By the time night had clocked into work, Katlego was yet to make it home. When he did, it was too late to start cooking, not that it would have been an easy task with a cast on his arm. So it was settled, he would have to sleep on pizza, and ruin all the calories counted to perfection. It felt as though the world was against him. Everywhere he turned, people were out trashing his name and speaking about him as if he did not have feelings.

He turned on the TV to try distracting his mind, but it was no different because he was the subject of the day. While flipping through channels, he stopped on the Shava Hour. There was no way Jillian was not going to butcher him, but as far as sports shows go, she was most likely going to be the most objective.

Feeling defeated, Katlego found solace on the couch, but not before a loud puff of air left it to accommodate his weight. After a few winces and groans, trying not to injure his wrist some more, along with some warmth as the leather became fond of him, a knock on the door interrupted him just as everything seemed to be going well.

“Urgh,” Katlego groaned, getting up and heading for the door that would not keep quiet as the knocks on the other side got more and more impatient. “Coming,” he shouted with feet that tapped in tune with the banging on the door as he got closer. “Jerry, what the hell?” he said, yanking the door open.

“Your pizza,” Jerry said, shoving the pizza in Katlego’s face as he lazily chewed his gum. “Will it be cash, card, or phone?”

“I don’t know why you asked me that since you deliver to me all the time and payment is always the same,” Katlego said.

“Just doing my job, sir,” Jerry said.

“Sir?” Katlego asked.

Jerry did everything with a forced rush, and Katlego found it hard to keep up, especially since he had only one usable arm. Once the payment was finished, Jerry slammed the box on his arm, causing Katlego to cry in pain.

“You sound like a little girl,” Jerry remarked in between blowing bubbles with his gum.

“What the hell man? What’s your problem?” Katlego said.

“What is your problem?” Jerry retorted.

“Excuse me?” Katlego asked.

“Why’d you have to go and cost us the game like that?” Jerry asked, turning on his heel. “And I wouldn’t eat that pizza if I were you, unless you’re a fan of bodily fluids, maybe Mana’s solids, I don’t know what she put in it.”

Katlego watched on stunned as Jerry disappeared from view. He was in pain, hungry, and now weary of his food. He shut the door behind him and set the ‘pizza’ on the kitchenette. He then head back to the couch, only to find Sanele’s head filling up the space that made up his TV, smiling like an idiot.

“You know what Jill, when you’re the best, the country takes notice. We were going to win regardless of whether those cowards from Mlazi got disqualified or not. If anything, this shows how useless they were, resorting to illegal tricks to find an easy way out,” Sanele said, leaning back in his seat. The camera then zoomed in, showing off his black eye like it was the one being interviewed.

“I see, so tell us, now that you are in the process of enjoying the spoils of your win, with seven endorsements no less, even if some would argue that the umpires were on your side when it came to some of the more controversial calls, how do …” Jillian asked.

“Anybody who gets beaten the way they did would cry foul, it’s just the nature of how this game works,” Sanele said, cutting Jillian off. “KwaMashu plays a hard game, similar to the one on the streets, not this watered-down mess for the masses. If they can’t handle it, then they shouldn’t be playing Ushumpu in the first place.”

“Hmm, I see,” Jillian said, chewing on her pen. “Is this based on events that happened before or after you were knocked out in a brawl caused by your team for hurling racist comments at an Mlazi player based on the colour of their skin? I’m sure our viewers would like to know?”

Silence.

“While you think about it, let’s take a quick break,” Jillian said, and the camera zoomed in on her big, cat-like eyes, before a flood of advertisements took over the screen.

***

Tell us: Do you think Katlego could have done things differently to help his friend out when Sanele said the mean words to him?