vote for. Thys had told her that he was going to vote for the Progressive Federal Party, but she was sure he was only joking. That Helen Suzman woman and the other PFP people might be white, but they were communists, like the terrorists. They wanted to give the country away to the blacks. She was sure Thys didn’t really vote for them. He’d just been teasing her. Finally, she put her shaky cross in the squares next to the NP and the KP/CP logos and walked out the hall. She knew she’d spoiled her vote but she really didn’t think her single, solitary vote would have made a difference. Then she and Thys went to the CP/KP tent for tea, because Thys said Tannie Sannie’s koeksusters were the best.
The next time she’d had to vote was the referendum in ’92. Now that had been totally different. No political party tents. All the party workers around the polling station grim and tense. No one knew who was going to win. This time, Thys told her, every vote was important. Really important.
‘You mustn’t spoil your paper, Annamari,’ Thys said. ‘If FW doesn’t win, we could have a full scale civil war. People think the violence is bad now, but I don’t want to think what will happen if the No vote wins. There will be blood in the white areas too, not just in the townships. For sure. But anyway, voting Yes is the right thing to do. It’s the Christian thing to do. It really is.’
She’d started to put her cross in to the Yes square, but she couldn’t. How could she vote for change that everyone knew would put the terrorists who had murdered her family in charge of the country? What would Thys say if she voted No? She clutched the blunt pencil tightly and made her cross in the No square, careful not to go outside the lines. Then she’d walked quickly out of the school hall and smiled brightly at her husband. There was no way he’d ever find out what she’d done.
When the Yes vote won, she’d stretched her lips into a falsely radiant smile and celebrated with Thys while trying to suppress the fear that gripped her heart .
So now she was standing in a queue full o f kaffir s – no, no t
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