Broken Promise

Episode 28

“Just act normal,” Ntombi told
herself. When Mzi dropped her off
she leant over and kissed him
goodbye. As she went inside she
still felt confused. Even though she
had seen the message from ‘Z’, and
part of her was convinced that Mzi
was connected to Zakes and the
car theft – a small part of her still
wanted to believe there was some
mistake. Perhaps the Z was
someone else? I mean Zakes isn’t
the only person whose name
begins with Z, she thought. Then
suddenly she had another thought
and went through all the girls she
knew: Zanele, Zinzi and Zukiswa
were just three of them. What if
Mzi was meeting one of them at
Mama’s Tavern instead?
“Mama, you’re here?” Ntombi was
surprised to see her mother at
home, back from church, snuggled
down on the couch watching TV.
Was something wrong? Usually if
she wasn’t with Zakes, she was
calling Zakes. But here she was
sitting with Zinzi drinking a cup of
coffee and telling Zinzi to close her
eyes because the man and woman
were kissing in the movie.

“Hayi, wena, you’re peeping,” she
laughed.

“Mama, are you going out later?”
“Not tonight, sweet girl,” her
mother said.
“Where’s Zakes then?” asked
Ntombi, joining them on the couch.
“He’s leaving town for a few days,”
her mother said. “On business.
There’s some big sales rep
conference.”

“Remind me,” said Ntombi. “What
exactly is it that Zakes does?”
“How many times do I have to tell
you! He’s a rep for a car dealership.
He says they are going to make
him part of management soon. It’s
a big promotion. But don’t you
worry about it, Ntombi. The
important thing is he’s got a
regular job.”

Regular job! thought Ntombi. If
you could call stealing cars a
regular job. She thought of the
message on Mzi’s phone. Zakes
being “out of town” could only
mean one thing – he was about to
pull another hijacking stunt. “Has
he done this before?” she asked
her mother. “I mean, go out of
town on business?”
“About a month ago. Why all the
questions?” But Ntombi didn’t
reply; she was thinking of Zakes
and Mzi. If she was going to find
out the truth she would have to go
to Mama’s Tavern at six. But she
couldn’t risk them recognising her.
She SMSed Asanda.

Cn I cm ova?
Asanda replied.
Yes stranger..gt sick of da bf?
Ha, ha LOL
Ntombi texted back…
gt a favr 2 ask
When Ntombi got to Asanda’s
house, and asked to borrow the
wig Asanda had worn once to a
party, the look on Asanda’s face
made her think that maybe this
wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“You want my what?” said Asanda
looking at Ntombi like she’d gone
mad.

“I want your wig.”
“What? Now your beautiful braids
are not good enough for Mzi? Or
what?”
“No, it’s not that. In fact Mzi
doesn’t know about this. I just…”
she searched around the room
hoping a reason would appear on
the walls in front of her. “It’s just
that I have to go somewhere, but I
don’t want to be recognised.”
“I knew he was bad news,”
frowned Asanda. “He’s got you
involved in some of his dirty
business, hasn’t he?”
“No, that’s not it. It’s for a guy I
met. He’s a music producer. He
wants some photos of me. He
needs a portfolio for his books. You
know, different looks, different
make-up and hairstyles… and I
thought…”

“You met a music producer and
you didn’t tell us? And you’re
keeping him all to yourself?”
Ntombi couldn’t believe how she
was lying to her friend. The scary
thing was that it was getting
easier to lie each time she did it. “If
he’s interested, then I can
introduce you guys,” said Ntombi,
hoping this would make things
better between Asanda and
herself. “But I have to get him to
take the bait first, don’t you see? I
can’t rush it.”

“You don’t sound like the Ntombi I
know. What’s happening to you?”
Asanda looked at Ntombi, who
was trying on the wig. She
smoothed down the long hair. It
made her look much older and
sophisticated. Yes, this would do.
“You sure you’re not in trouble?”
Asanda asked as Ntombi waved
goodbye, the wig in a plastic bag
in her hand.

“Promise,” said Ntombi. “Don’t
worry, and thanks for this.”
It felt like some of the longest
hours of Ntombi’s life, from the
time she left Asanda’s to when she
put on her mother’s dress, high-
heeled shoes, and Asanda’s wig.

She even borrowed some of her
mother’s make-up. Then, it was
how to get out of the house when
her mother and Zinzi were not
looking. Seeing them both at the
stove, she dashed out of the door
shouting out that she was going to
do some homework with a friend.

But out in the street she found it
hard to walk in the high heels, and
tripped at least twice before she
waved down a taxi. Her new look
was met with whistles from the
guys on the street.

“Hey baby? What you doing later?
Do you want my number?” She
tried not to look around. She tried
to focus on her mission: get to
Mama’s Tavern and find out what
Mzi was up to. As she sat down in
the taxi her short skirt rode up her
legs and she felt the eyes of the
guy next to her staring at her legs.

Suddenly she felt completely out of
her depth. But now she was on the
taxi there was no going back.

She got off just outside Mama’s
Tavern. It was ten to six.

---

Ntombi teetered to the bar and
asked for a cooldrink. The
bartender looked at her
questioningly. A woman alone?
Already some guys who were
chatting to each other at a nearby
table looked up at her and
whistled.

“Hey, buy the lovely lady a drink,”
they shouted to the bartender.
“It’s okay,” said Ntombi, not
wanting to draw attention to
herself. “I’m meeting someone.”
“Sorry guys. You’re not fast
enough. The lady is already taken,”
said the bartender, laughing.
“That’s a pity,” they said, made
some jokes, and went back to their
conversation about the latest
football game.

Taken, thought Ntombi to herself.
As if I was something they could
own.

Ntombi was half way through her
drink, and she didn’t have money
for another, and still there was no
sign of Zakes or Mzi. She couldn’t
make the drink last forever.
Just when she was about to give
up, she heard a familiar voice and
looked around.