My heart is in pieces, but at the same time I’m happy for Lwazi.

“My son is almost as good as new,” Baba Mthethwa tells us when he visits the workshop, and I ask after Lwazi. “With time, there’ll be only faint scarring. His eye is still causing him discomfort, but they saved his sight, thank God. He’s even driving again.”

I see Jacqui’s sudden interest, her face bright with excitement.

“I hope you’re not going to go panting after Lwazi again,” Zwelakhe says to Nosicelo, after Baba has left.

She laughs. “I’ve moved on, haven’t I, lover?”

“Leaving the way clear for me,” Jacqui crows. “I couldn’t bear him being hideous and one-eyed, but a few faded scars are sort of romantic, don’t you think?”

I could cry.

It’s some weeks before we hear Lwazi is back in Umjindi.

“With a nice new car,” Mama Ngwenya boasts. “Only not as flash as the other one. He doesn’t want to go attracting any more criminals.”

He arrives at the workshop late the next afternoon, when we’re putting away our tools, work finished for the day.

He looks so good, nearly as handsome as before, but maybe more serious.

“Lwazi!” Jacqui goes into flirt-mode, and he stops being serious, smiling. “We’ve missed you.”

“Which me?” he asks, and his eyes find me.

I look away, not saying anything.

“Did you drive here? Let’s have a look at your new car.” Jacqui has hold of his arm, and they go out, with the others all following.

I wait in the workshop, giving them a chance to leave, so I won’t have to see Lwazi. He only needed me when he was broken. Now he’s whole again, and that’s good, but it means I’ve lost him.

When I hear the security guard coming to lock up, I go outside. Lwazi is leaning against his new silver-grey car. No-one else is around.

“Phindi.” He comes towards me. “What’s wrong? It’s like you don’t want to know me anymore. Will I lose you, now you don’t have to feel sorry for me? Now you don’t need to be kind?”

“What?” I try to be casual, shrugging. “My so-called kindness was all you wanted from me, wasn’t it? And like you say, it’s not needed any longer.”

“All I wanted?” He’s shocked, almost angry. “God, I wanted so much more, Phindi. But you made it clear kindness was all you had to give me. Even so, I was desperately tempted to take advantage of that, to make a move on you, but I wouldn’t let myself. I was afraid it would drive you away.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My heart is hammering, and my eyes sting with tears.

“It wouldn’t have driven me away,” I say, and my voice is a mess, shaking with emotion. “I thought … closeness, or comfort, was all you wanted from me. And that now you’re mending, you wouldn’t need me anymore.”

“Because you believed I’d go back to the way I was before? Never, Phindi.” He’s so intense, his face so serious. “How could I, when I’ve got to know you? I know your worth. I value you – above all things and people.”

Then he’s reaching for me, and I’m almost diving into his arms. I lift my face to his, for our very first kiss.

*****

Tell us what you think: Although they say opposites attract, is a relationship between quiet Phindi and extrovert Lwazi surprising, and will it work?

Are you a quiet person, or outgoing?