Friendship Test

A true test of a friendship is not when the going is good, when there are parties and birthdays to celebrate. It’s not when babies are born or engagement rings are slotted into wedding fingers. It’s not during overseas holidays or during a drive along the coast. A friendship is tested when things are bad, when businesses are going bankrupt and when people are dying. A true friend sticks around no matter what.

Q thought that her friendship to Sbu was being tested prematurely. They’ve only been friends for little over a week and here she was consoling and advising her now bankrupt friend.

From the little she understood from what Sbu had told her, he wasn’t broke, he still had his many millions, however his company was bankrupt, which in turn would affect his net worth. He still had other businesses not linked to this one and they were doing OK, but they were smaller, much smaller than the now bankrupt business. It didn’t make much sense to Q, but she listened and offered a shoulder to cry on. Because that’s what friends do.

While she was consoling Sbu, she was thinking about her best friend Thando, who at this moment had no idea that her boyfriend had skipped the country with all “their” money, which meant that Thando was now broke. She mentally prepared herself for the tears and the rage that was still to come. Thando would be devastated. Not just because of the money, which was devastating enough, but also because she really was in love with Steve and she had trusted him.

Q decided to call for reinforcements. She couldn’t do this on her own, and besides, Thando will need all of her friends there to console her.

They met at a café outside Thando’s penthouse. They chose a table furthers from the entrance. Q faced the door and Matt and Ed sat with their backstowards the door. They sat next to each other facing Q. She told them the bad news over a cup of coffee.

‘Are you absolutely sure?’ Matt asked. He wore his gym gear complete with sneakers. ‘This doesn’t sound like Steve at all. I’ll admit, I didn’t know him that well, but still…’ He let the words trail.

‘So where is he right now?’ Ed asked.

Q shrugged. ‘I have no idea, neither do the police. They’re looking for him.’

‘Looking for him, why?’ Matt asked.

‘Apparently he was involved with…’ She looked around the café and leaned on the table. Ed and Matt moved closer. She whispered, ‘The Godfather.’

Their eyes widened simultaneously.

‘The Godfather?’ Ed asked, also in a whisper. ‘You mean the guy who shoots people because he didn’t like the way they looked at him?’

Q nodded.

‘Clearly there’s a lot we didn’t know about Steve,’ Matt said.

‘I know. I was also shocked.’ She shook her head. ‘It’s hard to believe.’

‘Does Thando know?’ Ed asked.

‘That’s why you are here. I thought it would be best she hears the bad news from us and not from a stranger.’

They both nodded in agreement.

Armed with caffeine in their systems they entered Thando’s penthouse. Thando was in good spirits when they found her. She was admiring the dress that Gert had designed for her. The dress she would be wearing to the Mandela film premier. She led them to her walk-in closet to show it to them.

‘Gert has outdone himself this time, what do you think?’ she asked.

They all looked at the dress. Ed examined it closely. Q admired it and Matt was not interested in the dress, he was more interested in breaking the news to her before he burst out.

‘I love it. It’s stunning.’ Ed said.

It was the truth. Q thought it was a lovely dress.

‘I was thinking of wearing it with these.’ She picked up a pair of heels from her shoe display that contained only designer shoes. They were Prada pale leather laser cut heels.

‘I’m not sure whether the colours will work well together.’

‘But they do! Pale goes with everything,’ Ed said.

Thando smiled. ‘All I need now is a handbag to go with it,’ she said.

Q hated to be the one to break her spirit, but she’d rather do it, then let Agent Forster be the one to break the bad news. She looked around the penthouse, one that probably Thando could no longer afford.

Thando sensed the mood. ‘What’s going on guys? You all look like you’re in mourning or something.’

‘It’s Steve,’ Q said.

‘What about him?’ She carefully put her shoes back in their right slot, right between a pair of Manolos and Michael Kors heels.

‘He has disappeared.’ Q relayed the story to her. She told her everything she knew and about his alleged involvement with the Godfather.

When she was done, Thando shook her head. ‘I don’t believe it. Steve is coming back to the country in three weeks, you’ll see.’ She smiled. ‘He’s not a criminal. I’m sure it’s all a misunderstanding. He will return. In three weeks. You’ll see,’ she said again.

Steve never returned.