Prologue
September 2010
LONDIWE
(On the phone) Pheliwe, you can come, his wife left. Wear that little red dress I bought you. You can use my makeup and my weave as well.
PEARL
Mama, I can't. I'm pregnant with Zola's child.
LONDIWE
Listen to me, Zola is just a boy who can't even feed himself, let alone a child. You must abort.
PEARL
Hah! Mama, I'm afraid to abort.
LONDIWE
Pheliwe, we can't miss this opportunity. Mr. Kunene is our gold.
PEARL
I love Zola, and he loves me.
LONDIWE
You are only 18 Pheliwe, what do you know about love. Next year you are going to varsity, where will we get the money if we don't do this? You know I'm only a domestic worker, with nothing. You are a ticket to elevate me and your brother out of poverty. Now hurry here before my boss leaves.
PEARL
Okay mama, I'm coming.
∞∞∞
March 2020
ACT 1-MY FRENEMY
ACT 1: SCENE 1
THANDO & PEARL'S APARTMENT—EARLY MORNING
(THANDO (25), a short and chubby beautiful young woman sleeps peacefully in her single bed. She has full pyjamas on and a headcloth. Her room has standard furniture. Naughty noise from the other bedroom interrupts her beauty sleep. Her round eyes slit open from the unusual alarm clock. She smiles mildly and shakes her head. Despite the morning, her chestnut skin is smooth, complemented by her short and dark afro. BEEP-her phone buzzes. She turns and grabs it. The SMS reads: I WILL PASS BY NOW. She jumps off excitedly).
PEARL'S BEDROOM—EARLY MORNING
(PEARL (27), a tall and slender babe, jumps off an old man, JOHN 70, after a top position in the next bedroom. She is a glamorous yellow-bone with long hair, lengthy eyelashes, and glossy curved nails. The bedroom is spacious, with sophisticated furniture and a gigantic bed covered with white linen. The man next to her is dead tired).
PEARL
Baby, you don't love me. You promised to buy me this apartment with your pension. It's been two months since you got the money.
JOHN
(John gives her an envelope)
Remember yesterday I said I have a surprise for you. The apartment is now in your name.
PEARL
Serious? Thank you. I love you so much.
JOHN
I love you with my life.
PEARL
(Her phone beeps, someone is coming).
Love, you need to go. I have an early meeting at work today.
(She gives him his clothes and pushes him outside the kitchen door. As she closes the door behind her, she exhales, sending her eyes to heaven and back. Thando is in the kitchen fixing a sandwich for her boyfriend).
YOU ARE READING
Frenemies
RomancePearl is happy for her virgin friend Thando's smooth life, while she has to open her legs for every inch of success. Until it hits her-she is approaching thirty while sleeping with three men without a proper plan. She secretly yearns to be loved and...