Petrus's Story

As I walk up to the back door, I still notice that David is upset of how everything is going for him and his daughter. Terrible as it may seem but as long as their alright then everything should be fine for them. I can tell that David is very upset about what happened last night at my house. Seeing one of the men who caused this disaster to his daughter, must be devastating. But I do not want to get involve with this upsetting struggle for David. He's alright and so is his daughter Lucy and that is all that matters. It could of been worse but I'm glad that everything didn't turn out as bad as it could of been.

As I begin my day, just as if every other day is a working day for me, I decided to "lay PVC piping from the storage dam to the site of my new house." So I tell David and Lucy because I want them to know what I plan on doing for my new house and I want to ask to borrow some tools and for Davids help. I know this would make the job a lot easier and faster if I had the an extra hand with the help of David. With no hesitation David already starts to complain about the help I need. He thinks I'm doing plumbing but really it's only pipe fitting. I give him some information on what I have planed for my house, but he seems not interested on what I have to say. He already changes the conversation by asking me about the boy who was at my house. I try to pay no attention on what he has to say about the boy being at my house because that is my business and I do not want to start any more trouble as bad as it is for him at this point. So I don't bother answering his question and I begin to finish the work that is needed to be done.

When will David understand? He needs to know this is not Cape Town and things are different out here in the country. There is labor work that needs to be done here everyday. Whether it's fixing, cleaning, gardening or buying supplies, work has to happen. But knowing David he never seems to understand the work that I am doing. It still surprises me that he blames myself for the incident that happened on that terrible day. It's not my fault for what has happened to them, but I know if I was there maybe we wouldn't be in this situation. He still doesn't trust me when I tell him that I will protect Lucy because ever since I have been here by his daughter side nothing bad has happened. He doesn't take my word of trust into consideration because all he does his just deny what I have to say. David will never understand that I had to leave to the village, to buy supplies because he doesn't know what work consists of. Surely enough Lucy understands because she knows it's a tough time keeping up with work in the country. She knows I am a hard working man and that I have a rough story to tell about my life. But as far as David wants to think otherwise about me, he will soon find out about what it takes to work under rules and decisions being made from others. All I am saying is that I am my own boss and I do not need David giving me orders when he is in my country. Things are different around here and he needs to understand that.


Analysis

From reading Petrus's side of the story it seems that he is fed up with what David has to say about him. David only looks at the flaws when it comes to Petrus, for instance Petrus wasn't there at the time when they were attacked and David mentions that "what appeals to him in Petrus is his face and his hands" (117). Knowing this David believes that Petrus only cares about himself and nobody else. I believe this not true because Petrus does inform us that he will defend and protect Lucy. He also cares for Lucy and asks David about her condition with the attack. So at this point we know that Petrus not only cares for her but also "He is afraid you might lose your stall" (115). From what Petrus has to say we do know that he is carring enough to think about Lucy's health and work.

With evidence from Lucy she also informs us that Petrus is a hard working man and that he has a rough story about his life. But David doesn't believe anything that Petrus has to say. David only sees the minor mistakes around Petrus when really Petrus has nothing to do with any of the problems that David and Lucy encounter. Also when Petrus was gone at the time of the incident, David assumes that the attack on him and his daughter was set up by Petrus. When really we do not have any evidence that Petrus had anything to do with the attack. But what we do know is that, when Petrus does make his return we see that he is not by himself and that his young wife is with him. They brought back supplies such as "cartons, creosoted poles, sheets of galvanized iron, a roll of plastic piping, and finally, with much noise and commotion, two halfgrown sheep, with Petrus tethers to a fence post" (113). When he arrives he doesn't know anything about the attack until the day that he came back on. So sure enough there is no possible way that Petrus wanted this disaster to happen to David and Lucy. Overall, I believe that Petrus is just a hard working man. We notice that he is hard working because Lucy and Bev mention great things about Petrus and David is the only one who denies what kind of a man Petrus really is.