Yesterday, Lwazi used the hospital telephone to notify Mr Sithole about his discharge, and today they’re going back to their very own home. Mr Sithole has bought Lwazi a smartphone so that he’s able to communicate with him.
They drop them at their house early in the morning, and Lungelo has already prepared for school. They’ll drop him there on their way to the shop.
“So are you sure you’ll be OK alone here? You can come and spend the day at the shop. You won’t do any work yet, as you’re still recovering, but you can just hang out.”
“I’ll be OK, Innocent, I have to do some cleaning in the house. We’ve been gone a few days but seems like it has been ages.”
“Well, if you insist it’s OK, let’s go, Lungelo.”
Lungelo says his goodbyes and they head to school. Lwazi starts cleaning the house, wiping off the dust on the table, chairs, bed, and floor. The shack has got some holes, so if it’s not dust on windy days, it’s rain leaking in on rainy days. Then they have to sleep with buckets and pots all over the place.
A few hours later, Lwazi is resting on the bed. His phone rings. It’s Innocent, and he answers it.
“Hey boy.”
“Ey, Lwazi, Melissa is here at the shop. She says she wants to talk with you.”
He frowns, “Eh! Why is she all over my case?”
“Aren’t you guys dating? She’s your girlfriend and so this is called ‘caring for someone’ — just be here, alright. She’ll be waiting,” he says, and hangs up.
“What in the world does she want from me?” he asks himself, and then heads out to the shop.
***
Arriving there, Lwazi finds her waiting inside. They greet each other and sit down on the chairs Innocent offers them.
“I went to the hospital, and they told me you got discharged. That means you’re healing, which is great, I’m relieved.”
“Yeah, I’ll be as good as new in no time.”
“You see, I’ve been thinking of what you said to me the other day at the hospital. You made me realise the hardships you’re going through. So I’ve got an open opportunity for you, and you can only take it if you are willing to work with me.”
“And what might that opportunity be?”
“You told me that your barbershop business is struggling. I think that you need to bring it on to the streets where it’ll be visible to people — and you need to run it full-time. Which is why I’d like to propose to you a joint business venture. We partner up at my salon. I don’t have a barber so we can work together. I’ll include a barbershop. I already told my parents and they agreed.”
“What do you think about this, Innocent? Will your dad accept me quitting work here?”
“Brother, you’re not quitting. You’re resigning to run your own business. And you can even ask him for anything, I think he’ll help you, my dad wants what’s best for you.”
“Alright, I accept.”
“Good!” she says, and they shake hands.
Later in the day, Lwazi explains Melissa’s business proposal to Mr Sithole. He subsequently offers to help Lwazi buy his barbershop equipment to start working with her as soon as possible. Mr Sithole also buys Lungelo new clothes and pays for his school trip as well.
After a few months, they run the business more successfully than they had expected.
***
One day, closing up after work, Lwazi hugs Melissa.
“Thank you for helping me change my life. I never expected any help from a total stranger.”
She laughs, “So I’m the best stranger you’ve ever met?”
“No, you’re the perfect stranger.”
They hold hands. “We will continue to be perfect strangers for each other, right?” Melissa asks.
“As long as we breathe, I think I can be with you for long,” he says, and they hug each other.
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