“What happened baby?” Dumisani asked looking at his daughter. She had just woken up after sleeping 10 hours straight. Her ordeal shook her more than she had realised.

“When you told me I can’t enter the show I got hurt deeply. I decided to sleep over my friend’s place without you guys knowing so that you can see how much this show means to me.” Melokuhle said with her head bowed down in shame.

Dumisani and Thembeka exchanged a look. They wanted to shout at her but they knew it wouldn’t help at this point.

“Even when I was at my friend’s place the pain wouldn’t go away. So I decided to take a walk without telling anyone just to clear my head. I took a walk and I did not know where I was going, I couldn’t think. A car stopped next to me and two guys grabbed me and shoved me in a car. I screamed but they beat me so hard until I did not want to scream anymore.”

Melokuhle cried as she relived the trauma.

“But they did not rape you. Thank God for that,” Thembeka said wiping the tears from both Melo’s eyes and her own.

“They wanted to but their boss said no. I guess he saw his child when he looked at me. Mom if you still can’t let me enter the show then you shouldn’t have brought me back. You have to let me enter otherwise you are going to lose me forever.”

Thembeka just stared at Melokuhle. She couldn’t believe or understand her daughter’s fixation over this stupid show. She sat there looking from her daughter to her husband. Melokuhle was unbelievable.

***

“My friend that was a dumb move you pulled. Running away from home was not the right way to deal with this. You should listen to me sometimes,” Palesa said to her friend as they sat on Melo’s bed. Palesa had come to see her friend, she had been sick with worry.

“Easy for you to say coz you don’t understand. You’ve never loved anyone as much as I love that boy. This show is my only chance to get my hands on him. I don’t know what you’re moaning about coz it worked out well. I am now going to enter the show and that boy will be mine. It’s like living without water, Palesa, you wouldn’t survive right?”

Palesa looked at Melokuhle for a moment. She couldn’t how self-centred her friend really was. The ordeal she put her parents through; and all she could think about was some boy! Palesa shook her head, feeling ashamed in for her friend.

“So how much did your dad pay those criminals?” Palesa asked.

“R300 000. But all of that was fake money,” Melokuhle said laughing.

“Oh my God! I heard on the radio about a man who got arrested because he tried to bank R150 000 of fake notes, that was him?” Palesa said in shock, having just made the connection.

“Yep, my dad wants to come after him. He can get people to get rid of him in jail. I begged dad not to. That guy refused to let his gang rape me and because of him I’m now going to enter the show and win it together with the boy of my dreams. I mean being arrested is punishment enough.”

“Your dad is smart hey,” said Palesa, failing to find anything else to say to her crazy friend.

“Yeah, why do you think I’m a genius?” They both laughed.

Genius is not the word I would choose to describe you, thought Palesa to herself.

***

Tell us what you think: What would you have done to Melokuhle if you were her parent? What word would you use to describe her?