Sugar Daddy

by Haden, Ross;

  “You waiting for someone?” Unathi asked. When she didn’t answer he reached out and took her bag, heavy with books. “I’ll walk you home. It’s not safe to walk alone.”

  What if Parks saw her walking with Unathi? What if he thought Unathi was her boyfriend? Would he drive on? “Oh,” she said, pretending to have just remembered something. “Yhini Bawo, I forgot, I was supposed to stay behind to get help with my Maths. You go on ahead.”

  “I can help you.”

  “Thanks, but Ma’am Ratsibe is waiting,” she said. “She’s expecting me and I’ve already been in detention twice for not handing in my homework.” Unathi looked at her strangely, then handed back her bag and turned and walked away.

  * * *

  Busi ran back through the school gates. She waited until he had gone around the corner before she went back out onto the street. Her watch said two forty-five. He wasn’t coming. Why would he? But then she heard that familiar, thump, thump, thump of the bass beat pounding out onto the road through the open windows of Parks’s taxi and her heart leapt. And when Parks pulled up next to her she went straight up, put her head through the window and kissed him. It was so bold, so brave. It made her feel like a grown-up. And he kissed her back.

  “I’m in luck,” he said, a big grin on his face. “I thought it was too late. I thought I’d missed you. To think, if I had come five minutes later you might have gone. Now get in, I’m hungry.”

  “Khentakhi?” she laughed. She was so happy.

  “Let’s try some place new,” he said, as she looked back expecting to see the gaadjie. But today they were alone. “He was annoying me,” laughed Parks. “I dropped him at the last traffic light. I booted him out. He’s probably lying on the pavement right now.”

  “Serious? You kicked him out of the taxi?”

  “No, I’m just teasing you. I like teasing you.” He winked at her. “I like kissing you too.” As they drove he reached over, opened the cubbyhole and took out a CD, “Hey, I got you some new music.” He slid the CD into the player. It was Ringo – the musician she had told him about when they were at the beach. “Sithandwa sam …,” she sang along.

  “You like it?”

  “I like it!” The fear had gone. She had been stupid to be nervous of him. Now it felt like they had known each other forever.

  “Now, where are we going for lunch? You can pick anywhere. Remember I’m not just a taxi driver. I’m also an entrepreneur,” he laughed. “Money is no object.” But Busi didn’t know any of the fancy places. She knew KFC and Steers. That was all. And they had been to KFC.

  “Steers,” she said.

  “Steers it is,” he answered. “But next time it will be somewhere fancy … after sunset.” He looked at her. “There will be a next time?”

  “Yes.”

  She wanted to tell him she loved him there and then. She had to hold the words in before they came bursting out. No, she would wait until they were somewhere romantic … at night.

  Chapter 6

  It was easy, Busi told herself. When you wanted to do something, it was easy. And she wanted to be with Parks. That afternoon, after they had been to Steers in Wynberg, he drove her up the leafy roads in Constantia. One of her granny’s friends worked there for a rich lady. But it was the first time Busi had seen such huge houses, except on The Bold and The Beautiful. “For one family! Can you believe it?” Parks said. “Stick with me, baby, and one day it will be my BMW parked in that driveway. And it will be you getting out of it.”

  “Really, Parks?” she said.

  “Is that what you’d like?”

  “Yes. But I wouldn’t paint our house that colour. And I’d prefer a Mini Cooper.” He roared with laughter. It made her happy to think that he found her funny.

  He took her over to Hout Bay, then on to Camps Bay. Some of her friends had been there. They had told her about the models they’d seen being photographed under the palm trees. “Not as curvaceous, or as bootilicious, as you,” Parks flattered her.

  “Don’t you have to be anywhere?” Busi asked him. He didn’t seem to have a care in the world.

  “I told you, I’m my own boss,” he laughed. “The only person who can tell me where to be and when, is me.” And when his cell phone rang, he switched it off.

  Next stop was the Waterfront, where they went window shopping. Parks bought her a necklace with a locket on it. “Now all you need is a photo of me inside,” he joked. “Would you keep it safe?”

  “Very safe,” she said, looking into his eyes. He gave her a lingering kiss, then took her hand as they strolled down the mall together, her locket shimmering silver around her neck. A woman stopped to stare. Busi knew why. Here was a young girl in school uniform kissing an older man. So what, she didn’t care what anyone thought. They didn’t understand.

  * * *

  On the way home Parks pulled over into a lay-by and they kissed. He told Busi that he was looking forward to more, but only when she was ready. He would never force her. He wasn’t like that. “I can’t wait to see you out of your school clothes,” he said as he dropped her off. “Will you dream of me tonight?”

  “Yes … sweet dreams,” she promised.

  As she lay in bed she smiled. The locket was around her neck, hidden under her nightie, close to her heart. He said he couldn’t wait to see her out of her school clothes. Well, he would. She had an idea. It was so simple, but so clever it made her laugh. And it would work – she was sure of it. She wanted to please him, and school was so boring. She didn’t need Lettie and Asanda asking her where she was all the time, or Unathi following her around like a bodyguard.

  When she woke up the next morning she packed her casual clothes in her school bag. After breakfast she kissed her granny goodbye and headed for the taxi rank. But as soon as she got around the corner she ducked into the toilets at Jake’s Tavern and changed. She re-emerged in jeans and a cute top. Then she rang Parks. So easy! “Any time,” he had told her. And he had given her airtime so she could call him whenever she felt like it – day or night. He was there in five minutes.

  * * *

  Over the next few days Parks wined and dined Busi. She ate food she had never tasted before in fancy restaurants. He would leave the taxi with that idiot gaadjie as they wandered hand in hand through town. Parks told her about his big dreams and ideals. Most of the time he was in a good mood … except for when he took calls on his cell phone. Then he would walk away so that she couldn’t hear him. But she could tell from his body language, the way he stood all hunched over with his fists clenched, that he was angry. And once he’d turned his taxi around just as they had set off, and dropped her back near her house. “Business,” he’d said.

  When she didn’t see him, she missed him all day. But then he would always be back the next morning.

  The third time she bunked school he took her up to the forest. The gaadjie wasn’t there and they lay on the back seat and kissed and cuddled. When she got home she told her granny that she was studying after school for exams. And her grandmother was pleased. It was their joke – Parks’s and hers.

  Lettie and Asanda SMSed her.

  r u ok? wer u bn?

  Ndiyagula.

  oh! gt wel sn.

  They didn’t know how much fun she was having. She had another life and it was better than anything they had. She was just sad it had to be a secret. She wanted to tell them about the crayfish she ate and the perfume he bought her. She wanted to boast about the man she was dating and how good life could be. He was going to take her to a hotel for the night. “Don’t be frightened,” he said. “I’ll be gentle. You’ll see. You’ll love it.”

  By the end of the week she was bursting to tell her friends about the life she had been leading. Yes, maybe it was time to go back to school.

  * * *

  On Friday morning she couldn’t wait. As she was
putting on her school shoes she heard a knock at the door, and her grandmother talking to someone outside. Parks wouldn’t dare come here, she thought. But when she went out she saw Unathi standing there. “I hope you’re feeling better,” he said. She didn’t know what to say. Her granny was staring at her, as if she finally understood what Busi had been up to. Unathi pulled an exercise book out of his bag and opened it. Inside was a whole bunch of papers. “I brought you the notes you’ve missed,” he said. “With exams coming up, you can’t skip anything if you want to pass.”

  “Missed?” Busi’s granny asked, frowning at her. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s extra work, Gogo. I want to do well in the exams. I want to make you proud. You know the classes I’m doing after school? Well, I missed a couple.”

  Unathi didn’t say anything. He just handed over the papers. He had copied his notes – pages of them. Busi was amazed. He had done this for her? But why? To make her feel bad? To sow a seed of doubt in her granny’s mind? Or because he cared?

  Chapter 7

  Busi’s friends ran to meet her when she walked through the gates of Harmony High. “We’ve missed you! How are you feeling?” asked Asanda.

  “Yes, we were really worried when you didn’t even make the soccer game. We know how much it means to you to be in the team.” Lettie gave her a hug. “You must have been really sick?”

  “You could say that …,” Busi smiled. She couldn’t wait to tell them about Parks.

  “Why are you grinning like that?” Asanda asked. “Have you been keeping a secret, Busi? And we thought you were ill.”

  “I was ill,” Busi laughed. “I caught the love bug.”

  “You’re in love?” asked Lettie. “With who?”

  And then she told them about Parks. How handsome he was. How he treated her like a movie star. She watched their astonished faces as she told them that he had bought her skinny jeans and that he was getting her a smart phone with a contract!

  “You must be joking?” Asanda couldn’t believe it. “A cell phone with a contract and jeans. Serious?”

  “Serious.”

  “And he took you to the movies during school?” said Lettie, who looked like she wasn’t sure she believed Busi.

  “And to lunch afterwards,” Busi went on. She couldn’t stop now. “Three courses: starters, mains, dessert. A steak this big.” She held her hands apart. “And chocolate pudding.”

  “Oh, I can taste it … stop … stop!” cried Asanda.

  “He’s too damn sexy for my own good,” she told them, thinking of the dimple in Parks’s chin and that slow smile.

  “Too damn sexy, that’s for sure!” They giggled together.

  Busi had never felt so popular before. Asanda hooked an arm through hers as they walked back into class. “So tell me, Busi,” she whispered, “just between the two of us … have you done it yet?”

  “What?” Busi faked surprise. It was the one thing she still needed to keep a secret – the night Parks was planning at the hotel. She didn’t want anyone to ruin that. “No, not yet,” she said. “He’s not that kind of guy. He respects me. He says we’ll have sex only when I’m ready. But I’m his girl, Asanda. He calls me his sugar baby.”

  “You are his baby,” Unathi sounded disgusted. He had been listening from a few metres away as she bragged about Parks. Now he came up to her. “How old are you?”

  “Sixteen soon,” Busi said crossly.

  “Fifteen now,” Unathi said.

  “So?”

  “So, do you know that sugar daddy of yours could be arrested?” Seeing the look of horror on Busi’s face, he went on. “I could report him to the police if he sleeps with you. A man who has sex with a girl of fifteen is committing rape in the eyes of the law. That’s what it is, Busi – rape. You are under the age of consent. Your sugar daddy umele uyokumvalela etrongweni. And they should throw away the key. I bet you’re not the only girl he’s seeing.”

  “I am!” shouted Busi. “And anyway, I’m sixteen next month. And you wouldn’t dare report Parks.” But Unathi had made her scared. His uncle was a policeman. What if he checked up on Parks? What if he followed them? But she couldn’t let him see her fear. “Have you finished with your lecture?” She took a step towards him so that she was really close to his face, “Because I’m sick of listening.”

  “You’re just jealous, Unathi,” said one of the girls who had come up to join in, “because Parks can give Busi what you can’t.”

  “And you really believe he loves her?” asked Unathi. “That he doesn’t cruise the streets in his taxi looking for more sugar babies like Busi to tempt with treats and promises. And then to use and dump – like spoiled goods.”

  “What do you know?” cried Busi. But in that moment she realised that he knew far too much. Not only had he crushed her moment of triumph, but he’d made her afraid too. She wished he’d just go. And she was relieved when a group of his friends dragged him away. She tried to forget what Unathi had said.

  “When are you seeing your man again?” asked Asanda as they went into class.

  “Tonight. I’m wearing the skinny jeans he gave me. I can’t wait.”

  “And you haven’t had sex yet?” Asanda asked again.

  “No,” Busi shook her head. “I’m not cheap like some girls. And he knows that.”

  “Be careful,” warned Lettie. But she knew that once you had the love bug there was no cure except for the pain of breaking up. Hadn’t it been like that with Ntombi and Mzi? It was lucky she had escaped.

  “Yes, I know, Lettie. Wear a condom, safe sex …”

  “That too,” said Lettie. “But I meant, be careful of your heart.”

  “What’s wrong with all of you?” Busi said, “Can’t you just be happy for me?”

  It was English with Mr Ntlanti. The closer they got to exams the stricter he became. No minute should be wasted, he told them. But it was all wasted on Busi. She couldn’t concentrate on anything. And anyway, it was just too hot for Shakespeare today. Her mind drifted to Parks. Unathi was talking rubbish, she thought. And she let herself wonder which hotel Parks would choose for their first night together.

  Then Mr Ntlanti started asking questions. He pointed to one of the boys and when he didn’t know the answer he put him straight into detention. Busi couldn’t be in detention that afternoon. Parks was coming for her after school. All she had to do was SMS him. She had to tell him now that she wanted to go to the hotel tonight. Before it was too late and before Unathi messed it up. And she had to get out of class before Mr Ntlanti asked her a question she couldn’t answer. She excused herself, saying that she needed the toilet.

  In the corridor she took her cell phone out of her pocket and quickly started tapping the keys.

  Pck me up @ Jakes – ur sugar bby.

  “Texting your sugar daddy?”

  Busi flew around. “Are you stalking me?” she yelled at Unathi. She had had enough.

  “Maybe you’re fooling Lettie and Asanda, but you don’t fool me, Busi. You think you’re too cool for school? That you’re better than the rest of us because of Mr Moneybags? The only person you’ll be fooling in the end is yourself.”

  “You’re just envious.”

  “Think what you like. I’m just disappointed in you.”

  “Disappointed!” spat Busi. “Who are you? My father?”

  “Have you even looked at the notes I gave you?” Busi could hear that Unathi was upset now. He couldn’t hide that with his anger. She had hurt him. He had spent hours writing those notes and she hadn’t even looked at them.

  “It was kind of you to give me the notes,” she said. She couldn’t look him in the eye.

  “The exams are two weeks away. Do you really want to repeat Grade 10? Do you really want to see your friends moving on and leaving you behind?” Busi stared at him. What could sh
e say to him that would make him understand? How could she tell him what Parks gave her? How it was so much better than all of this. That school didn’t matter now. Couldn’t he see how happy she was?

  “I’m happy – so, so happy. Can’t you see it?”

  “All I can see is an accident waiting to happen,” he said.

  “I don’t want to go to school any more, Unathi.”

  “You’re throwing your life away,” he argued. “And I won’t just stand by and watch.”

  “You don’t understand …”

  “Do your parents know?”

  “They’re in Jozi, chasing their own dreams. Why should they care?”

  Then the siren went and students rushed out into the corridor and Busi could escape.

  Life was so strange. Unathi’s attention would have meant the world to Busi only a couple of weeks ago. He was her hero back then, with his big, broad shoulders and his talent on the soccer field. She used to think he was such a man. How things had changed. Now he was following her everywhere and she wasn’t interested.

  She looked down at her SMS for Parks.

  Pck me up @ Jakes – ur sugar bby.

  Then she pressed the SEND button. There was no going back now.

  Chapter 8

  Parks was at Jake’s Tavern at six sharp. Busi was waiting anxiously outside in her new skinny jeans and her silver top. She knew she looked good. “I couldn’t wait,” he said, leaning over and kissing her as she got in next to him. Then he picked up a red rose on the dashboard and handed it to her. “For my sugar baby. You look gorgeous. I am the luckiest guy in the country … in the world.” He hugged her.

  “Which hotel are we going to?” she asked, excited and nervous at the same time. What if she didn’t know what to do in bed to make him happy? What if she made him angry, or he got tired of her?

  “That’s a secret,” he said. “Trust Parks! Has he ever let you down?”

  Busi had never been to a hotel before and so when Parks swung off the freeway into the parking lot of the Formula One she thought it was the real deal. She hung back when he checked them into their room, fearing the receptionist might ask how old she was. She didn’t want anyone stopping them. “Come on, my baby,” Parks was saying. He took her by the arm and led her to the lift.