Random encounters

9. I'm coming home

Lufuno has a grin when he sees me, I know he remembers the outfit very well. He got it for me.
"Let's go demon" I say as I walk past him
He says goodbye to my mom and follow  me outside.
"Shot me dead" I scream
He's laughing at me,  an expected reaction obviously.
"You got a the  bmw X5m?" I am beyond stunned
"Let's take it for a ride" he says getting in
"Hell yeah" I call out getting in
I'm buzzing, it's so beautiful. Lufuno is from the rich side of the family, his parents are both into politics so they get a lot of tenders.
"You can play your music" he suggests
The grin on my face right now. " I thought you'd never ask"
I play Mizo Phyll- Good vibes only, the volume is full blast and we both singing along.
"This one is for you" I say putting Mizo Phyll ft percy_ Bring it home
He loves it so much, he's now rapping to it. I remember we'd listen to it after our late night conversations looking at the sky in repeat. Little did we know we'd go our separate ways and face challenges apart, back then life was simple. We'd talk about our future as if we had a clue how it would be, I miss those days. We arrive at Newscafe, it's a bit packed but I get off and walk to him.
"Let's not talk about it tonight, let's just have fun" he smiles at me
"Are you bribing me with your smile?" I ask
He shakes his head smiling.
"I can do that" I say
We get in, he heads straight to vip and I follow him. If you know my cousin you'd be used to this side of him, the 'I'm rich and I'm unapologetic about it' side of him. He orders two bottles of rose for me, natures own howling owl gin for himself.
"I took the liberty of ordering us food, so you won't touch those bottles before we eat" he says
"You didn't have to order that drink" I complain
I hate the attention he grabs when I'm with him.
"You need to start drinking expensive things" he says annoyed
I roll my eyes and look at my phone. He takes a picture of me and show it to me, it's pretty.
"It's on my Instagram, we sure missed you" he says
I laugh "I didn't miss being hated for being your favorite cousin" I say
I take some few pictures with him, using his phone obviously since it takes better pictures than mine. Our food arrives and he ordered almost everything on the menu.
"Vha a tenda richi tuwa nazwo?" I ask pointing at our food
He shakes his head "Hai, ri tola la ra fhedza hanefha. Ahuna zwa tshikhafuthini"
We both laugh, I start eating. Some girls decide to join us, they know Lufuno obviously but I don't know them so I'll continue eating. The other one keep smiling at me, but I ignore her.
"Hi Wanga" she smiles
I smile but continue with my food.
"You don't remember me do you?" She asks
I look at her, and nope I don't remember her so I shake my head.
"Adivhaho" she says
Oh yeah we went to primary together but she went to boarding school and I never saw her after.
"Wow, you have changed" I say
She blushes. She's lighter and skinner not that she was fat but thick and same complexion as me.
"You are gorgeous" I say
"You're still beautiful Wanga, I can't go beyond that, it would be an insult" we laugh
"Are you two gay?" Lufuno staring at me
I roll my eyes and laugh.
"If i was i wouldn't be into you" Adivhaho winks at Lufuno and my cousin blushes
The other girl looks annoyed.
"I thought you were over that" I whisper at her
She giggle and shake her head.
"He's still my day care crush" she says
I laugh
I ended spending half of my night talking to Adivhaho,  catching up with our wine. My cousin however is sharing his gin with the other girl.
"I have an evil idea" Adi says
"Mini?" I ask
She looks at the other girl who's now all over my cousin, touching and kissing 
"I want to separate those two" she whisper in my ear
I'm confused but smile at her.
"I thought she's your friend" I say
"I don't have friends, she just likes going out and so do I" she says
"Ariye Migeroni" she says to Lufuno
He looks at me and I nod.
We get up and walk outside.
"I'll drive with Lufuno" the girl says
"Wanga ari tuwe" Adi smiles
We walk to her car, damn the girl drives a range rover. We get to Migeroni,  walk to the bar and order cocktails.
"I thought you had an evil plan" I look at Lufuno
"Munna wa Vhuthu u dzula a fhano, angasi mulitshe ana Lufuno" she says
"Anina zwituku ini musidzana" I say to her
We dance, for a minute I forgot about my misery and just live. Just as she planned the girl is now standing with this other man rubbing his arm, I wonder where Lufuno is.
"Your plan is working perfectly" I say
She smiles "As expected, I feel bad though"
"It's too late for that now" I say
"Ndo jieliwa musadzi, ndi khou toda u ya hayani" lufuno complains
"Ovha ono vha wanu kale?" I ask
"You don't get to comment" he says
"Adi dance with me" he pulls her to the crowd now I'm left alone
I sit down and sip my cocktail, log into Instagram upload a boomerang video of me sipping my cocktail. Then watch some reels.
"Are you bored"
I look up, I don't know the face so I won't answer. He doesn't say anything but sit next to me, take a picture and show it to me.
"Are you trying to annoy me?" I ask
He took a picture of me and him, however I look so annoyed.
"Trying to get your attention perhaps. I'm Gudani" he says
I am not a small conversation kind of girl, I can't flirt, I'm awkward.
"Wanga" I say
"I'd like to annoy you again Wanga, can I call you?" He asks
"How about I call you?" I say
He looks surprised but dial his numbers on my phone.
"Can I stalk you on social media?" He asks
"I'm starting to think you're a creep" I say
He smiles "I don't mind"
I search him on my Instagram and invite him, he accepts.  The first photo i see is him with a girl making silly faces.
"It's cute" I say
He looks at the screen and smiles.
"This is cute" he says
It's a photo of me and Thiko kissing Nkhumbu's cheeks. I still have pictures of them on my Instagram,  I never thought of deleting them.
We talked nonstop until Lufuno suggested we have to leave, he had a meeting in few hours. It's passed midnight.
He dropped me home, I went straight to bed and slept.

I have a terrible headache,  I walk to the kitchen and find my mom drinking tea. She watch me as I make myself cereal and force myself to eat.
"How was your night?" She asks
"Thoho yanga ikhou rema" I complain
She smiles "I'm glad you had fun"
"Ndo livhuwa Mma, uri vho vhudza Lufuno. Nda sa divhi uri ndi vhudze nnyi..." I say
"You did the same for me remember?" She asks
Yes, I called her best friend. She came back and that day she took my mother shopping the whole day. I was so worried when they didn't come back home but I later received a  message that we sleeping in a hotel. When my mom came back that morning she was different, in a good way.
"I feel different" I say
"You look different " she says

Today I confessed that I run away from my problems, that is why after my father passed away I cut everyone off. Luckily I got a job soon after then I had a reason to leave my mother. I didn't talk to her for two months. Now I lost Nkhumbu, I left Thiko 3 months ago. Going to therapy has been good for me, I had a lot of things to deal with especially from my past. It all started when I lost my grand father then my best friend after that it was a series of loss and I have been running ever since.

Unedited