Chapter 5

RULE #4: AFTER A HUMILIATING DAY WITH YOUR EX'S DAD, A BURGER AND A COCKTAIL ARE ALWAYS THE ANSWER.

Presh

Amahle is in heaven as the waitress puts down a sundae bigger than her head on the table. Meanwhile, my mother is next to me sucking down a cocktail that's even bigger than that.

My sister offers me a spoon, and I take it with a smile. We dig in, barely breathing between mouthfuls of the sugary caramel-and-vanilla mess.

"Yoh, Presh. Thanks for taking us out for supper," my mother says with a tipsy smile. It's nice to see her so relaxed. With the extra shifts she's been picking up at the hospital, I know she's been stressed.

"My pleasure," I mumble around a mouthful of ice cream.

"Freeze brain!" Amahle shrieks, clutching her forehead. Ma and I laugh at her mangled version of the phrase, which she's been using since she was a toddler and we never had the heart to correct. So we all call it a freeze brain now.

When I came home with thirty-five thousand rand more than I expected, I immediately told them to get dressed and we're going out. It's Tuesday, after all.

I didn't bother to mention how I came to have the extra money, but it wasn't important. As far as they're concerned, it was just the deposit, and that was that.

Why did he leave his number?

Why would I need to call him?

And what is ZH?

I googled it. I came up with a lot of results that didn't seem helpful. There's a scaffolding company in Pinetown twelve kilometres from my house, though, so that's good to know.