Broken Promise

Episode 35

It was over. Mzi and Zakes were in
jail for the night, and Ntombi and
her mother were safe – for now.
Olwethu insisted on staying with
them. Both were shaken, and it
was good to have a guy around,
someone they could trust.
After her mother and Zinzi had
gone to sleep, Ntombi sat up late
and talked to Olwethu. She told
him about the river, how scared
she had been when she realised
that Mzi was making the
connection between her and the
girl at Mama’s. How waiting in the
car for him had seemed like an
eternity.

“It’s all over,” he had said, hugging
her. His body felt so warm and
comforting. She snuggled closer to
him, feeling safe in his arms. How
could she have been so wrong
about Mzi? She had refused to see
the truth until it was too late. She
had made promises she had
broken, to herself and her friends.

She shuddered when she thought
of what could have happened if
Olwethu hadn’t been on the other
end of the phone, or if he hadn’t
bought the pepper spray, if she
hadn’t taken it with her, or if… or
if…

There were so many ifs, but the
truth was she was safe now and
tomorrow was another day. She
would start a new, clean chapter.
She also owed her friends an
apology – she hadn’t listened to
them, when they had tried to warn
her. They had been truly worried
about her. She had been blind to
sense, her thoughts only fixed on
getting what she thought she
wanted: a cool boyfriend to give
her status.

She would start the day by going
over to Asanda’s and telling her
and Lettie everything. Then she
would spend the rest of the day
practising, catching up on the
rehearsals she had missed. The
singing auditions were five days
away. She would practise with her
friends like there was no
tomorrow – with no distractions!
Well, maybe one, the distraction
who was sitting right next to her
on the couch. But she knew that he
would be behind her every bit of
the way as she rehearsed for the
big day. And she knew that having
him in the audience as she sang
would make all the difference.
Suddenly she felt really tired. It
had been the longest day of her
life. She yawned and tried to keep
her eyes open, but she must have
fallen asleep in Olwethu’s arms.
When she woke up it was daylight.
Olwethu was making coffee in the
kitchen for them all, and she was
wrapped up in a blanket.