OTELO BURNING
by James Whyle
Developed by Cinga Productions
In association with The NFVF
Script Editor, Clarence Hamilton
30th April, 2007
Oh, no, no, no, it was too cold always
(Still the dead one lay moaning)
I was much too far out all my life
And not waving but drowning. - Stevie Smith.
All dialogue and narration will be in IsiZulu unless
otherwise indicated, but a few IsiZulu words are used for texture:
Malume - Uncle. Used generally as a term of respect.
Ntate - Father. Used generally as a term of respect.
Umlungus - Whites.
Boere - Street word for the police. Literally, in
Afrikaans, farmers.
Impimpi - Informer.
EXT. JEFFRIES BEACH - DAY
The time of story telling. Now.
NEW YEAR, burly, wise beyond his years, stands on the
deserted beach.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
My name is New Year Tshabalala,
and I am going to tell you the
story of my friend, Otelo
Buthelezi, who was the greatest
surfer I have ever seen.
New Year watches as...
An old, rusted cool drink CAN is tumbled in the backwash.
CUT TO:
EXT. JEFFRIES BEACH - DAY
TITLE: South Africa, 1994
Sports branding flags flutter in the off shore breeze that
is banking the Indian Ocean swell into three meter
monsters.
Big heaves of energy, mountains on the flow, building the
water into sheer walls that reach for heaven...
...curl down in tubes of foam.
An MC sits at a stand next to the judges, grinning into the
microphone.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
The surf's getting big, ladies
and gentlemen.
The MC confers with the judges next to him. The crowd in
the background, the surfers and groupies, the proud parents
and little sisters, are all white.
The MC turns back to the mike.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES (CONT'D)
And um... we are just going to be
conferring about safety out
there...
A swell grows, reaching for the vertical.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES (CONT'D)
But I promise you, while the
surfers are out of the water, the
entertainment will not stop.
Surfers in the competition area, blonde blue eyed boys,
tend their boards.
The swell grows.
Small white kids gather round a black ICE CREAM SELLER, a
middle-aged black man.
KID
This change is wrong.
ICE CREAM MAN
Is right change!
KID
Give me eighty-three cents or
I'll tell my father.
The swell builds, becoming a wave, rising into a sheer
wall.
Spume flying from the lip.
A surfer's board moves aside, revealing TAU MODISE.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Tau and Otelo and me were Zulu
boys from a township called
Little Jozi.
Tau is eighteen years old, black, slight and contained,
neat, his muscles honed by sustained days in the surf. He
stares out at the wave.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
If it wasn't for Tau, me and
Otelo would probably never have
touched a surf board in our
lives.
Tau's hand caresses his NDUMBI ARROW BOARD. It is his
lover, a talisman bought at a price incalculable.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
The first time we surfed a
competition, we hardly even knew
the rules.
A wave, the wave, rising into a sheer wall, spume flying
from the lip.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
The last time we surfed, we
didn't care.
Tau looks up along the beach.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
At least, Otelo didn't.
The sound of the wave, a coming tsunami.
OTELO BUTHELEZI, eighteen, walks up the beach towards Tau.
He is a man-boy, built in the shape of a god, a young
Mandela.
The wave growing. Slow as a flower.
Opening.
Roaring.
On Otelo's right the stands, the bright, white people.
The branding: Gunston 500. Life Cigarettes. Vote
Toothpaste.
The wave, growing.
Tau, waiting for him.
Otelo'S hand going into the bag that hangs at his side.
Tau staring, watching him come.
The wave... building.
Otelo's hand in the bag, gripping...
FADE TO:
EXT. JEFFRIES BEACH - DAY
The present. New Year alone on the same beach, desolate and
deserted now.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
The umlungus used to call us non
swimmers.
New Year looks up towards the horizon.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
But we learnt anyway, and in the
end, Otelo became the king.
FADE TO:
EXT. JEFFRIES BEACH - DAY
In New Year's mind's eye, Otelo paddles, a huge swell
building behind him.
The waves lifts him.
Otelo stands, walks on the wave.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
The first time we got in the
water, me and Otelo were sixteen.
Otelo cuts back, climbing, conquering the slope.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(beat)
We went to the river because were
curious, because Otelo's father
was always telling us that it was
dangerous.
(beat)
He said there was a snake that
lived underneath the water of the
river.
The curtain of breaking wave closes over Otelo.
He's gone, obscured in the tube.
FADE TO:
EXT. JEFFRIES BEACH - DAY
At New Year's feet, the old rusted FANTA CAN is sucked back
out.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
The snake was long as a telephone
pole, thick as a cow's head. If
you went too deep, the snake
would call you. It would sing to
you like a beautiful girl.
The can dances in the undertow, sucked out, down, under.
New Year stares at the waters.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
Then it would take you.
The sea is vast, desolate, empty of any surfer.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIVER - DAY
TITLE: LITTLE JOZI, 1992
OTELO and NEW YEAR (both sixteen years old) and NTWE,
Otelo's eleven year old brother, run through the river
bush.
Otelo is in the lead as they leap down the path, jump a
fallen log, and break out onto the bank.
They stand there, wide-eyed.
The river is deep, mysterious.
They listen to the silent power, the pull of the sea.
In the centre, over the deepest channel, the force of the
current pushes up in a boil over a submerged rock.
Ntwe grins.
NTWE
Let's get in, Otelo.
Otelo cuffs him on the back of his head.
NTWE (CONT'D)
(outraged)
What you doing?
Otelo looks at New Year, shaking his head: fucking kid.
Ntwe jumps down the bank, runs to the water's edge.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Otelo's brother was always
different. He had to wear a band
on his arm because of medicines
he was not allowed to take.
Ntwe starts to walk in, the water rising to his knees.
OTELO
Ntwe!
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
The teachers at school said they
couldn't teach him because he
wrote his letters backwards.
Otelo jumps the bank, runs in, grabs Ntwe by his ragged
collar.
OTELO
Hey.
(beat)
Remember Ntate's dream!
They stare at the river.
It it silent.
Ominous.
NTWE
There's no snake.
OTELO
(to New Year)
New Year, this kid thinks knows
everything.
A beat.
New Year starts taking off his shirt.
NEW YEAR
(grins)
It's hot, Mpowethu.
NTWE
We going in the water!
OTELO
Wait!
Otelo goes into his pocket, taking out an empty FANTA
ORANGE CAN. He holds it up.
They know what it means.
New Year nods - throw it.
Otelo throws the can.
They watch as...
The can is sucked out...
They move down the bank with it.
The can whirls in an eddy, thrown back towards the
shallows.
NTWE
It came back!
New Year grins starts to take off his shirt.
Otelo stares out at the silent, surging river as...
The Fanta can is sucked out again. Out, and under...
OTELO
It's gone!
Ntwe splashes Otelo with water.
New Year joins in.
A beat, then Otelo, laughing, pursues Ntwe.
CUT TO:
EXT. RIVER - DAY
New Year stands holding a log. A game has developed - tempt
the current.
Otelo and Ntwe wait downstream.
New Year throws the log.
The current swirls, pulling the log downstream.
Otelo steps deeper as the log approaches him. He reaches...
NTWE
Get it! Get it!
Otelo feels with a foot. The bottom drops away. He steps
back, afraid.
OTELO
It'll come in closer lower down.
Ntwe reaches for the log...
...which hovers out of reach.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Leave it, Ntwe.
New Year and Otelo run downstream.
Ntwe steps forward, out of his depth.
NEW YEAR
(shouts)
It will come in lower down.
OTELO
Down by the bend. Past the rocks.
No answer from Ntwe. They look back.
The broad stream is empty, sinister, silent.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe?
The stream is slick as oil.
The log swirls towards the rocks.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe?
The log, swift on the current...
Stops, lodging against a rock.
Otelo's eyes are locked with New Year's.
NEW YEAR
(shouts)
Ntwe?
Ntwe surfaces, struggles.
OTELO
There he is!
New Year turns.
But there is only current.
The log working loose from the rocks.
Otelo runs down the bank.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe?
Ntwe surfaces, struggles.
NEW YEAR
There! You'll get him at the
rocks.
OTELO
Keep your head up!
Ntwe tumbles downstream.
Otelo, opposite the rocks, wades in.
NEW YEAR
Hold on.
Ntwe crashes into the rocks and scrabbles for a hold.
The rock surface is slick and smooth.
Otelo, terrified, wades, water coming up to his chest. He
reaches out his hand.
The current tugs at Ntwe, nearly dislodging him. He clings
to the rock.
OTELO
Ntwe, give me your hand!
Ntwe starts to obey. His COPPER BAND, "allergic to
penicillin", glints on his wrist.
Otelo loses his footing. Goes under.
Ntwe loses his grip.
New Year pulls Otelo back.
Ntwe's head crashes against a rock as the current swirls
him down stream, tumbling...
Otelo and New Year sprint through the shallows.
NEW YEAR
Ntwe!
Ntwe floats, head down.
New Year wades in, reaching. He grasps at Ntwe's pants.
Grips.
Loses his footing.
New Year and Ntwe are washed down stream.
Otelo sprints down the bank.
New Year, still gripping Ntwe, crashes into a submerged
tree, goes under.
OTELO
New Year!
New Year wraps a leg around a branch. Gripping Ntwe with
one hand, he struggles to the surface.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Get his head up.
NEW YEAR
I can't.
Otelo looks at the bank.
New Year, struggling to get Ntwe to the surface, goes
under.
Otelo breaks off a branch, rips the bark free of the trunk.
New Year comes up, elbow crooked under Ntwe's chin.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
He's not breathing!
Otelo holds out the branch.
The current tugs on New Year.
OTELO
Grab it.
To get the branch, New Year must release the tree.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Grab it.
New Year lunges for the branch, grasping it.
Otelo steps towards the bank, pulling New Year and Ntwe
with him.
New Year's feet hit the bottom.
Otelo and New Year pull Ntwe out until his upper body is
clear of the water.
Ntwe lies, eyes open, lifeless.
Otelo shakes him.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe.
Nothing.
Otelo lifts his brother and thumps him down.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe!
He lifts his fists and bangs them down on Ntwe's chest.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Ntwe!
A gush of water jumps from Ntwe'S lungs.
Otelo thumps him on the chest.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Come back.
He thumps him again.
OTELO (CONT'D)
Come back.
They stare down at the child.
Otelo leans into his chest.
Sits back, giving up.
Ntwe coughs up water. Breathes.
Looks at them for a long time.
Grins.
NTWE
I told you there was no snake.
Otelo is caught between relief and laughter and rage.
But it is the laughter that wins.
CUT TO:
EXT. OTELO'S HOUSE - EVENING
A half empty quart of Castle Milk Stout topples as...
OSCAR BUTHELEZI, a big, grizzled, middle-aged man slides
out from beneath the engine of his taxi.
STEMBISO NDLOVU, burly, handsome, thirties, catches the
bottle, holds out a small, rusty tin.
STEMBISO
Ntate says you must put it on the
steering wheel and on the wheels.
OSCAR
(drinks)
Will it work for the comrades and
Inkatha?
STEMBISO
It will protect from everyone.
OSCAR
(beat)
Tell your father, I say thank
you.
STEMBISO
I will tell him.
Oscar glances towards the house, frowning.
OSCAR
Otelo, Ntwe.
The brothers, sneaking in, are busted.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
Come here.
OTELO
(respectful)
I see you, father.
Oscar rises, spanner in hand.
OSCAR
Where you been?
OTELO
With New Year.
OSCAR
I didn't say, with who.
(beat)
I said, where?
(beat)
Two years, you'll be old enough
to get a licence. Then you
driving a taxi. Not wasting your
time fooling around.
(beat)
Why is you skin grey?
Ntwe can't help himself. It just pops out of him.
NTWE
There is no snake.
OSCAR
What?
Otelo looks at his brother: shut the fuck up!
OSCAR (CONT'D)
You've been in the river?
OTELO
I'm sorry, Ntate.
Oscar raises his hand and cuffs Otelo.
OSCAR
I dream of him drowning, and you
take him to the river?
NTWE
I didn't drown. There is no
snake.
OTELO
We were just playing. Just where
it's shallow. Ntwe slipped.
Oscar cuffs him.
Otelo's eyes glisten with tears of rage. His fist clenches.
OSCAR
What?
(beat)
You want to fight?
Oscar hits him.
Otelo tries to block the blow.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
You want to fight?
Otelo does. But he can't.
STEMBISO
Send them to me, Malume. I'll
teach them to swim.
OSCAR
(to Otelo)
You want to fight?
Oscar swings a heavy arm back.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
Ntwe...
Oscar hits Otelo.
Blood starts from Otelo's lip.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
Never...
Oscar hits him.
Otelo's knees sag.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
Goes...
Hits him.
Otelo goes down on his knees.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
Into...
Oscar kicks him.
Otelo bleeds, falls.
OSCAR (CONT'D)
The water.
Oscar kicks.
Blood squirts on his foot.
STEMBISO
Malume.
OSCAR
What?
STEMBISO
You'll injure the child.
(beat)
Send them to me.
(beat)
I'll teach them to swim.
CUT TO:
INT. MA CHRISTMAS'S SHEBEEN - NIGHT
MA CHRISTMAS, laughing in the roar of the crowded shebeen.
She's in her forties. A big, good looking woman, gone to
seed.
She has been backed into a corner of the room by a DRUNK
MAN with sex on the mind.
MAN # 1
Come on, Ma Christmas. Just
quickly. Your kids can take the
money.
A gangster in a wheel chair, BRA CHILL, and his cronies,
SLANG, GATSHA and VIOLENCE, are amused.
BRA CHILL
Give him a little fun, Ma
Christmas.
VIOLENCE
Give him some entertainment.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
The people of Little Jozi called
my mother Ma Christmas from the
time she got drunk and allowed
free beer on Christmas Day.
MA CHRISTMAS
(to Man)
You want it, you can wait.
MAN # 1
I don't want to wait.
BLADE puts a hand on the man's shoulder, pulls him round.
BLADE
It's my mother. Have respect.
MAN # 1
Respect?
BLADE
We don't like Inkatha here.
Ma Christmas slips out of the corner.
MA CHRISTMAS
New Year, Dezi! I told you to
clear the empties.
New Year and DEZI (fifteen, pretty), are slumped,
exhausted, at a table.
DEZI
It's twelve o'clock, Ma. We got
school tomorrow.
Ma Christmas picks her up by the ear.
DEZI (CONT'D)
Ow.
MA CHRISTMAS
Empties.
New Year picks up an empty beer crate.
NEW YEAR
Here.
Dezi, sulking, begins to load bottles.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
Ma Christmas was just as hard to
convince about swimming as
Otelo's father.
MA CHRISTMAS
You eat because of the shebeen.
How are you going to live if you
don't know how to run this place?
NEW YEAR
Why doesn't Blade run it?
Ma Christmas looks across at...
Blade. Laughing. Right up there in Man # 1's face.
MA CHRISTMAS
Blade has his own things to do.
You know that. He contributes.
NEW YEAR
It's just swimming, Ma. For one
hour a day.
MA CHRISTMAS
Why can't you just leave these
things alone?
DEZI
It's with Stembiso!
MA CHRISTMAS
(astonished)
You also want to go?
DEZI
Yes, Ma!
BLADE
(OFF SCREEN)
We don't like Inkatha here.
Glass shatters.
They turn, looking.
Slow as a flower opening, Blade slashes a broken bottle
across Man # 1's face.
Man # 1, pulsing blood, staggers back against the wall.
CUT TO:
INT. POOL - DAY
Brown young bodies in the air.
Flying.
Sailing.
Traversing the blue sky.
Parting the water.
So pure.
Azure.
NEW YEAR
(V.O)
I knew we would succeed with the
swimming, because it was Stembiso
who controlled the pool.
Stembiso walks, tracking the swimmers.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
Everyone in Little Jozi respected
Stembiso. Stembiso was his own
man, and his father, Ntate
Ndlovu, was an Igqira, a shaman.
Teen age girls relax on the grass, gossiping, laughing.
Otelo, New Year, Dezi and Ntwe, wide-eyed, excited, wait
for Stembiso's attention.
The water sparkles.
Swimmers cleave the blue.
TAU MODISE, sixteen years old, brushes past Otelo, New Year
and Ntwe...
...runs towards the pool.
Ntwe watches as...
Tau flies, somersaulting...
...enters, slowly, into the water.
Sliding in.
A knife.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
Who is that guy?
OTELO
Stembiso's cousin.
He swims, deep down in the silence, across the path of the
training swimmers.
The boys watch.
Tau surfaces, grinning, on the other side.
STEMBISO
Tau! Out.
TAU
Sorry, Malume.
Ntwe tugs at Stembiso'S sleeve.
NTWE
Ntate?
(he's ignored)
Ntate?
STEMBISO
What is it?
NTWE
(re Tau)
I want to be like that.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - DAY
Otelo and New Year, trailed by Dezi and Ntwe, are panting
as they circuit the pool, running. It's hot, and they are
wet with sweat.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
One thing that growing up in
Little Jozi taught me, is that
you must be careful what you wish
for. Because you never know how
it is going to come true.
NTWE
Can't we stop now, Malume? We've
been running for an hour!
STEMBISO
I'll tell you when you can stop.
NTWE
(to Otelo)
What's running got to do with
swimming.
Stembiso ignores them.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
For the first week, running was
all we did.
Then, on the seventh day, like
God, Stembiso gave us a break.
CUT TO:
INT. POOL/CHANGING ROOM - DAY
Otelo, New Year, Dezi and Ntwe, sweating, are down on their
knees scrubbing the floor.
OTELO
If we don't do it properly we
never going to get into the
water.
NTWE
I am doing it properly.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
It was two weeks before we were
allowed into that cool, clean,
blue freedom.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - DAY
Sunlight sparkles on the water. The meniscus on its surface
is a threshold, a tender membrane separating this world
from heaven.
Stembiso blows his whistle.
Tau and two other trainers, RISKY and TORTOISE, join
Stembiso in the shallow end.
The beginner's class, including Otelo, New Year, Dezi and
Ntwe, are ready and eager.
STEMBISO
(getting in)
Get in next to your trainers.
All obey, except Otelo.
STEMBISO (CONT'D)
(to Otelo)
In the pool.
Otelo grapples with his fear.
TAU
Scared?
Otelo stares at Tau for a beat.
Then he jumps in.
STEMBISO
First thing is the kick. Take the
edge of the pool in your hands,
and kick like this.
Stembiso demonstrates.
The class, with varying success, practise their kicking.
STEMBISO (CONT'D)
You not running, Ntwe. In the
water, you don't run.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Then, suddenly... we were
swimming.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - DAY
New Year swimming. Not bad, but every time he wants to
breathe, he stops the stroke and lifts his head straight up
out of the water.
Ntwe swims like a windmill, making little progress through
the water.
Otelo, swimming well, bar a few quirks.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Later, after the change, the
Umlungu's used to make jokes
about non-swimmers getting the
vote.
But in Little Jozi, there were
many swimmers. Because of
Stembiso. And because the pool
was the best place to be.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - DAY
Dezi and the girls hanging out at the pool. They are
watching Tau, who is working with a class, doing press ups.
GIRL
He's hot.
Dezi, thoughtful, watches Tau.
CUT TO:
Ntwe jumps into the deep end and sinks.
Girls scream.
Tau jumps in.
Ntwe surfaces. Doggy paddles.
NTWE
I can do it. I can do it.
Tau pulls him to the side.
STEMBISO
What the hell you doing?
(to Otelo)
Didn't your father tell you to
watch him all the time?
OTELO
Sorry, Malume.
STEMBISO
(to Ntwe)
Get out. Give me a hundred sit
ups.
NTWE
(climbing out)
I can do two hundred.
STEMBISO
Show me.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Stembiso was a hard man, but he
also knew when hard work must be
rewarded. For the swimming club,
the reward came when Stembiso
decided to braai.
CUT TO:
INT. POOL - EVENING
Flames leap in the halved 44 gallon drum. A portable tape
player pumps out township jive.
Otelo, Tau and New Year put some parcels of meat down on a
rickety table.
OTELO
There is two rand fifty three
change. Where is Stembiso?
TAU
In his office.
(beat)
Man!
Tau is grinning across at...
Dezi, who stands with some girls. Ma Christmas has allowed
Dezi to dress up. She's looking stunning. The girls are
giggling about the boys, hips swaying to the jive.
OTELO
What.
TAU
(to New Year)
You got a cute sister.
(beat)
And we are going party tonight!
The pool door creaks open.
Bra Chill, pushed by Slang, rolls in on his wheel chair.
Violence and Gatsha following.
Conversations stop. Heads turn towards the gangsters.
OTELO
(quiet)
What do they want here?
Dezi, silent, watches as...
Bra Chill rolls towards the braai.
BRA CHILL
(to New Year)
You Blade's brother?
NEW YEAR
Yes.
BRA CHILL
How come you have a party, you
don't call Bra Chill?
NEW YEAR
Dunno.
OTELO
(beat)
It's for pool club only.
BRA CHILL
Says who?
OTELO
Stembiso.
BRA CHILL
You tell Stembiso the party is
for everyone now.
TAU
(calls)
Ste?
Bra Chill spots Dezi and the girls.
BRA CHILL
Party is for everyone.
(grins)
Girls are for Bra Chill.
TAU
(louder)
Stembiso?
BRA CHILL
(to Slang; pointing at
Dezi)
Lets go.
Slang rolls Bra Chill forward.
Tau steps into his path.
TAU
Ste?
BRA CHILL
Out of my way, dog.
Otelo, shadowed by New Year and Ntwe, steps up, standing at
Tau's shoulder.
BRA MEAT
Out my way.
OTELO
He's not a dog.
Slang pushes Otelo in the chest.
GATSHA
Watch your mouth, pretty boy.
NTWE
(to Bra Chill)
You want steal our meat like a
dog.
OTELO
Ntwe!
Slang cuffs Ntwe, knocking him over.
Otelo pushes Slang in the chest.
Slang back hands Otelo.
Ntwe dives at Slang, sinks his teeth into muscular thigh.
SLANG
Fuck off, you little shit!
Slang takes Ntwe by the throat, begins to throttle him.
Otelo changes into a wild man. He launches himself at
Slang, thumbs gouging at his eyes.
Slang goes down, Otelo's hands digging into his wind pipe,
cutting off all air.
Otelo bangs Slang's head against concrete.
Blood spurts.
The gang falls on Otelo.
A knife flashes in Violence's hand.
The boys step back, shocked by the sight of Otelo's blood.
Otelo is frozen, animal, ready to launch himself at
Violence.
But the knife hovers, inches from his face.
VIOLENCE
(quiet)
I'll fucking disembowel you.
STEMBISO
You guys got a problem?
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
No one saw Stembiso come. He was
just there.
BRA CHILL
You got the problem.
(beat)
Why you braai without telling us,
Ste? Don't you believe in
democracy?
Stembiso ignores them, examines Otelo's wound.
A long deep cut. A good six stitches worth. Dripping blood.
Stembiso turns to Violence
STEMBISO
(beat)
Give me the knife.
VIOLENCE
Fuck you, dog.
BRA CHILL
You want to talk, talk to me.
STEMBISO
Give me the knife.
VIOLENCE
Make me.
Stembiso hits Violence once, hard, in the throat.
Violence goes down, dropping the knife. He kneels, gagging,
grasping his throat.
Stembiso picks up the knife.
Bra Chill pulls the blanket aside, takes out his gun.
Points it at Stembiso.
BRA CHILL
This pool is ours now, Ste. No
more swimming. Just nice parties
for the people.
STEMBISO
Give me the gun.
BRA CHILL
You want to die?
Stembiso takes a step towards Bra Chill.
STEMBISO
Give me the gun.
BRA CHILL
I fucking kill you, Zulu boy.
Stembiso steps forward again.
STEMBISO
Give me the gun.
Bra Chill pulls the trigger.
Once, twice three times.
The weapon is jammed.
Stembiso looks into Bra Chill'S eyes.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
It was almost like Stembiso made
it happen. Like he wasn't even
surprised.
STEMBISO
Give me the gun.
SLANG
(awed)
It's his father's power.
The gangsters, silent, watch as...
Stembiso takes the gun from Bra Chill'S hand.
STEMBISO
Go.
(beat)
Don't come back.
The gangsters obey.
The boys gather in a tight group around Otelo.
TAU
You must wash this. And bind it.
Stembiso has got some bandages
and disinfectant.
They move with Otelo towards Stembiso's office.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
And from that time on, it wasn't
two brothers. It was three.
Otelo, me, and Tau.
NTWE
Stembiso will fix that.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
Three and a half, if you count
Ntwe.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - NIGHT
Some one hits the button on the portable tape player. A big
dance sound booms out.
Blade is opening a case of beers.
STEMBISO
What is this?
BLADE
Special delivery. From Ma
Christmas.
The girls are jiving to the music.
Otelo, his arm bandaged, is far away, staring across the
pool.
New Year follows Otelo's eye-line.
Across the pool, Tau is jiving, shouting in Dezi's ear.
Tau looks round, waves to Otelo and New Year. He turns back
to Dezi, speaks. Dezi laughs.
New Year hands Otelo a beer. They drink.
CUT TO:
Dezi dances in the crowd. Otelo dances up to her. She
smiles, moves with him, playful, following his moves,
improvising on them.
Tau joins them. For a moment it's a dance threesome, then
Otelo moves away, and Dezi moves with him.
CUT TO:
Otelo pulls a laughing Dezi into the shadows behind the
changing room.
She puts a hand on his wounded arm. He winces.
DEZI
Sorry.
OTELO
It's fine.
A beat. She touches the cut on his lip.
DEZI
And this?
OTELO
(shrugs)
My father.
He stares at her, reaches up a hand to touch her cheek.
She takes her hand is his, liking the feel of his palm on
her skin.
They kiss. Then Dezi breaks away.
OTELO (CONT'D)
What?
(beat)
I like you.
DEZI
(beat)
I like you too.
CUT TO:
EXT. POOL - NIGHT
A log flares on the remaining coals of the braai. The party
is over and only the diehards are left.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
I think maybe Tau did it then,
because of Dezi. He thought if
Dezi saw what he could do on a
wave, he could progress with her.
TAU
(beat)
You guys want to learn to surf?
Otelo and New Year are astonished.
NEW YEAR
(beat)
Like the umlungus in Durban?
TAU
Sure.
They stare at him.
OTELO
Bullshit.
TAU
Come to Ndumbi, where I live.
NEW YEAR
(beat)
You got boards?
TAU
Sure.
They stare at him.
TAU (CONT'D)
(to New Year)
Bring your sister.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
With some doors, when you go
through them, it's forever.
(beat)
You can never come back.
CUT TO:
EXT. SMITH BEACH HOUSE - DAY
The sea roars.
A door swings open.
It leads from underneath the Smith beach house onto the
rocks at the southern end of Ndumbi beach.
Tau, carrying his Ndumbi Arrow board steps through.
Followed by Otelo, New Year, Dezi and Ntwe.
A swell builds, curving up to the sky, spume flying from
it's lip, a sea gull gliding, dead still, above the crest.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
I like we had stepped into
heaven, into a clean world, that
was full of power.
They stare at the wave, so close you could touch it.
OTELO
Shit.
Tau grins, looks at Dezi.
TAU
What do you think?
DEZI
(beat)
You going to go in there?
TAU
Sure.
Dezi points at a sign that guards the beginning of the
sand: Net Blankes - Whites Only.
DEZI
What about that?
TAU
It's not even weekend. Who is
going to arrest me?
(beat)
The sea gulls?
The gull hangs, swoops, lifts over a towering swell.
Ntwe touches Tau'S Ndumbi Arrow board.
NTWE
How did you get it?
TAU
When Uncle Frank got Kevin a
board, he gave me one.
NEW YEAR
Who is Uncle Frank?
TAU
Kevin's father. People I live
with.
OTELO
Umlungus?
TAU
Ja.
Tau grins, then picks his way forward onto the rocks.
They watch silent, as he chooses his moment between swells,
jumps in.
Tau climbs on the board and begins to paddle, just making
it over the crest of a wave.
NTWE
He's going to die!
OTELO
He didn't even throw a can
CUT TO:
Tau surfs. His, to the boys, godly, master of the wave and
the sea.
NEW YEAR
(V.O.)
I realized then what people meant
when they said we could be free.
Tau, knees bent, perfectly balanced, turns back up the
face. Rises slowly up like a bird riding air waves.
NEW YEAR (CONT'D)
(V.O.)
They meant like the wind. Like
the waves.
(beat)
Like Tau.