The people Toby ran past could not help but turn back to look at him. At first, they thought he was being chased by someone. After a while, his legs were still carrying him as quick as they could. He then noticed the street he was in, and decided to take a left turn and run until he reached Sello’s house. There, he met Joyce entering the gate with some guy.

“Hey,” Toby called out, and they faced him. “I’m … here to …” he continued, but then stopped to catch his breath. “I’m here … I’m here to see … Sello. Where is he?” he asked while balancing his hands on his knees. He remembered the guy as Sello’s cousin, but he had forgotten his name.

“Didn’t you know?” the guy asked.

“Didn’t I know what?” Toby asked in response.

“Sello is dead. He was murdered yesterday,” the guy responded.

“What?” Toby asked.

The guy looked down at Joyce and instructed her to get inside the house. Once she had disappeared into a corner, he stepped closer to Toby. “You are Sello’s best friend, right?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s me,” Toby responded.

“I’m Karabo, Sello’s cousin. Did you know that your friend was gay?” he asked.

Toby thought before answering the question. “No I didn’t,” he finally responded.

“Me too, I didn’t know. My cousin was a very secretive person, and I did not even know he rapped. They shot him because of his sexuality. His body was found with a torn rainbow flag,” Karabo said, and Toby remained mute. “I wonder how his killers knew he was gay. You’ve never seen him wearing any makeup or walking around with some weave, have you?” Karabo asked.

“No, I’ve never seen him like that,” Toby responded, shaking his head. “Who murdered him?” he asked.

“We don’t know yet,” Karabo responded.

“You know what, I need to go,” Toby said, and then ran off again.

“Wait! Aren’t you gonna get inside? See the mother?” Karabo asked, but Toby just ignored him by running faster. He had a better way of paying his condolences to his friend. His face became wet, but that time it was not only sweat, it was also tears.

Sello’s death was homophobic driven. Although Toby was not exactly sure, he was the only person Sello had revealed his sexuality to, and he had failed to keep that as a secret. In a way, he knew he was the one who had killed Sello.

He ran through his home’s gate, and burst through the door and collided with his mother, who was on her way out to buy beer. The two brown empty bottles then hit the dusty floor and broke.

“Yho! Yho! Yho! You idiot! You idiot! Look at what you’ve done!” Doris said, and her words were followed by a slap to his cheek.

Doris had called Toby an idiot so many times, you would have thought she had forgotten his real name. Toby rubbed the side of his face and he rushes to his bedroom before he could get a second slap. He then slammed the door and locked it. After a while, Doris began banging the door and continued swearing at him and calling him names. Obviously, idiot was among those names. Idiot and stupid.

After a while, Doris sucked her teeth and warned Toby that, by the time she got back, she had better find the place spotless with no glass pieces. She then skipped over the glasses and went to the tavern. She knew she had to convince Bra Sikes to sell her two Black Labels without giving him bottles. Somehow, she managed to do it, mainly because she was Bra Sikes’s most loyal customer, and mainly because she had once slept with him for free beer.

***

Tell us: What do you think needs to be done in order to end homophobia in the country?