The prestigious salon
Vimbai and Dumisani work in Mrs. Khumalo's, a salon that really means something—it's the best salon in town. To Vimbai, her role is often the source of her pretense, but to Dumisani, it represents accomplishment and hard work. In both cases, it means success, but Vimbai internalizes her role as if she is entitled to her job, whereas Dumisani maintains a more humble, client-centric attitude, just hoping to do a good job. The salon represents accomplishment and attitude.
Vimbai's loneliness
Vimbai struggles to understand why her journey must be one of loneliness. As she reminds people, she is hot stuff, and she's a talented stylist, so she can't see why her power and ability doesn't translate into social success. When she learns that Dumisani is gay, she has a fit because she thought he was going to rescue her from her loneliness. This can be seen as the climax of an allegory, because she doesn't really know him that well at all. She struggles to care about other people, and maintains solipsistic in relationships to others.
The diary
There is nothing to be gained by lying in a diary, so Dumisani's diary can be seen as a symbol for honesty. Like Vimbai, Dumisani is lonely too, but not because he is a jerk; in his case, he has to be careful about who he tells about his homosexuality, because his society is not completely affirming. His home life is proof of this. The diary represents the sole expression of his truth, a truth he shares with no one but himself.
The family wedding
When Vimbai comes as Dumisani's plus-one to a wedding in the family, the whole family instantly takes her company to mean that Dumisani has finally given up on being gay and become normal or something. Dumisani is obviously frustrated and isolated by this. The wedding is a symbol for romantic loneliness, ironically, because Vimbai and Dumisani feel way more alone because of what happens there. She is alone because he is gay, and therefore not interested in her, and he is lonely because of the rejection of his family.
The non-romantic marriage
Perhaps one way of understanding this narrative is as an allegory for relationships where the man is secretly gay, but is insulated from the social ramifications of that by a marriage with a woman. This is not a marriage, but rather, it is a friendship with benefits that are the ironic inverse of sexual benefits. In fact, sex is the one aspect of the relationship that Vimbai doesn't get to enjoy with Dumisani. The relationship shows the painful, complex way that Dumisani struggles to relate to his community.
