Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 1
Busi stared at the girls on the stage.
They were her friends. Why wasn’t she
up there with them? The answer was
simple – because she hadn’t entered
Hamony High’s talent competition. She
couldn’t sing like Ntombi, dance like
Lettie, or tell a joke like Asanda. No, the
only talent she had was being late for
school! A loud cheer went up around
her: “Usebenzile!” In front of her Unathi
leapt from his seat and punched the air.
“Yes!” he shouted. “I knew they could
do it!” He turned and grinned at Busi
triumphantly. “Aren’t they great?” Busi
looked away from Unathi’s stupid,
grinning face. She turned her back to
the platform where Lettie, Asanda and
Ntombi stood smiling, waving and
blowing kisses at their adoring fans. “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!
* * *
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 likes Loyiso. 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
…”
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