by Mokopi Shale
Satisfied, they drift off into blissful sleep . . .
Chapter 6
6
An hour later Lesego wakes up to the pleasant feeling of someone nibbling on her neck and gently stroking her naked stomach. She turns her head to look over her shoulder into Kenneth’s face.
He kisses her deeply and then mumbles, “Hey, sexy,” in a voice husky with desire.
“Hey yourself.” She smiles, stretches her arms over her head, and asks, “What time is it?”
“Around one in the morning,” he says, still nibbling from ear to shoulder.
“I’ll have to go soon. We’re leaving at six.”
“Your house is twenty minutes from here. If you go at four, you’ll be there at twenty past, with plenty of time to get ready.”
“But I haven’t even packed!” she says petulantly.
“And I haven’t had my fill of your company. Give me two more hours. Please?” he asks.
“Two more hours of what?”
“Whatever comes up.”
Lesego breaks into giggles. “You are insatiable,” she sighs. “Okay then, two more hours.”
He pulls her back into his arms and begins to make love to her again.
* * *
“Lesego . . . Lesego . . . LESEGO!” an exasperated female voice breaks through Lesego’s groggy mind.
She struggles to open her eyes. “Huh . . . What? What’s wrong?”
“You slept all the way here. What were you doing that got you so exhausted?”
Lesego flashes a tired but satisfied smile at her sister.
Tshepiso smiles back and then says, “Why do I bother even asking, with that massive hickey on your neck.”
“Hickey!” Lesego is furious and suddenly wide awake. “I’ll kill him!” She flips opens the visor to look at her neck in the mirror and sees a long purple bruise from ear to chin. “Shit!” she hisses, turning her angry gaze on her sister.
“Don’t look at me, hao! I wasn’t there, and I didn’t do it to you.” Tshepiso laughs at her sister with the kind of affectionate cruelty that exists between siblings.
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” Lesego asks crossly.
“Some women like to wear the mark of their men for all to see. I assumed you were one of those when you came out of your room in that halterneck,” her sister answers, innocently raising her eyes and shrugging her shoulders.
“If we were in Joburg or Durban, maybe. But not for a trip home, for heaven’s sake!”
“Ayeye!” Tshepiso exclaims and then continues in a singsong voice, “Lesego’s in trouble!”
“I only packed halternecks, Tshepi, and I have no base to cover this up. If they ask, what will I say?”
When she sees how truly distressed Lesego is, Tshepiso relents a little. “Our parents know you’re having sex, Lesego. And sex has its consequences. Don’t worry, I’m sure Dad has given Mom a few hickeys in their day.”
Lesego chokes on her spit and then coughs.
“Really!” Tshepiso says, exasperated. “You didn’t fall from the sky, and it’s not a big deal. Just say a mosquito bit you; there’s a running joke about mosquitoes and hickeys.”
A few minutes later she pulls into a petrol station. “Do we fill the tank or are we on a budget?”
Lesego looks at the gauge; it’s three quarters full. “Let’s fill her up. That should get us home and back to Joburg,” she says, still looking in the visor mirror.
Tshepiso instructs the petrol attendant and steps out of the car to stretch. She goes into the garage shop and comes out with some cold drinks, ice cream and bottled water. Lesego gives her the money for the petrol and she hands it over to the petrol attendant. “I guess I’m still driving?” she asks, motioning towards Lesego who is slumped in the passenger seat, obsessively craning her neck and looking in the visor mirror.
Her sister doesn’t bother to answer and Tshepiso quips, “The ravages of passion seem to have overcome you,” earning herself another angry look.
“Ha ha ha . . . Very funny. I could drive, but I’m really tired, and I need my wits about me if I’m to explain this giant hickey to our parents. So yes, you drive.”
Tshepiso starts the car and drives out of the petrol station.
Lesego reaches into her bag for her phone. She types:
You gave me a giant hickey on the day I’m going to see my father!!!
She adds a thunderous emoticon at the end of the message and presses Send. Soon she gets a reply:
Sorry, you just taste so good and were driving me crazy. I had to find a way of holding on to my sanity. Couldn’t help it. Sorry!
Kenneth’s message has a sad-looking emoticon at the end.
Lesego doesn’t know whether to stay angry, smile, be charmed or be aroused. She replies:
How will I explain this to my father?
To which he replies:
I’m sure he knows what causes hickeys . . . I miss you. I crave you. When will you be back?
She SMSes back:
You’re no help at all. Back Sunday night.
4 whole days!!! I won’t be able to cope. Where do your parents live?
She feels flattered and answers:
LOL. It’s just 4 days. Absence makes the heart grow fonder . . . Can’t tell you where they live or I’ll spend the entire time hoping to see your car drive up to our gate. Don’t want to be disappointed if you can’t make it. Anyway, the only man I plan to introduce my parents to is the one I plan to marry, and we don’t know what this is and where it’s heading.
He sends back another sad emoticon, followed by:
You don’t have much faith in people’s ability to follow things through, do you?
She thinks about this, wonders whether to be flippant or honest, or a bit of both, then responds:
Brenda Fassie said Umuntu ngege umconfirme, so you always have to leave some room for disappointment. After all, we’re only human and can only do what we’re able to at any given moment. Expectations can be soul-destroying.
Kenneth reads the message, wondering what made her so cautious and whether it is actually possible to truly capture the heart of a woman who is as much of a romantic as a cynic. He wonders whether she sees the contradictions in herself, but simply replies:
So you have no expectations of me?
Lesego’s eyebrows shoot up. Wow, this has turned serious all of a sudden. She responds:
I expect you to be who you are and no one else. And for this to play itself out and fulfil its role – whatever that may be – in our lives. I expect you to be open and to gift me with whatever it is you’re supposed to and then do what you must.
To which he answers:
That sounds like you expect this to end. What if I don’t want that? What if I’m serious?
Whoa! Hold your horses. Let’s finish AT LEAST a month before you start saying things like that. I don’t want you to regret anything you said in the throes of new love.
Undeterred, he answers:
I can come by on Saturday and pick you up. Then your sister can drive your car back on Sunday night.
No. Have to go now. I’m being rude to Tshepiso. Bye.
Two beats pass, then Lesego’s phone rings. She looks at the screen, and it’s Kenneth. She answers with an exasperated laugh.
“Can I speak to Tshepiso, please?” he asks.
“She’s driving; she can’t talk right now.”
“Hey, Kenny!” Tshepiso shouts.
“A modern woman like you has a hands-free kit,” he insists. “Connect it to the phone. I really need to speak to your sister.”
“About what?” Lesego asks, a little peeved. “She isn’t your friend.”
“Don’t be impossible, Lesego. It’s conversation between Tshepiso and me. Please respect those boundaries. Now let me speak to her.”
“No, I’m going now. I’ll be thinking of you. Bye, Kenny.” She ends the call.
Five minutes go by, and the sisters are singing along to one of T
shepiso’s house music CDs when Tshepiso’s phone rings. She puts the earpiece in her ear and answers, giving Lesego, who is rummaging through her bag, a surreptitious look.
“Your sister’s very old-fashioned,” Kenneth says.
“Yeah, I know,” Tshepiso responds.
“I really like her, but she doesn’t seem to trust me. I promise you, I’m not playing games with her. My career is on the line and I don’t even care; I just have to be with her,” he confides.
“That’s good to know,” Tshepiso says with a pleased smile.
“Is she listening to you?”
“Yep.”
“So, you can’t really respond.”
“Nope.”
“Okay . . . Would you mind coming back to Joburg early, or otherwise alone on Sunday night?”
“Well, I did want to hang out with some friends. So I think the first option,” Tshepiso replies.
“Is there any way you can convince Lesego to come back on Saturday?”
“What do I get in return?”
“My undying gratitude.”
Tshepiso snorts.
Kenneth goes through his mind, trying to think what would thrill a varsity student most. “A friend of mine owns Sound Explosion. Ever heard of it?” he asks.
“Yes, of course,” Tshepiso answers excitedly.
“I can get you and your friends in there for free. I’ll give you some money to have a good time and you’ll be VIPs for the night. How about that?”
“Great. I was even prepared to settle for some airtime . . . Is it worth that much to you then?” Tshepiso asks.
“Yes, it is.”
“Okay, I’ll do it.”
“Fine, I’ll call you later to make arrangements. When you can talk freely, send me an SMS and I’ll call you back. Think of a way to get yourself back here Saturday afternoon, okay?” he says, sounding very excited.
“Cool.”
They ring off.
* * *
The next two days are hectic for Lesego and her father, with him having to shuttle back and forth between the farm and home to finalise arrangements. Fate often steps in, and there is a cow about to calve, so he urges her to conclude their business by Friday afternoon, not wanting to leave her in the lurch.
At supper on Friday Lesego’s mother tells her she will be leaving early the next morning to go to a meeting with all the farmers’ wives. They are starting a cooperative to assist struggling people in the Marico area. Her father confirms that they will both be leaving and plan on taking Tiro, her nephew, with them.
Lesego’s excitement grows when she realises that this means she can be back in Joburg by midday Saturday, so she can spend some time with Kenneth. But what about Tshepiso? She can’t just run off and leave her sister alone. Fortunately Tshepiso informs her that she has already made plans with her friends for that evening, so the two of them can hang out on Sunday if needs be.
Tshepiso is pleased for both Kenny and Lesego that everything seems to be working out.
* * *
Over the following weeks Lesego comes to realise what a romantic Kenneth is – picnic lunches, deep oil massages, flowers, romantic SMSs . . . Their relationship starts to solidify and become serious. She begins to wonder where it’s heading, what he intends, and whether she should expect anything more from him than a temporary relationship. She decides not to be a typical woman who obsesses over these things; to go with the flow and see where it takes her.
Knowing herself, Lesego hopes that she will be able to cope with the kind of emotional demands a man like Kenneth would make. She realises that can be quite a challenge.
Her burgeoning business puts an extra spring in her step as she begins to make plans to hand her responsibilities as head writer over to a colleague. Her boss wouldn’t hear of letting her go and asked her to stay on as a part-time story consultant.
Everything is looking rosy and Lesego couldn’t be happier.
* * *
Lesego wakes up early one morning, opens her eyes and looks at Kenneth who is fast asleep next to her. The gentle sunlight shines on his skin and she marvels at how dashing he is. She remembers that she is supposed to take her car in for a service today and that she was trying to get hold of Joy all of last night to remind her friend to pick her up and drop her off. But, as usual, it is near impossible to get hold of Joy when she is involved. Her phone was on voice mail all night.
Naked, she grabs her phone off the side table and goes to sit at the dressing table, calling Joy’s number again. Once again it goes straight to voice mail. Lesego sighs, deeply frustrated. She wonders how she will do this and whether the service centre will drop her off at work. She looks at Kenneth sleeping peacefully and wonders whether she has the guts to ask him at such short notice to drop her off. Would he see her as a scatterbrained woman and think this is the beginning of him having to take care of her?
Lesego decides she can figure this out herself. The service centre is not too far from work and if they won’t drop her, as most do, she can get a taxi back to the office. She checks her purse and finds she has R100 left. She could swing it, but all the business expenses and small family emergencies have eaten into her finances, and she knows she is on an even tighter budget because of what she has to achieve this month. The money from the project will only start coming in at the beginning of the following month. If it could have come in this month, or if she could have waited until next month to have her car serviced, things would have worked out.
She sighs. She knows the motor plan will be jeopardised if she doesn’t take the car in when it is due. They do give people some grace, but she just can’t take that chance. She will just have to use the money and hope that God will provide from somewhere. She sits there, looking blindly into the mirror, deep in thought, trying not to get anxious, wondering whether she is making the right decision.
Kenneth wakes and reaches for Lesego who is not there, opens his eyes and finds her sitting at the dressing table looking stressed.
“Morning, baby,” he says. “What are you doing all the way over there so early in the morning? Come back to bed; I miss you.”
“Morning, Kenny. We need to get up. I have to take my car in for a service today.”
“Oh yeah, I remember you said so. When will Joy get here?”
Lesego’s expression becomes even more gloomy. “Her phone’s been off since last night. I’ve been trying to figure out how I’m going to get to work from the service centre.”
“I can drop you off,” Kenneth suggests amicably.
“But we work at opposite sides of town. You may be late,” she says, thinking that this may well be the solution she needs.
“Yes, I know. But I’m always on time, so I’ll just call Patrick and tell him I’ll be a little late. It’s no big deal.”
“Really?” she asks doubtfully.
“Really . . . Is that why you’re sitting there, looking so despondent?”
She gives him a sheepish look.
He sighs in exasperation. “Lesego, we’re seeing each other and we also happen to be friends. If you can’t ask me for help but you can take me to your bed and do the things that you do, then there’s something seriously wrong with our relationship.” He stands up and walks to her.
“I just didn’t want to be a burden,” she answers.
He takes her hand and stands her up. “You’ve been stressing over something that’s very easily resolved. You could’ve just asked. The worst that could’ve happened would’ve been a no from me. Now come, we’ve wasted enough time; we need to shower and go. But please, next time first ask me before you decide that I’d probably say no, okay?”
She nods in a mixture of shame, relief, happiness and an odd feeling of belonging that fills her heart with joy and a tremor of trepidation.
All that day Lesego thinks of what Kenneth said and wonders what he actually meant and what his real intentions are. He seems to be entrenching himself in her life so deeply that she may come to dep
end on him, and she worries that if she does, she will be lost without him when he leaves her. This turns her blood cold and she begins to withdraw slightly. She knows that there is no such thing as a happy ending, and that relationships like the one her parents have do not exist any more, because her own generation is just too narcissistic to make that kind of commitment. Her father always advised her to save a little room for disappointment, to make plans for a rainy day. He always said sometimes things do not work out, and she should live her life to the fullest, and be as brave as she can be, but to have shock absorbers so that when she comes across potholes in her path she doesn’t disintegrate. She wonders whether it is too late to pull back . . . She already feels so much for Kenneth.
She starts to make sure that she isn’t always available to be with him, often using work as an excuse.
The annual Zoo Lake picnic comes around, and Kenneth organises a date with Richard and Joy. When Joy asks what is going on with them, Lesego says they are getting to know each other but when he introduces her, he calls her his girlfriend. Joy informs her that according to Richard, Kenneth has said he is falling in love with her.
Lesego’s fears are confirmed; she worries that he is doing what a man does when a woman isn’t all lovey-dovey: He makes sure the woman falls in love with him and then he drops her. So she becomes determined to keep her guard up and protect herself.
They are sitting around, enjoying their braai and the music, when Kenneth spots Thandi across the way. He waves at her, she looks at them, considers and then ambles over.
