Sunday morning Karabo knocked on my bedroom door, opened it and had pounced onto the bed before I could tell her to come in.

“So?” she asked.

“So, we went to dinner.”

“And?”

“And to Club 32.”

“Ooooh! How was that?”

“Nice. You can see the entire city up there. Long Street, the mountain, the sea. It’s amazing.”

“It doesn’t sound so amazing. What happened?”

“You know. It’s just what it is. He goes back to Joburg today. What was I thinking? That I was going to be X-man’s girlfriend? That’s just crazy.” I could feel the tears coming but I tried to swallow them back.

Karabo took me in her arms and I let it all out. I cried into her shoulder. “No, it wasn’t crazy. Why not you? You’re fabulous. The best girl I know. He’d be stupid to pass you up,” she said.

Karabo was the perfect friend you needed at a time like that: a liar.

*****

That Sunday I spent with Karabo and her son Bobo. She wasn’t going to let me sit around moping. We went to the movies and then out for ice cream. Monday was busy with studies. I had a meeting with my advisor over my progress on my youth centre project, which she liked, thankfully. By the evening when I got home I was nearly better. I’d almost forgotten how I’d hoped for a different ending. I was almost feeling myself again.

Then my phone rang I didn’t think anything of it, until I heard his voice.

“Is that Just Lily?” Xavier said.

“Hi … I’m … I’m surprised to hear from you.”

“Why? We do have phones in Joburg you know.”

“I just thought … I thought … basically, I thought we were done.”

“Done? I thought we were just getting started.”

I tried not to get too happy. Tried not to let my mind go too far, and my heart too.

“But … I might as well be honest. I heard TT talking to you about Tebby, about you two getting together when you got back to Joburg.”

“Oh … was that it then? You need to ignore everything TT says. TT does what TT does. All that Tebby stuff has nothing to do with us, OK? It’s to do with X-man.”

“OK.” I said that, but X-man was Xavier even though he tried to pretend like he wasn’t. I wasn’t sure I understood, but I left it. I was too happy about everything to be distracted by that. I just wanted to believe him.

“I know this might be hard, long distance relationships are hard, but I like you … I like you a lot. Can we try this?” he asked.

Did he say ‘relationship’? “Yes, I think we can.”

“And your No Man Policy?”

“The board has decided to make an exception for you.”

“Good to hear. How’s your weekend look? I wanted to see if I could fly you up to Joburg to meet my mom. My mom knows me inside out; if she likes you then I know I’m onto something good.”

“So, no pressure then?” I asked.

He laughed. “No, no pressure. But seriously. You’ll love her and she’ll love you, I know it. Will you come?”

“Yes, yes I’ll come.”

*****

I flew down on Saturday morning. On the aeroplane I was a bit concerned. Everything was going so fast, but I hoped he didn’t think it meant we’d be sharing a bed. I wasn’t ready for that yet. When I came out of the gate at OR Tambo, he was waiting for me.

“I thought I’d take you to your hotel first and then come back and pick you up in a couple of hours and we’d go to my mom’s place for lunch. How’s that sound?”

“Good!” I said, hardly hiding my relief.

His mother’s was a small, red, face brick house at the edge of Soweto. Xavier told me on the way over that he was an only child, and that his mother had worked as a domestic until recently when she got a job at a textile factory. He never knew his father, a migrant miner from Botswana, who went home shortly after he was born and never returned.

When we pulled up to the house, his mother, a large, stern-looking woman, came out of the house, followed by a small grey dog.

“That’s Fluffy,” Xavier said. “Don’t pet him. He’s mean. Only lets my mother touch him.”

His mother’s stern face changed completely when we got out of the car. Suddenly Xavier’s beautiful smile was recreated on her face and she became a different person.

“So you’re the Lily my son has not stopped talking about since he came back from Cape Town?” She looked at me from all sides. “At least she has some meat on her bones. And she’s pretty just like you said, really pretty.”

“Mama, she’s not a cow you’re buying,” Xavier teased.

“Sorry, where are my manners? You’re right.” She pulled me to her ample chest and hugged me tightly. “Welcome to my home Lily.” We walked toward the house. “And don’t pet that dog unless you want a bloody hand.”

Lunch was already laid out on the table, but it looked as if more people must be on the way. There was goat stew, pumpkin, dumplings and pap, fried chicken, salads, a few jugs of ginger beer, and that wasn’t even touching on desserts.

“You ready to eat? You must be starving after the plane ride,” Xavier’s mother said.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” I said.

“Others? There aren’t any others coming,” she said and then laughed a big, hearty laugh.

She stacked a plate for me and sent me to the sunny back garden where there was a cloth-covered table. Xavier followed me.

“Don’t be scared of the food. Eat what you can. She’s a food pusher.”

“I heard that. I’m no food pusher. It’s just nowadays you kids all want to be thin as sticks. Eat! That’s what food is for,” she said as she sat down with us.

“So Xavier tells me you work and go to school. I like a hardworking girl.”

“I study architecture. I have two years left.”

“And smart too.” She winked at Xavier. “This one is still promising to go to university when he finishes with all of this music business.”

“I always keep my promises,” Xavier said.

“Education is important. I only learned to read and write before I had to leave school to work. But that was during the good old bad days. Nowadays you need an education.”

“I agree,” I said. “My parents are farmers and it’s been a rough life. I was lucky to get my scholarship.”

The afternoon slipped away in that warm garden. I felt like I was on some crazy ride, swinging from Xavier’s life to X-man’s life. One I liked, one I didn’t. Which was real?

At the car when we were leaving, his mother gave me a hug and whispered in my ear, “You’re good for my son, please be careful with him. He has a heart of gold, but it’s very soft for those he cares about and you’re one of them.”

In the car as we drove away Xavier took my hand and kissed it. “She loved you. I knew I was right.”

“Right about what?”

“About you.”

Xavier wanted to show me his house. It was in Sandton and I feared we’d be jumping back to his X-man life, but it was a simple house, not big and showy.

We sat on the sofa to watch a movie. I felt so close to him. He put his arm around me and started kissing my neck and lips.

I moved away from him a bit. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Am I moving too fast?”

“It’s not you, it’s me. I can’t believe how quickly I’m falling for you. It all feels so perfect. So right.”

“I’m feeling the same way,” he said. “That’s why I wanted my mother to meet you. I needed a second opinion. I wasn’t trusting my own.”

“You had TT.”

“TT? You’re joking right?”

“I hoped so.”

“I can’t believe you have to go back already tomorrow morning. I wish you could stay.”

I knew then I didn’t want to go back to my hotel room, I wanted to stay right where I was.

“I can’t stay tomorrow, but I can stay tonight.”

***

Tell us what you think: Xavier tries to keep his X-man life away from his Xavier life. Do you think a person can do that?