Mourner or comforter?

Thandi had decided to avoid meeting S’bu until she can put her thoughts together but Mrs J asked her to come over and she could not refuse. When she got to the Jobe home, Mandy and Mrs J greeted her first. She was still hoping not to meet S’bu but unfortunately today he was sitting at the lounge and everyone was fussing over him.

“Hi S’bu, I’m glad you are ok?” Thandi said with no emotion.

“Really?, no hugs?, no kiss?” S’bu said whimsically.

Thandi blushed and dropped her head, how can S’bu say these things with his mother around? she wanted to run and hide.

“It seems you are still in denial about your feelings. Let me help you out. If I died, would you have come here as a mourner or a comforter?” S’bu asked smiling.

“Comforter of course” Thandi lied.

“Then why the middle of the night sobbing?” S’bu asked.

“Mrs J! How could you tell him that!” Thandi exclaimed. The other night when Mrs J called her, she misunderstood to reasons for her calls and assumed the worst.

“I promise I didn’t” Mrs J said.

“You tricked me!” Thandi exclaimed.

“AhA!” S’bu was just teasing her not knowing how accurate he was.

“Mandy come with me, these two need to talk in private” Mrs J suggested. She could tell that Thandi was very shy and S’bu was making things worse. Since S’bu incident, Mrs J and Mandy had stopped opposing S’bu from persuading Thandi to be his girlfriend. When they were left alone, S’bu walked to Thandi pushed her against the wall and kissed her passionately.

“Are your crazy? your mom is around!” exclaimed Thandi.

“She already knows you sob uncontrollably when I’m in danger and you dream about me” S’bu teased.

Thandi was speechless.

“What other dreams of me do you get? Do you scream my name when we make love in your dreams?” S’bu continued.

“Shameless!” Thandi exclaimed. She could not believe anyone could be this shameless.

S’bu laughed, he really loved teasing Thandi and found her reactions very cute.

“MaDlamini” he called her lovingly holding her hand. “The cat is out of the bag. You can’t play hard to get forever. Soon or later you are gonna have to admit that you are in love with me.”

Thandi’s phone rang, Noli wanted her to come home and help her with some chores. She said her goodbyes and ran to her aunts home relieved. She vowed never to be alone with S’bu again, at least not until she had made her decision. S’bu cursed under his breath, he almost had her. It doesn’t matter, Thandi can not run forever. Soon she will be his, S’bu thought smiling. S’bu did not see Thandi for the whole week. She always avoided or changed topic when he asked about her feelings for him. He had been patient for a long time and decided it was time to force Thandi’s hand.

That weekend schools were participating in sports competitions. Thandi and Cindy were chosen as part of the netball squad. They had played against three schools and won, now they were going for semifinals. Thandi was walking towards a vendor to buy some snacks when he ran to S’bu. He was walking holding hands with a girl so beautiful she could be a model. Man whistled when they saw her passing but she only paid attention to S’bu. Thandi wanted to hide but S’bu had seen her already and came to her.

“Hello Thandi, long time no see” he said smiling.

“Hi S’bu” Thandi responded avoiding his eyes.

“This is Precious, we grew up together, she promised to never leave my side but before I knew it she broke my heart and was off to be a model in America”S’bu said looking at Precious lovingly.

“We were too young when I made that promise and they made me an offer I could not refuse” Precious said laughing.

“Nice to meet you Precious. You are very beautiful”Thandi responded.

“Thank you and nice to meet you too Thandi”she said.

“Please excuse me, I have to go back to my team” Thandi said already walking away.

That night Thandi could not help thinking how perfect S’bu and Precious looked together. She was heartbroken, no mater how much she told herself that it didn’t matter. There was nothing between me and S’bu, he’s free to date anyone he chooses, she kept reminding herself.

The following day she asked Mandy about Precious. She found out that growing up S’bu and Precious were very close that everyone thought they would end up together. S’bu was devastated when an American modelling agency offered her a scholarship and a chance to advance her modelling career. “Soon after she left S’bu started hooking up with a lot of different girls. Maybe he was trying to fill the void she left” Mandy suggested. Precious was back to build her own brand and start modelling agency in South Africa.

When Thandi heard all this, she was shuttered. S’bu told her that he never loved anyone before but it was a lie. She was such a fool to believe everything he said. That night she cried herself to sleep and vowed to never let any man that close to her again. When her school closed for June holidays Thandi was relieved to be going back to her village. At least there she won’t meet or hear S’bu and Precious everywhere she went which was happening a lot. When she got to her village, other girls were already waiting for her. It was time to go to the palace again like they did every year. They had to get their matching traditional attires and practice their dance. Girls had been looking forward to this, now that it was so close they could not stop talking about it. Thandi was so happy to be home and soon forgot about S’bu and Precious.

The following week the village girls woke up very early and all met at the bus station for their transport. Parents at home smiled with pride hearing them singing and dancing happily.