New Story by NoViolet Bulawayo on Munyori.Org

 

Happy Birthday Africa President

 

We get to Number 10 to find the president raising fists all over. On the big wall around the power station that caught fire last Sunday, on the tall gates of the blue Zioja church, on the fat pole where we sometimes play spin, on the shed where Clifford cuts hair, on the durawall that surrounds the tuck-shops where old ladies sit selling all sorts of stuff, on the sides of the shed where people wait for combis to town, on the trees along the main road—the posters are everywhere. We stand in a huddle by the power station wall and tilt our heads and look at the posters one by one even though they are exactly the same.

 

Godknows says, Who put him up there? Why did they put him up?

 

Well, whose face would you rather, your father’s? Bastard says. He elbows Godknows out of the way and steps to the wall to study the president. It’s early morning but the sun is already high above our heads, searing us like we owe it money. In the distance, radios blare the morning news but it doesn’t take long before the sound cuts out. Years ago it used to be you’d hear all kinds of noise from people mad at the power cuts but not anymore.  Go read the rest on munyori.org.