The North

Chapter 22: The Last 'it' Girl

"Wait!" KB called out. He exited the car and chased after Kamo.

"What?" Kamo spun around. She had her phone in her hand and had just finished requesting an Uber.

"Tell me what you know about Lesedi." KB demanded.

Kamo looked at her phone. She had 5 minutes left until her Uber arrived. She sighed.

"What do you already know about her?" Kamo asked, returning the question to KB.

KB was taken aback by the question, and as he pondered its response he suddenly began to realize how little he actually knew about Lesedi. She had become a Star at the same time KB got excluded from the first University he attended, and because so much was going on in his life KB had paid very little attention to the social scene. Lesedi had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and KB couldn't even recall the name of the 'it' girl before her.

As KB searched the back of his memory he suddenly recalled the conversation he had overhead downstairs at the Neighbourgoods Market after briefly taking an empty seat among the group of three girls. It was the girl with braids who had said it. She was the last one to have spoken out of the three before Mbali had arrived and whisked KB off to her table upstairs: "Remember how Lesedi got to the top? Nothing is stopping Kamo from doing the same. And that probably terrifies Lesedi." The girl had said.

"She did something...That's all I know." KB finally responded to Kamo "Lesedi did something to get to the top..."

"Does the name 'Mihlali' ring any bells?" Kamo asked KB.

"No." KB replied. He had never heard the name before.

"No one speaks about her anymore, but she was the last 'it' girl before Lesedi." Kamo said. She checked her phone again before continuing: "I was in my first year of university when Mihlali became a Star, and boy was she immaculate from the start. She really had it all: beauty, brains, grace, hustle, and she was nicknamed 'the people's Queen' because of how popular she was... everyone loved her... I loved her. There was always something relatable about Mihlali even though her father was the Premier of the Limpopo Provincial Government. Maybe it was because of how proud she was of her Venda roots, and how often she would go back to Limpopo to visit." Kamo said, drifting off into a brief daydream.

KB was about to interrupt Kamo to point out that 'Mihlali' was a Xhosa name, not a Venda name, but she cut him off.

"Anyways..." Kamo continued after breaking her daydream "during one of her trips back home Mihlali was unfortunately involved in a car-accident. She didn't die or anything like that, but she did get hurt, and shortly afterwards she sent out a post on Instagram saying that the accident had made her realize what was important in her life, and that she had decided that she would no longer be returning to Johannesburg. Mihlali then went on to nominate Lesedi as her successor, which was something that had never happened before in the North. What made it more scandalous was how nobody even knew who Lesedi was at the time. Not a single person. But we loved Mihlali so much that we were willing to do anything she wished just so that she could focus on her recovery." Kamo finished, turning to face the sky before continuing "That was the last time we ever heard from Mihlali, and she vanished into thin air. But that was also how Lesedi appeared in the North. From thin air."

KB remained silent. He turned back to make sure Senzo was still sitting in the car where he had left him. He was.

"Only later did the whispers begin. After Lesedi had become 'it' girl and consolidated her power by dismantling Mihlali's line of Stars and replacing them all with her own. All except one. The only Star that survived the purge of Mihlali's lineage was Tau...." Kamo continued. She was facing KB again. "Some people said the car crash was no accident. That it was in fact an elaborate plan orchestrated by Lesedi... Maybe even Tau. Others said Mihlali had been left in a paralyzed state, and that is was Lesedi who had typed the Instagram message nominating herself as the successor. The whole thing was shady, but we were in such shock at the time that we really didn't think to investigate further. Anyways, no one really knows what happened, but I'm convinced Lesedi did something very scandalous. It would be of great help to you if you could find out" Kamo finished.