‘But it is hot.’

‘And so? Do you want to impress her or not? Wear it, you can take it off in her room, but remember to take it off only as you are about to sit down. For maximum effect.’

Lomba did not bother to ask why removing the blazer at the point of sitting down would lend the gesture maximum effect. Bola was full of such crazy affectations. Lomba was too busy rehearsing in his mind what to say to Alice.

Her flat was not too far from the hostels; Lomba took a footpath through a torn portion of the campus fence and he was soon there. The house was a two-bedroom brick building hidden behind a tall wall, like most of the other houses in the quiet residential area. He pushed open an ornamented iron gate and entered the compound. She has visitors, he thought, disappointment washing over him, when he saw a green sports car parked outside the front door. Music blared through the open door. He rang the doorbell. He heard voices, laughter. Male and female.

‘Come in, the door is open,’ the female voice called. He pushed aside the curtain and went in. It was not Alice. He felt relieved and happy, he couldn’t tell why. It was a tall, thin girl in hipsters and T-shirt. She was slouched in her seat, her legs on a side table before her. A cigarette burned in her hand. A man was seated beside her, a mulatto with a crew cut. He looked at Lomba and turned to the girl, who flicked ashes from her cigarette and asked, ‘Yes, can I help you?’ Her voice was hoarse, as if she had a cold. She had a thin, hungry face.

‘I came to see Alice,’ he said, wondering for a moment if he was in the wrong place.

‘Sit down, she will be out in a minute.’

Did Lomba imagine it, or did the man frown when he mentioned Alice? He sat down; he did not remember to remove his blazer for effect. The music was coming from a video of a musical. He watched the figures on the TV screen jump and prance without really hearing the words. The mulatto had some kind of affected foreign accent: American, nasal and unnatural, like those cowboys in films. The girl laughed loudly at whatever joke he was making. Lomba looked at her when she began to cough after a bout of laughter. Her bony frame wracked and shook, she held a hand to her chest, gasping for breath, her eyes ran with tears. The man looked pleased with himself. Lomba wondered who they were. He had never seen their faces before – maybe they were not students, maybe they had come together to visit Alice…