Scene 8
from Somewhere on the Border
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 June 2019
Summary
Lights up on the shelled-out remains of a Portuguese trading store in the south of Angola. Rubble on the floor. MOWBRAY is on a looting spree. He finds a framed photograph on the floor. He sits on a wooden crate and cleans the frame with his handkerchief. After a moment CAMPBELL and MARAIS enter. All the men are soiled and wear full battle kit.
MARAIS: Is that the last box?
MOWBRAY: Check this, man. A fucken Portugoose.
They look at the photograph.
His wife's a fucken pig. I wouldn't rape her if you tied her down for me.
MARAIS: Where are they now?
MOWBRAY: Pushing up daisies.
MOWBRAY breaks the glass that covers the photograph and holds up the frame.
This is silver this. Man, this place is full of stuff the kaffirs didn't know about.
MOWBRAY puts the frame inside his shirt.
See if you can find any more stuff here. I'm going on a private search-and-destroy mission. Just don't hang around too bladdy long, hey. We got to stand to at last light and the bommie says before we pull out we putting the base to the torch.
MOWBRAY picks up his rifle and leaves. CAMPBELL stumbles to a corner and vomits. MARAIS watches him, then lifts a corner of the crate.
MARAIS: It's heavy.
CAMPBELL takes a sip from his water bottle, rinses his mouth, spits and drinks.
White people lived here.
Pause.
What happened to them?
CAMPBELL: What happened to us?
MARAIS: They gone.
CAMPBELL: You know, when Dave got killed …
MARAIS: What?
CAMPBELL: When Dave got killed the first thing I thought was: thank God it wasn't me.
MARAIS: It's a sin.
CAMPBELL: Naught. It was a blind thing to think.
MARAIS: It's a sin.
CAMPBELL: What?
MARAIS: There was children there.
CAMPBELL: Hey, when this is over.
MARAIS: Why children?
CAMPBELL: Never again.
MARAIS: I saw it, man.
CAMPBELL: When we get home.
MARAIS: What have we done?
CAMPBELL: I'm leaving the country.
MARAIS: We'll be punished.
CAMPBELL: What are you talking about?
MARAIS: It's a crime.
CAMPBELL: Hey, man.
MARAIS: You can't just do that.
CAMPBELL: What?
- Type
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- Information
- Somewhere on the Border , pp. 73 - 81Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2012