ONE YEAR AND A FEW MONTHS LATER
YOLANDA
“One year down, less than six years to go.”
I remind myself as soon as I walk out of the auditorium after my exam. I am only in my second year, but the excitement is gone. I never thought studying medicine would come with a lot of pressure, but hey, this is what I chose to do and what I enjoy, so I will bear it until I am finished.
“Yolanda, wait! Where are you rushing to?” Tory, my male best friend who became my first friend in university calls out.
“I am sorry I could not wait for you, Tory. I am hurrying to the cafeteria because I can no longer hold myself. I am too hungry, and my stomach wouldn’t stop complaining,”
“I am not surprised. You have been stressing about this exam so much that you forgot about yourself. Anyway, how was it?” We walk together as soon as he gets to me and hold hands.
“It was tiring, but I think I did my best. I enjoyed the labelling part the most,” I comment, excitedly.
“Gosh, you probably got everything correct! It annoyed me because you had to label and explain their functions. I think I prefer practical rather than theory,”
I softly laugh, shaking my head. I don’t know why he is even complaining because he never gets less than eighty percent in all his exams. I think I met my match here when it comes to school grades, and I like it.
“So, your place or mine?” He asks, settling on the chair in the cafeteria. I take out my purse from my bag and reach out for a few bank notes.
“My place. I need you to come with me for grocery shopping first before we go to my place though,”
“Yeah, sure. I also do need to get myself some toiletries too,”
“So, what should I get you?”
“A beef patty burger and chips with coke,” He announces. We always buy each other food; it does not matter the cost.
“I will have the same.”
***
My driver drops us off at the shopping centre and we waltz towards the entrance before Tory stops me, pulling me to the other side where a street vendor is selling creepy things.
“Since it is Friday the thirteenth, why don’t we act according to the date? It will be fun!” He excitedly announces.
“Tory, how will it be fun?” I ask.
“Let’s buy these witch hats and witch capes and wear them,”
I look around and notice a lot of people. I am shy and do not like getting attention. What Tory is asking from me is a lot.
“No, Tory. Please don’t make me do it,” I beg him.
“Why not? Come on, babe… there is nothing wrong with it,” He says, already buying the black witch hats and purple capes. “You should be glad I am not making you carry the witch’s flying broom. These hats and capes are nothing!”
“Oh, God; this is so embarrassing,” I bury my face in my hands.
After buying all those things, we wore them and proceeded with our way into the mall.
“This is actually not bad at all. I like it,” I say to Tory.
“You see; I told you it would be fun. So, after shopping, where are we getting dinner?”
“KFC dunked wings, please!” I squeal.
“I knew it! The baby inside you will be the death of me from eating dunked wings every week,”
I gasp and laugh. We enter a food market and start picking food for my fridge and kitchen cupboards. I haven’t eaten any home-cooked meals since the mid-year exams began because I hadn’t had time to buy and fill my grocery cupboards. So now that I have one last exam to conquer, I will have all the time to cook, and even invite my father over for dinner or lunch. My relationship with him has repaired itself effortlessly, and during holidays, I visit his house instead of my stepfather’s house. I have not been there since I moved out, but I have been in contact with Anele, and we talk almost every day. She also visits me almost every week.
***
After going in and out of a few shops, we strolled around the mall, pushing our trolleys, and bought ice creams.
“Tory, I need to use the bathroom. Can you hold this for me?” I hand my ice cream to him and push the trolly before setting it next to him.
“You make me tired, Yolanda. I want to go home, and your ice cream will melt,” He complains.
“I’ll be quick, I promise… thank you, Tory,” I exclaim, kissing his cheek.
“You owe me more than that,” He teases. I chuckle, rushing to the bathroom.
I get into the cubicle and release myself. I was so pressed I couldn’t hold it in any longer. Now that I am relieved, our journey home will feel good.
I wash my hands and make my way out, but just as I open the door, someone pushes me back inside before they come in and shut the door close. They turn and face me.
My heart beats so fast and I want to scream and call out for help. I am also on the verge of crying. I have not seen him in a long time, so what the hell does he want from me?
“Kyle, let me go,” I whisper eerily and in terror.
I am scared of Kyle, and I never thought I would ever see him again, especially after what he did to me.
“Yolanda, you look really good,” He softly says, stepping closer to me.
“Get away from me! Do not come any closer to me or I swear I would press this panic button on my bracelet; and do you know who it would send an alert to? My stepfather and I will make sure that he knows that you were the one who almost killed me, so if you still want to live and value your life, get the f**k away from me, Kyle!” I snort, aggressively.
I cannot get that horrible memory out of my mind. Kyle had turned into a monster that day. I was so excited and happy to have finally moved into my own place, but Kyle made my first day impossible to enjoy. I spent the night at the hospital. I was badly hurt and could not stand straight up. My father came that same day and could tell that I was not okay until I fainted and woke up at the hospital where it was confirmed to my father that I had been assaulted. All I had to say was, “I didn’t see his face. He was trying to rob me, but I fought back. This is how I got hurt”.
I lied to protect the man I loved and the same man that heard me scream, “You are hurting me”, yet continued to hurt me. I begged him to stop but he still threw me to the floor on top of broken glasses which cut my arms and my knees. I protected a monster!
“Babe, I am not trying to hurt you. I just want to talk to you,”
“About what!? Whatever it is, I don’t want to hear it, Kyle. How the f**k did you even know that I was here? Were you following me?”
“To be honest, yes. I have been doing it for days now. I so badly wanted to talk to you, but I did not know how to approach you,” He confesses.
“And you thought this was the f*****g best way to approach me?”
“Can you stop cussing!?” He reprimands.
“You don’t just crawl out of your hole and tell me what to do. I can cuss at you as many times as I want!”
“Babe, I am so sorry,” He apologises, sounding sincere. I shake my head, refusing to believe his apology.
“No, I do not want your apology. I want you to leave me the f**k alone, Kyle,” My tears stream down my cheeks.
“I shouldn’t have hit you the way I did and left you helplessly,”
“Stop, I have moved on,” I cry, covering my ears with my hands. “It took you so long, I don’t want to hear it so, just stop!”
Kyle never made an effort to come and apologise; not even send a text message to me to tell me how sorry he says he is. He left me hurting on the floor. I thought he would come back to his senses and turn back to help me up, but he never looked back.
Daniel even took the blame because he thought if the previous night had not happened, I wouldn’t have moved out of the house the next morning, and my injuries could have been avoided. He even went as far as providing me with a bodyguard which I refused, so he gifted me with a gold and expensive bracelet with a panic button installed, and a personal driver. He said even if I do not want him, he would always be there for me.
He has been! He calls to check how I am doing with school and if I need anything. I see him briefly, but it ends there. What we did then shouldn’t have happened and should never happen again.
“I was ashamed. I wanted to come back and tell you that I did not mean to hurt you—”
“Yet you didn’t! What do you want from me now? I do not owe you anything because as far as I know, I am completely done with you, and I have moved on with my life. I don’t do abusers,”
“You moved on with that boy, huh?”
“Even if it was him; how is it any of your concern?”
“I love you, Yolanda. I love you so much,”
“f**k you!”
I get to the basin and wash my face before I take out a dry wipe from my bag and clean my face with him watching me.
“You broke my heart, Kyle… I loved you too, but you hurt me, and you don’t hurt the people you love… you DON’T!”
“I regret it, Yolanda,”
“It serves you right!” I prance to the door and storm out, hurrying to Tory. “Let’s go, babe,” I announce as soon as I reach him.
“I ended up eating your ice cream… are you okay, Yolanda?”
“No, I just saw my ex,” I confess, nonchalantly.
“What, where?” He asks, looking around.
“It does not matter. How about we go out tonight?”
“Yeah, right. I feel like getting a d**k too, but I am not desperate, so no. We are not going anywhere tonight, especially when you look like you have just seen a ghost.”
I roll my eyes, annoyed.
Oh, Tory is gay by the way.
Aksara