“How could you? You – I hate you!”

OK, so this probably seems like I’m crazy or something, but I promise you I’m not. Let me start from the beginning.

My name is Nyiko Baloyi, a girl of 18 and this is a story of how I found out that life is not all roses, or at least not all nice smelling ones. That there are the rotten ones too that just won’t smell nice ever again, no matter how much you water them.

Anyways, one day I was coming back from class, I am a student at Denver Technical College and I am studying Electrical Engineering. So as I was saying, I was coming back from class, a little early because class was cancelled. I have to confess, I was a little happy with class being cancelled because it was Tuesday and we loved going to the cinema on Tuesday because of the half price discount.

I entered the building and climbed all the way to the fifth floor. When I got to the door of flat 502, I put the key on the door, ready to unlock it. I was frozen by what I heard coming from inside.

I could hear what sounded like an animal being slaughtered, so I unlocked the door as fast as I could and went inside.

I was a hundred percent sure the sound was coming from my room, which I’ve shared with my best friend since I came to Pretoria. So, now that I think about it, my friend only had one class at one, so by now I was panting with fear of all the things that were probably being done to my friend.

I went to the kitchen first and took the sharpest knife I could find, I also grabbed and the broom. When I was armed and ready, I went to rescue my friend.

I put the key in the door quietly, so as not to startle the assailant, then I turned it very slowly. All this time I could hear the horrible sound from inside and it killed me a little each time. After the key turned I opened the door very slowly. I knew if the assailant became aware of me and became ready to fight, there was little chance of me winning. A surprise attack was what I had working for me.

When I had the door open enough to enter, I entered and froze. There on my bed was my friend, ridding my boyfriend like her life depended on it. I realised that the horrible sound I was hearing was the sound of pleasure from my boyfriend.

I stood, not sure what I should do. The two of them went on doing what they were doing, too busy to see me.

I thought of how I had helped her every month when she didn’t have food. Or when her father used her fees and there was no rent money. I thought of how many times I had to pay for the whole room alone. I saw red.

I raised the broom and brought it down hard on her back.

There was a scream, but to me it sounded so far away. I raised it again and again, bringing it down, this time on my boyfriend who had pushed her out of the way. I could see his lips moving and I knew he was saying something. But I just couldn’t hear him. I thought of how many times I told my other friend that she was jealous when she said they were having an affair. He even laughed with me when I told him this, all the while probably laughing at me behind my back.

I hit them over and over and over again until they stopped, begging and huddled together.

How could you – you, I hate you! I wanted to shout at them but I had used all of my strength to hit them and now I was tired.

“Rhandzu, I want you to pack your things right now and go. Since I have been paying for this flat for the past four months, I believe it belongs to me.” I said.

I looked to my boyfriend. We come from the same village and he is two years older than me and was in Pretoria two years before me. I had a choice to go to Johannesburg or Pretoria, and I chose Pretoria because of him. And now this.

This was his last year at the University of Pretoria and I loved him so much. It hurt but I knew I could never be with him, never again.

“Vutomi, you can help her pack her things and please, you need to hurry. I want you to pack with me here, because I don’t trust you not to take what doesn’t belong to you for obvious reasons.”

They got off the floor with difficulty because of the pain and put on their clothes.

“I am sorry Nyiko. I really never meant for this to go anywhere. I was just flirting with him a little, please, I have nowhere to go. And you know my parents can’t afford to get me a place, please,” Rhandzu was on her knees now.

“You could move in with him. And your parents being unable to pay for your room has nothing to do with me. We are no longer friends. I can’t let you stay here, even if you pay me. I can’t stand the rotten smell coming out of you, so please hurry.”

He touched me and I flinched away from him.

“I am sorry, I don’t know how to make this right, you didn’t deserve this,” then he moved to leave.

“Hey, you need to help your lover with her things and she needs a place to stay,”

He turned to me, then he said, “She got me into this mess, I lost you coz of her and she has the nerve to say she was only flirting with me. That I was the one to mess up when she was the one who came to my flat with the keys I gave to you, and stripped naked for me?! So nah, she can find her own way,”

He left.

After they left I cried for my messed up Tuesday. I was supposed to go to the movies and they did this. I was probably going to hate Tuesdays from now on.

***

Tell us: What would you do if you caught your partner cheating on you?