Ntombi was stirring her cup of tea, looking into space.

“I wanted to bet number 2, number 16, and number 17, but no, Glenda wanted me to bet number 25, number 15, and number 5 because that’s what her grandson dreamed.” Gladys frowned in frustration. “What does that big headed grandson of hers know anyway about dreams? That head is big for nothing. Look at me now, I lost. I shouldn’t have listened to her.” She stirred her cup of tea.

“Hmm,” Ntombi said.

“’Hmm’?” Gladys looked at her with surprise. “Hello. Earth to Ntombi.”

Ntombi snapped out of her thoughts. She was surprised to see her best friend, Gladys, looking at her like that. Oh! She slapped herself mentally. She realised she hadn’t been listening, but she quickly recalled her talking about grandsons and big heads.

“Yes, big heads,” Ntombi tried to bring Gladys back to her story.

“No, you are not about to deflect right now. Tell me what has you so worried. I haven’t seen you like this in months. What is it? Is it Kganya again?” Gladys asked her with care.

Ntombi didn’t try to hide this from Gladys because she knew she would find out anyway.

“Let’s go seat on the couch first.” She picked up her mug and headed to the living room. They sat down comfortably on the brown leather sofas and they both sipped a little on their hot black teas.

Ntombi took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she told Gladys what had happened last night. She told her how wet her daughter was with sweat, and how she was groaning with fear. Gladys just looked at her with that soft, caring look of hers, not saying anything.

“I really don’t know what to do now.” Ntombi sounded defeated.

“So she said in her nightmare, she kept hearing the scary voices calling her?” Gladys asked, putting down her mug on the table near her.

“Yes, she said she was surrounded by evil voices. She said she was in some bushes and she heard trees whooshing, and the evil voices just kept on calling her,” Ntombi said, in a broken tone.

She was surprised to see Gladys take a small notepad and a pencil out from her bra and start scribbling something. She felt confused. It took her a second to realise what Gladys was doing.

“Tell me you are not doing what I think you are doing!” Ntombi said, in a high pitched voice. She placed her mug on the table, near Gladys’s.

“What?” Gladys asked her innocently.

Ntombi clicked her tongue in annoyance. She’d told her about her daughter’s nightmare and all she could do was to use them to bet on M’China. How could she be so insensitive?

“You see nothing wrong in using my daughter’s nightmares for your own personal gain?” Ntombi looked at Gladys with a stern look.

“Aww, Ntombi,” Gladys put down the notepad and the pencil near her mug. Her face was sincere. “I’m sorry for being insensitive, I just couldn’t help myself. I lost today and you know how the winnings from M’China help to boost the salary in my house. So if I could just win this one, it would really help me. I should have asked you first, I am sorry.”

Ntombi became quiet. She understood that her friend was not gambling because she liked to. She gambled because she was a single parent to three children, unlike herself who had only one child. So the money Gladys won really helped at her house. And she knew that Gladys meant no harm. Gladys loved her, and she wouldn’t harm her intentionally.

“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped at you like that,” Ntombi apologised.

“No, you had every right. You are concerned about your daughter.”

“But still …” Ntombi picked up her mug and started sipping on it softly. “You can go ahead. Write your numbers.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Ntombi smiled to assure her dearest friend.

“Thank you, friend.” Gladys picked up her notepad and pencil and started writing. “Those scary voices could be ghosts, and a ghost is number 7. She didn’t know where she was, hmm … it could be a girl. A girl is number 30 …”

Ntombi chuckled to herself. She didn’t believe in these things, of interpreting dreams into numbers. She believed them to be false guesswork. But she saw how dedicated her friend was. She watched her while she was busy writing on her small notepad and for a while, she didn’t worry about her daughter.

Tell us: What does Gladys’s company do for Ntombi?