One day Ziyanda went away with her parents and left me alone in her big home. Actually, they were going to see a doctor because her eyes were sore and I asked if I could stay in the house and watch movies, and to my surprise they agreed. While I was watching a movie and eating ice cream with my feet on the table, Jeromie came to ask for Ziyanda.

I was happy that he found me alone, I don’t know why. Aunty Morris, the housekeeper, had gone to collect her grant money.

“Hey, is Ziyanda around?” he said.

“Ey wena, you can’t just come in here without knocking,” I shouted.

“I’m sorry. And you are?”

“I’m Zizipho, her best friend,” I said gleaming with pride.

“Oh OK. And where is Ziyanda?” he asked wanting to know.

“Oh she went out with her boyfriend,”

“I beg your pardon!”

“I said she has gone out with her boyfriend,”

“I don’t believe you,” he said.

“Hehe ay, I don’t know why you don’t believe me. Ziyanda has been going out with guys almost every Saturday just in case you haven’t noticed,”

“I know about those guys who bothers her, but she’s not interested in them and she told me she no longer goes out with them,”

“Well, she’s been lying to you,” I said laughing. “I’m telling you all this because you are a nice guy and you deserve better, otherwise I wouldn’t be telling you. Don’t get me wrong I don’t mean to be rude but she’s been making you a fool and she always gets away with it. Now if you don’t mind, I’m trying to watch a movie,”

“But she was with you last Saturday,”

“Ha! She said that! I wasn’t around last Saturday, I was out with my mom,”

“I still don’t believe you, Ziyanda wouldn’t lie to me. I don’t understand why you would speak lies about your friend. I’ll ask her myself,” he said and walked away angrily.

Oh my God, what had I done! I’ll be in serious trouble when Ziyanda finds out about this, I thought to myself. “Oh my God I’m such a bad person,” I cried and threw myself back on the couch. I wished I could call Jeromie and tell him I was joking but that wouldn’t help, he already knew what kind of person I was. “Damn it!” I shouted.

After some hours I had forgotten about what had happened because I had been sleeping. What woke me up was the sound of Ziyanda’s mother’s car. I jumped up and tried to scramble to the kitchen as I realised that I hadn’t washed the dishes I had been using. I rushed to put them in the sink but it was too late to wash them because Ziyanda’s parents were already behind me.

When I turned around, I saw Ziyanda then I remembered what I had done to her. Again, I was shaking and nervous, especially when I noticed that she was mad. I wondered why!

Oh God don’t tell me Jeromie called her and told her, I thought.

“Hey y’all are back,” I said with a big smile. But Ziyanda just stared at me and walked away.

“Oh my God what have I done to her?”

“It’s not your fault Zizipho,” her mom said.

“Uhh… how did you know what I was thinking?” I shouted, but then I realised that I was thinking out loud. “Oh never mind about that, so if it’s not me she’s angry with then what’s wrong with her?” I asked.

“Oh her doctor said she has problems with her eyes and it’s affecting her forehead. So the doctor said she can’t use her cell phone or anything electronic. So I took away her cellphone, but she doesn’t trust me with it. So she asked me to give it to you to keep, until the doctor says she can have it,”

“No I can’t do that!” I said.

“Please darling take it, she’s mad at me and she said she’ll be okay with me, only if I give her cellphone to you,”

Oh my God, that actually means she can’t hear from Jeromie, I thought ecstatically. WOW! “Oh okay, if that’s what Ziyanda wants then fine, I’ll take it,” I said to her mom.

When I got back home I was using Ziyanda’s cell phone. Ziyanda’s Blackberry looked exactly like the one she gave me, so my mom didn’t notice that it was not mine.

“Zizi, why don’t you answer you cellphone? It has been ringing for a long time,” my said when I got home. It was Jeromie calling Ziyanda. And I didn’t want to answer it. He kept texting her on BBM as well as Whatsapp, but I just ignored those messages.

***

Tell us: What is Zizipho acting like this? What do you think will happen to the friendship if Ziyanda found out?