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Chapter 4
“Take me somewhere nice,” Busi said. She didn’t want to go home. There was nothing for her at home.
“I think it’s beach weather. You been to the beach?” Parks asked as he weaved between cars, then accelerated into the fast lane. “You ever get out of thatdump you call home?”She shook her head. He was right. Their shack was small and cramped and cold. “Well, you deserve it, girl. Let me treat you.”
Busi had only been to the beach twice in her life. Once, when she was six, her mom and dad had taken her to Monwabisi. She had built a huge sandcastle and played in the waves. It was New Year’s Day and the beach was packed. Then in Grade 7 the school had taken her class down to Muizenberg on an outing. Twice – in her entire life. And she lived so close to the sea. “Beach weather,” Parks said again. “Wat sê jy?” he called to the gaadjie in the back.
“Beega, beega, make the circle beega,” the guard sang. Uyaphara. What was it – dagga, tik? His brain was fried, that was for sure.
“You’re right, Parks,” she said, feeling braver now, “It is beach weather.”
“That’s my girl,” he said and took her hand. She felt the thrill of his skin against hers.
“What are you thinking?” Parks said, smiling at Busi. It was so easy for her to talk to him. He wasn’t awkward when he spoke to her, like the boys at school. Talking to him was like chatting to one of her girlfriends. When she couldn’t think of anything to say he filled the gap.
“I was thinking about you – about the way you make me feel so good,” she said.
“That’s because I’m a man who has money and treats his women well.” He sped up. They were nearing the sea. She could smell it. “This is only pocket money, driving this taxi. My other businesses, that’s where the real money is. You don’t get that if you’re a fool.”
Respectful, intelligent, handsome … She had hit the jackpot! But every kilometre on the clock was a kilometre further away from her home, her granny, and her friends. And she was out of airtime! “It’s okay. I’ll get you home before dark,” he reassured her. “We wouldn’t want your granny to worry now.” So he knew she was anxious. He knew what she was thinking. That’s what true love was, wasn’t it? You didn’t have to say anything. You just understood each other.
She didn’t stop to wonder how he knew that she lived with her granny.
“We’ll stop at KFC. We can’t go to the beach hungry.”
“I am hungry,” laughed Busi. “I could eat a horse.”
“That’s what I like to hear.” His chuckle was low and rich. “I’m glad you’re not one of those girls who don’t eat. I like my women curvaceous.” He put his hand on her thigh and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t give a man scrawny chicken wings when it’s juicy meat he wants.”
So he liked the way she looked. And it gave her secret pleasure thinking that Lettie wasn’t his type. He wouldn’t look twice at her. She was skinny and her chest was flat as a pancake. And Asanda, well she would annoy him with her constant questions and jokes. No, it was herthat he wanted – Busi.
Just then her cell glowed and she let out an, “Oh!” It was Lettie. Why had Lettie SMSed her, just when Busi was thinking bad thoughts about her? She turned around. Stupid, she thought, how could she be in the taxi with me?
Wats up? Wer u @?
“My friends are looking for me,” she told Parks.
“So call them,” Parks answered, turning the volume down.
“I can’t,” Busi laughed. “Where must I get the airtime? And anyway, I’m sick of them wanting to know where I am all the time.” Parks put his hand on her thigh again. “They just care about you,” he said. “And I can see why. You’re special. I care about you too. I’ll buy you airtime, my baby. I told you, I treat my girls well.”
She liked that. She liked being called his baby. It gave her a warm feeling. Nobody had bought her airtime before. She had always had to earn the money to buy it. This was so much easier. She closed her eyes and put her head back and let the music carry her away.

*MY MISERABLE STORY*

The sound of the gavel
As it hit the wooden table
Piercing my soul
Filling my heart
With a million fears

It's official
My fate has been sealed
My destiny has ended here
No choice left to make

The looks on the face of my family
The tears on mother's eyes
The pain in father's heart
The hurt in brother's

They don't deserve it
It was never meant to be
I was suppose to be a bundle of joy
The reason for their laughter

But look at me
I'm hopeless
Helpless
About to become a deterrent

For
I have been sentenced
To death by firing squad
For a major offense

Why did I do it?
What pushed me into this?
What made me stop been good
Questions running through my head

I look back
And realise
That it wasn't the fault of Emeka,
Neither is it the fault of Biola,
Nor Hassan

They convinced me
I listened
They coerced me
I agreed
They promised
I went
They assured me
I traveled
My greed has led me here

Now here am I,
Under bounds in another man's land
About to die from the bullet
That I never was destined to receive

I remember my friends,
My neighbors,
My colleagues,
My pastor,
My brothers,
My sisters,
The disappointment on their faces
Cause I was that bright little boy
Oh!!!
My aged grandma
Her small body
Writhing and convulsing in grief

What have I done?
It is too late now
I have been called
To walk down
That gang of planks
Never to return
Never to see
The setting of another sun

My mum is watching
I'm her first son,
My father is hospitalized
His heart couldn't handle the sentence

My brother calls out my name,
My sisters are screaming my name
Oh!!!
What have I done?
Is this crime worth my life?
Damn Emeka,
Damn Biola,
Damn Hassan,
I hope you learn
And watch the friends you keep

And so as I look down the barrel
And watch the merciless face of the soldier
And the hardened voice of the soldier
"Attention"
"Rifles ready"
"1.... 2....3............Fireeeeeeeeee"

Oh!!!
Imagine the pain
As I end my pitiful journey
On this beautiful mother earth
The bullets hitting home
Oh!!!
I finally depart this merciless world
With the final and parting words
"I'm sorry"
"Goodbye World"

Dedicated to those three Nigerian men
who were killed by firing squad today for peddling drugs
In Indonesia!
Stop peddling drugs
Stop buying drugs
#drugfreelife
#rip

Copyright:
Armstrong Prosper
2016©

Early in the morning
The whole community is thrown in mourning
Cause of the fire in the building
And the absence of water in the garden

The heartrending sight of the building in flames
Within, the beautiful damsel of Fame
Holding the window frame
Reciting forgotten scripture pages

She would have escaped
But she was desperate
To save her writing pads
Cause in it lies her future fads

Her mind ran different stories
Of the pastor postings
And mothers preaching
She saw her fate
In the flames around

She pondered and wondered
How difficult this death would be
Writhing in agony
Waiting her fate

She remembered
The beggar
The neighbors
The drivers
The servants
The hawkers
The messengers
All whose life she loathed
And guts she hated
An act she regretted

Now the time has come
The flames at her doors
Rumbling and bubbling
Eager to consume their subject
Rushing through the rooms

She closed her eyes
Expected the burns
Felt the heat
And peed in her pants

Buh instead of burns
And pain
What she felt was warmth and love
As the driver she despised
The one she hated
Hurry's in with a towel
His sight on her
His arms around her
Lifting her to safety
With the words on his lips
I never could let you die
Never!

Copyright
Armstrong Prosper 2016©
#peace

I will be posting the collection of my "prepublication". I will really appreciate useful and constructive criticism.

Thanks

Armstrong Prosper
2016©

[quote author=bibijay123 post=47945497]Interesting story bro...good job![/quote

Thanks very much[b][quote author=bibijay123 post=47945497]Interesting story bro...good job![/quote

Thanks very much[/b][quote author=bibijay123 post=47945497]Interesting story bro...good job![/quote

Thanks very much

* * *
They were heading out of the township now and onto the freeway that led down to the coast. “Aren’t you hot?” he asked her. “In that gear, I mean.”
Busi looked down at her school soccer shirt. She was feeling hot in it. She shouldn’t be shy about taking it off. As she pulled it over her head, revealing the skimpy T-shirt she had on underneath, she felt him watching her. It made her tummy flutter with excitement.
She wound down the taxi window. That was better, cooler. The wind rushed in around her and she put her head back and laughed. Parks laughed too, pleased that she was so happy. “Good,” he said. “You shouldn’t hide what you should be sharing. Now, where would you like to go?”

To be continued.....

Join #TeamBusi as she discover the world of "MEN"
LOL

* * *
When the final siren went Busi was the first out of the school gates. She waited for Lettie and Asanda. She decided to go to soccer and even changed into her soccer gear. If she was going to see Parks, she would have to be careful. She would have to make sure that her friends didn’t find out. And if she missed soccer today they would become suspicious.
But Mr Ntlanti made Asanda and Lettie help him carry books back to the storeroom after class. She was alone at the gate waiting for them when she heard loud music from a car radio. She recognised Busi Mhlongo’s
Zithini iziswe. Her heart skipped a beat as Parks’s taxi turned the corner and cruised to a stop next to her. She looked down at her soccer gear. Oh no, she thought, he can’t see me like this. I look like a guy in this gear, not the pretty girl he said I was yesterday. If only I was wearing my netball clothes. But it was too late to run back and change into the short skirt that showed off her legs.
Parks opened the door and she got in – like she knew she would. She looked back quickly. “Let’s go,” she said, not wanting her friends to see her leaving in his taxi.
“In a hurry today?” Parks teased. “Not the shy girl of yesterday!” And then, seeing her worried expression, he added, “I’m not complaining! I like assertive girls. Assertive and sporty!”
There was a wheezy cackle from the back of the taxi. It was the gaadjie. Today he was awake, if you could call it that. He reminded her of those boys she had seen under the bridge, with that spaced-out look from sniffing glue. It was like their bodies were present but their minds were somewhere far away. The gaadjie was lost in the music that pumped from the speakers. He swayed back and forth to the beat. But when Busi looked at him he stuck his tongue out at her. She quickly turned to the front. He gave her the
creeps.
“Thula wena!”Parks shouted. The gaadjie stopped. “He knows who’s boss, but he’s crazy,” laughed Parks. “Remind me to get rid of him.” Busi didn’t want him there, leering at her. It would be so much better if it were just the two of them.
“Doesn’t he put the customers off?” she asked Parks, whose taxi was empty again today. It was strange – usually the taxis around Harmony High were packed. Parks laughed.
“I’m off today,” he said. “I came here just for you.” Then he gave her that easy, sexy smile and Busi felt her heart beat faster.
As they turned the corner Busi looked back to see Lettie and Asanda at the gate searching up and down the road for her. She could have jumped out then. But she didn’t. “Why are you so nervous?” asked Parks. “Relax. I’m sure they’ll find a sub for you. On the other hand it will be tough replacing someone as cute and sporty as you are …” He changed the music to something slow and soft. “I’m flattered. Do you know that? I’m flattered that you’ve chosen me. I’d have thought all the boys would be after such a sexy girl.” Busi blushed as she thought of Unathi. He wouldn’t even know what to say to Parks. Unathi knew nothing of the world outside his street. Parks was a man. He had seen the world, and Busi wanted to see it too. Her life had suddenly got a lot bigger than Harmony High.

Chapter 3
“Something’s happened to you,” Asanda said at school the next morning.
“Not that I know of,” Busi lied. They were trying to finish their homework before the siren went off, and it was Busi’s turn to press her book against Asanda’s back.
“You could’ve fooled me,” Asanda went on.
If there was anyone who could read people, it was Asanda. She always knew when something was going on with Busi – she would have to be careful. Asanda knew her too well. She could tell that Busi had a secret she wasn’t sharing. And Busi wasn’t ready for Asanda to know – not Asanda, or Lettie, or anybody for that matter. They might spoil it for her. They might try to stop her from seeing Parks.
“Is something wrong? Are you upset because we were in the talent show? I know it must be difficult for you. You know you can tell me anything.” Asanda sounded concerned.
“I do know that,” said Busi.
“Good! Now, can you hurry up? My back’s going to break. I feel like a donkey.”
“Finished!” Busi announced, shutting her Maths book.
“Phew! At last!” Asanda replied, stretching. “Did you do number 5? It was so hard. I felt like my brain was exploding.”
“I left it out,” said Busi.
“Why don’t you ask Unathi to help you? He told me he finished all of them. You know how clever he is,” said Asanda, as Lettie came up and joined them.
“Yes, Busi. You’re the only one he’d give answers to. If you asked nicely, of course,” Lettie chipped in.
“I swear he just doesn’t know how to tell Busi that he likes her,” Asanda laughed.
“What happened to his girlfriend in Jozi?” said Busi. Last term she had caught Unathi staring at a photo of a very pretty girl and she had been filled with jealousy. It seemed like such a long time ago. Things had changed so fast. Everything was different now.
“You know how people talk,” Lettie said, “Don’t believe everything they say about Unathi.”
“I won’t,” replied Busi. “And I won’t believe anything that Unathi says. Anyway, I’m not into boys.”
“Oh?” Asanda and Lettie said together. “It’s like that, hey?” Busi hadn’t meant to say anything. She shouldn’t have opened her big mouth.
“No, I’m not into boys … I’m into men.” She tried to sound casual.
“Men? So Harmony High boys aren’t good enough for you any more?”
Luckily the siren went off before their interrogation could begin. “Don’t forget. I’ll meet you at the gate after school for soccer practice,” Lettie reminded her as they went upstairs to class.
“If you’re not too busy chasing M-E-N!” Asanda teased.

Oh my God!!!! How could this beautiful work of art go unnoticed? I'm gonna say this is one of the most beautiful heart rending work on NL

bibijay123:
OK nice one. have read both the 1 n 2 on another site. Cried a little n read it all day.

I would be posting three soonest... Thanks for reading

[quote author=bibijay123 post=47887681]Interesting. You wrote this story? Donjayz321[/quote

Yeah... Its a story I wrote while in SA under a pen name. I just decided to share it here on NL

remiseyi:
I dey here baba

Front sit dey for you!!!!
Holla your guys make den show

Mine is "don't worry*...
its annoys 'my soul'

remiseyi Nobody Missmossy Agstar
Make Una show

“Yes,” said Busi, trying to see if her granny believed her. “Thank you.”
“I was feeling ill myself earlier. I went to the clinic. On the way back I passed some friends of yours from Harmony High. That boy, the nice one, greeted me. You know, the one who helped me carry my shopping that time.”
“Unathi?”
“That’s it.” Her face lit up, remembering. “He told me you weren’t at school. He was worried, Busi.”
Busi thought of how, not so long ago, she had written love letters to Unathi. And how upset she had been when he returned them unopened. He seemed so cool and sexy and all she wanted was to be his girlfriend. But now that she had met Parks, Unathi seemed so young and inexperienced – such a boy. Now she had met a real man.
“Why should Unathi worry?” said Busi quickly. “He doesn’t really care about me.”
“No? That’s not how it seemed to me.”
“What did they say at the clinic, Gogo?” Busi asked, trying to change the subject. “Are you sick? Did they give you something to make you better?”
“It’s just my blood pressure. I forgot to take my pills.”
“I can help you to remember to take them, Gogo. I can even get a pill box for you. Asanda’s granny has one. It has a place where you put the pills for every day of the week. You can easily see if you have forgotten one.”
“That sounds like a very clever thing. Thank you, Busi,” her granny said, taking her hand. “You know something, my child? I like to have you living here with me. I am lucky to have such a kind granddaughter.” Busi smiled and hugged her. “I’m sorry it’s sometimes boring for you,” her granny continued. “But I am blessed that you are such a good girl. I know you would never do anything stupid. Utata Nomama abanangxaki. They have nothing to worry about.” She looked at Busi closely.
What did her parents care what happened to her, Busi thought. They had left her here with her grandmother. When last had they phoned her? It was easier for them without her. Hadn’t she heard her mother tell their neighbour that she wished she hadn’t had a baby so young; that Busi had ruined her chances in life?
“I’ll go get us some meat for supper,” Busi said. “Before it gets too late.”
“Come straight home,” her granny cautioned.
Out on the street she felt better. Her head felt clearer. It had been dangerous climbing out of the window and getting into Parks’s taxi – dangerous, but exciting at the same time. She was lucky, she told herself. Things could have gone differently. He could have taken her away, raped her and left her for dead in a ditch somewhere. It had been dangerous. But she knew she would do it again.
She heard a shout from the end of the road. It was Lettie and Unathi. They were waving. She waved back. This time when she came up to Lettie she gave her a big hug. “Well done for winning best dancer in the talent show. Mtsalane!” she said. And she was surprised to find that she really meant it. Suddenly it didn’t matter so much that her friends were popular. Now she had something of her own. Something exciting that her friends didn’t share. She had her own thrilling secret – and his name was Parks.
“Where did you go?” Unathi asked her.
“Why does it matter to you?” Busi said cheekily.
“It doesn’t really,” he shrugged.
“So, why are you asking?”
“Mr Ntlanti wanted to know where you were. I told him you had stomach cramps,” said Lettie.
“Phew, thanks,” Busi said.
“Didyou have stomach cramps?” Unathi questioned her.
“Yes, I did. Do you think I’m lying?” she snapped.
“How come you didn’t tell anyone that you were sick?” He wouldn’t leave it alone. He was like a dog with a bone.
“Enough with the questions,” joked Lettie, seeing Busi’s face. “Uyadika!”Then, as Unathi walked away, she said quietly, “It’s just because he likes you.”
“He has a funny way of showing it,” Busi replied.
Where was he last term when I liked him, she thought? With another girl! Busi had bad luck with boys. She thought of Ebenezer. She had dated him until that day when they’d had a terrible fight. He’d pushed her and she had fallen hard onto the tar behind the sports shed. At the sound of her screaming, Asanda and Ntombi had come running and Ebenezer had fled, leaving her with a broken arm. Parks was different, she told herself. He was a gentleman, and so funny and good-looking. He had taken her home when she had asked him to and offered her free rides in his taxi.
“Are you coming to soccer tomorrow afternoon?” Lettie asked, interrupting Busi’s daydream. She put her arm around Busi’s shoulders. “You’re the best goalie our team has ever had,” she coaxed. “You know how we lose when you’re not there.”
“Maybe.”
“We can take the taxi together. I’ll wait outside the gate after school.”
“Sure,” said Busi. But as she walked back with the meat for supper, she wasn’t so sure she would be going to soccer. She found herself thinking about Parks again. She couldn’t get him out of her head. Why had he come past Harmony High? Why had he changed his taxi route that day?

To be continued...

Spice up this thread and let the criticism flow....

Chapter 2
Busi stood outside the shack where she lived with her granny. She had to get her story straight before she went in. Her grandmother would ask her a hundred questions. Where were you? Why weren’t you at school? She would say that she had stomach cramps. Her granny would believe that. But when she finally opened the door and went inside, she wasn’t there. Something was wrong.
Her grandmother was old and didn’t get out much. She went to the clinic on Wednesdays and she had umgalelowith her friends on Fridays. But today was Monday – she should be at home. Busi went out into the yard to check if she had fallen. But the yard was empty. If she went to ask the neighbours, rumours would fly. No, she would wait a while and see if her granny came home. Perhaps she had gone to visit a friend. If she came back after three o’clock she would never know that Busi had come home early.
It was cold lying on her bed. Their shack was dimly lit and an icy wind was blowing through a hole in the zinc sheeting. They would have to fix it before the winter rains. If only they had more money. Her mother and father had gone to Jozi to look for better jobs, but they hadn’t sent any money back. Then she thought of Parks with his fleet of taxis. He was rich, and he liked her. He made her feel like a queen and he wasn’t awkward like the boys at school. Yes, that was the difference. They were boys and Parks was a man.
She thought of his smile. What she had done was dangerous – she knew that. If she saw him again she would just keep walking. But what if he stopped and opened the taxi door? What would she do then?
Parks had joked about kidnapping her. But it happened every day. She read The Sun. There were so many photos of children who had gone missing. She remembered one little girl’s trusting face. Her name was Cheryl and she disappeared the day before Christmas. She left to go to the shop and never returned. Where were those missing boys and girls?
But Parks had taken her home when she’d asked him to, and he had opened the door for her. He was a gentleman. Busi fell asleep and dreamed of him.
* * *
When she woke up it was already late in the afternoon. She could smell the wood smoke from fires in the street, and the sweet smell of roasting meat on the fire drums. Then she heard the familiar sound of her grandmother’s cough, and the clatter of dishes. “I wondered if you were going to sleep until tomorrow,” her granny said when Busi pushed back the blanket that separated the bedroom from the kitchen. She wasn’t sure when her grandmother had returned. She wasn’t sure if she knew that she had missed school.
“I was feeling ill,” she said, to be safe. “I came home early.”
“I know.” Her grandmother put her hand against Busi’s forehead. “Are you feeling any better now?”

So he was rich, good-looking and clever. But she shouldn’t be letting him drive her around like this. And she didn’t have taxi fare. “Never talk to strangers, Busi.” That’s what her granny always told her. “And if you are in trouble, call me. Day or night.
Uyandiva?”
“Ewe, Makhulu. Ndiyakuva,” she always replied. And here she was talking to a stranger and letting him drive her who-knows-where. She didn’t even know his name.
“Parks,” he said, as if he had read her thoughts. “My name’s Thando, but my friends call me Parks.” He reached over to shake her hand. His hand was warm … and he held hers a little too long. “What’s your name, pretty girl?”
“Busi,” she said.
Then she heard a rasping cough from the back of the taxi. She had thought they were alone. Swinging around, she saw a man lying across the back seat. Dirty jeans and a filthy old T-shirt covered his thin body. He coughed again and his whole body shook. Then he spat phlegm out onto his hand and wiped it over his pants. It was disgusting. “Don’t worry about him,” Parks said. “He’s got a problem. I’ll have to get a new gaadjie soon.”
She wouldn’t look back again, not even if the gaadjiespoke, she thought. “So, what are you going to tell your teachers when they ask where you were?” asked Parks, as he pulled into a garage to get petrol.
“I’ll tell them I’m not well,” Busi said. Right now that was true. She was feeling car sick from the petrol fumes and the thought of the gaadjie on the back seat.
When the tank was full Parks asked her, “So, where do you want to go?” And then, “Don’t look so frightened. I’m not going to kidnap you.”
“Home,” she said quickly, suddenly fearful of what she had done. “Can you take me home?”
“Of course.” He stared at her for a minute. “I mean, if that’s what you want?” She couldn’t look at him; she just nodded.
“Here,” she said when they got to her street. She pointed to a house a block away from their shack. The last thing she wanted was for her granny to see her arriving in a strange taxi with a man old enough to be her father. She didn’t stop to think why Parks hadn’t asked her for directions, how he knew where she lived.
“Bye, sweetie.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be watching out for you. How does a free ride sound sometime?”
“Good,” she said, uncertainly.

To be continued....

Chapter two comes next

@Nobody @Jeenah @Mynd @airforce1
The table is set!

I will continue if I get responses!

* * *
Then she heard music – the thump, thump, thump of a bass beat as a taxi slowed down and crawled along the pavement next to her. She stopped. Should she turn and run? But where? Back to school? She had no plan. And now the taxi was stopping and the driver was leaning over and opening the passenger door. He beckoned her to get inside.
Busi looked back down the street. There was Mr Soci, the Life Sciences teacher, staggering in through the gates of Harmony High – late again, and drunk. He turned around and stared at the taxi. Before he’d had a chance to work out who she was, Busi jumped in.
“Running away from school?” the driver asked, jokingly. His shirt was undone to show off a smooth, muscled chest and the gold chain around his neck glittered in the sun. He gave her a lazy, sexy smile. She knew the drivers who stopped at the school on their taxi route and she didn’t recognise him. Why had she never seen him before? She was surprised by how handsome he was.
He turned the music down. “Hey, not everyone likesLoyiso. It’s not every girl’s choice,” he laughed.
“What’s that?” she said, distractedly. She hadn’t heard him properly, she was worried Mr Soci had recognised her. Was he walking to Mr Khumalo’s office right now to report her? But then Mr Khumalo would smell the alcohol on his breath.
“I said,Loyiso isn’t every girl’s fantasy. Is he yours?”
“He’s okay,” she shrugged.
The street ahead of them was empty. Where was he going, and why was she the only passenger?
“Did you get bored with school?” He revved the engine and put the taxi into first. She still had time to open the door and jump out. “I don’t blame you,” he said softly. “You can have much more fun out here. How old are you? You can’t be more than fourteen?”
“Fifteen. I’m fifteen,” Busi said quickly, suddenly wishing that she was older and that she wasn’t dressed in her school uniform.
They were driving further and further away from Harmony High. He was taking a right, then a left, weaving between the narrow streets in the township. She would never remember the route.
“Am I so ugly that you can’t look at me?” he teased. She smiled – she couldn’t help it. Driving around in his taxi felt so much better than some stupid English class. He had stopped to pick her up and he let her sit up front. She was somebody in his taxi, not the untalented nobody she was at school.
“So, which lesson are you missing?” He reached over and stroked her cheek lightly with his finger.
“English,” she said. “Romeo and Juliet, actually.”
“Those star-crossed lovers – like us, baby girl …,” he said softly, his voice silky smooth. She stared at him. “How come a taxi driver knows Shakespeare? Is that what you’re thinking?” he laughed, and Busi felt herself blushing. “Well, I’m not just any old taxi driver. I own a fleet of taxis. And that’s not all …”

“Let’s give a round of applause for our dream team. We are proud to have three such talented students at Harmony High. They are going to go on to do great things!” Busi had never seen Principal Khumalo so excited. “Ntombi paved the way for Harmony High with the Teen Voice Competition. Now her two friends are proving that they are just as talented.” His words made Busi sick. She was Ntombi’s friend too – her third forgotten friend.
There were more announcements – about the soccer game that weekend and the extra lessons that were being offered after school. One of the teachers found a pair of underpants in the girls’ toilets. “Could the person responsible please come forward,” the teacher said. The girls in front of her giggled. They were so childish, thought Busi. She couldn’t wait for assembly to end.
Once the teachers left the hall everyone crowded around Ntombi, Lettie and Asanda, wanting to be their new “best friend”. When Lettie turned and smiled and waved at Busi, she couldn’t smile back. She picked up her bag and pushed her way to the back of the hall, where she told a prefect that she needed the bathroom. “
Now,” she said. The prefect nodded.
* * *
In the girls’ toilets she stared at herself in the mirror. “Why?” she asked her reflection. “Why are you so useless? Why are you so ugly? Why aren’t you talented like your friends?” Tears welled up in her eyes.
The clapping in assembly finally stopped. She dried her tears and washed her face. But she wasn’t ready to go back into the hall. What she needed was a way out. And there it was. One of the windows in the bathroom had been taken out to be fixed. She could see the blue sky through it.
Her bag went first. She threw it out, climbed onto the toilet and squashed herself through the narrow window frame. Good! She landed in the sand and brushed herself off. Then she picked up her bag and ran for the fence. She lay against it, her heart thumping in her chest. No one had noticed. She stood up again and pushed her way through a hole and out onto the road. Freedom!

Busi feels left out! Her friends have won a talent competition, but the only talent she has is for being late for school! When she climbs out of a broken window at Harmony High and escapes onto the street her life is about to change. The smooth, handsome taxi driver, Parks, stops to pick her up and there is no going back. But Busi soon finds herself out of her depth and realises that Parks has a secret he isn’t sharing…