Tshepang Koloti

THE AFFAIR

I have fairly strict parents and they keep my academics on check. I am as innocent as they
come, they will tell you that. I am in the house most of the time when they go to bed and it’s
my mom who wakes me up early in the morning. “Wake up Tshepang, the sun has long been
out”. This is the same phrase that I have been hearing on a Saturday morning at eight o’clock
for at least the past four years. I think they are satisfied with this character except on Sundays
because I never voluntarily go to church.
Some people on the streets will tell you that I play a lot. They will tell you that during the
week, as soon as I get back from school and out of the uniform, I’m off to playing street
cricket until it got dark. Shortly after that I will be spotted at a shop somewhere just standing
there. On weekends, mostly towards midnight I would be spotted at one of the taverns clearly
under the sway of alcohol. The person giving you this narrative will tell you that I would
probably get an H if not fail my metric.
2017 has really been an epic year. I have literally tried everything this year. If any of it is to
be known, I’ll definitely be without parents. My parents will straight up disown me. I have
had two versions of myself since I got to high school. I am living a double life. I am quite
impressed with myself on how I have stayed in control of both these characters for all these
years. Not even once have been caught sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night
when I went drinking. Some nights I didn’t even sleep at home. I would return in the morning
soaked in sweat and pass my mom sweeping the yard from my “morning run” no questions
asked.
Rene and I got to the sportsground well after 15:00 to watch a soccer match before Tshiamo
and her fat friend joined us. I don’t really like football, so I literally just go to these matches
to check the girls out. We talked endlessly throughout the first half of the game until Tshiamo
wanted water and I accompanied her to the tap. The conversation was all innocent, but it
quickly escalated when she mentioned that she was actually left all by herself at her house for
the whole weekend. I got really thirsty, for her. We return to where we left the other two but
kept ourselves isolated in a short distance and as I convinced her to let me visit her later on. It
was a Saturday and she wasn’t going to spend it indoors with all the freedom she had. We
later came to a consensus that rather we will first go clubbing and return to her home together
probably after midnight.
As soon as it was lights out in the main bedroom I got dressed and quietly got out leaving the
backdoor unlocked. You go through the kitchen to get to my bedroom. The kitchen basically
has three doors. One gets you in my bedroom, the other one into the lounge while the third
leads you outside. It was a couple of minutes after eleven when I got to the club and as usual,
half of the people were already in their zone, drunk. I bought myself one and walked up to
her sipping on it. We talked for a moment and I told her to gesture at me when she felt like
leaving before I walked back to stand in the dark shade leaning against the wall trying to limit
my audience. After I downed the first bottle, I walked inside for the second one and that’s
when she waved at me. She told me she is not sure any more about us leaving together and
for me the whole night went sour in an instant.
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Apparently, it’s bad luck to carry condoms on you. Of course, I would convince her to not to
buy into her getting cold feet. I went for my drink and walked back to my spot. In no time I
felt I was nearing my limit and I thought I should look for her. I drank the last bits from the
bottle before I put it down next to the other two laying on the floor empty. I walked to them
and told Rene that I am leaving before turning to Tshiamo. I whispered in her ear and walked
out, making my way to the gate where I waited for her. After a few minutes, Tshiamo walked
past me and continued walking without looking back. When she was about fifty meters away,
I started walking. There was a tall guy walking besides her. I took out my phone and played
music, still maintaining the distance. Their voices got clearer with my every step as I
approached them standing in the middle of the street. I finally reach them and recognise the
tall guy. I greet him and he greets back before turning his back walking away. Tshiamo
walked in front of me as I hugged her from behind, staggering after her. Two houses from her
home, is her fat friend sounding very kinky with her boyfriend. I waited by the gate pressing
my phone with Zyan’s Pillow Talk playing softly on it. Tshiamo made a quick assessment of
the house before she waved at me and disappeared into the house leaving the door open. I
closed the door and sat on the couch, changing the channels. She walked out of the bedroom
with only her underwear on and took a sneak-peak at the door before locking it. She pushed
me against couch and sat on my lap kissing me while my pants got heavy. I flipped her,
getting on top before I took off my jersey with my T-shirt all at once. She told me to carry her
to the bedroom. I got up and walked towards the bedroom door as she wrapped her legs
around my waist, still kissing. I unbuttoned her bra and let her fall on the bed. She lifted her
waist helping me pull down her panties. I rolled the condom on and slid in betwixt her legs.
After what felt like 45 minutes, I sat on the edge of the bed removing the rubber before I
collapsed next to her. We shared the blanket as she tangled her legs with mine. “Tshiamo!
Tshiamo!” I snapped out of my sleep. Still trying to regain my consciousness, the voice
shouts again and I could hear footsteps approaching the window of the bedroom we were in
but from outside the house. She hopped out from underneath the blanket sitting upright
covering her mouth with both hands. “It’s my brother”, she whispered with my eyeballs
nearly popping out of my skull. The voice called for her again and God! He was three sheets
to the wind. “Tshiamo open for me before I break all these windows” he said banging on the
windowpane. At this moment my heart is beating out of my chest, feeling paralysed. Not sure
what to do, I looked at her for a lead but all I saw was fear in her teary eyes. I quickly reached
for my pair of jeans and got in them. She got off the bed and walked to the window while I
still tried to locate my socks in the dark. Completely naked, she hesitantly curved the curtain
to force her sight outside. “He’s leaving” and I sighed dropping my back on the bed. A bit of
light that pierced through the curtain flashing on her made me want to explore her body some
more. The whole scene kind of aroused me despite the close call we just had. She laid next to
me and released a huge sigh in relief. I touched her chick and pulled her closer for a soft peck
on the lips. I checked the time on my phone and told her I had about half an hour before I
could go home. She smiled kissing me. This time it was with a bit of passion. It quickly got
steamy as she slid her hand under my underwear after she unzipped my jean.
From this night henceforth we would have occasional chats and we hardly ever talked about
being lovers except we had an agreement that we will definitely be having more intimate
encounters in future and all the details will remain only known to us and nobody else. At the
time she was in a relationship and I was not committed to anybody. After some time, rumours
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had emerged about us banging. It was a dangerous time for the for such gossip to be doing
circles for me personally as I had just got into a relationship with someone who happened to
be Tshiamo’s friend. Both the girls were oblivious to my relations to them as friends at first.
Tshiamo came to light with the fact that I was messing with them both at the very early stages
though. It was one time on my way from the shop when I suddenly made a stop next to a
group of girls and both of them made their way towards me simultaneously. Thank God
Tshiamo was quick to observe and changed directions before Kamo would read what was
happening at the time. I don’t know it’s really considered a “rumour” if it’s true, but it had to
remain being a rumour for my convenience and that’s why I had to put my agreement with
Tshiamo on ice for a bit.
Very late in the year, the Saturday before I went to the internal camp at school for the final
examination, I was out clubbing again. Sipping from my cup, I notice Tshiamo finally sitting
by herself as she released small clouds of smoke from pulling on the hubbly. I walked up to
her and sat down, innocently apart from each other with the hubbly between us and I also
started heaving on this two-piped hubbly. We talked as we alternated the cup, taking turns
sipping on it.
Exactly at 01:00 o’clock I walked up to Kamo and hugged her from behind and gave her soft
kisses on the neck. We walked a short distance from the crowd and the noise and stood there
in each other’s arms. I told her I wanted to leave and looked at the time. Realising that the
tavern was less than an hour from closing she made a face trying to get me to change my
mind about leaving. I told her I had a headache and that she didn’t have to leave. I kissed her
forehead and told her that I’ll see her tomorrow. She was reluctant but I insisted. She finally
hugged me, told me she loved me and walked back to the dance. I got home and it was still
lights-out. I quietly pushed the backdoor open and got in. I got out of the skinny jeans and
wore shorts for comfort before I rested on the bed, pressing my phone.
Moments later I checked the time and got up from the bed and slid both my feet on my
Adidas pushes before wearing a hoodie and I sneaked out of the house again. Exactly like I
told her, I stood under a tree on the shade few minutes after 01:30. I looked at the time read
twenty minutes to Two O’clock and the was still no sign of Tshiamo as my patience wore off.
I see Thembi making a turn two blocks away from me, hurrying in the direction of the tavern.
I shouted for her and she stopped as I ran towards her. Thembi is my classmate and we’re in
pretty good terms. I asked her to relay a message to Tshiamo the minute she got to the tavern
and that she had to be subtle about it. She confirmed Tshiamo’s identity and she ran away
while I walked back. A few minutes to Two, she appeared on the street walking relatively
fast. I sighed in relief as my ego gained more accolades. I lead her from a reasonable distance
as she followed me home. My house street joins with the one that I am walking on and makes
a T-connexion. My house in the third on the line that is facing the direction that I’m walking
from. I walked to the corner and made my turn before my whole body was captured in a state
of shock when my eyes met my Dad standing at the game smoking his cigarette. I finally
escape the paralysis in a matter of seconds and made a U-turn walking back. “Don’t come at
me! Please don’t”. Still surprised by the desperation in her voice, I see Dandy approaching
her from behind running. Dandy is her boyfriend. “Damn! I’m fucked” I whispered to myself.
I passed her without even looking at her as I pressed my phone selecting songs. I took my
head off the phone to look at him before I could greet him back as he passed me still running.
Tshepang Koloti

I continued walking with soft laughter of guilt infrequently escaping from my lips. I could
only hope both my dad and this guy had no suspicions of what was meant to happen tonight.
After the unintended walk, I approached the T-junction pissed with myself and I see the
couple standing at the shop on the end of the street. The gate is clear, and nobody is outside
the house as I assessed the yard. My only worry is that lounge light is on and I can’t wait it
out because I know my dad sometimes watch TV until very late especially if he had gone out
to smoke. I nearly laughed as I was walking towards the door and it opened with my dad
walking out carrying two buckets to fill them with water. I mean who gets water at Past Three
in the morning? I passed him by tap and got inside the house without a word uttered. Once I
got on the bed with music softly playing on my phone, I hit my head on the pillow as my lips
curved and finally released a subtle laughter in scepticism. I kept trying to convince myself
that the old man didn’t get a clue of my deeds. My outfit should wipe away all the
uncertainties in his head. Nobody would go out clubbing on shorts and pushes that they wore
most of the days in the week.
After a night of turning and tossing, I opened my eyes to a very quiet household. It was just a
few minutes before 11:00. It must have slipped my mind that it was a Sunday from all the
toxins intake my system took from last night. Though is still bothers me that they all went to
church and I was left behind without a word. It makes me even anxious of what my father
must have said to my mother about what he saw last night.
I am still learning to live with him in close proximity on everyday basis. My relationship with
him is quite fragile. I still can’t believe how uncomfortable I get around him. We don’t talk
much. The only time we talk is when he gives me instructions to do something for him and I
report back. We are able to sit alone for hours and watch TV together and literally don’t
even share a laughter. I have doubted his love for me, but things just feel strange not to
mention awkward since he permanently moved back home. It has been four years now, since
he stopped working in a different province. He lost his job. For the first time since he left
school back in 1999 before I was born, he was without a job. He used to visit us at most only
four times a year except for when there was maybe a funeral of which I seldom remember
when the last one was. I guess I must have learned and got used to seeing him for like five
days maximum before he disappeared again for months. Maybe even four years of us living
together is not enough to just roll over and understand each other like that. I miss how I used
to miss him that I would nag my mother to call him so I could ask him when he was coming
home every two days.
I knew I had to do something around the house with them gone just so I could soften mom up
since I was in bed until they left. I connected my music on the home theatre system before I
washed last night’s dishes. With the dishware clean, I put the pots on the stove and started
cleaning. I can cook a mean chicken stew when I want but this time was so I could save
myself the troubles of making the salads and a lot of other things that made the Sunday lunch.
I adjusted the heat for my pots and went to take a bath while they slowly cooked. I would
constantly check on them, so they don’t burn. The last thing I want to do is give that lady
more reason to shout at me after her church service. She can literally scream her lungs out
that one. After I bathed and my pots ready to be devoured, I dished up for myself and
switched the stove off leaving the pots on it so they could not lose heat quickly. When I was
done eating, I looked at the time reading 12:58 and I quickly washed my plate. Knowing they
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could be leaving church any minute, I got out of the house to avoid bumping into them.
Surely by the time then dust would have settled. She probably thought she would have to
cook for another two hours before they could have lunch, but I saved her suffering. Surely my
efforts had to count for something.
I went out to meet up with my baby and spend some time with her. With only two days
before my camps, I know Kamo won’t be happy if I decided to only come check on her for an
hour and be gone. I had to make up for leaving her behind last night anyways. She walked out
of her yard a few minutes later after I got off the call with her. She was wearing a pair of
black tight jeans and a white simple T-shirt that had a red relay print in the front. She knows
how I never want miss having a black colour on my outfit. I just love this colour. She had her
old school Vans kicks on and God! She looked beautiful. I love how innocent she looks with
that straight-up braids still very fresh. She just had her hair done this past Friday.
She took her eyes off the screen of her phone still walking up to me and curved her almost
thick pink lips smiling before she extended her arms to me. I bent my back a bit leaning as
she lifted her heels a couple of inches off the ground as we hugged. I could tell she was fresh
out of the water from the strength of her scent. I could pick up the smell of a certain perfume
that I couldn’t make out what brand it was, but I was certain that the T-shirt was rinsed with a
lavender fresh scented fabric conditioner. She slowly slid down as the hug got weak and I
kissed her forehead before I let her escape from my arms. I smiled looking down into her
eyes and landed a soft peck on her lips.
We walked to the shop chatting and bought an ice juice and a Yogetta lollipop apiece. She is
still very weary of us walking together in broad day light but today is different. She looks
happy and the crack of her smile is a bit bigger than the usual. If it means having limited time
means, then I pray we have more of them. We continued chatting and laughing as we walked
in the neighbourhood until the sun was about to set. I walked her back home and told her I
will come see her late when the day was much older. I now have to go home and face what I
ran from. It still bothers me that my mother didn’t try to get me to go to church this morning.
What did he tell her? I wish I knew.
I walked straight to my room using the backdoor. I need to do something so that she doesn’t
confront me about anything. I got my school shirts from the hanger and I was surprised to not
find my trouser underneath it. Even my school shoes are not in my room. Tshepang!
Tshepang! Come with your shirt and iron it and put this extension cord away. I reluctantly
walked into the living room and my eyes fell on all the school shoes polished. Mine and of
both my sisters. All our school uniforms were laid on the sofa neatly ironed except for my
shirts. My mom never irons my shirts. She says I shower with the deodorant and she chocks
on it when the heat of the iron release from the shirt. I pressed my both shirts and she
complemented me on my dish. She said from how tired she was going to send the kids to buy
bread and was probably going to cook only the supper.