That night was the longest and most dreadful night of my life, having to force myself to sleep with a woman old enough to be my mother just so I could have a roof over my head. The worst part about it was how Mimi’s face kept flashing before me. It was such a relief when Julia finally dozed off beside me. I thought to myself, Sleeping with this woman better have really good benefits, or I would need to find myself somewhere else to crash.

The word was out, I hadn’t killed that good for nothing pig. He managed to get away with some bruises on his head and a thick bandage covering a cut. Thabo had called to let me know that the police had come looking for me at school.

“Ntoana and nou? Why o nyaka ke maphodisa jwale, le gona where the hell are you man?”

“Eish, boy I’ll explain everything to you when I see you. Right now, I’m just feeling down boy…”

“Feeling down for what? When are you going to see me? Phela wa nkolota wena, how can you just leave me with those two whores bra?!?”

I laughed at his remark. At least someone was making me laugh.

“Thabo mfethu, you were the one who insisted we get together with the whores right? I don’t see the problem…”

“Mmmhmm, I see. People get together with whores around here,” Julia said. She had snuck up behind me without my noticing.

“Mfethu, we’ll talk later ntoana. Take care of yourself.”

“He banna! Thapelo kganthe dintshang ntoana?

“Later boy,” I hung up, shifting my focus to Julia, who looked very pleased with herself.

“You don’t have to thank me now baby, but I have good news for you,” she said, kissing me on my neck. At that moment, I had to fight with every fibre of my being not to push her away from me and just get the hell out of her house. That neck was reserved for Mimi only, not her.

“Good news?” I asked, pretending to be intrigued.

“I just had a word with Captain Malesa, a very good friend of mine at the police station. He took care of your case. You are free to go wherever you like. There won’t be any police coming after you.”

“Really? Are you being for real?” I asked, actually intrigued this time.

“Yes baby, that’s what I’m here for. I’m here to satisfy your every need and want. They don’t call me ‘Sugar Mommy’ for nothing. I’m here to add a little sugar to your life.”

“Oh wow! Thank you very much,” I said as I leaned in to kiss her. I had no feelings whatsoever for this woman, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t play my cards right in the meantime.

“That’s not all hun. How about you take a little spin in my car and just go spoil yourself for the day. You can drive right?”

“Yes…oh my God! Are you being serious? Wow woman, you are the best.”

“I know right, and don’t you ever forget it. And by ‘my car’, I don’t mean my AMG. I mean the Audi in my garage. It has just been sitting there for a while now. It belonged to my late husband. If you are a good boy, you can have it babe, every day all day!”

I didn’t need to be told what a good boy did. I swept her off her feet and carried her straight to the shower, where I did things to her that I was sure no man had ever done to her before. When I was done with her, I was left with ten thousand rands in my pockets and an Audi Q7 waiting for me. A quick peck on her cheek and I was ready to show off. My first stop was school. It would let out in a few minutes. I texted Thabo to let him know I would be waiting for him. While I was waiting for him, I tried calling Mimi and, thank God, she actually answered.

“Hello?”

“Babe, please don’t hang up. I desperately need to see you.”

“I don’t want to see you. Please just forget about me and stay the hell out of my life. Oh, and the police came to my place looking for you. You know, I really thought I knew you. Now I’m just not sure.”

“Mimi, please don’t be like this! Give me time to explain myself. Please! I’m begging you.”

“It’s over Thapelo. Call Hazel to explain yourself. I’m not interested.”

Eish, here I was hoping to go pick her up, take her out and spoil her rotten, just to show her how sorry I was and she wouldn’t give me the time of day.

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think it was right of Mimi to blow Thapelo off? Will she ever forgive him?