I was a visitor there – to this place called Moyeni in Estcourt. Not much difference from Mangwaneni where I live. I got the same attention there that I got from boys wherever I went, but maybe that was because boys did not really know me in Moyeni. Well, I’m just saying that I knew I got that attention because of my beauty that even a five year old would have noticed.

I had been there for just a few days here but already it had started to feel like heaven, I was falling in love with the place more every day. People treated me as if I was gold, especially the boys. But I knew how to handle them – I’m a girl who knows her story. I did not play hard to get. No, that’s not something I play. I was difficult to get – but that was my nature, not a silly game.

I was only 15 years old and no one had ever got me before, although almost every boy my age whom I knew had tried.

I loved the aunt that I was visiting. She showed me so much love. I also loved my five cousins, especially the one who was mentally slow. He was only nine years old but his t-shirts were always wet because of the saliva that kept on coming out of his mouth. He laughed at everything. And, every word that came out of his mouth wasn’t clear. It was as if his tongue wasn’t straight.

My aunt loved him more than anything. She would get so made whenever she saw him crying. And, whoever made him cry would get into big trouble. His father was no longer alive but my aunt had another man she was dating. He seemed awesome – his name was always on my cousin’s lips. They called my “Mkhulu” or grandfather. So, I expected him to be an old man. He was coming with his two sons for the December holidays and would be arriving the next day.

I heard that the sons were twins who were super handsome, so couldn’t wait for them to arrive. I was told that they had used to live in the town with their mom and dad. But then when they were eight years old my aunt had arrived on the picture and things had gotten ugly, so their mother had left town with them.

My cousin Ntombenhle had shown me the house they used to live in – but which now belonged to someone else as their dad had sold it.

This was going to be their first visit back. I wasn’t only told by Ntombenhle how cute they were – all my cousins had mentioned it. It felt as if something great would be coming from this visit – as if my favourite celeb was going to pay me a visit at my home – that’s just how good it felt.

I think that God had blessed me with a sixth sense. I didn’t think that I was so keen to meet them because they were good-looking – I was used to handsome boys and did not really care for them. So, what was my sixth sense telling me? Just while I was busy thinking these thoughts, my nine year-old cousin came to me, sitting alone in the kitchen, which formed part of the big house.

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you,” he said and laughed, laughing like he had lost his mind.

“Yes, here I am, boy. Did you need something?” I asked him with a huge smile on my face.

“Look, I wrote you something,” he took out an A4 page from his pocket on which was written “I LOVE YOU” in big letters.

“Ncaaaahhhhhh, so sweet of you cuz, come here.” He came closer and I gave him a warm hug, I could see the excitment on his face. “Wait a minute, who wrote this for you boy?”

He just laughed instead of giving me an answer.

“Boy, who wrote this for you?” I asked him again.

“Me,” he replied.

“Write it again, in front of me.”

He seemed to enjoy writing – he excitedly wrote it again in front of me and I was shocked. Although his letters weren’t inside the lines, I was amazed. He had never been to school and no one had ever taught him how to write. How did he know how to do it, I wondered.

My sixth sense came over me. I kept quiet for a while and then gave him another hug and told him that I loved him too. I now knew the truth but did not know how to tell his mom. Even if I did tell her I didn’t know how to help him – no one would believe me and my aunt would think that I’m laughing at her, because her kid is like this.

Oh, God, what should I do? I thought to myself.