By the third week, the change in Luyando was impossible to ignore. She was tired in class, distracted during study hour, and suddenly moody. She snapped at girls for no reason. Some mornings she stared at herself in the mirror for too long, touching her body with a troubled expression, as if looking for answers in her reflection.
One night, after lights-out, Chumuka heard soft crying.
She turned in bed and found Luyando facing the wall, shoulders shaking.
"Luyando?" she whispered.
No answer.
She climbed down from her bed and sat beside her. "Tell me."
Luyando covered her face. "They lied."
Chumuka's stomach tightened.
Between broken breaths, Luyando confessed. It had started with compliments, secret letters, and promises. One boy had told her she was different from the rest. Another said he would marry her one day. A third had begged to "prove love." She had believed affection meant safety. She had allowed touching, thinking it would secure devotion.
Instead, the boys had talked.
Now rumors were spreading through the school. Some boys stared at her as if she belonged to them. Others laughed when she passed. One had tried to touch her in daylight, smiling as though it were his right.
"They all know," Luyando whispered. "I thought they loved me, but they only wanted pieces of me."
Chumuka felt a chill race down her spine. In that moment, the dream became clear. The tomatoes had not spoiled because they were worthless. They had spoiled because careless hands treated them without respect.
Chumuka held her friend as she cried. She did not judge her. She simply remembered her mother's words and finally understood them.
The next day, when Luyando refused to leave bed, Chumuka stayed beside her until class time. Before leaving, she said quietly, "Your pain is real. But your life is not over."
Luyando looked at her with red, swollen eyes.
Chumuka added a proverb her grandmother loved: "Liya lyalo talifwi ku mutwe." A mistake does not kill the whole person.
Luyando wept harder.
It was the first time that truth entered the room like light.