It had been weeks now since Mongezi disappeared. His cellphone had been off since that day. I still couldn’t believe that he was gone. How could he just leave me like this? Going to school seemed like a torture. All I wanted was to see him. Thabile and his crew had recruited new members. The streets were now buzzing with new thugs.

One morning, as I was on my way to school with Nandi, one of the new young thugs approached us.

“Hey, ladies mantombazana,” he greeted flaunting a golden-toothed smile.

“Hi,” Nandi greeted back, seemingly eyeing the guy.

“Hey, are you Mongs’ girlfriend?” he asked as I looked away, not feeling like talking to anyone.

“She is. Don’t worry she’s just sulking about Mongs. She’s really nice, usually.”

Nandi flashed me a look that said, ‘be nice Pheli’.

“Eish, I’ve heard the rumours. Don’t worry yourself, ntwana. Things will work out.”

I just stared at him coldly. He was making me angry and I sure didn’t want sympathy from a guy like him.

“Hay’bo chommie. Why did you look at the poor guy like that?” Nandi scolded me when he had walked off.

“I’m not interested in making small talk with strangers.”

“He’s not a strang-”

“He’s not? Do you know his name?”

“He stays around here, chommie.”

“I don’t care. People are now looking at me horribly. I’m the thug’s girlfriend, remember?

“It’s over chommie. Mongezi is gone. And you are better for it. You were blinded by love.”

“I was not blinded! I was in love, yes, but not blinded. No-one can ever understand, but I don’t care!” I snapped. My lips started trembling and I was about to cry.

“Yho!” she said, trying to avoid looking at my teary eyes and began walking faster.

I lagged behind slowly. My legs felt like they had been hit by a train. I was carrying a heavily burdened heart. No-one seemed to understand. No-one cared about him. Nandi didn’t seem to care about how I was suffering. She told me that I wasn’t the fun person she used to be friends with. At break she hung out with other girls and I was left alone. When she did speak to me, all she did was lecture me about what a no-good Mongezi was. Like she had never been in love?

No one cared about him, or really about me. And I couldn’t confide in my mom.

I passed a stationary police van and the driver looked at me strangely. Why was the policeman looking at me like that? I was getting paranoid.

I walked a little faster, my heart also beating faster and faster. I felt so nauseous; it was like I was going to vomit my heart out. I was nearing the school gate and all I wanted was to get to my class quickly. I could feel the footsteps behind me and I was so afraid of looking, in case it was the policeman.

I heard my name. This person was calling my name! I took a deep breath and turned to look. Pheuw! It was Anelisiwe, the quiet new girl in my class.

“Hi,” she greeted looking at me and smiling.

“Hello!” I replied, as we walked together to our class.

The next thing I knew, we were chatting. It was quite amazing, because she had never talked to me before yet today we were like old time buddies. I looked at her intently as she laughed. She looked a bit like someone I’d met but I couldn’t figure out whom.

“What? Do I have something on my teeth?” she asked, wiping her teeth with her school jersey.

“No, I’m just wondering, why are you being nice to me? I mean I’m the laughing stock of the school. People are talking about my dead thug boyfriend. But you know what hurts the most?”

She shook her head, listening attentively.

“It’s just that I’m the only person who seems to have understood him well. No-one knows how funny and sweet he really was.”

She kept quiet for a while, just looking at me. Then she said simply: “That’s life for you.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you with my stuff.”

“Don’t sweat it. Let’s go into class. Can we please meet during lunch? That’s if, you don’t have anything lined up?”

“No, I’m not doing anything during lunch.”

As I was walking to the tuck-shop nearby with Anelisiwe during lunch, I overheard Nandi and others laughing behind my back.

“Oh, that one! She is stupid. I would never stress over a thug. It would be good riddance for rubbish.”

“I can’t believe someone who is an A-student would be so lame when it comes to relationships.”

“Nandi, why didn’t you warn your friend about the guy? She was after all your friend at that time, wasn’t she?”

“Don’t point fingers at me, a person does as she pleases. I’m not anybody’s mom. But guys, the dude was hot. I was kind of jealous at times, you know?”

“Pheli was simply stupid for going out with the guy, hot or not.”

“She was, wasn’t she?”

“Pheli, never mind them. Don’t listen to them,” Anelisiwe whispered, now holding my hand.

I had lost most of my friends since Mongezi’s disappearance because I was hardly my fabulous usual self. Mrs Don gave the class a pair assignment. I knew I would have to do the assignment alone, as no-one wanted me as a partner. In every corner I turned at school, I would feel people’s gaze on me. The discomfort continued for days. If it wasn’t for Anelisiwe, I would be all alone, at school and at home.

“Pheli!” Mrs Don called as I was looking around the classroom for a partner.

“Ma’am!”

“Come here,” she requested, looking worried. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t have a partner, ma’am.”

“I know, I see that, which never happens. People usually line up to ask if you want to be their partner. What’s going on with you?”

“Nothing, ma’am.”

“You’re no longer the Pheli that I know. You hardly participate in class these days and when I ask you to, you seem lost.”

“It’s really nothing, ma’am. I’m just not getting enough sleep.”

“I don’t believe you but it’s OK. If you want to talk about it, you know where to get me. Go and take a seat.”

“Pheli, do you have a partner for Mrs Don’s assignment?” Anelisiwe asked during lunch, as we were watching my ‘friends’ make fun of other girls. I once used to be a part of their group, I remembered.

“No.”

“So, can we be partners? I also don’t have a partner.”

“Thanks that would be cool. Anelisiwe, why are you being so friendly with me?”

“I’m always friendly.”

“You know that’s not true. You hardly talk to anyone and usually I would be the last person you’d come over to and chat with.”

“You seem like a good person, Pheli. You’ve changed a bit these past couple of weeks and you are now approachable.”

“You must be kidding me! I’ve been acting completely weird since Mongezi disappeared and I am not sociable like I used to be.”

“Well… I like the weirdness in you.”

I looked at her and she was smiling at me warmly; she had a beautiful smile. And still – she really looked like someone I knew. But I couldn’t pinpoint who exactly.

“We should meet after school, to talk about the assignment,” said Anelisiwe.

“Okay. So, where do you stay?”

“Not far from here.”

“Really? Where exactly?” I said.

“I have just moved in. It’s nearby.”

“Oh, OK. How is it in your new area? Where were you staying before?”

“At Blue Downs. The new place is OK, nothing much.”

“Isn’t it too ghetto for you?” I asked.

“I’ve visited before and I’m studying here, so I’ve been exposed to the ghetto life.”

Just then her phone rang, so she excused herself and moved away from me to answer it.

“Hello, what is it? I’m at school,” I could hear her say into her phone. “She’s OK. We’re all OK. Please, stop calling me at school. I will. Bye!”

“That was quick!” I said, as she came back and sat beside me.

“I really don’t like it when someone calls me at school, especially when it’s not an emergency. I quickly drop the call when I hear the caller is wasting my precious time.”

“You seem like you are a no-nonsense kind of person.”

“Definitely.”

I wondered who that call was from.

***

What do you think: What do you think of Pheli’s new friend? Does she have something to hide, and if so, what?