The drive was a quite one. The road was dark, and the surrounding maize field seemed to have darkened it further. Sive would even occasionally squint in order to see better, if he ever thought he caught a glimpse of an object on the road. Jolene was not concerned much about the road. She only laid her head on the window and watched the corn swoosh by. It reminded her of all the other times she had been to the Bettisonville Corn Festival. It was always fun, and it never failed to brighten up her night, literally, especially when you take the fireworks at the end of the night into account.

It was the first time Jolene ever went with someone other than her family. In a way, Sive was a better choice to enjoy an event such as the Corn Festival than her family. He was funny, witty, bright, insightful, and all around good company. He had a sixth sense of knowing which mood you are in, and match it completely, so you could never not be in the right mood to be around him. Jolene yawned and sunk lower in the comfortable new car seat.

“Long day?” Sive asked, focused on the road.

“Yeah, I’ve been studying like a maniac for my final exams,” Jolene responded, sitting straight and looking at the side of his face.

Jolene admired how comfortable Sive was in his small car. He was a tall dark man with a face full of wisps of beard hair, and large handsome features. All except for his lips, they were as tiny as hers were, but he chose to buy a Renault Clio, which he looked natural in. It was a bit humorous.

“Catch a couple of Z’s, and I’ll wake you up when we get there,” Sive said, pushing up his glasses.

“Hell no, you’d get bored and crash,” Jolene said with a giggle.

“Psh, you kidding? I have the best company in the world, me!” Sive said, gesturing to himself with one hand, and Jolene’s giggle turned into a full laugh.

“What did I do to get a bestie like you?” Jolene exulted him.

“Uh, I can remind you, you hit me on the head with a rock,” Sive responded, then rolled his eyes with an accompanying smirk.

“Geez bro, let it slide already,” Jolene said with a laugh. “Besides, I wasn’t aiming at you. I was aiming at Bobby Balm.”

“Yeah, well, all he got was a laugh out of that situation,” Sive said.

“So did I. You kept cracking jokes the whole time I tried patching you up before we took you home, trying to avoid a beating,” Jolene countered.

“Unsuccessfully,” Sive said with a chuckle.

“Unsuccessfully!” Jolene concurred with a laugh. “I got whooped by your mom, your dad, my mom, and my dad! Well, my Dad does not count. He just gave me a few weak lashes and coddled me after,” she added, relishing in the memory.

“Great guy,” Sive joined in, visiting his own memories of him.

Jolene released a last belly laugh. “Oh, and your brother!” she said.

“What?” Sive exclaimed.

“Yeah, Sipho found me after school that Monday, kicked me around a bit, and left,” Jolene said, casually.

“Oh, he’s going to pay!” Sive raged.

“Oh come on. It’s old news,” Jolene said, then rolled her eyes and watched the corn again.

“Wait, was it on the day I brought you those muffins?” Sive said with a reminiscent smile.

“Yeah,” Jolene melted. “It was after you gave me muffins.” She then turned abruptly to face him, then got hooked and released by the seatbelt for a moment. “What kind of person feels bad for someone who almost cracked his head open?” she asked, wearing a serious expression.

Sive felt weird. Jolene’s sudden demeanor change and stare threw him off track. “Well, you were beaten four times thanks to my dumb luck of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said with a shrug and a push to his glasses.

Jolene started feeling warm. Throughout her whole life, she had never felt such profound love as she did when she was in the presence of Sive. He had no reason to love her so much. In fact, he had a lot to hate her for.

Besides the fact that the reason they had met was because she had hit him with a rock, in high school, Sive could never get a girl because they would be irked that he spends so much time with her. Even now that they were in college together, they would date people, but sooner or later, those people would leave after being weirded out by their peculiar relationship.

“You’re special Sive Mvelase,” Jolene said, yawning again.

Sive’s head slingshot to her side and he blinked. He had a warm baffled face for a while, and then returned his attention to the road. Jolene writhed under the uncomfortable seatbelt. Vexed by its raggedness, she clicked it off.

“Hey, Hey, put that back!” Sive yelled.

“Relax, it’s clear road,” Jolene said, raising her feet and resting them on the dashboard.

“Uh uh, feet down shorty!” Sive chided playfully.

“Just drive, I need to shut my eyes a bit,” Jolene said, drearily.

“Jolene, I swear to God I’ll stop this car if you don’t put your feet down,” Sive said, seriously that time.

“Fine,” Jolene groaned.

Jolene swung her feet down, but on the way down, she hooked Sive’s arm and it threw his balance on the steering wheel off. The car swerved to the side of the road. Sive turned abruptly, trying to fix her mistake, but centrifugal force took effect and the car spun around. Inside, Jolene was screaming and covering her eyes. Sive was sitting on the edge of his seat, trying to swerve the car back to a straight path. When the car was back on the road, it stopped.

Once the car had stopped, Sive was panting like he had been running a mile or two, and his heart was beating like it was more scared than he was. He then turned slowly to look at Jolene, who was crumpled up in a corner.

“Are you okay?” Sive asked, holding her shoulder.

Jolene bloomed a tad and looked at him mortified. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Sive I’m so sorry. I didn’t think that would happen,” she pleaded for forgiveness.

“It’s okay, it was just a mistake,” Sive responded, waving it off.

“No, no it’s not,” Jolene said and began her rebuttal.

Other than the situation, Sive was more concerned with where they were instead. He propped up his glasses and realised that the car had come to a halt and turned off at the crossroads. It was a precarious place to be, so he decided to move them as soon as possible.

As if Sive was hit with dumb luck, a truck came into view a few hundred meters on his side. Judging by its speed, he deduced that the driver could not see them. He then turned the key, but the car did not start. He turned again, but the car ignored him again.

“Ah shit!” Sive spat. “Please!”

Jolene turned to look at the truck as well, and it was much closer now.

“Get out!” Sive yelled.

As soon as Jolene grabbed the door, the car came to life. She hoorayed as the car moved forward, but a loud thud came from behind them. The car was hit behind Sive’s seat, and it turned a bit. Jolene hit her head on the window and passed out.

***

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