“I’m late,” I blurt out.

“For what?”

“Late. Late,” I say stupidly. The word ‘pregnant’ is too huge. “Monthly.”

This is his chance to realise how much he loves me.

“Huh?” For a man of the world, Phaka is really slow to get me. “You mean …?”

I nod my head slowly, but a thrill of excitement plays through my belly.

“No! No! No!” He backs away like I am aiming a cannon at him. He stops at the washing line. My mother’s uniform flaps near his head, makes him look comical. “How long?”

“I think about a month.”

He comes towards me now, stomping his feet, having a tantrum. “You said you were on contraception. Man! Ndikuthembile!”

“It was the UCT thing. My whole life turned upside down, I’m sorry…”

“What are you trying to do? Ruin me. Like break me into–” He stops, thinks of something. “You’re not trying to trick me are you?”

Now it’s my turn to be furious. “Who do you think I am?”

He glares at me. I can read his thoughts. He thinks I am a dishonest, scheming woman, trying to trap him.

“What would I get out of it?” I demand of him.

He paces up and down the yard, brushing past my mother’s nursing uniforms. “I don’t know. I don’t know!” He sounds desperate, but my fighting spirit has finally woken up.

“Go! Just go!” I spit at him.

He’s not supposed to. But he goes.

***

Tell us: Whose side are you on at this point?