Virgin hearts

“Let go of me, people will see us”Thandi pleaded. Most people in her village fetched water from this river, if anyone saw her in his arms like this the whole village will know about it.

“And you are worried about people seeing us?” he asked sounding hurt and letting go of her.

“We....we are not dating, I... I don’t want to send the wrong impression”she stuttered. What was wrong with her? She was blushing and stuttering in his presence.

“Come, let’s stand there behind the car so we can talk privately”S’bu suggested.

Thandi followed him without saying anything.

S’bu suddenly became serious “medicine has advanced a lot these past few years especially for breast cancer. With chemotherapy and radiotherapy your grandma could be cured. I know you worried about yourself and the rest of your family getting it too. I’m afraid you can’t change your risk but screening has also advanced. You need to stay alert and feel for lumps every month. You can also do mammogram, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging which can pick up early changes and that can be removed before it becomes cancer. I know it’s scary but it’s not hopeless, you not alone, you can all live your lives to the fullest” S’bu completed his speech and looked at Thandi who was listening to him attentively.

Thandi was feeling better for the first time since she found about about her granny’s cancer. She was relieved, she and her family members could live a long time. They just have to stay alert and screen themselves. She will be able to pursuit her dreams, maybe get married and have children of her own one day.

“Thank you S’bu, you have no idea how much this means to me”she smiled at him her eyes sparkling.

“If you give me a kiss I will know how much” S’bu suggested smiling.

“I’m not kissing you!” she blushing, we not an item.

“Let’s be an item then, you can hug and kiss me without guilt”he said mischievously.

“Give me time to think about it, I have to go back home now before they come looking for me” She had spent almost 30 minutes talking to S’bu, if she stayed anytime longer her elders would suspect something. She could get into trouble and be punished.

“Take your time, we have a whole lifetime together” he said smiling.

S’bu got closer and kissed her on the forehead before she could react to his statement. She blushed and ran to the riverbank. She picked up her bucket , put it on top of her head and walked home as fast as she could.

S’bu watched her until she disappeared and got into the car.

“We waited for 5 whole hours for you to talk to her for only 30minutes!” Menzi exclaimed. “I will stick to city girls, thank you very much” he added. This was too much trouble, village girls had impressive virtues but very strict traditions.

“What took so long? I was about to send the whole army to get you” Thandi’s mother asked with sarcasm.

“The cattle were drinking and got the water dirty so I had to wait for it to clear” Thandi lied. This was very common as they shared the river with livestock so her mom did not suspect anything.

Laying on her bed at night Thandi thought of S’bu and everything he said to her. She took out her phone and sent him a message. Thank you for caring and for the information on breast cancer. I feel better knowing that my family and I can have a future. I still don’t agree with your last point on similarities list.

S’bu looked at the message and laughed. Thandi just initiated a conversation with him, it was a good start, he thought then sent his response.

Previously you did not agree with my last two points, does that mean you now admit to being attracted to me? If I knew this earlier I would have kissed you on your lips instead of the forehead.

Thandi read his response and blushed thankful that she was alone in her bedroom. She did not mean to admit being attracted to him. She wanted him to explain the last point of virgin hearts.

She wrote another message: S’bu you can’t have a virgin heart when you’ve been with so many women. How do you explain Amahle?

Too innocent, S’bu thought after reading Thandi’s message. Thandi actually thought he loved every women he’s been with. He did not want to go to details of how Amahle was conceived so he sent her a short response: One day you will understand.

Thandi read the message, it did not explain at all. She did not ask him to explain anymore, fearing nagging him.

Few days passed and Thandi had to go back to the city for formal school closing and collect her report card. She was going to spend the night at her aunt Noli’s home and go to school the following day as it was impossible for her to get to school on time traveling from her village. However when she got to her aunt’s house Noli was preparing to leave. She was going to a conference far away for two weeks and had forgotten that Thandi was coming.Afraid to leave her alone Noli asked Mrs J if Thandi could sleepover at her house. Mrs J agreed as Thandi had slept over at her house a multiple times before and she was fond of her.

For the first time Thandi was uneasy about spending a night at Mandy’s home. What if she meets S’bu and he makes a blush in front of Mandy and his parents? What will she do? In the end she decided that she will avoid S’bu’s eyes or even talking to him. She only had to stay in Mandy’s home the night and morning. At 8 in the morning they will be at school and she will go back to her village after after that.