Under the Oaks

By Tyrone Zuidewind

It is the year 1984 at the height of Apartheid in South Africa. A job has been secured for young Harry by his aunt on the wine farm, Under Oaks, where she works. When Harry arrives at the farm, he is mesmerised by how beautiful it is there.

Tom is immediately attracted upon encountering Harry for the first time. There are many reasons why Harry opposes Tom’s interest in him. Firstly, Tom is the son of the owners of the wine farm. Secondly, Tom is White, while Harry is Coloured, and the immorality act prohibits relationships between different races. Lastly, homosexuality is illegal in South Africa.

Will Harry eventually give in to Tom’s advances despite the stakes being so high?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tyrone Zuidewind
• Release date: Apr 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005328559

Book preview

Under the Oaks

Tyrone Zuidewind

Copyright © 2021 Tyrone Zuidewind

First edition 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Tyrone Zuidewind using Reach Publishers’ services,

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Edited by Gerard Peter for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

Website: www.reachpublishers.org

E-mail: [e-mail]

Tyrone Zuidewind

[e-mail]

Table of Contents

1. The First Encounter

2. Breakfast

3. The Lift Home

4. The Realisation

5. The High Tea

6. Going to the Seaside

7. The New Girlfriend

8. The Dinner Party

9. The Inheritance

10. Andrew

11. The Proposal

12. Moving in and Moving On

13. Ten Years Later

Chapter 1

The First Encounter

It is 1984 in apartheid South Africa and segregation is the order of the day. Non-whites and whites only signs are plastered everywhere and hit any person of colour like a load of bricks in the face every time they try to do anything or go anywhere. There had been the uprising in 1976 but nothing had really changed. Nelson Mandela is still in prison and there is talk that riots are imminent.

Harry is a tall, handsome but shy 18-year-old coloured boy. He has olive skin, hazel coloured eyes and sleek black hair. He lives in a suburb in Stellenbosch designated for coloured people. At the age of seven, his mother Anne, a single parent, died tragically from cancer. Anne’s sister, Bella, took Harry in, adopted him and treated him like her own son. Bella does not have any children of her own or a husband, so Harry is all that she has. Harry does not have any friends because of his shy and introverted nature which is a result of his mother’s death. He withdrew

from the world, only letting Bella in.

Bella and Harry stay in a small two-bedroom council house. The house and garden might be small but is well-kept with nothing out of place. Bella has always taken pride in her home and has instilled the same values in Harry.

Harry has recently completed matric. With the meagre salary she earns as a maid, Bella has saved up some money but not nearly enough to get him through his first year of studies. As such, Harry is taking a gap year to work and save up some money to put towards his studies. It is his dream to become a lawyer. Bella works as a maid in the manor house of a wine farm for a wealthy family and has secured Harry a job at the farm. Harry will be working at the manor house, doing gardening and all sorts of odd jobs around the house such as washing windows and the family’s cars.

Early in the morning of 1 February, Harry is taking a bath and getting ready for his first day of work at the wine farm. Being extremely conscious about cleanliness, he exits the bathroom after having scrubbed every inch of his body.

Bella checks behind his ears and then says, Don’t embarrass me.

Harry laughs and goes to his room to get dressed. He wonders what to expect from his new job. Determined to make a good impression, he puts on a white button up shirt and grey pants. Bella and Harry travel by bus to the wine farm.

Under the oaks is a wine farm tucked away under a forest of large oak trees at the foot of the Stellenbosch Mountains. A long and winding paved driveway from the main road leads to the public area of the farm for visitors where wine tasting and wine sales take place. At a sort of T-junction, another road leads to the manor house.

The manor house is a large and impressive 19th century brilliant white Cape-Dutch style home complete with gables. The garden looks like the ones that appear on the covers of gardening magazines. There are fountains and all sorts of beautiful and exotic flowers. The picture is completed by birds chirping, squirrels scurrying around on the grass, heading towards the oak trees and peacocks walking about gracefully. As they make their way up the driveway, taking in all of this splendour, Harry’s mouth is wide open. He has never been to the farm before and he can’t help thinking that Bella’s description of the farm has not done it any justice; it is breathtakingly beautiful.

Wow aunty! It is like being in a fairy tale, Harry says looking mesmerised. You didn’t tell me it is so beautiful here. It’s so different from where we stay. I almost can’t believe that we are still in Stellenbosch. It really feels like we are in a different country.

Bella smiles at Harry and thinks that she has possibly taken all the beauty for granted because she is there every day. She wonders how long it will take Harry to figure out that all of this is just a veneer, a beautiful show and that there is so much more happening under the surface.

Upon arrival at the front door of the manor house Bella introduces Harry to Mr John Raubenheimer. He is a tall, handsome man in his fifties with black hair that is starting to go grey at the sides and with one of the meanest expressions that Harry has ever seen on anyone. Bella has warned Harry that Mr Raubenheimer can be quite abrupt, but she didn’t tell him how mean he is and that he has a very short fuse.

With a feint nod as a sort of acknowledgement and without saying good morning, Mr Raubenheimer says I expect your best. I will not tolerate any nonsense from you. There are lots of people looking for jobs.

Feeling the sweat that has formed in