Once I made up my mind about what to do, I ran upstairs and started packing my clothes. When I was done, I counted my savings and I had R800, which was not that bad. I locked and placed the key under the rock. I then walked to Nonsikelelo’s house, and when I arrived there, she welcomed me. Her kids were happy to see me, even though we had only met that day.

“How did it go?” Nonsikelelo asked.

“I found them ready to go, so I decided to use the opportunity to run away,” I said.

“You did well, and you’re welcome into our little house,” Nonsikelelo said.

I smiled because I thought I was going to be happy there. Nonsikelelo and I slept on the floor and the kids slept on the bed, but I didn’t mind at all. In the morning, she woke me up and I joined her to collect the tins. We went to a place where people dumped their rubble, and I started collecting cans. After collecting the cans, we headed home. On our way home, we saw some guy being mugged by some boys, so we ran to save him. Luckily, the boys didn’t have any guns, only an okapi.

“If you don’t leave him alone, I’ll kill you,” I said as soon as we got there.

The boys started laughing, and I could see they thought I wouldn’t do anything. It was not like I would kill them or anything, I just wanted to scare them away. I took out a knife from my sack and I pointed it at them, and Nonsikelelo did the same, so the boys ran away.

“Thank you for saving me ladies,” the man said.

“It’s OK, they wanted to mug you, and we were only helping you,” Nonsikelelo said.

While Nonsikelelo and the man were busy talking, the man was busy looking at me, he even offered to give us a lift. Nonsikelelo didn’t want to refuse because that woman was mysterious. One moment she was not interested in any guy, and ten minutes later she was flirting. We arrived home, and Nonsikelelo invited him inside.

“Once again, thank you ladies for saving my life. What can I do to show gratitude?” the man said.

“Nothing,” I said.

Nonsikelelo hit me on my shoulder playfully when I said that, and I looked at her with a serious look. She stopped, and I was glad she did so because she was embarrassing us. The guy then gave us money, but I refused to take it. After he left, Nonsikelelo got on my case. I knew we don’t have anything, but we couldn’t show a stranger that we were really desperate. I was really enjoying staying with them because my life was changing. At least I had some peace there.

Tell us: Do you think Nontethelelo was right for refusing the money from theman even though they needed it?