Chapter 6 - Chapter 5

"Sensitive!"

I fold my legs into the lotus position on my mat at the end of Yoga in the Park. It's the third Saturday of October, and the air is still thick with yesterday's heat. It's Joburg. We'll still be sweating in March.

"Can you believe he called me sensitive?" I demand, my eyes flicking from Hlengiwe to Charmaine. "Me! Like Zinhle bunking a period isn't a big deal."

Hlengiwe lies back on her mat, crossing an ankle over one knee, and stares up at the canopy of trees offering shade for our alfresco fitness. "I bunked a class or ten in my day, and I turned out fine."

"Do not defend her, Hlengi." I resecure my ponytail. "Watching some hair thing instead of going to English? Unacceptable."

"I agree," Charmaine says. "Ag nee, man, I'd freak if my girls started bunking." She sits on her knees and bends forward, curling in to her torso, lifting and pushing her lower body until she's in a perfectly straight headstand . . . and then spreading her legs into a midair split. Hlengiwe and I both watch her with jaws dropped. That move is way advanced, and none of us have even attempted it in class yet.

"What?" Charmaine asks, head pressed into the mat, upside-down eyes darting between the two of us. "Okay. So I may have practised a little at home."

"So you do think it's a big deal, Charm?" I ask.

"Hhayi suka." Hlengiwe scoffs. "You're going to listen to her about what's normal? The woman who goes for extra credit in yoga?"