Zodwa spends six days a week at the Good Times Drinking Establishment, which is approximately the size of seven regular shacks laid end to end, and can seat up to a hundred people when necessary. It has a concrete floor and the tin walls on three sides are covered with pictures of African icons torn out of Drum magazine. The fourth wall comes up only halfway so that the customers can see and be seen, which is almost as important as the actual drinking.

Mama Mashigo has an illegal electricity hookup to the butcher shop that’s almost a hundred meters away. The electricity allows her to run three fridges and two freezers, and also powers the superior sound system that sets her place apart from the other shebeens. Kwaito music is already blaring from the two speakers that are hung up in the corners of the room. Zodwa taps her feet to the rhythm, which helps her get through the day as she hustles for tips, serves drinks, and navigates the world of men.

There’s nothing chivalrous about drunks in a shebeen. And though Mama Mashigo watches over her girls, she expects them to keep those men coming back no matter how much they bruise the girls’ bums with their grabbing.

“The best way to stop yourself from being hassled is to get a boyfriend,” Ntombi told her after her second day on the job. She’s one of Mama Mashigo’s best girls and makes the most money. “A pantsula boyfriend is the best kind to have because then no one wants to mess with his property.”

Zodwa laughed the suggestion off. She refuses to be anyone’s property.

But today, Mongezi and his friends stop by.

As they take their seats around a small table, ready to gamble with dice, he acts surprised to see Zodwa. “Look who it is,” he says to his two friends, “my other girlfriend.” His cohorts laugh stupidly as he wraps his arm around Zodwa’s hips and pulls her closer to him. “This one just couldn’t get enough of me. Don’t tell Thembeka.” He winks at them. “She’ll get jealous.”

The last time Mongezi used this flirtatious tone with Zodwa was on the day he raped her. It was one of those hot August days that made winter feel like a distant memory. At least the seasonal winds provided some relief, which is why Zodwa had left the shack door propped open while she did her homework. She remembers battling to concentrate because her thoughts were so filled with Thembeka.