?A donkey cart??
?Yes, what was the name of the song?
?
?That?s like, a hundred years ago, Dad,? said Fritz in amazement. ?The Goose doesn?t sing stuff like that anymore. He rocks now. He?s got the Bushrock Band.?
?Unbelievable.?
?No, you know what?s really unbelievable, Dad? The guy who plays bass for the Bushrock Band is the same guy who backed Theuns Jordaan with his
medley. And he had Anton L?Amour on lead, but Theuns is too middle-of-the-road. Not bad, but he doesn?t want to rock. He doesn?t want to badass. Diff-olie is badass. And . . .?
?Diff-olie??
?Yes. And??
?Diff oil is the name of a
?
?With all due respect, how long were you drunk, Dad? There?s Diff-olie and Kobus and Akkedis and Battery 9 and Beeskraal and Valiant Swart and they all kick butt. There?s every type of rock in Afrikaans now, from heavy metal to Country. But you have to listen to Anton live in concert if you want to hear bass and genuine rock. Anton likes heavy bass, he turns it on. The only downside of that concert is the flippin? audience.?
?The flippin? audience??
?Yup. That will teach the Goose to play in the State Theater. They did this awesome rock and instead of the people going ape, they clapped. I ask you. It?s not a flippin? school concert, it?s rock, but they gave him these self- conscious ovations. Flippin? Pretoria.?
?Mister Boere Rock,? said Carla, and cast her eyes up to heaven.
?It?s better than that Leonard Cohen crap that
listen to.?
Griessel was beginning to form a reproof when he began to laugh. He couldn?t help himself and he knew why: he was in total agreement with his son.
When he had stopped laughing Fritz said, more to himself than to Griessel: ?That?s the one way I see myself.?
?How??
?Bass guitarist.?
?For Karen Zoid, I suppose,? said his sister.
He pulled up his nose at Carla. ?Only the uninformed think she?s into rock only. You read too much
magazine. Zoid is closet ballad queen, not a rock chic. But she
awesome and that?s a fact.?
?And you have an enormous crush on her.?
?No,? said Fritz with regret. ?Karen is spoken for.? Then he turned to his father. ?So you like bass too, Dad??
?A little,? said Griessel. ?A little.?
Cloete phoned again when they were on their way to Brackenfell.
?I thought you had a thing about the media, Benny.?
?What??
?Last night. Then it was ?vultures? and ?tell them to go to hell? and this morning I see you prefer to speak to them direct.?
?What are you talking about??
?Front page of the
Benny. Front fucking page: ?A source close to veteran Detective Inspector Benny Griessel of the Peninsula Unit for Serious and Violent Crimes (SVC) says that the team is still investigating the possibility that the vigilante was not responsible for the murder of Laurens.? I know I didn?t fucking say that.?
?I did not f . . .? He realized the children were in the car with him. ?It wasn?t me.?
?Must have been the ghost girl of Uniondale.?
?I?m telling you, it wasn?t me . . .? Then he fell silent because he knew who it was. Biceps Keyter. That?s who.
?Doesn?t matter. Thing is, the dailies want a follow-up, because everyone has an opinion now. Even the politicians. The DP says the ANC is to blame, the Death Penalty Party say it?s the voice of the people and the
ran an opinion poll and seventy-five per cent of the nation say the assegai man is a hero.?
?Jissis.?
?Now the dailies are phoning me like crazy. So I thought, while you?re doing my job, you can handle the inquiries yourself.?
