The diary of an African man

CHAPTER 12

I met Zama on the day she called and we had lunch at a seafood restaurant, we had several others after that and to my discomfort, my feelings for her only grew.

My colleagues weren't exactly content on the fact that we were friends they'd bring Zama up on any conversation I had with them and I'd dismiss it as soon as it came.

That all resulted in me lazily slumping on my bed at 7:00 a.m, night shift is no joke especially if you have Mandla as a colleague who would constantly nag you about love just because he had finally gotten his wife back. The one thing I absolutely hated about Mandla was that he couldn't shut up when needed to.

I slept for exactly two hours so I could wake up at nine, giving myself enough time to dress up and have..... well, breakfast for me and lunch for her on  her lunch break.

I drove to her workplace and approached one of the cashiers

"Ngiyaxolisa ukuguphazamisa nkosazane, ngicela ukubuza, ungakwazi ukungibizela imanager yalelikhaya?" I asked.

"Maternity leave."she instantly replied. I scrunched my nose at the thought of a pregnant Zama and my eyebrows furrowed deeper after noticing how the cashier undressed me with her eyes.

"The other one." I said, unsure of what I was saying.

"Oh, Celezi is not here." She said, "she didn't come to work today." She added after seeing the confusion in my eyes. Celezi, really? Zulu people give out the worst nicknames. I nod at the cashier and thanked her, I walked out immediately after and slid my phone out of my pocket while rushing to my car.

I tried calling her while driving to her house but she wouldn't pick up. I had all sorts of questions diving into my head. Was she okay? Was she sick? Most importantly, why the fuck wasn't she answering my calls. I hate being ignored, I would usually call a person twice but she was always an exception. I'd send texts messages if I had a stop somewhere.

I pulled up at her apartment, I walked to the elevator with hurried steps. I impatiently tapped my feet on the floor while I waited for the elevator doors to open. The wait in the elevator was excruciatingly long, the dying seconds were biting on my insides. The doors cracked opened and I squeezed through them, not waiting for them to fully open. Too much time would be wasted.

I gently knocked six times and after five minutes of being kind I started banging the her door like a maniac and roaring for her to open the damn door. A lady from the opposite of Zama's apartment peaked her head out, she had kind eyes and a fragile body that looked like it might break any moment the kind that keeps you wondering if the person had eaten anything in that given week.

"Hi, Zama is not around, she left at around half past four in the morning." She informed, "I don't know why, but she looked like she was in a hurry" she added after seeing my quizzical expression.

I mumbled a small thank you and gave her R900, it wasn't exactly for her information, I wanted to tell her to eat something but my mind was occupied by more far more important things.

I went back to my house and slumped on my bed again but this time I barely slept but atleast I closed my eyes.

Night shift again, it rough as I barely got enough rest. I kept on calling her even on my breaks, she still didn't pick up. I was being fed up by bring constantly ignored.

After my shift had ended I went to get much needed rest for seven hours after that I freshened up and went straight to Zama's apartment. I stayed there for at least twenty minutes while knocking, roaring, banging the door and begging. I repeated that process for four more days.

I drove to one of my friend's warehouse, he was one of my most trusted tech guys. I walked up to one of his offices and called out his name. Typical Vuks, always opens the door fifteen minutes later. I called out his name a few times while I was digging for a hairpin in my wallet. Do not ask me why I have a hairpin in my wallet. I checked the key hole if there was any key, I stuck the hairpin inside the hole as soon as I had seen none.