She was not sure why she liked Si or what brought them together. Perhaps it was the fact that they were the only two Black girls in the informal friend group they had formed to attend lectures. Si was short for Sinovuyo, but everyone called her Si or Sisi- Ona preferred to call her Si. She was an isiXhosa girl from somewhere in Kwa-Zulu Natal who was curious and was a conventionally beautiful girl- just above average height with a milk chocolate complexion and a mischievous glimmer in her eye.
She had met Si through Emerald (we called her Em) her highschool friend- although the friend was overstating their relationship because Em was more a mutual if she was honest. Em had long auburn hair, was slightly taller than Si with pale skin and cheeks with freckles sprinkled on her pale pink cheeks. Em was loud and boisterous and in the same university residence as Si, Lara and the twins.
The twins were permanently in a bad mood- uppity, wealthy white girls with an air of superiority to most people. She had encountered their type before throughout her upbringing and maneuvered different versions of their inherent disdain towards new people until they decided they could gain something from you. To girls like this, bred in a prestigious catholic all-girls private school, you meant nothing to them if you were not elevating their status by association. If it was up to them they would not even breathe in your direction if it was not beneficial to them and Ona met them once and decided she wanted nothing to do with them beyond the social media handshake which transpired with the red head- the other one was blonde, more slight in stature and more acidic.
Ona had spent her entire life living at home with family members. She had never gone to boarding school or anything like that so being at university, a Gautrain ride away from her family was challenging. She used every opportunity to go home on the weekends and dreaded her dad dropping her off at Midrand station on Sunday afternoons. Sometimes she would twist his arm and get him to drive her to Pretoria on Monday which just prolonged the sinking feeling of being back in the nation's capital. Si often made fun of Ona because of this but when looking back, Ona realised that it was from a place of acute jealousy where Si did not enjoy the same privilege of being able to go home so frequently. When the weekend approached Si would taunt, "Oh what are your plans for this weekend? Going home again? You always go home!" and this did not stop Ona because one thing about her? She was going to go home! She remembered Si going home to the sleepy town she called home in KZN only three times during the school year.
Si was the type of person who would come into your life and dictate what you would do next. Ona did not realise it then, but she was very controlling; however her manipulation was always carefully concealed as her wanted the best for you. She was a know-it-all who boasted about her family's four-bedroomed home, her two older sisters and older brother. She was complicated and always wanted to be happy, avoiding underlying challenges behind a perfect smile while circulating a blunt. Ona enjoyed many firsts with Si and because she was not innocent, she learnt a lot from her in their year together at UP. She loved her as a sister.
***
Her interaction with Sii had always been in the context of the group which consisted of Em, Caitlin and her very unimpressive friend Curt. Caitlin and Curt were friends from their hometown Plettenberg Bay and both acted exactly how white people act who inherently thought they sat highest on the totem pole of importance. Si, Em, Curt, Caitlin and Ona would sit together in lectures however the conversation always felt forced. Ona noticed that they would often save seats for each other with the exception of Si and herself and this told her everything she needed to know about them.
The others did not actually value their presence and the day Si suggested they sit elsewhere in the lecture hall, instead of squeezing themselves into the already congested Thuto Lecture Hall alongside them, she was relieved. Conversation often felt forced and it was such a relief to be able to speak freely without feeling like she could not comfortably be herself around them and she was tired of the act. Why did Black women always carry the burden of contorting themselves into fragmented, bite-size pieces of themselves for the consumption of white people? That was something that Ona was happy to leave in her past which was full of presenting as a threat to white mediocrity celebrated in the spaces she grew up in. She was Black excellence in all its glory, subjugated to make space for her white counterparts who believed they were better than her because their skin presented as less melanated.
That decision to sit elsewhere in the lecture hall was the beginning of their friendship. On invited Si over for dinner at her bachelor apartment in the new upmarket student accommodation. She was blessed to have been the first occupant of her unit in the block of flats with a sordid reputation for student unruly behavior.
"I'm here. :)" read Si's whatsapp message which prompted Ona to take the lift two floors down to the lobby to sign her in at the security desk to the building. She was happy to see her after taking one of those daunting first steps in forming a new friendship. They greeted with a hug after she had signed Si in and took the lift up the two floors to her room.
"So you can cook! I was worried when you invited me over that I was not going to be able to swallow my food! What a relief." offered Si as they sat on the bed and study desk chair of her room. Ona laughed as she took her plate which once held the chicken wrap she had made for Si.
"I can cook- I don't know why people get the impression I can't and this was barely cooking."
The dinner took place on a weekday and the pair continued to make plans for the upcoming weekend. Although they had been companions on campus and sundry errands, this was one of their first steps to deepening their friendship outside of the superficial student environment.