My feelings for Lucas grew stronger day by day. My mind became confident in sharing his pictures with my eyes, it thought of him every chance it got. The fear of what people might say when they saw me with Lucas completely perished. A part of me was not afraid anymore. It was early in the morning when my phone rang when I had just put my shirt on an iron board. I looked at the caller and it was a boy I was just thinking about – Lucas. When I answered, I was so pleased to hear his voice after a long two days of not speaking to him. I was just used to speaking to him every day, so not speaking with him changed something in my body. It was as though my heart was taken out from my body and someone would grind it with a steel grinder.
"I have a gift for you. Are you available to collect it?" he asked in his sweet voice."Hm, a gift? Let me think," I said with a small laugh and continued, "We have a funeral at home today. My cat was involved in a car accident and as family we've decided to give her a dignified funeral.""Eish, that's a shame. It means now I'd have to return it," he said and I laughed. I know he was joking."Don't do that. I'm sure my family can cope without me. I can't say no to a gift," I sad blushing."You're choosing me over your favourite cat? Hmm. I feel so important," he giggled over."Don't flatter yourself. My cat loved gifts, so I'm collecting it on her behalf.""If you had told me earlier I would've bought something for your cat as well.""Hmm, something like what?""Something like... hm, flowers.""Haa, joh. My cat loved sweet and delicious things.""How's ice cream and chocolate then?""Hmm, my favourite – I mean, her favourite. You know what, I just heard a spooky voice, it sounded in a cat's voice, I think she was saying let him buy. I'll eat on my way to Heaven. Did you hear it?" I playfully said."No, I didn't. I had no idea animals go to Heaven too.""My mum prayed for my cat.""I hope she will pray for me as well when it's my time, would you ask her for me?""Don't worry, she's listening," I said looking at my mum who was doing laundry far away from me. "She says she will pray for you only if you tell me the gift you bought.""I'd be spoiling the surprise if I tell you," he paused and continued, "Be ready in an hour. I'll meet you at Mathebula's supermarket.""What do you think I should wear?""Wear something that your mum only allows you to wear when she's taking you out," he said and we both laughed.Without any waste of time, I took a quick shower and returned to my room. I dressed myself in my Christmas clothes and put on some natural makeup and dried my hair into their natural curls. I should look good today, no, I should be beautiful. A yellow dress was on my sexy body and I paired it with my old Reebok sneakers. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt power dressed. I looped my eyes on the mirror to every slightest detail of my body and I saw a power house girl dressed perfectly smart. In a half an hour I was done with everything and in forty minutes I headed to Mathebula's supermarket. In a few meters distance, I saw Lucas, he had occupied the seat where we last sat. He sat facing the opposite direction and didn't spot me until I got to him.When I got to him, he flew from the seat and ran into my arms and held me close. The excitement charged on my body. My hands gently caressed his back and shoulders. I closed my eyes as my hand were caressing on his hair. His aura and scent took away my breath. I squeezed my tiny body against his and OMG! He smelled nice. His perfume was like those American perfumes they advertise on TV. I wasn't familiar with the names of perfumes but I'm pretty sure it was expensive. I let go of him and sat my ass down on a chair, and just before I got comfortable, he stretched his arm to me and I knew what I was expected to do. I grabbed his arm and he pulled me up gently and let go of my hand. "Follow me." He smiled at me and walked outside the shop. "Where are we going?" I asked as I followed behind. "There's someone I would like you to meet," he said as he waited for me to catch up with him. "Who?" I asked as he led the way to wherever we were going and I was just a tail following. "You'll see."In my mind I was expecting him to direct us to the taxi rank where we'd catch taxis to our date, but instead, we took turns around the streets of Ivory Park until I was lost. We walked past Polar Park section all the way to Angola and from there I got lost. We took a turn at one of the street that – from the rumours I heard, was where Lekau, the DRIP founder stayed. We walked for about thirty seconds until he stopped at a random house with green grass outside. "This is my home," Lucas said pointing at the house and he walked towards the gate. My heart was grumping the moment he said 'welcome to my home'. It wasn't even long since we started dating and already I was invited to his house. I wasn't even sure if we were in a relationship since we had not made it official. All my life I believed that a relationship was official if a guy asks a girl out, if she says yes, they become a couple and if she says no, well, you know, it's a rejection, and I don't remember Lucas doing that. All he did was kiss me. When we got to his place, he opened the gate for me to enter and he led the way to the main house, which I think, if I'm not mistaken it was an RDP house. It was orange in colour and just before the door was a paving that almost looked like it's been there since the 1700s. For my sake, I decided to look forward so I don't judge more with what I saw around.Lucas opened the door and we entered. He led his way to the lounge where I saw two people, a man and a woman looking at our direction. I raised my arm to greet them and Lucas showed me a seat. The walls had dozens of photographs and when I looked deeply through them, it were two strangers seated down. The eyes of these two strangers followed me to the moment I took a seat and they switched to Lucas when he cleared his throat to speak."Uncle, this is the girl I was telling you about," he said looking at him and switched to me, and back to him again. "Her name's Aona. Aona, this is my uncle, Peter and his wife, Simamkele," he introduced us. They smiled at me and I returned the smile. They warm welcomed me. I kept fearing that maybe what I was wearing was inappropriate. Why didn't he tell me we were to meet his family though? I could've worn something nice and decent? First impressions last. However, this made me realize how important I meant to him. This isn't something you get on daily basis. Boys these days will hide you from their family, including their friends. So, him introducing me to his family opened a space in my heart to receive him well. It was my very first time being introduced to the family of someone I'm dating, so this gesture made me appreciate him more than ever.THE DINNER WITH HIS FAMILY went well. The effort that was made to prepare for the dinner was treasured."You said your name's Aona, right?" asked his uncle (Peter) as I was taking a sip of my drink."Yebo malume, Aona Buthelezi," I replied."Strange name, yet beautiful," he said looking at his wife and turned his eyes back to me. "Can you hear SeSotho?""Kancinci. Ndingum'Xhosa.""Xhosa?" he giggled. "I hope you're not like the rest of your tribe.""What do you mean malume?""Ba rata madi.""No, that's too much," the wife (Simamkele) intervened."As in blood?" I asked."No, he meant 'as in money,' but you don't have to answer that," she paused, "So, how do you communicate with Lucas?""Siyavana xa sithetha," I said. I think the idea that Xhosa women love money is just stereotypical, just like with any other tribe. We as Xhosa women are said to love money and men, which I don't think it applies to everyone. Venda people are said to be Einstein's of South Africa, but is it all of them? Tsongas are believed to smell armpits, but is it all of them? White people are believed to be smart, but is it all of them? Zulus are said to be rude and stubborn, but is it all of them? Afrikaners are known to be violent and toothless, but is it all of them? Tswanas are known to be the bitches of South Africa, but is it all of them? Pedi men are believed to be mamas boys, but is it all of them? I think these are stereotypes one person paint the rest of the tribe based on the traits of few individuals.Lol, I'm kidding. Amaxhosa ayayi 'thandi Mali and ndiyayazi lonto. Amazulu wona anenkani and athandi' irank. AmaTswana awananyani – Ayaxoka and ayafeba. Amapedi wona xa unga thetha nge Limpopo, iyoh. Amacoloured wona awana mazinyo and athand' ulwa. AmaSotho ayahlanya. Kutheni anxibana namajesi ku tshisa?"So, Aona, what do you wanna do after matric?""Am not sure at the moment because I have plenty of options I need to choose from. Law, psychology or journalism, but I think I'm mostly to go for psychology," I answered. I looked at Lucas and he was there smiling."That's very brilliant, Aona. You need to work hard to achieve that. I'd tell you to stay away from boys, but since you already have one, I will tell you to stay focused and be disciplined," the wife said and we all laughed. "And you, Luc, look after this beautiful girl. Push her to be a better person," She added and Lucas shook his head in agreement.I looked at my phone's clock and noticed it was my time to leave. 18:21. My father was not the kind of a man you can reason with, so the best thing was to leave early. I thanked them for welcoming me into their home.
Lucas walked me to Mathebula's supermarket. We got there and shared an intimate kiss that I wished could've lasted for another hour, but my father was in my head. I took my way to my place and he took his way back to his place. When I looked at my phone, time was 20:00 when I should've been home at 19:30. When I walked inside the house, I found my mother reading her bible in the sitting room. Normally, by that time my father would be sitting next to her watching TV, but there was no one on the couch. I asked my mother where dad was and she said he wasn't coming home. As much as I was still a child by then, I sensed something was wrong in my mother's tone. I knew how my mother sounded when she was angry or when she was happy. I asked her if everything was okay and she faked a smile and told me everything was fine. I am sure you are there thinking my dad was having an affair or they had a fight, right? Yes, that's what I thought too. An incident similar to this one once occurred when my mother saw messages of my father and his mistress. My father had stored his mistress' number as 'Mechanic'. I don't know how my mother found out, but she did. My dad did not sleep at home that night. This was the first time he slept outside.
The second time was when he came home smelling of women's perfume. He tried so hard to deny it, but my mother's rage overpowered his excuses. She kicked him out of the house and he went to sleep to only-God-knows-where. Now it was the third time my father not sleeping home and you know what am thinking, right? Let me not talk about it. I went to take my food in the microwave and said goodnight to my mother who was still busy with her bible. She responded without looking at me. I got into my room and sent Lucas a message telling him I got home safe. I sent another message telling him of how much I enjoyed the evening with him and his family. After a few seconds, Lucas called. He probably had his phone in his hands when I sent that message. We spoke until we both ran out of things to say.Lucas made me realize how love should be. My feelings for him grew even stronger. I was always smiling in the house. Even my mother noticed it. I remember when she asked me why I was always happy and I smiled and said, "Life is good." Like hell it was. What is there not to enjoy about life when you have a person who makes you realize the importance of living? I am not sure if my mother understood what I meant by that but for heaven's sake, I didn't care.
