The next day Airtime spotted Sbu sitting on the steps outside the school, his head in his hands, looking seriously bleak. He strode over to him and poked him hard in the chest.
“Hey, ‘friend’, ‘buddy’, ‘pal’,” Airtime moaned. “Thanks for deserting me yesterday. The last time I had to take a taxi home from Sea Point on my own, I got mugged, remember? Where did you and K8 disappear off to?”
“Hadeh, Airtime. K8 and I had a huge fight. I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Airtime’s anger deflated like a balloon. “Hayibo, Sbu, hadeh jo. Are you guys aight?”
“Andazi,” Sbu said, kicking at an empty chip packet on the ground. “I don’t think so.”
“Eita, guys!” Song said, bounding up to them. “Wait til I tell you what happened izolo!”
“You were supposed to call us! I was worried,” Airtime said.
“It’s all sorted. We found the guy who took the photo, this skollie called Anathi, and explained to him why he really, really needed to delete the pictures.”
“You think he’ll listen?”
“He’s a bully. And most bullies are cowards. All it needed was someone to stand up to him.”
“Yeah, but cowards are skelm. Trust me on this one, I know,” Airtime said. “And bullying cowards are mean AND skelm. I hope he doesn’t try to get back at you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Song said. And then her phone beeped with an incoming message.
“Oh, hang on.” Song took out her phone. It beeped again. And again. And again. She clicked on the message. The phone kept beeping.
“Look at you, Miss Popularity!” Airtime teased her.
But Song looked shaken. She was staring at her screen.
“What is it?” Sbu said.
Song turned her phone to show them. It was picture messages, dozens of them coming in faster than she could delete them. Some of them were of naked girls. Some of them were close-ups of guys’ penises. They were all pornographic.
“Is it from the same number as yesterday?” Sbu asked.
“No. I don’t know this number at all.”
“Excuse me? Songezwa?” They looked up to see their form teacher. Song quickly hid her still-beeping phone behind her back.
“The principal wants to see you,” their teacher said. “Immediately.”
Image: Sam Wilson, CC-BY
WHAT DO YOU THINK: Do you think guys taking naked pictures of themselves is the same as girls taking naked pictures of themselves?