The ride back home is quiet. Thoba assumes Khanyi and I had a fight. Four years and this is the one thing she doesn’t understand about me – I don’t let my emotions from one situation spill into another. She will be very surprised when Khanyi comes to pick me up tomorrow.
It’s an hour and I’m still tentative in my strides around her. She knows something is out of its place but has not asked. Instead she is facilitating a series binge session. This is out of character for her. On a normal first day back, our exhales would be precipitating on my bedroom mirror and our bodies would be erupting with pleasure. But here we are playing big spoon – little spoon on my corner couch.
The credits begin to roll and she balances on her elbow to look at me. The look on her face is one I can only describe as half-mast. “Enough, you’ve been stormy all afternoon. I just got back, this is not what I expected we’d be doing today. Yini, tell me,” She says finally. I say nothing. Where do I begin without sounding like that girl. I hate being that girl. “Babe ndiya thetha,” she snaps. “And I heard you,” I reply as I peel myself from her arms. A part of me wants to accuse but the more mature part wants to ask. I lean towards the letter. “Yani, is uSne involved in any part of TN properties?” “Cha, she’s not,” she replies calmly and adjusts her posture. A sign that there is more to the story so I don’t move or break eye contact. “She burnt some of Block Fs title deeds,” “Fuck Yani man,” I reply and sink to the floor in front of her. “I borrowed 30% of my share of the capital from her, not the bank,” She breaks eye contact to look at her phone ringing on the coffee table. I quickly grab it, put it on silent and then hand it to her. She takes it and puts it back on the same spot on the coffee table. “I missed a few payments so she burnt a few as a warning because having me beaten up wasn’t an option. I’m sorry babe,” she says and a heavy silence fills the room and crushes some of the trust. I get up from the floor and sit back on the couch. I reach for the remote but Thoba stops me. Yoo what! The windows vibrate at the sound of my raised voice. With one hand I count all the times I’ve had to find things out late or without her telling me. With the other, I point into thin air at the latest transgression. “Buka manje. Look! You put our business at risk ngento engekho. No, really, for what? Nonsense Yani mani,” She knows that I’m probably thinking that there’s more to the story. There’s always some persons business or secret that she’s trying to protect. Sometimes she claims that that person is me. I don’t subscribe to this value or whatever you want to call it. Especially not when it comes to her and our relationship. I tell all. But that’s clearly a me thing. So I often let her end where she ends and I go find out the rest myself. “You want to audit everything before the redevelopment is finished don’t you? Do it. I promise there’s nothing more to this babe. I paid her back everything. I promise,” She sighs. “I’m sorry. I should have told you the whole truth sooner.”
“Let me know when you’re 5min away and I’ll come down,” Khanyi mimes as she reads the message I’ve just sent her. “Good idea, I’m sure she hates me even more now. Askies,” She replies. The funeral is scheduled to start at 8am, so Khanyi is picking me up around that time. What, it’s the weekend and we’re not the pastor okay. My phone vibrates and I make my way to the door. “I’ll walk with you,” she says and I turn to see Thoba behind me. “When did she get dressed,” I think to myself. I turn and continue towards the door. I leave it open as a passive “okay” and she follows me. It’s a bit of a walk to the main gate from my home. Half way through the walk, she reaches to holds my hand. I don’t fight it. My anger has subsided and this is her way of confirming. We get to the gate and Khanyi is already waiting. She kisses me on the cheek and I get into the car. Khanyi and I exchange a gearbox hug. A high five would have been more comfortable. “Morning Thoba,” “Sho, hi K,” she returns, both of them with forced smiles on their faces.
“I’m sure she’s calling uSne right now,” “Good and I hope she tells her that she must help us fix the title deeds mess,” I reply and the list of things I need to do to fix this comes rushing back. I shake my head. “Anyway, so Nina told Kagiso that she was there when uSma got shot? But when Sonic called them with the news, he didn’t mention that mos?” “Yeah, that’s part of the reason why uTumiso is angry at him, he believes Sonics version of the story. And why wouldn’t he, he didn’t know about Nina until uSamu told him yesterday.” “What?” I exclaim. “Yes babe, apparently she told him that they were fighting over uSma when Sonics gun went off. Then she told him to ask ‘his friend’ why the fight erupted,” “She blames Nina? Heavy,” I reply and it begins to feel like my problems pale in comparison. “Makes sense why he asked you to come. But nawe you must start charging uKagiso and your other friends now, angeke phela.”
Noma the writer 