Tested

S’bu and Tsepo were all of a sudden chatting like old friends ignoring Mandy. By the time they got in to see Thandi they had exchanged phone numbers and made plans to meet. Thandi was happy to see them but was puzzled by the dramatic change in S’bu and Tsepo’s relationship. Mandy and Tsepo left before visiting hours were over to give S’bu and Thandi some privacy.

“MaDlamini”he called her lovingly.

She blushed.

“You have no idea how terrified I was when you were in theatre” he said holding her hand.

She smiled remembering how S’bu bombarded the Orthopaedic surgeon and Anaesthetist with questions about their techniques and failure rates. The nurses also told her how he was pacing up and down the corridor until she came out of theatre. She was grateful to him for insisting on bringing her to the hospital or she would still be in pain. She decided to forget about their argument about Wendy.

“You are not allowed to play that dangerous sport again”he commanded.

“Dangerous sport? What do you call your karate?”Thandi asked puzzled.

“I’ve never landed in hospital because of karate”he said.

“It’s still more dangerous than netball, I’ve played netball for six years and this is the first time I got hurt. It was just an accident”Thandi reassured him.

“Well, I still don’t like your sport and it’s spectators”he said.

Thandi laughed “You really should not be this jealous, you have no reason to be”she said.

“No, I don’t. I’m working on it”he said kissing her.

Thandi was discharged from the hospital with a cast and crutches to help her walk. Tsepo insisted on driving her to and from her lectures everyday until her leg was completely healed. S’bu and Tsepo became so close you could swear they grew up together. S’bu had registered his own company SJC. Just as he predicted, it was very easy to sell Tsepo’s brand and made both of them a lot of money. Tsepo’s personality and his basketball achievements were his greatest assets. He was soon a model for a local sports wear group with his own collection and an ambassador for sport development in the country. Towards the end of the year,he was approached by an international sport wear group who wanted to sign him on as their model. S’bu had given him his blessing but Tsepo declined their offer stating his commitment SJC and that won him even more fans.

S’bu and Thandi continued to talk every night and met most weekends. They fought less each year as S’bu learned to keep his hook up girls away from Thandi. He also insisted that Thandi does her screening for breast cancer. During the December holidays Thandi was back home and attending a music concert with Cindy and her cousin. She was having a good time dancing and singing, ignoring two women who were passing rude remarks about her. She had encountered countless of these women since she started dating S’bu and was getting used to ignoring them.

“Hey, beautiful, can I talk to you?” TT asked looking at her.

TT was her favourite musician. He was handsome and had the best dance moves ever.

“I’m TT” he said.

“I’m Thandi” she said.

“I couldn’t help noticing you singing along to my songs when I was on stage” he said.

“I’m your biggest fan”Thandi said blushing.

“Oh TT forget about her, she has a boyfriend and she is a gold digger”they said.

“I like what I see, please join me for the after party, we can get to know each other better” he said charmingly ignoring the two women. As a famous musician, it was really easy for him to pick up girls and girls were crazy about him.

“Sorry I’m not the after party kind of a person”Thandi said politely.

“We can skip after party and go straight to my place then”he said whimsically.

“I’m not that kind of a girl, I’m committed to someone”Thandi said turning him down again.

“Come on, I don’t see a ring on that finger”he persisted.

“You don’t need a ring to be committed to someone”she said.

“Is he committed to you?”he asked.

Thandi opened and closed her mouth but no answer came out. She knew that S’bu was hooking up with other girls.

“I take that as a no, he said. How about you give me your number, we can talk and maybe you might even change your mind about me”he added.

“Sorry, I really can’t”Thandi said.

“Woman, it’s just a number. I’m not taking no for an answer”he said.

Thandi realised that TT was not going to let her off, she took out a paper from her bag, wrote something down and handed it to him.

“I’ll be in touch”he said putting the paper in his pocket.

“S’bu is somewhere thinking you are so perfect, he has no idea that you are such a whore” the women sneered when they saw Thandi give TT the paper.

Backstage TT handed the paper to his cousin.

“What the heck is this?”S’bu asked.

“You tell me, she your girl”TT responded.

S’bu looked at the paper again “She wants you to work it out” he said amused taking a pen and working it out.

Divide any number by zero: 0

Platinum: 78

Mandela’s prison number: 4664

Stars in an American flag: 50

Lumbar vertebrae: 5

“0784664505” S’bu said laughing in disbelief.

“What’s so funny?” asked TT curious.

“She gave you my number!” S’bu told him clearly impressed. He knew that Thandi thought TT was handsome and she was crazy about his music. He wanted to see if she would betray him if given the opportunity. Normally women would do anything to spend few minutes with his cousin but Thandi rejected him completely.

“Excuse me gentlemen, I have to go greet my woman” S’bu said proudly leaving backstage.

“I’m coming too” said Menzi.

“It’s about time we are formally introduced” said TT.

Thandi saw S’bu coming towards her. The two women jumped in front of her and started telling S’bu about how Thandi was flirting and even giving TT her number.

“I don’t remember ever asking you to police my woman” he said giving them a cold stare. They moved back, disappointed and hating Thandi more.

“MaDlamini” he called her lovingly hugging her making Thandi blush.

“First Lady”Menzi and TT said bowing.

Thandi looked at them puzzled. Why was TT addressing her like Sbu’s family and friends?

“I hear you giving strange man my phone number”S’bu said teasing her.

Thandi was speechless. TT must have showed S’bu the paper she wrote and they must have worked it out and got S’bu’s phone number.

“By the way, this is TT my cousin. Her mother is my fathers younger sister” S’bu said.

Thandi figured out what was happening and got angry.

“You sent your cousin to test me?” she asked angrily. “Would you appreciate it if I sent my relative to you? Would you pass the test?” she asked. She felt that S’bu had no right testing her especially when he was the one sleeping around and she’s the one dealing with his rude hook ups. Menzi and TT left without a word to give the two privacy.

“Marry me” S’bu said pulling her to his arms.

“What? Are you crazy?” Thandi asked pushing him away.

“You don’t think I’m committed to you, marry me, so you can see how committed I am” he said.

“I’m not marrying you so you can prove a point!” Thandi snapped at him.

S’bu realised that Thandi was really angry, he pulled her into his arms again and kissed her passionately until she stopped resisting and kissed him back.