$trings

15

[22 April]

YOUR HAIR, HAILEY REPEATED nonchalantly, when will you get it done?

It hadn't even been two minutes into our meeting and she'd noticed the struggle. Maybe the beanie gave it away. It was pretty warm outside. "Carlos said he'll take me to the hair salon when I'm done with y'all," I told her.

She gave a nod and slurped. Slurped hard and long at her rainbow flask. Then eyed me while placing it on the table. "Don't you get annoyed of like, being driven around by him?" She rolled her eyes. Rolled them right around the world. "He drives like a lunatic!"

"We get to places quicker," I said with a shrug. I loved it when she reeled her big chocolate eyes at me again; I showed her a bigger smile.

"I swear he'll like, crash you one day!" How positive. "And don't say I didn't warn you when he does..."

You just have to love her arrogance though.

"How's your uh... your mom?" I shifted our focus at once.

Hailey replied with much eagerness, but she didn't let us linger on that one. There's this guy, she told me dreamily. Oh, there was always a guy. I was told about this one while I peered around the café. Even from our cosy corner, I could see the place was still disgracefully empty. Monday morning void, maybe? Well, I couldn't say. I'd only been here four times before anyway: once with Nique and Miranda, once with Miranda alone, and twice with all the girls. All were good times, really. Life was simply easier when Miranda still paid our bills. This place was expensive. I was here today because Monique had said she was buying.

Well well, our buyer still hadn't arrived. Neither had our back-up buyer – Yasmin. 'Come at nine, y'all,' they said. 'Don't be late,' said they. In any case, I arrived a few minutes ago and it was nearly eleven.

It was a while later when they arrived and glided into our sitting space, one next to me, one next to Hailey. Monique next to Hailey, Yasmin next to me. Reassured, we greeted them as they lowered their masks. They greeted us. And I suddenly felt too excited to wait. I had to blurt out from around the bush, "Nique, when are you starting?"

Monique smiled coyly. "Next week Monday," she said.

"Starting what?" Yasmin and Hailey didn't know yet.

"Phycology classes for teens," she told them.

I jumped in, "she met that awesome psychologist last week and she really liked Monique. So she asked Monique to join her, as a student learner, to help her out with her classes."

Yasmin and Hailey contained their delight with simple awe of the eyes and expression. "Wow!" Yasmin cooed, grinning widely at Monique. "That's amazing!"

It was amazing - one of us had already started finding a place in our society.

I was spoiling her because of it, so I handed her the gift I had hidden next to me. She loved it. And she made herself humble again by telling us that Chang was going with her too.

Through the excitement, I took out my phone, which was going mad again, and I glanced at it. It was yet another text blast from Naledi, apologising for the fresh explosion from moments ago.

At the time, I simply wondered 'what in tarnation is going on?!' Maybe it was the season of explosions because nearly every day, Naledi had started text blasting me with regrets and updates about explosions happening around me that I knew nothing of. And those explosion events seemed to rise alongside the traditional 'surge' in COVID cases.

Was this the end of the world? I grinned at this thought, and I put down my phone and engaged my friends in the article of the most recent detonation.