You don't know Jack!

N called me daily, a few times a day. That was unusual for us especially with everything we went through. Most of what he talked about were other people, especially T. I wasn’t trying to get myself in no hot mess, so I would just go  really, oh no, what, omg,haha. That’s it. One morning, around five (T’s magic hour), I got a text from T. “Brook, I heard everything you have been telling people about me. I am begging you to stop. I don’t know what I did to you, but please stop now, I will do anything, please, this is too much!” I didn’t respond, I had nothing to say, just like I had nothing to say about her, I had nothing to say to her either. On our next conversation with N, who was the only South African I was talking to at the time, I asked her what she had been telling people I was saying about T. As you may well know, what one says and what people say you  said can be totally different. She told me she doesn’t talk to South Africans, plus there was nothing to tell them, she only talked to one lady, a South African friend of hers, and so and so and So and So, I thought to myself, I don’t need this. I’m sure N was happy to see that T and I had a falling out after both T And I were not talking to her, now that I am back asking her for a favour, with my tail in between legs, of course she’s gonna tell people about it. I wouldn’t blame her.

Time was flying and I didn’t know when I was going to get my stuff, Effie had suggested  I just forget about the stuff. The thing is, those were all the nice things I brought, a lot of them had sentimental value, my sister used to do my shopping for me. She bought most of the stuff overseas, Europe and The US whenever she went on vacation. I couldn’t just let all those go.

One day, before Liz left, I had bought myself a new leopard print bra. I showed it to her. After lunch, on her day back, she showed me her new bra, It looked exactly the same as mine. Apparently she went to all the stores I had been talking about, shopping at and shopped up a storm. We went upstairs for her to give me what she had brought me. It so happened that I may have mentioned my clothing size to her one day while talking. Which  I regret because she bought me a bag full of clothes IN MY SIZE, so that Excuse was out. Why was I going to say I wasn’t going to take the stuff. Darn it!

She took me to one of the common rooms, old, worn out, Shoprite plastic in hand and made me try all the clothes in front of her. Crap! I couldn’t get out of that one. I was busy thinking what  I was going to say, I couldn’t come up with anything. So I just said, it’s so nice of you to have done this, but I really don’t feel comfortable accepting gifts especially so much, as you know everyone who has been kind to me in this country, turned around and stabbed me in the back. I appreciate your friendship (NOT) and wouldn’t want to risk it going that way. Thanks though. DIDN’T WORK. She forced the bag in my hand and walked away.

In case you’re wondering what she bought me;  She got me EIGHT items of clothing! Count ‘em! Men’s t-shirts and one pair of pants. All from the thrift store (Second hand store)! No offence but they all smelled. She told me not to wash them, she and her cousins shop there all the time, the clothes are so clean, they never bother to wash them. I like how she went to the normal store, bought herself stuff that looks like mine, then went to the thrift store to buy ME stuff. Good Going Liz! I took the Shoprite plastic bag to the Apartment, showed the stuff to Avon, she was like “ohhhhhh mmmyyy Gosh, Brook, you’re in trouble! You know what this means, right?” No, I don’t, what does it mean? “You have a friend for life! She is buying your friendship. She can see that you’ve been avoiding her, now she’s buying you over.” I told her I wasn’t going to keep the stuff. I didn’t know where to put it because it smelled so much. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against second hand clothes, my mom sells them. I grew up wearing them. And selling them!  It’s just that, there’s something about someone who buys you a bunch of old smelly clothes.

We sat together at Dinner. She told me how nice she is, ‘you see Brook, not everybody is a bad person. I’m your friend,  I want only the best for you...’ I had to bite my tongue because I just wanted to ask, then why did you buy me old clothes. That’s your idea of nothing but the best? Earlier on, I had even told her that I had bought a whole lot of clothes online, which I was expecting anytime then Plus my stuff from Connecticut was on the way. I am not stable yet, I can’t afford to have a ton of things  I won’t be able to move around with. She didn’t care, she just wanted to be friends forever.

The next morning, I called her. She was in the old lady’s apartment. Before I could go there, she was calling me back, so excited that I had called. Crap, this is not the kind of news to be excited about. I had to go through with it! Walking towards her apartment, I was still trying to figure out what I was going to tell her, then she came out looking for me. Gosh, patience please! I gave her the bag and apologised profusely that I couldn’t accept the gift, she didn’t even let me finish, she grabbed the bag, rolled her eyes and said “Geeeezus!” I was happy to have been rid of the “gift” and walked back to Avon’s with a huge sigh of relief. “What did she say, Brook, what did she say?” Avon wanted to know!

Liz never talked to me again. I didn’t lose a wink of sleep over that, at all. Here’s the very person who told me she was a nice person, blah blah blah, that was a chance for him to prove how nice she was. If that were a test, she would’ve failed dismally. It’s just that I didn’t care. The next day, one of the nurses called me from the TV room. Avon wanted to see me. One of my online orders had arrived! I was so happy. The next day, I got more and more. I had bought 9 pairs of shoes and few tracksuits (sweat sets) for winter. Not too long thereafter, my stuff from Connecticut arrived. I was so in disbelief, I could cry! Reunited at last! Whew!