Chapter 6 - Behind The Glass

"Hey, Tata. I caught you." I shifted the phone against my ear and pulled a stool up to the breakfast bar. I missed my father. For four years we'd lived close enough to see each other at least once a week—his house in Kuils River, my digs in Bellville, twenty minutes between us. Now it was fourteen hundred kilometres. Two hours in the air, and a flight he'd have to sit down and decide he could afford. "How are you?"

He turned the television down. "Better, now that you've called. How was your first week at work?"

I went through Monday to Friday, skipping every part with Menzi in it. "I really like my boss, Tshepo," I finished. "And the agency has this energy to it. A bit mad, in a good way. I'm happy going in every morning and I'm miserable when it's time to come home."

"I hope it stays like that. But you must also have some downtime. Go out. Be young. Have fun." A pause. "Not too much fun."

"Yeah, I had a bit too much last night. Neo and I went out and I woke up with a hangover that could kill a man."

"Yoh. Don't tell me that." He groaned. "Some nights I wake up sweating, thinking about you in Joburg. I get myself back to sleep by remembering you're too clever to take chances, thanks to two parents who drilled the safety rules into your DNA."

"Which is true," I said, laughing. "That reminds me—I'm going to start Krav Maga."

"Is it?" There was a thoughtful pause. "September's big on that. One of the guys I ride with. Maybe I'll go and have a look, and then we can compare notes when I come up to see you."