Rubi is really disapproving.
“I can’t believe you did that, Magcina. How can you put someone else’s photo up on your Facebook and pretend it’s you? How can you be such a liar?”
“It’s not lying,” I say. “It’s file sharing. I’m just borrowing a different face for a while. A more photogenic one.”
“But why are you doing it at all? I don’t understand. I thought you hated Facebook.”
“I did,” I say. “But things change.”
Her phone pings. She frowns down at it. “It’s your brother,” she says. “Why is your brother messaging me on Facebook?”
“It’s not him,” I grin. “That’s me. Prinz.”
She looks up at me in horror.
“It’s his picture that you’ve used? Your own brother? And you’ve even taken his name?”
“Not his. The spelling is different. And the surname’s mine anyway.”
I don’t mention that I’ve also used some of his life in my profile. Just to make it more interesting, uyaz. The bit about being a trainer at the gym. The rest I’d made up. Not that there was much more. I didn’t want to go into too much detail in case I tripped myself up. When you’re bending the truth, keep it short.
Rubi is still staring at me, like I’ve suddenly turned into someone with fangs.
“I can’t believe you can cheat like that. You’re such a loser, Magcina.”
“Past tense,” I say. “I used to be a loser. That’s what I’m doing on Facebook. Trying to change my luck.”
“By stealing your brother’s identity?”
“Not stealing. Borrowing. I’m just borrowing his looks for a while. To get my confidence up. I don’t see what’s so wrong with that. It’s not like I’m catfishing or anything.”
“And what’s your brother going to say when he finds out that you’re using his face to imposter him?”
“He won’t find out. He’s not even on FB.”
“But how do you think you’re going to get away with it? What about when girls want to meet up with you? Are you going to make a mask of your brother’s face and wear it?”
“I won’t meet up with them. I’ll tell them I live in Namibia or Mars or somewhere. And even if we do bump by accident, they won’t even know it’s me. That’s the beauty of incognito,” I grin.
“And if they run into your brother somewhere and recognise him? What then?” she insists.
“That’ll never happen,” I tell her. “Life wouldn’t be that unkind.”
Her disapproving scowl annoys me.
“I don’t get why you’re acting like I’ve done something terrible,” I say. “I just want to know what it feels like to be popular for once. I need to meet girls. Lots of them, so I can get in some practice. Why is that such a bad thing?”
“If you don’t know I’m not going to tell you. Get a life, Magcina.”
“That’s what I’m trying to do,” I tell her. “I don’t want to be a lonely bachelor anymore. I want a girlfriend. A pretty one. The kind that will make other guys jealous. Where else am I going to find someone like that, looking the way I do? I just don’t know any girls like that.”
Rubi stares at me, a really strange stare. Her mouth is a little bit open, her eyes all startled, like they’ve just seen something shocking. She could be really pretty, if she didn’t look so cross all the time. And did her hair differently. Natural. Without the weave. I wonder if I should mention that to her. But maybe this isn’t the right time.
She closes her mouth. Blinks her eyes once or twice.
“There’s nothing wrong with how you look, Magcina. The only thing wrong is that you’re too stupid to live.”
She gets up and marches off, just like that, no goodbye or anything.
“See you later,” I call after her. “I’ll WhatsApp you and let you know how it goes.”
***
Tell us: What does Rubi mean when she says Magcina ‘is too stupid to live’? Is she right?