GETTING THEM 2

 

GETTING THEM 2

 The car had just joined the main road when I enquired why Kalanje had been acting so weird. He asked that we go to the mall to get something to eat as his apartment was out of food and he was not in the mood of cooking. On our way out, mum had waved with a purposeful wink at Kalanje and I had no idea what that meant or if it meant anything. I was calmer walking out with Kalanje than I was walking in alone but I was still a little awkward until we got in to his car.

“Mum and I were talking earlier” he said before rolling down his window and yelling at the guy coming behind us

“This guy wants me to cause an accident” he calmly said like he was not just yelling through the window a minute ago.

I had not noticed what the guy had done, my concern was why Kalanje had been acting so weird and I needed answers that would make sense. It’s not always that you make friends like Kalanje and I was not ready to lose that friendship. Life had been tough growing up and in Kalanje I found a friend I could always rely on, he was always so calm and collected. Suddenly it was calm in the car, his window was up again and some cool aesthetic music was playing. Having never been on a plane in my life, perhaps this could be it.

“I was hoping you would come last week”

I pretended like I did not hear him as I continued pressing my phone and slowly nodding my head to the music, not because I did not want to talk any further but because I was sure we would get a chance to finish our conversation at the restaurant. I would always get Kalanje to say anything. Sometimes he and I would have a misunderstanding but he would let it all out in a restaurant setting when he took me for lunch or dinner just to reconcile. I know from the sound of all this it seems like Kalanje and I were an item but no we were just very good friends. The bond between he and I was so close especially because we met through aunty Patricia, she was the school deputy head and she managed to get me in after I went seeking a job by her house.

Times were extremely hard living with my sister and if we were to survive, I needed to find a job quickly. Aunty Patricia offered to take me to school and instead found my sister a job at her late husband’s boss’s house; he was like family to her. The white man was Mr. Finch. My sister has worked for him since. Aunty Patricia and I talked a lot about my life and how she wanted me to make it in life; she was ever so cheerful and made sure I got the best grades by pushing me and encouraging me. Unfortunately for me, Aunty Patricia passed on in third term of grade 11 barely 2 years after she took me under her shoulder; I was in second term of grade 11. The school management understood my situation; I was not chased from school. Kalanje was my only friend and that’s because we often topped the class, he would beat me in math but I was great in sciences.