We’re back at On The Rocks, upon my insistence. I think I just wanted to see Myrah again. I go straight to the bar to find her.
“Wasting no time, huh?” Vusi yells over the blaring music.
I brush him off and look for Myrah. A muscular, tattooed guy is manning the bar.
“Hey, is Myrah working tonight?” I ask.
“Yeah, she’s on a break,” he says, grumpy.
“Where is she?”
“We’re not allowed to give out personal information about our staff to customers.”
“Well, I’m not just a customer. I’m her … er, cousin. Yeah. Our fathers are brothers.”
What the heck am I saying?
The bartender looks at me, sceptical.
“Oh? What’s her father’s name?”
Don’t let your degree in arts go to waste, I think.
“David,” I say, unflinching. “And her mother is Kate. Her sister’s name is Susan. It’s true. You can ask her when she’s back.”
He stares me down. “Okay. She’s out back on her smoke break.”
I did it! This doofus believed me. “Thanks, dude,” I tell him before running through to the back.
I open the back door softly and see her standing there, cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other, busy typing away.
“You know, there are faster ways to kill yourself besides smoking,” I say. She’s startled when she sees me.
“What, like drinking? You back for round two of JT versus the trash can?”
She got me there.
“No drinking for me again. Ever. It takes a toll on my insides that I’m not willing to pay.”
“Whoa, that’s mature. How old are you, anyway?”
“23. And you?”
“Aww, you’re still a kid. I’m 24.”
I can’t hold back my laughter. “Oh, yeah. Kid, huh? We’re just one year apart. What are you doing back here?”
“Blind, much?” She lifts the cigarette for me to see.
I step closer to her. “Notice anything different about me?”
“Your food actually staying inside your stomach today?”
“Ha ha. Beside that.”
She shakes her head. “Don’t know you well enough.”
“I shaved my beard,” I say. “Well, not everything. Just shaped it.”
“Oh – kay. And how does that affect me?”
“It doesn’t, not directly, at least. See I was afraid of taking off my beard. I had just come out of a long- term relationship and I felt that separation was painful. So I let my beard grow out.”
“Because you didn’t want to part with your facial hair?”
“When you say it like that, it sounds silly. But yeah, that’s what I’m saying. My friends made me realise it.”
“Does this story of yours actually have a point?”
“Yes! In the same way, aren’t you also smoking for a reason? To avoid something?”
I think she is offended. She gives me a sharp look.
“So you got your BA in psychology or something?” she asks.
“Drama,” I correct.
“Yeah, thought so. Cos you’re full of it.”
She puts out the cigarette and bumps pass me. I don’t know what to say. I didn’t mean to sound so judgemental.
***
Tell us: Would you say Khanyi is history in JT’s life at this stage?