David (reflective, pacing inside his thoughts):
There are betrayals that cut deep. But the deepest ones… they don't bleed.
They echo.
Before The Listener— before the name became a badge they all pinned to me — I was just a quiet boy. A watcher. A keeper. But I wasn't wise then. I was just… available.
Back then, I had one true friend.
His name was Takunda.
We were both orphans — but unlike me, Takunda had a fire in him. He was louder, sharper, always standing up to prefects, always catching punishment like it was sport. I admired him. Not just because he was brave — but because he seemed free.
Where I bent, Takunda snapped.
Where I whispered, he shouted.
We balanced each other.
Or so I thought.
---
David (his tone darkens slightly):
We shared everything — food, punishments, secrets. Until one day, a Form 2 girl came looking for "the quiet one with the story eyes."That was what they called me back then — before The Listener became a name.
Her name was Rutendo. She had a voice like dusk — soft, fading, but warm. She wanted advice. A teacher at the school had proposed love to her. She didn't want to tell anyone. Not even her mother. I listened. I gave her my ear — and when she cried, I let her cry on my uniform.
Nothing happened.
Not even a touch out of place.
But the next week… the whispers started.
"They say David's dating a Form 2."
"They say he's doing what the older boys do."
"They say he makes girls cry so he can hold them."
I didn't know where it came from.
Until I heard someone say, "Ask Takunda. He's seen them together."
---
David (pauses — voice low):
It was him.
My brother in struggle.
The one who once swore we'd escape our pasts together.
He hadn't even denied it. He just said, "You've changed, bro. You think you're better now."
I realized then — it wasn't just betrayal. It was jealousy.
He didn't like that people were starting to come to me.
He didn't like that silence could hold power too.
After that, people still came — but I never let them in all the way.
Takunda taught me the first rule of wisdom:
"Trust is a blade too often held at the wrong end."
---
David (to Adrian, quietly):
So if you ask me why I listen more than I speak… why I keep people's truths but rarely give out my own… it's because the first time I opened up, it cost me everything.
I didn't become The Listener by choice, Son.I became him by consequence.