The covenant - James A. Michener [560]
Finally Leopold van Valck asked in a low voice, 'You want to know whether we're prepared to lodge formal charges?'
'We are,' his wife interrupted with great force. Having made the decision for all of them, she sat primly in her chair, hands folded, chin jutting out as if she were already bringing her testimony before the Race Classification Board.
Dr. Sterk felt that he was the only one in this mess who appreciated the terrible confrontation that threatened; only he foresaw the consequences, once this social avalanche was torn loose, and he wanted to give the Van Valcks time to consider. He said nothing, and in the silence Mr. van Valck might have wavered, except that his wife rose suddenly, smoothed down her dress, and said, 'Well, that's that. It is our job to inform Pretoria.'
'You're sure you want to?' Dr. Sterk asked one last time.
'We are,' she said firmly, and next morning she went early to the Venloo post office to buy a money order for £10, which she carried to her husband's office. He had been in since seven, preparing two affidavits detailing the grounds for their complaint. When she filled out the forms, she took them back to the post office and mailed them to the Director of Census in Pretoria. At home she told her husband, 'I'll be proved right. They're trying to penetrate white society. And when the verdict's in, I'll get my ten pounds back.' This deposit, the government believed, was required as an indication of good faith on the part of accusers: 'It stops malicious persons from bringing frivolous or vexatious complaints.'
A tornado broke over the school, for rumor quickly spread that Petra Albertyn was Coloured; her father was white enough, but her mother was Coloured, maybe even a Bantu, and the inquisition to which children are prone ensued. Two teachers, unusually mindful of the race laws, told the principal they did not wish to have any Coloured child in their classes, that to do so was not only illegal but also personally offensive. By midafternoon the school was polarized, a few older students and the two younger teachers defending Petra, the rest ostracizing her.
It was obvious to Dr. Sterk that such a situation could not be tolerated during the weeks it would require for a Race Classification Board to be appointed, so once more he drove out to the Albertyns', imploring them, for the welfare of their daughter, to remove her from school. Mr. Albertyn, keenly aware of what could happen to his family if his daughter was declared Coloured, was disposed to comply, but his wife said, 'No. If a cruel charge like this can be made against Petra this week, it can be made against others next week. Let's settle this once and for all.'
But next day a deputation of parents stormed Sterk's office, demanding that the girl be removed immediately. One was the wife of the sergeant at the Venloo police station, and her husband stepped forward: 'Wouldn't it be best for all if if I drove Petratjie to her home?' So Petra's things were collected from the dormitory and placed in the sergeant's car. On the way to Blinkfontein he said little, but he did offer her several of his extra-strong white peppermints: 'Don't worry, Petratjie. These things always work out for the best. You'll be much happier with your own people.'
The Race Classification Board was appointed by Pretoria, for this was one of the early cases under the new regulations and it was important that precedents be established. The membership was curious: the chairman, Detleef van Doorn, the lawmaker, who had at one time or another headed every important local organization and was still head of the committee of the Paulus de Groot High School; Mr. Leopold van Valck, the magistrate, who in another country might have been disqualified as being partner to the litigation; and the Venloo dentist with the good English name of John Adams, to avoid charges that the commission was overloaded with Afrikaners judging their own special laws.
They met in one of the town's two courtrooms and spent the first days taking testimony from any interested parties: teachers