After an hour Palesa arrived dressed like a tomboy. She was gorgeous, despite her clothes. She told me that she was a lesbian. I laughed at her. She did things that lesbians wouldn’t do. She cooked, cleaned and acted like a straight female. There was no sign of lesbianism in her. Or I was just judging her wrong without understanding what it all meant to be a lesbian.

Well this was the first time seeing her in boys’ clothing. I asked if she was serious and she gave me a look that I had never seen before. She took out all the love letters that she received from her girlfriend. It was a shock to me; I never thought she was dating. In fact I never thought that she could be a lesbian.

There was a moment of silence in the house. I didn’t know what to say to her and I couldn’t afford to let go of her. The feeling came to me that lesbians can change too. I shouldn’t give up. I kept faith that one day I could change her the same way that she changed me. I stood up and gave her a hug. She thought that it was a sign that I had accepted her as a lesbian. And she was totally wrong.

For me she was my future wife. I was willing to do anything that I could do to keep her. I kept her close; I even managed to get to her girlfriend. We became friends. I found out how sweet her girlfriend was. But I was on a mission, I couldn’t compromise.

Months later, a stranger confessed to setting up mom for a murder. The case against my mom was dropped and she was released. She had no idea of my location. She knew that matric results were released the very same day. She got herself a newspaper to use it as an instrument to trace me. She used the school to be a point where she could find me. When she saw me she jumped and gave me a hug. I thought it was because I did well with my marks. She told me that she was my mother. My foster mom had been sending her pictures. I was happy to see my mom and I was ashamed of the fact that she was a former prostitute and prisoner.

We went home together. Palesa came to inform me that we can go to varsity together if I want. It was cool with me. I had less than ten hours to keep up with my mom. She came with a little kid. She told me that the girl she was with was my biological sister. She had been raped in prison by one of the guards. I knew that my life was changing forever. And my mom was against my friendship with Palesa. Palesa was the girl that I wanted to marry and my mom didn’t believe that lesbians could change.

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think of what the narrator said about lesbians not doing what “girls” do? Do you think lesbians can change?