Fighting for Freedom (A Catfight Novel)

By Joe Smith

Petro wants to wrestle, but her parents prevent her as female wrestling and boxing is against the law and their conservative values.

When an exchange student from Germany joins their family, Petro is exited to learn she also enjoys wrestling.. They regularly wrestle each other in a hidden cave on their farm. All goes well until Petro's mother discovers their secret wrestling matches. The reaction of her parents and their conservative community, forces Petro to leave her parent's farm in order to make a living in Johannesburg. Her aim is to make enough money to visit the exchange student who moved back to Germany.

At first, Petro finds it tough to make a living in Johannesburg. However, participating in mud wrestling and topless boxing matches leads to an invite to fight in underground female fighting tournaments. The prize money convinces her to accept the risks involved. She is soon fighting for more than just the money.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JOE SMITH
• Release date: Jan 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386361893

Joe Smith

After a very successful career as a corporate executive, Joe Smith decided to take early retirement in order to pursue a second career as a pastoral minister in the Catholic Church. In order to prepare himself properly for this calling, Joe achieved several academic degrees including a MA in Pastoral Ministry, MA of Theology from Boston College, and a doctor of ministry from Andover Newton Theological School. Additionally, Joe became a board-certified Catholic chaplain, a certified spiritual director, and a permanent deacon in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.

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Foreword

In 1982 South Africa is a divided country. The Apartheid system is enforced by Prime Minister PW Botha and the ruling National Party, ensuring that white South Africans share in the riches of the country, while the so-called Blacks, Asians and Coloureds mostly live in poverty.

South Africa is involved in a border war in the northern parts of South West Africa (today's Namibia) and the southern parts of Angola. All white males are called up for a compulsory two year military services when they turn sixteen. Extensions are allowed where they prove that they are still in school, or that they are going to study further at a university. Many of these young men are involved in a war by the age of nineteen, or even younger. Most white families have a son on the border at some stage, or have friends or family who has a son fighting in the border war.

The church controls the thoughts and lives of most Afrikaners and the Dominie (Afrikaans preacher) plays a major role in advocating for conservative family values, confirmation that the Apartheid system is a just system in terms of the Bible and that sex before marriage and being gay or lesbian are major sins and that these sinners will go straight to Hell.

Afrikaans women are generally housewives who raise the children and make sure that the house is clean, ironing is done and that there is a proper meal on the table when their husbands arrive home from work. Most Afrikaans housewives have domestic workers to help them with these tasks. A man is the head of the family and his wife and children have to obey him and follow his rules. Children should be seen and not heard and they should never question their parents.

Women do participate in sport, but mostly non-contact sports like netball, athletics and tennis. The Boxing and Wrestling Act of 1954 provides that female boxing and wrestling are illegal, but ironically enough, it is not illegal for women to participate in martial arts such as karate, judo and even kickboxing.

Chapter 1 – The Cave

It is December holidays in South Africa and seventeen year old Petro Le Roux is alone on her parent's farm, Nuwe Hoop (Afrikaans for New Hope), located just north of Komatipoort in the Eastern Transvaal . Her father, Gert Le Roux, bought the cattle farm five years ago. He grew up on a cattle farm near Rustenburg and farming has always been his passion. After school he went to university for a while, until his father informed him that the farm was not doing well and that he needed him to come back to the farm to help turn things around. Gert worked on his father’s farm for five years before Petro's grandfather informed him that he has sequestrated himself and that the farm will be sold by the liquidators. Gert knew that his father went to Sun City on a regular basis to gamble, but he did not know that his gambling addiction was at a level where he gambled away the farm. At the age of twenty-four, he was without a job and with no prospects so he took the first job he could find as an apprentice on a platinum mine. His work ethics paid off and he climbed the corporate ladder in a hurry and at the age of twenty-seven he was making enough money to move out of the mine’s singles quarters and into a flat in town. He met his wife, Elna, on the day he moved into his flat. Elna and a friend were sharing a flat on the same floor and her roommate noticed him and brought him a glass of lemonade, hoping to get to know him better. He accepted her invitation to have dinner with them that night, but when he saw Elna, he only had eyes for her and her roommate soon realised that she was a fifth wheel. Elna lost a friend but gained a husband as they got married two years later. At the age of forty-five her father heard about a farm in the market for a good price and he invested all their savings into buying Nuwe Hoop. His love for farming and hard work soon paid off and after less than five years of farming, he was in a position to buy another piece of land between Nuwe Hoop and the Kruger National Park. His plan is to let this piece of land rest for a couple of years before he starts introducing kudu, gemsbok, eland and a few other antelope species for hunting purposes. Hunting farms have become big business in South Africa and he wanted to cash in on this.

Gert and Elna do not leave Petro alone on the farm often and she decides to use her freedom to go explore the new land her father bought last month. When her brother, Gerhardt, was still home the two of them often explored the farm on horseback. Since he was called up for his two year military service, her father has not allowed her to go into the veld (uncultivated farmland) by herself. Her father was very secretive about the reason for their visit to Johannesburg today and Petro gets the feeling that the trip to Johannesburg has something to do with her, but she has no idea what it could be. Her only obstacle today is to make sure that Sanna, their domestic worker, does not tell on her when her parents get back from Johannesburg. Luckily, she has some dirt on Sanna as well. Sanna likes wine a lot and she has caught her a few times while smuggling one of her parent’s wine bottles out of the house when she goes back to her house for the weekend. The workers’ houses are a distance from the farmhouse and none of them will notice when she leaves, but Sanna is still in the house. Petro takes a bottle of wine and goes to the kitchen where she finds Sanna washing the dishes. ‘Sanna, until what time are you working today?’

‘Kleinmies, I have to work until Baas Gert and Mies Elna gets back.’ ('Mies' and 'baas' means female and male boss. 'Klein' means small,)

‘I don’t think you have to be here the whole day. I will clean up before they come back.’

‘No Kleinmies Petro, Mies Elna told me to look after you.’

Petro is frustrated by this and decides to play her trump card. ‘I have seen you taking wine from the house, but I will not tell my mother if you do me a favour. I want you to tell my mother that I was here the whole day.’

‘Where are you going Kleinmies?’

‘I just want to go for a horse ride in the veld. I will be back long before my parents get home.’

‘The veld is dangerous Kleinmies.’

‘I will take the Point 22 rifle with me. You know that I can look after myself.’

Sanna looks doubtful and Petro plays another trump card. She puts the bottle of wine down on the kitchen table. ‘I will give you this if you promise to tell my mother I was here the whole day.’

Sanna takes the bottle. ‘Thank you Kleinmies Petro. I promise.’

Petro saddles her horse, Vonk (Afrikaans for spark) and steers him in the direction of the new piece of land her father bought. She does not push Vonk hard as they have a journey of more than ten kilometres through the veld. She stops regularly at water troughs installed for the cattle. When she reaches the fence between the cattle farm and the new piece of land, she gets of Vonk’s back and leads him along the fence until she finds one of the gates her father installed between the farms. She opens the gate and leads Vonk through before she mounts him and steers him in the direction of a hilly area she sees in the distance. It takes Petro about an hour to reach the hills and she fastens Vonk to a tree next to a pool of water as she wants to explore the hill on foot. Petro climbs the hill and finds that the fence of the Kruger National park is just on the other side of the hill. She scans the park to try and see any wildlife in the area, but after fifteen minutes she gives up on it and looks back at Vonk who is happily munching on the grass around him. Petro scans the area on their side of the hill and she can see something that looks like vehicle tracks about three hundred metres from where she is. She walks in that direction on top of the hill and as she gets closer, she can clearly see that it is indeed vehicle tracks. They carry on into the distance, but seem to start at a bushy area underneath her and she makes her way down to explore further. The tracks are quite old and it does not seem that anybody was here for a while. She is curious why the tracks lead to this bushy area though, so she carefully makes her way through the bushes and is surprised to see an opening in the side of the hill, with a small stream of water flowing from it. Her interest is piqued and she decides to go into the cave, but after about five metres it gets too dark to see, so she turns around. She is upset with herself for not bringing a torch and follows the small stream of water coming from the mouth of the cave back to where it flows into the pool of water where she left Vonk. Petro decides that she has to come back with a torch to explore the cave and to investigate why the vehicle tracks lead towards it.

Chapter 2 – The Exchange Student

Petro gets home at about four in the afternoon and is glad to see that her parents are not back yet. Sanna is nowhere to be seen and neither is the bottle of wine. Petro knows that her mother will be upset with Sanna for not following her instructions and she feels bad for getting her in trouble, but she really wanted to explore the new area today. She just hopes that Sanna will keep her promise when her mother yells at her tomorrow.

Gert is very excited when they pick up Anke Bauer from the Jan Smuts International Airport (today's OR Tambo International Airport) in Johannesburg. It was his idea to volunteer as host for an exchange student for a year, but it took some time for him to be able to convince Elna that this is a good idea. Petro has been very lonely since Gerhardt finished matric and went off to Bloemfontein for his military training. His children are very close and they used to do everything together when Gerhardt was still in school. Petro has been very lonely on the farm and Gert can’t wait to reveal this surprise to her. Anke is bubbly and full of energy and Gert is very pleased with himself for making a good choice. She is eighteen and has already finished school in Germany, but she decided to also do matric in South Africa as she wanted the adventure of spending a year in a foreign country and the student exchange programme was the easiest method to do this. On the way back to Komatipoort, they stop in Nelspruit to show Anke the school she will attend and the hostel she will stay in. Gert can see that Elna is getting impatient to get home, so they do not spend a lot of time in Nelspruit, but at least Anke seems exited by the school.

They arrive home just after six in the evening and find Petro alone on the porch having a coffee. She walks towards the car to greet her parents and only sees Anke when she gets out of the car. Petro is confused and looks at her father for clarity. He has a huge smile on his face. ‘Petro, I want you to meet our guest for the next year. Her name is Anke and she is an exchange student from Germany.’

Petro smiles at Anke and extents her right hand. ‘Pleased to meet you Anke, welcome to South Africa and welcome to our home.’

Anke smiles back at her, ignores her extended hand and hugs Petro. ‘Good day Petro. We will be sisters and sisters do not shake hands, they hug each other.’

Petro enjoys Anke’s German accent and she instantly likes this girl. She seems to be lots of fun and she can do with some fun in her life right now. Petro and Gert help Anke to carry her luggage to the guest room and Petro keeps Anke company while she unpacks. After a while, Elna comes into the room. ‘Petro, where is Sanna.’

‘I told her that she could go home early. I felt sorry for her as she was the only one working today.’

‘She was supposed to cook us a good traditional meal for tonight. What are we going to feed Anke tonight?’

‘Perhaps we can braai (Afrikaans for barbeque). It will be a very traditional way to welcome Anke.’

Elna is not happy, but she knows that they do not have any choice. She will definitely have a stern word with Sanna tomorrow. ‘Ok, go ask your father whether he will light the fire and then come help me in the kitchen.’

After dinner the two girls help Elna to clean up before they go to Anke’s room so that she can finish unpacking. Petro is embarrassed by the size, or lack of it, of some of Anke’s underwear and bikinis, but she does not comment on these. They chat about Germany and South Africa and Petro promises Anke that she will show her the farm the next day. She just hopes that her father will allow them to go to the veld on their own. The next morning at five Petro joins her father on the porch for coffee. ‘Daddy.’ She only calls him this if she wants a favour and her father knows this, but like any father he allows his daughter to manipulate him a little bit. ‘I want to go show Anke the farm today.’

‘You know it’s too dangerous honey.’

‘I am almost eighteen and I know how to use a rifle. I can look after myself and Anke will be with me as well. You have to trust me.’

He looks at her for a while. ‘I trust you and I know you can look after yourself. I know that with your brother being on the border I may be a bit overprotective of you, but I just want to make sure that you are safe. You may go show her the farm, but please be safe and take the Point 22 with you.’

Petro gives her father a hug. ‘Thanks Daddy, we will be safe. I will teach Anke to shoot as well so that we can take two rifles in future.’

Gert thinks about this for a while. Petro is a very good shot and he taught her weapon safety before he taught her how to shoot, but he is responsible for Anke’s safety and he cannot shift the responsibility to teach Anke weapon safety to his daughter. ‘No, let me take the two of you to the range so that I can teach her weapon safety first. When I am happy that she is competent to use a weapon, I will allow her to carry one when you guys go into the field.’

‘Ok daddy, can we do that tomorrow? I want to get to know her today.’

‘Sure honey, go enjoy yourselves today.’

Petro has one more thing to do before she and Anke go to the veld. She finds her mother in her parent’s room, busy with her make-up. Her mother puts on make-up everyday and she has told Petro that a woman should make sure that she is always attractive to her husband. Men’s eyes wander and they will notice other beautiful women and a wife has to make sure that they remember that she is beautiful as well. She hugs her mother and gives her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Morning Mom, you look beautiful.’

Elna smiles at her in the mirror. ‘Morning Petro. Thank you, you are very kind, but look at all these wrinkles. If only I could be your age again. It is so easy to be attractive when you are young.’

‘You are still very attractive Mom. Mom, please don’t punish Sanna, it was my fault that she left early yesterday. I wanted to be alone and I gave her a bottle of wine and told her to go home.’

Elna is immediately upset. ‘Why would you give her wine? You know she has a drinking problem. It is bad enough that she steals a bottle every so often, now you are helping her with that.’

‘I am sorry Mom. I just really wanted to be on my own.’

‘Why?’

‘I miss Gerhardt and I am very concerned for his safety now that he is on the border. I needed time to think about this and Sanna kept bothering me. I will not give her wine again.’

Elna pulls Petro closer to her and hugs her. ‘I know you miss him. We all worry about him. You have to belief that God will keep him safe. Thank you for being honest with me. I will not punish Sanna.’

Petro feels bad for lying to her mother, but she knows that her mother will never understand her need to go explore the farm on her own. Although she really misses her brother and although she is very concerned for his safety, these were not the reasons why she bribed Sanna with a bottle of wine, but she knew that her mother would accept these reasons and decided to use them.

Anke cannot believe the fact that she has to get up at half-past five in the morning and when Petro tells her that she allowed her to sleep in a bit as they all actually get up at half-past four, she starts to think she got herself into something she may not be able to handle. She soon gets used to the early mornings though and her routine soon adapts to that of her hosts. She joins the Le Roux family for breakfast before she has a long shower. Petro asked her at breakfast whether she knows how to ride a horse and she puts on a jean, t-shirt and short boots to ensure she is comfortable on the back of a the horse. When the horses are saddled the two girls head off to the veld and they truly enjoy each other’s company. Both instantly know that they have made a new friend and they look forward to get to know each other better. They return home in time for lunch and while Petro’s mother takes an afternoon nap, the girls are chatting on the lawn in the shade of the