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14
14BACK AT THE DORM
With rather a dull expression than expected, Thando sat on his bed fondling with his fingers looking to be engaging in the act unconsciously. He had just broken up with someone he considered his best friend, and he was not feeling his best as he had grown fonder and fonder of the guy. The weary expression on his face was hard to miss as Sandile caught on the moment he glanced at him, this was not the Thando he wanted to spend the rest of his evening with, he was dull and not jolly.
Sandile: do I have to dig it out of you, or you’ll tell me voluntarily?
Thando: I just had a long day.
Sandile: please, you’ve had longer days and that expression doesn’t read what you’re saying… what is it? Please, I can’t leave you like this…
Thando: you have somewhere to be?
Sandile: the club… and I’ll cancel right away…
Thando: the club? seriously… wow! What’s your business with the club? What club is that? I thought you were done with that lifestyle… didn’t we agree to tone it down on that part of your life?
Sandile: excuse me, I don’t appreciate your tone!
Thando: tone?! What tone?!! Please, if you have something more to say … just say it now!!! I’m so over people who act like they want to be in my life but actually are doing some sneaky sh*t behind my back and doing some very ‘not your affiliate’ type of things. What the hell do you want from me Sandile!? F*ck this… and f*ck you!!!
Sandile: I am just trying to understand how things escalated so fast. One moment we were talking about you having a long face and the next you’re throwing insults at me. Clearly, you’re angry about something or pissed at someone and you’re taking out your frustrations at me. I am not your emotional punching bag, I am sorry I tried to show support and help you out of your disastrous state, I’m so over this!! I might as well go to the club; I did not sign up for this!!
Thando: of course! You’re gonna run away, bye then!!! Have a great evening!!!
Sandile: likewise!!!
Sandile slammed the door behind him and disappeared from Thando’s sight who was just as furious. Left alone in the room, Thando curled up in his bed and screamed his lungs out taking out all his anger on a pillow. This was their very first heated argument, and it was nothing like he would have imagined. Maybe if Sandile was a bit understanding he wouldn’t have left like that, maybe… just maybe, he thought. What hurt him more was his inability to tell him about what transpired between himself and Chuma. It was not the words Sandile spewed or how he insulted his intelligence and literally called him a baby without actually saying it. Thando was angry at himself for letting himself be vulnerable to a state of chasing away someone who actually showed he cared.
AT SOME APARTMENT [HAVEN PALACE]
Chuma sat in the kitchen after being served dinner by none other than his lover whom he hid from Thando. That one evening when he canceled their plans, he was on a date with this other lady he met online, primarily to exchange intimate services but it ended up where it is now. Blatantly, he was Samkele’s sugar baby, the well-established divorcee he met on a dating site. As much as he was not emotionally invested in her, he enjoyed the benefits, especially financially---she delivered! He told him about Thando and her take on it was very surprising to him.
Samkele: I am not going to lie to you or try to distort your version of what you see as the truth and the right thing to do. My opinion is I don’t like this guy and I want you to end things with him--- stop being friends with him.
Chuma: isn’t that you just gaslighting me to side with what you see as the right move in this situation?
Samkele: boy, please! Don’t question my authority. I have met my fair share of people on this earth and had more interactions than I can count, and these kinds of situations always end up the same way.
Chuma: and that way is?
Samkele: this friend of yours or whatever is going to try and make a move on you.
Chuma: and what makes you think that?
Samkele: Honey, why else would a gay man tell you he’s gay… I mean he doesn’t owe you anything but yet he told you he’s that type of a person in order to lure you and convert you to whatever it is that he is.
Chuma: you reckon?
Samkele: catch up with the times!!! Be quick-witted… please! I am done here, I will go take a bath, see you in the bedroom later.
Chuma: yeah…
Left rather dumbfounded by Samkele’s take on the issue Chuma had with his friend, he stood up and cleaned the kitchen, and prepared for bed. He was here on a visa and a mission to impress, Samkele can somewhat be unpredictable, so he wanted nothing to do with being on her bad side for the moment. Even though he had a lot to say and did not agree with her on some notes he made no comment and kept his thoughts to himself. Some of the things he said infuriated him a little because of the way she ridiculed him but for money--- his voice was bought. He did not have time to spare to talk through a millennial with very twisted narratives of how the real modern world works, her insights on queerness were disgusting!
A LITTLE PAST MIDNIGHT
CLUB LA MACARENA
Ms. Kai approached Sandile who looked lost and out of place while tending to customers at the bar. She still hadn’t gotten her thanks and apology after the last time, but she was not someone to hold grudges.
Ms. Kai: ah, the boy with no manners… shouldn’t you be home by now, I am sure your shift ended a little while ago. Why are you still here?
Sandile: no, just enjoying the vibe here.
Ms. Kai: please… with that face! I will take that as a lie and assume you’re having troubles at home, and they seem more intimate, and you don’t want to face them so you’re here instead.
Sandile: psychic?
Ms. Kai: maybe, hence I don’t agree with your decision of staying here when you should be out there solving your issues.
Sandile: I just don’t have the energy to fight.
Ms. Kai: nobody ever has the energy, just face it. Pilling it up and leaving it for later doesn’t mean it will solve itself. The only way to solve misunderstandings is by voicing them out.
Sandile: can I stay at least one more hour?
Ms. Kai: go home kid, I am not paying you for overtime. Stop trying to bankrupt me!
Left contemplating and digesting Kai’s words, Sandile relieved himself of his duties and packed his stuff, and left Macarena. Kai was right, how was Thando going to know what he meant if he did not explain it himself, plus hiding the fact that he works at a club from him proved to be challenging and a bad look on him because it caused a fight between them.
THE DORM
Arriving at the dorm Sandile found the lights on with Thando crouching and curled up on his bed in the corner. He looked like he had been crying for hours. The used tissues on the floor said and a lot and that broke Sandile’s heart. He needed no words or explanation for anything. He rushed up to him and hugged him tight that he broke out hissing and crying in silence again. This was a foreign cat, but he liked the feeling that Thando was not embarrassed to act like that around him. His heart swelled and he fell for him deeper and deeper as he silently sobbed in the tight hug while he tried to calm him down.
Thando: I’m sorry about earlier… I am so sorry for letting my emotions---
Sandile: you don’t have to explain anything. I am sorry for leaving you and acting the way I did. Please don’t cry… it hurts me.
Thando: but I still have to explain to you why I was sour earlier…
Sandile: you don’t have to though…
Thando: let me.
Sandile: okay… what happened?
Thando: Chuma broke up with me.
Sandile: broke up with you? Excuse me?!
Thando: not like that! He best friend- broke up with me… that kind of break up.
Sandile: you don’t need him!! Don’t worry about him… his loss actually. I don’t want you worrying about people outside, let’s focus on us.
Thando: but how can I not be? Things are going to be awkward now… who do I hang out with on campus?
Sandile: but seriously, what happened?
Thando: I came out to him, and he freaked out.
Sandile: probably thought you were going to confess your feeling to him. That’s what was going on in his head I assume. I don’t understand heterosexuals, seriously.
Thando: you talk like you have experience when it comes to being dumped after coming out to someone… who was it?
Sandile: this one bestie in high school, I actually liked him! Yeah… I know. Not everyone is accepting of gay people, and it is not an easy thing to talk about let alone in this environment. Sexuality is a sensitive topic, nevertheless, I applaud you for telling him who you really are although you did not owe him anything.
Thando: okay… so, would you if it was you?
Sandile: if he also came out to me that he was hetero, then I would. I don’t get the need to tell anyone about anything when I don’t owe them anything. The coming-out culture is so ridiculous that I do not understand it at times…
Thando: okay... I am not going to say anything further because I feel I touched a nerve there! I just want to cuddle to sleep right now…
Sandile: come here…
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