Chapter 8
Chapter 8: The Letter Under the Floorboards
Michael returns from Cape Town with a box of his uncle Simon's belongings. While sorting through them, he discovers a hidden letter from his father Mike to Simon, revealing that Mike never abandoned his brother out of anger but out of a deep, misplaced guilt over a childhood accident that nearly destroyed their home. The secret reshapes Michael's understanding of his father and allows the family to finally heal an old wound.
The bus ride back from Cape Town felt shorter than the journey there, as if the road knew Michael was carrying something lighter now. He held the photograph of his father and Uncle Simon against his chest, the cardboard box from the hardware store resting on his lap. Inside were papers, an old watch, and a few trinkets Mr. Dlamini had told him to collect. Michael had not looked through them yet. He wanted to wait until he was home, with Nandi and the baby, under the same roof that had held his family for so long.
When he stepped off the bus, the late afternoon sun was soft and golden. He walked the familiar dirt road, past the mango tree that had witnessed so many of his childhood dreams, and up to the house. Nandi was sitting on the stoep, little Mike asleep in a sling across her chest. She rose when she saw him, her face breaking into a smile that made his tiredness dissolve.
“You’re back,” she said, her voice quiet so as not to wake the baby.
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