‘I, um, I don’t know. When you were in university?’
Margaret chortled loudly, although she made sure the tone of her laughter was not a mocking one.
‘Way before that, sweetie! I had my first bottle of wine with my older sister, in our parents’ basement one weekend when they were out of town. Yeah, that was back in Texas, that’s where I grew up and went to college. Our old aunt Regina, who was babysitting us, fell asleep watching TV, so my sister persuaded me to go down to the basement with her and get into the wine. She was seventeen and I was fifteen, and we were both old enough to have started to rebel against the very strict religious rules our parents set for us. They were Jehovah’s Witnesses, you know. You heard of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Tesla?’
He shook his head.
‘Humph, I’m surprised about that. The General doesn’t have religious education teachers in this school of yours?’
‘We only learn about religion when we are in our twenties. The General says that before that age our minds are not mature enough to tackle the concept with true objectivity and reason.’
Margaret was impressed.
‘Gee,’ she remarked, ‘I gotta say, that’s a pretty sound policy. If only more schools around the world looked at the subject that way. But anyways, I’m getting sidetracked here. So, my sister and I, we got into our parents’ wine collection. Lord, you should have seen it! Because they were Jehovah’s Witnesses they hardly ever drank, but my dad had been a heavy drinker before his conversion. That’s why we had all these dusty bottles of wine down in the basement. I guess he just never got around to throwing ‘em all out. We finished half a bottle in about twenty minutes between us, and next thing I knew we were running around the back yard in our underwear, putting the sprinkler on and jumping through it. It was a warm summer evening, with as starry a sky as one could see in the suburbs of Dallas. And it was a great memory; I felt completely, truly free. Truly uninhibited. Totally unfettered, unchained. It was electrifying, Tesla, truly electrifying! To feel freedom for the very first time in my life, when every waking moment before that, I’d felt trapped, like an eternal prisoner kept in a cage. It changed me forever, that first lil’ sip of wine. My word, it certainly did a number on me, and what a number!’
An inspired grin brightened Tesla’s features, and he did not seem nearly as repulsed by the wine as he had a few moments before. Margaret pressed home her advantage, applying every subtle twist of the arm she could think of.
‘I mean, I know it’s totally different for you though, right? I’m sure you must feel really free here, like you can truly be yourself. Yeah, just forget about the wine, you don’t need it like I once did. Forget I offered you any, it was silly of me. When I was a kid, I was in a totally different situation to the one you’re in now.’
Tesla stared hard at the bottle, and it was apparent that a number of conflicting thoughts were careening madly about the corridors of his mind, charging and crashing and accelerating like driverless racing cars. Margaret pretended not to notice and set the bottle back down on the table before she began to sip on her fresh glass of wine. Tesla’s gaze remained locked on the bottle of wine, and on his face a tempted keenness glowed in his eyes and sparkled in the white flash of teeth revealed by his parted lips.
‘Um, Dr Green, you would, er, you would never tell anyone if I just … if I just had a little sip of wine, would you? Only one small sip, just to see what it tastes like. You wouldn’t say anything to anyone, right?’
Margaret winked at him, chuckling softly and sympathetically.
‘Why of course I wouldn’t! We’re best friends, you and I! Best friends never, ever tell other people their secrets. What happens between you and me stays between you and me. Like I said, taking that first sip of wine when I was your age really changed my life for the better. It awoke a part of me that I never knew existed, and turned me into a completely new person.’
‘That sounds … really wonderful.’
‘I promise I won’t tell a soul if you have a sip.’
‘Really? You’ll never say anything? You promise?’
‘Cross my heart and hope to die.’
Tesla looked suddenly puzzled.
‘You want to die?’
Margaret couldn’t help herself, and she let out an uproarious belly laugh.
‘I’m sorry kiddo,’ she spluttered between bouts of laughter, ‘I didn’t realise that you didn’t know that expression. Of course I don’t wanna die! I love being alive, just as much as you do, I’m sure! No, “cross my heart and hope to die” is just a way of saying I promise – and being really serious about keeping that promise.’
Tesla smiled.
‘Mm. I like that! I will remember it and try to use it in my conversation. My English teacher says that we must always practice using new words and phrases in our own conversations. That’s how we can remember them well.’
‘He or she is right, so remember to say “cross my heart and hope to die” next time you make a promise. All right, you ready for a little taste of wine? Your first ever!’
Tesla breathed in deeply, and drawn across his face was the look of a cliff diver about to plunge off a precipice and plummet into a seething ocean below.
‘Okay,’ he said, drawing in a deep, serious breath. ‘I will try it. But you must never, ever tell anybody about this! Please Margaret!’
‘Like I said kiddo, cross my heart and hope to die. All right, I’m just gonna pour a little into your glass. This is strong stuff, I’m telling you, so take it easy. South African, from the Cape region. I do
