Siphelo

I cross the road irritated by a man that has just roared by, straight through a puddle that splashes water onto my shoes. I swear as he speeds off.

When I walk up to my friend Bulela’s house, I find him sitting on the stoep in his Sundowns T-shirt. My heart lightens.

“Heita, Bulela mfethu, tjo veeetjo. I got the best mabhebeza,” I tell him as I walk through the gate.

He gives me a suspicious look, holding up his Amstel dumpie. “Liar,” he says, wiping the sand off the bottom of the bottle. He gets up. “Get out of here S’phe. Where is the proof?” he asks me, waving his hands in disbelief.

“I was on the phone with her this morning after I saw Yonela off. You can come with me to Simon’s Town to meet her.”

“I will believe this when I see it.” He finishes the drink. “Look, we first have to go see elancinzo lam. She has been nagging that I don’t spend enough time with her. She thinks she is the only one. Is that ever possible ntwana?”

Just then Thulani comes out of the outside toilet and overhears us talking.

“Majita, you better start respecting girls more,” he says, as he washes his hands under the outside tap.

“You didn’t tell me the preacher is here,” I whisper to Bulela. He laughs and shakes his head.

“Just look at the way you have been treating girls, guys. It is horrible. You sleep with this one and another comes an hour later. I mean, nidlala ngothando; you are playing with love.”

“Thulani, shut up if you have nothing better to say, OK,” I say to him, becoming a little irritated. He is always like this. He only had one girlfriend in his life. What a nerd, umxhaga.

“Just think about it S’phe mfethu. What if it was your daughter being treated like this?”

I just look at him when he says this and shake my head.

“He is mad mfana. A man needs to have something on the side.” Bulela winks at me.

***

Bulela

“Look Thulani mfethu, we need to be somewhere. We’ll meet with you later.”

Thulani just waves his hand as he walks out the gate.

When we get to Zimkhita’s house we find her doing washing outside. This one has nice legs. That’s the thing I love most about her. Today she is wearing really short shorts. She knows I love her body.

“Hey my number one lady,” I greet and hug her from the back, and kiss her on the neck.

“Hey love, careful. My mom is home,” she tells me.

“Ok then, we won’t stay long.”

This is working in S’phe’s favour. He needs to get to this Nqabisa ngwana in Simon’s Town. Soon we leave and take a taxi to Fish Hoek. I make sure S’phe pays the fare. He needs to prove something to me.

“So S’phe mfethu, do you know if this Nqabi has friends? Maybe I can also get a hot mabhebeza.”

“I don’t know mfethu. Wait until we get there.”

I tell S’phe about the argument I had with Thulani before he arrived. “Khafan’ ucinge, just think, he was going on about the same thing. That we should not cheat on girls. I told him if girls were entirely honest we would not cheat. Basivuma besezi, they know that it is not likely for a person my age not to have a girlfriend. And besides, they might have other boyfriends.”

“What did Thulani say?”

“He was like, ‘Ja… ja… but you are supposed to ask if a girl has a boyfriend or not.’ I mean, how stupid is that? If a girl is into me I am not going to spoil things by talking about their boyfriends.”

S’phe laughs.

***

Siphelo

We arrive at Simon’s Town station and wait. Nqabisa walks towards us from a distance.

“Those are my curves, boy,” I brag to Bulela. He just looks at me and says nothing.

Nqabisa gives us warm hugs. Bulela is smiling from ear to ear. I introduce them. Nqabisa suggests that we go to her flat.

When we get there Bulela is not as talkative. I think he is shocked by the fact that my new girl has her own place. He settles for juice when he is offered and I accept a glass of water without thinking.

I watch him steal glances at her when he thinks I can’t see him. My friend will deny this if I ask him afterwards. I don’t blame him. She is amazing to look at.

The conversation is not forced from her side. I am a bit nervous, although I enjoy her company. After we have chatted for about ten minutes or so I tell Bulela that maybe we should leave. It’s getting embarrassing the way he’s looking at her, when it’s me who should be checking her out. We promise Nqabisa that we will come back and visit her again soon.

She tells us that she is still not sure about coming to visit me in Masi.

***

Tell us what you think: What do you think about Thulani’s advice to Siphelo about respecting women?