Moving in, moving out and moving on

Awkward didn’t even begin to cover it. But desperation is the mother of all forwardness, and thus Tony had basically invited himself.
The truth was, Jo’burg was the last city in South Africa that would have him, so, hey. Pete was moving to Jo’burg.
He’d had a bit of a misunderstanding with his folks in PE, he’d been fired from the only newspaper group in Cape Town… And now the cops were looking for him in Durban, following a money-making venture that had left a few customers less than satisfied.
That left Jozi. And since Errol was the only person living in Jo’burg whose phone number he had, Errol was the lucky winner of a new houseguest in the form of Tony Fick, originally from PE.
Errol and Tony had been to Newton Park pre-primary school together, and their moms belonged to the same book club in PE, so they were like family friends. Even though they hadn’t seen each other for about 11 years.
At first Errol was very cool about it. He agreed to let Tony stay at his place until he found a spot of his own, and he kindly gave him real-time phone directions him all the way into Troyeville.
“Take the R21. Take the R21! You should see Eastgate on your left. D’you see Eastgate? Never mind! Just keep going. That should turn into Broadway… Just trust me, keep going. Try not to stop at the robots…”
Errol shared with a oke called Quinton. That was fine, because they had a nice big couch and Tony had his sleeping bag.
The okes welcomed him with the leftovers of some pasta, they watched some Prison Break, and the next thing it was time for bed. Remembering his manners, Tony was, like, “Ay, thanks so much for letting me dos on the couch.”
“Oh no! Don’t be stupid,” says Quinton. “You can have my room.”
He doesn’t elaborate. Tony opens his mouth, about to enquire where Quinton would be sleeping, but there’s only one place he could be sleeping. And it’s none of Tony’s business, he’s just the houseguest.
Errol and Quinton are more than just housemates.
So Tony gets Quinton’s bed, and spends a fitful evening contemplating what might have taken place on it.
The next day, Quinton has something to share with him.
Errol goes off to work, which gives the two of them ample time to hang out and get to know each other.
“Do you know that we’ve actually broken up?” Quinton say-asks while they’re doing the dishes and listening to Mansfield wrap up his morning show on Highveld. “but don’t worry, I’m going to win him back…”
“Jeez, I had no idea,” Tony stutters, “I’ll move back onto the couch immediately!”
“No, no, no,” Quinton insists. “You’re our guest. I wouldn’t dream of it.”
So Tony spent his first two weeks in Jo’burg alternately guilt tripping about interfering in the endgame of a dying relationship and wondering how well his mom’s book-club mate really knew her son.
By week three Errol and Quinton were having nightly domestic spats and Tony was so desperate to get a place of his own that he walked into the Star newsroom and offered to dash sub for free until they could afford to pay him.
Desperation is also the handmaiden of diligence. The Star night editor was so impressed with Tony’s dedication that he offered him a downtable subbing job. Tony got his first paycheque a month after arriving in Jozi, and he moved out the day after that. Followed the time-honoured path of Joburg newcomers from Troyeville to Melville to the suburbs.
To everyone’s great benefit, the holiday club scheme that had seen Tony railroaded out of Durban was mothballed indefinitely.
The next time Tony and Errol met was on a quiet Thursday night at Capital Records in Rosebank, About three years had passed.
It was just Errol, no sign of Quinton. Errol looked older, he’d gone completely grey, and he had a sad look about him.
Errol seemed down because simply seeing Tony again had reminded him of Quinton. It seemed that even saying something like, “Thanks for letting me stay at your place that time,” would have been in bad taste.”
Tony made his excuses and left. And he stopped going to Capital Records for a while. Errol did too.
People move on in Joburg too. And the beauty of it is that no one has to leave town.