Drum – 22 August 2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1

56 |^22 AUGUST^2019 http://www.drum.co.za


Percy is giving Zandi nothing but heartache and misery,


but maybehehas something more to offer her too...


The introduction


B


EFORE a group project
brought them together
in their first year of
college, Zandi was a
confident girl. But her
poise and assurance
were stripped away by
Percy and his infidelity.
She was 18 and he was 19 when they
were paired together to create a short
film about their place of birth. They were


from the same town and this connection
strengthened their attachment to each
oth er.


They talked for hours at night and
Zandi fell asleep to Percy’s deep voice on
the phone. During the day, the lovebirds
basked under the sun on the college


lawn, taking pictures, funny videos and


sharing passionate kisses.
Percy was the first guy Zandi had come
across who seemed worthy to hand her
virginity to. Like most naïve girls, she was
confident Percy would love her forever.
She held out for eight months but just
two weeks after granting him access to
her body, she discovered he had another
girl on the side.
This girl was nothing like her. She had
a short, curly wig with ends that touched
her shoulders.
She was light-skinned and skinny, with
long legs and firm breasts. She wore
heavy makeup that made her look like a
magazine cover girl.
“I’ll have to change to make him like
me more,” Zandi said to herself, as she
flicked through the girl’s pictures on

Percy’s phone.
Andsothewell-spokengirlwhoused
tobelieveshewasbeautifulinhernatu-
ral skin began to die a little everyday as
it became obvious Percy was falling out
of love.
Zandi thought perhaps her voice was
irritating, so she only talked if Percy
spoke first. When he stopped phoning
her at all hours of the day and night,
Zandi tried to convince herself he was
busy with his schoolwork.
Clearly, he wasn’t happy with the way
she looked so Zandi exchanged her long
braids for a weave that reached her
waist.
She swapped her ordinary facial
ointment for expensive makeup, and she
started wearing more revealing clothes.
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