Chapter Two
Antonie silently wonders to himself why his father called him to see him in his office. Otto knows the last place Antonie wants to be is at the police station. He hates it there.
Antonie knocks softly on Otto’s office door.
“Hi Antonie. How was the exam?”
Antonie sighs, takes a seat and puts his school bag next to him.
“Oh, come to the point, Dad. You never ask me to come to the station because you are always too busy.”
“Okay, I’ll get to the point. I’m organising for you to go to College next year.”
“Forget that one, Dad. I will not become a policeman.”
“But what do you want to do after school, Antonie? You finished school today and we can’t take care of you indefinitely.”
“Are you chasing me out of the house?”
“No, Antonie. You have it all wrong. I just want you to start with a career as soon as possible so that you can get on your feet. You can stay with us as long as you want to after you have found a job. All I’m saying is that if you have found a job and still want to stay with us…. You are now regarded as an adult according to law. If you want to be treated as such, you need to start to work, pay rent and learn how to work with money.”
“Perfect. I know exactly where I stand with you and that I’m not welcome in the house anymore.”
“Antonie, please. I never said that. You need to learn how to cope on your own. Your mother and I won’t be there forever. I’m asking you again, what did you want to do after school?”
“I don’t know, Dad. I didn’t think of it just as yet. Maybe to go to varsity, I don’t know.”
“I’m sorry, son, there is not money for you to go and study. Only if you’ll pay for your own studies, yes and then you must study through correspondence. I’m not allowing you to go to varsity. There is too much violence going on there.”
“You mean too many black people. This is the new South Africa, Dad.”
“Just leave it, Antonie. I’m trying so hard and you don’t want to see that. I’m trying to organise you a permanent, stable job. Employment in the government is permanent and secure. Working in the private sector is another story. It will mean so much to me if you joining the police. It’s a divine calling.”
Otto places the forms in front of Antonie.
“Please look at it and at least consider it? You have a week to decide.”
After an afternoon very well spent with his girlfriend Paul arrives home from the Kolonnade centre with a song in his heart. Nothing can be better than this. He has finished school, his relationship with his girlfriend is steady and his brother got a transfer to the Wonderboompoort police station. Not only that, his parents also bought him a brand new motorbike for Christmas. They will also leave for holiday to visit his grandparents in Jeffreys Bay for a week. Paul softly whistles as he empties the post box at the gate, carefully removing the envelopes from it. Belated Christmas cards and an unknown brown envelope marked as “Official” with a date stamp of Police Headquarters are amongst the other envelopes. It is probably for Lourens, Paul thinks to himself but he notices that the letter was addressed to him. With a thumping heart and trembling fingers he opens the envelope, silently hoping that it will be what he have been waiting for. Paul stares in disbelief at his appointment letter.
“Mom! Dad!”
Paul runs inside and this causes Lourens to look over the newspaper at Paul, very amused.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dad! Do you know of this?” Paul asks very excitedly.
Lourens takes the letter from Paul.
“Just how do you think I should have known about this letter?”
“But didn’t they tell you that I was appointed?”
Lourens smiles very knowingly.
“Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t. Oh, congratulations! I see you must report at Sinoville police station on the 4th January and that you’ll only go to College in July.”
“It’s fine. I can wait to go to College. I’m not in a hurry. It is such a privilege to follow in your footsteps!”
“I feel so honoured. Just remember that God made this possible for you. He called you to serve in this field. Every day when you work as a policeman, serving your community you must remember this and do your work to His glory, His honour.”
Lourens puts the newspaper aside and gets up.
“Come here.”
He hugs Paul close, softly kisses him on the forehead.
“I am so proud of you. You will be blessed in your career and you will make a big success of it. I know it. I love you so much.”
“I love you too, Dad. Thank you for sending me out with your blessing. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.”
Paul reports to the Sinoville police station on the morning of the 4th January feeling very nervous. He wishes he can work with his father, but he wasn’t that lucky. His father would have been very strict with him should Paul have had the privilege to work with him. What made it worse to Paul was that he and his twin sister was separated for the first time in eighteen years. They were in the same school all their lives and inseparable, as it is always the case with twins. She left for London to work there for a year or two as soon as they came from their holiday in Jeffreys Bay. She’ll probably work with horses. She was horse crazy enough for that.
Otto enters the charge office where Paul was standing at the counter and he picks up some dockets.
“Good morning, can I help you?” Otto greets Paul.
Paul blushes nervously.
“Yes. I’m supposed to report here today for duty. I’m a new student here.”
“Oh yes. You are one of the new recruits. I’m Major Marais. I’m the commander of the detectives. I’ll check where the field training officer is so that he can start training you and all the others we’re still waiting for. I hope you are going to enjoy it here.”
“Thanks, Major. I’m sure I will.”
Antonie enters the charge office and dutifully stretches Otto.
“Good morning, Major.”
“Good morning, Student. Do you know where the field training officer is?”
“No Major. But he is probably still on his way.”
“Can you please move with this new recruit? He doesn’t know this station. I think it will be safe call to wait at the lapa for the field training officer because that is where he trains the students anyway. Maybe he is just stuck in traffic.”
Antonie and Paul’s eyes meet briefly.
“Yes, Major.” Antonie says softly, but annoyed.
Outside at the lapa he takes Paul by the shoulder and firmly but without violence forces Paul to face him.
“What are you doing here?”
Paul stares at Antonie, dumbfounded.
“What do you mean?”
“You are the very last person I thought I’ll see again in my life. I don’t want to see you!”
“You’re crazy. Why do you say something like this?”
“Oh, just leave it. You clearly don’t understand. Just leave it.”
“Good gracious! I don’t believe in reincarnation but where did I wrong you in a previous life?”
“I said leave it! Okay?”
Paul shrugs his shoulders.
“Okay. I hate fighting anyway and I will not start my first day in the police like this. I just hope you’ll come back tomorrow in a better mood.”
For the next six months Antonie tries his level best to stay out of Paul’s way but Sinoville police station is not one of the biggest stations and to crown everything they are placed on the same shift. He knew it was wrong of him but he feels relieved to know that the six months to go to College is almost over. Hopefully they will send Paul to Oudtshoorn College then they will never have to work together again. Antonie feels the irritability rising up inside him again with the thought of how popular Paul is amongst all the personnel of Sinoville and the community. Everyone talks about Paul’s soft but ext
rovert personality and the complainants always ask out about Paul.
Antonie looks at the call up instructions in his hands and realises with shock that he must report at Oudtshoorn College for his training. This feels unfair and he wonders silently if his father had anything to do with this since he told Antonie some while ago that they want Antonie to learn how to function on his own.
If this is the case, fine. Antonie comes to the conclusion that his father was responsible for his placement at Oudtshoorn College and bitterness masters his soul. Okay, so that is how it works in life. His parents have deserted their only child. Not that he needs them anyway anymore…
Paul feels just as shocked about the contents of his call up instructions. He shakes his head in disbelief. He has put all his hopes to go to Pretoria West College. That is where his father has done his training as well as his brother and that is where Paul so much wanted to complete his training. He is not sure how things will work out between him and girlfriend either. Long distance relationships never work. He doesn’t relish the thought of going to Oudtshoorn. How is his father going to help him now to understand the police work and the exams? He guesses he needs to cope on his own then. Paul neatly folds the call up instruction and puts it in his pocket. His father always has this saying that life is like a nicker ball, hard but very sweet. He will have to face the challenges and he knows in his heart he’ll make a success of it. His father’s blessing comes anew to his mind and Paul starts to feel better about this new challenge. What will he do without his family?
Mercifully it is winter in Oudtshoorn and cold. Antonie wasn’t sure what he would have done if they were to do their training there in the summer. But he still doesn’t want to be there. The whole training is just such a mess. He fails to concentrate on his tasks, when they are in class or when they have to write exams. This obviously causes a lot of friction between him and Otto because Otto only expects good marks as well as feedback in regards to Antonie’s conduct and work.
As usual the instructor wakes the students up with a huge noise in the sleeping quarters but Antonie struggles badly to get going. It probably has something to do with the winter cold, he thinks to himself. He always struggles to get going in the winter time. Antonie reluctantly throws the comforter off him before getting up and making his bed. Luckily he has been used to a perfectionist environment all his life. In regards to that he blends in perfectly to the College’s strict routine.
Antonie opens his locker door and pulls the comb through his hair. Annoyed he stares at the hair on his comb. Good gracious. He was hopelessly too young to get bald, barely nineteen. He shrugs his shoulders and gets dressed so that he can be ready for the usual morning inspections. It will be a very long day with all the drill routines, rugby practice and rumour has it that the instructors are looking for volunteers amongst the students to do the mounted unit course. And as usual if there were not enough volunteers, the instructors will choose volunteers. Antonie is very curious to see how the events will unfold at the stables and he decided that he will volunteer for the course. It might afford him the chance to laugh at everyone that can’t really ride. No-one will bring him down this time. Somewhere along the line he must show them that he can also make a difference.
Paul can’t believe his luck when hearing the news that the students needed to report at the stables for the mounted unit course. It is spot-on with his interest. Like his sister, Paul has a big love and talent working with horses but his interest in horses is not as extreme as his sister’s. Paul walks into one of the stable blocks where his eye immediately catches the picture of the most beautiful Friesian stallion he ever saw in his entire life. He reaches out to the horse to pat him, but the instructor stops him.
“Visser, I won’t do that if I were you. Leave that horse alone.”
Paul looks questioningly at the instructor.
“Warrant?”
“That horse will hurt you very badly. It is the stallion we use to cover the mares.”
Paul steps closer and looks the horse in the eye. The stallion storms closer with his ears flattened, but Paul stands his ground. He lifts his hands in a calming manner and starts to communicate silently with the horse. To the Warrant Officer’s disbelief the stallion starts to calm down and even its breathing starts to become more calm and softer. He even allows Paul to softly rub him on the neck, to everyone’s amazement.
“I promise you, if you can ride the way you work with horses, Mounted Unit will let you be part of them for sure. Where do you learn these things?” the Warrant Officer says astonished.
“No-one can handle that horse. Even the grooms are scared of this stallion and the farrier struggles to handle him too.”
Paul laughs shyly.
“I just love horses, Warrant. Since I can remember.”
“Well, too bad for you but Moos is your baby now. Okay everyone, the tour is over. Let’s move to the dressage arena. I want to see how many of you city slickers can really ride.”