Londi and Mickey meet for breakfast at Londi’s house the next day.

LONDI: Hey lover. How was the rest of the party last night?

MICKEY: It was great! Thanks for leaving me.

LONDI: Hey! I had an emergency. And besides, I said call if you needed me, and you didn’t call.

There is a long silence while Mickey looks away.

LONDI: So? Did you and Milo finally… talk?

MICKEY: (smiles) Londi!

LONDI: No need to be shy. We’ve all done it.

MICKEY: Yes, Milo and I did talk.

LONDI: Wow! All these years later. Mickey and Milo sitting on a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes marriage and then come babies…

MICKEY: Woah, woah. No marriage, and definitely no babies.

LONDI: You’re an adult now, you can have babies if you want to. I’m glad you and your high school crush finally had some fun.

MICKEY: He called it closure. Says he was pining for me all these years, I was his one that got away.

LONDI: I bet he tells that to all the girls.

MICKEY: What do you mean? Is he seeing someone?

LONDI: Isn’t that something you should’ve asked him last night? So you guys didn’t talk?

MICKEY: We did. It doesn’t matter anyway. We knew it wasn’t anything serious, no strings attached.

Silence.

LONDI: If you had such a fun time, why the long face?

MICKEY: I don’t know. I made a big mistake last night.

LONDI: Oh Mickey. We’ve all had a one-night stand. It’s nothing to be worried about.

MICKEY: You’ve been in a relationship with the same guy since high school. When did you ever have a one-night stand?

LONDI: I use ‘we’ supportively. You know, like ‘we’ve all had bad hair days’, nothing to stress about.

MICKEY: It is when you’ve been careless. (looking at Londi) We didn’t use protection last night.

Londi remains silent.

MICKEY: I know, it was stupid. I don’t know why I did it.

LONDI: I don’t know what to say.

MICKEY: (shakes her head) You have no right to judge me. None of this would’ve happened if you’d just left me alone. I said I didn’t want to go to that party and you practically forced me.

LONDI: Forced you?! Woah. You can’t possibly be serious? You’re blaming me?

MICKEY: Who else is to blame? You left me high and dry, and drunk. Who does that?

LONDI: Who has unprotected sex with strangers?

Mickey remains silent. She is shocked and hurt by what her friend just said.

MICKEY: I can’t believe you.

LONDI: And I can’t believe you!

The two friends say nothing for a while; they are both very angry.

LONDI: Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to throw that in your face. Let’s breathe and think clearly.

They both take some deep breaths.

MICKEY: I’m sorry too. I’m just freaking out. What am I going to do, Londi?

LONDI: I don’t know. But I’m here for you, we’ll figure it out together.

MICKEY: What if I contracted something. What if I fall pregnant? Oh no! What if I…

LONDI: Let’s not spin out, OK. We just need to get tested and end all the what ifs.

MICKEY: Oh God. What have I done? It was just one night, surely…

LONDI: (taking Mickey’s hands in hers) Hey, I don’t know this guy, and by the sounds of it, neither do you. We don’t know what’s he been up to. Trust me, you don’t want to ignore this only to later learn that there’s something.

MICKEY: I don’t know, Londi.

Mickey pulls her hands away. Londi sighs and gets up to make a cup of coffee.

LONDI: I told you how my mom died, right?

MICKEY: Yeah, she was sick.

LONDI: Yes, with Aids.

MICKEY: You never told me that.

Londi stays silent for a while. And when she starts talking again, tears are falling down her face at the memory of her mother.

LONDI: It was the family secret. When she contracted HIV, the family treated it like nothing, a minor flu. (sobbing) They were afraid of what the community would say, and they forbade anyone from ever talking about it, or even admitting that Mama had HIV.

MICKEY: (quietly) I’m so sorry friend. I didn’t know.

LONDI: Thank you. But it was a long time ago. Back then there was so much stigma around HIV/Aids, you couldn’t even use the same utensils as an infected person. But things are different now. I know so many people who are infected. They are all healthy and have amazing lives. As long as one takes the medication, HIV/Aids is manageable.

Silence.

LONDI: So you see, you have to go to the clinic and get tested. Know for sure.

MICKEY: I know you’re right. But if I go to the clinic then everyone will know.

She holds her head in her hands.

LONDI: It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Wouldn’t you rather be safe and know, instead of worrying about it all your life?

MICKEY: Uurggh!

LONDI: Look, it’s done now. Let’s get to the clinic and just make sure. I’ll go with you, I promise we’ll see this through together. And if they find anything, I’m going to kill Milo Munroee. We’ll bury his body in the back yard (she cackles).

MICKEY: You’re right. Let’s go to the clinic. But what if we don’t kill Milo?

LONDI: You don’t want to kill him?

MICKEY: No. I mean, I really like him. You know I always have.

LONDI: Wow. I honestly don’t think I know you anymore.

MICKEY: I know. But I really like him. And we connected, you know. Apart from the sex, we really had a great time together.

LONDI: So you want to date him? How would that work, he lives in Joburg and you in Cape Town.

MICKEY: I don’t know. All I know is that I haven’t felt like this in a long time. And I wanna see where this goes. I think I’m gonna call him.

LONDI: I won’t stand in the way of your love-life. But I will tell you to be careful. But we must go to the clinic first.

MICKEY: Let’s get going before I start to really freak out.