The whole of that day was bitter. The night of that day was even more bitter. I could not stop thinking about him: the way he kissed me, it felt like double heaven. I would have done anything to get more of it. It was my first time ever being kissed by a boy, my first time ever loving a boy. It seemed like it was going to end right in the beginning. God knew I truly loved him.

I kept thinking, I had to find a way to convince my aunt to let me stay. That was hard as moving a huge rock by your hands. It seemed like trying to walk all the way from Pietermaritzburg to Durban trying to get to a meeting the next morning, yes it seemed impossible.

But then I thought of my cousin Andile and I had an idea. It gave me hope. I trusted the plan I had. This could work, in fact this is going to work, I thought to myself. I woke up in the morning, the same morning I was supposed to leave.

I went to my aunt. She thought I came to say goodbye. “Aunty, if I could heal Andile would you let me date Buhle? Would you let me go out with him? If I could make Andile normal would you let me stay?” My aunt had tried everything to make him normal and spent a lot of money that just went down the drain. I knew that.

Instead of her getting hope she just got mad. “What? Come again!”

I remained quiet.

“Slie, are you trying to make fun of my child? Oh God help you. This time you went too far, I’m going to kill you with my bare hands.”

I just got the courage to face her, there I was fighting for love – even if it meant death I was going to fight. “Aunty, I know what is wrong with him and I can help him. Just give me a chance please. I love Andile you know that I’d never make fun of him.”

She kept quiet a little while as a confused person. “How do you know what is wrong with him?” She was now asking me calmly.

“I sensed it.”

“You sensed it?”

“Yes, Aunty.”

“So how are you going to help him?”

“Just give me a week you will see.”

” A week? Why do you need so many days?”

“It’s the only way this is going to work.”

“Okay but if, just if it does not work, you are not going to walk out of here alive, Slie. Trust me, I mean it Slie.”

“I know, Aunty.” I knew she meant it, I knew she could do it, I knew she was going to do it if I failed to heal her son whom she loved more than anything.

“So what is wrong with him?” she asked.

“I’ll tell you when I’m done with him, Aunty.”

“Is that the only way it’s going to work?”

I laughed a little. “Yes, Aunty.”

She looked like she had faith in me. She could not believe after she spent so much money on him there could be someone who could say she would heal her son without any cent, just if she was going to stay in her house and date a boy she loved. The way I was positive made her think I knew what I was doing.

To tell the truth what I was doing was risky. I was not sure if it was really going to work; I was just taking my chances. Still, I had to try. I smiled a little and I went out of the house. There Buhle was standing right in front of the door, I guess he was worried by the time he woke up I would be gone. He smiled a minute when he saw I was still there. I smiled back. When he smiled it seemed like heaven opened.

“Guess what,” I said to him.

“What?” he asked.

“I’m not going anymore. I’ll be here for at least a week.”

“Really, I’m going to be with you a week more?”

“Yes, but we got to play it smart. There is a chance we could date freely after that week. There is a chance I could stay for the rest of the holidays.”

You could see the excitement on his face like a little kid who just got a new toy, but you could also see the confusion.

“Come follow me, I’ll tell you everything.”

We were going where we were yesterday when we both thought we were never going to see each other again.