TO LOVE A BROKEN MAN

6

                                  

     

“You should’ve gone to the police.”
     
Lefa was starting to sound like a broken record, saying the same thing since yesterday when they left the clinic. Her tests came back negative but she still had to take PrEP to reduce her risk of getting HIV, the last time she was this unsettled was because of a pregnancy scare she had in grade 11. She was always vigilante from that moment onwards until Friday night and it will be a cold day in hell until she let a man anywhere near her.
     
She remained quiet as he stared at her, his piercing eyes might intimidate some people but not her. They were out on the balcony, drinking jasmine tea and the shade provided much needed relief from the scorching sun and it wasn’t even 10:00 yet.
     
“So, you’re just going to ignore me?”
     
“Yes, because doing that won’t make me feel better about what he did to me.”
     
“Then what will? You need to start standing up for yourself, Masika,” he said, brushing Joi’s head. “It’s bad enough you let Theo flaunt his manufactured floozy in front of you after everything you did for him.”
     
“You’re just saying that because I didn’t blast him like you wanted me to.”
     
“All I’m saying is that it’s not too late to channel your inner Angela Bassett and burn all his shit, and I know where she lives we can pull up anytime.” He sipped his tea and smacked his pursed lips.
     
She shook her head, holding back a smile. “I’ve never fought for a man before in my life and I’m not going to start with Theo.”
     
His boisterous laughter startled Joi out of his lap. “Stop lying, Masika. What do you mean you’ve never fought for a man before because I distinctly remember you tussling with Ntando on my grandmother’s front lawn?”
     
She laughed too as the flashback came to mind. “That doesn’t count because I was 14 and we were playing spin the bottle, how was I supposed to know that he was her boyfriend?”
     
“Ntando was a bully anyway but you held your own and that’s the version of you I want to see right now.”
     
That version of her was a scared, confused and angry girl, trying to fit in both worlds that had no place for her and being called a coconut for the first time in her life was a trigger.
     
“You still haven’t heard from Nhleko?”
     
“Mxm. Why are you changing the subject? I don’t want to talk about him because he’s clearly ghosting me so I’ll treat him like he doesn’t exist.”
     
“But he’s never gone M.I.A before maybe he’s busy.” She tried to reason with him but even she knew that was a lame excuse because that was never a problem before. They’ve been inseparable since their first date almost a year ago.
     
His side eye spoke volumes. “Busy with what, Masika? The man is a quantity surveyor and not Ramaphosa, now that’s the only man who can claim to be busy because this country is a mess.”
     
She almost laughed until she saw the hurt parading in his eyes and she switched sides, jumping onto the hate train because she wasn’t going to keep defending a man who was clearly making a fool out of her friend.
     
“Do you think there’s someone else?”
     
His eye was twitching rapidly because the thought of losing Nhleko to someone else made him nervous. “I don’t know. I’d like to think there isn’t but I’m not so sure because of his actions these last couple of days.”
     
“Isn’t there a friend you can call if something happened to him?”
     
He stared into space consumed by his thoughts as he pondered her question and the deep frown could be mistaken as a permanent feature on his blemish-free face.  
     
“No.” It came out low and uncertain. “And coming to think of it, I’ve never met any of his friends.”
     
“That’s a red flag.”
     
Lefa wasted no time introducing Nhleko to his circle of friends because he knew after their third date that he didn’t want anybody else as long as he had Nhleko in his life. He fell too fast and loved too hard and had a tendency to become obsessive when his energy wasn’t matched, not forgetting that he could hold a grudge because he didn’t forget nor forgive hence he wanted her to come for Theo and Lunga, and show them that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Nhleko managed to last longer than those who’ve come before him before his disappearing act.
     
“I know, right?” He sighed, raising the mug to his lips. “Now, I’m sure he’s hiding something.”
     
“Does he post on Instagram? Maybe we’ll find something there.”
     
“He doesn’t even have an Instagram account and didn’t want me posting the pictures we took together.”
     
That was another red flag and two was enough for Lefa to move on. Yes, some people were private but she couldn’t shake the feeling that Nhleko was up to no good.
     
“I don’t even feel like going to Sunday lunch anymore.”
     
“Ha a, I’ll drag you there myself if I have to because I’m not in the mood to settle for pizza.”
     
He never looked forward to these Sunday lunches because there was nothing he enjoyed about being in the same space as his father.
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