Celibacy & Other Cute Little Things

A short story anthology exploring tales of beauty of music of laughter of sex of love. Of the little pleasures of life; the minuscule moments that make human faces shine bright with wide smiles. Tales of friends of family of lovers of colleagues of comrades. These short tales are meant to excite the brain, to illicit smiles, to provoke laughter. In short; they are cute little things.

This anthology is a somewhat perverted peek into the inner workings of amorous relationships, of the treaties and conventions that govern them. It explores commonplace phenomena such as cuckolding, break-ups, sexual infidelity, seduction, and infatuation. It also looks into what triggers, sustains and disentangles romantic relationships.

This is done using different encounters, settings and events. At some point almost biographical, at others as reportage, in some turns bordering on lit-erotica. The language varies and includes a good dose of hip-hop slang, political jargon and sprinkles of South African vernacular.

Story Breakdown:

CELIBACY: BREAKING THE FAST
Conventional patriarchy denies any man three women; the mother, sister and daughter of one’s friend. This is the cardinal rule which our protagonist breaks with no remorse along with his celibacy.

BREAKING ANOTHER FAST
How do you break a fast without eating? How do you break a vow of celibacy without sex? Or is it a case of if you think it, you have done it? Let’s explore…

AVANA
A young man’s night out takes dramatic twists and turns as he is confronted with his generation, his sexuality and a skilled seductress. But, most importantly, tries to figure who he will bed at the end of it all.

SKELEM GEMMER
Love is not a balance sheet. It is not a rational weighing of good qualities versus bad qualities. Pelo e ja serati. One can hate everything about a person and still love that person wholly. Not even one’s family, clan nor nation can dissuade one from their lover. Everything is secondary in the face of love. Everything is negotiable. Even your very being.

CUCKOLD
A story of love and loss. After twice facing off with muggers, our protagonist finds refuge with a prostitute, and falls in love with her. But soon discovers that she can never be his. What does it mean to love a body you can’t own? A heart that belongs to another? Surely it must be the ultimate cuckold!

ANOTHER FIRST ENCOUNTER
All encounters are equal but some are more equal than others. He meets an angel. She meets a boy. The angel laughs; the boy falls in love. A love unlittered with the empty rhetoric of St Valentine’s romanticism. A love that is the beauty of the union of two souls and the splendor of intertwined minds.

KHON’IMBIZO
Revolution is a love affair! On Biko Day the SEPTEMBER NATIONAL IMBIZO led a march to parliament to demand that politicians use public services. This is their story; of love, of black radical thought, of laughter. And it is also the story of Khanyi, the beautiful student who left my friend dazed.

JEGGINGS
There is no possibility for a relationship between ex-lovers. The popular retort “we can be friends” is a false invitation. Once one or both parties have been hurt. Things can never be the same. One/both parties will be paralysed. The fear of hurting one’s lover again is paralysing. The fear of being hurt is as much paralysing. Which renders the post break-up relationship a nervous condition: don’t say too much. Don’t open up too much. Don’t get too close. Whatever you do; don’t take it too far. In short: O s’ka phapa!

MESSAGES READ
The ultimate sin! Sexual fidelity is Schrodingers Cat – no one dares open the box. But at times, when there’s prima facie evidence for suspicion, one cannot but lift the veil and look under the Pope’s dress. The results are hardly ever pleasing, no matter the conclusion of the investigation.

THE GHOST WRITER
The Ghost Writer explores the metamorphosis a relationship goes through when all the conventions and treaties that govern it are slowly betrayed and asks the question: can love survive its triggers?

CELIBACY: RETURN TO THE PATH
Is there redemption for a callous sinner who has broken all the rules just to satisfy his fleeting desire? Once one has taken a bite of the forbidden fruit, there’s no unknowing. Sebe sa ka se pele ha ka ka mehla, David decried. Our protagonist has no such wisdom, nor back up.