The phone tickles Sthe from within his pockets. He takes it out and glances at it. The number is no longer in his phonebook but he recognises it in an instant. It’s Sli’s. She’s sent a picture of herself in matching, see-through lingerie. He had vowed never to be affected by such again. He’s affected. His pants swell around his crotch. He manages to read the message below the distracting picture: Let’s meet up. Vuyo’s. 5 pm.
“Damn you, Sli!” he yells, his teeth gritted, He wishes he had not just deleted Sli’s number, he wishes he had blocked it. He looks at the time: 2 pm. He still has time to prepare himself and get to the posh restaurant. He paces up and down as he thinks things through. How did it work out that Sli invites him to the same restaurant he plans to propose in? Coincidence? It’s like she’s inside his head.
“Okay. Let’s think about this.” He decides that since he is to meet Zandi at Vuyo’s at 7, he’ll have an hour at least to get rid of Sli.
He blows the steam of his breath on the ring he’ll propose to Zandi with. He then wipes it spotless. He’s done this only ten times, maybe more.
“It doesn’t have diamond rocks, I know. But that doesn’t mean you rock any less.” The more he practices, the less confident he feels. He worries about it being made of not enough carats of gold. He thinks that maybe he should have held off buying it until he could afford the real deal with diamonds.
Eventually, he decides to soldier on. He will propose with the ring as is.
“She will love it,” his gut feeling insisted when he bought the ring. “I’ll give you a ring, soon,” he’d told her earlier that week after setting up their date. She had laughed and told him she had to go. He wonders if she read into that what he intended to tell her – that he would actually give her a ring. Not a call, as he thought to fool her into thinking.
***
Sthe decides to go on one knee despite Zandi being offish. He prays that the ring doesn’t slip off his trembling hand. He tries to not think about Sli but that proves difficult. He remembers their conversation from earlier.
“You and I are over, Sli. I’ve moved on with my life; I suggest you do too.” She had cried, called him a bastard but she did finally leave.
He’s about to beckon to the waiter that he has primed – telling them to bring out the champagne. But it dawns on him, almost too late, that things aren’t going to plan.
“Get up, Sthe, you are embarrassing yourself,” Zandi demands.
“Ever since I met you I…”
“Sthe. Stop! I’m not interested!” The group of waiters, pregnant with a song of congratulation, stop in their tracks as if frozen.
“Listen!” Zandi continues. “You are a great guy, you really are. I didn’t fancy myself as deserving of you when I first met you. I thought of myself as not in your league. I only came here to tell you I know about you and Sli. I know she’s been there throughout our so-called relationship.”
Sthe’s jaw drops. “Look, Baby, I can explain.” He’s stuttering and almost in tears talking.
“No need to explain, Sthe. You cheated. Continuously. You proved to NOT be the man I thought you were. In fact, now I know it is you who is not in my league.”
Sthe can hardly hear Zandi’s voice through the pounding of blood in his head but he dimly hears her next words.
“I’m sorry but it’s the end of the road for us.”
***
Sthe is in a daze when he reaches home. His body feels heavy as if the life has been drained out of it.
“Daddy!” Sbonga comes running to him with wide-open arms. He lifts her up and holds her against his chest. He doesn’t want her seeing his teary eyes. No matter how badly he has been trying to hold them back the tears flow. But his daughter senses something is wrong and looks up.
“Why are you crying, Daddy?” she hugs him.
He puts her down on the couch and sits down next to her.
“Where’s Aunty Zandi?” she fires a follow-up question.
“She’s gone, Nana.” He has to tell her the truth now.
“But why?”
An image of him, Zandi, the two boys and Sbonga huddled under a leaking roof plays in his mind. The warmth they had. He shakes his head in pain realising again what he has lost.
“Daddy made a big mistake. That’s why Aunty Zandi is gone. But the most important thing is I still have you, Sbonga. I will always have you.”
Sthe knows that there will be more questions from Sbonga and that he will have to answer them truthfully.
He knows now that the house of love can’t be built on lies.
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