Karlien squeezed Darren's hand he placed almost absent-mindedly on her upper thigh. They just turned off onto the N1 out of Johannesburg.
"Are you sure you want to go home, Karlien," he asked her, momentarily showing her what's under his veneer. She smiled at the way he pronounced her name in his British accent: Carlene, like a proper red neck.
"I have to go see the parents, D," she said, for the millionth time. "I haven't been home for over two months."
He nodded and silence fell in his Mercedes again. He took a swig of his diet Coke, never taking his eyes of the road.
"I haven't seen you for over three weeks, you know," he said pointedly, "and this weekend was not enough."
She laughed. They sure didn't spend too much of it talking, and his left hand was already busy under her skirt again. She spread her legs to give him easier access, although she did not much feel up to it. She would never, and could never, deny him anything.
"What would your daddy say if he knew what a slut you were," he asked cruelly.
"What, Pappa's little princess? A slut? Never," she exclaimed in mock indifference. He knew she hated to be reminded of where she came from. She hated the small conservative Afrikaans town they were headed to. She also hated the Afrikaans university town he had picked her up from on Friday. She started feeling that empty pit in her stomach she got every time Darren dropped her off. Darren saw what she showed on the outside. He saw her apparent amusement. He also sensed her inner turmoil and took pity on her. Taking his left hand out of her slightly soaked pussy, he put it on the steering wheel. He undid his belt buckle and pants.
"Are you telling me you are not a slut? After this weekend," he said with a mischievous smile playing at the corners of his mouth, "you can't fool me anymore. Suck me, my little whore."
Karlien, who had been watching him closely as he undid his clothes, flushed scarlet. She also felt a hot surge go straight to her cunt.
"While you're driving," she asked, resisting for what they both knew was not going to be long. He flashed her a brief warning, conveyed in his eyes. She undid her seatbelt and leaned tentatively over to his side of the car. She looked like she was going to say something and then thought better of it. She dropped lower in the seat, to make sure the passing traffic could not see, and fished out Darren's semi-erect cock. It was an awkward angle for her, but she tried her best to give him the pleasure he demanded. She twirled her tongue snake-like over the tip of his head and down his shaft. She then took him in her mouth and started bobbing her head up and down, setting up a steady pace. She felt him stiffen in her mouth until he was fully erect and throbbing in her mouth but he showed no other form of encouragement. Karlien continued her task as the kilometres flashed by, trying to focus only on getting Darren off. She knew it was what he wanted. He wanted neither of them to think of the parting that was to come in maybe half an hour.
A good couple of minutes passed and Karlien's jaw was starting to ache when Darren finally could hold it no more. He was slightly rocking his hips up and down and squirted his come into her mouth. She dutifully swallowed it and licked him clean. When she resurfaced her face was still red. He laughed at her, putting on the indicator as he pulled of to the garage. She was thankful for the break of his presence as he asked her to go and buy them more cold drink. She was also thankful for the cold drink as she licked the last of his salty spunk of her lips. The rest of the drive to her home town was uneventful. She said goodbye to Darren in her driveway, not wanting to alarm her parents with her thirty five year old boyfriend, knowing the fifteen year age difference would shock them almost as much as what she had just been doing in his car. She bit back the tears as he drove away, not once looking back at her.
When she could no longer see his car she spun on her heels and marched towards the front door with determination she did not feel. The prospect of spending a week at her childhood home did not appeal to any part of her. It symbolised everything she tried to leave behind.
As it was Monday morning, Karlien did not even bother to ring the bell. Both her parents would be at work. Her lawyer father would probably not return home until late in the evening, but her mother would be home by three.
She dug out her set of house keys and let herself in. The big house seemed so empty. No wonder her mother had been bugging her to come visit. Now that all four of them had left the house, her parents must feel lonely with all this space.
It looked a lot cleaner than she remembered it too, but then again, Delinah must have just finished cleaning. Sure enough, she found their housekeeper outside the kitchen in the garden, eating the frugal lunch her mother had left her.
"Dumela, Delinah," Karlien called to her, poking her head out of the kitchen door. She greeted the older woman in her native tongue, as was their custom since Karlien was a little girl. Delinah's face split into a cheerful smile, showing her crooked teeth.
"Ahee, dumela mies," she said, waving at her. Then she switched to English.
"You not be home a long time, mies," she chided, "your Mamma miss you."
"I know, Delinah, I have been very busy at school. How have you been doing, though?" Karlien came outside, feeling the hot summer sun of December immediately burning down on her.
"Good, mies. Meneer gave my son Joseph a job. He work here in garden now," Delinah said, smiling again.
"Oh, my father gave Joseph a job? I am glad, he's a good boy," Karlien said, flopping down on the lawn next to the housekeeper.
"Work is hard to find," Delinah said. Karlien could see the lines grooved out on Delinah's black skin. They lived in such different worlds that Karlien could almost not fathom how much meaning that sentence held to the worn out old woman. She merely nodded. Delinah finished her lunch in silence and stood up laboriously.
"I go home now, mies. Sala sentle!"
Karlien smiled up at the kind old familiar face.
"Tsamaya sentle, Delinah."
Suddenly Delinah shouted a string of Tswana sentences that Karlien could not make out in the direction of the garden shed. Karlien twisted her head back to see the young face of Joseph appear. He nodded at Karlien and answered his mother. After she had left he slipped back into the garden shed. She wondered what he could be doing in there, and stood up lazily to go investigate. She sneaked a peak into the dark wooden shed and found him repotting the Malva plant that usually stood next to the front door. She had not even noticed that it was missing.
"Why do you work in here, Joseph," she asked loudly. He jumped and in a second the spade that was a tool the moment before turned into a weapon. Karlien tensed up, but when recognition dawned on his face he broke out into a smile very much like his mother's and continued working.
"I don't want to make a mess on the front porch, Miss," he said in surprisingly good English. Karlien tried to think back to the last time she had seen Joseph. When they were children he and she often played together in the back yard as Delinah worked, but she stopped bringing him along when it was time for Joseph and herself to go to school. They must have been six years old.
"What's with all this Miss shit, Joe? I'm still Linki," she teased. She knew he would never again call her Linki. The innocence of their youth was gone. Adulthood had brought all its prejudices and conventions, which was now as evident as the stark contrast of their skin. Joe simply continued working, not even trying to reply.
Karlien sighed sadly, knowing that her friend Joe was gone.
"I'm glad your working here now, Joe. Delinah was worried for you," she said. He still did not say anything, he just nodded. Karlien watched him work for a while longer and then left in search of lunch for herself.
