When Andile woke up he was feeling dazed and his head ached as if he had been hit with a hammer. He was confused and could not remember what had happened the previous night. As if that was not bad enough, his mouth tasted bad.

He stretched his arms and yawned with blurry eyes. The sun came through the window and came down on him with no mercy. He made a futile attempt to pull down the blinds but his hands could not reach them. He resigned with a deep-fetched sigh on the pillow; feeling weaker than he had ever felt.

His mind was busy trying to recollect memories of yesterday. For a moment, he had forgotten about Koketso and all of his life’s troubles. This amazed him a great deal.

He picked up his phone to check the time. Seeing the message that was displayed on the screen; his memory returned.

They were supposed to have met and she did not pitch. He had waited and waited until going home was an inevitable option. He did not understand why she had stood him up, until he got the SMS from Koketso.

I can’t do this anymore. I really do like you nut can’t go on doing this… don’t call me – delete my number.

He had known that this day would come but he was not prepared for this. It’s that white boy, he though bitterly. He was still thinking of this when his roommate burst into the room and banged the door, swearing.

“Damn it man! Keep it low, what’s the problem?” Andile said rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“Have you seen my Boo?” asked Thabang searching on the drawer of his shelf. “It was here last night, I didn’t burn it all…” he turned and saw the look on Andile’s face.

Andile was giggling, trying to hide his face under the blanket.

“It is you, isn’t it? You smoked my blunt,”

“Thyini! Wandidyobha ngamafutha ndingatyanga nyama,”Andile said shaking his head in disapproval; he was trying to maintain the look of innocence but was failing miserably. The roommate got angry and that amused Andile more.

“Don’t become an airhead; that stuff is potent,” said Thabang sitting down in defeat.

Andile laughed at the sound of the word ‘potent’, which in turn made his roommate laugh. Thabang laughed heartily, exposing the decaying teeth browned by tobacco. Andile imagined how his lungs might look like if tobacco could be so brutal to his teeth.

At the images that came to his mind, he gave out a roar of laughter.

“Share the joke,” said Lumkile, walking in the room without knocking. He never knocked.

“Your friend…” said Thabang trying to speak through the laughter. All he could manage to do was to point at Andile.

Lumkile turned to look at a strange sight of his friend and what he saw worried him. Andile was in stitches and it was clear as daylight that he was still high. He shook his head in disapproval.

“You see what you’ve done now, Rasta?” said Lumkile sounding like a police cornering a suspect.

“Me?”

“Yes! You,” said Lumkile sarcastically.

“Feel no way, he will be fine,” Thabang said trying to maintain peace with Lumkile who was looking daggers at him.

What was making Lumkile angrier was that Andile was now lying on the floor, laughing.

“Hush! I an I was not here. Give tanks, Jah man,”

Lumkile opened his mouth to protest but then again closed it. Arguing with Rasta was useless; the man lived on a planet of his own. The way he spoke explained it, why he refused to speak proper English was beyond understanding.

Lumikle threw his hands up in defeat. He disapproved of Rasta and it was no secret, but he was always civil towards him. But this time Rasta had gone way too far. Lumkile had warned him from the first never to even think of sharing that stuff with his friend.

“Some of us are here to acquire knowledge that will help us fight better in the real world. Asinalo ixesha lokumosha iminyaka e-university, like others,” Lumkile had said sarcastically to his friend, the first day he moved in with Rasta. Thabang was a known veteran of the university; most said he’s been there longer than the bricks that surrounded them.

“What happened mtshana? Why did you smoke Rasta’s zol?” Lumkile was now looking at his friend sitting on the floor.

Andile tried to remember, however, he was finding it difficult to filter the thoughts that came at the speed of light to his mind; pictures of what transpired yesterday night. No wonder my mouth tastes like crap, he thought to himself.

Finally, after a hot fish and chips meal he finally told them.

“Do you blame her? You were too slow for her,” said Thabang laughing. “Girls, especially those in varsity, want a guy who is in control. What were you waiting for? You should have long banged her,” he burst out his comment.

“What’s your problem. Huh?” Andile kept his voice low to hide the embarrassment he felt.

Lumikle was sitting on the bed, chewing thoughtfully at the chips he had in front of him. He didn’t like any of this. He had warned Andile about giving away his heart too early. But now, saying “I told you so” would not help his friend.

Andile, choosing to ignore his roommate and his “senseless” comments, got up and announced that he was going to take a shower. He needed to filter his thoughts and get some of himself back. Maybe a hot, steamy shower will help, he thought as he slammed the door behind him.

***

Let’s chat: Have you ever experience unrequited love? How did you handle it?