"Have you spoken to Mbali or Thato after...everything that happened?" Senzo asked KB.
It was early morning and the two friends had just left KB's mother's house. They were on their way to pick up Kamo before setting off on a long drive to Limpopo, where they hoped to find Mihlali.
"Not yet." KB responded. He had not yet heard from either of them since the incident at Mbali's uncle's house, and KB winced at the memory of slapping Mbali across the face.
"You guys can't ignore each other forever..." Senzo said while staring out the passenger window. "At the end of the day we've only got each other. We need to stick together." He finished.
"I know..." KB responded.
Your destination is seven-hundred-and-fifty meters away, came the instructions from KB's phone.
"I think we're close to Kamo's place." KB said after skipping a red traffic light.
***
Kamo lived in a modest one-bedroom apartment in Rosebank, which she was able to rent using the money she earned from Instagram and YouTube. She was waiting at the reception of the apartment building when KB and Senzo arrived.
"Took you guys long enough" she said as she slid into the back seat of KB's car.
"You said we should pick you up at seven in the morning" KB replied.
"You're three minutes late" Kamo responded, sounding annoyed. "Anyways... Shouldn't you guys be at work or something?" Kamo asked.
"Uhh-" KB started
"We took the day off!" Senzo interjected.
Kamo stared at the both of them before continuing: "Okay..." she said, shrugging her shoulders. She removed a compact mirror from her handbag and checked her lipstick in the reflection "I'll send you Mihlali's location so you can use GPS. And don't bother asking how I got it because I'm not going to tell you" she finished, snapping the compact mirror shut in her hand.
KB, Senzo, and Kamo all remained silent for the first thirty minutes of the drive, unsure of what they should say to each other. Senzo had even fallen asleep for fifteen minutes, snoring loudly until Kamo had shaken him awake, unable to bear the sound any longer.
"Have you been to Limpopo before?" KB finally asked Kamo, shattering the silence.
"Yeah..." Kamo sighed. She reached for her handbag and removed a pair of dark sunglasses, and KB could no longer see Kamo's eyes through the rear-view mirror when she put them on.
"My Stepmom is from Limpopo" Kamo continued "But don't expect me to speak Venda or translate anything for you, because my Venda sucks." She quickly snapped.
"All I can say is 'Thank You' in Venda." KB laughed, trying to keep the conversation going "So whatever amount of Venda you can speak is much better than anything I can do!"
"We'll see..." Kamo replied, smiling for the first time since entering the vehicle.
"Yesterday you said Mihlali's father was the Premier of the Limpopo Provincial Government. It sounds like he's a big deal there." KB said after another lengthy silence had fallen in the car.
"Yeah... The guy is like a superstar in Limpopo. A rags to riches guy if ever there was one..." Kamo said.
"What do you mean?" KB asked.
"He was born in one of the poorest villages in Limpopo, into a family that had nothing... And I guess he worked his way up to the top Government spot... but it doesn't stop there. Once he got to the top he made the development of his province his top priority. He even used his own money to finally provide electricity and running water to the village he grew up in. He still lives there to this day..." Kamo said.
YOU ARE READING
The North
General FictionJohannesburg's social scene is as complex as it is dangerous, and nowhere is this more evident than the Northern suburbs of the city. Follow the adventures of KB and his friends as they make the daring ascent up the social ranks of a city where noth...
