A week later, I still had not heard from Stanley, and he was rejecting my calls. It was not usual of me to go see him without telling him that I was coming, but I still went to his place. When I got there, I heard two voices inside his room, and the other was a woman’s voice. I then knocked on the door and, suddenly, there was silence.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“Baby, it is me, open up,” I responded.

“I cannot right now, I am still bathing. Go away! I will come to your place once I am done,” he said.

For the first time, Stanley would not open up for me while he was bathing. That was new. He said he was bathing, but when I got there, I heard two voices inside, now he was bathing. I kept asking myself many questions without having any answers. I asked myself if he was cheating on me, or if it was all in my head. I then stood at his door for a while, hoping he would open up, but he did not open until I left five minutes later. I then walked slowly back to my room with the thousands of questions in my head.

**********

“Girls, on Sunday, let us go to church and praise the lord for the first time in a while,” Portia said during a video call.

“Great idea, and this time, we are going to my church since last we went to Sma’s church,” Celile responded.

“Ah, we have to wear doeks, jerseys, and long skirts in this hot weather. It is too hot, yhoo,” Portia said.

“Guys, come on. Trying something new is not a crime. We are definitely going to Celile’s church on Sunday,” I added.

“Alright ke Charnel, we will go, but you are used to these things because your church is similar to this one,” Sma responded.

On Sunday, we went to church, and while the preacher was preaching, a prophet came to me, picked me up, and then asked me to follow him. He then stopped at a certain room, and then kneeled down. He then told me a prophecy and told me scary news. He told me to stay away from my friends because they were bringing me a lot of trouble in my life. I could not understand what he meant because I saw my friends as my sisters.

After church, I told my girls everything, and they all acted shocked and surprised. They kept on telling me that I should not believe everything I heard from prophets, and how deceiving they could be. They then blamed Celile for everything, and for forcing us to go to her church. That was another sign added, but I took it otherwise.

Later that Sunday, I went to Stanley’s room. We talked things over, and I slept over at his place. Early in the morning the following day, Stanley’s phone kept on ringing none-stop. I tried waking him up, but he did not wake up, so I ended up answering his phone.

“Ntombizodwa?” the name that appeared on the screen said. “Hello,” I said, picking up the call, but the person immediately hung-up.

After putting the phone down, I wondered why she had hung up after calling for so long. Stanley finally woke up after a while.

“Your phone was ringing none stop,” I said.

“Okay, who was it?” he asked.

“Ntombizodwa,” I responded.

“Charnel, how many times should I tell you to not answer my phone? Do not touch my phone! You do not understand such simple things!” he yelled.

“Whooo bhuti, wait. What is with the temper? Who is she that is making you jump like this? Is she the one whose voice I heard in your room the other day? Are you cheating on me?” I asked, question after question.

“It is none of your business,” he responded, getting dressed and getting ready to go out.

Tell us: What do you think Stanley could be hiding?