Fly Away Home by Vanessa Del Fabbro Read Free Book Online Page B

sure of the answer. This time, however, she was.
    â€œYour mother lived in South Africa, Zambia, Canada and Cuba. She and her parents left their country of birth against their will, but your mother was an adventurer and made the most of it. She would have wished her sons to do the same, if that’s what they wanted.”
    Sipho nodded, and Monica wondered whether the vision he had of his mother right now was of her lying sick in bed, or when she was still capable of hiding the disease from her family and friends.
    â€œCan I tell you a secret, Mom?”
    â€œOf course, sweetie.”
    â€œI know I should go to America, but I’m not so sure I want to.” He searched her face to judge her reaction.
    This was one of those moments, Monica knew, when her mettle as a parent was being tested. She wanted to say, “Don’t go, stay here with me.” But Monica the parent had to weigh her words. She didn’t want Sipho to one day regret a missed opportunity. He was scared, understandably so. In his place, Mandla would not be, but Sipho was more cautious. Any change he made was because he had thought it through and made a considered choice to fulfill a purpose.
    â€œYou don’t have to stay there if you’re unhappy,” she said.
    His eyes lit up. “You won’t be disappointed if I want to come home after a month?”
    Monica shook her head. The expense of airfare was unimportant. She would be proud that he had conquered his fear of trying something new.
    â€œWell, then that’s different,” he said.
    They heard a car in the driveway. Zak had returned from taking his daughter to her mother’s house in Cape Town. The constant moving between two households had, at first, upset Yolanda, and her schoolwork had suffered. But now, at seventeen, in her second to last year in high school, she’d mastered her dual lives with ease. She no longer even bothered to pack a bag, but kept clothes and toiletries at her father’s house.
    Yolanda’s mother had married the man for whom she had left Zak, and although Yolanda had once left home and come to stay in Lady Helen for a while because she did not get on with him, she had learned to live in peace with him. She said, however, that she would never love him because he hadn’t respected the sanctity of her parents’ marriage.
    Zak came through the front door, rubbing his hands together.
    â€œIt’s freezing out there,” he said. He kissed Monica and sat down next to her. “So what have you been doing while I was away?”
    â€œSipho and I have been talking about his trip to the United States.”
    â€œAre you sure you’ll be able to get someone to replace you at the hospital over Christmas?” asked Sipho.
    Zak nodded. “I’m already looking into it. Don’t worry, we’ll be there.”
    â€œGood. Well, I’d better finish my homework.”
    â€œWhere is your brother?” asked Zak.
    Sipho rolled his eyes. “Writing to one of his pen pals, a girl who lives in Australia. He’d be better off studying.”
    Mandla was not as committed a student as Sipho, but his report cards were well above average. It had to be difficult having a brother who was the best student in the history of Green Block School.
    Sipho went to his bedroom and Zak pulled Monica close. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked.
    She sighed. “It’s going to be horrible to say goodbye to him.”
    â€œWe’ll see him in four months.”
    â€œI know.”
    â€œAnd what about…?”
    Monica knew what Zak wanted to ask. “I’m trying not to think about it,” she said.
    He put both his arms around her. “It’ll work out in the end.”
    She nodded. There was no reason not to believe him. They were both young, both healthy. She leaned her head on his shoulder. The only bright spot in this whole mess was that they were together. Infertility could