A young woman named Zingiswa lived in Willows Town with her mom, Nokuzola. The lived in a two roomed shack. Their township was filled with crime and drug use. Zingiswa had a boyfriend named Zonke, a well-known gangster. Zonke loved to have a lot of women around him and that did not sit well with Zingiswa.

One night, when Zingiswa went to sleep over at Zonke’s house, she found another girl named Thandolwethu there. Zingiswa was furious and asked what she was doing at her boyfriend’s house.

“Your boyfriend asked me to sleep over,” Thandolwethu said.

Instead of arguing with Zonke, Zingiswa slapped Thandolwethu on the cheek. Thandolwethu did not sit back and let Zingiswa beat her up; she retaliated and punched Zingiswa until she bled from the mouth. Zonke was furious with Zingiswa, he told her that she should never set her foot in his house again. He broke up with her and asked her to delete his number from her phone.

Zingiswa left Zonke’s house and when she returned home it was dark outside. She found her mother waiting for her on the couch. Her mom was worried sick about her and wondered where did she come from at this time of the day.

“My child, why are you doing this to yourself? I told you to stay away from that no good boy,” her mother said.

“Mama, but I love Zonke, he means the world to me.”

“He means the world to you? What about your future, mntanam? When was the last time you went to school? How many assignments have you missed because you spent time sleeping over at his house?” her mother asked.

“Mama, I don’t care about school: Zonke is my future. He gives me money at the end of the day,” Zingiswa explained.

“What? Are you satisfied that he gives you blood money?” her mother said.

“Whatever, mom,” she said.

Zingiswa went and locked herself in her room away from her mother. As the days went by, Zingiswa’s behaviour grew even worse. Instead of going to school, she started taking drugs and sleeping with older men. Every now and then, a different man’s car would park in front of her house and she would travel with each of them.

Tell us: What do you think of her mother’s advice?