Inter-varsity tournaments

During the weekend Thandi and Mandy went to visit uncle Zake who had invited them. They were received with warm hands by Zake and his wife. Zake apologised to Thandi for insinuating that she was after the S’bu’s money and for the aphrodisiac. Thandi realised that Zake was a smooth talker like S’bu and Menzi. By the time the weekend was over, they were all getting along very well. Back in the university, the sports teams were preparing for inter-varsity tournaments. Universities around the country would be meeting in Johannesburg to compete against each other in all sports fields. Thandi was in her university netball team and very excited to be part of the team. She thought she could spend the rest of the weekend with S’bu since the tournament was on Friday but S’bu was visiting Menzi in Durban that weekend. That Friday Thandi joined her team mates and all players form other sports and were taken to Johannesburg by their university bus. There were a lot of buses already parked from other universities and the competitive atmosphere was all around.

Thandi and her team mates changed to their short skirts, vests and tekkies with their university colours. They headed for the netball courts for their match. Thandi’s team won their first five games and were heading for semifinals. Thandi decided to walk around and see how her university was doing in other sports since their next game would be in two hours time. She met Tsepo next to the basketball courts, he was happy that his team was winning. He offered to give her a lift back to the university after the games but Thandi declined as she wanted to join her team mates for the party after the games. She went to other courts checking on her university teams until she got to the karate court. There was a lot of noise and applause as the winner was being crowned with the gold belt. She walked up the stairs in order to see through the crowd and her jaw dropped. The winner was S’bu, on his sides were his DOC friends who were clapping and shouting with joy. S’bu looked majestic wearing the white karate gear tied with a black belt on his waist with a triumphant smile on his face. He walked a short distance towards a beautiful girl and kissed her passionately. Thandi felt like a knife was plunged into her heart. She decided to get out of there as fast as she could but S’bu looked up at that very moment and their eyes met. She turned around and ran back to the netball courts as fast as she could without looking back.

S’bu cursed under his breath letting go of Wendy, the last person he expected to see here today was Thandi. When Thandi asked him during the week if he was available this weekend, he assumed that she wanted to visit him and lied, telling her that he was away visiting Menzi. It did not occur to him that she might be coming to participate in the inter-varsity tournaments. He had a bet with the most beautiful girl in the university that if he won the tournament then she would hook up with him, that’s why she didn’t want Thandi to visit him.

“What’s going on? I thought you were looking forward to this?” Wendy asked puzzled. S’bu had been shamelessly reminding her about their bet but now he was pushing her away.

“I’m sorry but my girlfriend is here and she just saw us kissing, I have to go” S’bu said.

“Oh well, I’ll be around if you need me but remember your bet is only valid for 24 hours” Wendy said walking away.

“What’s with that face? You just won the tournament and got the girl” asked Omesh.

“Thandi is here, she saw me kissing Wendy and ran off before we could talk” S’bu responded.

“Holy moly, you’re in trouble!” exclaimed Clarence.

“Eish, and you told her that you are in Durban this weekend, you are really in trouble” said Duma.

“I need to find her, loosing her is not an option. Come with me to the netball courts” S’bu suggested.

Thandi did not have time to reflect on what happened in the karate court, when she got back it was time for their semifinals match. Their team was playing so well and had attracted a lot of spectators and supporters.

“Since when do guys watch netball?” Clarence asked curious. When they got to the netball courts it was packed with guys who were cheering on the teams.

“Since the day it’s players got more beautiful and their kit sexy”Omesh responded.

“Watch your mouth, Thandi is one of the players” S’bu warned annoyed. He had figured out why the guys were there but didn’t want to hear the truth said out loud. If guys were here to watch sexy girls, that included Thandi and he had a problem with that. He watched Thandi run, jump to catch the ball and pass it to her team mates. She was happy and carefree in the field. By half time all the players were drenched in sweat with their vest sticking to their bodies and surprisingly looked really sexy. The game ended with Thandi’s team qualifying for the finals. S’bu decided to approach her to sort things out but Thandi did not want to talk to him. S’bu decided to stay and also became a netball supporter. The final match started, both teams were really good and competitive but Thandi’s team was leading by halftime. The other team was becoming more aggressive which didn’t help much as they were getting penalised for it and loosing the ball, giving Thandi’s team more points. Few minutes before the game ended, Thandi was about to catch the ball when her opponent ran directly to her, causing her to fall hard and twist her ankle. S’bu cursed out loud clenching his fists. He never thought Thandi could get hurt playing netball. Thandi screamed in pain holding her ankle and was carried out of the field by Physiotherapists who attended to her ankle. The team did not have to replace Thandi as the time was up and they won the tournament. Thandi limped to join her team to take a photo and receive their medals and trophy.

After the event, Thandi was left standing with S’bu. She took out her phone, sent a message and looked at him.

“There’s nothing for us to talk about, as far as I know you are in Durban with Menz” she said.

“Thandi”S’bu started to explain.

“No, Thandi interrupted. You did not want me here because you have your own plans. Just pretend you didn’t see me.”

S’bu’s expression changed as he saw Tsepo approaching them. That’s the last person he needed to see right now. He still needed to makeup with Thandi, he hated it when she was angry with him.

“Hey, you should not have come all the way. I would have come to you” Thandi said smiling at Tsepo.

“I was on my way when I got your message and I heard you were playing against some losers that hurt your ankle” Tsepo explained ignoring S’bu completely.

S’bu’s anger was brewing inside watching Thandi and Tsepo talking and smiling.

“Thandi” S’bu called her name annoyed.

Thandi looked at him and said “we will talk when you come back, please pass my regards to Menzi” and limped towards Tsepo who held her hand preventing her from falling. Tsepo realised that Thandi could not even put her foot down, he picked her up and carried her to his car and drove off.

S’bu stood there watching Tsepo carrying Thandi, to him the scene looked very intimate and he was boiling inside with anger and jealousy.

He took out his phone and called Wendy to ask her to join him to a party in Duma’s flat. Bring a sleepover bag, you not going back to your place tonight, he told her.