The next morning Kotatso woke up late at his aunt’s house. He had lipstick all over his shirt, and stripped it off before going into the lounge to greet her.
“You left your phone in the lounge, you idiot! It’s been ringing all morning. Whose heart have you broken this time?” complained Aunt Naledi.
“No, no, no, I’m innocent. I didn’t break any hearts. I spent my night with my queen.”
“I see. Well, which queen was it this time?” smirked Aunt Naledi. “You better check your messages.”
Kotatso reluctantly picked up his phone. He saw that there were a number of missed calls from Lindiwe. She must have heard the rumours about the party, and Tankiso, by now. Facebook and Twitter users were sure to have been spreading it – tweeting there and then on the dance floor:
Tankiso spotted up close with Kotatso!
Lindiwe must have got the message that her time was up. One less thing to deal with on a Sunday, thought Kotatso, pleased. “Hey Auntie, is there any breakfast for me?” he yelled, as he made his way to the kitchen.
“Sure boy, this is a Wimpy restaurant. What did you think? That I was going to make you late breakfast after you went out partying last night? Look boy, I think you better just listen to some of the messages on that phone. It’s literally been ringing non-stop.”
“Sure. When a guy is in such high demand, what do you expect?”
Aunt Naledi rolled her eyes, and handed him the phone. There were twenty-five missed calls from Lindiwe, several voice messages had been left, and, finally, he saw that there was an SMS:
i heard u’ve found sum1 else. Jst knw this:
i’m gonna ruin ur reputation with
ur fake nonsense tht ur sellin!
He flipped off his phone and thought to himself that Lindiwe was pathetic. She was just a bad loser, acting out her petty jealousy. What could she do to him anyway?
Kotatso kept checking social networks for pictures of the previous night’s party. He admired the photos of himself, looking so stylish with his fake leather jacket and his fake Armani shirt, the one with the delicate print. Fine-patterned prints were back in fashion for menswear. He looked so savvy with his new woman by his side.
But Lindiwe popped into his mind every now and then, like a bad nightmare trying to ruin a good dream – because she wasn’t in the dream anymore.
Later that afternoon he would call Tankiso and ask her if she wanted to go out for an ice cream or maybe just an Oreo McFlurry from McDonald’s. He reminded himself: don’t go overboard and spoil her too much. A woman can make you broke in a matter of seconds with all of her demands!
Kotatso went back to admiring the photos on Facebook. There he was in the DJ booth, and there on the dance floor surrounded by beautiful girls wearing all those gorgeous fake clothes. “I am King,” he congratulated himself. He felt so good.
He scrolled down the screen and that’s when he saw it: a comment that made him flinch. In an instant he felt sick. There was Lindiwe’s smiling face. Her Facebook post read:
You’re all fools dancing and prancing at that party like VIPs, in those stupid fake clothes. None of it will last. The seams will rip, the zips will break, the fabric is cheap. You’re all pretending that you’re so cool, but you’re walking around wearing fake goods, in fake company!
***
Tell us what you think: Can Lindiwe really ruin Kotatso’s reputation through Facebook?