Thinking Brighter Though

A Friend Indeed.

Back in the day in high school in my 10th grade (known as form 3), I had my best friend Ruvimbo.

Oh sorry , hie there. My name is Rutendo ,I live in Sunridge, Mabelreign in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe .

Ruvimbo was one year older than me but born in the same month as February , we later found out in our

friendship that our mothers were also born in the same month, but Ruvimbo's mother is one year older than mine .

We were sure that we were sisters , as mother nature favoured our union .

I was more of a wild girl and Ruvimbo was more quiet and reserved . She would speak only when spoken to and was a very good listener , while me, on the other hand, I couldn't keep a secret and loved drama and boys .

It all started one day when my grandmother had to travel. Usually she would leave Dee (short for Danai ) but she had also travelled . There was no other option than to take care of my grandfather alone in boredom .

I was watching TV when it hit me !

Ruvimbo could come and visit me this weekend and we can both go to the inter-schools show at the showgrounds in town. This will also allow us more time to practise at home.

The next day, I went to school early. By 7am I was already there . Ruvimbo was already at school as I had figured (the book worm ).I was shouting Ruvimbo Choto , iwe (you) Ruvimbo .An agitated Ruvimbo met me by the class door .

Ruvimbo : Why are you shouting my name this early morning like I owe you money ? (Annoyed -one thing she hates is shouting and noise)

Coolet : (pushing her to the side so I could get in )You are coming to my house this weekend. Come on, give me your aunt's number so I ca...

Ruvimbo : Hold it right there ..

Coolet : But..

Ruvimbo : Uh ah , shh

I was holding myself as I realised I was kinda rude.

Ruvimbo : First of all, you can't be calling me like that , and then you just command me to give you my aunt's number without me knowing what kind of twisted plan you have this time .

After a minute of total silent and death stares at each other , we both broke into laughter.

Ruvimbo :how are you girl ?

Coolet : I'm okay. Besides being excited , how are you ?

Ruvimbo :I'm good. Just worried about my project , I feel like something is missing .

Coolet : (totally not interested in school ) The reason why I wanted your aunt 's number is that. I would like you to come to my house this weekend so that I won't get bored and also get to practise the dance routine with you and dress up for the day.

Ruvimbo : Oh, I have no problem with that.

Ruvimbo gave me her aunt's number. I immediately texted her on w******p asking her for her permission . She agreed but asked me for my grandfather's number I gave her .

Later that day at home , I asked my grandfather for permission. He also granted me . Some minutes later, Ruvimbo's aunt called my grandfather. They spoke and sounded happy . When he hung up , he said Ruvimbo would be coming on Thursday and Saturday after the show. She would return home because, on Sunday, she had to be home for a family meeting .

I was so excited. The day after tomorrow is Thursday.

After school on Thursday, we walked home together. We had the best time of our lives just chatting and laughing . Then I got a text from one of my boyfriends. Kuda was my new catch , now my wild self had an idea , trust me. It was a bad one .

I quickly planned out in my mind that I would want to sneak Kuda into the house. That would be easy. Usually my grandfather sleeps very early, right after eating around 7pm ,even if he, off on the sofa . Initially, my night routine was that after washing dishes, I go and lock the front and back gates, feed the dogs and then lock the doors .

My plan was for Ruvimbo to lock the back gate and feed the dogs while I sneaked Kuda in from the front gate and locked it , then we got into the house .

My grandfather today seemed like he was not dosing off anytime soon. I was getting irritated as he was watching the news . I then quickly decided for him(my boyfriend) to walk right behind me as if there was one person passing, then Ruvimbo would pass behind to make two. It worked.

All three of us went to my room and me and my boyfriend were making things uncomfortable for Ruvimbo . So I decided that him and I should shift to the maid's room , because it was far and no one would get into it .

Ruvimbo was on her phone till she slept .

I had forgotten that my grandfather around 3am would be awake to watch TV .

Now, when I heard his bedroom door open, I was stunned. My heart started beating . I didn't hear footsteps in the passage, so I decided to quickly walk to the passage so that he would think I was coming from the bathroom .

Coincidently, as I was walking out of the room , he was also walking out of the room . Our eyes met as he was on the other end and me on the other. I continued walking but I knew what I did looked very suspicious . I walked past him in the passage , he didn't even ask me anything, but I saw suspicion in his eyes and he saw guilt in mine . He didn't utter a word, only walked past me and straight to where I was coming from. I quickly walked fast. I woke Ruvimbo up and told her her grandfather had caught him and she had to wake up . She was shocked. All I could see was that I told her to look away from her .

(She begged me so many times not to do this because she had a bad feeling , but since I'm a determined girl I always got what I wanted )

My grandfather used to lift weights even in his old age. My words unleashed some anger in him . He took a whip that was thick on the handle and got thin at the end , and when you are hit a mark is left .

My goodness he beat the life out of Kuda like any African man would and threw him out of the gate at 3am in the morning. I felt bad for Ruvimbo. I mean she had nothing to do with this , it was all me . After that, he beat me and Ruvimbo up until today, years later, our backs still tell. We know there's a story behind the scars .

When Ruvimbo got home after that , her aunt welcomed her with a slap . She says that was the first time anyone at her house hit her, as she was always a good girl focused on books. I had ruined my friend's image .

I kept on begging her for forgiveness. Then she got tired of saying it's okay , then she sat me down and said "The reason I am your best friend is because I see potential in you. I see you far in life, changing the story of your home. When everyone said you are nothing and you would come and tell me , I would reverse those words and say you are going to be somebody. This is the time for my sister to change. God has a better plan for you. This is not your life and I'm sure this isn't the kind of life you wanted to live )

On Monday, Ruvimbo's aunt came to my house to speak to us and my grandfather. She then stated that when I texted her , she thought I was a good girl and my grandfather said, what do you mean? Then she has no phone. Then she showed him, and my last seen was on that day at this point I was sure to give my grandfather a heart attack , after telling him that I had a Samsung Galaxy note 3 and at that time it was "thee" phone and I got it from my sugar daddy . Everyone in the room was deep in shock .

That was when I had to work hard to earn trust back from my grandparents and mom , and more especially Ruvimbo . This took me years but I grew up and I started to focus on myself and have a good relationship with God and everyone today .

The end