To my best friend

I was about to go to bed when I received a text message from one of my friends that evening.

Hey, Chifundo. I just wanna let you know that am around. I have arrived today in the afternoon. But you should know that Yamikani is dating Beauty. It’s five days now.

This text from Mabvuto paralysed my whole body. How come? In what way? Were my questions. I did not reply to this message, I was very confused.

“So Mabvuto is back, what a surprise.” I seemed to talk to myself for there was no other person but me. He usually took more than a week on these errands, but now just a week, or was he lying?

Mabvuto and Yamikani were my very close friends. They came from the same area in Balaka Township. They walked together and went to the same church and treated each other and I like brothers.

The story about Beauty and Yamikani gave me headaches. Beauty was a very fair and pretty girl. The tenderness of her body eluded adorers’ eyes to lust. Yes, a girl rich in beauty with a moon face whose brightness could chase away your darkness. A well figured body that moved rhythmically side to side, all summarising her beauty.

I lived at Mangerengere and she at Majiga. This distance was not that huge, it was about 600 metres. Oh, sweet Beauty, the girl of my dreams. By then I was just her adorer from a distance.

I was about to confess my love to her when I let Yamikani and Mabvut in on my intentions. The pats on my back I got from them energised my passionate dream of dating her. I had a dream about us that night. I dreamt that Beauty and I were chatting together in the world of lovers. You know how sweet dreams happen to be; she was wetting her soft lips with pleasure. We were about to make love when I woke up screaming.

Oh why, why Lord? Why is it going to happen in this way? Oh no!

I knew then that I had to do anything to woo her heart, even if it mean been stupid, who cares? I say this because Beauty was more like my in law. Her elder sister was madly in love with my big brother, who I was staying with in Balaka Township.

A few days later, I sent her a friend request on Facebook. Though she took time to confirm, she at last did it after some days. I guessed she was not aware of the intimacy between our siblings. She was most of the times away at the boarding school in the neighbouring district where she attended for the past three years. Of course I had her phone number, but the way I got it was mysterious. I had to be very cautious about using it.

One certain day when I found her online, on Facebook chat, I asked her for her phone number. Unfortunately, it did not go as planned.

“You see,” she told me, “I don’t give my phone number to strangers.”

Though I insisted, “We make friends out of strangers. Were your friends not strangers the first time you met them?”

She said she had enough and I was defeated but I never gave up. Another strategy was called for.

I was getting desperate and I had no choice but to use it. I knew she would make me lie to her because I was not ready to disclose to her the name of the person who gave me her number. When I gathered my courage and weighed my options, I sent her a text message. She replied, though with appetite of knowing how I got her number and probably the person who gave it to me.

I should confess I lied. It was her friend from school, Thandizo. Fortunately it worked because I doubtfully convince her. We started nicely with soft conversations over text messages. She addressed me a stranger and I got used to it that I addressed her the same way. I didn’t know she was that open and cheerful girl. I enjoyed her conversations very much. Days passed by and I arranged to meet her unexpectedly.

Unfortunately, I was discouraged when my text messages could not be answered.

From that moment I had lived in the dark till the day I received the text message from Mabvuto. That explained why she refused to take my texts. I felt so much taken aback, so much perplexed and so confused. So many questions hovered in my mind. Why my only friends could snatch away my dreams? Oh friends, this conspiracy has shown your innermost self. You surely are friends of disappointment.