Losing control
Pregnant teen Kea puts her friendship with Mapula on the line after her attempt to get an abortion fails.
No one is going to change teen student Keamogetswe’s (Kamogelo Molatlhoe) mind after she recently discovered that she’s pregnant: she is going to have an abortion and go on with life like nothing ever happened. Well, that’s the plan until her friend Mapula (Mapula Mafole) tries to convince her otherwise. Mapula notices Kea’s slight weight gain and strange food cravings and demands answers. “Kea only tells Mapula because she thinks that Mapula is going to support her decision to abort,” says Kamogelo. Instead of offering to hold her hand, Mapula insists that she keeps the baby. And that’s the last thing on Kea’s mind after her parents dumped her and her younger brother Lefa (Tshiamo Molobi) with their relatives
Kop and Blossom (Setlhabi Taunyane and Slindile Nodangdala) in March.
And since her offscreen babydaddy Kutlwano isn’t in the picture either, she feels an abortion is her only option. “Kea fears that if she doesn’t get rid of the baby, Kop and Blossom will throw her out like her mother Mmantwa (Mmathapelo Buthelezi) did because her boyfriend Menzi ( Wandile Mleki) isn’t fond of kids,” explains the actress. The pressure from Mapula drives a wedge between their friendship as Kea is sticking to her decision – even if she loses the only friend that she has.
BUNDLE OF MADNESS
Kea knows that she can’t raise a baby alone as she’s neither emotionally mature or in the financial position to care for one. “Kea needs time to grow before she starts a family. Her parents deserted her and Lefa without remorse. They never check up on the pair to see if they’re okay,” adds Kamogelo. And it was the abandonment issues that led to the unplanned pregnancy. Her longing for acceptance led her to have unprotected sex with Kutlwano and “she wasn’t in the right mind – in that moment, she wanted to feel loved,” says Kamogelo.
THE HARD ROAD
When Kea visits the local clinic to enquire about getting an abortion, she is mocked by the staff there. They slutshame her and judge her, first on being a pregnant teenager, then on trying to get an abortion. “She is in dark place,” says Kamogelo. Kea ends up leaving the clinic without getting the help that she needs because she doesn’t want to hear the staff calling her names. “She feels hopeless and insecure, which grows into depression,” says the actress. But Kea doesn’t throw in the towel yet; she researches other facilities where she can abort and turn the page on this part of her life.
BLAME THE HORMONES
Even though Kea is desperate to cry on Mapula’s shoulder, her hormones get the better of her when Mapula shows up at Kop’s house to apologise. Before hearing her out, Kea chases her away because she assumes Mapula is there to spill the pregnancy secret to Blossom, explains Kamogelo. “Her emotions are everywhere because she hasn’t had time to abort,” adds the actress. Her outburst creates a deeper rift in the already-shaky friendship. “Mapula walks away from Kea. She wants nothing to do with her, causing Kea to drown further in her sorrow and despair,” reveals Kamogelo. With Mapula out of sight, Kea prepares to go through with her abortion plan and this time, no one will stand in her way… or so she thinks.