Misteps of a Young Married Wife…

CHAPTER ONE

I had been waiting for this moment all day! Firstly he took off the jacket I was wearing

and roughly threw it on to the floor, he was not being gentle and I loved that but I

warned him not to leave any bruises. No woman like bruises no matter how

passionate your love making is. He lifted me up onto the desk, it was not even his

office to be honest but Andile’s, my boss who thought that she shit chocolate.

Women with power tend to oppress other women but that’s a story for another day.

This was not making love, this was straight fucking as he went down on me with his

tongue making circles where it mattered most and I must admit I orgasmed twice

before he even came up for breath! I loved this! This is how a man should handle

me. This is how I wanted it. Not the sissy way I had become accustomed to. I felt like

the forbidden fruit and I loved it. I loved the danger of the moment and the power of

reclaiming my body. I loved the independence of the moment and just being able to

feel young and carefree I again. I pulled his head into me holding him into place just

to hold him there a while longer. Finally the moment of truth came, fine it wasn’t the

first time we had done but every time felt new and fantastic. He penetrated me with

such force my sub conscience screamed hallelujah! I thoroughly enjoyed it. I clung

on to him for dear life as though I owned the very breath he breathed. It was warm

and steady and I could smell a bit of mint in it. Its not like waking up next to someone

in the morning and they want a quickie before work. It was well thought out and I

loved the effort. When we were done and I was putting on my bra my phone rang.

He turned around and asked, “Is that your husband” and casually without even

panicking I said yes, he was early today. I picked up the phone and my husband
asked what was for dinner and if he should bring anything. I told him nope I was

going to cook but dinner will be late so I advise him to bring a snack or two. Its Friday

after all so it will movie night. I told him that I loved him and he quickly said I love you

too before he hung. Funny enough, I truly meant that.

I think every little girl grows up wanting to get married to a big strong handsome man

who will love and protect then have many kids together like in the fairy-tales. Even

girls who grow up in single parented homes have similar dreams and it just depends

how long that fantasy last because some catch on to the reality of love and

relationships faster than the others do. Not everyone ends up on the alter, most if

you are lucky is a job, two kids and two different men paying maintenance. Lucky in

that these bastards need to be dragged to court to pay for their kids. Every woman I

know starts off by completely trusting her man, we are just built foolish like that, until

he does something where we make the excuse that he is a man so he is expected

to, turn a blind eye to it or pack up our bags and dump him. At some point down the

line, 28 and single you ask yourself which of those losers could you have at least

tried to make it work with?

I didn’t get married straight out of university. My name is Lesedi Hlatshwayo. I

graduated with a Bcom Accounting degree from what was then RAU. Yes nowadays

it has changed to accommodate the black people to UJ. I was 23 when I left

university and got a job at PWC. My long term boyfriend studied engineering at the

same university with me. I think he raised me to be honest because when I left home

for my first year it was like I found him waiting for me in university. We dated from my

first year, he was already a third year. He was not my first by the way, I lost my

virginity in high school like all true South African girls do today. He cheated on me

twice and both times I forgave him because to be honest I loved him dearly. I guess
in most long term relationship its a fact of life that he will cheat at some point. You

are after all not married to one another. I forgave him, we even separated but I guess

when you are destined you always find each other. We got married when I was 27

and we had been together on and off for around 8 years. In the time we separated I

dated other people so it was not cheating but it was never quite like my relationship

with Mthobisi. When I got pregnant we had already decided to get married because

in all honesty we had everything in place to start a family.

I must say I had the most beautiful wedding day ever. My parents and his parents

really stepped up in contributing to make this special day even more special. We set

the date almost six months prior but I don’t know how it happened by the time the big

date came I was already 14 weeks pregnant. At least it was not showing otherwise

people would have said it was a shotgun wedding. Nowadays with catering

companies, gift registries and digital guest books the perfect wedding is no longer

the stuff of dreams. My husband and I made sure that we included the “strictly no

children” clause in the wedding invitation card because in spite of what people think,

children do not do well at large gatherings. Did you see any children at Kate and

Williams wedding, NO? As usual the poorer side of the family complained and said

that they had no one to baby sit their kids but it was not their problem. It is neither my

fault nor problem that they decided to breed and army in their homes when they

knew they could not afford help in the house. Regardless to say, come wedding day

they made a plan.

The guest lists were done and I must say between the two of us we knew a lot of

people. My girlfriends argued that I should invite some of my exes, the ones who had

fallen away into the friend zone. It is a modern world they argued and why not. It

made sense to me because I had already attended two of my exes weddings with
my fiancé. Obviously I had not told him that they were exes just friends. I had also

attended weddings my fiancé was invited to where his link was the bride and to be

honest I had felt a bit awkward when I was there as though there was an elephant in

the room. He never said anything but when it comes to being reserved my man was

king at that. You had to prod him for him to open up at times. I appreciated the fact

that he always invited me and dressed me up for such events which made me feel

he was proving a point to whomever.

In the beauty stakes I am no slouch. I am not saying I am the hotest woman under

the sun but I know I turn heads where ever I go. Its funny how all these things

happen, before you get married you tell each other that you do not want to be a

boring couple, you will keep it young and fun and crazy. You know how they show it

in the movies. However reality is even your body slows down, you are tired all the

time and when you are a young couple it doesn’t make sense to hire a maid so you

have to cook. I know we tell each other that we are 50 50 but when you are married

its fact that you want to cook for him and clean for him. Even if he is helpful there is

some instinct triggered in you that this is my man so why should we have a roster!

Mthobisi to be honest was not lazy and he helped but I just didn’t want his friends to

show up and find him in the apron.

I was on an upward trajectory at work. On this day I was sitting in on a presentation

by a company that did alternative energy. One of the presenters was an ex university

mate. I was not really friends with him but funny enough seeing him again actually

earned him a hug. He was clearly doing well because this was a big company and

for him to be here meant that he was somewhere. After the presentation he asked

me for drinks and because my hubby was away for three weeks at some mine I
didn’t see why not. I had been stuck at home for so long I needed to breathe and

besides, it was harmless.

At dinner we spoke a lot about old times, linking faces and people we mutually knew.

It was good fun. He was not married but dating and kept on saying that marriage

turns women frigid and they forget that they were born alone and not born to please

a man. I found that arrogant and ignorant but for some reason he made sense! I had

lost my identity into my husbands. Its not that I missed the old me but being made

aware just made me feel weak. He did not hit on me or anything but it hit home.

I should never have had drinks with him! Across the table was where we were eating

I saw Sizwe who was my husbands promiscuous friend and he was with yet another

new face.

He had already seen me and I swear he took a picture of us because it was his flash

that drew my attention to him.

My husband was calling…

I am not a liar by nature. I have always been caught out each time I tried to do it so I

figured either I was a bad liar or I could not carry a lie… Or at least I thought. I

decided to go with the truth and told him I was with Mfundo we attended school with

him. At first it took him a while to figure it out who Mfundo then it hit him. He

remembered him and exclaimed surprise as to what I was doing with him. I

explained that I had left him a message saying I would be going out since he had

been underground. I also told him how Mfundo’s company had been doing a

presentations at my work place that’s how we had met and decided to catch up. I

also included that we were in a group and Nkululeko Nkutha was there which was
also true. Nkulu had been friends with Sizwe for a while even back then and

seemingly their friendship had extended to business. We knew them through Katlego

who at some point was my flatmate and this was her crew. He said I must tell him

when I got home and not to forget to water the pot plant because it was wilting! Yup,

that is what he said! Pot plant. Don’t even think that he had green fingers for I had

never seen him once water it but because I was now the wife it was my job.

The evening was very pleasant to be honest and I had so much fun. Its good to

catch up. We spoke about everyone we could remember, Lynn Fester, Sanchia Van

Staden, Nthabiseng Mokwebu all old friends from back in the day. Most people were

still unmarried but kids were starting to pop in. The thing is when you are young and

working, if you get pregnant even to a loser, you keep your baby because you can

take care of your baby. At work alone if we could form a single mother union they

would overthrow the company shem. I therefore was considered lucky to have a

husband. It is weird hey when you think about it, most girls in their mid twenties at

work start to compete to get married. November especially is a nightmare for the

singe middle 20s because its wedding season and the pressure just mounts. Even

their boyfriends don’t want to take them to weddings anymore because the hints get

louder and louder. I think with me my marriage was already spoken for in university.

We were that couple that everyone thought was going to end up together. My

husband, Mthobisi, graduated before me meaning he went to work before I

competed. His first job was in Secunda. Settling for him was not the easiest thing

because he called everyday saying how he hated this place without me. Then the

calls started to get less and less. One day I visited him at his place in Secunda. I did

not go there often because I was now doing my PGDA so I was quite busy. When he

had gone to work I did what any self respecting girlfriend would have done, I
searched his house for signs of another woman. I don’t think I was really surprised

when I found a woman’s overnight bag at the back of his wardrobe. I can see he had

tried to hide them. I didn’t have money to leave so I put the bag at the entrance of

the door. It will be the first thing he saw when he walked in the house. Needless to

say we had a huge fight in which I demanded to be taken back to Johannesburg

there and then. Eventually we settled on the following morning and I slept on the

couch. Told him I was not going to sleep in the bed he had been sleeping with his

mistress or had I now fallen from girlfriend to mistress? After I left for seven months

he begged for my return every single day until eventually I forgave him. It is weird

really, we can all forgive a man who cheats but we never forget. That seventh month

sabbatical from him was like an eye opener and I had my fun. I didn’t spend my time

mopping around. I was not cheating on anyone but I must say at some point I got

carried away. I did a lot of firsts. When we got back together it was not long before

we got married.

There is this misconception that the day you get married you are cleansed and are a

brand new person. If you are black you are lucky if you even get a honey moon

otherwise you take a week off work, go home then go back to work. Nothing really

has changed. Maybe the bible was right when it said no sex before marriage

because at least then you had something to look forward to. Now, you are shagging

the same man and only difference is that you have a piece of paper telling you that

you can change your surname now. You are not rich enough to buy a new house as

Mr. and Mrs. but who cares you just go back to the same flat, lucky for you if its a

house, where he was already enjoying your benefits. That’s black marriage and that

was my reality. If you are a man it triggers some instinct in you that now that you

have put a ring on her finger stop paying extra attention to her. The outings literally
dies out. Instead your conversations are replaced with discussions on the bond,

debt, kids and family functions you can’t afford to miss otherwise they will say

“Makoti wa ke pona, le gona o nagana gore o re phala ka moka.” Men don’t get it, for

a woman getting married means you sacrifice more and kiss more ass just for

acceptance. One mistake and you will be hated by his family and they have a way of

making your life miserable. No matter what you say, once your are married you

cannot say you will not involve in the rest of the family’s affairs because they involve

you. Its worse if you are married to a man who has a semi rural back ground

because they have traditional ceremony after traditional ceremony. As a makoti they

work you hard, alongside other makotis to be fair, whilst the hardest job the man do

is slaughter a cow if at all! When you then tell your husband that for the next event

you do not want to attend he makes it seem as though you do not want his family.

That was my reality! Kissing ass to my in-laws!

Mfundo was great company. He reminded me of how it felt like to be young and

carefree. University had been the best years of my life. I had so much fun and grew

up a lot whilst I was there. Mthobisi back then was this outgoing person we would go

clubbing together even and when we got back together we used to go out a lot but

the moment I walked down that aisle the man just switched off his fun button! He

never said do not go out, nope, he stopped going out meaning as a wife it is not the

easiest thing to do. At times I would persuade him just to have him leave the house

on a Friday night but it was not easy. With the baby now here I guess he dug in his

heels even more.

Every young woman wants to be complimented. I love compliments. I love being told

the effort I put into gym after I gave birth paid off. I love being told that the outfit I am

wearing looks amazing or my new hair was made for me. Small things. Mthobisi’s
teeth I am almost certain would fall out if those words passed his lips. He was not a

bad guy or a reserved guy funny enough. We had good conversations and laughter

too but compliments were not his thing. Mfundo on the other hand was a flirt. He

showered me with compliments and made suggestive jokes. I was quite tipsy.

We agreed that Nkululeko should drive my car since I had a bit much to drink and I

would drive with Mfundo. I would lead with Mfundo and fortunately I did not leave far.

When we got to my place I went in through first with my tag and because the security

knew my car they opened for it as soon as it got to the gate.

He gave me back my keys as I came out. Mfundo insisted on walking me to my door

and I don’t know what got into me when I said yes. Yes we had been flirting but

walking me to my door was a bit much. It happened really quickly though and

fortunately not outside my door because I was not comfortable.

It was two doors away when I stopped. I am not sure how it happened but going in

for the hug, I allowed him to kiss me! It was not that slow romantic kiss you see on tv

but that fast, hard passionate one where his hands are all over you! As quickly as it

started he stopped, turned back and loudly said,

“Goodnight Mrs. Jumbe!”

And walked away. My marital surname is Jumbe! Was he mocking me? I was

all kinds of confused as I staggered to my apartment.

I walked into my apartment and there sitting on the couch was Mthobisi

smiling from ear to ass,

“Surprise!”
What an idiot! I was turned on by another man and I just pounced on him and

screwed my husband hard!

It is called guilt!

Problem is, in all that session, it was Mfundo I was picturing inside me not my

husband!

I knew I was in trouble!

Mthobisi asked me what had turned me on that much. I told him it was the wine and

he even said I must drink wine more often because that was awesome. Passion at

times is taken for granted. He told me that they had finished early that’s why he

decided to come home and spend time with me. I was happy to see him because

when temptation starts creeping into your life you want your man to be there next to

you. He also had good news he said. They were way ahead of schedule meaning

that he would be home sooner than I thought. I had missed him so much and him

saying that was such a huge relief. I wanted my husband next to me and not far

away. I asked him if we could go shopping the following day but he said no because

he had to go see his brother who was going through something with his wife

Koketso. Typical. Only home for a few hours and already he was running off to his

family. I needed him here saving his own marriage not saving others. I know its

selfish but i really needed my husband right now. He promised he would make it up

to me but in all fairness that joy was gone because I knew it would never happen. I

felt as though I was being taken for granted.

There is such a huge difference between dating and marriage. A lot of people of

people have this misconception that you just slide in from being a regte (main
girlfriend/boyfriend) to being a wife. When you are a girlfriend say in your mid 20s

and you have been dating a man for three years and above expectation start to rise

and usually it does not even come from you but from the people around you. Your

friends, girlfriends especially start making suggestive comments that you are next, or

how they are waiting for a huge wedding because according to them the two of you

have been together long enough to make your relationship the real deal. When you

look at your friends they are surrounded with carcasses of dead ex relationships and

it seems like misfortune seems to follow them. They even reach the conclusion that

they are cursed with bad relationships and attract the wrong guys. I believe you

mostly attract the right person but it is what you do with person that turns him to be

either so wrong or so right for you. That’s the pressure in relationships. marriage on

the other hand, first you are met with the relief of being one of the lucky ones

because let’s face it, nowadays to get a good man to propose timeously its fortunate

indeed. Then there is the engagement period, if you wait too long to evolve the

engagement into a marriage then you might just as well be single because everyone

starts to say the relationship is doomed. our man and you start fighting because lets

be fair, three years under engagement is a pretty long time. Even if you move in

together, should you get pregnant during that stage without a wedding in sight then

in layman terms, you fucked up. Then comes marriages itself, the pressures that

come with it are mostly at the beginning because even you love each other you do

not quite yet know how to address each other. Your husband now wants to be the

man all domineering and run the relationship like how he saw his father doing it

growing up and stops being that guy you used to have sex in the car with. As black

people once the wedding is over we switch off completely our old selves without

actually realizing that it was that old self that made you work so well together. I look
at other married people especially those that married whilst I was there and the

sparkle is gone.

This was definitely a tell someone moment. Internally I was panicking for I had so

many thoughts going through me. I called my best friend. She always told me I

married too early but different strokes I guess. Her name was Azanda Nduli and we

went to school together and had been friends for years. Her philosophy in life was

different. She believed she could play men at their own game and her motto was

whatever men can do she could do better. The modern woman, she called herself.

She successful in her own just not conservative in her thinking. She had never held

back her words when she said she thought I got married too early. She told me as a

young lady I should have enjoyed my money for a few years, had my fun then settled

down. She also said that much as she disagreed with my choice she would support

me fully. As soon as Mthobisi left I called her and told her about last night. She could

not believe me and wanted every detail. She said that with most marriages either

you get bored and cheat (which was definitely me) or you divorce him just to be

happy especially after you have been fighting to get off the couch!

Yes the couch, nowadays you don’t have men that do the garden, they hire someone

else. That’s good that’s employment creation but if your man can only get of the

couch to go to work or if you are lucky to gym them you have a problem. Mthobisi did

not like going to gym with me because he called it his time, deep down though I

knew it was busy he did not like the fact that other guys started at me at gym. So we

went separately and as we both had cars it was pretty simple. All he did was come

home from work and go through all the channels. I wasn’t much of a tv fan but the

man was killing me. I tried to talk to him about his addiction to soccer but it turned

into a fight. To his credit though every now and again he would suggest dinner or a
movie but if I already cook every night and am not a tv person how is that

entertaining! When we dated we did Cubana especially every few weeks, we were

surrounded by friends and that was what added impetus to the relationship. There

was never a boring moment because we always so much to talk about or rather

gossip about. Yes, no one gossips more than married people because you start to

see the world the same. Maybe that was it, I was failing to see the world his way for

it had blinders!

Azanda asked what I was going to do next. I told that I wanted to confess because I

was feeling so guilty about what had happened. She told me in no uncertain terms

that it will be end of my marriage if I do so. She told me she knew so many girls who

thought the love they thought the shared with their men will save them once they

confessed but it ended up disastrously so I should just keep it to myself. I told her

that I had no intention of seeing him again and I was happy with that decision. She

laughed and said that would be a wise decision because once you open that door,

closing is such a hard thing. I loved her, she seemed to have everything figured out. I

asked her where she was and she actually surprised me because she was at a

wedding in the Eastern Cape and not away with her new boyfriend. See, because I

married so young I skipped all this going to weddings with my friends and meeting

different people. I was shelterd and could hardly tie my own shoe laces without my

husbands help.

I had a few groceries to do so decided to go to Pineslopes which is behind my place.

Wifely duties I guess. I love the Spar there they always have the freshest of

everything.
Whilst I was busy in there I got a call from Cindy, one of the girls we work with

and she told me that we had been put on the contract to work with the

company that did the presentation. She didn’t even have to say the name.

It meant for the next two months at least I would work hand in hand with

Mfundo!

I was going to request a transfer on Monday!

The rest of the weekend I was not focused. It felt as though everyone was looking at

me as though they knew my secret. I was extra careful with my hubby so that he

would not find out about my incident. I knew he was leaving on the first flight out

Monday morning and funny enough I wanted him to go so that I can sort out my

emotional mess before he noticed something has gotten to me. Whilst we were

having breakfast on Sunday his phone. The caller I.D. said Pamela. He picked it up

and started talking to her in front of me. For some reason I felt jealous. He had never

given me a reason not to trust me but I felt so uncomfortable. I got the impression

that because I had done something then what if he was too. I mean he had ample

opportunity to do so since we were so far apart. As soon as he hung up I asked who

Pamela was and why she was calling a married man on Sunday. I think more than

anything he was surprised by my question. Usually I never ask because although his

team is small he work with different people when he is on location. He said I should

call her back and ask who she was because even he said she was yet another name

he worked with I would not believe him. I felt kind of bad when he handed me his

phone smiling and he walked out of the room. He never hid his phone but one thing I

know I had noticed was that he took special care to delete all of his chats even on
social networks. It was very off for me but I chose not to point out to him because it

would appear as though I was trying to monitor his calls.

I spoke a lot more times to Azanda. She kept on saying am panicking for nothing. I

had been telling her my problems with my husband and all his short comings in

marriage. There was very little she did not know about my marriage. To be honest

she was very supportive of me always and was always willing to lend advise. Its true

that that those who can’t do teach. A lot of people confided in her about their

marriages and she always said it was because of them that she felt marriage was

not for her. She said people have so many problems once they are married and are

often miserable or bored to death before they even finish five years together. I

looked at my own marriage and even though we were young and had a few coins to

spare I already felt like an old woman. For young people routine is the most

dangerous thing to your marriage. Doing the same thing everyday though safe

becomes boring and you get restless. Even the fights with your partner start to creep

in because of that hidden frustration. Being a wife does not make you less human for

most people believe and a whole host of things a good wife should do and not do. It

was through Azanda that I let out most of these frustrations. Having a partner in

crime however is not always the coolest thing for most of the bad decisions you

make come from the influence your friends have over you. We all have names for it,

taking bullets\watching each other’s backs you name it. However, and this is the

unfortunate bit, when you are home alone at night and you think of your last night’s

actions, you are all alone. You find that you have a lot to answer to and the guilt is

yours. That is why much as I love Azanda I did not over involve her in my marriage. I

know it was not a wise idea telling her but misery loves company and she was best

positioned to tell me what I needed to do.

When I got to work that Monday I was pretty nervous. I immediately went to see my

boss before everyone else got there. He was always early so it was a good thing too.

I told him that I could not work the account because of personal reasons. He told me

that everyone else had assigned tasks and this was my chance to catch up with

them. He said as the memo had already been sent to the other company and been

approved I did not have much of a choice lest it be unprofessional. He then told me

to leave my personal issues at home.

Cindy was pretty excited about this. She was also single and had made clear she

was looking to settle down. She said working with engineers put her exactly in the

right spot for her to get picked up. Although she was modern in most ways, she

strongly believed that a man should approach her not the other way round. It was

kind of tricky though because through her family plus work she already drove a BMW

3series which made her quite intimidating for most guys. Its a fact much as men

want a woman who contributes financially in the family they are not that confident

around a woman who competes with them at that level. It’s funny how it was not

even her money that had paid for most of her car but because of what she drove she

was already considered a powerful person. Cindy suggested that we have a meeting

with the company so we can formalize the work relationship as we were now the two

in charge of this audit. It made sense and I could not say no.

I had to compose myself. I could not run away from this as I indeed had started it. I

called my husband to check if he had arrived ok. He was still a bit offish after the

whole Pamela interrogation but he said he was ok. I really felt bad so I decided that I

should confess but only when he gets back. I told him though that I had something

important I needed to talk to him about.

Finally we went to Mfundo’s offices. He was there with his team as agreed upon. It

was so awkward to say the least. He on the other hand acted as though nothing had

happened and hardly acknowledged what had happened. We were very professional

about it and I was glad that it was over. He made no hint whatsoever that we had

met outside.

It was at the very end that I saw it. I do not know how I missed it the first time. He

was wearing a marriage ring! I am almost certain that night on Friday he did not have

it on. I was so angry with myself. I had done to another woman something I feared so

much could happen to me.

I wanted to confront him when we walked out! He was such a dog I felt for doing that.

But what did that make me?

As soon as we finished I made an excuse to go outside knowing that he would follow

me. I didn’t even hint for him to come but men are like that when it comes to

courting. In the parking lot he asked me why was I ignoring him of which I replied by

asking him why didn’t he tell me he was married. He told me that it is because I

never asked which was true but in my defence I never assumed that it would end up

in a kiss goodnight. I asked him if he wore a ring on Friday night and he said no

because usually when he goes out he does not wear it because he had once been

robbed and the first thing they went for was his ring. Liar! They go for cell phones! I

told him that from now onwards are relationship was strictly professional as already

we had crossed the line. He said he agreed with me it had never been his intention

to bump into an old friend who he never realized was so smart and beautiful. With

that he walked away. Flattery will get you everywhere! When last had Mthobisi told

me I was beautiful? It was as though he had joined a new church that did not allow
men to compliment their women. The pregnancy I think had turned him against me.

You know how we are hormonal during pregnancy, I think in from my 2nd trimester

we only had sex once till about two months after I gave birth. He loved the baby so

much and me, well things had changed I felt.

I tried to do everything right. Hardly drank and never smoked. I wanted to have the

good girl thing because that’s what we were taught growing up. Good girls make for

good wives and get good husbands. University was an eye opener for me. I didn’t

know that a woman can be an aggressor and go for the man she wanted. Growing

up I was led to believe that a good woman waits for a man to tell her he liked her no

matter how much you liked man. Azanda especially taught me that only a fool does

not follow her heart and does not go after what she wants. These were not the

middle ages where you wait to be noticed like a zit on the day you are giving a public

speech! This is how I met Mthobisi. He was with his friends and I had noticed him on

campus. He had a girlfriend at the time and much as I was crushing on him he never

noticed me once. Obviously my friends knew about my crush and would try get his

attention every time we saw him for me but you know with a bunch of girls its all

goofing around and making sill gestures. Yes we were not ladylike at all. I really liked

him though. Every morning I would pass by his lecture theatre just to catch a glimpse

of him. One Friday night we went to Stones. I didn’t drink at the time so I was

escorting Azanda and the crew. I had Coke every time we went out and didn’t mind it

at all. Stones is very close to campus so we don’t have to dress up. When the girls

saw him they declared that tonight was the night. I was so scared I recall but

because we were a group of girls and they were a group of guys it was simple for us

to talk to them. Initially it looked as though he was more interested in talking to one

of my friends Nondumiso but that was short lived for I was a girl on a mission. At
some point we switched and that night when they walked us home I got my man, we

kissed even and come to think of it Nondumiso ended up dating one of his friends

Lesiba from Mokopane. So to cut a long story short the one time I let my pride out of

the way I went after what I wanted, approached the guy that I knew was meant for

me and came back with a husband.

Most marriages are a train rack from the get go. They are built on a fallacy of what is

love and family. What’s the point of getting married and then waiting five years to

have a child. Its like planting the seed for your partner to leave the door open and

invite others in. I know what people say that a child does not fix a bad relationship

but in a marriage not having a child usually pushes your relationship into becoming a

bad one. The pressure starts off externally with people asking when are you growing

your family and for a while you laugh it off saying you are still building your reserves.

At some point your man starts asking for a baby and much as you want the baby

usually you are now getting comfortable with your career it seems like he is being

unfair. The odds as a woman are stalked against you to be honest worse so in

marriage. At times I look at first time single mothers and think maybe they got it good

because they did not get to be timed or forced to volunteer to “grow” the family. As

women we see love as this all defining force and are naïve enough to think that our

men see it exactly the same way. Mine wasn’t. We had already gone through a lot

and were very close. We loved each other’s company and had fun together. We

used to go out and visit friends even when I was pregnant. During the engagement

stage I was the most loved woman in the world and yes even Andiswa said I had it

good. My girlfriends would come over a lot, Nondumiso included and tell me how

much they envied me. Nondumiso had recently gotten born again so she was on that

tip that she was going to get a brother from church to marry her. Fools gold I call that
but we were happy. Then came the baby. Its like overnight my loving husband forgot

what affection for his wife was. He made me even jealous of my baby. At some point

we decided that we can’t stay in an apartment forever and needed to put in extra

shifts. My mother and his mother competed as to who would stay with the baby and

my mother won. There was so much love. So we were back to being the two of us

only difference was now we had so much work. He started traveling a lot.

His statement had made me feel beautiful again. Its funny really because it’s not like

I didn’t know I was beautiful but having someone else point that out just makes it

seem ten times more real. I couldn’t stop blushing. On the way back to the office

Cindy asked me why I was so happy but I denied it. She said she could see a

sparkle in my eye she could swear was not there in the morning. I just joked and said

she was seeing this.

In the parking lot at work Mthobisi called and said that there had been a

problem at work meaning most likely they were not coming this weekend as

now they was a delay. I reminded him that we had plans and he told me that I

will have to put them on hold because he was doing this for us. I did not want

to fight with him. I said ok and hung up. i was gutted.

My boss, Andile was waiting for us in her office when we got back. She said

she was pleased with the work we were doing and this was definitely a good

line to be in for promotion.

She asked me in front of Cindy if I still wanted to be shifted like I had asked in

the morning much to Cindy’s surprise.

I said No!
Its weird how when a woman speaks about why she cheats or cheated all other

women accuse her of justifying cheating. Not one sits down to look at the

contributing factors that led you from saying I do to your husband to saying yes

please to another man. Men don’t need a reason, as long as it has boobs and opens

its legs its fair game! That’s usually true. With us, instead of advising you all they are

good at is bashing you for trying to get a bit of freedom back into your life. Women

hate other women in such a way that even if they see your reason as long as you

have breast like them you are some sort of witch which must be vilified. The very

same women towards their divorce will cheat on their man and say “just wanted him

to get a taste of his own medicine and I really enjoyed it!” Double standards to say

the least because your girlfriends will justify it with you as they now have a collective

hatred for your soon to be ex husband. That’s the only time other women stand with

you, to celebrate and cheer on your soon to be dead marriage. We love downfalls

more than anything else when it comes to other women. I am not being cynical. If a

girl fixes her hair better than how you did yours, yes you will compliment her but tell

yourself it will probably look better on you. This therefore means when it comes to

cheating usually you have no one to ask or dissuade you without fear of being

judged and gossiped about by your confidante. It would be nice to ask another

cheating wife how the hell they got into that space and how to avoid temptation. You

can’t ask someone who is not married to fully understand the pressures of marriage

for they have a romantic and such a childish view of what marriage is. With that said

much as I loved Andiswa and all her theories on life and relationships she was out of

her depth here.

In the canteen sitting with my other colleagues for some reason the topic on

everyone’s lips was cheating wives. It almost felt as though they knew what I was

going through. With women when we are in a group we all hate mistresses and

cheats. We are vehemently opposed to them and in discussions we wish such

women the worst. Advaita spoke the most. She was an Indian woman from Ixopo

who was usually very vocal about such things. She was not your typical sari clad

indian but more of these modern ones and dated white guys as well. It was very

interesting hearing her views because stereotypically you would expect her to hid

behind culture and traditions. However she was more of the view that whilst divorce

was a means of last resort if he cheats first time you forgive him, second time you

make him suffer for it and third time is when you consider divorce. She kept on

emphasizing that once you have a family your first resort should never be to pack

your bags and leave. It’s so weird because I would expect to hear that from the black

girls. They were of the opinion if it cheats it must walk. Is that not the view though of

most of these young professionals who now because they have a degree and a car

they think they know more about marriage and tradition. Through thick and thin

means very little now to these new young professional for if the going gets tough

dump each other and go looking for greener pastures. That’s how fickle marriage is

today. Advaita had been married now for eight years and she seemed to know about

the pressures of marriage. The woman had theories for days and she seemed quite

open to talk about it. We all knew when her husband was in trouble because she

would vent it out but what I noticed is that she never ever spoke about any other

people. I knew people confided in her so that means she must be very discreet.

Every office has an agony aunt I guess she was ours.

I was not really close to her but I really needed help and some solid advice. I

cornered her at the end of lunch when all the other ladies stood up to leave. She

laughed at me but in a supportive way the moment she knew what this was. She told

me that she always thought I was so settled and happy but I told her that when you

are married that, that is the image you portray to the world so as not to be shamed. I

told that my case was different because my husband was neither cheating nor

abusive though he was never present. She laughed at me again and said that was a

fallacy, most women don’t cheat because he was cheating too nor was abusive.

Most women cheat because of the neglect and emotional unavailability of their

partners. The thrill of a one night stand is that you can do whatever you want with it

and spit it out when you are done but a husband you have to nurse love and care for

him even when you think he does not deserve it! She said it was worse if he wasn’t a

talking husband because you can never fully express your problems and desires to

him because you are never sure when he gets you or not! She reminded me that I

was not a school girl so I shouldn’t get lost in stupid school girl fantasies. No

relationship is black and white, there is always a shade of grey you all have to

manage. My marriage was important I need to spend as much time as possible with

my husband she reminded me. That’s the best way to fight temptation There it was

again, spending time! In today’s world you take a job anywhere just to make ends

meet. It’s not like I did not want to be with him. She said we would speak later as

lunch was over.

Now that we had a new project of our own, Cindy and I were moved from a cubicle to

an office. On my way there I had to stop by a friends to pick up her baby showers

invitation. She had been trying to get me for a while but for some reason we kept
missing each other. And yes, the baby daddy bailed the moment she got pregnant so

she was yet another statistic. Yay, lucky me for being married!

As I entered our new office I found Cindy sitting talking to someone.

It was Mfundo!

He was always here but where was my husband?

Cindy was smiling from ear to ear, desperation will turn a saint into the biggest sinner

I tell you. This girl was so desperate to settle down she would marry a tree if it

proposed. She is the sad tale of so many women that I know that think with marriage

they will become whole. I walked in and asked if everything was okay, Cindy gave

me the ”you are messing with my vibe look!” I ignored the look and focused my

attention on Mfundo who looked like a fat kid caught stuffing cookies in his mouth.

There is one thing that we women need to realise about married men who flirt with

you or sleep with you. You are not the only one so you have no right nor claim over

him, he is not yours! It is like when you borrow a book from the library no matter how

much you protect from getting lost or getting damaged it is not your book. You still

need to return it so when you see someone reading the same book you read you

have no right hating on that person because it was never yours in the first place. But

this book was beginning to confuse me. Was that jealousy that I was feeling?

Okay I know what you thinking, I’m a married woman who should be worrying about

her husband and not someone else’s husband but hey he kissed me so that had to

mean something was going on between us right? I know I should not have some

thoughts but I am human and I had to have the busiest husband in South Africa if all

Mthobisi was telling me was true. The man was busier than a taxi driver from Soweto
on a Monday morning and even then that is an understatement. I was starting to

believe he did not want spend quality time with me. Mfundo put on his fake smile and

said he had come to brief both Cindy and I but heard I had gone to lunch so he

waited for me. He had some paperwork that he needed us to go through. I sat down

and we got to work and I was beginning to forget about my confused feelings and

emotions. Work is the best distraction especially when you don’t want to think about

your problems. I was about to stand up to go get some water when my eyes locked

with Mfundo’s who was sitting across from me, I tried to look away that’s when he

winked at me, I could feel the blood rushing through my body, what is wrong with

me, I ignored the wink. I looked at my phone and asked if anyone had noticed that it

was 18:13 and we were probably the only ones left in the office. Cindy suggested we

stick around till 19:00 as we still had a few things to go through, I agreed since I had

nothing to rush home to with Mthobisi gone to some mine. I excused myself to go to

the bathroom.

As I finished washing my hands in the bathroom Mfundo walked in before I could ask

what the hell he was doing here he pushed me into one of the cubicles and started

kissing me, this man was really something. He started untying my blouse and

fondling my boobs and I was enjoying every guilty second of this, he unzipped my

skirt and pulled it down as he was about to take off my panties we heard the

bathroom door open we both froze. It was Cindy, she called out my name I wasn’t

sure if I should respond or keep quiet, I kept quiet, she called again I was starting to

panic now, I could just imagine the office gossip all the women calling me a cheap

whore who got screwed in the toilets, I responded I told her that I think my lunch was

off because now my stomach is running. This didn’t make sense since my lunch was

6 hours ago but like I said before I am a terrible liar. Cindy didn’t care though she
came to talk and couldn’t be bothered with the fact that I had said my stomach is

running and the bathroom was going to be smelling. I pointed to Mfundo to stand on

top of the toilet so his legs don’t show under the door.

I started getting dressed. Cindy started telling me how happy she is that we are

working with Mfundo and she really thinks that he is a great catch and they had

connected this afternoon while I was on lunch. She asked if I could give her any tips

on how to make Mfundo realise that she was a perfect catch, Mfundo was laughing

himself silly, I had to put my hand over his mouth for the sound not to come out. Men

can be so stupid, I told her I didn’t know him that well, she said Mfundo had

mentioned that we were in the same Varsity, I told her that we were not really friends

back then which was true. I told her that we will talk when I get back to the office as I

really needed to finish doing my number two but she just kept yapping about how he

would make a great husband and the fact that his bank balance must be really

healthy seeing that he drives such an expensive car so they will complement each

other. This girl wasn’t going anywhere I finished dressing, flushed the toilet wetting

Mfundo’s shoes in the process and got out the cubicle making sure I close the door

behind me. I washed my hands again with Cindy right next to me making plans for

her and Mfundo’s first date as we left the bathroom and got to the office I couldn’t

take it anymore and I burst out and said Mfundo is married. That was enough to shut

her up for a few minutes till Mfundo got back.

I was not trying to be mean but Cindy needed to take a hint. We worked for the next

half an hour in silence at exactly seven o’clock Cindy said we should leave. We all

packed up and left as we got to the parking we all said our goodbyes. I drove home

when I got to the gate I wished I had bought myself some takeaways as I was in no

mood to cook for one person. Inside I grabbed some fruits, called my hubby who told
me he had a rough day and was already in bed, he reminded me not to forget to

water the plant again. I rolled my eyes and said I won’t forget. What was with him

and this damn pot plant! He said he loved me and we hung up. I was so exhausted

as I just sunk into the couch and flipped through the channels. I lost track of time. My

cell rang there was someone at the gate, in our complex when someone drives in

and they press your house number at the gate it rings on your cellphone, I answered

and security said a gentleman by the name of Mfundo was at the gate, my heart

skipped a beat. What was he doing here? Why on earth had I let him drive me home

that night because now he knew where I stayed? I told security to let him in. Security

guards talk eish!

Like I said before this was all new to me and I thought cheating was done in hotel

rooms, toilets, parking lots and not in your marital home. I smacked myself and in the

head and said “Lesedi what are you doing?” But wait, I had not invited this man to

my home, I had not asked this man to kiss me and I certainly didn’t ask him to follow

me in the bathroom. I heard a knock and first went to the mirror to go fix my hair and

straighten my skirt and blouse then I went to open the door. Mfundo the fool was

standing there with the biggest grin in his face. I told him that my husband was in the

bedroom so whatever he wants better be work related. He told me that Cindy had let

it slip that my hubby was out of town for a couple of days. Damn that Cindy and her

big mouth. He came in and made himself comfortable on the couch. He asked if

anyone had told me how beautiful I looked today, I smiled and said no. He started

telling me how looking at me just turns him into this horny teenager who would just

like to reap my clothes off and screw me like I have never been screwed before. He

started telling me how perfectly shaped my boobs are and how he couldn’t get them

out of his mind and as he was driving home he just had to drive back just to get a
glimpse of those beautiful boobs. He told me how smooth and soft my lips are and

how kissing them feels like he is sucking the most juiciest mango. Shit dammit all

this dirty talk was getting my panties wet. My body was betraying me, I didn’t want to

be made horny by another man’s words, that’s my husband’s job but hey, the flesh is

weak. I grabbed him and started kissing him, took his shirt off then started removing

his belt, opened the zip of his pants, pulled the pants and underwear down and I

went on my knees and sucked his magic stick like a hungry prostitute whose next

meal depended on that suck. What had happened to me? I am a decent woman and

this was not me! He started groaning and moaning from the enjoyment as he was

about to climax. I removed his stick from my mouth and led him to the couch. I asked

if he had condoms with him he said no he didn’t bring any. I stood up and told him

that I can’t do this, I grabbed my gown got dressed and told him that I’m sorry but I

can’t do this especially without condoms.

I felt something tickle my leg. I have this huge fear of spiders and that thought

made me jump up into the air into Mfundos arms but there was no one there. I

hit the floor hard. Guess what this had all been a dream. Ag this man was a

demon he had gotten under my skin. I laughed at myself though for having

such a dream. Married women do not do that.

As I switched of the TV my cellphone rang for real this time. It was security

and they said they had someone at the gate.

It was Mfundo!

I had to make a quick decision on whether to let him in or not. The problem is in a

security complex like mine people end up talking. The shorter the time he spent at
the gate the better it was for me. What did he want? I definitely was not going to give

this man my honey. I had entertained this fantasy long enough. I was just going to

have to wait for my husband and stick to my for better or for worse. What was wrong

with me? I will tell him that as soon as he got upstairs. No more playing games I

concluded. Even then I found myself tidying myself up so I looked decent. I was

relieved I had chosen to wear proper pyjamas not the ones I had bought to keep

Mthobisi eyes on me. Not that he noticed. I think he had become so used to me he

no longer so when I was making an effort to look sexy for him. Oh well, its life.

He walked in like a kid in a candy store thinking that he was so going to get some! I

asked him very coldly what he was doing her and said that he could not sleep

without seeing me. I told him straight up that I did not want him coming to my place

anymore because he was disrespecting my home, me and especially my husband. A

man does not build his castle only for his wife to allow thieves to come raid it at will. I

don’t care who says what when you have an affair and no matter what a loser your

man you must still have respect not do it in his house and in his bed! Like come on.

He could see I was serious but e was not getting up to leave! He asked what had

gone wrong between the office a few hours ago and now? I told him that everything

had gone wrong. We should never have been doing this in the first place. Have you

ever seen the look on a mans face after you deny him ‘cake’. It is similar to that of a

puppy seeking your attention. its sorrowful and desperate. He asked me for water so

he could leave. He specified lemon water. Irritating bastard. I might as well give it to

him so he could leave and I could cry my lungs out. The guilt was killing me.

Mthobisi did not deserve this. For better or for worse I reminded myself yet again. I

stood up and went to the kitchen. I hate cutting lemons because the scent stays on
your fingers but I did not mind. I was doing the right thing. As I was cutting the lemon

something distracted me. Mfundo stood up too suddenly and I lost concentration for

just one moment cutting myself in the process which made me whelp. Is that even a

word! he ran over to check it out but he did not do anything lecherous. We put my

hand running water and it stung like hell. Serves me right! The wound was a bit too

deep. He asked if I had band aids and I said no. A black woman’s medicine cabinet

only has Panado or Grandpa if you are lucky and that’s if she even has one. He said

he must go get one at the garage lest it gets infected. Good idea.

He picked up his car keys and rushed out. When you are married its nice to have a

man in the house. When there is an emergency you can always send him around.

Where was my husband I really missed him and needed him right now. I was dead

set that I would not do anything silly at this stage. It was not 5 minutes later my

phone rang it was security Koketso was at the gate. Koketso is my husband’s

brother’s wife, shit I didn’t know what to do, security had already told her I’m home. I

told them to let her in, I dropped the phone and called Mfundo on his cell phone, his

phone rang on my couch I picked it up the bastard had saved my number as “Mandla

Golf Coach” but what did I expect, he couldn’t exactly save it as ”the woman I’m

about to screw” okay I would worry about that later I had a situation in my hands

which I needed to deal with fast. I switched Mfundo’s cell phone off in case his wife

called or anyone else for that matter. How would I explain the other phone ringing to

Koketso. I then went to open the door just in time for Koketso to throw herself in, this

woman was not looking good at all. Something was wrong. She dressed like she was

going for a jog, I had never seen her looking so disheveled for she was always prim

and proper. She came in and started telling me how she suspects that her husband

is having an affair he’s been coming home late and always had late meetings and
work gateways. She told me she was moving in with us until she figured out what to

do. Wait, what? I was sure I had misunderstood the moving in part as I was about to

ask her to repeat my phone rang, shit it was security Mfundo at the gate.

Shit was about to hit the fan, if I was white my face would have turned red but thank

God for the black skin that shows no emotions. I knew if Koketso suspected that I

was cheating she would spread it to every member of Mthobisi’s family just to score

points and I would never hear the end of this. I had to think fast but my mind was

blank I couldn’t think of a lie, excuse or story. Let me give you a background history.

Koketso is married to Tshepang who is Mthobisi’s older brother. Tshepang is one of

those guys that have always been and will always be players. He works in a factory

as a Supervisor, women love him, why I have no idea and he is not good looking at

all! Maybe it’s the fact that he is in a high position you know what how power will

make the ugliest person look like Brad Pitt. I will give him one thing though he is a

sweet talker, he is extremely charming, he can say the most sweetest things to a

woman. I have heard him a number of times smooth talk ladies and the brother has

skills. In his defence though you have to be good at something if you looked liked

him and a sweet tongue is not a bad place to start. You just can’t be a disaster on

everything, come on now. Tshepang had a lot of girlfriends before he got married to

Koketso, every weekend when Mthobisi and I would go out if he invited Tshepang he

would show up with a different girlfriend. He was just one of those guys and no

matter how many times I complained to Mthobisi that I didn’t appreciate his brother

introducing him to so many different girls, Mthobisi would tell me that his brother is

old and he can’t tell him what to do with his life. Irony is when Mthobi decided that he

wanted to marry me, his parents felt that Tshepang should get married first as he is

the oldest so since Koketso had told him that she was pregnant with his child he felt
that she was he would be doing the right thing by marring her. They got married

traditionally because Tshepang said he couldn’t afford a white wedding, Koketso

didn’t care as long as her title was now Mrs and not Miss, women and marriage.

Koketso was already in her 30’s so she was fearing that her biological clock is ticking

and if she didn’t trap Tshepang, yes I said it, trap because her falling pregnant with

his child was no mistake it was a well planned trap. As a women we all know once

you get to thirty years and you are not married or are not in a Vat ‘n Sat relationship

you start to worry “what is wrong with”? “when will I find the right guy”? “My biological

clock is ticking, what if I can’t have kids”? Those are just the questions from yourself

then you get your friends and family asking you the same stupid questions adding on

the pressure. What is worse if you don’t have a child already, they will be telling you

about your bones becoming hard as you grow older and that you will not be able to

push a child out. Maybe someone should remind them about the Caesarean where

they cut the baby out and you don’t have to worry about pushing, but when you are

in that situation all your defence levels go down. Every stupid little thing they say

make sense and you start questioning and doubting yourself. I guess Koketso also

felt that time was against her and she had to trap Tshepang with a baby or lose him.

Her plan worked and she got herself the worst husband in the world and now she

was my sister in law!

I told security to let him in as I walked out with his phone. I figured I should

meet him halfway so I could explain that my sister in law was there. When I got

to the stair case and walked down I only noted when I got downstairs that he

was not there. My building has two staircases on either end. Normally I use the

same staircase but at times when some fool takes my parking and I have to

park the other side I take the other stair case.

I bolted back up the stairs at such pace you could have thought I was in the

Olympics. When I got there my door was opened and standing in the middle of

the dining room were both Koketso and Mfundo.

As soon as I walked in Koketso said,

“Why does your friend just walk into Mthobisi’s house without knocking? Its

rude!”

I should have realized he would do that as obviously was expecting him. How

could I tell her that I was expecting a man at 11pm at night.

This looked bad!

A married woman cannot get male guests so late at night. It is not about being

modern nor is it about trying to be a suburban wife! She was right in asking what was

he doing in Mthobisi’s house so late at night. As I was stuck to answer I looked to

him for help. He immediately stood in and said that he did not have a choice but to

come this late because he too needed someone to talk to. He lied and said that

when he got home he found his wife with another man and now he needed someone

to talk to otherwise he would kill himself. Misery loves company I tell you.

Immediately Koketso became concerned about his well being. She asked how he

had handled it and he said he had beaten them both of which Koketso said that he

had done the right thing and must actually go back and get seconds. She was so

fascinated by this man in pain something not foreign to women. When a man is

going through something like this and he asks for a woman’s opinion nothing makes

more happier than for us to give our all to it.

I don’t know how it got there but at some point we opened a bottle of wine. Maybe

we felt alcohol allows you to open up more I don’t know! The problem with making a
lie like this is that eventually some day it will come back to haunt you especially if the

two parties meet. I must emphasize that part. For that moment the thought was to

get away with murder. As fate would have it his wife called, Yes his wife. He

immediately stood up and went outside to talk to her. Koketso was saying how she

hoped he dumped her because he was such a good man. If only she knew! My heart

was beating so hard and I could feel the pee about to come out, Koketso was in the

kitchen pouring wine. I went to the bathroom, I said a little Thank You Prayer and

came out. I had a glass of wine with Koketso and all I could think about was how

close I had come to breaking my vows to my husband, how I close I had come to

cheating on the man I swore to love forever, how close I come to destroying

everything I had. I love Mthobisi with everything that is in me and at my age to have

a man who loved me like he did and to be married in this society that no longer

believed in marriage I was very fortunate and I was not about to blow that over some

stupid fling. No way in hell was I going lose my husband and my kid for a silly little

fling with a married man. I have heard too many stories of how married men are too

weak to leave their wives. A married man will promise you heaven and earth but he

will never leave his wife for a side-chick, I was not in any way fooling myself about

Mfundo. I am very committed to my husband and I have no desires of leaving him for

any other man. Fortunately he realized that staying too long will only trap him further.

He said he had to get home. He had to find a way of dealing with this. Mfundo was

such a good liar and that is not a trait attractive in a man. Koketso bought it. For a

while after he left all we discussed was him. She even asked me to call to check up

on him but I refused because what if someone else picks up. I was so scared!

After finishing a bottle of wine and talking about our husband’s family and their

drama Koketso and I decided to go to bed, we had 3 bedrooms so she was sleeping
in the guest bedroom the other room we used it as Mthobisi’s office. After what felt

like 2 hours of sleep my phone rang, I was so irritated who could be calling this time

of the night? In our bedroom I have these heavy curtains that once I pull them down

day turns into night so it always feels like it’s the middle of the night when the

curtains are drawn. I decided to ignore it, told myself they would leave a message, a

minute later my phone rang again I didn’t recognise the number this person was

starting to annoy I pressed the drop button, the same number called back again, now

I was beyond annoyed, how dare this fool disturb me in my sleep, I checked the time

it was 08:23, I love my sleep so much that I hardly ever arrive at work before 9:00,

my boss thinks I’m in meetings out of the office most mornings if she knew those

meetings were in my bed she would murder my ass. I answered in a very groggy

sleepy voice “Hello” the person on the other end of the phone introduced herself as

Pamela the lady who works with Mthobisi. Huh what did she want?

I then remembered the woman Mthobisi was talking to the week before on the phone

and I got a bit jealous and he said they work together. It’s not enough that she called

my husband now she’s calling me, this made me sit up, I was getting ready for world

war 7, when another woman calls you and mentions your man’s name instincts kick

in and you just know the bitch is going to say something crazy like “stay away from

my man” or “he’s leaving you for me” or worse “I’m pregnant with his kid” as a

woman at one stage or another you will experience “the call” you will either be

making it or receiving it. I never thought I would be receiving “the call” not as a

married woman but this is life and anything is possible marriage is no longer the

sacred thing it used to be now we have ratchet side-chicks calling wives and telling

them that they are sleeping with their husbands, trying their best to break the

marriage.
I was not ready to hear this couldn’t she wait till lunch time, I had all these

questions in my head, was she calling coz she had just spent the night with

him and wanted to rub it in by telling me he is in the shower while she’s

making him breakfast, side-chicks will do that just to spite you, get the guys

phone while his on the shower and look for the wife’s number and start calling

her and telling the wife about the night they had, it’s rough out there.

I was getting ahead of myself here, let me hear this women out. I asked her

what was this about, she said “Mthobisi and a few other Engineers went with

some miners underground in the mine this morning at 06:00 at around 07:15

the section of the mine where they were working caved in and collapsed and

we are not sure if anyone survived.” I choked.

I honestly felt like God was punishing me for all that had happened. I was such

a bad wife

I must have asked her like three times to repeat what she said because I think she

was mistaken! No, it can’t be, this cannot be. I refuse to believe that my husband has

been swallowed by the earth. I told her Mthobi is alive and she needs to tell whoever

is in charge to get my husband out of that mine. She told me that the rescue team

was already there and they were doing everything in their powers to bring everyone

up to safety. She said it was already on the news so I could check for progress . I

told her that no I was coming there and she said that would not be necessary

because I would only get in the way. I was in such a shock that I was shaking.

Pamela told me that she would call me as soon as she heard any news to report

back. With tears choking my words I thanked her for the call and hung up. I dont
even know why I thanked the herald of bad news

I got up, went to the bathroom to brush my teeth and tears just rolled down my eyes.

Again brushing my teeth was just a reaction for I had brushed them earlier. I cried so

hard that I think I woke Koketso who came into the bathroom to ask if I was okay! I

couldn’t speak, the words couldn’t come out of my mouth. It felt like if I said it then it

would be true, and this is not true, my husband is NOT dead, he can’t be dead I still

needed him. What would I do without him? I would never be able to leave without

him. What would I tell our son? We needed him to be alive. All these thoughts were

making me cry even harder. Koketso was confused but she hugged me and told me

everything would be okay, I told her I needed to be alone for a bit. It took me over

10mintes to get myself together, I washed my face and went to the TV room and sat

Koketso down I told her it didn’t matter how much of a pig she thought Tshepang

was, she should appreciate him while he is still alive. I told her how we take our

partners for granted when we should be appreciating every second we have with

them. She looked at me with an even more confused face, I said I might never get a

chance to tell Mthobisi how much I love him, how he makes me happy, how sorry I

am for all the wrongs I have done against him and how much I appreciate him. I told

her that my husband might be dead and I don’t think I will be able to live on this earth

without him and I truly meant that. Mthobisi was my life and life without him would be

meaningless. I have loved this man for as long as I could remember. Imagine it had

taken a life changing event for me to rediscover why I loved him again.

I called my mother it doesn’t matter how old you are or how you and you and your

mother fight but when shit hits the fence the first call will always go to your mother.

My mother is a very religious women, and right now I needed God. I don’t know why
this is but women love being prayed for, when a woman has a problem she will call

her friends and say pray for me. I am also guilty of this and I use the word guilt

because I dont pray as often as I should. My excuse, I work so hard during the week

I am too tired after work and during the weekend to pray. I just believe that if there is

more than one person praying for the same thing then God responds faster. Maybe

the noise coming from everywhere about the same thing annoys God and he

decides to answer fast, and I know that the Bible says something about when 2 or 3

people pray together God is there, I’m not that religious I know a few scriptures that I

use when I need motivation. My mom picked up and I told her the news about

Mthobisi and I told her that I needed her to pray with me over the phone. I put the

phone on speaker and Koketso and I held hands as my mom prayed and tears just

kept rolling down my eyes. Was I being punished for what I did with Mfundo? Was I

being punished for not going to church every Sunday and still called myself a

Christian, my mom took what felt like forever to finish praying, she finally said Amen

and Koketso and I also echoed our Amen, she told me that she would be coming

over and I needed people who loved and cared about me at this hard time. I told her

not to as I would be flying out to Bloemfontein to go and get my husband and bring

him home. Whilst I was still talking to my mother another call was coming in, it was

someone from the office, I told my mom I would call her back. I answered it was

Andile my boss, she wanted to know if she could have a meeting with me and Cindy

so we could give her a progress report on how thing were going with our project. I

told her about Mthobisi and that I needed some time off because I wanted to go to

Bloemfontein she asked what was I going do when I got there it’s not like I was going

to dig him out, this women was heartless if I was next to her I would have strangled

her. This is why she was not married and had no kids, she deserved to be alone for
the rest of her miserable life. It took everything in me not to lash back at her but I

was not about to stoop down to her level so I told her that I am taking leave, she said

she was sorry for my loss and I should stay strong, sorry did she just say loss?? This

bitch was really pushing my buttons. I screamed at her “my husband is NOT dead”

she mumbled something about denial being the first step to healing, this thing who

does not even deserve to be called a woman was patronising me. I told her I will be

off this entire week and hung up.

I dreaded calling Mthobisi’s mom, that women had a way of making everything that

went wrong in her son’s life to be my fault. She would find a way to blame me for this

I just knew it. I had to call her though before she heard it on the news, I knew it was

just a matter of minutes before the news broke out fully. Journalists love reporting

bad news, they were probably there around interviewing wives and families of people

stuck underground. The thought of being filmed and telling the world how scared you

are and crying in front of cameras just screamed attention seeking to me and I was

not going be part of that circus. What the hell are these people watching the news

going do for you? I’m sorry but some things are just too personal to be shared with

the world. I called Mthobisi’s mom she went silent for a few minutes and then asked

why was I still at home. Why was I not out there finding her son. I told her I was

preparing to leave and I was going straight to the airport to see if I can get into the

next flight out to Bloem. I could hear her cry which also made me cry again, she

thanked me for the call and told me to keep her updated. I went to the bedroom and

started packing my bags, Koketso was in the kitchen calling other family members

and making breakfast, I called Mthobisi’s cell it was off! Silly me his phone is always

off when he goes underground there is no signal down there and he never takes it

with him, but I was just hoping and praying that by some miracle maybe he overslept
and missed his shift! Again a stupid desperate thought because my husband would

never oversleep he gets up before the alarm goes off. I left him a voicemail message

I actually sang for him our wedding song .

As I was getting ready another call came in persistently. This number I knew and had

actually saved it on all my phones. Now of all times this number wanted to call me. I

had tried blocking it because I thought it was a child pranking me because this

person had never said a word to me. At some point i concluded that it had to be a

man with a lot of time on his hands. I picked up,

“Now is not the time for your games I screamed!”

The person cleared their throat on the other side and for the first time ever they

actually said something,

“I am sorry to call like this but have you heard anything about Thobi, I mean

Mtobisi?”

It was a woman’s voice actually crying and why was she calling him Thobi? On my

phone the number was saved as STALKER n capital letters!

It was not the fact that now I knew that my stalker was a women who clearly knew

my husband that startled me nor was it the fact that she knew that he was

underground at that moment as the news had not given out names that scared and

aroused my curious that moment. No, it was the fact that I knew that voice but with

all the emotions in me right now I could not place it!

Did he have a mistress?

It is a well known fact that if you are married and when a crisis happens that’s when
all the leeches crawl out of the woodwork. It is at the back of every woman’s mind no

matter how happy you are with him. The fear of that other woman. As you know it is

most likely coming your next fear is that it be someone you know. This voice I knew I

just could not place where I had heard it. Only a foolish married woman does not

make provision for a rainy day like this and I have heard some high and mighty

woman say their man will never cheat. This are the ones that end up killing their

husbands when reality comes knocking. Imagine, the bastard cheats on you, you kill

him and end up in jail for the rest of your life! Stupid I tell you! I was still going to

move mountains though to find my hubby. He was mine and mine alone and I will be

damned if this woman spoiled that for me.

I put at the back of my mind I had bigger things to worry about at the moment. I

Knew that if I got to the airport at the very least I would be put on standby on a flight

there. There is only one airline that goes there for one so it was both easy and hard

at the same time. Easy in that I knew where to go and hard in that with this accident

it was bound to be full. I explained to the black woman behind the counter my

situation and she told me that everyone makes up a story to get on a flight they did

not book for. She told me I should be ashamed for making up a story on my

husband. I could have punched her at that moment but I swear my ancestors had

never been to jail so they stopped me. Imagine such insensitivity. I swear there

should be a saying that says, “as insensitive as a South African woman!” After ten

minutes of standing there a white lady came up and that same bitch grinned from ear

to ass and told her she was putting her on the waiting list and the first sit to come out

she would give it to her! That’s how much we put white people on a pedestal yet we

all mourn apartheid! We oppress ourselves every day!

I wanted to scream at this women, but I didn’t want to embarrass myself in front of all

these people so I walked away with tears rolling down my eyes, what the was I going

to do now? I called Andiswa my boss. She had connections and if anyone could get

me to Bloemfontein it was her. She answered after 3 rings told me she was worried

sick about me for she had just heard about Mthobisi and had tried calling me. I told

her I’m at the airport and needed her to come pick me up. She told me she would

cancel her meetings and would be there in 20 minutes. I sat at the cold silver airport

chairs waiting for Andiswa with my luggage I didn’t feel like going to the restaurant

section where there are always people around talking and laughing looking happy, I

couldn’t stand seeing happy people not when I was feeling so miserable. Andiswa

called and told me she was outside departures, I went out and saw her car went to

her, she came out and hugged me. We hugged for like 5minutes Andiswa was like a

sister to me. I have a sister who is older than me but her life is a mess when we do

talk we fight so we stay away from each other and see one another on Christmas

lunches, weddings and funerals. Andiswa knew when to talk and when to shut-up

and right now I honestly didn’t feel like talking. We drove in silence till we got to my

house. I waved at the security so they could see it was me and they opened the gate

for us to go in. We got inside the house, Andiswa told me that she doesn’t think me

going to Bloemfontein would be the best idea, she told me from what she could

gather from the news report no one was allowed anywhere near the mine except for

the workers and rescue team, and there will be journalists all over looking for wives

and family members of the men trapped underground looking for stories and she

knew how much I hated being in the public eye. We sat and watched all the news

channels just to get any updates and every news station was running with the story.

As a wife nothing is more scary than that feeling of being powerless. That feeling
when you want to do all you can to help but there is zero you can contribute.

Then finally Pamela called she said 12 men had been brought up, but 4 out of the 12

had passed away due to lack of oxygen and injuries they sustained while

underground, I asked if Mthobisi was amongst those people she said she wasn’t

sure, she just wanted me to know before it got leaked to the media but she would tell

me as soon as she found out. I told Andiswa what Pamela had said then we

continued watching the news, a few minutes later the story broke that 4 men had

died from the mine. Andiswa called Mr. Delivery for some lunch, even though none

of us could eat. I called Mthobisi’s mom and told her I couldn’t get a flight out, she

told me I didn’t care enough about her son! Why was I not driving to Bloemfontein?

She went on about how she knew Mthobisi made a bad decision by marrying me, I

had no time for this bullshit, I hung up while she was still yapping. I called my mom

and told her I needed her and my son to come and stay with me. In all honesty I

needed my son with me, my son was a replica of his father they looked soo much

alike, I needed to fell like Mthobisi was here and my son was going to do that for me.

My mom said they would come the next day.

My phone kept ringing with people wanting to know the latest news on Mthobisi, my

sister also called sounding seriously worried. She asked if she should come over and

I told her not to because I was not really good company. I knew having her there

would just drive me up the wall, I didn’t mention the last part though to her, she

understood. On the news they said the rescue team at the mine was using drills to

try and get down the mine to get the men out and they would use hypersensitive

microphone, television camera and a two-way radio to communicate with the men

that were still down. I decided to call Pamela to find out if Mthobisi was amongst the

12 men, she said she was sorry but Mthobisi was not amongst the 12men that were
rescued. I didn’t know whether to be relieved that he was not amongst the 4 that died

or be sad that he was not amongst the 8 that got rescued and alive. I envied the

wives of the 8 men that got rescued at least their husbands would be going home

tonight. They would be enjoying a home cooked meal and they will be able to tell

them how much they loved them. Time was running out and I feared the longer

Mthobisi stayed down there, the less were his chances of survival. I felt like I was

going insane from the waiting. There is nothing more stressful than waiting to hear if

your husband is alive or not and you have no powers to control the situation.

Andiswa could see that I was taking a strain she told me to go take a nap and she

would answer my calls and would wake me up if anything happened, I refused, I

wanted to know everything as it happened. Phone rang again it was now after 17:00,

it was Pamela she told me that the rescue team had discovered that there was water

where they were drilling and now they have to stop the rescue team from going down

to look for the men because it was no longer safe for the rescue team. I asked her

what about my husband, she said it was now dangerous for the rescue team and

they can’t risk their lives they have to stop searching for the day and would continue

first thing tomorrow morning. I said what if Mthobisi doesn’t survive the night

underground, I begged her to please not let them stop looking, my husband’s life

dependent on them, she said it was not her call to make she was just passing the

message. I was starting to lose hope.

There was a knock on the door. I went to get it and standing at the door was

Mfundo and his wife. What the hell was he doing here? He had never told me

who his wife was because in all fairness I had never asked for I had wanted to

get into her husband’s pants. The shame that hit me on that point was

immense but it did not shock as much as the fact that I knew her and I knew
her well. Her name was Ngwako Rama-what-what I cant really recall but I hated

now as much as I hated her way back when I first met her!

Back in university when Mthobisi and I broke up as I mentioned earlier, she

had been the reason for that break up! When I came back to take my man she

had stood no chance and I remember slapping her for she was in the same

residence as me and knew he was my man. Dont be fooled by my manicures,

pedicures and expensive demeanor , I do have my ghetto moments! She was

the plaas japie she was then even today five years on. We clearly had come full

circle for here she was at my door and I was sleeping with her husband. She

hated me back then so this was going to be drama.

“I am so sorry my dear we have come here to show our support!”

She said hugging me. I gave Mfundo a death stare but he ignored me and went

to greet Andiswa who too was shocked that our client was in my home. This

was not a good look at all because Andiswa Magadla always emphasized that

we do not mix business with pleasure!

Consequences!

With THOZAMA MQIKELA

***********************************************************************

Unless you work for government where the lines are very blurry usually, mixing

business with pleasure is severely frowned upon. I knew we would I would be asked

to disclose whether I knew of the contract before it was given to Mfundo and his

company even though I was not even part of that decision making process. Mfundo

when they got the contract had not known I worked there as we honestly had

just rediscovered each other. However, it always looked bad in such a case.
Andiswa Magadla was a firm but nice woman. She was not like my other boss,

Andile the one who thought she shit chocolate. Where Andile was very proud and

arrogant, Andiswa was humble and approachable. This is why most of the people at

work when they had a problem they would go to Andiswa. Andile only wore

expensive clothes which made her even more conceited and drove a Porsche

Cayenne. She was not married but was often linked to the rich and powerful you see

in scandal after scandal in the newspapers. That did not phase her one bit though.

The alternative energy deal we were working on with Mfundo had been a brain child

of Andile and this is how I got to finally work close with her. She was not my direct

boss like Andile but a senior at work whom we were now for the purpose of this deal

taking instructions under. That said she seemed really confused that Mfundo and I

knew each other but did not say much more. She never had a chance to.

Ngwako took over the show. She started talking a mile a minute. Firstly she asked to

pray. I know most women the moment we have a crisis the first thing we do is go on

our knees and ask for help. I was not like that. It is not that I was not a believer for

indeed I had my moments but just that in the thousand times I had been in a crisis

and prayed no one had come to my rescue. Not once. I had had to get myself of

those knees then fix my own problem. My mother would then say me finding a

solution and fixing it was His work. The blood, sweat and tears were mine though! I

indulged her. A woman who does not pray is frowned upon. Even in marriage it is

your duty, not his, to take your children to church. After we prayed Ngwako starting

complementing my house and what not! What on earth did this woman want? I could

not kick her out because Andiswa was there but her and Mfundo should not be here.

We are not friends like that! A nyatsi or a side dish is not your friend and should

never be your friend. You have an agreement if there is one indeed to shag and
enjoy but that is where it should stop. We can’t be doing prayer sessions like this

come on now. She asked me for an update on my husband and I told what I knew. It

was so difficult not to snap at her. I did appreciate one thing though, her being here

meant I could focus my anger on something else other than worry about my

husband.

Andiswa saw my irritation with this woman and I think she was also quite

uncomfortable with having Mfundo here. She told them that I needed to be alone and

perhaps rest. Mfundo who had been actually very quiet during all this did not hesitate

to stand up and immediately take his leave. Ngwako wanted to stay on but Mfundo

convinced his wife it was time to leave. I do not think Mfundo knew of Ngwako and

my husband’s history. I wonder if he would have brought her with. Whether you are

happy or miserable the earth will still rotate, the sun will still come up in the morning

and go down at night, you just have to suck it up this is life and it’s not fair and no

one said it would be easy. I had to deal with serious facts now.

I checked the news again to see if there had been any new developments on the

mine and they were still running with the same story as earlier, nothing had changed.

I told Andiswa about a story Mthobisi had once told me about a mine near Sasolburg

that had collapsed with about 1000 miners underground, he had told me that the

miners were trapped in there for 9 days they were 180 meters underground, 2 drills

had to be flown in from Texas to bore through the rock & reach the miners, only

about half of the miners survived. The last rescue attempt failed despite additional

drilling power and the mine got sealed off with all those miners inside and was never

used again because it was considered unsafe. At the time when Mfundo told me I

had thought this was just a tale that miners told each other when they were bored so

I googled it and found that it was true. I had freaked out but Mfundo had told me that
this was over 50 years ago and now mines are more developed and advance with

new technology being developed every day and that made me relieved, never in my

wildest dreams did I think that my husband would be the one trapped underground. I

told Andiswa that my biggest fear right now was what if this mine also gets sealed off

with Mthobisi and the rest of the people inside, then tears started pouring out on both

of us, but Andiswa assured me that they would never do that, there would be an

uproar from all communities and all countries. Not with all the social networks

around, nowadays social networks rule everything, the last thing the executives of

the mines would want is an attack on social networks because that shit will go

international next thing you know your company is being boycotted internationally,

you don’t want to upset people especially when it comes to people’s lives, I knew

she was right after all my friend was huge on social networks. I really wished that I

didn’t remember that story because we were about to go to bed and I knew this story

would be in my head and I really didn’t want to dream about my husband being left to

rot in some mine.

My body was telling me that I was hungry and needed something to eat but my

mind was not interested. I had now been up for almost 24 hours. I couldn’t

sleep so I decided to get sleeping pills I knew Mthobisi had some in the room

we use as his office I went there to get the pills. I hardly ever go to this room

because it doesn’t particularly interest me, it’s always full of Mthobisi’s papers

and files. I walked in, on top of the table were the sleeping pills I took the bottle

as I was about to open it, something on top of the desk caught my eye.

Partially hidden as it was only a corner that I could see was a green little

booklet. It was a passport or identity document. When I pulled it out I think i

used too much force as all the paper on top of it fell to the floor. They revealed
stacks of passports’ on the table, I took one and opened inside was a face I

didn’t recognize and the name in it was Knowledge Mlabo, I opened the

second Passport also an unfamiliar face with the name Excellent Dube, I

opened a few of these Passport and they all had male pictures and strange

names. These names were definitely Zimbabwean. I knew my husband worked

with a whole lot of foreign people but this did not explain the passports. What

the hell was my husband up to?

You think you know the man you married? Most women have no idea whom

their real man is and its only at times like these that you get a glimpse of him. I

was so confused. I need good news. I needed my man to come and tell me he

was ok and that we could move on with our lives!

With THOZAMA MQIKELA

****************************************************************************

This really didn’t make sense to me, I sat down and opened the drawers just to find

something anything that would explain why my husband was keeping people’s

passports in our home. I knew for a fact that he was an Engineer and had no

business in dealing with the administration part of work so what was all this? I

opened the drawer and found forms with the details of the people in the passports

their address, telephone numbers, contact person in case of emergency etc. This

really didn’t make sense to me, I decided to stop snooping around and I’m sure

Mthobisi had a reasonable explanation and would explain it to me when he got back.

I took the pills, drank them and went to sleep.

The pills must have knocked me up because I was woken up by Andiswa who
brought me coffee and breakfast. She was really amazing. I jumped up and asked

her what time it was she said 09:30 she told me she had tried waking me up earlier

but I was too gone so she decided to let me rest. I don’t even remember giving her a

key to my place. I drank the coffee and checked my phone, missed calls from my

mom and Cindy. I decided to call my mom back I was not going call Cindy I had no

strength for anyone from work right now. My mom told me that they were on the way

with my son and that just brightened up my morning. This was going to be a good

day I was adamant to remain positive. We took the breakfast and went to the lounge

I wanted to see the news so we went through all the news channels and the story

running was that the rescue team had started at 6am and they were still busy, but

cameras were not allowed to get close so we couldn’t really see anything and they

kept interviewing the wives of some of the miners and already people were being

dramatic and crying in front of cameras. It is amazing what people would do for a 2

minute fame, people would sell their grandmothers just to be on tv. This made both

Andiswa and I laugh sometimes laughter even in the worst situation is just the best

medication. Imagine we were laughing at the pain of others when I was going

through the very same pain.

Around 14:00 my mom arrived with my stepdad and my son, I was so happy to see

them. I hugged my mom and stepfather. My stepfather is the best man in the world.

He brought me and my sister up as his own kids, this man would die for us! He has

his other kids with his late wife 2 sons and 1 daughter, I love them from a distance,

we never really got along with the daughter Linda coz she always felt like we were

stealing her father away from her. Girls can be very possessive when it comes to

their fathers my sister and I tried so hard to be close to Linda but she just kept

pushing us away so we gave up, we saw each other on Christmas holidays and that
was fine with us. His sons on the other side, Mandla and Themba were absolutely

amazing, they were true big brothers they enjoyed taking care of my sister and I and

when we were growing up if anyone messed with us we would report them to Mandla

and Themba and they would deal with them proper. My dad on the other hand was

alive he left my mom for a younger woman, you know the usual shit that men do to

women. Once you get old you expire and they go looking for a new product in the

shelf. My sister and I were so upset when my dad left, when a men leaves his wife

and she has daughters in those little girls mind you did not just leave their mother

you left the girl too, that’s how my sister and I felt for a very long time we truly

resented our father for leaving “us”. At first every night we prayed that he would

come back because our mother thought us the importance of prayer from a very

young age. As we got older we realized he was not coming back so we prayed that

the girl he was with would give him a disease that would not kill him but make him

very sick and make him realise that he made a mistake by leaving us this of course

never happened. I never said I was a saint! He still came around on weekends and

brought us toys it made no difference we would even avoid his visits and go playing

very far when we knew he was coming and come back when he was gone. One day

our mother sat us down and explained that just because our father left it did not

meant that he stopped loving us! If he loved us why did he leave then I argued? She

explained that our father did not leave us as his kids but only left her and we did not

have to feel like we were betraying her by accepting his toys or spending time with

him, she told us how much we needed our father in our lives to give us a direction in

life, she told us note to mess our relationship with our father because every girl

needs a father in their lives, my mom is such a strong women, she put her feelings

aside and made this man sound better than the monster we thought he was, but she
was right and from that day on we stopped resenting our dad and saw him as a

person and he would have father daughter weekends and visit him at his new home

with his new girlfriend it was hard and first but we gave her a chance and she was a

really nice person but not too clever, all looks and no brains but we liked her. Our

mom found Victor whom we didn’t really like at first but he was so kind and gently

and made our mom happy so we eventually warmed up to him and our mom would

not marry Victor until we were comfortable with him. I know a lot of bad things are

said about stepdad but there are really some good ones out there that don’t get any

recognition and Victor was one of them. I was fortunate to have this blended family

and at this moment I appreciated each and every one of them even Linda my

stepsister.

Andiswa made them tea and biscuit I was so happy to see my son, I was playing

with him and he was starting to talk you know one year old talk that is just gibberish

but I didn’t care this was making me happy, Andiswa came and told me that she just

saw on twitter that they had brought a couple of people up from underground, I

jumped and switched on the TV and they were interviewing one of the rescue

workers and he was saying that today was actually a good day they had rescued a

lot of the men that were trapped underground, I grabbed my phone and called

Pamela and she said she was not sure if Mthobisi was with the guys that were

rescued and she couldn’t see the guys now as they were being checked by

paramedics if they were okay but she would call me back as soon as she heard

anything. I thanked her and hung up. The waiting was killing me, I couldn’t sit I kept

walking up and down, Victor asked me to sit down as I was making all of them

nervous, I sat and kept checking my phone every few seconds. After what felt like

eternity my phone rang Pamela’s number my first words were, “Was he one of the
guys rescued” and all I heard was “Hi Honey” I screamed, it was my husband he was

alive, this was the happiest day of my life, I told everyone in the room that this was

Mthobisi on the phone, everyone started cheering we were all soo happy, I told him

my mom, Victor and our son were here. I put him on speaker he thanked my parents

for their support and prayers, he said was well just exhausted and needed to rest. He

asked if he could speak to me in private, I removed him from speaker and went to

our bedroom.

He said to me, ”there are documents in my office that I want you to take and

destroy”. I asked him what documents he told me to go to the room which he

uses as the office and he would talk me through what I had to take, I grabbed

his gym and went to the office, he told me to take all the passports, all the

forms that I had seen the night before and there were contracts on the other

drawers and he asked me to get those too, I was very confused and asked him

what was going on he told me he would explain when he got home there were

other men who were waiting to make calls to their families and he can’t speak

for long on the phone but told me that I should make sure that I destroy all

those documents “this is very important Honey”. I could hear the fear in his

voice as he was telling me this, I was starting to get worried now. What has my

husband gotten himself in??

Chapter 13

With THOZAMA MQIKELA

****************************************************************************
At times marriage is not about asking too many questions and that is where a lot of

women I feel get it wrong. Your husband can tell you that he is about to die and has

a message to give you in five seconds and you will find the woman demanding to

know when why and how? It is like we want clarity on the obvious as though we can

change it. I put everything in Mthobi’s gym bag, and stood there for a couple of

minutes dumb-struck, first of all how was I going destroy these things? I was not

even sure what these things were to be honest but I trusted my husband so I will do

as he says! I could not exactly go outside and light them up on fire these are suburbs

you don’t just burn things and moreover what would I say I’m burning to my parents?

I can’t go throw them in the dustbin what if they got into the wrong hands. How do

you even destroy a passport is that even legal? Isn’t that like illegal like burning

money? I had so many questions, I decided to put the bag in our room under the

bed, that’s the only place I could think of. This is not destroying I know but it’s getting

them out of the way, out of his office at least. I went to the lounge to go join my

parents and we were all happy and chatting.

My mother suggested we say a small thank you prayer, she prayed for like 10

minutes which was extremely long for me since I wanted to tell Andiswa about

Mthobisi’s strange request and I wanted her advice on this. Women cannot keep

secrets that’s myself included. There is a saying that my former male boss used to

say and I used to think he was chauvinistic by it. He would say “there are 3 ways to

spread news via telephone, television and tell-a-women” and when I think back on it,

he was right. We cannot keep anything to ourselves, if a person tells you a secret

and includes the words “don’t tell anyone” it is late for you shem! Never say those

words to a women for as soon as you turn around she will pick up a phone and call a

friend and tell your secret and also include the “don’t tell anyone” line which of
course the other friend will also tell to another person and within a week everyone in

your circle will know the secret. You usually hear of guys who committed a crime in a

group and one person gets caught, the guy who gets caught never reveals the name

of the other guys he was with even with the most painful torture from the police. He

will even spend 10 years in jail and not say a word about who he was with guys stick

together and always have each other’s back. With us it’s a different story, no women

will go to jail for another person, they hear the word prison and they start singing

names and revelling secrets that they were not even asked about. Its not because

we are weak but because we value self preservation above all else.

My mother finished praying, I took Andiswa to the my bedroom but when we got

there I realised that I could not tell Andiswa this not until I knew exactly what was

going on. There are something’s that you just have to keep to yourself especially

things that you suspect might be illegal. Friends will be the ones standing up in court

testifying against your ass, so I just told her how happy and relieved I was that

Mthobisi is safe. We went to the kitchen and prepared supper. We ate, I am a good

cook even if I say so myself, everybody loved the meal. Mthobisi called while we

were having diner, he told me that he was back in his room at the BnB, he told me

that since there were no flights available his company had charted a plane for them.

He would only be coming back the next morning and I shouldn’t worry about picking

him up from the airport because the company was also having drivers pick them up

from the airport and drop them home. The company was pulling out all the stops I

was impressed. Mthobisi asked if I had managed to do the favour that he asked me

to do earlier, I said yes doubtingly, he asked if I was sure, I said yes I just didn’t want

him to worry about this and that’s why I lied. He asked to speak to our son and I put

the phone in his ear and he was just talking his baby talk which made all of us laugh.
We said our goodbyes and he said he would call me before the next morning before

the flight takes off. Andiswa decided that she would go back to her house that night. I

was really grateful to her staying with me through this, some friends are just too

precious and I never took Andiswa for granted at all. I knew I was very fortunate to

have this woman in my life. Victor went to bed early and I stayed up with my mother

and son who could sense the excitement and would not sleep, my mom and I talked

for hours. My mother does not talk to me like a friend, she had made that very clear

from a young age. I might have gone to multi-racial schools and mixed with white

people who said their moms were their best friends but not in my household. Mom

was boss I was child and obedient and if not there were ways of enforcing that

obedience. Growing up! My mom was very strict, there were limits to what I could tell

her, I couldn’t share everything with her. She told me the funny stories of how my

son kept them on their feet all the time and the cute little things that he did. I was

glad that my mom was bringing up my son, she was such a strong woman and had

installed such good values in me and my sister. I hugged her and told her how much

I loved her and how grateful I was to her and Victor for everything they did for me.

We went to bed and I slept with my son in our room. Next morning at 06:00 Mthobisi

called saying he was boarding his plane and would be home around 08:00 so I

decided to get up and clean the house, I was so excited, my mom and Victor soon

woke up I guess it was from the racket I was making while cleaning and I made them

breakfast at about 09:30 Mthobisi arrived, I was so happy to see him, I jumped on

him and hugged him, I never wanted to let him go, I wanted this moment to last

forever.

We called his mom and she was also very excited that her son was safe and sound

and she said she would come over in the weekend as she couldn’t take time off
work, I was glad I did not deal have to deal with his mother. I suggested to Mthobisi

that we do a braai just to celebrate and invite a couple of people over. He really

didn’t want to but I would not hear of it, he was home safe and we had to celebrate

with our friends. My mom and Victor said they would be leaving that afternoon I

didn’t want them to go but they had things to do so I didn’t push them to stay

because I needed answers from my husband and with them around I couldn’t really

ask him questions. As soon as they left Mthobisi said he was exhausted and wanted

to sleep, I thought I should let him rest he would explain himself when he got up,

besides we had all the time in the world, there was no rush. This gave me a chance

to get my laptop and do a bit of work. I replied to emails and called a few people just

letting them know that Mthobisi was home safe. There were a lot of mails from Cindy

about work, couldn’t she handle this on her own, from her mails it seemed like the

whole project was falling apart. I decided that I would go to work the next to try and

salvage the situation. I prepared dinner Mthobisi’ s favorite meal, grilled steak, baked

potatoes and veggies while I was still making the food, Mthobisi came into the

kitchen and said he has just received a call and quickly needs to head out to Hillbrow

as there was something he needed to sort out for work and he would be back in 2

hours. He kissed me and was out the door before I could ask what business their

company had in Hillbrow, his office was in Woodmead and as far as I knew Mthobisi

had no connections in Hillbrow. I was beginning to get a very bad feeling about

whatever was going on here.

Mthobisi was back in 2 hours like he said he would be, we ate and I asked him to tell

me what was going on, what was he doing with all those passports and why was he

now going to places like Hillbrow? Everyone knows what Hillbrow is famous about,

prostitutes , illegal immigrants and drugs! I knew he was not doing drugs so if not
drugs it had to be prostitutes so I asked him if he was buying prostitutes. I had to

know because at this moment I did not know this man that I was married to, all these

secrets that and schemes that were going on right under my nose were freaking me

out. This was not the man I had known for over 8 years, this was a complete

stranger to me and I was so confused I needed answers anything to justify himself

out of this situation. He explained that the reason why he had gone to Hillbrow was

go to explain to the wife of one of the miners what had happened to her husband

who had died while they were underground. I did not believe this story, I’m not

stupid, Mthobisi is an Engineer and he has nothing to do with miners or their families,

but I decided to let it go, I was tired and decided let me just enjoy my husband being

home and let this go, I will ask him more questions tomorrow when he has properly

rested. I did not tell him about the woman who had called looking for him whose

voice had been familiar to me because I still was not sure whom it was.

We went to bed, made love, it was not earth-shaking or mind-blowing, it was

just making love. We then both fell asleep. In the middle of the night while we

were sleeping we both jumped of the bed from the huge banging at the door

and windows, the were people outside “screaming open up this door it’s the

police” my eyes almost popped out of my skull, I remembered the bag and told

Mthobisi that I had passports under our bed he jumped out of the bed and

went on his knees looking for the bag, he grabbed it out and did the most

strangest thing, he got on top of our bed and moved a piece of the ceiling and

threw the bag in there and told me to wear a gown as I was naked and go open

for the police, I did as I was told, when I got to the lounge to open the door, the

police were threatening to break the door if we didn’t open, I quickly told them

that I was coming. I opened the door, as soon as I opened the door about a
dozen cops carrying guns rushed inside the house and had torches which

they were shinning on my face and asked where Mthobisi was. I was so scared

I almost fainted.

I was shaking so hard I had to sit down, it doesn’t matter how strong you think you

are but if you have read the papers and heard the news of how police will shoot you

and then say they suspected you were a criminal you will be terrified too.

Seeing all these cops with guns in front of you, you will shit yourself. It fact, South

Africa Police love instilling fear on innocent people and make you incriminate

yourself on things you know nothing about. I knew nothing about what was going on

here, I am innocent I had to keep telling myself that, no way in hell am going to jail.

Mthobisi came out looking so calm cool and collected, he asked what the commotion

was all about and why the hell couldn’t they come during the day instead of waking

us up in the ungodly hours of the morning, big mistake on his side. Four of the cops

pounced at him, all bigger than him at that and started hitting him, slapping him and

punching him in the body. These cops were smart they were making sure not to

punch him on the face as that would leave marks. They were punching him in the

body, I started screaming. I could not just stand there and watch my husband being

beat to death. Suddenly they all turned and looked at me. I was screaming and

crying “please stop, don’t kill him”. I made sure I was not close to them, I didn’t want

to get a beat-up, some cops don’t care that you are a woman, they will beat the crap

out of you if you stand in their way. I immediately said I was calling Brigadier Matshe.

He was one of our clients so I had his number on my phone but did not necessarily

have access to him. One of the policeman grabbed my phone and looked at the

number. When he saw the number immediately he told them to stop. In that moment

I had probably just saved my husbands life from these animals.

Everything happened so fast. These were not your normal clueless yet overzealous

every day police men, you know the ones stomach in chest out ones that Bheki Cele

said must lose weight, no, these were the real deal. This was not Trevor Noah’s Sgt

Mazibuko! They had the entire combat gear and wore berets. They knocked me out

of the way grabbed Mthobisi and one of them came to me and said,

“We will call you at 8oclock to tell you which police station to come to!”

and with that he walked out. With such police you don’t scream. You don’t fight back.

I was in total shock. Once again I was losing my husband and this time I don’t know

to what. Mthobisi screamed out that I should call Thomas and I did not even know

who Thomas was. I thought it was his lawyer. The leader of the cops also asked who

is Thomas and I just stared at him. Why had Mthobisi done this to us. Its shameful

and embarrassing to see you husband be dragged out like a common criminal. You

think you know the man you married then this happens. Someone reminded the man

that they still had to search so they came back in. Those papers I had put under the

bed!

By the way these were those cops that wear berets and people call them

“Amabarete” and they are the most ruthless and brutal cops ever. If you read the

papers you will find them so I am not exaggerating. I have heard many horrible

stories about them and I was not about to get myself in the firing line. One of the

Cops who was not wearing a uniform came to me and introduced himself as

Detective Phiri from Hillbrow Police Station he asked what my relationship was to

Mthobisi. I told him I was his wife he then asked if I knew what my husband did for a

living, I told him he was an engineer. Everybody started laughing. I retorted back and

said 15 men to arrest one person who is the fool now. One of them wanted to hit me

and I told him to do it and we will see what Brigadier Matshe will say about that. He
backed off. This was starting to annoy me, what the hell was going on here. I asked

Detective Phiri why they were here he said my husband has extra mural activities

from his engineering job. He showed me a search warrant and that they were going

search the house, I asked him what were they looking for and he said they would

know when they find it. This was getting seriously scary. They started searching,

there were cops in every room, Mthobisi kept saying there is nothing for them to find.

Someone must have called Security after hearing the loud knocks and my screams

coz suddenly 2 security guards came rushing in, I swear I felt safer with Security

guards than with these damn Mabarete cops. I told the security guards that there

was a misunderstanding with the cops but we’ll let them do their work and after they

will be leaving. Security guards love gossip like house maid and they wanted to know

what the cops were looking for. I said I didn’t know and told them that there will be no

noise coming from us and that they could leave. I actually wanted them to stay and

protect us from these fools but what could security do against cops they didn’t even

have guns, so they left. While they were busy looking I went and stood next to

Mthobisi and asked if he was okay, he put my face in his hands and told me that a lot

of stories are going come out about him but I should not believe any of the stories

because none of them are true. He told me that he would make sure that we were

okay, and that I had nothing to worry about. They were not finding anything so 2 of

the Amabarette came and said to Mthobisi they will ask him this question once and

once only “where is the gold” I looked at Mthobisi, the hell were these cops asking,

Mthobisi gave them a blank stare and asked “what gold?” the 2 cops stretched his

arm in front of him and hit in the middle of his arm, this must have hurt because

Mthobisi screamed from the pain. I had no choice I dialled the Brigadiers number. I

put him on speaker and shouted that his police were killing my husband. You could
hear a pin drop. The Sgt came and identified himself on the phone and was told to

cease and desist. Thank God the man did not ask who I was.

I told them that we didn’t have any gold and that Mthobisi was only an Engineer and

had nothing to do with any gold dealings. The Detective came after hearing all this

he told me that my husband who I had been married to for all these years was part of

a syndicate. He told me that they were arresting him and I should call our lawyer

because Mthobisi is facing a very long time in jail. What the hell was this? What

syndicate? I had so many questions to ask but when I opened my mouth nothing

would come out? I knew about the passports and I didn’t want to ask too many

questions in case I implicated Mthobisi even further, I was so confused, frustrated,

irritated and angry. Oh another snag, we did not have a lawyer, I know a lot of

people join “Don’t talk to me talk to my lawyer” and “Scorpion” I have always seen

those ads on TV as a joke, I always use to laugh at the people doing the ads but

right now I wish I had joined one of them, it’s strange how you never think bad things

will happen to you until they do and you are left rejecting the decisions and choices

you made. I was so angry with Mthobisi right now, he could have at least told me to

get a lawyer that way we wouldn’t be in so much shit, who was going to get him out,

my mind was buzzing with questions and no answers. I was wrecking my brains

thinking who we could call this time of the morning, time was 02:28. They handcuffed

Mthobisi and took him downstairs to the police van, I was right behind them Mthobisi

said to me call Thomas and tell him I have been arrested. I had no idea who Thomas

was I had never even heard of that name before, I said “Thomas?” he said “yes

Thomas my lawyer”, they threw him inside the van before he could explain further.

He had a lawyer? Who was this man? I had known this man for more than 8 years

but today I was seeing a stranger. This was not the man I had married. We knew
everything about each and had no secrets or so I thought today I was seeing and

hearing things that I had never heard before about my husband. Nothing hurts more

than realising that the person you thought that you could rely on, the person that you

thought you could depend on with your life is not the person whom they have been

saying and pretending to be. This was the worst betrayal ever!!! The cops told me

that they would be taking Mthobisi to Hillbrow Police Station and if I wanted to see

him I will only be able to see him during visiting hours which is from 14:00 – 15:30.

This was it, my husband was going to prison!!

As soon as he left I went through his papers. The name Thomas appeared a lot and

fortunately it was the same number. It was quite late but Thomas picked up his

phone immediately. I told him that Mthobisi had told me to call him. He mentioned

me by name and said that I should not speak further the call might be noted. He

asked me who else was in the house and when I told him i was alone. He said I was

to take my phone and he hung up. Wait a minute, I did not give him my number.

Within a minute my phone rang and I remember saying hello with a whisper! I was

even scared to speak on my own phone. What the hell was going on? As soon as I

finished he said,

“Listen carefully for I shall say this only once…”

The monologue, for this was no conversation lasted only two minutes and without

saying bye he dropped the phone. Why all the secrecy!!! I was getting frustrated but

because I was scared for my husband I wrote everything down. I went to bed and

yes I slept like a baby! I was tired of this emotional roller coaster.

Then it hit me… Thomas was not a lawyer!

This all felt like a horrible dream, how I wished I was just having a nightmare and that

none of this was happening. I figured tomorrow when I woke this last week would

just disappear and will just become a figment of my over active imagination. I had to

sit for a minute and try and make sense of all this, nothing made sense, all this didn’t

add up. I had to find answers of what was going on and I knew I was not going get

them from my husband. I had to think like him but did I really know anything about

this man that I called my husband? Even thinking that felt so wrong. When did my

husband become this person, why had I not seen or suspected anything was I that

blind? I had cried enough from thinking he was dead this time around I was not going

cry for something that he did to himself. Where had that gap in the ceiling come from

in our bedroom? I had so many questions but when you are tired you cannot think

straight.

In the wee morning hours I was woken up by my an sms on my phone. It was an

unknown number and it said, “Call Mark on Mthobisi’s phone. Lawyer” I got up and

took Mthobisi’s phone out of desperation. This was getting to mysterious now. It had

to be Thomas who had sent this. Its funny that the police had had actually left the

phone. It was in the laundry room with the things he came with from the mine so they

had over looked it. One thing I was not delusional about was finding sms’s from his

phone. I knew my man was too smart to leave any evidence lying around. I got his

phone and luckily it had no passwords as I scrolled his phone book looking for

Mark’s number, I found them I called the number from Mthobisi’s phone it rang a few

time without an answer as I was about to give up and drop. A white man answered,

“Mthobisi for fucks sake’s it’s 3am, whatever it is I will deal with it tomorrow”, I quickly

told him that it was Mthobisi’s wife and Mthobisi has been arrested and he asked that

I call him. Mark asked if I knew which police station they had taken him to I said
Hillbrow. He told me he will take care of everything tomorrow and I shouldn’t worry

my husband will be out and those Hillbrow cops were taking chances as usual. He

said he would be at the Police Station first thing in the morning and I should sms’s

my numbers he will call me to give me an update. I agreed and apologized for

disturbing his sleep and hung up. The house was a mess, those bloody cops had

thrown everything all over the place, nothing was left unturned so I decided to clean

up and put everything back in its place, I knew going to bed would just be a waste of

time.

By 06:00 I was done cleaning up the house I wasn’t sure if I should go to work or

stay at home but I knew staying in this house would drive me up the walls and I

couldn’t go to the Police Station since visiting hours were only from 14:00. I decided

to go to work, I took a shower, put on my cream white knee high skirt, gold silk top

and a black blazer. I brushed my weave and tied it in a ponytail, but on a touch of

make-up not to heavy I did the smokey eyes so that the puff eyes would not be too

obvious, put on a bit of lip-gloss just for control and my black heels. I looked too

damn good and looking good makes you feel good, I had to try and cheer myself up

somehow and looking like you’ve been hit by a bus when you are going through hell

is not the answer to your problems. I decided I would be taking Mthobi’s Golf 7 to

work since it was parked behind my car and I really didn’t feel like moving cars. I

grabbed an apple for breakfast, my Laptop Bag and my bag and headed out, I got

into Mthobisi’s G7 I kept a pair of my sunglasses in each car. My hubby has two cars

the other being an Audi Q5 and for the first time it hit me, how could he afford both?

You know when you are in marital bliss all these things you never actually notice it. I

put on my sunglasses and hit the road. I don’t remember the last time I had been to

work so early, traffic was a nightmare! I sat on Witkoppen road for over 20 minutes,
then I had to sit on William Nicol for over 30 minutes because some traffic lights

where not working. Same shit different day. This is so common people were are now

so chilled about it, they’ve become so used to traffic its scary. The lady driving next

to me in Willian Nicol Road was even doing her make-up while sitting in traffic this

made me laugh, the guy driving behind me was reading a newspaper this made me

nervous, what if he accelerated by mistake and his car hit me, I changed lanes,

eventually traffic was moving and hubby’s car is a machine on the road, it didn’t drive

it flew, I loved it. I got to work at 08:15.

Colleagues came up to me to hug me and tell me how happy they were that my

husband was safe home and they kept asking how he was doing I told them he was

home resting. No way in hell was I going to tell them he was in jail. I couldn’t deal

with such a scandal already I had people giving me the pity look, white people asking

if my husband could change jobs because his current job was obviously not safe. As

obvious as the sun rises some of them were blaming the government! No matter

what as South Africans in whatever topic we will find a way to blame Zuma or the

government. Some said the government should have found these people quicker as

though Blade Nzimande had ever been a rescue worker! Imagine Lindiwe Sisulu with

a pick and shovel! the thought made me laugh. I told them getting a job was not

easy, there are a lot of people with degrees sitting at home and my husband had a

family to think of! What were we suppose to live on if he quit his job for safety, no job

was safe! Who to say ours was safe? Our building could collapse and we could all

die, or men with guns could come and shoot all of us? This seemed to shut them up!

I was just tired of people giving their opinions on something they knew nothing about.

Thank goodness Cindy and I had our office, I escaped to the office and checked my

mails, nothing urgent, Cindy was not coping with the workload so I grabbed some
files and started working around 09:30 Cindy showed up. She asked about Mthobisi I

told her he was at home resting and changed the subject told her to fill me in on

what’s been going on, she filled me in by 11:00 we decided to take a break and went

to grab some coffee, of course the rest of the people who had not seen me, were

again asking the same questions, this was getting tiring, but that’s the ugly side of

working for a big company. We went back to working at about 11:45 I got a call from

a number I didn’t know. I answered it was Mthobisi, my first question was “are you

out?” I thought he was calling me from a public phone. He said no and that he was

using one of the guys phone he was locked up with, the guy somehow managed to

smuggle a phone in. He begged me to come and see him at 14:00 and asked me to

bring him something to eat and R5000 cash and cigarettes, I asked what he was

going do with the cash, I had to watch what I said as Cindy was around, he said he

needed the cash for stuff and he can’t explain it over the phone he will explain when

I visit him and his last request was that I buy him these small R199 phones with no

cameras and I should put that under his food. “Say what?” I had to go outside to

make sure I had understood this last request. Mthobisi was asking me to smuggle a

cellphone for him, I asked him what he needed a phone for he said he needed to

make a few calls. This was getting crazier by the minute. He said that the food will

get searched so I need to make sure I hid it very well inside the food. I had never

been to seen a person in holding cells and I was not only going to do that I was

going to smuggle a cellphone in, what could I do, this was my husband and I did say

for better or worse and this was for worse.

I went back in the office and told Cindy that I would be going out for lunch to meet

my friend I needed to update the friend on Mthobisi, she said that was fine coz we

had done most of the urgent things, I left as I was about to reach the door, I ran into
Andile my Boss, have I mentioned how much I do not like this woman, she gave me

a fake smile and told me she was glad I was back at work the project was really

suffering without me, then she walked away. Nothing about my husband, oh well she

was a miserable person and I had smuggling of a phone to worry about.

Women are strong! Never ever doubt that. Our strength lies in the fact that we can

adapt to almost any situation and her I was in my Jimmy Choo’s about to go smuggle

a phone into a jail cell!

My ancestors I am sure where shaking their heads at this moment wondering what I

was doing but fuck them, he is my husband and I will fight for him!

The following morning I went to Chicken Licken at Rivonia Road as instructed. I

knew how much Mthobisi loved hot wings and rolls. Would I even be allowed in with

them? I then went to Morning Side Centre and went to the Pick n Pay there and

looked for a cheap phone, luckly they had a small Nokia phone for R249 bought him

that and a pack of cigarettes. As far as I knew Mthobisi didn’t smoke but what did I

know about this man anyway, nothing surprised me anymore. I went to the car and

got the wings out, I realised that getting wings was not a smart idea, how was I

gonna hide the phone in them? I had to quickly go to the ATM and draw R5000 then

drove straight to Hillbrow, I took Grayston Drive, then freeway all the way till Joe

Slovo and off-ramped. There was the JMPD, as usual after the Joe Slovo Offramp,

these cops sometimes just overdo their job and are not even creative. Change

corners to be more effective because we all know where you are and have known for

years! I was so glad I was wearing a seatbelt as I was in no mood for a bribe or

ticket. They stopped me anyway, if you are driving a VW, Golf or Polo you will most

definetly be the victim of the Metro Police. It does not take a genius to see why
criminals are now stealing the high end cars. The metros pointed them straight to

them. An officer came and asked for my licence, checked the car licence disk and

asked if I knew that my disk had expired I told him it was my husband’s car and he

was out of town so I was just using his car for the day. Shit why hadn’t Mthobisi

renewed his licence disk, now I had to put on my biggest fake smile and turn on the

charm, this was the only way shit works in Jozi, he told me he was gonna have to

write me a ticket and an expired disk is a R1000, was this man for real? I decided to

try the bribe thing, before I could even suggest it he said if I bought him a coldrink he

would be willing to forget the incident of the expired disk, I took out a R50 and gave it

to him! e actually let me go, I was relieved, R50 is better than R1000 fine, I know it’s

wrong but hey, I didn’t even know about the expired disk.

I got to Hillbrow Police Station and could not find parking I had to drive around the

block 3 times, eventually I found a parking and then a group of guys came and stood

next to my car telling me how nice my car was one of them even had the odesity to

ask if he could test drive it. I said it was my husband’s car and he was a cop waiting

for me inside, as soon as they heard cop they stepped away. I went in, I didn’t even

know which way to go, I have driven past this Police Station before but never before

had I set foot on it and I never thought I would. It was not bad looking the building

was actually good looking, I expected it to look shady and doggy it was in Hillbrow

afterall, I saw a few cops in uniform, I approached one who was walking alone, I

didn’t want to have to explain myself to a crowd, and asked him where the Visitors

needed to go, he told me to go inside and go through the door next to the counter, I

got inside the Police station there were cops siting behind a counter and writing

statements and affidavits and some were stamping copies of id’s. I went through the

door and there were a few people going through as we got inside, there was a Police
Woman who told us to write our names, surnames, id number and the name and

surname of the person you visiting, we all filled in the book and passed it on. It was

15 minutes before visiting time, she then told us that those who brought food must

forget about giving it to the “prisoners” because the state provided all of them with

food and there was not going to be any special treatments so we can take back our

fancy food, this woman was mean she didn’t care who you were she was just not

gonna take shit from anyone. I let her finished talking and called her to the side and

told her my husband has allergies and there are a few things that he does not eat.

The bitch looked at me from top to bottom and told me just because I wear

expensive clothes and probably a big shot were I worked it didn’t mean I could come

here and disrespect her job, if my husband had special dietary requirements then he

shouldn’t have done the crime, here everybody eats the same shit! Damn I had been

cut down to size, by this overweight thing who probably wouldn’t even be able to

catch me even if I was walking and she running, but I decided to leave my coconut

tendencies behind, I was in the ghetto and when in Rome your ass best be Roman.

At 14:00 exactly she started calling out names, she called 3 people at a time, there

were about 6 people before me, eventually it was my turn, I was looking forward to

seeing my husband so he could explain all this drama. In front of me there was 2

girls in their early 20’s I overhead them talking about their friend whom was always

fighting and they were here to see the friend because the friend beat-up a guy and

broke 2 of his front teeth, I was finding this to be a bit funny but I didn’t let them see

me laughing. Eventually our names were called and me and these girls and an old

lady behind me went in. What I had seen on tv about prisons was a lie, first of all you

walk into a small room and you are separated by a window that has 9 small holes in

it, you have to speak through these holes, now there is 3 of them sitting across us
and we don’t know each other and we all have to scream through this window what

we want say, to my surprise the person these girls were visiting was a girl I was sure

it was a man, what are girls turning into, going around beating-up guys and this girl

looked soo prim and proper if you bumped into her on the streets you would never

think she is a rough ghetto-chick. Mthobisi asked if I brought him his stuff, I told him

what the female officer had said about no food allowed, he couldn’t hear me and told

me to go out at the first entrance there is a gate and I should go to that gate there

will be an old cop there by the name of Simelane, I couldn’t hear the rest of the

statement that he said and I got tired of asking him to repeat himself, big mama cop

came and told us our time was up, this was hardly 10 minutes that we had spent

here but I knew better so I didn’t argue, I left the building and went to the first

entrance, this is the entrance that they use to bring in the prisoners, I figured that

when I saw Police van driving in and the gate being opened and then getting locked

again, I watched as people got off the van and where sent inside, there was an old

man who kept opening and closing this gate, I called out to him and asked if he was

Simelane he said yes, I told him my husband had sent me to him, he asked who my

husband was I told him Mthobisi, he told me to hand over the food, and to put the

money in the plastic bag that the food was on Mthobisi had already told him about

me, he told me there was a camera there and I should move to the corner of the gate

because the camera didn’t cover that angle. I did as I was told I gave him the food, I

had put the phone inside the wings, he opened the box and saw the phone as it was

not well hidden, I mean how do you hide a phone in chicken wings, it was still in it’s

plastic bag, when the old cop saw the phone he told me that this was not part of the

deal and we were going get him in trouble. I begged him to please take it, after some
time he took them and told me that this was going to cost Mthobisi, he took the stuff

and walked away. I had so many questions! Who was WE?

I was relived though that I had done my part. I walked to the car and the cop I had

earlier asked for directions came running to me and asked if I had managed to see

the person I was looking for I said yes and I thank him, he asked for my numbers,

typical man, he does you a small stupid favour and you have to thank him with your

numbers, I showed him my ring and walked away. I drove back to work, on my way

back my phone rang it was Mark, Mthobisi’s lawyer he told me he had been to see

Mthobisi this morning and that he had been in court all day so couldn’t call me, he

told me that Mthobisi would be appearing in court tomorrow, but things didn’t look to

good for him. I needed to prepare myself for the worst.

My life was about to become a nightmare!

My life was falling apart, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I went

back to work, Cindy was not there so I went through some work that she had

emailed me, I could not focus, I was anxious about tomorrow. My phone rang it was

Mthobisi, I had saved the new number that I got with the phone, he asked if I was

okay? I shouted and asked was he seriously asking me if I was okay after the hell

that he is putting me through? My intention was not to fall apart at the first sign of

trouble. I was just not handling it well. He apologized and said that he would make it

up to me. I told him the only way he could make it up to me was by coming home. He

said tomorrow he would be going to court and he will come out, I will see! Men often

try and make it seem like women are impossible in impossible situations but I say do

not put us in those impossible situations in the first place. I am a suburban wife and I

was not meant to be in such filthy places unless I really had no choice. Going to
Home Affairs for me was bad enough now I must be at Hillbrow Police station let

alone court? The thought just drained me. I was even dreading to go take the new

I.D. because of my hatred of crowds and sweaty armpit smelling places.

I told him that his lawyer called and he was not so sure about his case, he said Mark

worries too much. Mthobisi was obviously taking all this very lightly. I was here

pulling out my hair and this man was cracking jokes! I told him I was scared and

even as I said this, tears were rolling out my eyes. There are men who think

women’s tears are a sign of weakness but that is not true, every tear a woman drops

means something and stands for something. We do not shed them because it is fun

and we have plenty to spare! He told me not to be scared and everything would be

alright. I asked him what was going on? What was he doing with all those

passports’s and why were cops looking for gold in our house and what syndicate

was he part of? Mthobisi said he was keeping the passports for a friend of his,. I

asked which friend was this and he said he would tell me when the time was right. I

asked and the gold, Cindy walked in and saw that I was crying which became a bit

awkward for both of us. I told Mthobisi that I had to go and hung up. Cindy asked if I

was okay, I said no I was just tired of people asking me about Mthobisi, she told me

that I should go home and be with my husband if only she knew that my husband

was behind bars but that was just one thing that I was not going to be sharing, I

agreed with her though and packed my bags and left.

I called Andiswa and asked if I could stop by her house, she said that would be

great. I got there and she was cooking the table was set with candles all around, it

suddenly hit me that my friend had a date, and I would probably be on the way, so I

said I was not going stay for long. She could see that I had been crying, she asked if
everything was alright, I said yeah, it’s just being back at work and all the questions

and opinions from people were getting to me. She asked how Mthobisi was and this

is the one woman I cannot lie to I broke down and cried and I told her everything,

from the Passports to him getting arrested to me visiting him in the holding cells in

Hillbrow, everything, she asked why didn’t I take her with me, I told her I didn’t want

to involve her in case she got forced to testify against Mthobisi. She laughed at this

which also made me laugh, she opened a bottle of wine and poured us both a glass,

the wine calmed me down a bit I told Andiswa that tomorrow Mthobisi would be in

court. She said she was coming with me and I should not even try to talk her out of

this, I had no choice but to agree.

She being the sweet and wonderful friend that she is wanted to cancel her date and

spend time with me. I told her she would do no such, she had done so much for me

already I was not going to let her sacrifice her relationship for me. We went to her

bedroom to choose outfits for her date. I wanted to hear all about the new man in her

life she said he is a doctor, how creative! I could feel my eyes roll in the back of my

sockets. She likes him and with his hectic work schedule they hardly ever have time

to see each other and she had suggested that they do an intimate dinner tonight

hence why she had cooked for him dinner and was going to spoil him. She even had

massage oils and was going give him a massage after dinner. I had no idea my

friend could be this romantic. I was jealous, I couldn’t do that for my man because he

was stuck behind bars. The wine was going down real well, it was making me feel a

little lighter I had been carrying this heavy weight and getting drunk was actually the

best idea even though I still had to drive. I know, bad decisions often come when you

under pressure. I helped Andiswa choose and outfit, I actually just chose the shoes,

she choose a little black dress, you know how they say every woman should have a
black dress, my friend had them in all shapes and sizes. I choose cute blue heels for

her to wear that an ex who was really crazy about her bought for her in New York,

but things didn’t work out between them. Yeah you know how your exes are the ones

who filled your wardrobes for your new man to enjoy. Tough.

He left but the shoes stayed, you don’t give back a gift like that, there are certain

gifts that a woman will never give back and diamonds and expensive shoes are top

of the list of stuff that you will never get back. It will never matter even if you cheated

on her with her best friend and she hates your guts you will still not get that shit back.

Say what? If she cannot afford it on her own then she will not get rid of it. Girl power

has nothing to do with shoes and jewellery! She will hate you but the diamond and

the shoes committed no crime against her so why must they suffer, this was

Andiswa’s justification for not returning the shoes to her ex. I finished my glass of

wine and wished her luck for the date and left.

I went to Woolworths and picked up a few wines, they sell the best wines ever. I

drove home, as I entered the gate, security from last night who had come to our

place about the noise was just starting his shift he asked if everything went well last

night I told him that everything was under control and that there was a bit of

misunderstanding I then drove off before he could utter his next question, bloody

gossiping security wanted to have something to laugh at us about, well I was not

going to give him anything. I got inside, opened a bottle of wine and drank, they say

drinking alone is a sign of alcoholism at this present moment I didn’t care. I didn’t

want to think about anything, I wanted to forget. In a space of a week my life had

been turned upside down by one person I trusted, loved and believed in the most in

this world, it’s true when they say that the ones you love will hurt you the most.

Mthobisi called, this man was calling a lot now that he was behind bars, when he
was on the outside free doing whatever the hell he was doing he never called this

much, he could hear from my voice that I was drunk as my speech was a bit slurry,

he asked why had I been drinking? “Why have I been drinking? Are you asking me

why have I been drinking?” I was screaming at him, this asshole was acting like me

drinking was such a bad thing after the shit he did, I could not answer that question I

just started sobbing and told him that I was tired of being strong, I had to be strong

when he was stuck underground I almost lost my mind thinking he was dead and

now I again have to be strong while he could rot in prison for shit that I don’t even

know about. I told him how I didn’t know who he was anymore, how hurt and

disappointed I was at him. Alcohol will make you reveal your true self, if you want to

know how a person feels about you, get them drunk and if you don’t like them now

when they are drunk walk away because that is their true self. I felt I had being nice

to this man for too long and he bloody well deserved to know how I was feeling. He

apologised, nothing pisses me off like hearing “I’m sorry” when I’m angry, you sorry

for what, I told him to take his sorry and shove it where the sun didn’t shine, I was so

mad, all I was doing was screaming at him, I didn’t even give him a chance to

respond, after I was done venting I hung up the phone. He probably decided to let

me cool down coz he never called back, I went to bed and passed out.

I had set my alarm for 7, I got up when it went off, my head was spinning out of

control, I felt like death, I got up went to brush my teeth, I suddenly felt so stupid for

drinking so much last night. Took a quick shower got out got dressed in a black skirt,

white shirt and blue blazer, I couldn’t wear heels today so I settled for Levis pumps,

they still made my outfit look good, babalaaz was killing me. I called Sindi at work

told her I would be in a bit late coz Mthobisi was not feeling too well and I needed to

drive him to the doctor and she must cover for me, she said not to worry, she would
tell whoever asked that I was in a meeting, where I worked we had fake meetings all

the time including the bosses but as long as your work was done at the end no one

really cared. At 8 Andiswa was at my door, thank goodness she was driving us, all I

wanted was to crawl back to bed and sleep but I couldn’t, I had to go and support my

husband but more than anything I wanted to hear what the hell had this man gotten

himself into. Andiswa drove us, the sun was shining so bright this morning, which

made my eyes hurt, I told Andiswa that I quit alcohol she laughed and told me that I

said that whenever I had babalaaz. I called Mthobisi’s lawyer and asked him what

time Mthobisi’s court case would be starting and which court he said I should be in

court at Hillbrow court at 09:00 in Court 4 I asked where Hillbrow court was because

I only know of the police station he told me it was next to the police station, I didn’t

even know Hillbrow police station had a court but with all the craziness that went

down in that place it needed a police station, a court, and lots of Priest just walking

around throwing people with Holy water. Andiswa said she knew where it was, we

drove straight there, the court is literally next to Hillbrow police station at the corner.

We went in and found Court 4 . Its the most humbling experience to be in such a

room because your loved one is in the docks. Even the police officers there look at

you like you are also a criminal. They called out a few people before Mthobisi, the

first case was 3 guys who were charged for robbing an Indian shop. Imagine, my

husband was standing next to such lowlifes this took like 10 minutes and they were

granted bail of a R1000 each which I doubt they had by the sound of the loud gasp

from their parents who were sitting in court. Poverty is a sin I tell you and I know we

go to church every Sunday, of all of Gods trials poverty is the worst. The older

women there were crying saying that they cannot afford it. I could not help but

remember Andiswa’s shoes which cost twice that if not more.

Mthobisi’s name was called by the state prosecutor read out his charges, my

husband was charged with illegal mining, making fraudulent passports, getting

people in South Africa illegally, forcing illegal immigrants to go underground for him

and his partners. I was gasping for air I couldn’t breathe, what was this man saying?

Mark who is Mthobisi’s lawyer said these were unfounded accusation and that the

state had no evidence this was all just a word of 1 person who had a grudge against

his client. I held Andiswa’s hand tight as I was trying to hold myself from screaming.

The State Prosecutor asked that Mthobisi not be granted bail as he had access to

making fake passport and would make one and flee the country. Who was this man

they were talking about I kept asking myself, that can’t be my husband. Mark was not

giving up, he told the judge that Mthobisi had a wife and a kid and his family was

here in Johannesburg and would not flee the country under any circumstances. The

State wanted more time to get all the evidence they needed and told the Magistrate

that if Mthobisi gets out he will interfere with their investigation and might threaten

witnesses. They went on and on for over 30 minutes about how he should not be

out, eventually the judge made his decision and said they will postpone this case to

next week Wednesday and Mthobisi would remain in custody and his bail was

denied.

My world stopped.

This was insane; it was only Friday which meant Mthobisi would be spending the

next 5 days in this hell hole. Mthobisi was sent down back to his cell I couldn’t even

get a chance to speak with him. Andiswa and I walked out and were in so much

shock that we both had nothing to say. Mark came out I went after him and

introduced myself as I had never meet him before I had only spoken to him over the

phone. I asked him what had just happened in there. I was inside and heard
everything but I wanted Mark to explain this to me in simple English. He told me that

Mthobisi was facing serious charges and he would do everything in his powers to

make sure that he got out. He then proceeded to tell me that in this police station

they only kept people for 48 hours as these were only holding cells and Mthobisi had

been here more than that so I asked what that meant, he told me that Mthobisi would

be transferred to Sun City Prison and then brought back on Wednesday to attend his

court hearing. “Wait, what? Sun City Prison?? Isn’t that where they send hard-core

criminals?” I asked Mark, he said there were all types of people in that prison

including innocent people and Mthobisi will not be in the same cells as the convicted

criminals he will be in the cells of prisoners awaiting trail, was that supposed to make

me feel better because it sure as hell didn’t. I asked if it would be possible to see

Mthobisi and he said it would not be possible because they would probably be

sending him to Sun City this morning, bloody hell everything was happening so fast.

Mark said he had to go he had another court case he needed to attend to. We

thanked him, not sure what for because clearly he was no Barry Roux and walked to

Andiswa’s car, we got in and just sat there without saying anything to each other.

My phone started vibrating I had put it on vibrate when we were in court, it was

Mthobisi, he asked if I was still around I said yes, he told me that they were sending

him to Sun City I told him I knew, he asked if I was okay, I said I was fine, when a

woman say she is FINE it means she is frustrated, Insecure, Neurotic and Emotional

that’s what FINE stands for and that’s how I was feeling. Mthobisi once again said he

was sorry, my least favourite word, I told him if he said he was sorry once again I

would hang up the phone. He told me that he might not be able to use his cellphone

when he gets to Sun City as the prison guards from there were strict from what he

heard from his cellmates who had been there before. He said he will try and smuggle
the phone in and I shouldn’t ask how because it was in a very nasty way, I didn’t

want to know those details I said okay, I will hear from him whenever. He told me

how much he loved me and how he missed me and how he couldn’t wait to be with

me and our son again. I wasn’t sure if I felt the same way in fact at this moment I

don’t know how I felt. I said goodbye and dropped the phone. Andiswa asked if she

should take me home or to work I said work.

She dropped me of at work I told her not to worry I would get a lift home from some

lady who stayed in the same area as me, I had given her a lift before when her car

was at a Panel beaters so it was time for her to return the favour. I went and found

Cindy hard at work, she asked how Mthobisi was feeling, this question surprised me,

she asked if we managed to see the doctor as I had said I was taking him to the

doctor this morning, eish lies, I had forgotten about that lie, I told her he will live it

was just a small bug and you know how man can be babies when they are sick, she

laughed and said she understood. She told me this afternoon we had a presentation

with Mfundo’s firm and asked if will I be okay presenting, I told her she should

present as she had done all the work. Fuck, Mfundo was going to be there and I was

really not looking forward to seeing that man. Cindy showed me the presentation

which was really good, I made a few suggestions, at 14:00 Mfundo and his team

were seated in the boardroom. Cindy did the presentation and they threw us with a

couple of questions but we were prepared we blew them away with everything, they

were happy, I was so focused on work that for those few hours I had actually

managed to forget all the drama that was going on in my life.

Luke who is Mfundo’s boss suggested we all go out and celebrate the good work

that we had done, Cindy of course agreed. I was not keen but I had to be a team-

player and go along. We went to Tasha’s in Sandton I drove with Cindy, it was a
group of about 9 people I felt safe because I knew Mfundo would not try any of his

tricks. Drinks were flowing there was a lot of chatting and laughing. This was the life I

was used to not the running up and down in Police Stations and courts. Mfundo

came and sat next to me, he asked how was I doing I said I was great, my husband

was back home and life was good and we were both very happy. He looked me in

the eyes and told me that he could see I was not okay, he told me I could trust him I

should tell him whatever is bothering me. Excuse my French but fuck that shit, I was

not going to share my husband’s drama with this man so I can look vulnerable and

let him take advantage of the situation, hell no! I stuck to my story and told him I was

great and needed to get home to my husband. He said he would be coming this

weekend to see Mthobisi to check on how he was doing, I opened my mouth then

closed it again, I couldn’t think of any excuse so I said okay. I went to look for Cindy I

found her standing with a group of guys and I told her I would be leaving. She asked

me with who since we had come together I told her I would call a cab and she

shouldn’t worry about me. I could see she was having fun and didn’t want to be a

party-pooper. I didn’t want to bother Andiswa for a lift, I felt like I was becoming a

burden to her, so I asked one of the waiters to get me a number for a cab, he came

back with it. I called the cab and in 5 minutes the driver called to say he was outside.

He dropped me at the gate and I had to pay him R350 bloody cabs are expensive, I

should have just taken a taxi it would have cost me R9,50 but fuck I work too hard to

get all squashed up at the back seat of a taxi with 4 people and get insulted by taxi

drivers for someone who didn’t pay. I needed the walk it was refreshing the gate is

not too far from my place, it was a bit dark but the fresh air felt good. I walked up the

stairs to my place as I got closer I could see the door opened, I knew for a fact that I

had locked the door this morning when I left with Andiswa.
As I was getting closer I could hear voices inside my place, I had to double

check the number at the door just to make sure that this was indeed my house,

I put my ear to the door so I could try hear as I did that the door opened, I lost

my balance and felt flat on my face, I looked up there were 3 men standing in

front of me, and no it was not cops! it was three Somalian man. I could see this

from the s-curl looking hair. Somalians have a natural s-curl look and I bet you

in the 80s there were many South African men who wished they were them,

would have served them a fortune. Remember Benny Mcarthy and his s-curl?

Somalian wannabe I tell you!

One of the man pulled me up and shoved me to the sofa, one of the guys told

me that they were friends of my husbands and my husband had something

that belonged to them and they were here to collect it. The only thing that went

to my head was these bastards will rape me and kill me, I said “take whatever

you want but please don’t kill me”. I think it was at this moment that I suddenly

realized that all this shit Mthobisi was putting my life in danger even though I

was totally clueless even now as to what was happening.

I could get killed right now and no one would think that it had anything to do

with my husband, it would all just look like a house robbery gone wrong. I was

in shit.

I had nowhere to run all I could do was sit there and let them do what they came to

do. I was so scared and at the same time I was also so tired of all this drama that

was just happening in my life. All my husband’s secrets were coming out one by one

and to be quite honest I was happier when I didn’t know any of these things. It is true
when they say ignorance is bliss. How long had Mthobisi been bringing people in

and out of South Africa illegally, how long had he been involved in illegal mining?

Should he have told me? I know there are some women who demand to know

everything their partner does but is it really wise even if it is not criminal activity?

Was I such a bad person that my husband could not even confide in me then? It’s

just in women’s nature to blame themselves for everything that their men do.

Thinking about this a actually hurt. We both had good jobs and earned pretty good

salaries, we were not rich but we had enough. What had driven my husband to be a

thief, a liar, a smuggler and every other bad thing that he is? I just could not

understand why he was doing all this. Maybe it’s in every woman’s nature we always

want to know why? When you find out that your man is cheating the first question

you ask is why? I guess sometimes there is just no reason why men do the things

they do, they just do them because opportunity presents itself and I was just an

innocent by-stander who unfortunately had to bite the bullet in the name of love.

There were all these people involved in this and all this just made my head spin, I

was confused, I so badly wanted to understand but none of this made sense. I

refused to believe that I was so gullible and stupid not to see what was going on right

under my nose, my husband must have been framed, someone must be doing this to

him, but if that is the truth then how do I explain these men in our house right now. I

had to accept the facts I am married to the world’s biggest liar, manipulator, and

deceiver in fact my husband is every bad word that you can find in the dictionary and

at this moment I wished that I had never met him. No one should have to live like

this, this was unfair in every level. Its funny when you think of it, most women at
some point wake up to the realization that their husband is a liar and master

manipulator. O the joys of being a woman!

Two of the guys went in rooms to search, I screamed that the cops had already been

here and whatever they were looking for the cops had most probably taken. They

just ignored me and continued their search. I was still on the couch left with one of

the cronies, I tried to make conversation trying to understand what was going on

here but whenever I asked a question he would just look at me and smile. I don’t

know why I was so scared of these men, I mean Somali men are tall and skinny. You

rarely ever see a muscular one truth be told. They had no guns or knives, not that I

could see them anyway but they looked scary. One of the guys came out with

Mthobi’s gym bag that had been hidden in the ceiling with all the passports and

contracts and told me that I had nothing to be scared of they were Mthobi’s friends

and were not going to harm their friends wife they just needed a few things. With that

they were gone with the bag and all the passports. I rushed to the bedroom packed a

few clothes in an overnight bag and grabbed car keys and headed for the door. I had

no plan I didn’t know where I was going but all I knew was I was not going to sleep in

that house, no way hose. Who knew who was coming next and I had no interest in

finding out who our next unexpected visitor would be. I realized if I went to the police

then I will have to admit that Mthobisi or me had hidden evidence hence further

complicate things for ourselves.

I drove out the complex and realised I didn’t know where I was going. I could not for

the life of me figure out how they had been allowed to enter the complex? We have

security so they would have needed permission to enter. It is one of those things

where you ask yourself how people who live in a burgled could be burgled yet it

happens so often. I couldn’t go to Andiswa’s house I had inconvenienced my friend

enough. I could not go to my mother’s house because she would want to know what

had happened. Only a foolish woman goes to report at her home because the last

thing you want to do is tell your mother everything about the drama that goes on in

your marriage because when things get back to normal between you and your hubby

your mother will always look at him with those “you hurt my daughter” eyes! I

honestly do not know why women do that. This is why you only share with your

mother when it s absolutely necessary. I decided to call the last person I would ever

call when shit hits the fan, my sister Naledi, blood is thicker than water.

Ok fine no family is perfect and neither is mine. To say my sister was surprised to

receive a call from me would be an understatement we hardly ever talk we only see

each other at Christmas lunches, funerals and weddings coz we just don’t get along,

but I had no one else to turn to, she answered the phone by asking “who died

Lesedi”? I said I was coming over I miss her kids I will be there in 30 minutes as I

said this tears were rolling down my eyes and my voice was choking, she could hear

I was not okay, she asked if I needed her to come pick me up, my sister is a horrible

driver she failed her driver’s licence like 5 times already and she was now driving

without a licence coz she had just given up on getting a drivers licence. I told her I

was already on the way to her place she didn’t have to worry about picking me up,

the last thing I wanted was ending up in hospital from having a heart-attack from her

bad driving, the woman is worse than a taxi driver, she changes lanes right infront of

another car in fact I don’t even think she uses the mirrors in the car before changing

lanes, she drives fast I don’t know why bad drives always have to drive fast, it’s not

enough that they suck at driving they just have to be fast just to torment the people

driving with them. My sister stays in Winchester Hills which is in the South of

Johannesburg; it’s about 30 minutes’ drive from me. I drove with tears running down
my eyes, I had never felt so unsafe in my own house and all because of the one man

in the world who had made a vow to love, cherish and protect me in front of my

family and friends, at this present moment I was not feeling protected at all, in fact I

was not feeling any of the promises he made on our wedding day, I was feeling

unloved, uncherished and very unprotected. I got to Winchester Hills around 8. Lwazi

my sister’s husband who is a Tenderprenuer, answered the buzzer when I rang the

bell at the gate, he opened the gate for me.

Lwazi is one of the reasons why I hardly ever visit, he is a Xhosa man who brags

about every single thing that they have which gets a bit annoying at times especially

if you are going to brag about stupid things like buying a washing machine as if that

is a greatest achievement on earth. he bought cars every now and again and when

he did my goodness the whole world had to know, he would post pictures of his new

achievement in all social networks I just had to unfriend him on all my social

networks before I made nasty remarks and be known as the jealous sister-in-law. My

sister came out to welcome me, she gave me a hug and said “Lee you look horrible,

but what can I say I’ve always been the pretty sister” another reason why I just didn’t

get along with her , she was nice the one minute and cold the next, Lwazi also came

out he asked if I had come with Mthobisi I said “No” my sister said “good” she has

never liked Mthobisi I don’t know why and frankly I didn’t care. Lwazi offered to take

my bag, we walked inside the house my sister has thee most adorable kids a 8year

old daughter by the name of Buhle and a 3 year old by the name of Sihle, she

wanted her kids names to rhyme, Buhle and Sihle don’t ask why coz I also don’t

know all I know is I loved those kids to bits, as soon as they saw me they ran up to

me screaming “Aunty Lee” and hugged me. My family and friends call me Lee short

for Lesedi. I was so happy to see them, this is how life should be fun and simple, not
the complicated crazy horror movie shit that I had been living for the past week.

Naledi told me they had my plate of food in the microwave I told her I had already

eaten which was a lie but I honestly didn’t feel like eating. I sat with my sister and her

husband for a few minutes and told them that Mthobisi was visiting his mom for the

weekend she wanted to see him after the whole mining accident and I didn’t feel like

being around her which they understood they knew how difficult my husband’s mom

was.

My phone rang it was Mthobisi I had not heard from him the whole day I last saw him

in court, I answered and told Mthobisi to hold, I said my good nights to everyone and

went to the guest bedroom, Mthobisi asked who I was talking to, I told him his

cronies had come to our place looking for something and they took the passports, he

asked me to describe them to him, I did and he said he would deal with them, they

had no right coming to our house and threatening me. “Deal with them? Who are you

and since when do you deal with people?” I shouted at him. Mthobisi replied by

saying “I’m your husband”. I told him not for long, I will be filling for divorce first thing

on Monday, I refuse to live like this, with that I dropped the phone.

Mthobisi must have called like 20 times and I would let the phone ring a few times

then drop it. I knew it was him because the number was private. I dropped it just for

him to know that I was rejecting his calls. This must have frustrated the shit out of

him but I wanted to punish him, I wanted him to feel what I was feeling, I was beyond

angry. Eventually he realized the whole phoning thing was not working and I dont

know how he did it but he did so he sent an sms asking where I was? I deleted the

sms without replying but I read it! He sent another one asking me to go to my

mother’s house but not to tell her that he was arrested he didn’t want her judging

him, I deleted this sms as well, a few minutes later my mother called telling me that
Mthobisi had just called her and told her that we had a disagreement and I was not

talking to him. My mother gave me a lecture of how important communication in a

marriage was and how marriage is about compromise and how I should hear

Mthobisi out. She emphasized that the man had almost died and we both should be

celebrating life instead of fighting. Mthobisi the bastard is good, he was now playing

my mother to get at me, I thanked my mother and told her I would speak to my

husband. I called him back, he told me he couldn’t speak because the prison guards

were doing head counts to make sure they were all there, that’s what happens in

prison you get counted every morning, evening and whenever they felt like it, there is

no freedom in jail you are told what to do and when to do it. He told me he would call

me back when they were done being counted and he will have to switch off and hide

his phone in case it vibrated while they were being counted that would get him in

serious trouble, he hung up before explaining any further I figured the prison warders

must have arrived.

I sat and waited for his call until I fell asleep, I had the most beautiful dream I was

running in this beautiful garden filled with the most beautiful flowers all kinds of

flowers and I was happy had no worries in the world, my dream was interrupted by

my phone ringing I rolled over and answered it was Mthobisi but he was not calling

with his number he told me the prison warders had found his phone and confiscated

it and he was now using a cellmates phone, he said he couldn’t speak for long

because the phone didn’t have enough airtime, I told him I would call him back, I had

loaded R600 airtime on the other phone that I had smuggled in Hillbrow Police

Station for him and now all that was gone, taken by the bloody prison warders they

were obviously going to use the airtime. I called him back immediately he told me

how much he needed me and how he would not survive this without me, I told him
that he got himself in this without me and he will get himself out without me. He

swore that this was just a big misunderstanding his only mistake was going to the

wife of one of the miners who had died underground, and now they were pining all

this illegal mining shit on him and he was in no way involved, “ Lee you know me, I

am not the person that was described in court , I am the man that loves you with

everything that is in him” I told him you are not the man I married, he told me that the

state would say anything to discredit him and make him look bad because they are

trying to build a case against him. This was my chance to ask him questions, I asked

him who was the woman who kept calling me about him, he sounded surprised, I

read him her numbers and he said he had no idea who she was and had never

heard of that number before, I couldn’t tell if he was lying or telling the truth this man

was just too higher grade for me, I could never tell if he was lying or telling the truth I

guess he had just lied to many times to me. I asked him about Thomas, he said

Thomas was a friend of his and the least said about him the better, he told me that

Thomas is the one person I should trust and if anything like today ever happened

with those guys showing up at my place the one person I should call is Thomas. I

asked why had I never meet this Thomas person before if he is such a good friend,

he said Thomas is hardly ever in the country he travels abroad. As I was about to

ask more questions Mthobisi told me to visit him in Sun City tomorrow and visiting

hours were from 12:00 to 14:00 he told me in this place the warders were very strict

so I will not be able to bring him the stuff he needed, he gave me a list of things he

wanted, he wanted full chicken but I had to cut it in pieces and put it in a see through

plastic bag, a loaf of white bread and I must make sure it’s sliced bread, a cartoon of

cigarettes this is basically 10 packets of cigarettes and I have to remove all of these

cigarettes and also put them in a see through bag, a pack of 100 sweets and 100
chappies, he asked me to buy him R300 airtime first thing in the morning before I

even come to the prison he explained that in prison you buy favors from other

prisoners and prison warders with airtime and cigarettes and this is why he needed a

lot of cigarettes and airtime, the sweets and chappies were just to keep him busy

because days are long, 1 day feels like 5 days because you have absolutely nothing

to do but think, think about everything and nothing, after giving me the list he told me

his other cellmate needed to use the phone and he has to hung up. He told me he

loved me and will be home soon, I hung up without saying I love him back. When I

said “I do” I was not saying I do to marrying a jailbird, a criminal, a liar, I was saying

“I do” to happily ever after, to romance, to a fairy-tale and right now I was living in the

worst nightmare I would not wish this kind of life to anyone not even my worst

enemy, I was not going to stand for this bullshit, at this moment divorce looked so

attractive, now I understood why people have irreconcilable differences, how do you

recover after this? How do you even look at the person in the eye after knowing what

you know. Even marriage counseling does not prepare you for this kind of shit. I fell

asleep with my head buzzing, after what felt like two hours of sleep, my sisters kids

badge in my room telling me I should come watch cartoons with them, I grabbed my

phone to check the time it was only 07:16, don’t these kids sleep in, it’s a Saturday

for crying out loud, I didn’t want to seem like the grumpy aunt so I dragged myself

out of bed and went to the TV room with them, we watched Cartoons after cartoons

until finally their Nanny arrived after 9 she apologized for being late, made them

breakfast which gave me a chance to sneak off for a quick bath got dressed in

leggings long blue Guess t-shirt and Adidas Sneakers, I didn’t put any makeup on I

didn’t need to look pretty I was going to Prison after all and I doubt if anyone there

would care how I look, I needed to dress comfortable this was going to be my first
time going to Sun City Prison, I was doing a lot of first times this week. I got a call

from security in my complex Maria who is my cleaning lady was at the gate, she only

comes on weekends, I had completely forgotten about her and she didn’t have keys

to the house so I told security to tell her that I would call her because I’m not at

home. I called her on her cellphone and told her not to worry about cleaning today

Mthobisi and I are away and we will be back during the week, I told her I would pay

her for today, she was happy to hear she will be getting paid for not doing anything,

not that she did much anyway, we have a washing machine because she refused to

wash the washing with her hands saying it will give her arthritis, it takes her 2 days to

iron clothes of 2 people, I have learned that complaining is a waste of time so I just

let her do as she pleases. Some weekend she would only come on Sundays

claiming she was sick, I never even bother asking questions because she always

has these long answers that will leave you feeling sorry for her and regretting asking

her why she had not come. I decided to go buy Mthobisi list that he had given me,

my sister and her hubby came downstairs and were surprised to see me going I told

them I had to go home and open for Maria, my sister wanted to come with me I told

her Maria was getting impatient and I couldn’t wait for her to bath she understood,

lies were becoming a regular thing now and I was getting used to lying and I honestly

didn’t like all these lies and cover-ups I had to do for my husband. I drove to

Columbine Square went to the Checkers there, bought full chicken and bread and

the cartoon of cigarette’s and the R300 airtime and called Mthobisi from the number

he had called me with, some guy with a rough voice answered I asked him for

Mthobisi he passed the phone to him I told him I got the airtime he told me to sms it

to the number I had called and told me how happy he was that I was coming to see

him, I had no response to that and just hung up. From Winchester Sun City is 10
minutes drive, I had never been to Sun City before, I had passed the place a couple

of times while visiting my friend who stays in Naturena, I had also been to Tinti’s

which is a Shisa Nyama place and bottle store right across Sun City, never in my

wildest dreams had I imagined that I would be coming to such a place to see my

husband.

I will always say this from now onwards. People take their lives for granted and do

not fully appreciate the lives that they live. The moment I got there my heart sank.

Prison is full of poor people that for one reason or the other were imprisoned by rich

people. DO you know how rich lawyers are let alone judges? Have you ever

considered that once you are poor guilty or not, if you are accused of a crime you

probably will not win. You simply do not have the resources to fight the system so

forget getting a so called good lawyers. all the people had a story to tell and yes I

was one of them at this moment but I knew I would be going home to a cosy home. I

got to the entrance and there was already a whole lot of people there.

I followed the sign that pointed to Visitors and drove that side. I got out and saw a

prison warder in brown uniform. You could tell now that this was serious as these

were unlike the Hillbrow cops. In Hillbrow everyone had been dressed in blue

uniform, in this place the prison warders were wearing the brown uniform. I

approached the one who was walking up and down assisting people who seemed

confused. I told him I was visiting a prisoner and didn’t exactly know the procedure

he told me to leave my bag and phone in the car and only take my id and the food

that I had brought for the person I was visiting. At least they were allowed food in this

place I thought, he asked if I had a transparent plastic bag to put in the food I told

him I didn’t and he pointed me to a tuck-shop where I could buy a bag for R5 and
also told me I need to go to an office next to the tuck-shop to give the prison warders

there the details of the person I was visiting. I proceeded to the tuck-shop there were

people buying dinks and sweets and to them this seemed normal. In fact others

knew each other from previous months they kept asking each other about how their

“prisoners” case was going and they were all chatty and didn’t seem as stressed as I

was. I bought 4 plastic bags and went to the next room where there were two prison

warders writing down names. I gave them my name and id and told them who I was

visiting. They gave me a small paper with my name on it and my id number and

Mthobisi’s name and a number, they gave me my id back. I went outside and there

are chair outside, I sat there and put Mthobisi’s food in the plastic bag. I removed the

cigarettes from all 10 boxes and also put them on 1 of the plastic bag, removed the

sweets and chappies also place them in their own bag, this was just so unnecessary

but I could not complain everyone else was doing it so who was I to complain.

After I was done I went inside what looked like a waiting room, there was a female

prison warder giving all the visitors instructions of what we should do and what was

not allowed in prison etc, no one was really paying attention to her I think I must

have been the only one paying attention, I wanted to make sure I didn’t do anything

wrong, I didn’t want to see myself locked up in this place for breaking a small stupid

rule. Eventually they started calling people based on their numbers, luckily for me

they were starting with people that were visiting prisoners awaiting trail so I got to go

with the first batch of people but there was a whole lot of us about 50, we went

through a gate where there was a male and female prison warder the female

prisoner was searching females and checking that all food and everything else that

you brought was in a see-through bag, if not in a bag you were told to leave it at the

entrance and you will get it when you come out, a lot of people had to leave their
stuff behind and thank goodness none of my things were rejected, I got past the gate

and I’m expecting to see my husband to my surprise there is a bus waiting for us, we

were told to get in the bus, I never knew Sun City Prison was so big, it even has

roads it’s like a huge complex except most of the residents are dressed in Orange.

The first stop the bus made we were told it’s for Female Prisoners awaiting trail so

everybody who was visiting a female got of which was about half of the people in the

bus, damn I could not imagine what must be going through those women’s minds

being stuck behind those huge walls, I actually felt sorry for them even though I

didn’t know them and realised that I might be going through all this but at least I was

not in jail. No matter how bad things look when you look at other people’s problem

and compare them to yours you start seeing how little your problems are especially

when those people’s problem is being stuck behind bars.

Eventually we got to the Male side this was a long ride and I was getting anxious I

wanted to get this over and done with, I really did not like being at this place. We had

to sit in the waiting room and people’s names were called out, they actually called

the name of the person you are visiting and from there 2 more prison warders were

checking the food again to see that no illegal substances were brought in. Some

people had put money inside cigarettes; going to visit in prison will make you see

things that you never thought existed. There was a lady who brought Pap, the

warders poked the pap and found that she had put a knife inside the pap, she was

taken away with her pap. Mthobisi’s name was called I walked to the next building

with my package. All the prisoners that had visitors were put in one big room with

windows all around, I spotted Mthobisi, there were more prison warders behind the

counter and they asked if I can spot the person I’m visiting, I pointed them at

Mthobisi, they took the food gave it to him, Mthobisi pointed me to a window at a far-
end. I sat down across him awe were separated by a window and he told me to

press the button at the window when I speak coz it has a speaker and that’s how I

will be able to hear him. I actually didn’t know where to start, Mthobisi started by

saying “I love you Lee” he told me how much he missed. I asked him what his plan

was, he told me I should not worry because he was going to get out come hell or

high water he will be out of this place. He told me he was making progress and

things were looking good so on Wednesday he would definitely be coming out, I

reminded him that he had said that before, he just laughed it off. I told him I did not

sign off to be a “Prisoners Wife” and I was not going to stand for this and if he

planned to make this prison visits he should just know I will not be part of it, I made it

clear that this was a first and a last time that I would set foot in this place, I know at

this moment I sounded selfish but I was feed-up, I had had enough. Mthobisi

assured me that this was the first and last time he was ever going to put me through

this. We chatted a bit about the family then the prison warder came and told us that

the time was up and they were switching off the speakers. Mthobisi told me that he

would call me to check if I arrived safe, I left and waiting for the bus to take us back

to the entrance. Got back into my car and drove to my sister’s place I felt so tired it

must have been the ups and downs of prison, I was feeling depressed and my sister

was in a chatty mood and I was not I told her I had a headache and I wanted to take

a nap. I must have slept throughout the day coz it was dark when I got up, I was

woken by the most terrible cramps in my stomach, I actually screamed out from the

pains. I tried getting out of bed but with every move I made the cramps just got

worse, what the hell was wrong with me, I started thinking that maybe it’s hunger

cramps since I had not eaten all day.

I decided to go to the kitchen I’m sure my sister must have made so delicious dinner

made, I got up as soon as my feet touched the floor the cramps were unbearable I

could not even stand I fell on the floor while lying on the floor I could feel something

was wrong with me I just didn’t know what, my pants felt cold I touched them thinking

I must have fallen in water, I brought my hand close to my face, my hand had blood,

had I fallen on top of blood???? I passed out!!!

I don’t know after how long but when I finally came to and opened my eyes panic set

in. Where did the blood come from the only thing I could think of was Mthobisi’s

cronies must have found me and shot me, oh my God, I have been shot??? Before I

could even reason in my head I screamed “Naledi, Naledi, I have been shot, help

me” my sister came rushing in she turned on the light and came to the floor where I

was lying down, I could see the shock and panic in her face, she asked who shot me

and where was I shot I said I don’t know, she touch my arms and stomach trying to

see if she could find any gun wounds, she checked my whole body and found

nothing then she burst out laughing and this moment Lwazi her husband came in

and asked if everything was okay, my sister was on the floor laughing she told him

that I had started my period and for some reason I must have had a nightmare about

getting shot because when I saw the blood I screamed that I had been shot, this

turned to be a huge joke on both of them, they were laughing so hard Lwazi even

had tears on his eyes, he said I should stop watching too much movies, I rolled my

eyes and asked my sister to help me up because I had bad cramps, Lwazi went to

go watch TV with the kids. The pain in my stomach was still bad, I went to go take a

shower while Naledi finished preparing dinner, I felt so stupid for being so dramatic

but after the crap I had been through who could blame me for being paranoid.
I joined everybody in the lounge we ate dinner, my sister knew her way in pots but

we have our mother to thank for that, meat was the order of this house in fact meat

was an everyday thing, Lwazi being Xhosa demanded that every meal has meat, I

was not complaining but I knew I could not live like that every day. After we had done

eating Naledi offered me a hot water bottle and pain killers for the cramps in my

stomachs I took the painkillers and declined the offer of the hot water bottle I am

scared of that thing, I always imagine it bursting open and the hot water burning me.

Buhle my sister’s 8 year old daughter goes to a Christian Private School she offered

to pray for my cramps, she said she usually prays for her smaller brother when he

has stomach aches and he gets better I found this to be too cute so I agreed who

can say no to a cute 8 year old, even if you didn’t believe you will act like you

believe. She put her small hands in my stomach and started praying “Father God in

the name of Jesus I thank you for your grace and mercy I thank you for my Aunt

Lesedi and I declare that she is healed in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ” I had

my eyes closed but after hearing these deep words this child was saying I opened

my eyes to look at her, she was so focused on what she was doing, I wanted to

laugh but I had to hold it in and not hurt the little girl’s feelings, she finished praying

and told me “You are now healed”, wow just like that the faith of kids is amazing, I

agreed that I was feeling much better. I told my sister the R2 500 she was paying a

month on school fees for her daughter was worth it she was so disciplined, smart

and well behaved, but I knew I would never take my son to such an expensive

school, I still had tertiary to think about, if I was paying that much for Primary how

much would I be paying in High School. My sister and her husband were money

blowers they knew how to blow money, I doubt if they were saving any.

The next morning I was woken up by my sister and told that we need to get ready for
church, was this woman serious? I had not been in church in ages and I didn’t even

bring church clothes my sister said not to worry because their church was in

Randburg which is close to my place so we can go past my place and I can change.

It didn’t seem like I had a choice in the matter so I agreed. Lwazi and the kids were

leaving early because Lwazi needed to take the kids to Sunday school and he had

some men’s class to attend in church, I had to drive with my sister who insisted on

driving my car since I still had a bit of stomach cramps, her driving was as bad as

ever but thank goodness it was Sunday morning and there were not a lot of cars on

the road, we got to my place in one piece, security saw my car and opened the boom

gate, I ran up to make sure that everything was in order in the house while my sister

was still struggling to park the car. I put a few things that those thugs had moved

around in the house, I had not heard from Mthobisi since yesterday but I figured

maybe he could not get hold of a phone. I went to go change wore black skirt, black

t-shirt and a black blazer, black shoes and let my hair hang my sister came into the

bedroom and said I looked like I was going to a funeral with my black everything

outfit, I ignored her and put tissues and lip-gloss and cell phone in an orange

handbag, my sister told me to take my tablet with, I asked why she said to take notes

at church, I grabbed my tablet we left I was feeling much better I told her I would

drive this time. We got to church, I had never seen so many beautiful, expensive

cars in a church it looked like we were at some rich person’s wedding where

everybody hired expensive cars for show-off, I looked at my sister and asked if this

was a special parking she laughed and said most people in this church drives

expensive cars, my sister’s husband must have fit-in so well in this church, when we

walked in the men were in suits not just ordinary looking suits but expensive suits,

the women also looked so good in their fancy formal wear they had gorgeous shoes
all I could do was admire, I was actually drooling at the shoes, I’m a typical women,

shoes drive me insane. My sister was well known, people kept greeting her and

hugging her, thank goodness I had not come in jeans I would have felt so out of

place. The choir started singing they were so good they sounded like Angels,

everything in this place was just impressive. The Pastor came out, it was a woman

Pastor, she looked so beautiful, she started speaking she had a Nigerian accent but

looked South African. I whispered to my sister and asked if she was Nigerian she

said yes, she preached so beautifully, she talk about forgiveness and not giving up,

she preached about how the challenges in your life were not meant to break you but

to shape you and build you up. It felt like she was talking to me, I was so hyped up I

had answers to my problems I knew what I needed to do. The people in the church

were using their tablets and phones to take notes, no one had a Bible they had Bible

apps on their phones and tablet, in this place technology was just on another level

even the pastor was using a tablet and no Bible, ja neh you see new things every

day.

When church was over I told my sister Mthobisi would be coming back today so I

would be going back home, eish lying in the house of God felt bad but I could not tell

my sister what was going on with Mthobisi, sometimes it’s okay not to share

everything especially the not so good stuff. She said she would drive home with

Lwazi and the kids. I drove home, on the way home Mthobisi called he told me that

he had made progress with his case, he was doing something to make sure that he

got out on Wednesday when he went to court, I was glad to hear that, he told me he

needed my help, I said anything, I told him I would do anything to help him and I was

not giving up on him and our marriage, I know I had wanted to divorce him but I was

now a new person church had transformed me, I was not giving up, yes I had been
weak but you can’t back down each time life throws you a few challenges this was

what the Pastor said and I was determined to put it into practice in my life. Mthobisi

was very happy to hear this he told me that he wanted us to go to counseling when

he got out of prison, hallelujah there is a God, a black man suggesting therapy this

was a miracle on its own, I had suggested so many times that we go to therapy and

he had always flat-out refused and told me black people don’t do therapy it’s just

wrong, I was so happy to hear him say that. He told me he had managed to get hold

of the investigating officer of his case and they had spoken and the officer wanted

R20 000 to make the dockets disappear and without the docket there would be no

case so he needed me to go meet this Officer and give him the money. I hit the

brakes so hard I had not realized there was a car in front of me that was stuck I tried

swerving to the right but the was a car coming it was too late for me all I heard was a

loud BANG. SHIT!!!! I had hit the car in front of me!!!

The car in front of me must have moved a few feet, I was frozen in my seat, what

have I done? The phone had fallen to the passenger’s seat I had no intentions of

picking it up, now I understood why traffic cops would give you a fine for talking on

the phone while driving. It must have taken me a few minutes to eventually get out of

the car, I slowly walked to the stationary car there was a woman sitting in it, she was

just sitting in there not moved by what had just happened, I asked if she was okay,

shesaid no, she was stuck and waiting for her boyfriend to come help her. At that

moment my panic turned to anger, I screamed at how she could be so careless why

the hell didn’t she put a triangle or park her car on the side of the road she could

have killed both of us. She apologized and said she just recently got the car and was

not good at this “driving thing” so she panicked and just parked her car. I was

fuming, I went to go check if my car had any dents from the impact, luckily there
were not any dents or marks on my car, I checked hers to and it was also okay. The

stupid woman was still sitting in the car, I told her to get out of her car and moved it

to the side of the road for her. I had never been in any accident before so I didn’t

know what I was supposed to do so I took her details just in case my car started

giving me problems I would make her pay, she took my details too. Her name was

Nomzamo Dlamini, I would later learn that she was crazy woman.

I got home and remembered that I had been speaking to Mthobisi before the

accident. That man had a nerve asking me to bribe a Police Official. How did our life

turn upside down so quickly, when did we shift from being law abiding citizens, as

much as Mthobisi was the one who got us in this shit, he was dragging me down with

him weather I liked it or not. I did not want to join him in jail and bribing a government

official can get you in jail, what would happen to our son with both parents in jail. Jail

was obviously making him loose his mind. I would help him in any way I can but I will

not do anything illegal to help him. Hell No!!! I decided to try and call him back, I got

the guy with the rough voice again he told me they were being counted and will ask

Mthobisi to call me when the warders were done, prison life. Mthobisi called back a

few minutes later, I told him that bribing the IO (Investigating Officer) was out of the

question, I also told him that I did not have that kind of money lying around. He then

asked me to please organise the R20 000 for him, he will refund it when he came

out. He told me that he had no one else to do this for him and if he had other options

he would not have bothered to ask me, I am his last hope, he begged me, and me

being the sucker I am I could not say No, I knew if the situations were reversed he

would bribe, borrow and steal for me, I agreed. I could not believe that this man had

just ruined my good mood, I had been so positive and excited about life after the

church service and now he was taking me back to my depressed state. I needed to
boost my energy and I didn’t feel like staying at home. Maya Angelou or some clever

woman once said every married woman should have her own apartment that she

owns and doesn’t rent out just leave it empty and use it when you need to escape

from your reality and this moment I wish I had taken that advise but this is South

Africa, firstly I could not afford to have a place that I pay every month and not use it

and secondly no place would be empty for that long by the time I felt I needed to go

and rest in my place I would find that I have occupants who stay there rent-free,

people see an empty place for 2 months they start moving in, next thing I would be

running up and down trying to get them evicted and the tenant’s telling me it’s their

constitutional right to have a roof over their head, it would just cause unnecessary

headaches so thanks but no thanks. I now had R20 000 to worry about getting, I did

not have that kind of money lying around, hell after withdrawing the R5000 that I had

given to Mthobisi when he was in Hillbrow Police station my bank account was left

with very little, I think I had about R1,200 in my account which is way off from the

amount he needed, Mthobisi and I had separate bank accounts, he paid for most of

the things, which included our bond, his 2 cars, our medical aid, gym and insurances

for all the cars and the car trackers, I checked his bank statements all the time

because they came to our house by post and there was never anything irregular

about them which made me wonder where the hell was he keeping the money from

his illegal activities, bastard probably had other bank accounts.

I changed into my gym clothes and drove to gym, it was nice and quiet only a few

people around but it was Sunday after all and most people only do gym during the

week and most people that you see at the gym on Sunday have no life they pump

weights and have big muscles and spend all their time at the gym, I did the treadmill

for an half an hour and bicycle for about 20 minutes I hadn’t been to gym in a while
and I was feeling a bit unfit because I was sweating like a pig just from just 2 work-

outs I hit the shower and went home.

I was a bit nervous when I got home, worried that I might find yet again unexpected

visitors, luckily the house was empty I got in and locked every door even bathroom

door incase they sneak in through the toilet windows, you can never be too safe you

know you might think you have security and you live in a complex but those are not

the most safest places. I decided to cook myself dinner I don’t know when last did I

enjoy my own company, I would take this as me time, I cooked the Sunday seven

colours for just me, myself and I, I even made desert I was hungry, gym makes me

hungry. I had money that I put aside every month saving it for rainy days and a few

policies but all that was tied up and if I ever wanted it I would have a lot of forms to

fill in and have to wait 30 days which is something I did not have Mthobisi’s

Investigating Officer wanted the money before Mthobisi went to court, I was cracking

my skull thinking where on earth could I get this money from. I thought of Cindy my

co-worker her daddy is loaded and it would not be a problem for her getting this

money but how do I explain the urgency of so much money, and the last thing I

needed was her telling people at work that I was having financial problems, you

always have to think of your reputation when dealing with colleagues. I thought of my

sister and her husband but that is a no-no the last thing I need is my brother-in-law

embarrassing me on Social Network he is the type that post everything that happens

in his life and I didn’t trust him. I honestly could not think of anyone who I could trust.

I picked up my phone and went through the phone book to see who would have so

much money and would not ask too many questions, I went through the list and

came across Mfundo’s name, now he definitely had the money, he would not ask

much questions I could trust him, I had nothing to loose all I had to do was ask. I
know it’s wrong asking my somewhat ”lover” for money for my husband but I was in

a corner here it’s not like I had many options. I knew I couldn’t call him because it

was Sunday and he was probably at home with his wife and imagine her answering

the phone but wait he had saved my numbers as Mandla golf coach in his phone I

had seen this when he had forgotten his phone at my place, I decided to send him

an sms. I wrote “Are you keen on golf lessons tomorrow at 07:30 at World Of Golf in

Woodmead?” this way even if his wife saw the sms it would not seem suspicious,

Mfundo replied in less than 2 minutes he must have had his phone in his hand

judging from his quick response, he wrote “I will be there”. Okay I had taken the first

step now I just needed a plan to convince Mfundo on borrowing me this 20 grand, I

went to bed and set my alarm for 06:00. I got up way before my alarm went off at 05

am and took a nice long bath planning a strategy on my “golf lesson” with Mfundo. I

must have changed my outfits 4 or 5 times, I honestly didn’t know what would be

suitable for this. I finally settled on wearing a white short skirt and a pink golf t-shirt

and white Nike takkies with white sock, I have played golf a few times before I’m no

Ernie Else but I’m okay for a woman, in my line of work you have to know a little bit

of golf even if it’s not that much, we get invited to a lot of Golf Days by other

companies to network and you don’t wanna look foolish while holding a golf club so

me and a few colleagues have taken a few lessons and the company paid for it. My

husband is a regular golf player but this is a norm with most black guys that think

they have arrived they take clients to lunches in a golf course and have golf weekend

away that was my husband not to mention the money they spend on these golf

places because they don’t come cheap you pay lots of money to play in these fancy

golf places and you have to pay a caddy who carries your bag with your golf clubs,

mara men can waist money on really unnecessary things.

At least I was not going to waste money I was going to do the opposite. I took

clothes to change for work black pants and a silver top with heels and a few

accessories to complete the look. I grabbed my car keys and hit the road, I got to

World of Golf 15 minutes before 7 Mfundo was already there, the lengths that men

will go to for a cookie are unbelievable. I greeted him with a warm hug I had to be

extra nice I was on a mission here. He told me I looked sizzling hot in my short skirt,

I smiled and politely said thank you, he told me how he liked the coded text message

that I sent him, he was impressed, I laughed and told him how I knew who he had

saved my number as in his phone, he laughed and apologized told me his wife

checked his phone every now and again so he had to be extra careful I said I

understood. We collected the golf clubs at reception and went to go hit balls, Mfundo

was not so good at this golf thing even the way he was bending was not right but I

couldn’t tell him that no man likes being outdone by a woman, while we were playing

I figured it was now or never I decided to tell him my reasons for bringing him here, I

told him that I needed money to buy some shares and I would pay him back in 2

weeks, I told him Mthobisi doesn’t want me buying these shares so I am doing this

without his permission and the returns to these shares looked very good. He looked

at me for a while and asked how much I needed, I told him 20 grand his eyes

widened I smiled at him and batted my eyelashes and he laughed and said okay,

only because I looked so cute, he asked for my banking details and said he would

transfer the money after our game in my account, I told him I would prefer cash this

made him a bit suspicious I told him I didn’t want my company thinking I was taking

bribes if they were to see my bank statements and see that he was transferring

money into my account it would not look good for both of us, this made sense and he

agreed, he said he would bring the money to the office after lunch, I was so happy
and relieved I said thank you and jumped up to him and gave him a huge, he held

me with my legs wrapped on his back, we kissed, his lips were so warm and

welcoming after a few minutes I pulled myself away and said sorry. I needed to

focus, I could not allow myself to get distracted!!

After the golf game Mfundo suggested we have breakfast, they have an in-house

restaurant at that golf place, I told him I need to get to work and I wasn’t really

hungry, in all honesty I was so hungry I could eat a horse and I didn’t have to get to

work that early it was a few minutes after 8. I went to the Women Locker rooms to

take a shower, I was the only person there, I don’t think women obese over golf like

guys do. There were few guys playing at the golf field when we were playing but no

females to be seen I was the only one. I took of my clothes and wrapped myself in a

towel and went in the shower, I was enjoy the warm water against my body when

suddenly I felt someone touch my back I almost screamed from shock but the person

put his hand in my mouth, I turned around to look who this fool was, it was Mfundo

butt naked, I asked him what the hell was he doing here he told me the men’s

showers were full and he figured that I needed someone to help me wash my back, I

laughed. He looked at my naked body admiringly and told me how beautiful I look, I

told him to stop it, he held my breast in his hands and started massaging them, the

water from the shower was running all over me, he pulled my face to his face and

started kissing me hard with so much passion, my knees felt weak, I missed being

touched, being held, I could feel my honey pot getting wet and not wet from the

shower but from the amazing things that this man was doing to me, as if that was not

enough Mfundo started sucking my nipples, I was breathing hard and heavy just as

my body was getting excited from this Mfundo went on his knees with the water

splashing in his head he went down to my honeypot as he was about to start sucking
I pulled him up and told him that he shouldn’t because I was on my periods, he stood

there for a few seconds looking like he had been thrown with cold water in his face,

grabbed his towel and left. Did this mean I will not be getting the 20 grand I asked

for? I was starting to worry. I quickly changed into my work clothes that I had brought

rushed to the parking lot and drove off to work.

I arrived before Cindy and she eventually showed up after 10 saying she was caught

in traffic, I didn’t really care but I said it was okay. She asked how Mthobisi was I said

he was fine, I was now feeling so guilty about what I had done. My husband was

stuck behind bars and I was busy other men in locker rooms, what kind of a wife am

I? we started working and I kind of got lost in work until Cindy said she would be

going out for lunch and asked if I wanted to go with her I told her I had cooked last

night and brought left-overs as lunch so I was fine, she left. A few minutes later

Mfundo walked in our office, he had that sheepish naughty smile on his face, I told

him not to get any ideas there were people around, he said he was just dropping off

my money and would not be staying for long, that suit me just fine, I was feeling so

self-conscious being around him after he had seen me naked this morning, I could

not even look him in the eye, I don’t know if it was embarrassment, shame or guilt I

think it was all three. Mfundo gave me and envelope with the R20 000 in it, this felt

so wrong, taking money from my lover to save my husband, but what could I do? I

needed this money more than anything, I had to get Mthobisi out one way or the

other. My husband was pimping me and he didn’t even know it. I thank Mfundo for

the money and reminded him that this was a loan and I would pay it back in 2 weeks,

he told me he was in no hurry to get it back and left. I decided to call my husband

and tell him that I have the money, I tried him on all the numbers that he had called

me with and they were either off or no answer, this was getting frustrating now after
all the hard work I went through to get this money. I decided to wait for him to call.

Cindy came back from her lunch and Mthobisi had still not called, I was starting to

get anxious, around 4 my phone rang, I was so happy thinking its Mthobisi, it was not

Mthobisi but the Investigating Officer handling Mthobisi’s case he told me that

Mthobisi had told him that I would be dropping of his money, I should be in Hillbrow

at 6, I asked Hillbrow Police Station, he asked if I was stupid, why would I want to

take a bribe to his work place, this bastard was rude I wanted to hang-up but I was

doing this for my husband’s freedom and these were just small huddles that I had to

jump for my husband to be free. He said I should meet him at Spar it’s in Caroline

Street in Hillbrow it’s not far from the Police Station, I knew where Spar was atleast

so I agreed. At 17:00 both Cindy and I called it a day, I drove to Hillbrow, traffic on

the freeway was a nightmare, on my way Mthobisi finally called he told me that he

had given my numbers to the investigating officer and I shouldn’t be alarmed when

he calls me i told him he was late his officer had already called me and I was on the

way to meet him, Mthobisi asked if I had managed to get the money I said yes I

borrowed it from Victor my Stepdad, he was quiet for a bit and asked if I had told

Victor what the money was for I told him the story of wanting to buy shares, he

laughed and told me I was becoming good at this lying game and he didn’t know if it

was a good or a bad thing, I told him I was learning from the master this made him a

bit upset because I was calling him a liar indirectly so he changed the subject and

told me to be careful Hillbrow is dangerous especially at night, he said he would call

me again after 6 to see how things went. I got to Spar and parked across from Spar

the street vendors were packing up their stuff and getting ready to leave, I sat there

waiting, people kept walking past and looking at me this was scary, I waited for 10

minutes and decided to call the Investigating Officer he answered and pretended not
to know who I was I told him we had an appointment and I was waiting for him at

Spar he told me that there had been change of plans he was now in Yeoville and I

should drive to Rocky Street and look for a place called Malalaituka, what? Is this

man insane I had wasted enough time waiting here and now he was sending me

Yeoville, I was fuming from anger, to be honest Yeoville is about 10 minutes from

Hillbrow but I didn’t care that place is downright dodge and I didn’t want myself there,

it’s not called the Capital Of Nigeria for nothing, but then again I was doing this for

my husband’s freedom, I decided to put my pride aside and drive to Yeoville, I got to

Rocky Street my phone rang, I thought it was Mthobisi it was the Tracker Company

they told me my car was moving in a dangerous area and asked if I was okay, I

wanted to laugh but I told them I was fine and everything was okay, I was visiting a

friend that stayed in Yeoville, the perks of having a tracker they remind you when

you are in danger making you even more paranoid, I double checked to see that all

my doors were locked and closed all windows, it was now getting dark, I passed

Shoprite and after the robots at Shoprite I decided to ask around for this Malalaituka

place, I went inside some internet café there are a lot of those in Hillbrow and

Yeoville there was a young girl at the entrance she asked if I had come to the

saloon, the internet café had a saloon inside I asked her if she knew where

Malalaituka is she said I should keep going down and after 2 robots I will see it, it’s a

restaurant with a car wash it will be on my left, I thanked her and left.

As the girl had said I saw the place on my left, I parked outside there were a couple

of cars I didn’t know if I should go in or stay outside, so I decided to sit and wait,

Mthobisi called he wanted to know how things had gone, I told him that his man had

told me go to Yeoville I was now outside some place called Malalaituka waiting for

him, Mthobisi told me that he was probably trying to see that I was not being followed
or trying to trap him that is why he was sending me around, I told him that this was

ridiculous, my phone was beeping I told Mthobisi that he needed to hang-up his cop

friend was calling, Mthobisi hung up, investigating officer told me to go inside and

order something to eat he’ll meet me inside, I did as I was told order steak and pap

and chakalaka that’s what everyone seemed to be eating and I needed to blend in,

one of the waitresses came and sat on my table she smiled and asked if I had the

money with me, I told her I had already paid for my food, she said “you don’t

understand I mean do you have the money”? wait, was she with the Investigating

Officer? She told me that the IO (Investigating Officer) could not be seen with me

and he didn’t trust that I was alone so to be on the safe side for both of us I had to

give the money to her and she would pass it on. I told her I will only believe that if I

get a confirmation from the IO himself I was not just going to hand her the money for

all I knew she could have just over-head a conversation and is now taking chances, I

called him and he confirmed that she was his girlfriend and I should give her the

money I was a bit sceptical this was a lot of money and I seriously didn’t want it

ending in the wrong hands but Mthobisi knew what he was doing I just had to trust

that this was going to work, I gave the waitress the money and left. I drove home

feeling a bit relieved that this was coming to an end. The things we do for our men!!

I woke up bright and early on Tuesday morning, by 07:00 I was driving to work which

was an all time record for me I am not a morning person at all I don’t see the point of

being at work at the crack of dawn, I read somewhere that geniuses woke up after 9

so maybe my reasons for not being a morning person were a fact that I was an

unrecognized genius, who am I fooling I am downright lazy, Mthobisi’s mother

reminded me of how lazy I am every time she came to visit, she would tell me that

Koketso my sister in-law got up at 5 am and would start cleaning before everyone
got up and they would be woken up by the smell of breakfast. At my house they

would get up and wait for me to get up, it’s not my fault that they got up at 7 am on a

weekend those are my resting days Mthobisi’s mother needs to take a chill pill, this is

not the 80’s wives have rights now and we work as hard as the men any ways but

telling her that would be disrespectful so I shut up and sleep. Today for the first time

in a long time I could smell the fresh air, I could hear the birds singing, this was going

to be a good day, tomorrow my husband was coming home and nothing could bring

me more joy and happiness that knowing my husband was going to be free in 24

hours.

Traffic was a nightmare but I didn’t care I was so happy I felt like waving at every

person that I drove next too but I didn’t push it that far people are always grumpy in

the mornings I didn’t want to be shown the middle finger, it felt so good to have the

heavy burden lifted off my shoulders. I got to work after 8 and got cracking, Cindy

came a few minutes later, she went on about how her father was stingy and didn’t

want to give her money for a new car that she wanted the car cost half a million, this

girl was a real spoilt brat, I asked her what she did with her own salary she said she

shopped with her money, and would not be able to afford it anyway. I told her that

her car looked good and she didn’t really need another car, she just laughed and

said I wouldn’t understand, I obviously was not going to win this so I let it go.

While Cindy and I were working I got a message on Skype from Mfundo saying he

misses me, I replied and that’s how the chat started, I told he didn’t know me that

well that he would miss me… he replied “I miss your juicy lips” I started blushing I

replied “lol” Mfundo wrote “Lets go out tonight, there is a really nice place that I

would like to show you” I reasoned in my head, there really was no reason for me to

rush home, no one was waiting for me so why not… I replied send me the address.
He sent me the address it was a place in Germiston, I’m not too familiar with

Germiston but I have a GPS so I was not worried about getting lost. Time seemed to

be going slow I was really looking forward to my “date” with Mfundo. At 16:30

Mfundo sent me an sms saying he is leaving the office for our date and can’t wait to

see me. I responded and said I will see him soon. Immediately after that I told Cindy

we should knock-off we’ve done enough for the day, we packed our stuff and left. I

got to my car and entered the address Mfundo had given me on my GPS and hit the

road. On the way Mthobi my hubby called, he asked where I was I told him I’m on

the way home, he told me how much he appreciates what I had done for him, paying

the Investigating Officer and supporting him through everything, I suddenly felt guilty,

before I could respond that loud mouth woman on GPS said turn left on Smith Street,

shit I had forgotten that the GPS was on, I was hoping and praying that Mthobisi had

not heard that but the damn thing is to loud to miss, he asked why am I using the

GPS to go home, damn I could not think I told him to hold on the were cops ahead,

there were no cops I was just stalling I needed to think of a lie, after a minutes I

picked up the phone I told him that I was taking a new route to go home because

there was an accident on my normal route and I didn’t feel like being stuck in traffic,

he seemed to believe that, he told me to call him when I got home as he was worried

since I’m traveling on a route that I didn’t know I said I will, he told me he loves me

very much and can’t wait to hold me in his arms and tell me in person how much he

loves me and show me how much he missed me, I smiled and told him I love him too

and I meant it. I arrived at my destination, it was a nice intimate fancy restaurant that

Mfundo had selected, I got the door there was waitress who welcomed me I told her I

was meeting someone here I saw Mfundo from across the room I walked over to

him, the place was really stunning, Mfundo stood up and gave me a kiss on my lips,
this was the first time we had kissed in public it was scary I looked around just to

make sure there was no one around that I recognized the place was filled with white

people thank goodness, the only other black people besides us were 2 guys having

drink and I didn’t recognize them, white people mind their own business even if they

know you and saw you cheat its none of their business, black people would be taking

pictures post them on facebook then tag you and your partner, you will be left having

to explain your cheating self.

We sat down I order salad and fish he order lamb shank and baked potatoes and I

had cocktails, I read somewhere that if you want to get a woman in bed get her

cocktails, those things make woman super horny, it’s true all my female friends

agree with this concept, so in 2 hours I was so turned on I wanted to rip Mfundo’ s

clothes of and have him right there and then. I even moved my chair from across to

sit right next to him, he was all smiles, I kept rubbing his big boy underneath the

table and I could feel he was hard, I wanted him and I told him as much I knew what

I was doing was wrong in all levels but I have needs too. We were kissing and

fondling each other and the waitress kept coming to ask if everything was okay, I felt

we were making them a bit uncomfortable, this is the freedom you get when you are

out of your hood where everybody knows you. No one knew us here and we felt like

we could do whatever we want oh and alcohol will always give you that feeling of you

can do whatever you like wherever, alcohol brings out the wild side in some people

and it brought out the crazy, lustful side of me. Mfundo said he knew of a BNB that

was close by and we can go there and continue this there I didn’t even think about it,

I agreed. He quickly paid the bill and we went outside, when we got to the parking he

said we should rather use one car and we’ll come back later for the other car, I didn’t
care I said let’s take my car, he said he would drive my car as I was a bit tipsy and

he knew the where the place was and I didn’t so it made sense for him to drive.

We arrived at this BNB the street was empty and its in a very quiet area, as Mfundo

was about to hit the intercom at the gate a Golf 5 came out of nowhere and hit the

pavement, we were both surprised thinking these people have just had an accident,

while we were still watching that not sure if we should go out and see if they need

help, 2 guys came out running and came to my car they knocked on both front

windows at the same time with guns, I opened my window and they told me ”get out”

I opened my mouth to scream the one guy said “scream and we will empty these

bullets in your ass” I closed my mouth immediately, I got out Mfundo also got out

they started searching us, I was petrified shaking like a leaf they took Mfundo’ s

phone and wallet, my phone was in my bag inside the car, they told me to remove

my wedding ring I said No, the one guy asked if do I want to die, Mfundo said just

give it to them, this man is a bloody coward he didn’t even try to put up a fight, I

immediately removed the ring and gave it to him, they also told me to give them a

watch I was wearing that my husband had got for me for my birthday, then the

bastards took my car and drove off. I became sober same time, trauma will bring you

back to your senses, we stood there for a few minutes not saying anything I guess

we were both trying to process what had just happened. We were left there stranded

with no phones, no money, nothing. The first words that came out of my mouth were

“what the hell am I going to tell my husband, he is going to kill me”….

An old white lady from a house across the BNB came to us and said she saw what

happened and has called the police, she said she was too scared to come out and

help but if her husband was home he would have come with his short gun and short

those thugs, I imagined a frail old man trying to shot hijackers, they would have shot
him with his own gun and then gone to their house and took all their belonging just to

show them who is Boss. I thanked her for calling the Police, she said we could come

to her house and wait for the police to arrive and she will make us something to drink

for the shock. The stupid BNB had a high ass wall and huge metal gates so I’m sure

they were not even aware that people had just been held-up in-front of their gate,

sometimes I hate these high walls in suburb’s. The old lady’s house smelled of cats,

as soon as we walked in about 4 cats were sitting on the couch, damn how did this

woman leave with that horrible smell in the house, that was downright disgusting. I

didn’t even want water or anything that she would offer the cats probably drank out

of those glasses, I have nothing against cats but I have something against bad

odour, she moved the cats off the couch for us to sit and started telling us the cats

names was this old lady for real? We’ve just been hijacked and she is introducing us

to cats, I smiled and nodded I was not hearing a word she was saying I was still

shaking. Mfundo asked if my car had tracker, shit I had forgotten about that, I asked

the old lady if I could use her phone, she said I could, I first had to call Telkom

Directory to get the Tracker number as I did not know it by heart I got the number

and called Tracker, I gave them my details and they said I should give them a

number where they could call me back I asked the old lady for her number and I

gave them her number. Mfundo introduced us to her, she told us that there has been

a lot of hijackings in the area of late but no one dared to come close to their house

because everybody know she has snakes and husband has guns, I jumped of the

couch as soon as I heard snakes she looked at me confused I asked where the

snakes were and I told her we will wait for the cops outside, black people don’t mess

with snakes we know those things have no human friends they bite and their bite kills
I did not escape bullets being emptied in my ass to get killed by a snake, she told me

to calm down the snakes were locked up outside.

I was still uneasy about the whole snake situation, but this poor old lady was being

kind to us, she offered us her husband’s whisky to calm the nerves, now that I could

not refuse. She told us her name is Michelle Krog and has been staying in the area

for over 20 years I was not intrested in her life story and thank goodness we were in

the suburbs and a white woman had called the cops because they arrived in less

than 15minutes, they took down a statement, while we were giving a statement

Michelle’s phone rang she answered and gave it to me it was the tracker company,

they said they were able to pick up the where abouts of the car it moved from

Germiston to Boksburg then to Kempton Park and it’s now somewhere in Kempton

Park so I asked what’s going to happen now, they said they sending their people to

Kempton Park as we speak they will keep me updated, I told them I was leaving the

place where I got the phone from so I will call them once I have access to a phone

again.

We finished giving the police the statement of what had happened they told us we

will get a case number tomorrow to give to the insurance, Mfundo asked them to give

us a lift to the restaurant where he had left his car, luckily for us they had not come in

that Police Van we would have looked like some criminals sitting at the back of a

police van, they had come with a Golf 1, I didn’t care I just wanted to get home, they

took us to a restaurant on the way the kept asking what we were doing in the East

Rand while we both stayed in the North, we told them we were working, they looked

at each other with the “they are lying look” but said nothing to us. We got Mfundo’s

car and drove to the North, on the way home Mfundo kept apologizing telling me how

sorry he was for what had happened, he should have fought and resisted, he told me
how bad he felt about my car. I told him not to stress coz had he resisted or fought

they would have shot him and we would be speaking a different story right now, what

would I have told his wife? We got to my complex, I waved to security and they saw

it was me and opened them boom gate. I told him to come up because Mthobisi

wasn’t home and we need to come up with a story that we were both going to tell our

partners about why were together when we got hijacked. Mfundo came up with me to

my place, shame the poor guy looked distraught by the whole experience, I was

traumatised but I had a bit of experience with thugs after all the drama my husband

had put me through but I wasn’t about to expose myself to this man I didn’t tell him

anything this was no time for confessions I could get a priest if I needed that. Mfundo

said we should say we were working and had to meet some of the Directors from

Mfundo’s company and 1 of the woman directors was a bit tipsy so I offered to drive

her to her BNB and since it was already dark and I was not familiar with Germiston

Mfundo offered to drive us, I agreed to this even though it sounded a bit far-fetched

but I didn’t have any better ideas. I decided to use my husband’s phone, I had

charged it a few times even though I had never used it, there were a few sms on the

phone but I was not intrested in reading who they were from I called the tracker

company and told asked if they had managed to get the car, they told me their

people had gone to Kempton Park but no luck the car was nowhere to be found and

now it was off their radars they can’t locate it anywhere which could mean that they

have maybe gone under a building in a basement because they can’t locate a car

when it’s in a basement, these people are useless how can you not be able to see a

car that’s in a basement, I gave them Mthobisi’s’ number which they already had and

told them to call me on that number since my phone was gone with the car. Mfundo
said he needed to get home, his wife had probably tried calling him and he needed

to do some explaining to her. I hugged him and he left.

This affair between Mfundo and I was seriously not working out, maybe this was a

sign that I should just stay away from this man, I should be happy with what I have

even though what I have is not always around and is now in prison but I had chosen

what I have and I should stick to my choice and stop this nonsense because I could

see this ending badly. While still planning my way out of this situation I heard a

knock from the door, who could it be this time of the night, I went to open it was

security they said my husband had been trying to get hold of me and he says my

phone is off, they tried telling me earlier when I was passing the gate with the other

guy, he gave me a number written on a piece of paper and told me that’s where

Mthobisi said I will get hold of him. As soon as he left I called the number, Mthobisi

was surprised that I was calling him using his number he asked why was phone is off

and why didn’t I call him when I got home like I said I would it’s been over 6 hours he

has been worried sick about me, he was highly upset, I didn’t have time to calm him

down I burst out that I had been hijacked while he was still shouting at me, it took a

few minutes for it to sink in then he said “you were hijacked?”.

I then gave him the story that Mfundo and I had come up with, he was shocked and

told me if he was out none of that would have happened now he was blaming

himself, he told me not to worry he would find my car, tomorrow everything will go

back to normal, no one puts a gun in his wife’s head and gets away with it, he will

find whoever did this this to me and make them pay. I didn’t know what he meant by

make them pay and frankly I didn’t care I had been through enough I didn’t feel like

arguing so I said he must do whatever felt right to him. I told him how much I needed

him right now, he told me in a few hours he would be home and hell is going to break
loose to whoever messed with, now I was scared what if he put 1 and 1 together and

figured that I was cheating on him, hell could be breaking loose on me….

The next morning I honestly didn’t feel like going to work but I had to go I needed to

fill in forms for company laptop insurance and 3G Sim card. I took my husband Audi

Q3 to work, this car was big and I didn’t like it much but at least it’s license disk was

not expired so I won’t have cops bugging me for bribes. Not having a phone though

is a pain, and you get used to doing everything using your phone, technology is

spoiling us, but at least I had hubby’s phone which had a lot of sms’s and I figured it

was people from work trying to get hold of him besides he was coming back today so

he would call them back. I got to work before 9am went straight to IT department and

told the IT Manager what had happened but I obviously left out the part that I was

with Mfundo when all this happened he didn’t have to know that. the IT Manager is

this chubby Indian man his name is Jhetrendre Govender but we all call him Jet coz

no one can pronounce that name you end up biting your tongue trying to pronounce

it, he sympathised with me and gave me an insurance form to fill in, he said they

would block the 3G Sim card and advised me to block my cellphone as well and told

me I will get a new laptop in a week’s time. I filled the forms and went up to my office

Cindy was there, I told her what happened but left the Mfundo out of it I didn’t want

her thinking I was socialising with this man behind her back after I had told her he

was married. She told me I should get a gun she was planning on getting one too,

really that was a solution to my problem? I told her I don’t like guns, my office line

rang it was Catherine a colleague who does admin she said she heard that I had

been hijacked am I okay, oh I forgot that Jet the short fat Indian IT Manager is the

biggest gossiper in the office, he is worse than all women in the office combined.

There were these 2 white people we used to work with both married to other people,
they had an affair and would communicate using work emails, since Jet is an IT

manager he can access other people’s mails he came across the back and forth

flirting emails the 2 lovers were sending to each other in some of the emails they

were discussing the gory details of what they were doing to each other in bed and

what they would be doing to each other next time they were together, within a week

the whole company knew about the affair thanks to Jet’s never closed mouth, the

lady could not even walk anywhere without getting dirty stares and snide remarks

from all the other women at work while the guy got praises from other men for

tapping that ass, the woman was so ashamed and embarrassed she resigned didn’t

even serve her notice period, the guy stayed he still works here. Back to Catherine

who was still yapping, I thanked her and told her I had lots of work to get through so I

would catch up with her later. The news had spread like fire at work by 12 I had

received more than 20 calls Cindy was now answering the phone and telling people I

had already left for the day. Mthobisi called me after 1 on his cellphone and told me

he was home I was so happy I told Cindy I needed to go to the Police Station to get

the case no and it might take some time and I need to do a sim swap and go to the

bank apply for new cards so by the time I finish doing everything it will probably be

after 17:00 she said I should take all the time I need she has everything under

control.

I went straight home, found my sexy handsome husband waiting for me, I was so

happy but I was also scared of what he might do if he found out the truth about how I

got hijacked, I could not believe he was here in front of me, I held him in my arms I

didn’t want to let him go I wanted this moment to last for ever, I had tears in my eyes

but these were tears of joy. He told me he was not going anywhere and I was safe

now, I so badly wanted to hear this, my husband was exactly what I needed, the past
week had been hell for me I had never felt so empty and alone like I did the past 2

weeks in my entire life, I finally let go of him. He told me to describe the guys who

had hijacked me, shooo this man was not wasting any time, I gave him a description

of everything I could remember about them, he asked for his phone and said he

needed to make a few calls about my car I gave his phone back and I went to the

bedroom to go change my shoes when I came out I could hear him speaking on the

phone, “yes the BM had a sunroof and tinted windows, find it and I want the bastards

that took it” when he saw I was in the room he said to the person on the other end of

the phone “call me when you hear something” and hung up. I didn’t want to read too

much into this but damn what kind of people did Mthobisi know?? He quickly

distracted me from asking any questions by telling me we should go do a sim swop

for my phone and get new cards. I had cancelled my credit cards at work so all I

needed to collect a debit card at the bank. We drove to the mall to do a sim swop, I

was going to get myself one of those cheap phones when Mthobisi decided to buy

me a Blackberry Bold it was not cheap, he swiped his card to pay for this I didn’t

know where the money came from and I was not about to ask, my previous phone

was an iphone 5 but this would do while I waited for the insurance to pay out, I

thanked him, this was really a kind gesture, I was struggling without a phone, we

then went to the bank to get my debit card, from there we drove to the licence

department in Randburg to go and apply for a new drivers licence since mine had

been in the car when it got hijacked this gave Mthobisi a chance to renew his licence

disk, I told him how I had almost got a R1000 ticket for his expired disk, he asked

how I got out of paying it, I told him I bribed the traffic cop he gave me a look of

disapproval and told me I should not be proud of breaking the law next time I will

offer a bribe to a wrong traffic cop and will find myself in serious trouble. Was he for
real? Teaching me about being a good citizen the same man who has been out of

prison for a couple of hours now suddenly he is reformed, give me a break I of

course being the respectful wife I didn’t say these things out loud I just. I needed a

good come back for this statement, I asked him if he was such a law abiding citizen

then what was he doing in jail, he said “Lee, you know that innocent people go to

prison every day, due to misunderstandings, do you know when I was in prison I

meet a guy who was falsely accused of rape by his wife because she had fallen in

love with another man and wanted the husband out of the picture, he has been going

to court for the past 6 months, that man like many other is fighting a losing battle and

had I stayed there and let the law take it’s course I would have been in there for

months or even years, so yes I broke the law by making you bribe the Investigating

Officer and I’m sorry for getting you involved but I am innocent and proving it while

behind bars would have been impossible ” before I could even reply, he gave me an

envelope and said “here is Victor’s money, we can go to your mom’s place and drop

it off when we finish here”. Ohhh shit, shit, shit panic set in, this is why I hate lies

they have a way of catching up with you when you least expect it, I took the money

from him and told him we didn’t have to go today, Victor is in no hurry for the money,

he said it would also give him an opportunity to see his son. Oh Lord what was I to

do now, if we go to my mom’s place, Victor won’t know anything about this money , I

should never have lied about this, I should just come clean now, tell him everything,

he would kill me, God this man would kill me, I can’t confess. We got into Mthobisi’s

car and drove to my mom’s place, my mom and Victor stay in Alberton which is

about 30 minutes away from Randburg, on the way I was sweating thinking about

what I will say when we got to my mom’s house, I even contemplated sending Victor

an sms but with a new sim card and new phone I had nobody’s numbers on it, I was
in serious panic mode. I was even praying inside that Victor should not be at home

when we get there. We got to Alberton at about 18:00 both Victor and my mom’s car

were parked on the driveway, with my bad luck lately I was getting busted today, my

ancestors had seriously turned their back on me I should slaughter a chicken or

something, so much bad luck in such a short space of time was not on but who am I

kidding I knew nothing about sacrificing anything for ancestors and my mother being

a church-goer would definitely not help me she would just preach to me and give me

Bible verses. We knocked at the door, Victor opened the door he was surprised to

see us but happy, he greeted Mthobisi and gave me a hug, my mom come to the

lounge and was so happy to see us, she called the nanny to bring our son, we

played with and him for a while, we chatted to my parents , we told them about the

hijacking, my mom being a typical mom suggested we move in with them for a while,

so she could take care of me after the traumatic experience I had been through, if

she only knew what I had been through lately she would be at my house packing my

bags for me, this is why I don’t share every problem with my mother, Victor being the

voice of reason told my mother that I was no longer a child and my husband would

take care of me, my mom hesitantly agreed. We stayed for supper and while we

were still enjoying my mother’s food Mthobisi said to Victor ”we’ve brought your

money”, my heart almost came out of my mouth, both my mom and Victor asked

“what money?”

Mthobisi looked at me, I was so not prepared for this, I had no words, nothing, I

couldn’t think in fact I couldn’t even move, I was frozen, one thing I knew for sure if I

let Mthobisi continue speaking I will get in deeper shit, I had to think of something

fast. I had not realized but all eyes were on me, I started coughing acting like I was

chocking, this was a weak stalling tactic but I didn’t know what else to do, Mthobisi
gave me juice, I drank that slowly, then whispered to Mthobisi, my mom doesn’t

know about the money, Mthobi’s eyes popped wide open and said “oh shit” my mom

looked at him disapprovingly he apologised for swearing, I smiled then told my

parents that I had actually meant to call them but with the hijacking drama I got

distracted and forgot to call, I told them Mthobi and I have some money that we have

been saving but I have been tempted to use it and Mthobi was against me using it he

wants us to save it for rainy days, so we had both come to a conclusion that we

should give it to Victor for safe-keeping, Victor was very chafed that we trusted him

that much that we wanted to give him our money to keep. I took the money out of my

bag and handed it to him, he counted the money, I could see my mother getting

excited I knew the minute we walked out that door she would be asking Victor for

that money, women are the same, we all love money and once we see money we

already have all these things we see in our heads and want to buy, infact my mother

will not sleep a wink tonight planning he shopping spree with all that money, dammit

I had to find a way to get the money back, I could not let my mother use that money

and I knew Victor could never say no to my mother, what now. After a couple of

hours of bonding with our son Neo, my mom and Victor we decided to go back

home. I was exhausted I just wanted to get home and sleep which is exactly what I

did, I left Mthobisi on the lounge watching TV I guessed he must have missed it, no

such luxuries in prison.

I got up at about 02:08 am I rolled over to my hubby’s side of the bed, he was not

there, damn is he still watching TV this time of the morning, I got up and went to the

lounge, what I saw broke my heart in pieces, I found my husband sitting on the floor

bowling his eyes out, he was crying so hard, at first I thought he was watching a

comedy and laughing but then I realised the TV was off and he was sitting on the
floor, I stood there for a couple of minutes not sure what I should do, Mthobisi is

usually this strong man who never show any emotions, I stepped closer and sat on

the floor next to him, he was a bit surprised to see me, I didn’t give him a chance to

speak I held him in my arms and told him everything will be alright. In everything that

he had been through I had not stopped to think what my husband had been through,

this man had been through hell and back and as his wife my duty is to support him,

stand by him guilty or innocent, I should not be judging I should be supporting. As I

held him he continued crying, I had never seen this side of my husband, we must

have sat on the floor for over 20 minutes, after some time he let go of me and told

me he was sorry for acting like a child he was just thinking about everything that he

had put me through and got a bit overwhelmed in prison he could not show any

emotions coz he was going to look weak and this was the only time that he actually

gave himself to think about everything that had happened. I had never loved my

husband like I loved him now, he had shown me his vulnerable side, this is every

woman’s dream their man crying, cry in front of a woman and she will believe that

you love her enough to trust her with your emotions, this is a big deal in us women.

Hubby said he will go and take a shower and will join me in bed when he was done

and I should go sleep since I had work in the morning, I went to bed and fell asleep.

I was woken up by my alarm clock, my husband was sleeping next to me this was

such a beautiful sight that I didn’t want to leave, I stayed in bed for a couple of

minutes watching this man, this man that I call my husband realising how little I knew

about him, for starters where did he get the R20 000 from in such a space of time

that he was out of prison. Why had he gone to prison in the first place, what was this

story about illegal mining? I soo badly wanted to wake him up and ask him all these

questions that were running in my mind but I knew he didn’t sleep much last night so
I didn’t want to bother him and my husband is very reserved and doesn’t like talking,

yesterday he had said very little, but he said he was innocent that was not enough I

wanted to know more, so I decided to write him a letter, I know it’s silly but I find it

easier to express myself in writing than actually talking and I figured it would be

easier for him to explain all this in writing rather than talking to me, I wrote the letter

and placed it in my pillow. Took a shower and hurried out of the house with

Mthobisi’s Audi, he was still sleeping when I left. I got to work quite early by early I

mean after 9, my Boss’s PA told me that Andile my boss wants to see me, what did

the annoying witch want now. I took my precious time, replying to emails and doing

every unnecessary thing to avoid going to see that women. After some time I told

Cindy I was going to Andile’s office she wished me luck and told me she would pray

for me, I laughed and left. Andile’s office is unnecessary spacious, when I got there

Mfundo and Mark his boss were both sitting in Andile’s office this took me by

surprise I was not expecting this at all, damn I hope they did not find out about the

affair, this is the last thing I needed, where are these ancestors when you need

them? Right now I needed all sorts of intervention, Jesus, Ancestors, Allah, Buddha,

everybody just needed to work with me and get me out of this messy situation.

Andile spoke first this woman showed no emotions so you could never read her, she

said the reason why they called me in was coz they would like me to go to cape town

for a week, I will be assessing MRT (Mfundo’s Company) financial report in their

cape town branch, Mark explained what a great job Cindy and I had been doing and

they feel that they need someone to take care of their business in cape town and

they were sure that I was more than capable that I could handle this project by

myself and Cindy would handle things in Joburg, all I could think was I could not

leave my husband he just came back and now they want me leave, are these people
insane? I thanked them for the offer and a wonderful opportunity before I could

refuse Andile told me that I will be paid per day for this on top of my salary, my eyes

popped wide open, I asked when do they want me in Cape Town, Mfundo responded

by saying he will also be in Cape Town, he would be flying down on Sunday they

needed me there Monday morning. Say what? Mfundo would also be there? This

was going to be fun. I told them I would like to fly down Monday morning as I still had

a lot of things to settle this side. We discussed the logistics of my trip for a while, I

was really happy with how well things were turning out, maybe my ancestors had not

turned against me after all. I went to the office and told Cindy what had happened,

she was not really happy for me I could see it in her face but I didn’t blame her I

would have been spiting fire if they had selected her, I was not going to let this

woman spoil my mood, I used my desktop and sent a mail to my friends, telling them

tomorrow we having a gal night out, we had a lot to celebrate, my friends are always

down for a good time, all the replies were “Count me in” I love my girls they always

down for a fun time, we decided we would continue the chat on whatsap as we had a

chat group and we would decide later where we will be going, gals nights out are

always crazy and wild, I could not wait for this, while I was still planning my outfit for

our night out my phone landline rang, Cindy had gone to the bathroom so I had no

choice but to answer it was Phumla from reception, she said “Lee, there is some

people that are here to see you”, I knew I had no meeting for the day and I was not

expecting anyone so I told her to ask for their name she replied in an almost whisper

“it’s the police, they’ve been asking me questions about your husband”, I dropped

the phone and ran like a crazy woman to the reception

As I was running on the corridors rushing to reception I bumped into the last person I

was hoping to see the company’s biggest gossiper, I ran right past him acted like I
didn’t see him, continued running, then I heard someone running out of breath

behind, it was the chubby Indian man behind me running, I stopped so fast and

turned around and asked him why he was following behind me, you could see in his

face the excitement of what he was about to discover, this man got really excited

over gossip and he knew something was up with me, I’m sure he could smell it, he

said Andile had told him that I would be going to Cape Town and he should get me a

laptop asap, I could see he was carrying a laptop bag, I lifted my hands and asked

“so?” I was getting annoyed now, he said he had my laptop with him and figured that

I must be late for a meeting so he assumed that I would be needing the laptop for my

meeting that’s why he was running behind me, this man is unbelievable I told him I

do not need the laptop for my meeting and to go set it up in my office I will call him if

I had any problems, he didn’t seem too happy about this but I didn’t care I could not

afford to be the news in the office. I waited till he turned a corner and was completely

out of my sight then continued running to the reception, what did these cops want

now? Lord what if they beat me up like they did Mthobisi, nah they would dare, too

many witnesses and there are cameras everywhere, Lord what did my husband do

this time? Or is it about the bribe that I paid to the Investigating Officer? I had so

many questions when I got to reception I was completely out of breath and sweating,

I , there were just a few clients waiting for the people they were there to see at work.

I went to Phumla and asked her what had happened to the cops? She pointed at 2

gentleman wearing ordinary clothes no uniform, they saw that Phumla was pointing

and came to me, they asked if I am Lesedi Jumbe, I was so scared my voice

wouldn’t even come out, Phumla answered for me, they said they needed to speak

to me in private, I asked Phumla to check if there are any meeting rooms available,

she pointed us to a room down the passage, I lead them and when we got to the
room I told them that I was tired of being harassed and if they wanted to know

anything about my husband they should be speaking to him and not me, they looked

confused and asked me what I am talking about, after venting that much I actually

felt like an idiot I asked them why there were here they said they don’t know my

husband and they were just asking the reception lady if my husband worked with me

they are just here to discuss the hijacking, yhooooooo I was so relieved I could have

hugged them but I didn’t push it that far. They said they just had a couple of

questions to ask me, they asked if I saw the people who took my car would I

recognise them I said yes, they asked a whole lot of other questions about the

hijacking but I didn’t really care as long as it had nothing to do with my husband.

After filling forms and answering questions they eventually left.

When I got back to the office Cindy told me that Jet was not very happy with the fact

that I had dismissed him like a child, I laughed and told her he is a child in a grown

man’s body, we both laughed. My phone rang it was my husband, he told me he was

coming to get me something had come up and he needs me to come with him, he

was not being very forthcoming and knowing my husband I was not going to get

anything out of him, I told him he can come and get me and we will do lunch, he said

“No, I’m picking you up and you won’t be coming back to work today, this is

important Lee”, I didn’t really have much of a choice so I said okay, he said he loves

me and hung up. I told Cindy I needed to go to the Police Station the cops said they

had a few cars they wanted me to identify, Cindy said she would cover for me. In

less than 15 minutes Mthobisi was calling to say he’s downstairs, I went down to the

parking, I asked what are we going to do about his Q3 he said we should leave it at

work I will get it tomorrow. We drove off in his Golf 7, I asked him where we were

going,he said one of his friends got word about my car so he was taking me to see if
I could identify the guy. I laughed coz I honestly thought that he was joking the cops

could not find these guys and Mthobisi’s friends found them just like that? This was a

joke I told him as much, he looked at me with a serious face and said , this is not a

joke there is nothing funny about you almost getting killed, there is nothing funny

about another man disrespecting my wife and putting a gun on her head, that shut

me up. My phone rang, it was one of my friend’s Cleo, she wanted to talk about the

girls night out, wanted to know where we will be going tomorrow, honestly I could not

think about that now, she was started telling me about this great place that has

recently opened in Soweto and we should go check it out, I said okay we’ll see how

the others feel, Cleo is one of my closest friends, no kids, no husband, she is

absolutely amazing, she’s smart, beautiful, charming but can’t find Mr. Right. She’s

been in and out of relationships with guys always breaking her heart. She would not

stop talking so I told her I was rushing somewhere and we will catch up tomorrow.

Mthobisi obviously overheard the whole conversation, he asked about the girl’s night

out, he never really cares when I go out with the girls he knows it’s harmless fun, I

told him I needed some time with my friends he agreed, even told me he will give me

money for drinks, wow, I smiled and thanked him. my phone was going crazy with

whatsap messages from my friends, they were discussing the girls night out, I

responded on a few messages to Mthobisi’s annoyance, he hates it when I chat on

my phone coz I do not focus and not hear him when he speaks which was what was

happening now, soo I put the phone on silence and focused on my husband, he

talked about his friends that I was about to meet, I found this all to be so weird that

my husband has these friends that I have never meet before. We arrived in

Boksburg, we meet Mthobisi’s friend outside the SARS building, a coloured man in

his 40’s Mthobisi introduced him as David, David told me how sorry he was that I had
to go through that whole experience and that he was going to make sure they found

my car, I didn’t know what to say so I said thank you, we then all 3 of us drove to

some flats in Boksburg, outside was another guy by the name of Ryan, he was at the

entrance waiting for us, he lead us into the flats and David and Ryan t started

speaking in Afrikaans, from what I could understand Ryan had been standing at the

entrance to make sure that the guys we were here for didn’t leave and they were still

in the flat, so we walked to the flat, we got there was a young boy of about 19, Ryan

asked him who else was in the house, the boy said he was alone, they asked where

Tyler was and the boy said Tyler was gone to steal a battery, they asked him what

had they done with the BM, the boy said he didn’t know anything about a BMW,

Ryan punched him so hard the poor boy moved back a few feet and fell on the

couch, I had been sitting down, I stood up from shock of what was happening,

Mthobisi said I should go outside, while I was still listening to Mthobisi, Ryan picked

the boy up and started slapping him, I was close to screaming, Mthobisi pulled me by

the arm and said let’s go outside, we went out but I could still hear the young boys

screams from outside, I asked Mthobisi what the hell was this and he said we trying

to find your car, before I could respond another young coloured boy came he looked

about 23 years old, as soon as his eyes laid on Mthobisi he made a run for it but it

was too late for him coz Mthobisi was too fast for him, he had not even covered a

few meters when my husband grabbed him and took him inside the flat, this was now

Tyrone the guy they had been waiting for but they kept busy by beating up the other

boy, this is why it’s so important not to hang out with the wrong crowds because you

will suffer for their sins. David called me in and explained that he runs Boksburg, I

didn’t know what he meant by “run” I mean he was not a mayor or anything like that

and as far as I knew Mayors are the ones that run a town, he was still explaining that
since my car moved from Germiston to Boksburg Tyrone must have been involved or

must know someone who had taken my car, Ryan was now beating up Tyrone like

crazy, I tried focusing my attention on David who was still explaining that they must

have removed the battery from my car which is why the Tracker could no longer pick

it up. The beating was not working on Tyrone or maybe the poor boy didn’t know

anything, I told them that the guys that hijacked me where black and not coloured,

David who had taken the role of my teacher schooling me about this insanity that

was going on around me said that the other guys who were driving could have been

coloureds he asked if I saw the driver I told him that everything happened too fast I

didn’t see the driver.

David said that the beating was not effective on Tyrone we needed to do something

more drastic. Mthobisi took out a hammer from the back of his pants, up until now

my husband had not been doing anything he had just been watching, I asked him

what’s he going to do with the hammer my husband replied, “I’m going to break his

knees”.

He was as calm as a baby suckling its mothers tit and more! This was a worrying

thing!

After hearing about the breaking of knees Tyler started singing like a church choir

boy, fear is a great motivator, he told us that there was another boy that had been

bragging about stealing a BMW he said he was high when the boy was talking about

the car and had not paid much attention. David again started explaining to me that

these kids smoke drugs like Nyaope, cocaine etc and when they want money for

their drugs they will do anything, they can even kill, I was lucky that I had come out

of the whole incident alive. I wished I had never gone to that restaurant with Mfundo
and I so wished that I had never agreed to going to that BnB, I was regretting all the

choices I had made but it was too late for regrets, these were the cards that life had

dealt me and I just had to deal with it, you know what they say sink or swim. So my

hubby’s thug friends told the boy Tyler to take us to his friends place. Ryan’s car was

at the parking so they left the young boy we had found at the house at took Tyler

with them. Ryan sat in front alone, he was the driver, David and my husband sat at

the back of the car with Tyler in the middle, I guess this was to make sure that Tyler

doesn’t run off and I was told to follow behind them with my husband’s car. I drove

behind them for about 10 minutes we got to other flats, I parked behind Ryan’s car.

Mfundo came to me and told me to stay in the car, I did as I was told, they went in I

don’t know which flat they went into a few minutes later I saw them coming out with

another guy, scrap that they were dragging this new guy out, I watched from the car

and Mthobisi came and stood by the window and told me to follow them, I followed, I

wondered where we were going, maybe this new boy also came up with another

name and we were probably following that up, I was getting tired of these drive here,

drive there to beat up someone games. Only when we stopped did I realise where

we were, we were in the same driveway where I got hijacked, we were at the BNB

where Mfundo and I had gone to try and get our freak on, my heart was beating soo

hard it felt like it was going to come out of my mouth, I could see the lights on at the

house of the old lady that had come to assist us after the hijacking, I wanted to run to

her house and ask her to help me, coz in my heart I knew I was next to receive the

beat downs, I was convinced that my crazy husband must have known about the

affair, how else would he have known I was at this particular BNB, I needed to plan

my escape very fast. I was shaking like a leaf, I knew I could not run with Mthobisi’s

car it has a tracker, he would find my ass before I even turned a corner, the gate to
the BNB opened, they drove in, this was my chance to run, but where the hell do I

run to? I didn’t even know the place so well and running to that white old lady’s

house would only be putting her poor sweet soul in danger I could run and try and

find a taxi but problem is I didn’t even know where taxi were in this place and in

some areas taxi’s pass on specific routes and I doubt very much that they passed

around here they usually go on busy roads and this is one hell of a quiet street. I was

screwed, there was no way out of this one, none whatsoever. You know how people

will tell you that in life you always have a choice that is a lie; here I was with no

choice. Ryan must have seen me hesitating or maybe Mthobisi told him to hoot, the

sound caught me by surprise I jumped so high my head hit the roof of the car, I tried

motivating myself “Mthobisi loves me and would never hurt me”. Who was I kidding, I

had no idea who my husband was and the past 2 weeks I had been discovering a

whole lot of new things about my husband. I drove in slowly and stopped behind

Ryan’s car, I looked at the wall trying to see how high I would have to jump when shit

breaks. They all came out of the car; I sat inside and didn’t move an inch it felt like if I

moved they would hear me, I wanted to be as quite as possible and maybe if they

don’t hear me they will forget about me. No such luck, David came this time and not

my husband, oh Lord Mthobisi must be so upset that he doesn’t even want to talk to

me I thought. David stood next to my window he started explained that they knew the

owner of this place and when he heard that Mthobisi’s wife had been hijacked

outside his property he asked that they bring to him whoever had done the hijacking,

I could see David talking but I was not hearing anything I was just for the moment

when Mthobisi comes and asks me about Mfundo. I said a small prayer in my heart

“good Lord if you get me out of this one, I promise I will behave, I will be an obedient

wife who asks no questions, please don’t let them hurt me”. This life that I am living
is no life to live, and once again we go back to people who say you have a choice, I

did not choose a husband who is a thug, I choose a loving, caring, amazing husband

I don’t know when and how he had turned to this person. It’s like when you have a

cheating husband when you decided to get married he was not a cheat, he was as

loyal and faithful as any man could be and 2-3 years down the line he reveals his

true colours and starts cheating and you don’t know if he had been cheating on you

from the beginning and you were too love blinded to see or if this is something that

started now after a few years of marriage, that’s exactly the same way I felt about my

husband I didn’t know when these criminal activities had started and I even envied

woman that have problems of cheating husbands compared to my problem, they are

drowning in a damn, in small water, I on the other hand am swimming in the ocean

with sharks and I have no life jacket.

Mthobisi had gone inside the BNB; he came out with a white man I figured that must

be the owner of the place, he was bald, and well-built looked like the type that was a

regular at the gym, my husband pointed at the 2 boys that they had taken at the 2

flats, the white dude went to them, he punched the last boy that we had picked up so

hard that he went flying and hit the floor, my mouth dropped wide opened, WTF?

David was still at my window so I asked who that man was, he said that’s Thomas, I

knew that name I could not remember from where but I knew the name, then it hit

me, he’s the guy that my husband had asked me to call the night he got arrested.

How stupid and foolish could I have been, out of all the BNB’s and hotels in Joburg I

came with my lover to the biggest thug’s BNB who happens to be very good friends

with my husband, I had dug my own grave and now I was going to get buried in it.

My mouth became dry I started sweating, I swear this crazy life was giving me high

blood pressure, David looked at me and asked if I was okay, I said I need water, he
went inside to get me some, Mthobisi and Thomas were busy with the 2 boys they

were talking and the white guy kept punching them, Mthobisi in all this had not lifted

a finger, he was the perfect gentlemen just asking questions and the others were

doing the beating I started wondering if he was saving his energy for me, why did I

even attempt having an affair, all the signs were there that I should not continue with

this silly affair and I still forced matters, some things should not be done by certain

people and I fell under the people who should not have affairs. It’s like guys who are

married to psycho women they should never have affairs because the psycho wife

will go and beat-up your mistress and her entire family. David came back and

handed me the water, I drank half of it without stopping, Mthobisi and Thomas came

close to the car, I almost shat myself, Mthobisi asked if I was okay I said yes I just

have a bit of a headache, he introduced me to Thomas and told me he is the owner

of the place, Thomas apologised for me having to see him do that to those boys in

front of me as a lady I should not have to see such things he said, I said it was okay.

Shit if this man is the owner then he has the registry of everyone that comes in and

Mfundo’s stupid idea of a story of saying we were dropping some women here would

not hold, what if they had cameras at the gate and they view those cameras and no

women comes out of the car, I should never have listened to that stupid man called

Mfundo, he was sitting at home comfortable with his wife while I was here about to

have my ass buried alive. Thomas said he needed to go wash his hands he would

be back he went inside the house, I asked Mfundo how he knew that I had been

hijacked at this BNB, he responded coolly and said he had called tracker and the told

him everything. I said “everything?”, he smiled coldly and said “yes Lee, everything”

he then walked away and spoke to Ryan for a few seconds then took Ryan’s keys

and got inside Ryan’s car, I was a bit confused of what was happening now until I
saw Ryan put the last boy that we had come with from the last flats on the floor he

positioned his legs directly opposite the tyres of the car, Mthobisi started the car, I

ran out to Ryan’s car screaming and crying, I begged my husband not to run over

this boy’s legs.

My screams must have shocked my husband and everyone else around, because

everyone stopped for a few seconds and all eyes were on me, I was rumbling on

telling Mthobisi to not hurt the boy, I was even telling him about the insurance and

that it would pay out and we didn’t have to go through all this, Mthobisi switched off

the car and came out, I was so worried about what he might do to me for interrupting

him while he was in a mission to hurt the boy and find my car in the process but

instead he did the opposite of what I feared, he held me in his arms and told me not

be scared he was not going to run that boy over he was just trying to scare him, I

was shaking and crying so hard, I had never been so scared of my husband before

and I told him as much, that must have hit somewhere doubt if it hit the heart as I

was convinced that my husband had no heart. He let go of me and held my face with

both his hands and said “Honey you are my life, it’s my job to protect you. I love you

with all my heart and soul”, I was still sobbing and I heard Thomas screaming “Jen,

bring the whisky” a few moments later a blond white good looking woman, who

looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine shoot brought a glass of whiskey,

she gave it to me and said I should drink it will calm me down, I gulp the whole thing

down it tasted horrible, I’m not a whiskey drinker and I always mix whiskey with

Appletiser to make it taste better and my husband would always laugh at me and say

I’m spoiling the taste, what taste because this was ugly and it felt like it was burning

my chest, a few minutes later I felt a bit better, I was a bit calm. Thomas introduced
the beautiful looking lady as his wife Jen, we shook hands and Mthobisi told them

that he would be taking me home and Thomas should take over from here.

On the drive home I was sobbing like a small baby I could not believe my husband

was capable of such in despicable acts, Mthobisi kept trying to calm me down when I

would not stop crying he stopped the car on the highway, parked it on the yellow

lane and said we should talk about what happened, honestly in the middle of the

freeway, is this man for real? A truck could come and hit our car and it would be the

end of us, I didn’t want to die a painful death. I told him we should speak when we

get home he said he could not stand to see me cry like that and wanted to explain

what had just happened, I had no choice but to listen, he explained that I was his

responsibility and if anyone tried to hurt me it was his responsibility to call that

person to order, he said there is a reason why we stay in the North he wanted to

make sure that I was out of harm’s way, safe and protected. This didn’t make sense,

what did staying in the North of Joburg had to do with anything, I didn’t ask I just

wanted to get home and crawl under the blankets and sleep and forget about this

day. He told me that he grew up with David and Thomas and they were his friends

from way back and they had helped him out of many dangerous situations before

and he told me I could trust them, I asked why in all the years that we had been

together had I not meet these characters he said there was no point in me meeting

because there was no crisis and I was safe, I didn’t understand but I was getting

used to answers that didn’t make sense, we drove home in silence, well Mthobisi

tried making jokes but I was not in the mood to laugh at his stupid jokes, after seeing

that I was not laughing at his usual jokes he kept quiet and drove.

When we got home, Mthobisi ran me a bubble bath and told me to relax in the bath

and not worry about anything he will make supper, he was on his sweetest
behaviour, I went into the bath, it was nice and hot just exactly what I needed, it was

so relaxing that I actually fell asleep, after not coming out for a few hours Mthobisi

must have been worried that I had slit my wrists or drowned myself, for he came in

the bathroom and woke me up, the water was by now ice-cold I got out and put on

pyjamas and to my surprise my husband had cooked me dinner, he had the table,

there was even wine on the table it was a really romantic set-up, he was playing

Barry White on the background, oh wow, who knew a person could switch so quickly

from a hard-core thug to the sweetest romantic man that he was being right now. He

pulled up a chair for me; I sat down and told him that this is all so beautiful. I tried to

put behind what had happened earlier and focus on this beautiful romantic moment

with my husband, Mthobisi told me how beautiful I was and how much he loved me

and how he never wants to loose me ever and the thought of me being in danger

while he was behind bars really didn’t sit well with him, he told me he still needed to

go find those Somalian bastards who came to our home, I laughed at hearing that

but at that moment I realized that this man really loved me, he might be involved and

connected to thugs and whatever else he is doing but the fact is he would move

mountains to make sure that I was safe and at the end of the day that’s all that really

matters. We all want a man that will love, cherish and protect us and he was all of

that and more. I decided to keep my promise to God of being an obedient wife and

ask no further questions after all my prayers were answered I was not harmed in that

whole interrogation that they were doing.

After dinner we sat on the couch to watch a romantic movie, hubby had really gone

all out to make up for the today’s horrific drama that made him so attractive to me, he

was paying attention to me, listen to everything I said and was just so present which

is everything I had always wanted. While watching the movie I sat on top of him and
started kissing him this caught him by surprise but he responded and I could feel his

manhood getting hard, I unbuttoned his shirt and kissed him on his ears then went

down to his neck and started nibbling his neck , I could see him getting excited, he

swiftly moved me off from on top of him and put me on the couch, he removed my

top and started sucking my nipples, I was getting turned on, I removed his belt and

pants , then he stopped and looked at me, he smiled and said “I wish you could see

what I see when I look at you, you are so beautiful Honey, I love every single inch of

your body” that just made me weak on the knees, I loved my husband despite his

crazy behind the scenes life. He pulled my pants off and went down to my honeypot,

he licked and sucked it, I was ready for him, I had been starving for weeks my body

was so ready for this moment, he put his manhood inside my honeypot and at that

moment nothing else mattered, we were one like a husband and wife should be. We

were at it for hours, I don’t know how many hours but this was the best love-making

my husband and I have had in years. I felt alive again.

The next morning I was woken up by the smell of breakfast, I thought I was dreaming

because in our house nobody’s got time to make breakfast, as I opened my eyes

hubby was sitting in bed next to me with watching me, I know how some people find

that to be romantic but it creeps me out, what the hell, I could be drooling in my sleep

and you watching me do that. He told me how peaceful and beautiful I looked in my

sleep, I smiled and realized he was carrying a tray with coffee, scrambled eggs,

bacon and toasted bread, I asked when did he wake up, he smiled and said his wife

deserves to be spoiled every now and again. I thanked him with a kiss which was an

unending kiss and got us rolling in the sack again and since I was already sleeping

naked and he only had boxers on this made things very simple, best sex is the

morning glory it brightens up your whole day, this was enough breakfast for me,
making love to my husband best cure for all my stress and frustrations. After making

love, we shared the breakfast and we took a bath together, we bathe each other and

were laughing and making jokes I felt so loved and appreciated this is what marriage

should be like.

Mthobisi had to drop me off at work since we had left the other car at my work on the

way to work I asked him what was happening with his job and when is he going

back, he said he will be going to a hearing on Monday about the illegal mining

allegations but since the court had no case against him he doesn’t see himself being

in any trouble at work, I decided to not ask further questions on the matter because if

there is one thing I know about my husband is he can take care of things I have first-

hand experience in that. In all the craziness that had been going on I had forgotten to

tell Mthobisi about Cape Town so this was my opportunity I told him I will be in Cape

Town for a week next week for work and he looked at me surprised and said this is

not a good time for you to be traveling we have a lot to sort out, we’ve been through

hell and back and we need time together to get through all this. I looked at him and

told him stop making it sound like I’m going for a big party in Cape Town I’m going

there for work and he doesn’t know what’s going to happen at his hearing for all I

know your his ass could get fired, we needed the extra money I will be making when

I go to Cape Town, and to stop being bloody unreasonable. I could not believe we

were arguing about this when I had always supported him in his career. We were

now at the parking at my work, I got out and I said I will be home very late today I’m

going out with the gals; I got out and slammed the door. Mthobisi opened the window

and said ” this conversation is not over, by the way I’m meeting Mfundo for lunch”. I

froze
I told my friends to stop drinking, they all looked at me confused, I tried explaining

that I think my drink has been spiked; She Rocks open my eyes and said my pupils

are dilated. I was starting to feel anxious, my jaws were tightening, my skin started to

tingle and I was sweating. Everything was just happening so fast, my friends

honestly didn’t know what to do and if I were in their shoes I would have been

panicking like hell. Cleo gave me water and told me to drink, I could not even hold

the bottle that’s how much I was shaking, Cleo had to put the water bottle in my

mouth and make me drink. Andiswa said they should call my husband, I shook my

head so hard it almost snapped out of my neck so she said she won’t call. Cleo said

we need to leave this place immediately she didn’t feel safe, I was now starting to

feel relaxed all my muscles were completely relaxed, if a person would have pushed

me with one hand I would have fallen on the floor that’s how weak and relaxed I felt,

I could hear She Rocks on the phone she sounded so faraway but she was right next

to me, when I spoke it sounded like I was speaking in slow motion. She Rocks said

she had called her boyfriend he’s coming to help us out, but he said that they should

give me lots of water and make sure that I don’t sleep, I was feeling so relaxed that I

was actually falling asleep, each time I would close my eyes She Rocks would slap

me to wake me up, Andiswa kept sprinkling my face with water, they kept talking to

me about random things just to keep me awake and I could not really hear much.

Eventually She Rocks boyfriend arrived, to me it felt like he had taken 5 hours but

my friends said it took him 10 minutes to get there, his name is Siyabonga this was

the first time meeting him, not very good first impression at all. He suggested that we

go to his place so they could try and get whatever I had been given out of me. I don’t

even know whose car we drove in all I know is I was not driving, Andiswa and Cleo

sat in front not sure who between the two was driving, I was at the back in-between
She Rocks and her man. I kept asking Siyabonga to pray for me, the guy must have

thought it’s the drugs talking coz he just laughed it off, I told him my husband is

insane and dangerous and I need prayers to make him normal again, everybody in

the car was laughing, Cleo even said whatever they had given me was turning me

into a comedian, I then told Cleo to pump up the music coz I wanted to dance when

we got to Siyabonga’s place. I have never taken drugs before and I didn’t know what

type of drug they had been put in my drink but it gave me a whole lot of different

feelings, the one minute I was hot the next cold, the next moment excited the next

moment depressed no fun at all.

We got inside the house, Cleo suggested they run me a bath and said something

about temperature levels, Andiswa said they should make me throw up, everyone

was just throwing in their suggestion, I was falling asleep, Siyabonga told them that I

should not sleep at all because we don’t know what they had given me and what it

might do to me if I sleep so I need to stay up, they kept giving me water it was not

helping at all. I could feel my eyes getting heavy I don’t know what how it happened

but next thing I knew I was in a bath filled with water, black people and water are not

such good friends, I thought I was in a pool drowning, I started screaming and

splashing the water all over the bathroom and everyone around, this surprised them

but they tried to calm me down, I stood up but slipped and fell back in the bath my

head went under the water, I was convinced I was dead, like most black people I

cannot swim to save my life, funny thing is there is a swimming pool at my mother’s

house, the only thing I ever did in that pool was dip my legs in the water, in the few

times that I had tried to swim I had gone right to the bottom & almost drowned so

swimming was not for me. Once my head got under water panic set in, water went in

my nose, mouth, ears and I could not get up, luckily the girls pulled me out, this
definitely woke me up, I told them to get me out of the stupid bath, this was not a

smart idea. They got me out, She Rocks gave me her pyjamas to change into and

we went to go sit in the one of the bedrooms, Siyabonga poor guy had made sure

the place was nice and warm he had the heater out, he made us all coffee. The

coffee was not really helping and the warmth of the room was again making my

muscles relax and all I wanted was to close my eyes and go to sleep but all these

people wouldn’t let me sleep time was now 01:15am.

I don’t know when or how I feel asleep but all I know is I was woken by a loud

banging noise, I woke up and looked around me and the room I was in, it didn’t look

familiar at all, I tried to get up but my head felt so heavy like I had been hit by a truck,

bus and a train one after the other. I laid there and closed my eyes again but the

loud banging wouldn’t stop, I looked next to me and Cleo and Andiswa were fast

asleep next to me, then a bit of what had happened last night was coming back to

me. I could not believe that my girls had stayed all night with me, these are the kinds

of friends that every woman should have. I assumed that She Rocks must have

snuck out to go get some from her man, not that I blamed her it was a long stressful

night my friend must have needed some stress reliever I was smiling at the thought,

Cleo opened her eyes and asked why so much noise so early in the morning and

what I was smiling about after my near-death experience. I told her we in Soweto

people get up early here and it was probably Siyabonga’s church members visiting

or maybe they were having some morning prayer we both laughed at the idea,

Andiswa was fast asleep, that woman can sleep, you can pick her up put her on the

floor and steal her bad and she would not hear a thing. We decided not to wake her

up, there was commotion in the house we just assume that it was Siyabonga’s

friends.
A few minutes later She Rocks budged into the room looking like she had just seen a

ghost, both Cleo and I jumped up and asked her what wrong, she replied and said

“Lee your husband has lost his mind he is here and is attacking Siyabonga”. The

water from the bath that went into my ears must have affected my hearing coz I was

sure that I did not hear correctly what this woman had just said, I asked her to calm

down and repeat what she had just said. Why would Mthobisi attack Siyabonga, I

didn’t remember much about last night but wait, I didn’t speak to Mthobisi the whole

of yesterday, so how the hell did he know I was here, ohhh shit he must have called

the Tracker company. But why attack Siyabonga after he practically saved my life.

While we were rushing out Cleo asked if I had told Mthobisi about being drugged last

night I asked her at what time would I have been able to tell him when I was so out of

it, people can ask you the most ridiculous questions at the worst possible time. To be

honest I didn’t want Mthobisi finding out about my drink being spiked because deep

down I knew he would never again be comfortable with me going out without him

around and sometimes we all just need a little break from our partners.

When we got to the dining room my husband had Siyabonga pinned to the wall with

his hands on his throat, gosh this man of mine is a problem. I called out his name he

turned around let go of Siyabonga, the look in his eyes was that of a man deeply hurt

and disappointed, I avoided his eyes and asked him what the hell does he think he is

he doing? Mthobisi let go of Siyabonga and stepped close to me fuming and asked

“Lesedi what the hell are you doing at this man’s house?” when my husband calls

me by my full name I know that shit has hit the fern. I opened my mouth then closed

it again the only thing that could come out of my mouth was “what?” this question

had really caught me by surprise, I know the answer was so simply but looking at it

from his point of view, this did not look good at all. Mthobisi stepped closer and held
my chin up so I could look him in the eyes and said “Lesedi I’m going to ask you this

question once and once only and you better tell me the truth or I swear on my

grandmother’s grave hell is going to break loose. Are you fucking this fool” he said

pointing at Siyabonga.

Before I could even answer She Rocks stepped in between us and told Mthobisi not

to be ridiculous, she told him that this is her boyfriend and I had only meet him last

night. Mthobisi said he had been worried sick about me and had tried calling me and

there was no answer on my phone and after the hijacking, he just had been over-

worried and over-protective over me because the last thing he wanted was to lose

his wife to some senseless crime, he went on about how he would not be able to

survive without me and how I was his everything. He then apologized to Siyabonga

while straightening his t-shirt after he had roughed it up when he was attacking him

and introduced himself to him, my friends thought that this was the sweetest man

under the sun, they even forgot about Siyabonga and told him they completely

understood what he must have been going through and how lucky I was to have

such an amazing man. Okay, okay I admit I should have let my friends call him but

knowing my husband he would have shut down the club and caused a scene and

that was the last thing I needed, Andiswa had a bit of an idea of what my husband

was capable of but she didn’t know the full story and the rest of my friends had no

clue about my husband’s shenanigans and I was planning on keeping it that way,

you can share a few things with your friends but not the hectic stuff that will make

them go tjooo, and next thing you know you are the subject of every stokvel out there

and that will include people you have never meet and probably will never ever meet

discuss your business, not that I didn’t trust my friends but I know that keeping a

secret is not as easy thing especially when it’s not your secret coz you know you
have nothing to lose if you share it as long as the secret-owner never finds out. As a

secret-owner you wonder why you get dirty looks from people that you never even

associate yourself with kanti your gals ain’t loyal.

A wife should never sleep outside her home without her husband knowing where she

is, this is common sense no one should have to teach you that, I had broken that rule

but to my defense I was drugged and had no self-control so this is a valid excuse it’s

not like I was out in a hotel with Mfundo, speaking of which what the hell did Mthobisi

do to him? This was neither the place nor the time to be asking such questions not

that I had the guts to ask anyway. My mind was racing with a lot of thoughts; the

stupid drug must probably still be in my system. Cleo started explaining to Mthobisi

how I had been drugged, oh shit, shit, that’s the last thing I wanted Mthobisi to know

he will be worried sick, my friends and I had had no time to discuss a strategy on

how we were going to handle this situation, well Mthobisi didn’t give us a chance it

was only a few minutes after 6 and he was here already so how on earth were we

suppose to strategize. His eyes popped wide opened, he said “Cleo, my wife was

drugged and you didn’t see it fit to call me? And you call yourself a friend?” Oh wow

that was so hurtful to Cleo I had to defend her, I told him that if Cleo and the rest of

the girls were not there only God knows what would have happened to me, all they

did was try and keep me safe. Mthobisi asked all of us if we knew who spiked my

drink, we all said no. He said “Lesedi go get dressed we are leaving”. I did as I was

told.

Cleo’s car was parked behind mine, I didn’t even know how my car got to

Siyabonga’s place, and she reversed her car out while I said my goodbyes. Mthobisi

actually went to Siyabonga and shook his hand and thanked him for taking care of

me, poor guy said it was no problem at all, and said Mthobisi can thank him by
coming to church this Sunday, my husband laughed he thought he was joking until

She Rock explained that Siyabonga was close to being a Pastor at his church,

Mthobisi was a bit embarrassed for laughing so he said we’ll be at church on

Sunday, I gave him the “you on your own look” he then turned to She Rocks and

said “sms the address to Lee, she’ll be driving us to church” then winked at me, I hit

him with my elbow playfully and he came from behind me and put his arms around

me and whispered in my ears “I love you Honey, don’t ever scare me like that again

okay” my loving, charming, sexy husband was back and I wanted to make love to

him right there and then but we were amongst people I had to hold myself. We drove

home following each other, when we would get to the robots I would open my

window and say ”let’s race”, he would look at me and say “let’s race in reverse” then

we would both laugh coz we both knew how impossible that would be with all the

other cars around. We got to the N1 and I remembered that I had put the money that

Victor gave me in my bag, where the hell was my bag, I wanted to park on the side

of the road and look for it but Mthobisi would also stop and want to know what I’m

doing, I didn’t remember what I had done with my bag in all that club drama, oh Lord

please don’t tell me the money is gone. I was getting anxious; I started speeding I

could not wait to get home so I could search the whole car properly. Mthobisi caught

up with me and drove next to me and signaled for me to slow down, shit I didn’t

realize I was going over 180. I didn’t even know where my phone was, ja neh, last

night was a hectic night. Hubby signaled that we should off ramp at the Gordon Off

ramp, I wondered where was he taking me, to my relieve we went to a Clearwater

Mall to have breakfast.

We sat down in a restaurant and I ordered breakfast and water, drank a glass of

water and while we waited for the food I excused myself telling Mthobisi I’m going to
the bathroom, I ran to the parking lot to go search my car, I found my phone lying at

the back of the car on the floor it was off battery must be dead, but right now I was

not really interested in the phone, I checked under the chairs nothing, went to the

boot with my fingers crossed hoping and praying that it was there, I opened it slowly,

the boot was empty my knees were weak I had to hold onto the car just to balance

myself. WTF happened to my bag even better question what the fuck happened to

the money? I have never lost money, not even when I was a kid I was always

responsible, always made sure I remembered where I put money, I knew never to

mess around with money, when it comes to money I am extremely careful. Too loose

R20 000 the first time you lose money is no joke it’s a bloody disaster damn couldn’t

I just loose R20 just to ease into the process of losing money, not such a huge

amount for my first time. I didn’t know what to think my mind was just buzzing. I

wanted to scream but how do I scream when I’m in a parking lot with cars passing all

around me. I refused to believe that this was happening to me, what have I done to

deserve all this bad luck, why me? Why? In my self-pity state I remembered that my

husband was waiting for me in the restaurant.

When I got back my breakfast had already been served, Mthobisi asked what took

me so long I told him my stomach was running, he said he wished he had not asked,

usually I would have laughed but my head was still in the missing money. My

husband asked if everything was okay, I said I didn’t feel so good, he said it’s

probably the side-effects of the drugs and maybe he should take me to a doctor I told

him I just needed to rest I was fine, the food could not even go down, I was too

stressed to even eat. He then asked if am I not going to ask how his lunch went with

Mfundo yesterday, my stomach started turning from fear, I tried to act all cool and

said I had actually forgotten about that, that of course was a big lie and I was hoping
that he believed it. He ignored my lie and said Mfundo was acting very strange and

uncomfortable, like he was hiding something or like there was something he did not

want him to know, oh-oho stupid Mfundo. I was now curious and nervous at the

same time I asked him what did Mfundo say to him that made him seem

“uncomfortable”. I was now sitting at the edge of my seat anxious to hear what he

had found out, my husband was his usual cool, calm and collected self, his face

gave nothing away. He looked at me and said the most ridiculous thing I had heard

all week “Why didn’t you tell me Mfundo is going to be in Cape Town next week”. I

told him I didn’t see the importance of telling him who was going and who was not

because he had not wanted to discuss Cape Town he had just wanted to fight about

it. Mthobisi said “I don’t know how or why but I think Mfundo organised for you to get

hijacked, think about the circumstances surrounding your hijacking, he knows

something”, the only thing that came out of my mouth was “Honey please tell me that

you didn’t hurt him”

I swear if we were not in a public place Mthobisi would have done something bad to

me the look he gave me, after I said that, luckily his phone rang and he said he had

to take that call it’s important. He stepped outside to answer the call as the place

was a bit noisy or maybe he didn’t want me hearing the conversation not that I was

interested in listening to his calls. He came back and said he has to go, something

urgent had come up, I told him to leave me with money I had none, he gave me

R300 and left, he looked pissed off I didn’t know if he was angry at me or if the call

had made him angry but I was too tired to care, I sat there and finished my juice then

drove home. I found Ausi Maria my domestic worker at the gate, she said she was

about to turn back because my phone was off and Mthobisi kept dropping her calls.
We got in the house and she was going on about her niece who has just moved from

Mpumalanga and how she’s misbehaving and already has boyfriends all over the

place, I honestly did not have the strength to deal or listen to other people’s

problems I had way too many to deal with so I told her I had a rough night and

needed to get some sleep, knowing Ausi Maria she would vacuum the bedroom and

bang my doors just to make sure I got up to listen to her stories, I told her not to

worry about cleaning our bedroom I will take care of it when I got up, she was not too

happy about that. I went to the bedroom and threw myself on top of the bed and

passed out, I knew I had so much to do but once in a while just hiding under the

blankets for a while to escape your problems is enough, and if there was one thing I

knew made me feel better was sleeping, I know with some people they stuff their

faces with food, others jog or exercise, I sleep, as much as some people believe you

can never have enough shoes I believe you can never have enough sleep. Some

people say you will sleep when you dead, I say how do you know that, what if there

is no night in death and we have to spend eternity awake, I sleep now while I know I

can.

I was woken up by Ausi Maria to tell me that she was leaving, I honestly didn’t get

why she couldn’t have just left a note instead of disturbing my sleep, but I got up and

charged my phone, I asked her if my husband had come back while I was sleeping

she said he did but didn’t stay for long, she told me that my husband had asked her

how she would feel about working for us full time instead of just weekends? I raised

my eyebrows and Mary continued to say that my husband had told her that Neo our

son will be coming to stay with us and we will need a fulltime Nanny, I wanted to go

back to sleep, reality was just becoming too much for me, where the hell does

Mthobisi get off making such decisions without consulting me? Maria didn’t know that
I didn’t know and the last thing you want is your domestic worker knowing your

business so I nodded and smiled as if I knew what she was talking about. She said it

was a generous offer but she already had a full-time job with my white friend Jessica,

with that she started going about how much Jessica and her boyfriend waist money

on useless things, I was not interested in hearing about Jessica’s life, that lady

partied like a black girl, drank like a fish, I love her to bits but you know how it is, you

have your white and black friends, the white ones invite you to these fancy things like

plays at theatre, rugby games, cricket games which always includes drinking during

the event and after the event, but the one thing I liked about Jessica was the VIP

tickets that she always hooked me up with, be it rugby, concerts anything, she works

for a Marketing Company so these things are always readily available to them. We

all need that kind of connection. Maria went on to tell me that I should not worry she

will bring her niece to come and work for us full-time, the girl was supposed to be

looking for a job but she sleeps all day and is out all night, I was really cornered

here, my husband always managed to get me in these awkward situations, I told her

that Mthobisi and I were still thinking about it and we will let her know once we have

decided. I think Maria had already decided, she told me she’ll bring her niece

tomorrow, so we can see that she is not lazy and works really hard and we should

make sure Neo is home so we can see that she is good with kids. Clearly Maria was

not listening to me, so I just agreed; I was going to give my husband a piece of my

mind for this. Maria finally left which gave me a chance to take a long bath while

contemplating what to do about the missing money. I got out the bath and called my

husband, no answer, no surprise there. I called Andiswa and she said she just got

home from shopping. I asked about my bag and she said she had it, she took it when

they were taking me to Siyabonga’s house, I was so relived, I asked if she had
opened it and she said “No” and asked why, I told her to go to my bag and open it,

she went I asked her to tell me what’s inside she said my wallet, make-up bag, car

charger and an envelope I breathed a sigh of relive when I heard the envelop part, I

told her to open the envelop and tell me what’s inside, she asked what was going on,

I told her to just open the envelop which she did and screamed out loud, “Lee, what

are you doing with so much money in your bag? Is this why your drink got spiked

were they trying to steal this money?” I told her not to be ridiculous and I would be

there in a few minutes to go collect the bag. I was so relieved finally something going

my way. I called She Rocks and apologized for my husband’s behavior and for

strangling her boyfriend, she laughed and said she gets where he was coming from,

Siyabonga would have probably behaved the same, I doubted that very much that

man is the type that once you slap him in one cheek he gives you the other cheek to

slap, I told her that I was happy that she had found a decent man and this one was

for keeps, she agreed and told me that she wished she were not so rich, this girl

stays in a R2 Million house in a golf estate why would she wish she were not richer,

how many girls under 30 years are independent and have everything they could ask

for and did it all on their own with no help from anyone? She said Siyabonga is an

ordinary guy he doesn’t have all the riches that we are all used to. In all the time that

they have been dating she has not taken him to her place she didn’t want him feeling

small, the guy drives an old, old skorokoro. On the day we slept at his house he was

so surprised that we all drive such expensive cars, he didn’t know her friends were

so rich. And that’s a problem? Damn I wanted those kinds of problems. If a man has

less money that the woman his with he just needs to work harder, that was my

ignorant opinion. I told her I will be going to Andiswa’s place and we should meet
there, she agreed. I honestly don’t like giving advice, not when my life is so messed

up.

I was starting to feel annoyed by my husband ignoring my calls, I tried him again

phone still rang with no answer, I seriously do not understand why he has a phone if

he is bloody well not going to answer it, I was not annoyed I was pissed, I couldn’t

wait for him to get home and give him hell, about wanting to hire a nanny full time for

our son without discussing it with me, I love my son to death but we are always at

work and I really didn’t want my child being brought up by someone else except my

mother, I would probably only see him 4 hours in a day only when I come back from

work and weekends, that is honestly not how I wanted to bring up my son. I drove to

Andiswa’s place and arrived before She Rocks arrived, thank goodness I didn’t have

the strength to be explaining myself to 2 women who would interrogate me until I

break. I made small talk trying very hard to avoid the money topic until She Rocks

arrived. We talked about her problems and her not so rich man, Andiswa was of

course listening attentively and giving advice, I honestly could not relate to this and

therefore choose to keep my opinions to myself. My phone rang, this gave me an

excuse to leave the room and escape this torturous conversation. I answered my

phone and it was a voice I didn’t recognise, she asked if I knew Mthobisi and I said

yes, he’s my husband, the lady replied “I’m sister Grace calling from Suninghill

Hospital, I’m sorry to have to tell you this but your husband has been shot, can you

come down to the hospital”. My phone slipped off my hand and fell to the floor, the

gals must have heard my phone falling on the floor they came to the kitchen and

asked if I’m okay, I told them my husband has been shot and I needed to rush to the

hospital. Andiswa asked who shot him where and how, I also wanted answers to

those questions, I told them I didn’t know anything. I got down and picked up my
phone, battery and sim card, and put them together, I asked Andiswa for my bag and

told them I will be leaving. She Rocks said under no circumstances will they let me

drive in the state I was in they were both coming with me and she was driving.

Andiswa brought my bag as we were about to leave She Rocks said we should pray,

I wanted to go and find out what happened to my husband but prayer brought

Mthobisi back the first time when he was trapped in the mine so I could not bash it.

We held hands and She Rocks started praying, all I was thinking was my husband

needs me right now, can she fast forward the prayer. Then She Rocks started

praying in tongues, Andiswa and I opened our eyes and looked at each other, if my

husband wasn’t lying in some hospital I would have laughed but right now, all types

of prayers were needed. She eventually finished praying and she drove us to

hospital, I was sitting at the back, She Rocks drives like a boy, she was speeding like

a maniac but I trust her she did advanced driving so she is quite good, they kept

whispering to each other and I couldn’t hear what they were saying I was freaking

out thinking maybe they had heard something about Mthobisi, maybe he’s dead and

they too scared to tell me which is why they whispering. My phone rang I answered it

was Mfundo; I honestly did not have time for this man, not now. I told him I could not

talk I was busy, he said “Lee something bad has happened, there was a bit of

misunderstanding and your husband got shot” Shit, Mfundo shot my husband?

Ohhh Lord, how did I get out of this mess.

I didn’t want to hear any more of this I just dropped the phone and started crying, not

crying walling, the hihihihihiihi kind of crying that you hear at funerals or when

someone has just died, Andiswa asked if that was the hospital that just called I didn’t

know how to respond, I shook my head and continued crying. We got to the hospital,

the girls tried to calm me down and told me that Mthobisi will not like to see me like
that. I hate hospitals, they remind me of death, and the only time I was ever

hospitalized was when I was giving birth to my son even then I only stayed for 2

days. I avoid doing hospital visits by all means necessary; I would rather go see a

person after they had been discharged from hospital. One of my uncles was

hospitalized when I was 15 years old and we used to go visit him and the last time

we went to go see him he died in front of me, he just started losing his breath and

couldn’t breathe and my mom rushed to go call the nurses I was standing there all by

myself didn’t know what to do I watched him die and it was the most traumatic

experience of my life and from that day on each time I went to a hospital I would

have anxiety attacks my mom took me for counseling which helped a bit but I still

avoid hospitals. We walked into Sunning Hill Hospital and went to reception to go

ask where Mthobisi was, they told us which way to go. We got to the ward and found

Mthobisi arguing with a nurse, I cannot explain how relieved I was to see my

husband alive, I walked up to him with tears running down my face and hugged him,

the nurse walked away, my friends also came and hugged him, so we had this weird

group hug situation going on, Mthobisi said he was fine and asked how did we know

he was here, I told him the nurse had called they must have got my details from the

medical aid. She Rocks asked what had happened, who shot him and Mthobisi said

it was an accident, he was helping a friend clean his gun and it went off by mistake

and shot himself in the hand he did not realise that the safe of the gun was off. I did

not buy that story but for my friends sakes I pretended to believe it. She Rocks

started preaching to Mthobisi about the dangers of guns and how people die every

day with guns, she was scolding him like he was a small naughty boy, this was too

cute and funny really and Mthobisi kept nodding and agreeing to everything she was

saying. He explained that it was a small graze and the bullet did not even go in so
we had nothing to stress about he was fine. We stayed and chatted a bit, the nurse

came back and said since my husband was insisting he be discharged she brought

forms for him to sign. I asked if was he okay to go home the nurse said he’s very

stubborn they had been trying to convince him to stay for a while but he didn’t want

to, I didn’t blame him for not wanting to stay in fact I was relieved that he was not

staying the last thing I wanted was to be doing hospital visits. Andiswa and She

Rocks said they will go and give us some time to catch up, I told Andiswa I will pick

up my car from her place the following day, and they left.

As we were walking out passing the waiting room, Thomas was in the waiting room I

was in such a hurry to go see my husband I didn’t know if he had been there before

or had just arrived, Mthobisi went up to him, we greeted each other, he asked

Mthobisi how the hand was he said it was fine, but he was going to finish what had

been started. He then took Thomas to the side and asked me to go collect the

prescription of pills from the pharmacy that the doctor had given him, thank

goodness private hospitals have pharmacies in the hospital, I went to the pharmacy

and paid with the medical aid card, my money was very little couldn’t afford to buy all

those pills, I was like most people counting the days to pay-day, all thanks to my

husband. Mthobisi came and meet me at the pharmacy and said we should leave, he

said I should drive coz his hand was all was in pains, he drank some of the

painkillers that I had gotten for him. As we were leaving, he said we needed to go

past somewhere, oh Lawyd Lord, I was seriously not in the mood for Mthobisi’s wars

I knew for a fact that he was going to fight. I told him that violence will not solve

anything and we need to go home and rest, Mthobisi told me that we were going to

Daveyton to go visit his brother. I was relieved, family is important and maybe some

time with his brother was exactly what he needed. I drove and he put on a jazz cd, I
cannot stand jazz music, it makes me sleep, I asked if he wanted me to sleep while

driving him, he laughed and said he needed it to calm himself down, I could not

argue with that I kept quiet and drove. I wanted to ask him about Mfundo but I

couldn’t because he would know that he must have called me, I decided to ask him

about Ausi Maria and the nanny story and his response was “we need to all stay

together as a family, I miss my son and can’t drive to your mom’s every day to go

see him, I want him with us every day, he’s old enough now” old enough my ass,

he’s only a year old. I had not prepared for this argument, I should not have brought

up this topic, always prepare when going to war of words, that’s what I have learnt

from my husband so I quickly changed the subject coz I was going to lose.

We arrived at Tshepang’s house and no one was there, hubby called him and he

said he was doing over-time at work but his wife Koketso should be around, he said

he would call her to come open for us. A few minutes later Koketso arrived she said

she was at a friend’s house, looked very happy to see us, maybe the alcohol also

added to her happiness, she reeked of booze, it was only after 16:00 and already

Koketso had been drinking “Watermelon”. We went inside and Mthobisi went straight

to their bedroom, I don’t know why but I followed behind him and so did Koketso, he

went straight to the bed and removed the blankets and sheets of the bed, Koketso

asked him what he was doing, Mthobisi turned back and looked at Koketso and his

response was “this is not the bed that I bought for you and my brother as a wedding

gift”. Did we just drive all the way from Sunning Hill for my husband to check on a gift

he had bought, this was beyond ridiculous, this man was seriously insane. Koketso

cockily replied that the bed was not comfortable so she sold it and bought this one.

My husband exploded, he asked her how the hell could she do such a thing, if she

didn’t like the bed she should have just told him and he would have exchanged it and
go them a different one, which is basically almost the same thing as what Koketso

had done, I honestly didn’t see why he was fighting about this. I screamed at

Mthobisi and told him he was being unreasonable, it was a gift for crying out loud he

gave it to them which means they could do whatever they wanted with it. Mthobisi

simply ignored my shouting and asked Koketso who she had sold the bed to,

Koketso said some guy who stays a few streets away, and Mthobisi said she must

take us to the guy. I was now furious, I asked if are we just going to burst into

someone’s house and demand a bloody bed? Mthobisi dragged Koketso out of the

house, I had no choice but to follow, the way he was so upset I think he forgot about

the pains in his hand coz he got into the driver’s seat and started driving, my

husband is the strangest person I have ever meet and lately he had just become

even more stranger but this, this took the cake of all the crazy stunts that he had

pulled, driving around for a bed was just insane. We arrived at this guy house, the

guy was renting a backroom and when we got there the neighbours said he was at a

Shabeen which is just down the road, Mthobisi said we are going to get him, he

drove, Koketso was actually becoming sober, I was sitting at the back seat, up to the

roof gatvol with this bed nonsense. Koketso said she will go in the shabeen and get

the guy and we should wait in the car. 15 minutes later Koketso was still not out,

Mthobisi went inside a few minutes later Mthobisi came out dragging Koketso who

was carrying a beer bottle drinking with a guy following behind them shaking in his

socks, I wanted to laugh, my husband is such a bully, he threw Koketso in the

backseat with me and the guy sat in front, he introduced himself as Joseph. Koketso

apologized and said she saw an old friend who offered to buy her a drink and she

could not refuse coz she was going to seem rude, Mthobisi told her to shut up he

was not interested in her stories.

As soon as we arrived at Joseph’s room, Mthobisi told him to opened the door, we

were here for the bed, Joseph went on about how he knew the bad was an original

coz he could not even carry it by himself and he is a strong man he had to ask 4

people to help him carry it, that’s how heavy the bed was and that’s how he knows

it’s an original and not some Fong Kong bed. As soon as the door was opened

Mthobisi went to the bed, removing the blankets and sheets, as Joseph was still

asking what is going on, my husband started feeling the base of the bed and said

“it’s here” Koketso and I both asked “what”, he ignored us and took out a knife from

his pocket, Joseph exclaimed and asked what he was doing, hubby cool as a

cucumber started cutting the base of the bed, now I was interested in seeing what

this was all about, after hubby had cut a hole on the base of the bed, he pulled out a

big-ass camping bag from the bed, all our eyes popped wide open. While we were

still trying to process what the hell had just happened, Mthobisi opened the bag; we

all stepped closer to see what’s inside. Koketso fainted.

In the past few weeks I have learned to adapt to every situation that my husband

threw at me, and I say threw because there were no warnings, no signs nothing,

instead of seeing everything that was happening as bad luck or a curse I saw it as a

challenge and a test. When you get married and you say your vows there is the part

that says “for better and for worst” and I have had my better times and I guess it was

now time for the worst and as much as I didn’t like the worst I had enjoyed the better

now I had to just swim in the worst, even though the worst seem like it was taking

forever to end, I didn’t see any light of the end of the tunnel in fact all I saw was

darkness, you know how some people say they have a dark cloud covering their

lives, that’s me, dark clouds were following me everywhere. Okay back to Joseph’s

room, Koketso on the floor, Joseph looked at the bag, then looked at Mthobisi and I
could see he was about to make run for it, not that I blamed him, heck if I wasn’t

married to this man and I was just a girlfriend I would have ran a long time ago,

Mthobisi looked at him and said “do you want to go back to Malawi in a body bag?”

Joseph shook his head. I had not even realized that Joseph was from Malawi, now

that Mthobisi mentioned it; I could hear from his accent that he was definitely

Malawian. Joseph stood there looking like his about to wet his pants, he was wet

from sweating. I knelt down and tried to wake Koketso up, Mthobisi closed the bag

and got water out of Joseph’s fridge and poured some water in Koketso’ s face, that

got her up and she looked around and asked what’s going on, I told her she fainted,

she opened her mouth and closed it again, then looked at Mthobisi and started

screaming, I put my hand in her mouth and told her to calm down, I didn’t want

people coming to this room the last thing we needed was an audience, I lifted her up

on her feet and put her on the chair. Mthobisi said we should leave and whispered

something to Joseph, put the bag on his back and walked out, I asked if is he not

going to fix the bed that he’s messed up he just kept walking, Koketso looked at me

with such shock, she said “Lesedi, your husband has just pulled up a bag full of guns

inside a bed and you are worried about a messed up bed, we slept on that bed for

months, what kind of people are you?” I wanted to tell her to get off her high-horse

and just build a bridge and get over what she saw but I had to play nice. I told her

that she must have imagined all that or must have hit her head when she fainted but

there were no guns. I honestly didn’t know what lie to give Koketso or how to spin

this, like I said before my husband always and I mean always puts me in these tight

awkward situations, how the hell was I supposed to explain myself out of this one?

All I knew was I had to put this fire out, the last thing we needed was this loud mouth

woman spreading rumours about my husband, wait it was not just going to be about
my husband she was convinced that I was also in on this. Koketso looked at me and

told me she knows what she saw and I should cut this act. I told her I had no idea

what she was talking about, she probably had a little too much to drink, she looked at

Joseph and he shrugged his shoulders and said he saw nothing and knows nothing,

I knew whatever my husband must have whispered to him, would shut him up for life.

Mthobisi was hooting the car from outside; I told Koketso we should leave.

We went back to Tshepang and Koketso’s house, Koketso was sobbing

uncontrollable, I made her coffee and Mthobisi raided their cupboards and found a

sealed bottle of Jack Daniels, he opened and poured it in Koketso’s coffee and told

her to drink up it will calm her down, poor Koketso drank. I told Mthobisi to pour me a

glass as well he asked if I wanted it with ice I said raw, I drank the half glass without

stopping, it was bitter and ugly I didn’t care I just wanted to forget the whole incident.

We all sat there in silence for a couple of odd uncomfortable minutes, Mthobisi kept

filling our glasses up, funny thing is only Koketso and I were drinking, he was

drinking water. Mthobisi tried making conversation, he asked us if we knew how Jack

Daniels died, we both looked at him with blank faces, he said Jack died from a

broken toe, the greatest distiller of his time was killed by a broken toe injury, he said

Jack had tried to open his safe but he had forgotten the code then tried to kick the

safe open and while kicking the safe his toe broke, the toe had an infection and that

spread to his leg and 6 years later he died, none of us cared of how Jack had died,

we loved his drink that’s all that mattered. Eventually Tshepang arrived, Koketso ran

to him and hugged him and started crying again, Tshepang asked if she was drunk,

Mthobisi and I both screamed “Yes”. She looked at both of us with such disgust if

she could she would have spat on our faces, but knowing what she knew she

wouldn’t dare, she was shit scared of us, I really felt sorry for her. Tshepang asked if
we had eaten, Mthobisi said he’s wife was too drunk to cook and we had stayed with

her to keep her safe, we didn’t want her wondering around in the streets drunk and

now that he had arrived we will be leaving, it was getting late. Tshepang looked at

the table and saw that his bottle of Jack was opened, we both pointed at Koketso,

we were really throwing this woman under the bus, Tshepang just shook his head

and poured himself a glass. Tshepang saw the bandage in Mthobisi’s hand and

asked what happened; my husband said he had a small accident, nothing major.

Koketso said she would go and lie down she has a bit of a headache, not that I

blamed her after what she saw I would have a migraine, don’t get me wrong I was

shocked by what I had seen but this was not the time to react, there is a time for

everything, right now I had to protect my husband.

We decided to leave, Mthobisi said I should drive, I was a bit tipsy but I figured his

hand was probably painful. On the way Mthobisi put my Beyoncé cd on , he knew

with Beyoncé he could never go wrong, in my tipsy state I was driving and singing

along to Beyoncé like I had no problems in the world, Mthobisi got a phone call and

told me to stop the car, he got out and I also got out and followed him, he went to the

front and removed the number plates, went to the back of the car and did the same

thing, I asked what was going on, he looked at me and smiled and went back inside

the car, this man and not answering questions was really getting to my nerves. I got

in and drove, I switched off the radio and started asking him about the bag that was

filled with guns, I told him that he wants our son to come and stay with us when he

had all these shady things going on behind my back, I told him we were not going to

keep those guns in our house, I asked him what he was doing with so many guns, I

was screaming at him, I had so many unanswered questions and Mthobisi was not

giving me any answers which was pissing me off even more. As I was driving I saw
blue lights further down, I knew what that meant, road block, oh shit, as we got

closer I could see cars were being stopped and getting searched, I was praying that

our car doesn’t get stopped, “please Lord , please don’ t let them stop us, please,

please” I said my usual small prayer, no time to blab on and on, God understood. I

looked at Mthobisi who was looked back at me and asked why did I take this route,

this man is truly unbelievable, I ignored him I had no time for his bullshit, but I

couldn’t let it go I told him he had been in the car the whole time why the hell didn’t

he say I shouldn’t take this route, he said if I had not been screaming and shouting at

him then he would have told me but I was busy yapping the whole time and would

not let him get a single word in, so now this is my fault I asked him, “oh yes Mthobisi

go ahead and blame me for all the shit that goes wrong it’s all my fault”. I was not

now beyond mad, how dare he blame me, I was so angry I had forgotten about the

roadblock in front of us, as luck would have it, a traffic cop pointed at our car and

indicated that we should park on the side of the road, “ohh fuck, fuck, fuck” I

shouted. Mthobisi said “Honey, don’t stop” are you kidding me, there are cops all

around, what do you mean don’t stop. My husband said “we have a bag full of guns

in the boot, do the maths Lee, if these cops find that, we will be in deep shit”.

“We???, Fuck “We”, those are your fucken guns, I had nothing to do with that shit,

you and you alone are involved with guns and shit, this is not my problem, I’m tired

of covering up for your crap which I know nothing about because you never want to

tell me anything”. Now the gloves were off, I was fed-up, you know that R. Kelly song

“When a woman’s feed up” that was me, I have had enough of this crap, I had taken

as much as I could, this was it, I was done. With that I stopped the car and parked on

the side of the road, the cop was slowly walking to us. Mthobisi calmly said “Well

done Lee, you have just signed our life away, you know what this means right? We
are both going to jail for a very long time, it won’t matter who the guns belonged to,

you driving the car, you are my wife, no judge will believe that you knew nothing

about this, you can say goodbye to our son because it will be a very long time before

we see him our again”. The traffic cop knocked in my window and signaled for me to

open the window. On top of everything else, I had been drinking and smelled of

booze.

I was caught between a rock and a hard place, I wanted my bed, I wanted my

mother, I wanted my son, and the thought of never seeing them again was more

than terrifying. This was the worst situation that my husband had ever put me in,

what the hell is wrong with this man? This was a ride or die situation, I had 2 choice,

ride or die because jail would definitely kill me, I looked at the traffic cop outside the

window, put the car on Drive and speed off, I looked in my review mirror and saw the

cop running back to his car, I changed the gear from D to Sport and hit the

accelerate paddle to the maximum, I was shit scared, I have never ever done

anything like that in my entire life. I drove like a demon, there was no way in hell I

was going to prison, I was not going to lose everything that I have worked so damn

hard for, no bloody way. Mthobisi was sitting laughing his ass off, he said he had no

idea I had such guts and kept shouting “that’s my woman, that’s my baby” I ignored

him and continued driving. My husband’s Golf 7 is super-fast; I could hear the police

sirens from a distance but couldn’t see them, I was driving between 180 and 220,

luckily there were not a lot of cars on the road. Mthobisi kept directing me which way

to go and where to turn, I made so many turns that even I was confused of where we

were now, there was no way these cops could catch us now. We arrived in

Bedfordview, I had no idea why Mthobisi would bring us here but I didn’t care I just

wanted to be away from the cops, my husband was making calls and talking on the
phone, I was just focusing on the road, he instructed me to stop in front of a big

looking house, no scrap that the house was a mansion, as I was about to stop

outside, the gate opened Mthobisi told me to drive in, we drove in and the gate

closed behind us, the garage door opened and Mthobisi said I should drive through

to the garage, I did as I was told. Waiting at the garage for us was Thomas, I was

feeling soo sick, I wanted to throw up. I asked Thomas for a bathroom, he directed

me, from the garage there was a door that leads into the house, I passed a few

doors and saw the bathroom. I went inside the bathroom ready to throw up, that

crazy ride had turned my stomach upside and the fact that I had been drinking didn’t

make things any easy, but nothing would come out no puke, not that I was

complaining, throwing up disgusts me. I sat on the floor and started crying, I could

not believe that I had just escaped from going to prison. I wanted to scream but

remembered we were not at our house, so I sat there sobbing, then heard the door

opening, it was my husband, and he came and sat next to me. He held me in his

arms and told me that he was so proud to have me as his wife; I had stood by him

when most women would have walked out. He told me how much he loved and

appreciated me, begged me to stop crying. He started kissing the tears off my face,

and telling me how sorry he was and would never put me through that again, I told

him I want to go home, he said we will use one of Thomas’s car in case the cops

were looking for us, I honestly didn’t care how we got home as long as we got home.

We got out the bathroom to say the house was big would be an understatement, it

was humongous, there were stairs going up, damn this man was living large.

Mthobisi directed me to the kitchen we found Thomas and his supermodel wife in the

kitchen joking around, they told us to join them for super, I declined and told them

we’ve eaten, Mthobisi gave me a sharp look I didn’t care of what he thought or of the
fact that he must be hungry, I was too tired and angry to care. Thomas was not too

pleased with us declining his dinner offer but said he understood that I must be tired

after that “Fast and Furious” drive, they all laughed, to them this was all a bloody

joke, we had almost gotten arrested and they bloody think it’s funny. I told Mthobisi

we should get going I have a headache, Thomas gave him car keys and we went out

to the garage, next to Mthobisi’s car was an AMG Mercedes Benz and this is the car

we were to use, I opened my husband’s boot and removed my bag, the last thing I

wanted was to misplace the money in the bag again, the bag with the guns was no

longer in the boot, I had no intentions of asking where it was, I was fast learning that

maybe not knowing everything is the best option, they say curiosity killed the cat and

I didn’t want to end up like the curious cat. We said our goodbyes to Thomas and his

wife and left

We drove off in the Merc in silence, I was as mad as hell, I wanted to go home to my

mother’s house but I had no car and Mthobisi would not be driving me there and I

had left the other car at Andiswa’s place in other words I was screwed. We arrived

home and I went straight to bed and locked the door behind me, I didn’t want to talk

to this man that called himself my husband. A few minutes later he came and

knocked at the door, I told him to go away, he said we should talk, I told him I was

tired of talking coz I was the only one who talked while he gave me blank stares and

short answers, he told me he would sit by the door till I opened it, I told him that he

will sit there till tomorrow then. I wanted to call Andiswa to tell me to come and pick

me up but when you fighting with your husband the last thing you should do is get

your friends involved this is one thing that every elder warns you about when you get

married, they say if the fights get too big for you go to the elders in the family. Was I

supposed to take this matter to our families, report Mthobisi and his thugy lifestyle?
What could our families do? These family reporting things never work all a person

does is apologize. Besides I didn’t want my mother worrying about me thinking my

life is in danger, I am an adult and should take care of myself, my mother worried

about me for over 25 years now that I was married I was no longer her responsibility

and she truly deserved the break. I closed my eyes and we to sleep, I had a horrible

nightmare I was being chased by cops and I was carrying Mthobisi’s bag on my

shoulders with guns and running with them, the cops were shooting at me, I woke up

as they were about to blow my head out in a cold sweat, I got up and decided to go

drink some water as I opened the door Mthobisi fell inside the bedroom he had fallen

asleep at the door, idiot, he looked up and asked if I was okay, I ignored him and

jumped over him to go to the kitchen, he followed and again went on apologizing, I

ignored him flat out, drank water went back to the bedroom as he was about to walk

in I closed the door and locked it and went back to sleep.

I was woken up by my phone ringing it was She Rocks, she said she was calling to

tell me that church starts at 10:00 and I should not wear pants as their church does

not allow women to wear pants at church, with all that was going on I had completely

forgotten about Mthobisi’s church promise to Siyabonga, damn I was really hoping I

could sleep-in. I told her I was up already preparing for church, she laughed and

sarcastically said, “Yeah, that’s why you sound so fresh and upbeat” we both

laughed and hung up. She Rocks is such a nag bag, it was only 07:10 couldn’t she

wait till 08:30 before waking me up? I got out of bed opened the door to find my poor,

silly husband sleeping outside the door, now I felt really bad for making him sleep on

the floor all night, he fell inside the bedroom as I opened the door and that woke him

up, he asked if I’m still angry at him, I told him I don’t have time to be angry we need

to get ready to go to church, he looked at me with a confused face and said

“church?” I reminded him that he had promised Siyabonga that he’d come to church

today, he said “shit, I can’t, I have important things to take care of today” I gave him

one look and he knew what was coming, he raised his hands up and said “okay,

okay, no need to shout I will cancel my plans”, I had not said anything. I went to the

bathroom and brushed my teeth, Mthobisi joined me he was in a chatty mood, he

said “I’ve been thinking, how about a weekend getaway this coming weekend to get

She Rocks mind off her parents death’s anniversary”, Shit I had forgotten that it’s

She Rocks parents death anniversary this coming weekend and I was planning on

staying in Cape Town and coming back on Sunday I would have to scrap that idea

out. She Rocks parents died when she was 14 years old and was only in grade 8,

her mom and dad had been traveling from KZN and her dad lost control of the car,

they both died a few days later in hospital. At the time we were all in High School,

yes we grew up together we meet in High School, She Rock, Cleo and myself and

we meet Andiswa when we were in tertiary. She has 1 sister and 2 brothers and are

all extremely close, they put themselves and She Rocks through school, those kids

are the bravest and strongest people I know. She Rocks was practically raised by

her siblings, she grew up with no parents and didn’t have much but not once had we

ever heard her complain about anything, her aunts and uncles turned their backs on

them, they didn’t help them with anything, She Rocks sister was in tertiary when the

parents died, she found a part time job and the brothers opened a tuck-shop to make

money. Looking at them now you will never say they went through so much

suffering, there were times when they would go to bed without food and She Rock

would not even tell us that things were bad at home, only now when we were older

did she tell us how they struggled. The sister got married and moved out of the

parent’s home but the boys still stayed there. So ever since her parents died as her
friends we had a tradition that we keep her company on the day of her parents death

anniversary, on these days She Rocks would become extremely depressed, we

would sit with her, cry with her, eat with her do whatever she felt like doing, as we

become older it became increasingly difficult to keep these days open especially now

that we were working but we made sure that she was never alone. Now hubby is

offering us a weekend away, the girls would certainly love that, we hadn’t done a

gate away since Kruger National Park, that was before my life turned upside down, I

told Mthobisi I appreciated him trying to make things better between us but I will run

it with the girls and get back to him, women and gifts, you can never go wrong with

that. We got ready for church, Mthobisi wore Black Armani suite, damn my husband

looked hot, I changed my outfits a few times to my husband’s annoyance I moaned

and said the first skirt makes my butt look big, the second dress made my boobs

look small, I sat on the bed and told Mthobisi I want to wear pants he laughed and

said whatever I choose to wear I will look sexy in it, I didn’t want to look sexy we

were going to a conservative church and the last thing I wanted was the women

there saying their young pastor’s soon-to-be wife’s friends are ungodly, I went to the

wardrobe and there was a call on Mthobisi’s phone, he said Ausi Maria is at the gate

a few minutes later there was a knock in the door Mthobisi went to go open while I

searched my wardrobe for a skirt, I found a dress which was knee high, white with

black stripes so I decided to put that on and a black blazer and pearls, I put on black

high heels and got out to get hubby so we could do this church business. As I got to

the lounge, sitting in my couch was a girl that looked very familiar, I turned and look

at Mthobisi “what the hell is she doing here” Mthobisi looked at me and shrugged his

shoulders, I asked him accusingly “do you know this girl” he shook his head and

pointed at Aus Maria, the girl stood up and said “I remember you, you the woman
that bumped my car”, just my luck the stupid girl is going to be my baby’s nanny, it

was none other than Nomzamo Dlamini. I told Maria we were off to church and I’m

not too sure about her niece looking after my baby but we’ll discuss it when we get

back. I grabbed my bag and Mthobisi took his car keys and we left.

On the way to Soweto I called Cleo to find out if she will be coming to church with us

she gave me her usual answer “Lee, my ancestors were not born-again, they don’t

like it when I go to church, lets hook-up for lunch after church” this girl will use any

excuse not to go to church. We arrived at church and She Rocks was already there

and was very happy to see us, she told us Siyabonga would be leading the service

today I actually didn’t remember how Siyabonga looked, I had been out of it when I

meet him and the few minutes when I saw him in the morning my husband was

trying to kill I didn’t really get a close look at him. We sat close to the back in case it

got too boring so we could escape easily without drawing attention to ourselves, we

didn’t tell She Rocks that though, she was all over the church, welcoming people and

handing out Bibles. The church eventually started, Andiswa arrived a few minutes

after the service started and came and sat next to me, I switched off my phone, I

knew Cleo would be sending sms’s asking how it’s going I wasn’t having none of that

I wanted to focus, choir sang but not as good as my sisters church choir then

Siyabonga started preaching, damn the guy was too damn sexy, 90% of the woman

there were drooling over him and I am ashamed to say this but so was I, the other

10% that was not were grannies, he was a good preacher too, just don’t ask me

what he preached about because I was not paying much attention to what he was

saying. Mthobisi received a call went outside to take it then came back and said we

should go, this man has no chill I told him we will leave when the service is over, his

thugs need to respect Jesus. He said “that was the Police calling, they tried your
phone but it’s off, something happened to your sister”. I grabbed my bag and told

Andiswa we were leaving.

Mthobisi and I snuck out of the church, we went to the car, I switched my phone on

shaking, I asked Mthobisi what was going on with my sister, he said he didn’t know

but the cops said she was in Mulbarton Hospital and her maid had given them our

numbers, “Oh Lord, please let her be okay, please don’t let her to have been in an

accident, please God” I said my usual small prayers. I tried her phone it was off, I

tried her husband’s phone it was also off I didn’t even have their maid’s numbers on

this new phone. “Oh God, what about her kids? Did the police say anything about the

kids?” I asked Mthobisi who said no, I wanted to call my mother, Mthobisi said I

shouldn’t call her not until we know exactly what is going on, we drove from Soweto

to Mulbarton hospital in less than 20 minutes, we rushed to reception and I asked

where my sister was they directed me to a ward, we went to find my sister lying in

bed, at first I didn’t recognise her I actually walked passed her looking around,

Mthobisi recognised her first and said “Naledi?” I looked and as I was about to say

it’s not her, I realized it was my sister, her face was all swollen and bandaged, we

couldn’t even see her eyes, I screamed “Oh God what happened to her” I was crying

I couldn’t even look at her. One of the nurses came an told us that the nanny had

found her in the morning when she arrived at my sister’s place, my sister had

begged her not to call the ambulance and asked the nanny to look after her but she

kept going in and out of consciousness and the nanny was worried that she might

die so she called the ambulance and the hospital called the police coz the nanny

says that she thinks the husband beat her up, my knees became weak from shock,

my sister’s husband did this to her? The nurse said she had fractured ribs and has

internal bleeding and a broken arm. That bastard did that to my only sister. The
nurse after seeing that I had gone pale told me to sit and she will bring me a glass of

water, I sat and moved my chair close to my sister and held her hand and started

crying, she was unconscious, I could not believe my strong, brave, beautiful sister

was lying here beaten to a pulp by the man who is supposed to be her protector I

just could not understand how this could happen, I was with these people just the

other weekend and they seemed so happy and so in love, what had changed so

drastically over seven days. The nurse came back and gave me the water, she gave

us the numbers of the officer who had come to open the case . I took the number

from her and called the officer, it was some coloured guy I didn’t catch his name, but

I told him who I was and who my sister is and what had happened to her and he said

they had gone to the house and did not find my sister’s husband and had called his

phone and it was off and they will go back this afternoon to go look for him at the

house again, I asked is that all they gonna do look for him only at his house,

nowhere else, he said they can’t do much and my sister has not laid charges against

him so their hands are tied I asked how on earth is she supposed to lay charges

when she is unconscious, he mumbled something about people who are too

educated being a problem then said he will let me know as soon as there is

something to report, this man was pathetic. We sat there for over an hour in silence,

I felt so helpless and defeated, the legal system was failing me and I felt like I was

failing my sister. I told Mthobisi we need to go pick up the kids and take them to our

place coz the nanny will probably want to knock off. Mthobisi said we should go drop

the Merc off in Bedford first and get his car, I agreed.

We drove in silence to Bedfordview, my husband made a call as we got closer, the

gate was opened and the garage we got in, Thomas was not there it was just some

guy who looked like a body guard, they greeted each other him and Mthobisi and he
handed my husband his car keys and we swapped cars Mthobisi put the number

plates back on and drove to Winchester Hills, the kids were their usual happy selves,

they didn’t know what was going on which broke my heart even more, how do I tell

them that their mother is in hospital. I left Mthobisi to play with them while I chatted to

the nanny in the kitchen, if there is one thing I have learnt it’s that the domestic

worker always and I mean always knows about everything that goes on in the house

they work in, whether you tell her or not she knows, so I asked her how long has this

abuse been going on, she first acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about

then eased up and told me that she had not been too sure but had always been

suspicions because she would get there some days and there would be broken

chairs in the bedroom and my sister always had some excuse or another for why

things were broken or never in place, and she once saw bruises in her body when

she walked in on my sister while she was getting dressed but she couldn’t ask her

what had happened, hearing all that I felt sick to my stomach. My sister and I were

not close and at that present moment I regretted that, if we were closer she could

have confided in me, I could have prevented this from happening, why couldn’t I be

like She Rocks and her siblings? I made a vow to myself that we she got out of

hospital I will be a better sister, family should always stick together no matter what,

my sister could die and all I could remember were fights and arguments that she and

I always had and all that now seemed so unnecessary, I was never going to take my

sister for granted ever again, I thanked her and told her we will be taking the kids

with us until my sister has fully recovered, I took her numbers and told her we will

call her. I went to find Mthobisi, he was in the study going through drawers I asked

him what his looking for he said for Lwazi’s phone box, he said the kids said it was in

this room, he opened a bottom drawer and found it, he called the kids and asked if
this was their dad’s phone box and they said yes. He took the box and grabbed a

pen and a piece of paper and wrote down the IMIE number from the box. I took the

kids upstairs to their rooms and told them they are visiting us so we should go pack,

they showed me their bags and their favourite clothes and towels and I packed those

and we left, Mthobisi said we should take the kids to my mom’s house whilst we take

care of business, I knew what he meant by “business” so I told the kids that I’ll be

taking them to their grandma and they can play with Neo and swim while they are

there, they were just happy to be out of the house. I called my mom and told her that

Naledi asked me to baby-sit but something has come up can she please watch the

kids for a while, I knew telling my mom would that Naledi was in hospital because of

her husband would absolutely kill her, I just could not bring myself to telling her, it will

be my sister’s decision when she gets up.

We arrived at my mom’s place and one look at me and my mother could tell

something was wrong, she asked why had I been crying, I said I wasn’t crying she

looked at Mthobisi and he said I was watching some sad movie before we left, my

mother asked what the movie was about, Mthobisi said it was about some kid who

had cancer and the parents couldn’t afford the treatment, I looked at him and thought

how does he come up with lies so quickly he didn’t even have to think about that, my

mom looked at me and said no wonder I look so terrible and I should stop watching

these sad movies coz I get too emotional and forget that it’s just a movie, I smiled

and said I will stop. My mom was happy to have all her grandkids around, she said I

should make sure that Naledi picks the kids up before 10 pm coz they sleep at 10, I

wanted to cry at the mention of Naledi’s name so I just looked away and pretended

to be watching the kids play. My phone rang it was Ausi Maria she wanted to know

when are we bringing our son so her niece could meet her, I told her they should go
home we still at church, she was surprised and said we should be careful they will

start preaching lies if they preach for so long, I laughed and hung up.

We left my mom’s house Mthobisi called one of his “people” and gave him the IMIE

number that he got from the box. My mind was stuck I didn’t know what to do now,

my sister is lying in hospital, I don’t know what to tell my mother, I started panicking

and telling Mthobisi what if my sister dies, what am I gonna tell my mother then?

Mthobisi said she will not die, my sister is a fighter just like me. Mthobisi’s friend

called back and gave Mthobisi the location of where my sister’s husband was,

Mthobisi put the location in his GPS and said that is where your brother-inlaw is. I

asked him how did he know he said his friend is a hacker, so all he needs is an IMEI

number of the phone and with that he can track where the cellphone is, I said but the

phone is off, he explained that even when the phone is off it still sends signals to the

closest towers as long as the batry is still attached to the phone then the phone is

still active, every few seconds your cellphone sends signals to the closest towers of

where you are, wow, this is probably why he always knows where I am I thought, I

didn’t want to dwell too much on that this after all was not about me, I should focus

on finding that bastard Lwazi and teaching him a lesson. He was in Mamelodi in

Pretoria, we had quite a distance to drive, I was anxious to get there, and for the first

time in my life I wanted my husband to break someone’s bones, not just someone

but my brother in-law. I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Lwazi at that

moment, who did he think he was laying his filthy hands on my sister.

We finally arrived in Mamelodi, Mthobisi explained that we do not get the exact

location but the area where he is in so we gonna have to drive around looking for

him but he had called some of his friends and they also in the area searching for him

so finding him will not be difficult. A few minutes later one of my husband’s people
called to say they had spotted Lwazi’s car and sent us his location , we drove to

where they said they were, I spotted the bastard it was him, sitting in his car with

some lady all smiles, I wanted to go to him and slap the smile of his face, as I was

about to open the door to go confront him Mthobisi told me not to move, I looked at

him and said “excuse me?” he said I will not be going anywhere near Lwazi, he

should not even know that we are around, with that he called his friends and told

them that is him, out, from where we were parked Lwazi could not see us, out of

nowhere a car come speeding and parked next to Lwazi’s car, a guy got out opened

Lwazi’s door and pulled him out, he fell to the ground, the guy dragged him and

shoved him in the boot of his car and closed the boot went to the front seat of the car

and we just saw the girl running out and the guy drove off with Lwazi’s car and Lwazi

in the boot, the other car that he was in followed behind, I was all confused now, I

looked at Mthobisi then looked at the cars then back again at Mthobisi next thing the

cars were parked next to our car, my mouth was wide opened. Mthobisi stepped out,

both guys came out of the cars and they spoke for a few minutes then my husband

came back to the car cool as a cucumber like this was no biggy then drove off, all 3

cars went in different directions. I looked at Mthobisi and asked “are were gonna kill

Lwazi?”

Mthobisi looked at me and said I should stop behaving like an outlaw, we won’t be

killing anyone, this man has kids, how would we explain the death of their father and

do I really want my niece and nephew growing up without a dad. Wow, I was most

certainly not expecting that response but to a certain extent he was making sense,

but I still wanted this bastard to pay. We left Pretoria and headed to Johannesburg

on the way I received a call from Andiswa asking why we had left church in such a

rush, I’m a woman and keeping things to myself is not in my DNA especially things
that bother me, I told Andiswa how Lwazi was abusing my sister and how badly

injured my sister is and is right now and lying in hospital, Mthobisi kept glancing at

me as if to tell me to shut up but I wouldn’t I just kept yapping, Andiswa asked what

am I going to do with the kids since I’m going to Cape Town tomorrow, oh snap I

haven’t thought about that, I told her I didn’t know, she offered to stay with them until

my sister is out of the hospital, errrrrr the offer was sweet but my friend has no

experience with kids and those kids are a handful, I didn’t have the heart to tell her

that so I told her that the little boy opens cupboards and breaks things and needs to

be watched all the time, she said not to worry she will ask her domestic worker to

sleep over, she told me if she was in my position and she needed help I would move

mountains to help her so I should let her help me, that was that then it was settled,

once Andiswa’s mind is made up its very hard to change it, I thanked her and hung

up.

We arrived in Mondeor Police Station, Lwazi’s car and the other car with Mthobisi’s

friend were already parked outside, I asked Mthobisi why we were here, he said to

serve justice, then stepped out of the car to go speak to his friends, they called a car

guard and spoke to him, I saw the one guy give the car guard a stack of money and

keys then Mthobisi came back to the car, the 2 guys got in their car and drove off

and left Lwazi’s car in the parking, Mthobisi came back and drove to the Spar across

the Police Station and parked in between cars but we could still see Lwazi’s car, a

few minutes later the car guard opened Lwazi’s boot and Lwazi jumped out, I

couldn’t hear what the car guard was saying all I could see was him talking to Lwazi

and pointing inside the Police station. Say what? Did we just do the Police work? I

looked at Mthobisi and told him he never ceases to amaze me, he told me that this

was the right thing to do. Lwazi will get what he deserves and we don’t even have to
lift a finger in jail he will be someone’s wife, I laughed at the thought. From the police

station we drove to my mom’s place to pick up the kids. On the way to my mom’s

place I called the Police station and spoke to the coloured cop who told me that they

don’t know why but my sister’s husband has decided to turn himself in, he said he

will be going to court on Tuesday, I was so happy, finally something going right in all

this mess. I called the hospital and they said my sister was still unconscious. We

found my mom and Victor playing with the kids it was such a pretty picture, I told

Mthobisi to take pictures of this moment, I wanted him to show the pictures to my

sister when she got up. My mom suggested we stay for dinner and since I was not in

the mood to cook I agreed, the kids were so happy. We had a nice lovely meal and

left with the kids, since my flight was very early in the morning we decided to go drop

the kids off with Andiswa so she could drop them at school and crèche in the

morning.

Andiswa was so excited to have the kids over , she had baby-sat them before for my

sister and she absolutely adored these kids, the kids were very happy to see Aunt

Andiswa, she already had cartoon dvd’s set-up for them, she said I shouldn’t worry

about anything she will keep me updated on everything involving the kids I should

focus on work, she, Cleo and She Rocks have already set-up a schedule of who will

be picking the kids up on which day from school and they will also do visits to the

hospital to see Naledi, I was so touched, these ladies are truly amazing. We left the

kids with Andiswa and I was relieved knowing that my sisters kids were in good

hands. We got to our place around 9pm and I had packing to do, Mthobisi said he

would help me pack but that idea didn’t work so well, he ended up falling asleep,

while watching me pack, I finished and joined him in bed. Alarm rang at 4 am, I told

Mthobisi to go shower fist I was not ready to wake up, he showered and came to
wake me up, the blankets felt nice and warm and I really didn’t want to get up, not so

early in the morning. Eventually I got up and went to shower came back and dressed

in formal attire. My husband drove me to the airport, we got to Lanseria airport at

05:15, we kissed and I told my husband I will miss him very much and I truly meant

it. My flight took off at 06:00 I slept the whole 2 hours until we landed in Cape Town. I

went to Avis to go collect the car that I had been booked for me and they had booked

a GPS as well, thank goodness, I am horrible with directions, I didn’t have time to go

to my hotel so I decided to drive straight to Mfundo’s cape town offices and they

were in Milenerton, I punched the address in the GPS and left the airport, it was a bit

of a distance. I arrived and their offices and told the receptionist who I was she told

me they had reserved the boardroom for me and that’s where I will be working. She

showed me to the boardroom and one of the company Directors by the name of Paul

McAdams came to welcome me, he brought a couple of files and reports that he

wanted me to work on, the tea lady brought me tea and I started working, I was so

focused on work that I did not even realise the time, I heard a knock and it was the

receptionist she came to ask if she should order me some lunch, I asked for a

chicken salad and juice, I wasn’t really hungry, decided to take a break and called

my husband, he told me he had great news, his hearing at work went well and he

was now back at work, thank the heavens I was so relieved, he said he will go see

Naledi in hospital after he’s knocked off. I decided to call Andiswa she said the kids

were fine, she dropped them off this morning, Buhle at her Christian School but they

first had to go to my sister’s house to get her uniform luckily my niece had the house

keys in her bag and then dropped Sihle at his Crèche, she said Cleo would be

picking them up and they will go play with her kids until Andiswa knocks off, my

friends really had this under control, she said She Rocks and Siyabonga will be
going to the hospital this afternoon to pray for her, I laughed at the idea but it was

really kind and sweet of them.

I got back to work got a call from my “white” friend Jessica she said “word on the

street is you in Cape Town”, this girl loves talking like an American gangster, I told

her since “our” maid told her at her house it’s not word on the street, she told me she

was doing some event in Cape Town on Wednesday and we should get together

when she’s here, I agreed. I went back to work, my lunch came I ate half of it, these

books were not balancing and were giving me a headache, it was now after 5, Paul

came and said I should call it a day it was getting late, I packed up and drove to my

hotel which is in town, it’s called Orion hotel, our company owns apartments in the

hotel so whenever we go to Cape Town we stay in the apartments. The apartment is

on the 12th floor, has a kitchen, lounge and bedroom all separated it makes you feel

at home a bit. I had not heard or seen Mfundo all day and I didn’t want to be tjatjarag

so I decided to play this cool and not call him instead I called my husband and told

him how much I missed him, he said he misses me too, I asked if he had managed

to go see Naledi, he told me he had good and bad news, oh God I didn’t want to

hear the bad, I feared he would say my sister is dead, but he said my sister had

regained her consciousness, I told Mthobisi to hold on for a second, I was soo happy

I stood up and did a small celebratory dance then got back on the phone, he asked if

I was doing my silly happy dance, this man knows me too well, I asked what the bad

news were he said Naledi doesn’t want to press charges against Lwazi, “what?? He

must have hit her in the head. How on earth can she not want to press charges

against that bastard?” I asked Mthobisi, in my head I had already been planning their

divorce. Mthobisi said “we have to respect your sisters wishes, she’s still very fragile

Lee, let’s not push or pressurise her, she will come to her senses eventually all we
have to do is be there for her and support her decisions even if we don’t agree with

them” why did he always have to make sense, I told him I won’t pressurise her. I

wanted to call Naledi and scream at her for not wanting to stand against this man,

why would she not want him to pay for what he did to her, this did not make sense. I

decided that my sister was an adult and right now I was too upset so I shouldn’t call

her, I will say something that I might regret, never speak or make decisions when

you angry that’s what my mom thought us. I went to bed got up the next morning at

6, I didn’t know how Cape Town traffic was and I didn’t want to be late, I left at 7

traffic was a breeze, damn why can’t Joburg be like this? I arrived at their offices at

07:30 started working, I had a meeting request from Mark who is Mfundo’s boss for

progress at 15:00, I accepted it, this meant that I had to work my butt off till 13:00

then prepare a report and I did exactly that, at 13:00 receptionist brought me a

chicken salad and juice, am I expected to eat this everyday now? I thanked her and

started with my report, by 14:30 I was done then called my husband, he said he was

at work and they were now giving him unnecessary office work, I smiled and told him

I preferred him in the office than stuck underground in some mine, he laughed and

said I need to forget about that.

I went to the meeting with Mark it was in the boardroom on the second floor, I was

ready for this, when I got to the boardroom there were couple of other people, I was

not really prepared for a crowd but I didn’t really mind, as I was about to start Mfundo

walked in, I was not expecting to see him, he smiled and greet, I smiled back and

focused on presenting my report and not once did I look at him, I was not here for

this man and I had a man at home who loved me very much. When I was done Mark

told me they would be going for drinks at Waterfront and I should join them, I kindly

declined the offer, I was focused, I was here to make money not friends I had too
many of those already back home. I worked till 17:00 then drove back to my hotel, on

the way I went to Nandos and bought myself some chicken then hotel, I got there ate

and called my sister, she sounded like she was in pains I didn’t bring up Lwazi, she

thanked me for looking after the kids and she told me that Andiswa has been calling

her and making the kids talk to her ever since she regained her consciousness. I

called my husband and no answer, I left him a voicemail. By 7pm I was in bed

sleeping, I was looking forward to the next day coz Jessica would be in Cape Town.

Got up Wednesday morning again at 5am then drove to the offices, I was excited

coz my friend was coming to town at least now I would not feel so lonely, I got to

work and told the receptionist that I would like some fish today, you cannot got to

Cape Town and not have fish that’s just wrong. I got down to work and my lunch was

delivered by Mfundo to my surprise, I asked him why had he been avoiding me since

I got to Cape Town, he said it was because of my husband, when I asked him what

had happened between him and my husband he didn’t want to go in detail and said

we should just drop it, I gave him his money and thanked him for helping me, he was

surprised that I had brought it to Cape Town if he only knew what that money had

been through he would get down and thank his ancestors that he was getting it back.

Jessica called and said we should meet at The One and Only Hotel in Waterfront

that’s where their event was happening, I drove straight there after knocking off, I

was so happy to see her. She introduced me to a few people then we sat at a table

she was sharing with some of her colleagues to catch up, we talked about this and

that, nothing hectic, it was mostly Jessica talking complaining about her boss and

her salary, I don’t know if I have mentioned this before but Jessica loves and I mean

loves alcohol, so from the moment I got there I was given champagne, then we had

glasses of wine, we were now on our third glass of wine, well I can’t speak for
Jessica but I was on my third and were starting to get a bit tispsy, so everything was

just funny, it felt good to be out of the hotel and just breathe a little. As we were

sitting and chatting I spotted Mfundo passing by the restaurant where we were I tried

hiding myself with Jessica she asked what I was doing, I told her I was hiding from

the guy passing, Jessica in her drunk state screamed loud “the guy in a blue shirt” I

sarcastically asked “do you want to say that any louder?” she laughed and said I can

do better than that and walked up to Mfundo, at this moment I wanted the earth to

open up and swallow me a few minutes later she came back arm in arm with Mfundo

to our table and said “Lee, look who I found at the reception? Small world hey?” she

said that with her naughty smile on. I told Mfundo not to mind her, she’s my crazy

white friend and he can go wherever he was going, he said he was staying at this

hotel, just my luck I thought, Jessica insisted that he joined us for drinks, he didn’t

decline, we all sat there I was feeling very uncomfortable but after a few drinks we all

relaxed and started having fun, some white guy came to join us and was all flirty with

Jessica and she was flirting back, I pulled her to the side and reminded of her

boyfriend Steven she looked at me and said “What Steven don’t know won’t hurt

him” and giggled and went back to the guy a few minutes later they disappeared and

I was left with Mfundo, awkward does not even began to describe the situation and

we decided that more booze will make the situation much, much better, so we drank

up. I got so sloshed, the one minute we were sitting drinking, chatting and laughing

the next we were in Mfundo’s room I don’t even remember how we got there, all I

remember is kissing him, undressing each other no, not undressing but ripping each

other’s clothes off, this was not gentle it was rough and I have vivid memories of

myself asking Mfundo if he has condoms, after that I remember nothing. The next

morning I was woken up by the ringing of the landline phone, my head felt heavy and
the loud ringing sound was making it worse, I got up and answered the damn phone

with a groggy voice, the voice on the end of the pone said “Good Morning Sir, this is

your wake-up call and I thought I should also tell you that your wife is on the way up

to surprise you”. Did she just call me “Sir”, damn I must sound horrible if I sound like

a man, wait a minute did she say “wife?” I looked at the bed Mfundo was snoring

away, I looked at myself standing there naked, oh shit, this is not my room, I’m in

Mfundo’s room and his wife is on her way up. While I was still trying to find my

clothes there was a knock at the door. Shit, Mfundo’s wife!!!

I woke Mfundo up while I was trying to get dressed and told him there was a knock at

the door, I knew we were busted, there was honestly no way out of this one, I had

avoided and escaped a lot of things but this, this was just a disaster situation, I could

not even pray, I was too embarrassed and ashamed to even ask God to intervene, I

had broken the biggest rule in marriage. Mfundo was freaking out okay we were both

freaking out, I knew if this woman saw me in her husband’s room it really would not

take a rocket scientist to figure out what had taken place in this room. Mfundo said I

should go open and say that we had swopped rooms he stays in a different room,

this was the dumbest idea I have ever had, I asked what do I say if she asks for his

room number, he said I should say I don’t know it, this idea I was totally against, the

knocking was becoming louder now, I walked slowly to the door, wishing and hoping

that this woman would just give up and leave, but no such luck. I opened the door

standing there with the biggest grin on her face the one and only Jessica, I didn’t

know if I should hug her or kill her, she took one look at me and started laughing so

hard. I looked at her and told her “I hate you”, she said remember 3 months ago

when I told you I would get you back this is it, I knew we played some prank on her

but I hardly remembered what it was. I asked her how she knew Mfundo’s room
number she said she was friends with the manager; he’s the guy she disappeared

with last night. I could not help but be impressed with her crazy pranking skills, she

asked where Mfundo was I told her he was hiding in the bathroom, she went inside

the room and shouted “Honey, I’m home”, I started laughing, Mfundo came out,

looked at me then Jessica and asked where his wife was, we both burst out

laughing, then I explained that Jessica and I always play this silly pranks on each

other but it’s usually hiding the other person’s car keys or moving the car to a

different parking spot or calling one another at work and pretending to be an angry

client or calling the other person and saying they have won something but Jessica

has upped her game because this I could never have imagined her doing it. Mfundo

said we almost gave him a heart-attack, and suggested we all go to breakfast I

declined and told them I have to go to my hotel and get ready for work, I asked

Jessica for time, it was 06:30, she said she would walk me to the parking we left

Mfundo.

On the way to the car Jessica asked if I had slept with Mfundo, I told her I didn’t

remember much all that wine we drank last night was a little too much, I asked her if

she and Mr. Manager shagged, she said with a big smile “oh yeah, and damn he

was a beast in bed, I couldn’t get enough of him” I looked at her and told her she’s

too freaky we both laughed, she offered me some pills for the hangover, she was

looking fresh and energetic I didn’t even ask what the name of the pills were I took

and as we got to the hotel reception I asked for water and drank the pills. One thing

about white people they have pills for everything; I have never seen a black person

who has pills for babalaaz. I got to the car, hugged Jessica goodbye and rushed to

my hotel, I got there took a quick shower then dressed and rushed to the offices in

Milnerton, the hangover was gone, damn these pills really do work, I was feeling
refreshed and energised, I should ask Jessica for a pack next time I see her, no

ways am I buying them, they were probably ridiculously expensive. I started working

and a few minutes later my mom called she asked how Cape Town was, I told her it

was busy, she wanted to know when last did I speak to my sister I didn’t know how

to answer this question, she said she could feel that something is wrong with Naledi

she was speaking to her last night and when she said she was going to see her at

her house Naledi brought up every excuse in the book, my mom asked “what is your

sister hiding?” I so badly wanted to tell her what was going on with her and maybe

she would talk some sense into my sister’s head, but who was I to judge my sister

when I was hiding soo many thing from them about my life. I told my mom I didn’t

know anything and whatever Naledi is going through she will tell us, my sister we all

know cannot keep secrets which was surprising to me how she had kept this abuse

a secret from us. I told my mom I will see her over the weekend when I got back to

Joburg. I called my sister she said she was getting discharged today and Mthobisi

had offered that she stays with us until she recovered, I didn’t know this but I

welcomed it, she needed us more than ever. I called Andiswa and she said she had

dropped the kids at school and She Rocks would be picking them up from aftercare

and taking them to the movies, these women are truly amazing, I thanked her.

I went back to work and tried really had to focus but I could not help thinking about

what had happened between me and Mfundo, it bothered me that I could not

remember much of had had gone down between the 2 of us last night. My husband

called very upset, demanding to know where I was last night, I figured he knew

already. He said he had called the hotel and they had called my room a couple of

time and there was no answer, I asked why didn’t he call on my cell, he demanded to

know where I had slept last night because I didn’t sleep at Orion hotel, this man has
a nerve, I said I slept at The One and Only Hotel, he freaked out and said there was

no way our company would have paid for that hotel it’s too damn expensive, I

explained that Jessica was doing an event there and I was too drunk to drive so I

crashed in her room and drove to my hotel this morning to change, I told him he

could call and ask her if he didn’t believe me, while talking to him I was on Skype

with Jessica, texting her I told her should my husband phone her, I was with her the

whole night.. Jessica replied and said “absofreakenlutely” and smiley faces. As much

as men lie for each other so do women, well some women. He seemed a bit

relieved, but with my husband you never know I had to make sure I covered all my

tracks. He told me he will be picking up my sister from the hospital later today and

she will be staying with us, he asked if he should cook or get takeaways I suggested

he cooked, my hubby can cook he’s just not too fond of it, he said he will and said

“by the way Lwazi is out”, my stomach turned, he said we will talk more tomorrow, I

told him not to worry about picking me up, Jessica left her car at Lanseria Airport we

flying 15 minutes apart so she’ll wait for me at the airport when she arrives and drop

me off. Thursday was over and I didn’t see Mfundo at all that day, and I was not

about to call him, I went got some takeaways on the way to the hotel and gobbled it

down as soon as I got to my apartment then went straight to bed, I was exhausted.

Friday was finally here and it was my last day in this place, I was looking forward to

going home. I drove to work and had a meeting with the company directors to give

them the reports of my findings, it was a 2 hour meeting from 12:00 – 14:00 when

the meeting was done I drove straight to my hotel packed my bags, I still had a few

hours so I decided to call Jessica to see if she would like to hit the beach before we

go, she was not keen said it’s a bit chilly and said we should rather go to Mzoli’s in

Gugulethu, I agreed. She came to my hotel and we went to the Avis in town to drop
off the car and traveled in Jessica’s hired car to Gugulethu, the place was not too

packed since it was during the day just a couple of tourists were around. We love

this place, can never go to Cape Town without passing here, we ordered the meat

and pap, yes Jessica eats pap, she’s gangster like that, the meat was as delicious as

always. We realised time was running but nice thing about being in Gugulethu is its

very close to the airport, we drove to the airport, checked in and decided to go sit in

a restaurant while waiting for our flights. I received a call from Mfundo asking where I

was I told him I was at the airport waiting for my flight, he said I had left my ear rings

and necklace at his hotel and they look expensive so can he drop them off at airport

for me, I said yes, those were my favorite ear rings, he said he would be there in 20

minutes. True to his word in 20 minutes time he called and said he was parked

outside, I told Jessica I would see her in Joburg as her flight was leaving before mine

and went to go meet Mthobisi outside, it was already dark outside, Mthobisi was at

the arrivals I got into his car and he said he can’t park there for long so we should go

talk at the parking lot, I told him there was no need to talk about anything I’m just

getting my stuff and leaving, he said we have to talk about the other night, I couldn’t

refuse that because I badly wanted to know. He drove to the parking and parked at

the far end in between cars it was dark there. I asked him what happened on

Wednesday Mfundo popped his eyes and asked don’t I remember, I said no I was

too drunk, eish alcohol mara can turn people into fools and I was worried that I had

made a fool of myself. He looked at me and smiled and said “you were amazing, no

more than amazing you were wild” I was blushing. He went to tell me the things I

was doing to him, told me no other woman has ever done the things I did to him, this

talk though was turning me on, I don’t know what got over me but I started kissing

Mfundo I was so turned on I wanted him right there and then, I was sucking and
licking his ears then went to his neck kissed his neck, my hand went down to his

magic stick I started feeling it and playing with it till it was rock hard, he undid my

blouse and pulled my bra down and started sucking my nipples I could feel my

honeypot getting supper wet, he pushed my set back and sat on top of me, this was

not a very comfortable setting but I was enjoying every second of it, I asked if he had

condoms he smiled and said “yes” I told him I wanted to be on top so we swopped

positions, I undid his belt pulled down his pants he put on the condom, luckily for me

I was wearing a skirt so he lifted it up and moved my g-string to the side, I directed

his magic stick inside my honey pot and rode him like a horse, it felt so good he was

moaning and groaning, we both came at the same time. When we were done, he

looked at me and said “damn, you are so damn good”, I smiled and told him I had a

flight to catch, he asked if he can see me over the weekend, I said “we’ll see”, and

moved to the other seat, fixed myself and asked for my ear rings and necklace,

kissed him goodbye and left. When I got inside the airport my name was already

being called over the intercoms because everybody had already boarded, I rushed to

the gate and did the walk of shame on the flight with people point at me and

whispering “is she the one we were waiting for” good thing I had checked in earlier.

Flight took off and I feel asleep woke up when we landed in Lanseria airport, I called

Jessica before the doors where even opened she said she was there already and

told me where to meet her, I got my luggage and went to go find Jessica, she drove

me home on the way I could not keep to myself what had happened I had to share

with someone or I was going to burst. She was not surprised and said 70% of

married woman cheat so I had nothing to feel guilty about but I should make sure

that my husband never finds out, man do not forgive as easily as women. She

dropped me home and left, when I got there my husband was already in bed, I went
and took a very long bath I didn’t want my husband smelling Mfundo of me, then

went to bed and cuddled with my husband but I felt like such a snake and filthy, all

that bathing could not wash away the shame and disgust I was feeling.

The next morning I was woken up by my loving husband with a warm kiss, he asked

how my trip was I told him it was a success and he told me how proud of me he was,

that made me want to tell him everything but I remembered Jessica’s warnings. I got

up to go check on my sister she was up talking on the phone, she hung up when she

saw me, I was so happy to see her, we hugged and I couldn’t hold myself I asked

her why did she not want to lay charges against that monster, she looked at me and

said I just got back can we talk about something else. I asked how she was feeling

she said she was getting better; my husband had taken very good care of her. I

made all of us breakfast, Andiswa was bringing the kids later and Cleo and She

Rocks were also coming over. After breakfast my husband said he was going out but

would be back a bit later. This was my opportunity to try and get some answers out

of my sister but I didn’t want to push it. Ausi Maria arrived shortly and was so happy

to see my sister she said she sometimes even forgot that I had a sister, she asked

why all the bruises I said she was in a car accident she asked where her husband

and kids were I wanted to say husband died in the car accident but my sister would

not have appreciated that so I said he’s at work and the kids are at my friend’s place

and will be coming later. We went to my bedroom just to avoid Ausi Maria’s question

at least she had not come with that crazy niece of hers today and I was not even

going to ask where she was. My sister decided to open up to me, she said Lwazi’s

mother had started questioning her about her first born saying she looks nothing like

her son and my sister must have cheated on Lwazi and made the child with

someone else at first she had ignored her accusations but as time went by the
mother drilled the idea into Lwazi’s head that he was bringing up another man’s

child, she said that’s when Lwazi started pushing her around and she would fall on

chairs and break them but last week things go so bad that he actually beat her up

saying she must tell him who Buhle’s father was, my heart just broke I was in tears

as she was telling me the story, my sister has never loved anyone as much as she

loved that man, he was her life, I could not believe he could be so stupid, she said

things just got worse because this morning Lwazi called and he said he is going to

throw Buhle her daughter on the floor with her head so her brains can splash all over

the pavement and he was going to kill Sihle their son and then himself, Oh my

goodness what kind of man is this, I cried even more at the thought of my niece

splashed all over the pavement. As we were talking my phone rang security said

Tshepang my husband’s brother was at the gate, the first thing that came to my mind

was Koketso had told him about the guns, I said they should let him in. I left my

sister in the room to go to the kitchen to call Koketso she answered I asked her

“what did you tell your husband? What is he doing at our place?” Koketso asked

what do I mean, she said she was in Daveyton with Tshepang, I didn’t believe her

she gave him the phone, I told him someone has just come into our complex saying

it’s him, he said it must be a mistake his nowhere near Fourways, the door opened it

was Lwazi carrying 5 litre petrol, he looked at me and said “I’m here to burn you and

your evil sister” and started pouring the petrol at me.

So there I was standing in my lounge with my sister’s husband throwing petrol at me,

I still had the phone in my ear, to say I was fuming would be an understatement

there was no way I could push pass him and run out the door to call security and I

couldn’t just leave my sister there at the mercy of this man, but I was most certainly

not about to be turned into a bacon, this was a survival game and one thing I have
learnt of late is how to detach myself from circumstances around me, but this was a

completely different scenario, all along it’s been my husband getting me in crazy

situations, now my sister’s husband. What is wrong with the 2 of us, why couldn’t we

have married 2 normal guys, why did I have to have a thug of a husband and my

sister a psycho, I stood there and decided to try and negotiate with this fool, I said

“Lwazi please don’t burn me, rather take a gun and shoot me, I don’t want to die a

painful death” I had forgotten that the phone was still on my ear, Tshepang

screamed out so loud that I got a fright “Lwazi is trying to kill you?” I screamed back

and said “call your brother, call your brother”, Lwazi grabbed the phone and threw it

on the couch. He moved back and took out a lighter from his pocket, this man really

meant business, I stood there waiting to be turned into braai meat, when out of

nowhere Ausi Maria came from behind Lwazi with a frying pan, she swung that frying

pan so hard, Tiger Woods had nothing on that swing, she hit Lwazi on the head so

hard, I felt the wind from that swing, Lwazi fell down on his face, I was speechless I

had even forgotten that she was in the house, she got to the floor and took the lighter

from him then walked to the bedroom and came back with a towel and two of

Mthobisi’s ties, she handed me the towel, I was still in shock, I asked her what she

was doing, she said she was making sure that we he got up he didn’t try to hurt me

again. She told me to hold his hands while she tied him up, Lwazi was out cold, I got

to the ground and held his hands, Ausi Maria tied them up then tied his legs, this

looked soo funny, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, I asked Ausi Maria what we

were doing? Did she even have a plan? Were we gonna tie him up then lock him up

in a cupboard? I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of Lwazi locked up in a cupboard.

As we were finishing to tie Lwazi up my sister came and asked what we were doing,

before she could even finish her sentence she saw her husband on the floor and
started freaking out, she screamed at me and asked what have I done? She got to

her knees and tried waking him up then looked at me and said “You killed him

Lesedi”, wait, what? Dead? Was Lwazi dead? In all this I had not even checked his

pulse, oh my Lord, did we kill a person. Ausi Maria and I both looked at each other in

total shock with both our mouths wide open, my sister was now crying hysterically I

couldn’t think straight. I decided to check his pulse I couldn’t feel anything, in fact I

didn’t even know how to check for a pulse, I have seen in movies people putting their

hands on the neck and wrists to check for pulse so I did the same and I there was

nothing, now I really wished that I had done the free CPR classes at work, I stood up

and screamed “shit, he’s dead” now not only my sister was crying but so was Ausi

Maria, you would have sworn we were at a funeral, I had to be level-headed. What

would Mthobisi do in this situation I asked myself. I told these 2 to keep quiet and

that we needed to get rid of Lwazi’s body, at hearing that Naledi jumped at me like a

lion attacking a sheep, she jumped at me and started punching me and asked how

could I be so heartless, I kill her husband and now I want to cover it up by getting rid

of his body, Ausi Maria had to pull her off me. Okay, wrong choice of words, I

honestly didn’t know what to do, we had a dead person lying on my lounge and the

last thing I wanted was to go to jail for this useless man, I was not sorry that he was

dead, oh no he deserved it. My phone rang it was my husband he asked if I was

okay, he said Tshepang had called him and told him that Lwazi was trying to kill me,

and told me he was a bit far but had called security to come to our house. Security? I

was panicking, and told him everything was under control he must just come home

urgently and should call security back and tell them everything is fine then I dropped

the phone. I didn’t want security finding a dead body in my house, I didn’t want to tell

Mthobisi over the phone that we had killed Lwazi you can never trust cell phones and
I had read somewhere that cell phone calls are recorded by the government so I was

not going to take chances even though the article was about American calls but if

they can do it there who says they won’t do it here, there was a knock at the door

“Complex security, please open up” oh shit, shit, shit what do I do now. While I was

still thinking what to do my sister rushed to the door, opened it, in walked 2 security

guards, Naledi shouted “my sister killed my husband arrest her” ah, ah, ah, I have no

sister, this is why she and I were never close she could never stand by me, she

always and I mean always choose her husband over me, even when the bastard

was dead, Ausi Maria went back to walling and screaming, the poor security guards

didn’t know who to attend to, they walked in and saw Lwazi on the floor tied up, I told

them he was trying to burn me to death, I was still soaking wet from the petrol he had

poured at me, Ausi Maria showed them the lighter that he was going to use to burn

me, one of the guards said they will have to call the cops and an ambulance, they

asked us all to sit down and calm down, none of us could sit, they untied Lwazi, one

of them put his hand next to his nose and said to my sister “this man is alive, he’s

still breathing”, I screamed “what?” my sister was so happy she was jumping up and

down with excitement and even gave the security guard a hug and thanked him, this

sis the same woman who was ready to have me arrested by security who didn’t even

have guns, they were probably going to tie me up with my husband’s tie, no one was

more relieve than Ausi Maria, I’m sure in her head she was already imagining herself

in an orange uniform.

A few minutes later the Police and ambulance arrived, Ausi Maria and I gave our

statements of what had happened how my sister’s husband had tried to burn me and

how Ausi Maria was my Shero, yes not hero but Shero I know there is no such word

but it suits her, she saved my life, I could not thank her enough. Paramedics said
they would be taking Lwazi to Fourways Hospital coz it was the closest and he

probably just had a concussion in the head, it served the bastard right I thought, now

he would now how it feels like to lie in hospital and to be put by a woman there will

just hurt even more. Mthobisi arrived while the cops were leaving, he saw me all

soaked and smelling of petrol and hugged me and told me how glad he was that I

was alive, I smiled at him and told him “I’m a diehard baby” we both laughed my

sister looked at Mthobisi and said “can you believe that Lesedi was already planning

on disposing my husband’s body”, I quickly said Naledi misunderstood but Mthobisi

was already giving me the behave yourself look, Ausi Maria shame was feeling so

bad she explained to my husband everything that had happened, Mthobisi thanked

her for saving my life, he said he didn’t know what would have happened to me if she

was not around and told her she could take the rest of the day of coz she was

obviously shaken by the whole experience, she left. My sister said she will be going

back to her house when Andiswa arrives with the kids, I asked if she was going back

to Lwazi she said he needs her, “unbloody believable, after he almost cremated both

of us, you still want to go back to this man, what else must happen before you realise

this man is insane? Do you want to die Naledi, because that is exactly what’s gonna

happen, he is going to kill you, please Sis, I don’t want to bury you, I’m not ready to

lose you, I’m begging you please don’t go back to him” tears were running down my

face as I was saying this. It was like I was talking to a brick wall, I was not getting

through to her, I swear Lwazi must have gone to a very strong sangoma for my

sister, her love for him was beyond blind.

A few hours later Andiswa and Cleo arrived with the kids, the kids were soo happy to

see their mom, my sister was ecstatic. She thanked Andiswa and Cleo for taking

care of her kids, her friends would never do such, all they would have done was
gossip about her behind her back, she told them she didn’t know how to thank them

enough, Cleo with her loose mouth said “you could thank us by hiring a hit man to

take care of you know who” she didn’t say his name coz the kids were around, I

quickly changed the subject because I could see my sister getting annoyed by Cleo’s

comment. Naledi packed her things and asked Mthobisi to get the kids clothes from

Andiswa’ s car, good thing Lwazi’ s car was an automatic coz she could only use one

arm, she took Lwazi’s car and left with her kids, I honestly did not get why she was

going back to him. I kissed my hubby goodbye as I left with my friends to go to She

Rocks house, we passed by the bottle store this was going to be a long day.

We arrived at She Rocks house, now this girl stayed in a Golf Estate, before you

even get there she must send you a code, this code changes every 24 hours, at the

gate security will scan your car license disk and your driver’s licence, security in this

place is beyond tight, you can’t enter without the code, the residents enter with their

fingerprints, so we did the whole process of cars and licences being scanned then

entering the codes, it takes you 5 minutes just to get in the gate, then you must still

drive inside the estate for another 5 minutes to get to the house. She Rocks was

unusually happy and I say unusually because for the past 13 years on her parents

death anniversary she was always I mean always depressed, she would not even

take a bath on this day, today she had already taken a bath, the house was clean

and she had marinated meat in a dish and snacks and drinks put out, Andiswa asked

if we were having a braai she said yes, and she told us that this year she was going

to celebrate life, and this braai was to thank us for always being there for her and

sticking with her through thick and thin, she told us how blessed she was to have us

in her life and we were more than friends we were her family, we were all soo

touched Cleo said before we start crying lets drink. We sat and chatted about how
our week, they told me about their times with my sister’s kids, I told them about Cape

Town, Jessica and the fun we had and left out the Mfundo part, I didn’t want my

friends to know coz I personally didn’t know myself what I was doing with Mfundo or

where that was going, then I told them about Lwazi almost burning me to death and

how my sister still went back to him, Cleo said that my sister was probably not just

physically abused by Lwazi but maybe also mentally and that you can never

understand how deep abuse goes she said my sister needs our support and we

should not judge her too harshly for going back to her husband, nobody knows what

she’s going through. I told them that I blame my father for everything that is going on

in our lives, we have daddy issues, if my father did not leave us then we would not

fear failing in marriage, my sister will not leave her husband because she fears being

abandoned, fears being alone, fears failing her kids and fears that her kids might

blame her in the long run for an absent father, damn fear can cripple a person. I

looked at Cleo and Cleo and said “you studied psychology, how do we get rid of

these daddy issues that we have”, Cleo looked away and said “I dropped out of

Varsity before we reached that chapter” we all burst out laughing and it was back to

our nonsensical talk. We started the braai; Andiswa was our braai master we kept

the drinks flowing. As we were joking around listening to music waiting for the meat

to be ready my phone rang it was my sister I didn’t know if I should answer or just

ignore her I was still annoyed at her for choosing her husband over her life, yes over

her life because that man was definitely going to kill her, I decided to answer in case

she was in some sort of trouble again, I asked her if she got home safe she said yes

but was actually calling to apologize she now understands where I was coming from

and shouldn’t have fought with me, and I was right, wait did my sister say I was

“right?” that’s one word that I have never heard from that woman’s mouth especially
when it comes to me I asked her to say it again to say I was “right” she laughed and

told me to stop pushing my luck, she went on to tell me that when she got home her

stupid husband had crashed the house broken TV and a couple of other appliances

in the house, she now realizes that her man is out of control and was not going to be

staying at their home instead she is going to pack hers and her kids clothes and

move to our mothers house, ahhh thank the Lord, my phone was beeping in my ear

whilst I was still talking to my sister I checked to see who was calling I didn’t know

the number so I ignored the call and continued talking to my sister, I asked her what

will she say happened to her arm when our mother asks, I needed to know so we on

the same page in case my mom called me to confirm the story, she said we should

stick to the accident story, I agreed. We said our goodbyes and hung up. Two

minutes later my phone rang again still the same number I didn’t know, it was

Nomzamo, Ausi Maria’s niece she said “the police are here to arrest my aunt, she

said I should call you to let you know” Shit, if the police were arresting Ausi Maria did

that mean Lwazi was dead? Ausi Maria will be charged with murder.

On the one hand I wanted Lwazi dead on the other I knew if he was dead it meant

Ausi Maria will go to jail. I told my friends about what had just happened, Andiswa

called her lawyer and he said he would meet us at the police station; I called my

husband and told him what had happened he told me he will meet us by the police

station. We were all a bit too tipsy to drive so She Rocks with her fancy Apps on her

phone sent a message on her Uber App for a cab to collect us, they replied and sent

her a picture of the driver who would be collecting us and said he would be there in

15 minutes it gave us enough time to pack the meat and drinks in the fridge. 15

minutes later we got a call that our cab was at the gate, She Rocks called the

security and asked them to send a golf cart to collect us and take us to the gate, the
perks of staying in a golf estate, it came took us to the gate to where our cab was

waiting for us, we got inside the cab and the driver took us to the police station.

When we got there Andiswa’s lawyer friend had already arrived she said Lwazi’s

mother was the one who got Ausi Maria arrested, she was pushing her luck, I

suddenly wished that Lwazi’s mom could have been the one who got hit in the head,

this was all her fault, she was the reason why my sister and Lwazi were fighting if

she had kept her nose in her own business then none of this would have happened.

Lwazi’s mom is some sort of MEC I don’t really know what exactly it is that she does

all I know is she is in the government and is extremely connected and the last thing

she was going to stand for was a maid putting her son in hospital, well she was

messing with the wrong maid, I was not going to let Ausi Maria spend a night in a

holding cell, I didn’t care if my husband had to bring his whole crew of thugs and shut

down that police station down but my Ausi Maria was not sleeping there, that was

not even negotiable, I told Peter Van Rooyen who is Andiswa’s lawyer to do

everything and anything to make sure that Ausi Maria got out today, he said would

sort this out in no time and went to go speak to the Station Commander.

Lwazi’s mom arrived, and started throwing her weight around, she demanded to see

whoever was in charge, then she laid her eyes on me and came screaming at me,

she told me how we had almost killed her son and how we have ruined her sons life

and she cursed the day my family came into their lives and as soon as her son got

out of prison she would make sure that he divorces my gold digging sister and she

will make sure he leaves her without a cent. I waited for her to finish then calmly said

“If I were you I would be in hospital watching over my son, because you know how

unsafe hospitals are, someone might just decide to go to his room and put a pillow

over his head, then there wouldn’t be any messy divorce and my gold-digging sister
would be a very rich woman”, I put one finger in my mouth and looked at Lwazi’s

mom, she was mad as hell and asked if I was threatening her son’s life, I looked at

my friends and said “ladies, let’s get out of here, let’s go visit my brother-in law in

hospital”. With that we all stood up and headed for the door, Lwazi mother ran

behind us screaming “stay away from my son you witch” she took out her phone and

called the hospital I could hear her demanding to speak to the Matron, she rushed to

her car, we waited for her to drive off, as she was leaving my husband was arriving,

he asked why Lwazi’s mom was speeding like that I said long story. My friends were

laughing so hard, you would have sworn we were at a comedy show. At least

Lwazi’s mom was out of the way and would not be able to bribe, blackmail or

threaten the station commander, Mfundo said he’s called his lawyer but would be

here a bit late, I told him not to worry Andiswa’s lawyer was handling the situation, he

looked at all of us and said “Wow, you ladies don’t need me, it seems like you’ve

taken care of the situation” Cleo said we independent like that but we need him for

his car so he shouldn’t leave us. A few minutes later Peter the lawyer came out with

Ausi Maria and said everything was sorted, I was sure he had bribed and Andiswa

will be getting a huge ass bill from him but I didn’t care I was just so happy that Ausi

Maria was out, I hugged her and asked if she was okay, she said she was fine, she

had just never gone through so much drama in one day, she asked if she could take

the next day off just to get over things, trust Ausi Maria to take advantage of the

situation, my husband and I both agreed that she deserved the break. Peter said he

would drop Ausi Maria off at her house as it was on the way to his, hubby drove us to

She Rocks house then left and said he won’t be the only guy amongst women he will

go hang out with his friends, he asked if we were going to go out later, obviously

after what had happened the last time we went out none of us were really keen so
we said we’ll chill at She Rocks house, hubby left, we ate, drank, laughed just had a

good time and I was hoping and praying that there would be no more drama and

thank goodness the evening went smoothly, we were all too drunk to drive so I called

my husband to come pick us up and we dropped Andiswa home, Cleo’s husband

also came to pick her up.

Sunday morning I woke up with a heavy babalaaz I couldn’t do anything all I was

doing was throwing up, my sweet husband made me breakfast but I could not stand

the smell of food it made me run to the bathroom, everything just made me sick.

Mthobisi told me that his mom was coming over for Sunday lunch, what? Today of all

days, I was not in the mood for my unstable mother-in law but I could not say that to

my husband he is always sweet to my parents, he said I shouldn’t worry he will cook

lunch but when his mom arrives I should pretend like I made the lunch because she

will shout and say I’m turning her son into a woman, he knew how crazy his mom

was, I agreed, I would not have managed to stand in the kitchen anyway. I have to

admit I had the sweetest husband in the world, well that’s when he wants to be, he

can also be the meanest husband in the world, I had the best of both. I went back to

bed while he prepared lunch; he had bought his mom’s favorite foods the day before

so he was cooking all her favorites.

Mthobisi came to wake me up and told me that he had ran a bath for me and I

should wake up to go take a bath his mom was on the way, I got up took a bath and

dressed up in a long summer dress and a cardigan I had to look proper for my

mother-in law, the extra sleep and bath had actually helped I was feeling much

better. Mthobisi’s mom arrived she looked me up and down and said I looked skinny,

she asked if am I on those crazy diets and making her son starve I said no I’ve been

stressed, she looked at me shook her head and said black girls over use the word
stress, what did I have to be stressed about I have everything, that’s what she thinks,

its so easy for people looking from the outside to think that your life is easy, easy for

them to think you have everything you want, it’s so easy to wish for another person’s

life but I have learned that in life every single person is going through some sort of

struggle, they might smile and look happy but behind all that, we all have problems,

big or small. She sat and chatted to her son, I was not interested in her lousy chats

and her snide remarks towards me. I went to the kitchen to go dish up for them, I

opened one pot and the smell sent me running to the bathroom, Mthobisi’s mom saw

this and when I came back she asked if I was pregnant, I said “NOOO” gosh, was I?

No, it’s hangover, nothing more. She said she would dish-up herself and didn’t want

me throwing up in her food. She dished up, they ate I couldn’t, I just wanted to go to

bed but with my mother in-law around that was impossible she would call me lazy

and all sorts of things so I stayed there and watched TV with them and pretended to

be interested in the conversation. Something very strange happened, Mthobisi’s

mom kept saying they need to do some ceremony for the child but she wouldn’t say

which child, Mthobisi has other sisters and brothers with kids so I assumed it must

be for one of them, but each time the mom mentioned this ceremony Mthobisi would

try and change the subject and would become uncomfortable, this was weird, then it

hit me, was this woman was talking about doing a ceremony for my son, no she

wouldn’t dare, I looked at my husband he wouldn’t look at me he kept looking past

me, now I was concerned I couldn’t wait for his mom to leave but she wouldn’t she

kept yapping and yapping till around 8 in the evening then finally decided to leave by

that time I was exhausted I decided that the ceremony talk would just have to wait,

besides they can’t do it without me knowing about it, my son was with my mom and

she would tell me if Mthobisi or his mom came to get him.

Got up the next morning feeling fresh, got up before the alarm even went off,

decided to make hubby breakfast and woke him up, I was feeling naughty so I asked

him for a quickie, man always get up with a hard-on so he was ready for action,

morning glory is the best, you are guaranteed to have a good day after it. I left my

husband breathless after the quickie then took a shower I had to be at work early to

go give a report about Cape Town at a 09:00am meeting. I left home around 7, as I

was leaving I found a letter underneath our door addressed to me, I grabbed it and

put it in my bag, I figured it might be some braai invite from the neighbours or

someone in the complex. I arrived at work before Cindy and prepared for my meeting

by 9 I was ready, had a meeting with Andile my boss and our CEO they were all very

impressed and told me they had received great reports about my work in Cape

Town, see what I mean by morning glory, already my day was going so well.

I went back our office Cindy was there, we did a bit of catching up, she said she was

going to IT because her laptop was giving her problems, my cell phone rang, I

grabbed my bag to get my it out, then touched the letter I had found at the door, I

had completely forgotten about that. Got them both out, answered my phone it was

the insurance, they were done with the investigation and were going to pay out my

car which meant I could buy myself another car, I was so happy. I decided to open

the envelop, this was no invitation it was a letter hand-written, I thought who still

writes letters at this age and time, I laughed at the thought and started reading it, it

read:

Dear Lesedi,

You don’t know me and I don’t know you, I am writing to you as a troubled woman

and I pray to God that you as a woman you will understand my dilemma. I have tried

and weigh all options and believe me this is the hardest thing I have ever had to do
in my entire life but I have no choice but to do this. I have a beautiful daughter by the

name of Lerato whom I love with all my heart and soul and she is the reason I am

writing this letter to you. My daughter is very sick and I have taken her to the best

doctor’s specials etc but no one can help her, they can’t seem to find what the

problem is. I was recently advised to go see a traditional healer, I am a modern

woman and do not believe in such but for the sake of my daughter I decided to try,

the Sangoma told me that the reason why my child is so sick is because her

ancestors don’t know her, she needs to be introduced to her ancestors and needs to

be welcomed and celebrated by them, this is the only thing that will heal my baby.

I’m sure you are wondering where I am going with all this, well, you are the only

person standing on the way of my baby being healed. Mthobisi, your husband is the

father of my baby and I have spoken to him several times about having this

ceremony for my baby, he refuses because he is scared of you, scared of losing you

but I am desperate please put yourself in my shoes, would you not do anything and

everything to save your baby? I have spoken to Mthobisi’s mother and she will try

and convince your husband to do this for our baby.

I am truly sorry that you had to find out this way

Kind Regards

Katlego

My life was turned upside down and will never ever be the same again. I grabbed my

bag and car keys went to Andile my Boss’s office I knew she kept golf clubs in her

office, I asked if I could borrow 2 of her golf clubs she said I should go ahead, I took

them and went to the car. Somebody needed to be beaten senseless.

The way I reversed the car out of that parking lot, you would have sworn I was being

chased by a demon. My mind was racing with so many thoughts, so my husband has
been fucking around making babies with random women and his bloody mother

knew about it, what else were these horrible people hiding from me who else knew

about this, it’s one thing to find out that your man is cheating on you but knowing that

there were other people who knew about it and kept it from you those people are just

as guilty as the fool that’s cheating on you, if you going to cheat keep it to yourself,

don’t involve other people because those people will be hated more than you. I could

not believe my mother in-law was involved in all this crap and all this time pretending

with me, I know she didn’t like me but not to the extent of welcoming my husband

bringing another woman to her, what kind of a mother is she? But you can never

trust guys mothers, there is a guy I know of who brings different girls to his mother

every second weekend and his mom is always pretends to the poor girls like they are

the only girls she has ever meet and she will give these girls lectures about how they

must take care of her son because she’s the first girl to come to the house and be

introduced as a girlfriend meanwhile mommy dearest knows 2 weeks ago she meet

another girl and gave her the same speech, that’s the crazy world we live in so if you

meet a guy’s parents don’t think you are special, it could just be a way to soften you

to get under your pants, shit is real out here and shit just got real to me. How many

other women are going to start crawling out of the woodworks with my husband’s

babies? As I was driving I got a call from She Rocks she wanted to thank me for

spending time with her on Saturday and asked if we could do lunch, I told her I was a

bit busy at the moment but that girl does not take no for an answer eventually I told

her we could me at Carnival City she complained saying it was too far, I asked if she

was gonna walk there, why complain about distance when you drive and don’t even

have to worry about petrol when she has a company petrol card, she laughed and

said she will create a pretend meeting with me at Carnival, we should meet at 13:00,
I agreed and hung up. I called my husband on his cell and no answer, called the

land-line and the receptionist told me he is in a meeting and won’t be out for the next

2 hours, no worries I had time, I drove to Daveyton to his mother’s place.

I arrived at my in-law’s house, Mthobisi’s mother is a teacher at a school not far from

their house, she like coming home during breaks and by some miracle it was break

time and I caught her just as she was locking the house to go back to school. I

wasn’t sure if she was surprised to see me I could never read that woman. I didn’t

even greet, greeting would have meant I came to talk that’s not what I was here for. I

threw her with the letter and asked what the meaning of this was, she said the letter

was self-explanatory; this woman had the way of just ticking me off. I asked if she

was the one who put the letter under our door, she said “obviously”, now I was

getting pissed off, I asked who the hell is Katlego and she calmly said “that is a

conversation you should be having with your husband not me”, I told her that since

she made it her responsibility to bring me the damn letter I am now making it her

responsibility to tell me what the hell is going on here, she said “mhhhh” and looked

away, now I was way passed being pissed off I was raging mad, I dashed off to the

car and grabbed one of the golf clubs it all happened so fast I also didn’t know I

could be that fast in less than a second I was standing in front of her car with a golf

club while she was standing at the door, she looked at me confused as to what the

hell was I doing with a golf club, I took one swing and smashed her car’s driver’s side

window it crumbled into small pieces and broke, she froze from shock, she didn’t

move just stood there with her mouth opened, I screamed “Who the hell is Katlego” I

think my screamed must have brought her out of the trance because the one thing

she did was whisper “Lesedi?” she was in disbelief, I was not done, moved to the

back passenger window I took another swing and hit the window so hard again, it
crumbled down and broke, she was now awake and realizing that I have gone crazy,

she came close to me and I told her “came any closer and the golf sticks won’t be

only breaking windows”, and she could see it in my eyes that I meant it. She moved

back, took out her phone and called Mthobisi who for some reason decided to

answer, I guess the meeting was not 2 hours after all or maybe he was just avoiding

me not that I gave a rat’s ass, she was screaming and telling him to come to her

house now because his wife has gone crazy, while still yapping on the phone I went

to the other side of the car, broke the front passenger window, now my dramatic

mother in-law was crying on the phone saying I wanted to beat her up and now I’m

vandalizing her house and breaking her car windows, why did she have to

exaggerate like that I had not touched her house but she was giving me ideas, I

should have gone inside the house and broken all her favorite china plates and cups,

you know how black people have those cups and plates that are only used once a

year and that’s in Christmas and when special and very important visitors comes,

yes those, Mthobi’s mother has those kinds and I wished I had gone inside the

house and broken every single one of them, that would have broken her heart in

pieces, then she would know what betrayal feels like. She should be like a mother to

me not an enemy but if she wanted to be my enemy I was ready for her, you don’t

smile or show kindness to your enemies you go to war with your enemies and that’s

what I was doing here, world war 3. She eventually finished on the phone, by the

time she was done I had broken all four windows of the car. I asked her if she was

still not willing to tell me who the hell Katlego was, she said she is so disgusted and

disappointed by what I had just done she can’t even look me or talk to me, I didn’t

care. My husband’s car that I had been using was parked outside the yard and her

car on the driveway so I went and got his Audi Q3 and parked it behind her, she
thought I was getting the car to run her car over, she came and stood in front of her

car and begged me not to bump her car, geez woman I’m not that crazy. I was not

only going to punish her, hubby also deserved a bit of punishment, I came out with

the second golf club and smashed all the windows of the Q3 including the

windscreen, Mthobisi’s mom was making so much noise that now a few people had

come out and were watching, again I didn’t care. After breaking all the window’s in

hubby’s car I grabbed my bag from the boot and told my mother in-law I will be back

for the china and left. I left her with both cars and the golf clubs as souvenir. People

were whispering as I walked passed them, I didn’t care to listen. I walked a few

streets looking to catch a taxi, I had not been in a taxi in years, I didn’t even know

how to point I wanted to get to Carninval City and that’s not too far from Daveyton. I

asked some kids where I should stand for taxi’s going to Carnival and how to point

they showed me, I must have stood there for like 40 minutes waiting I guess maybe

its because it was now around 12 so most people were at work and taxi’s are only

buys during peak hours, when it eventually came it still drove around the area

looking for people, the stupid taxi even went pass Mthobisi’s house, just my bloody

luck, there were still people gathered around his house but not as many as when I

left and Mthobisi had arrived I saw his Golf how I wished that was the car I smashed

because that’s his favorite car, oh well there is always next time. I was sitting at the

back seat next to the window and it was hot so the windows were opened, I tried

closing it stupid window wouldn’t close just my luck, then some stupid fool from the

crowd pointed at the taxi and screamed “there is the lady who broke the cars”

everybody turned and looked, shit as I tried to look away my eyes locked with my

husband’s eyes, all I saw was fire in his eyes, fuck. He ran to his car, I screamed to

the taxi driver, “drive fast”, he turned and looked at me and asked what for, I asked
him, no I begged him to drive fast he looked at me and said the taxi is not full and

he’s not leaving until he gets more people to fill up the taxi, oh Lord why did I have to

get a stubborn taxi driver, I told him if he drove fast and got us out of there I would

pay him his full fare that he normally gets when he has a full load, as soon as I

finished my sentence, taxi driver speed off, thank the heavens for money, it might be

the root of all evils but it does buy life, and that’s what I had just done, bought my life

because if Mthobisi got hold of me in the state that he was in , I would be dead meat.

He drove off , some passengers started complaining that he was going too fast and

that he was going to kill them at the speed his going, he told them he will stop and

they can get off and wait for 2 hours for the next taxi to come, inside I was saying

“thank you” people love complaining couldn’t they see my life was in danger.

My husband’s car was right behind us, that car is too damn fast, there was no way

the taxi could beat it but shame the guy really tried, Mthobisi drove close to my

window and opened the passenger window in his car and screamed “LESEDI, GET

OUT OF THAT TAXI NOW”, I took out my hand and showed him the middle finger,

he drove up to the driver’s window and told him to stop the taxi, now this was a Zulu

guy and the type that didn’t take nonsense the driver simple said “udakiwe” meaning

you drunk, Mthobisi screamed at the driver “Heyi wena mageza, ngithe stop this

bloody taxi or uzozisola” meaning you stupid driver stop this car or you will regret

this, now if there is one word that you should never, ever use to a Joburg taxi driver

is “Mageza”, if you don’t know why ask anybody who has ever used a taxi in Joburg

they will tell you why. Taxi driver was now pissed off, he took an apple and threw it at

Mthobisi’s car, now that pissed off my husband he speed-off so fast I thought he was

giving up, only to find him a few blocks down the road with his car parked parallel on

the road, his car was parked closing the lane we were on and taxi driver couldn’t go
to the next lane because the were cars going the opposite direction, bastard had

closed us off, the people in a taxi were now looking at me, shit, I had no plan I didn’t

know what to do, I asked the taxi driver to reverse as he was about to do that, there

were cars coming behind us so he couldn’t reverse he stopped and the cars stopped

behind us, my husband came out of his car and taxi driver shouted “akayi ndawo lo

sisi” meaning this lady is not going anywhere, Mthobisi shouted back and said

“Sizobona” meaning we will see about that, then took out a gun and pulled the

trigger……

There is nothing more horrifying than the sound of a gun, it is so bloody loud and

deafening, for a few seconds everybody tried to figure out what had just happened, I

checked myself to see if I had been shot and thank goodness no sign of blood

anywhere I saw my husband’s gun was pointed up so he had shot a warning shot in

the air, in 5 seconds after people realized what had just happened the passenger’s in

the taxi all came running out of the taxi, taxi driver gave me one look and said

“ngiyaxolisa sisi mara angeke ngizofela wena nginga kwazi nokuwazi” meaning I’m

sorry my sister I am not going to die for you I don’t even know you, with that he also

ran off, now there I was sitting at the back seat in this taxi all by myself and I could

see all the other drivers of other cars behind me trying to figure out what was going

on, I always say this that sometimes life does not give you choices, here in this

situation, I had no choice even if I stayed inside the taxi Mthobisi would come and

drag my ass out, so I did the most dignified thing in the situation, I gathered my shit

and I got out, Mthobisi was out there waiting for me, I asked him did he have to make

such a scene? He looked at me and said I’m the funny one to talk after the scene I

caused at his mom’s place, the other cars were now hooting for Mthobisi to move his

car out of the road he told me to get in the car so we could leave, taxi driver came
back the power of the evil of money again, I guess while running he must have

remembered my promise of paying him for a full load fare, he asked if I was going to

give him his money, I was so annoyed I said he will get his money the day he stops

driving like a little girl, I told him he had just signed my death certificate by his

slowness, in all honesty poor taxi driver did all he could have done in that situation,

Mthobisi took out R200 and threw it at him, shame taxi driver couldn’t even be rude

back at me, he had seen the gun and could see that he was dealing with people from

a different level of psychotic not the usual screaming passengers that scream

because he skipped a red light.

We got in his car and he drove off, my phone rang and I told him I needed to answer

it could be work, he nodded it was She Rocks, she told me she is on the way I told

her I was with Mthobisi now if you have close friends and you normally gossip about

people you usually have code names for every person, this is what we have, we

actually have our own language that outsiders don’t understand, so when I say I left

my red t-shirt at your house it means I’m in shit, so I said this, she asked if I needed

119 this in reverse in 911 and it means do you need back-up I told her yes, she

asked where we were going I said I’m not sure, she told me to send my location on

whatsapp and she will come there, shit I didn’t actually think of that, I agreed,

Mthobisi didn’t know what me and She Rocks were discussing, after I was done on

the phone, he asked who was that I said it was She Rocks, he nodded and kept

driving I asked where we were going he didn’t respond, I was shit scared, my sister

got off slightly with broken ribs and broken arm I was going to be killed buried and

never found, fuck in fact no one knew about what happened in my mother’ in-law’s

house expect for the 3 of us and knowing that witch Mthobisi’s mom she would never

say anything in fact she would suggest I get buried in her garden and plant tomatoes
in my grave, all these thoughts were freaking me out even more. I decided to shut

my mouth and stop asking questions, we went back to his mom’s place people were

now gone, I guess they saw that there was not much action going on. We parked

outside, he looked at me actually not looked he stared at me then got out the car and

started walking up and down, this is how my husband calms himself when he is

upset, I quickly took out my phone and sent my location on whatsapp to She Rocks

then wrote we at my mother in laws house come quick Mthobi is pulling a Lwazi on

me. I knew she would figure out what that meant, Mthobisi came back in the car and

asked if I was okay, wait, what, my crazy husband is asking if I’m okay, I said no I’m

shit scared, I want to go home, he said he was sorry that I had to find out about

Katlego the way I did and he never meant to hurt me, he loves me with all his heart

and soul and Katlego is nothing to him she means nothing to him, I was not ready to

hear this, I was just not, he told me how this Katlego women went behind his back

and told his mother that her daughter is sick and needs to have a ritual done, he had

been telling her to wait to tell me first but she went behind his back. I asked him who

was this Katlego woman he said it was the same woman that years back when I

went to go visit him when he was doing an internship I found her things in his place

and I got upset and broke up with him (please refer to previous chapters of how we

meet if you don’t remember this), he said she had fallen pregnant with his child but

after I broke up with him he could not continue the relationship with her so he broke

up with her, she never told him that she was pregnant, then 5 years down the line

few weeks before the whole mining incident she tracked him down and told him

about his daughter, all these years he had no idea that he had a daughter and the

only reason why she had tracked him down was because she wants this ritual done,

he didn’t know how to tell me he was looking for the perfect time but there never a
perfect time, we had drama after drama in our lives and with all the stress I was

going through he didn’t want to add more stress on me, he certainly did not ask her

to write the letter and definitely did not ask his mom to put that letter under our door,

I was dumb-stuck, I had destroyed 2 cars all because of unnecessary anger. I sat on

my seat-frozen I could not speak I could not react I didn’t know what to think then my

mother in law came out she was ready for World War 4, Mthobisi said he didn’t want

me and his mom fighting so he need me to make peace with her, this was not her

doing, if there was anyone to blame for this it was him. I opened the door as I came

out mother in law was standing with the golf stick that I had come with and tapping it

against her feet, shit, pay back is a bitch. I knew I was dead-meat here, I stood there

and said “I’m sorry” she screamed, you “you sorry?, no you are insane, Lesedi a

woman does not behave like that you are behaving like a straat-mate, okay I did not

need a lecture from her, I looked on the floor and repeated “I’m sorry ma”, oh my

Lord, she just would not stop, Mthobisi was now standing outside the car she looked

at him and said “who knows what she could have done if she read the letter while

you were both in the house she probably would have stabbed you to death in your

sleep, I don’t trust her, she is insane, we need to have her instituted” I looked at her

and said” I think you are being a bit too dramatic” oh how I regret saying that

because she went even more crazy, then God answered my prayers, She Rocks

showed up, I opened Mthobisi’s car grabbed my bag and said I’m leaving, she kept

quiet for a second because she had not seen what was going on, Mthobisi looked at

me and said “can we deal with this like adults” I walked away got into She Rocks car

and told her to drive as fast as she possible could, she asked what was going on, I

couldn’t even speak I just broke down and cried and thank goodness because my
husband didn’t follow us. She knew to just let me cry it out, so she kept quiet and just

drove, I told her to take me to my mother’s house.

She Rocks and I had not said a word to each other until we got to my mother’s

house I had just been sobbing uncontrollable, we went in she brought my bag, my

sister was there she asked what was wrong, She Rocks shrugged her shoulders and

took me to my room, my mom bless her soul in all the years that I had moved out of

home she had kept mine and sisters rooms the same she never changed anything in

our room so it looked like a teenage girls room, it had posters in the wall and pink

decoration, believe or not but when you are depressed old memories bring warmth

and familiarity, it makes you feel so much better and my old room was definitely what

I needed right now, she Rock asked if I wanted to sleep, this girl knows me so well

when I’m depressed or stressed and can’t handle a situation all I want to do is sleep

to try and forget about my problems. I told her that I needed her that she can go back

to work I will sleep and call her when I get up, she said she could work from here she

had her laptop and didn’t really have to go back to her office, she didn’t think it was a

good idea for me to be alone, I was not going to win this argument so I let it go, I got

into bed and slept She Rocks got her laptop and started working, I don’t know how

long I had been asleep for but it felt like it had only been 5 minutes when She Rocks

came to wake me up, I got up and she told me to keep quiet, I looked at her and

asked why she was whispering, she said Mthobi’s mom was here with the Police and

some doctors, she was claiming that I was crazy and I am either going to jail for

vandalism of property of being taken to a mental institution. Say What???

“She what?” I shouted, She Rocks whispered “shhhhhh we told them that you are

not here but your mother-in law is telling the cops that we hiding you and the cops

should search the house”, I whispered back to She Rocks and told her that there is a
cricket bat in the garage she should go and get it for me clearly Mthobisi’s mother

had not learned her lesson, I was not going to teach her a lesson now I was going to

give her an exam I was tired of teaching. She Rocks said if I hit her now they would

definitely think I have lost my mind, we should stay in my room, my sister was

handling Mthobisi’s mom and the cops, oh Lord knowing my sister she was probably

saying all the wrong things, I had no faith in that woman. I asked She Rocks to go

check on what was happening, She Rocks said she was not going anywhere cause

as soon as she left I will be right behind her with a cricket bat beating up my mother-

in law, she had as little faith in me as I had in my sister, so we sat there for what felt

like eternity, eventually my sister came and said they are gone, at that moment I

could have kissed her, she said she told them they were not coming in without a

search warrant, thank goodness for her quick thinking. I grabbed my phone and

called my husband, I told him about the stunt that his mom had just pulled, he had no

idea that his mom was planning on doing that he said immediately after I left with

She Rocks he also left cause his mom was now shouting at him so he was not going

to stand for it, he went home hoping I would be there but when he got there I wasn’t

there so he figured I must have gone to my mom’s place, “figured” my ass, we all

know how he knew no need to even spell it out. He said his mom had called him

wanting to speak to me and he told him that I was at my parent’s place. He swore

that he had no idea that she would show up at my parents door step and said he

would speak to her; this was now getting out of control, I said he better speak to her

especially since I have already apologized to his mom, then Mthobisi gave me a long

speech about how I have disrespected his mom by doing what I did, I honestly did

not have time to listen to him feeling sorry for his poor mother, so I broke a few
windows of her car booo-hooo, she must get over it, I dropped the phone in his ear

while he was still talking.

Both my sister and She Rocks were sitting in my bed staring at me, they asked what

the hell had I done to upset Mthobisi’s mom, I told them the story from his mom

coming for a so called “visit” to sneakily dropping a letter from Mthobi’s ex to me

going to Daveyton to teach her a lesson, She Rocks was on the floor laughing, she

said now she gets why Mthobisi’s mom thinks I’m crazy, my sister on the other hand

was not at all impressed, she told me that I have anger issues and should really

consider seeing a therapist, what kind of a person breaks car windows because she

is angry, she told me I should have sat down with both of them and spoke about this,

I told her I had sat with them that Sunday and no one between the two of them had

guts to tell me what the hell was going on, I told her I don’t regret breaking those

windows and if I had an opportunity to do it again I would definitely do it all over and

this time I would slash the tyres too, She Rocks had tried to keep a serious face but

after my last statement she burst out laughing. My sister was not done, she then told

me that she is not allowed to visit her husband in hospital because I had told his

mom that we were going to suffocate him to death, Lwazi’s mom had put security in

front of his ward, well it served her right, why would she still want to be visiting that

lunatic husband of hers anyway I thought. We were interrupted by my son’s nanny

she brought my son, oh my goodness I just held him in my arms and everything was

okay with the world, I didn’t care about my mother-in law, my husband or my sister

and her problems, everything that mattered in the entire world was right there in my

arms, I love this boy with everything that is in me. My sister said she was running

late to pick up her kids from after-care. I stayed with She Rocks we were playing with

my son and catching up.

She told me how she is helping Siyabonga to buy a Quantum so he can start a

transportation business he will be picking up and dropping of school kids and people

that work in restaurant’s, I asked her if she was buying the Quantum for him, the last

thing I wanted was for my friend to buy this man a car and when his business starts

taking off he dumps her ass, you can’t trust anybody, she assured me that she was

not doing such, she was just helping him with his bank loan applications etc. I told

her that Siyabonga was very lucky to have her in his life and if he ever messed her

up she should call me I will break all the Quantum windows, we both laughed and

she said “on the real though Lee, what are you going to do with this child ritual

situation?” I told her I didn’t know it’s not my child, the father and grandmother of the

child will decide. She asked if do I really believe that this Katlego woman is telling the

truth, she told me not to let this woman destroy the good relationship that Mthobisi

and I have, for all we know the child could not be his, okay I had not thought of it that

way, She Rocks has a way of making sense, yeah, what if this woman was lying,

damn Mthobisi for being an idiot, could he not have used protection, we are in this

shit because of his carelessness. She Rocks had to leave she was going to pass by

her brothers and they were already calling her to see if she was okay, those boys

would kill a man for their sister. I told her she could go my parents would be back

any moment.

After She Rocks left I asked my son’s nanny her name is Lindiwe to take him then I

went back to sleep. I was woken up by my sister’s kids, they wanted to show me the

drawings they had made at school, I had to act interested. I got up and went to the

lounge, my sister was there reading a magazine, I asked where my mom and Victor

were she said they had date night, oh gosh, aren’t they a bit too old to be having

such, we both rolled our eyes at the idea of our parents out holding hands. I sat with
her, she told me that sleeping during the day is a sign of depression and I should

stop keeping things in, I looked at her and wanted to say “says the woman who kept

an abuse a secret for so long” but I smiled and said I was fine, she asked when I will

be going back home, I looked at her and said “this is home”. Then there was an

awkward silence, I guess I was crowding her space I didn’t care, your parents’ home

is where you run to when shit hits the fence, I was hungry I had not eaten all day, my

sister couldn’t cook because she could only use one arm so I was the unfortunate

one who had to do the cooking, I made pasta and mince it was simple enough and

my sister’s kids love it. We ate, while watching TV, which my parents absolutely

hate, but they weren’t there so we could do whatever we want. Mthobisi called a

couple of times but I choose to ignore his calls, let him sweat a little.

I was woke up the next morning by Victor my stepdad, he had made breakfast, Victor

always and I mean always made breakfast from when we were in high school we

were woke up to his breakfast, he never made eggs and bacon though nothing

fancy, just porridge but how many guys will wake up in the mornings to make

breakfast for everyone in the house, you just had to love this man. I got up, brushed

my teeth and went to go sit on the table with everyone else, damn people get up

early in this house, it was only 6 o’clock and already we were having breakfast,

today’s breakfast was oats. My mom asked when did I get home I told her yesterday

and quickly changed the subject by asking how their date night was, my mom said

good then asked how was I getting to work because she didn’t see mine or

Mthobisi’s car on the driveway, dammit I had not thought about that. Victors said I

could use our old car, eeerrrr no, that car is a proper skorokoro, it over heats, heater

doesn’t work, it has so many problems, this is the car we were thought to drive on

when we were growing up, but since I had broken the car windows of Mthobi’s car
that I was using I had no choice. Victor said he will have to get his jumper cables to

charge the battery because it’s probably dead the car hasn’t been used in ages,

problems already, I haven’t even been in the car yet. I finished eating then took a

quick shower, luckily I had a couple of clothes that I had left at my mom’s place,

didn’t even remember when I had left then but at least I didn’t have to wear the same

clothes as yesterday, I got dressed and headed out, Victor had kept the car running

for me, I put my bag in the boot, Victor had put a 2 litre bottles filled with water, my

sister came and looked at the car then me then said “how the mighty have fallen”

and laughed, she was enjoying this. I got in and showed her the middle finger and

drove off, I had to ease myself back into remembering how gears worked I had been

driving automatics for years and they spoil you, by the time I got into the freeway I

was doing pretty good, then there was traffic, dammit I had forgotten how bad traffic

coming from the south of Joburg was, not that the north was any better. The thing

with old cars is they don’t do too well in traffic, this was the situation with my car, it

started over-heating, right in the middle of the freeway it became so hot I could see

the smoke coming out of the bonnet; I pulled to the side to let it cool down. I played

with my phone bored out of my mind, then scrolled to Mfundo’s numbers I decided to

call him, he answered, very surprised to hear from me, he asked if I was okay, I had

never called him before, I told him I was stuck in traffic, he didn’t get it he thought I

meant driving in traffic but I didn’t feel like explaining further, he said he would be

coming to our offices later can we do lunch, I hesitated for a bit but what the hell, I

agreed, my phone was beeping in my ear it was my husband, I told Mfundo I had to

go there were traffic cops around, we hung up, I answered my husband, he asked if

he should come pick me up and drop me at work I said no I was on my way to work

already he shouldn’t worry about me, rather worry about his new family, his response
was “Lee you are sitting at the freeway on that rundown car stuck, being stubborn is

not going to get you to work” WTF? How did he know where I was. I looked around

parked behind me was my husband’s car, I looked up at my window and there he

was standing next to my door, I opened the window, my phone was still in my ear, he

grabbed my phone and asked “who were you talking to while I was calling you”

Him grabbing my phone off my hands happened so fast, I didn’t know how to react, I

opened the door so fast, I accidentally hit his balls, he screamed in pain and dropped

my phone on the floor and his hands automatically went to cover his manhood, my

phone was on the floor battery on one side and back cover on the other side, I

collected the phone parts and put them back together, people in cars passing us

were looking at us strangely, they probably thought we were crazy not that I cared. I

apologized for hitting him with the door, it was honestly unintentional, he told me I

could make it up to him by allowing him to take me home, this man does not give up,

I said I can’t just leave the skorokoro in the freeway, he said he will get a tow-truck to

take the car back to my mom’s place, I looked at him doubtfully then said okay, he

took out his phone and made a call to some towing company and told them where

we were, I told him I was not leaving until they came to collect the car, he said we

can sit in his car while waiting cause it was a bit chilly outside and my car’s heater

didn’t work, we went and sat in his car I told him that I do not want to speak to him,

he said it’s fine we’ll just sit there in silence until the towing people came. Okay being

silent for 5 minutes was just way too long for me, I asked him why was he following

me, he said he wasn’t he had actually came to my parent’s house to pick me but on

his way there he saw me driving and decided to follow behind besides it was his way

to work too. Okay that made sense, but I wasn’t going to let him know that I was

believing him. We sat there for about 30 minutes and eventually the towing company
arrived, the traffic was now cooling down, my husband spoke to them and gave them

my parents address to drop off the car. He drove me to work, dropped me off and

wanted to kiss to me I moved away as he was trying to get close, he said he would

pick me up after work, I told him not to bother, I will make a plan to get home, he

asked if I was coming back to our home after work, I said “the home that you and

your mother wrecked?, no thanks.” I got out of his car and slammed the door.

When I got to the office, Cindy wanted to know where I had disappeared to

yesterday cause she had to cover up for me and didn’t know what to say to people I

told her I had family problems with hearing that she dropped the subject, Cindy

doesn’t like hearing other people’s problems which is good for me, I don’t like

sharing my problems either. We did some work, I was so focused I actually lost track

of time, by the time I lifted my head, Mfundo was at our door with a huge-ass smile

on his face, oh Lord, I had forgotten to call him and tell him lunch was off, my

husband was a witch-hunt and the last thing I wanted was to get Mfundo on the

cross fire. He looked at me and asked “are you ready for lunch?”, I looked at Cindy

and said “I forgot to tell you, Mfundo invited us to lunch”, Mfundo gave the WTF look

I ignored him and focused on Cindy who was all smiles, she thank Mfundo for being

so thoughtful and said we should use her car, we drove to Rivonia and went to a

restaurant called Rocket, we tried to order cheap food but there isn’t anything cheap

in that place, we chatted about work and were just having a simple fun lunch even

Mfundo eventually warmed up to the idea of all 3 of us out together. My phone rang it

was my husband, he said he was at my office bringing me lunch but was told I had

gone out for lunch, I said yes I’m out, it would have helped if he called, he sulked and

said it’s fine, he will be going back to work, now I felt bad. He had come all the way
and I wasn’t even there, but on the other hand since when does he bring me lunch to

work?

We got back to the office, worked until 5, I had completely forgotten about my

transport problems, I decided to call Andiswa, she was nowhere near around my

offices, I tried Cleo even though I knew this was one of those cross your fingers

calls, Cleo said she was taking selfies and I had just interrupted her when she was

getting a perfect shot, I asked what the hell was she taking selfies for she said she

wanted to post on Facebook, I asked why she said, “Lee, there are stalkers out

there, I need to get myself one” if anyone should be taken to a mental institution it’s

this woman, I didn’t even bother asking her for a lift. Cindy over-hearing my

conversations offered to give me a lift, I told her I was going to my parent’s place in

Alberton, she said it’s not a problem she would take me there, shoo I was so

relieved. We drove home, she dropped me off, I found my sister and the kids parents

not yet around, my sister started laughing at me about the car, I told her it was just a

matter of days before I got myself a brand new car. She told me that the towing

people had brought the car and said I was stuck on the freeway I told her Mthobisi

actually came and picked me up and took me to work, while we were still chatting

there was a knock on the door, I went to go open, it was my husband carrying 2

suitcases, I asked him what was going on, he said he was moving in. This man is

absolutely unbelievable, I pooped my eyes wide opened and asked him to repeat

what he had just said, he said I was his wife and he was not going to stay in our

place alone and since I had decided to come stay with my parents he was coming to

stay with them too, I wanted to scream at him, as I was about to, my mom and Victor

arrived and saw Mthobisi with 2 suitcases, Victor jokingly asked if we were moving

in, at the same time Mthobisi and I answered, I shouted “No” he shouted “Yes”, now
both my mom and Victor wanted to know what was going on, my smooth operating

husband said our place was being fumigated so we were advised to move out for a

couple of days so we don’t inhale the chemicals, I looked at him and knew there was

no way out of this one, my mom asked why are we standing at the door, Victor

helped Mthobisi to take the suitcases to my room, I was beyond annoyed, I went to

my sister, she asked what was going on I said “don’t ask”.

My husband came and sat with me and my sister made small talk with my sister

asking how she was doing and how her bruises were, she said she was getting

better, he then looked at me and told me he had made reservations at some

Portuguese restaurant and I should go change, the other suitcase has my clothes on

it, I didn’t want to seem rude in front of my parents especially since I had not told

them what was going on, so I went to my room, open the suitcase and my

sometimes sweet husband had packed most of my favorite clothes, I changed into a

black dress and wore black heels and told him I was ready, my mother said I look

like I am going to a funeral, that was the point, I was in mourning of my husband’s

infidelity.

We arrived at the restaurant it was really fancy, it’s in Linmeyer, we had starters,

main course and dessert, my husband was really trying hard here, we hardly ever

went out, I was really grateful for the effort. He wanted to speak about what was

happening between us, I figured this was as good a time as any. He told me he

needed me more than ever, he did not know what to do with this Katlego woman and

the baby situation, he said what frustrate him the most is that she had stayed all

these years without telling him she had a child, he told me he had never meant to

hurt me and cheating on me back then was the biggest mistake he had ever made,

and he was young and foolish back then, he didn’t know what he wanted then but
now he knows he can’t leave without me, I am his world, he loves me more than life

itself as he was saying all these things he had tears in his eyes, he was begging me

not to leave him, he told me we could work this out, we can find a way around this

situation, he would not be able to survive without me in his life, yes he was not

perfect and he made mistakes but we all deserve a second chance and he promises

he would never hide anything away from me, he would never hurt me ever again. I

was blown away, I didn’t know what to say but this was my husband and I had

promised to stick with him through thick and thin and this was too thick. I said I

needed time to digest everything that was happening for now I was very confused,

he told me to take all the time that I need and he will take his suitcase and go back

home, I told him that will make my mom suspicious, he must stay, that put a smile on

his face.

As we were leaving, Mthobisi said he wants to go say hello to the owner of the

restaurant because they know each other, I followed him through the kitchen, he

greeted the ladies that were there cooking, I wondered how many times had my

husband been here before cause it was my first, they greeted him back by his name,

okay clearly he was a regular here, past the kitchen there was an office, we found a

white guy who my husband greeted with a hug and introduced me to him, I didn’t

catch his name, they started speaking, I then told my husband I needed a bathroom

he will find me outside. I went past the kitchen and asked those ladies where the

toilets were they directed me, I went as I came out there was a guy in his early 30’s

good looking guy, he asked for my name, I just walked past, he followed me and

asked for my numbers and told me how beautiful I looked, I again ignored him and

walked away, this time he grabbed my arms and said “please lady can I just have

your numbers” big mistake at that time my husband was behind him, I said “please
walk away” the guy thought I was playing hard to get and still went on talking to me.

Mthobisi tapped him on his shoulder as soon as the guy turned around he punched

him on the face and said “you don’t touch my wife”, I screamed and asked Mthobisi

to stop it, the owner of the restaurant came out and asked what was going on,

Mthobisi told him that this fool is hitting on his wife, the owner grabbed the guy by his

shirt and pulled him to his office with me and my husband following behind, as I was

about to enter the office with them Mthobisi told me to stay in the kitchen. One of the

women an older woman was screaming so loud, she said they are going to kill him,

what have I done and all I could see through the glass on top of the door was the

belt going up and down. Can the earth open up and swallow me now please.

Now all the women in the restaurant’s kitchen were screaming and shouting myself

included, we were trying to get the attention of these two inside beating the crap out

of this poor guy. Thomas who is Mthobisi’ s friend came to the kitchen I don’t even

know where he came from he asked what the commotion was all about, I was so

happy to see him, at least he would talk some sense into my husband and his friend

and stop them from killing this guy, I explained to him that there was a guy who was

hitting on me and now Mthobisi and the restaurant owner are beating him up for that,

with hearing that he walked straight to the office as he was walking he was removing

his belt getting ready to join in the beat, he was shouting “how the fuck can he

disrespect my friend like that, hitting on his wife in front of him” Jesus Christ, what is

the big bloody deal? So a guy hit on me, he should see it as a compliment that he

has a hot wife and that other guys want her. The door was locked so Thomas

banged really hard to get their attention, Mthobisi came to open the door, while

Mthobisi and his friends were still talking to Thomas the guy found an opportunity

and ran out of the office, he went pass us flying with his shirts and pants torn. One of
the older women who was screaming the most looked at me and said Mthobisi has

been here a lot of times and they have never seen him this angry, she didn’t know

her Bosses were capable of such anger and violence, she took off her apron and hat

and threw them on the floor and said she quits. I honestly didn’t know this woman

and didn’t care if she stayed or quit why was she being so dramatic, does she know

how much I have been through? If I were a quitter like her I would have hanged

myself ages ago, but I was not about that quitting life, quit for who? Mthobisi and the

friends were chatting away like the whole incident never even happened. How does

he do that, get over things so quickly? I pulled myself together and walked up to

them and calmly told my husband I was ready to go home.

We drove all the way home in silence not a single word from either one of us. We

found my sister watching tv she was the only one who was still up everybody else

had gone to bed, she asked how diner was, I didn’t respond I told her I was going to

bed, I went to the bedroom with Mthobisi behind me, I changed into my pj’s and

jumped into bed my husband followed, I asked him to switch off the lights. Now when

you in bed and it’s all dark this is when you get time to think about things, things that

are happening in your life, the cause of all your problems and mine was lying here

next to me, all my problems came from this man, my life without him would be simple

and drama free. I started thinking about how I miss doing normal things, being a

normal person and not this crazy lifestyle that I have had to get used to. I have dealt

with a lot in the past couple of weeks, I have had to deal with my husband going to

jail, visiting him in jail, then there was the guns oh Lord and almost getting arrested

with his guns, I have had so many close calls with prison and cops and it’s all

because of him, the breaking of the car windows I am not that kind of a person, I was

provoked, had he and his mother not lied to me that none of that would have
happened and now on top of all the crazy shit that he’s put me through I have to deal

with baby mama drama, ever since I was a teenager the one thing I had prayed for in

a man was to get a husband who has no kids, do you know how hard it is to get a

man who does not have baby mama drama, every guy you meet if he is over 21

years then possibilities are he’s already fathered at least 2 kids and that’s the kids he

knows of, only goodness knows when and how long it will take before other kids

starting crawling out of the wood works. As I was thinking all these thoughts tears

just started pouring out my eyes, now with my husband lying next to me I knew he

was still awake and the last thing I wanted was for him to know that I was crying, but

the annoying thing about crying is when you cry your breathing changes you start to

breath heavy, Mthobisi must have heard that, he put his hand on my face and my

face was soaking wet from all the tears, he jumped up and switched on the lights and

came back to bed, I looked away from him, he turned my face to his and looked at

me with a sad face and said “Honey, I am so so sorry” hearing those words just

made me cry even worse, he told me how much he loved me and how he never

wants to loose me to anyone, I looked at him and said, “I don’t know this person

you’ve turned into, all I know is I want my husband back cause I really don’t like this

person you have become”. My husband held me tight and told me how much he

loves me and didn’t mean to scare me it’s just that when he saw that guy touching

me something inside him snapped. I didn’t want to hear any of it, he didn’t

understand that this was not the only problem and explaining myself would just mean

me breaking down again. I feel asleep in his arms. Got woken up the next morning

by my sisters kids who came to tell us that breakfast was ready, Mthobisi and I went

to go have breakfast my mom wanted to know why my eyes were puffy and red she

asked if I had been crying, I quickly said no, I had an allergic reaction to something
last night and couldn’t sleep because my eyes were watery, she brought me allergies

tablets and said I should drink them, mothers and medication I said I will when I’m

done eating. I went and took a shower then got dressed, sat with my sister while

waiting for my husband to get done; yes he takes longer than I do. She was getting

the kids ready for school, I asked her if there had been any new developments on

her husband she said he got discharged from the hospital and was staying at his

mother’s place, he had text her to let her know that he would be passing by their

house to collect a few of his clothes with his mom, he didn’t know that she staying at

our parent’s place. It’s funny when you look at it, both my sister and I were at our

parent’s place and they had no idea what the hell was going on. We had always kept

our drama away from our parents, we just don’t like them worrying about our

problems. Mthobisi was finally done, we drove off to work, he took me to my

workplace I told Cindy I would be doing half day today, I was getting a brand new

car.

I called my girls and told them we are getting me some new wheels today, the

insurance had fully paid out my BMW that had been hijacked so this meant that I

was debt free, this is why it is very important to make sure that you are insured at all

times, I have had accident when I was not insured and my car was written off I still

had to pay the car even though I didn’t have it, so trust me when it comes to

insurance I don’t take any chances, I have learned the hard and painful way. We all

decided to meet at Audi in Sandton, Andiswa was going to give me a lift there. I was

so excited, there is nothing more exciting and fulfilling than getting a new car, the

smell of a new car, oh my goodness, I was getting excited just thinking about it. At

exactly 12 o’clock Andiswa called to say she was outside I was already packed and

ready to go, I got into her car and she was as excited as I was, we had already
decided that it was time I got an Audi. I had not told my husband or my parents that I

was getting a new car I wanted to surprise them. We arrived at Audi in Sandton and

Cleo and She Rocks were already there, they got there 3 minutes before us so they

didn’t really have to wait long, we went in together, She Rocks had made an

appointment with one of the sales consultants we arrived at reception and asked for

Sipho, they called him to come meet us at reception, receptionist asked us if we

wanted anything to drink we all said water except for Cleo who said she wants

camomile tea, we all looked at her with the “you like things” look the lady said they

didn’t have any, Cleo said “you best go and buy it, we are customers after all” Cleo

loves being difficult, poor white girl turned red on the face and said she will make a

plan. Sipho came and took us to his office, I filled the forms in and we asked to go

test drive, She Rocks and Andiswa were test driving the A5 which is the car I was

buying and Cleo and I were test driving an A1 which we both could not get coz we

have kids but since test driving is free and fun, why the hell not, we all went off with

the cars drove around Sandton then came back after 30 minutes.

We went back to Sipho’s office who had processed my application, I knew I wouldn’t

be getting the car on the same day coz it would still need to be registered etc. We

were all so excited about the new car and already planning our road-trip to Durban

with the new car, everyone would take turns to drive, we walked in and sat and told

Sipho that we would be taking the A5 he should just let us know when they will be

delivering it, I told him I want it delivered at my office so everyone at work can see it

and be green with envy, Cleo was arguing that we should come and collect it

instead. Sipho looked at us and said “you ladies have time for jokes neh, I’m not her

to play I’m here to work and I don’t think you are funny at all” okay, we all looked at

each other a bit confused, Sipho had been all nice to us all this time now all of a
sudden his tone had changed, what the hell happened in the few minutes that we

had gone out to make him all sour, She Rocks responded and said “no need to get

agro Sipho we will collect the car, we just messing around”, Sipho stood up and said,

“you will not be collecting any car, your friend does not qualify to get a car, hell with

her debts she doesn’t even qualify to buy from Boxer Stores, she is BLACKLISTED”.

We all screamed at the same time “Blacklisted”?. WTF, I didn’t even have a lot of

accounts, the only account I had was for my car which was now paid up and my

cellphone contract which I paid every single month. How the hell do I then get

blacklisted?

My mind went blank, I zoned out for a couple of seconds, Andiswa demanded to see

my credit report to see which companies had blacklisted me, Sipho handed it over to

her, Cleo kept saying “there is no way in hell Lee could be blacklisted, the world

must be coming to an end”. I was still in daze and shock I could hear and see all that

was going on around me but I just couldn’t move from where I was sitting, She

Rocks and Cleo were going through the report it had so many pages, from the

expressions on their faces I knew it didn’t look too good, I didn’t even want to know

what the hell was in there. This could not have happened at a worst time, I urgently

needed a car. If there is one thing I have learned in life was to keep my name clean,

I never had too many accounts because that will just drive you crazy and the few that

I had I made sure I paid in time and I would always pay something extra just to stay

off the red, to be now told that I was blacklisted was an absolute shock to my

system, I did not get it. How was that even possible? I grabbed my bag and told the

girls we should leave and stop wasting Sipho’s time he probably had other clients to

tend to. Sipho could now see that this had hit me very hard and I was obviously

clueless about my credit bureau, he asked if I had at any time lost my id, I told him
no in fact I had my id with me. He gave us the numbers of the 3 different credit

bureaus and said I should call them to inquire. I had never felt so defeated like I did

at that moment, we all walked out with our tails between our legs, feeling so

embarrassed it felt like everyone was looking at us and saying “who did they think

they were, coming here while they don’t qualify to even get an Uno” as we were

doing our embarrassed ashamed walk , the receptionist said “your camomile tea is

ready ma’am”, Cleo covered her face with her hand and whispered to us “just keep

walking, we’ve embarrassed ourselves enough, I don’t even drink that tea, I only

drink Joko” we kept walking like she wasn’t even talking to one of us. When we got

outside I told them I wanted to be taken to my mother’s house so I could sleep that’s

my way of dealing with problems, so the girls said we were all going to my mother’s

place, I again drove with Andiswa and Cleo with She Rocks, on the way to my

mom’s I was wrecking my brains trying to figure out which companies had I owed

money to and never paid them and nothing, I could not think of any.

First thing we did when we got to my mom’s house was go to my room, this felt like

old times when we would go to my room to hatch up a plan or a solution to a

problem, but this was adulthood, the problems were more intense and life changing

than when we were teenagers. I asked Andiswa which companies had blacklisted

me, She Rocks took out the report from her bag, Cleo had a notebook and pen and

was writing down, She Rocks read them out “ Edgars, Foschini, Mr Price, Bayport

Financial Services, Luntu Loans,” I interrupted “Mr Price has an account?” Cleo said

yes she knows of people with accounts from there, She Rocks continued, the report

had 2 different cellphone contract from 2 different service providers, 2 different gyms

that I was owing, this was not just a problem it was a disaster. I had never, ever had

accounts at any of the places they mentioned, how on earth was this possible. Cleo
google the head office numbers of all the names She Rocks had read, she gave us

each to call, I called Bayport Financial Services and was asked for my id number, I

gave it to them and was told that my account is with the legal department oh my

gosh so this was true, I asked to be transferred to legal department, I told them that I

had never opened an account with them and until a couple of hours ago I had never

heard of them before so how could I have opened an account with a company that I

don’t even know, they told me they had heard such stories before from people who

were avoiding paying their accounts and I should be a responsible citizen and just

pay up the loan of R70 000 that I had taken, I choked, R70 000? She Rocks had

called Edgars and was told my account was handed over to lawyers she was given

the lawyers numbers when she called the lawyers they said I was owing over R15

000 and couldn’t be bothered that I was denying knowing about the account they

wanted to know if I wanted to make payment arrangements, what the hell, why would

I pay for something I never did, the rest of the calls were all like that, everyone we

called wanted to know when I will be settling the account, this was all just too much.

My sister came into my room and asked what was going on, Cleo who cannot keep

her mouth shut told her that I had been blacklisted, my sister said it’s Mthobisi’s fault,

these are probably all his debts and because we were married all his debts

automatically become mine, I told her that Mthobisi and I were married out of

community of property which meant his shit is his so there was no way I could get

blacklisted because of him. Andiswa suggested we call the credit bureaus and

explain the situation, I made the call I got a very nice lady who said I need to go to

the places and ask for the copy of the contracts I had signed to open the account

and to compare signature of the original contract and have to go to police station and

do and affidavit that says I never opened an account in any of the places that I am
blacklisted by, and sign 10 times on the affidavit so they can compare the signatures.

She explained that my identity was probably stolen, someone out there was

pretending to be me, I asked how is that possible when I have my id with me, she

said with the way the scams were going all they needed was your id number and you

are screwed for life, the call was on speaker on hearing that, Cleo asked if she could

check her status, Andiswa looked at her and said “we here to help Lee so pull

yourself towards yourself Cleo”.

The process sounded so long and draining, we had been in my room for hours,

Mthobisi arrived, I had text him earlier and told him I was bumming a lift from

Andiswa and he shouldn’t worry about picking me up. He greeted the girls and asked

She Rocks if she was okay because she looked stressed, Mthobisi treats She Rocks

like his little sister he is always concerned about her ever since I told him what had

happened to her parents and how hard she had it growing up, she told him it’s his

wife he should be worrying about, he looked at me and said “Honey, what

happened?” Oh Gosh how I would not mind him beating the crap out of whoever

stole my identity. My friends said they were leaving I said I would walk them out and

will tell my husband when I got back what was going on, but I knew my sister chest

was probably about to explode that women can’t keep any secret, I knew she was

going to tell him. I walked the girls out and thanked them for all their help. This day

was suppose to be a happy day instead it became a depressing day. When I got

inside the house Mthobisi was fuming, he said I should have called him as soon as I

found out, I asked what was he going to do, go to the credit bureaus and smashed

their servers into pieces so that my name does not appear as blacklisted? He told

me not to be ridiculous, he said we will sort this out, he took out his phone and made

a call and went outside so we couldn’t hear who he was talking to and what he was
saying. My sister looked at me and said “stop treating your husband like he’s a

monster, at least he does not hit you”. Sometimes abuse is not only physical there is

also emotional abuse and psychological abuse but we all just focus on the physical

one but I didn’t want to say this to my sister because I knew it would raise an

unending argument.

Mthobisi came back inside the house and said we should go for a drive, I grabbed

my bag and left with him. He was on the phone the whole time we were driving, my

phone rang shit it was Mfundo calling, what the hell did he want calling this time of

the day, I quickly dropped the call before my husband could hear that it was ringing

luckily he was to focused on the conversation he was having on the phone. I quickly

put my phone on silence, the last thing I wanted was my phone ringing none stop

that would definitely get my husband suspicious and I should have a serious talk with

Mfundo about his times of calling, he can’t be going around making random phone

calls to me, he knows I’m a married woman, how stupid and careless can he be.

Mthobisi drove into Joburg, then Hillbrow Police Station, I looked at him with a very

confused look and asked what the hell was going on now. Why are we at this police

station? I remembered this place very well coz I had been here before to see his

monkey ass, he said it was because this is where the bastard who stole my identity

was. “Wait, What? You know who stole my identity? You know the person who got

me blacklisted? Is there anything that is Fucked up that you are not involved in?” I

screamed

Mthobisi calmly asked if I wanted to get my name cleared or not, cause if I didn’t

want we can get back in the car and drive back home and forget about all this. For

the first time in a long time, life maybe not life but my husband was actually giving

me a choice, okay what the hell, the man is trying to help me after all, maybe I had
been just a little bit too emotional about the whole situation, I wanted to know who

this person who had stolen my identity was and why. I said to him okay let’s go in.

We went to the gate that the police go in with the van to bring in the prisoners, we

didn’t go to where I had gone in when I had gone to visit Mthobisi when he was held

there before, the gate was locked, Mthobisi shouted “Vilakazi, Vilakazi” and a

policeman in a uniform came to the gate he opened the gate and greeted Mthobisi

and pointed to the camera, Mthobisi put his hand in his pocket and put a R200 note

in his hand and shook the Vilakazi cop’s hand and when they were done shaking

hands my husband’s hand was empty and the cop was smiling and putting his hand

in his pocket, smooth transaction right there done, in front of the camera and to

anyone watching that video that looked like two people greeting each other, nothing

more nothing less. I was learning the tricks of the trade very fast, didn’t even bother

asking questions, it’s none of my business and the less you know the better are your

chances of staying out of jail or even worse being made a state witness to testify

against my husband, I would crack under pressure, so now that I know nothing I

cannot say anything to anybody let alone be testifying in some court.

We walked in and the cop open the iron door, the key was so big, biggest key I had

ever seen, there was a counter and there was one cop behind it a female cop, she

asked Vilakazi if we had given him cold drink money, cops love that stupid cold drink

nonsense it pisses me off so much, you don’t see people in corporate world getting

cold drink money for doing their job, but then again this was not a legal way of doing

things so maybe I should get off my high horse, Vilakazi smiled and said yes he got

cold drink money, he told us to wait. We sat at the cold bench there, I figured this is

the place where people go in when they get arrested. Vilakazi opened another door

while we sat there waiting, a few minutes later he came back with another guy, the
guy looked young, he was dressed in jeans boots with no shoelaces and a big

jacket, Mthobisi hugged him and he told him that I am his wife then whispered to him

“what’s that name you using here again?” he extended his hand out to me and said

“I’m Champagne Sibanda” , I tried by all means not to laugh as I shook his hand, did

he seriously just say his name is Champagne.

Mthobisi whispered to me that he’s been arrested a couple of times and he always

uses different names, Champagne is not his real name, I asked so if they do

fingerprints won’t they find out that his lying? They both looked at me and

Champagne said even if they do, he’s not on the system but by the time that figure

that out he will be long out of jail, I wanted to ask more questions because I found

this to be so interesting this man was fooling the cops over and over again. Mthobisi

told him that we were not here on a social visit we need his help on something, he

looked at Mthobisi and said he will only help him if he promises to help him get out of

prison. Wait, Woah, lets just stop the lorry right there, there is no way in hell I’m

helping anyone escape from jail, he could stay there and keep his help for all I care

of. Champagne told Mthobisi to calm me down, he’s not asking us to break him out

my husband knows what he needs, that shut me up, Mthobisi said he should

consider it done. Then told him that we had just found out that I was blacklisted with

some accounts that I had never opened, he wants to know who did it, who stole my

identify, Champagne said he would make a few calls and get back to us, but it was

definitely not someone from his crew they would have recognized the surname, he

said there was this new crew trying to steal their craft and messing things up for

them, this is why he is now here, these people that just discovered this industry were

greedy and were doing things for a quick buck without thinking, him and his crew

would never do that to their boy.

I looked at my husband and said “so your friend here steals people’s identities?

Please tell me you not part of this please”. My husband said “Lee calm down, just

because I know people who do these things it does not mean I’m one of them” I must

have screamed that out loud because the female cop sitting behind the counter

replied “Wooo Sisi, that boy (pointing at Champagne) is part of the biggest fraud

syndicate, what do you think he is doing behind bars he was arrested with 12 credit

cards all under different names” my jaw dropped wide opened, Champagne simply

said to the female cop “you talk too much”. Mthobisi was now getting uncomfortable

he said we should get going. Champagnes said he will make a few calls and get

back to Mthobisi when he has something concrete to tell him, Vilakazi opened for us

and we left. On the way home I checked my phone, since it had been on silence, 3

missed calls from Mfundo and 2 from my dad, my real dad, what the hell did they

both want? I decided to return my dad’s call, I asked what was wrong, we not really

close, we hardly ever call each other the only time I ever receive a call from him it’s

when there is a problem, so this was obviously one of those calls. My dad doesn’t

beat around the bush, he gets straight to the point, he said Mthobisi’s mom had

called him she wants to have a family meeting I had disrespected her, he wants it

addressed and he wants my family to pay a fine for it. Was this woman for real? He

asked what had I done to piss her off so much because she was even hyper

ventilating on the phone, I told him she likes over reacting, it was no big deal, he

must sort her out and not worry my mom about her nonsense she should not even

find out about this. He told me it was too late, when he couldn’t get hold of me he

called her. My father deserver the worst father of the year award, useless old man. I

hung up, didn’t want to hear any more of this, how does he manage to fail and

disappoint time and time again. I told my husband that his mom had called a family
meeting, he said he would call her when we got home because she was honestly

overreacting, and there was no need for such.

We arrived home and I honestly didn’t feel like going inside, I knew my mom would

have 101 questions for me and I was not in the mood, I had had a very rough day,

finding out you blacklisted on top of all your other problems is no child’s play so I told

Mthobisi we should sit in the car till we see the light go off in the house, he

suggested we go grab some takeaways, anything to pass time was fine by me we

went to Mc D’s I was so worried I didn’t even have appetite, I felt like a teenager

whose mom had just found out she had snuck out and gone to a party without

permission. Mthobisi got a burger and chips I said I would eat his fries with him then

we went back home. This time the lights were all off, I was relieved the last thing I

wanted was to see my mom, I had my own set of keys so I opened the door and we

slowly snuck in like thieves, I took of my heels cause they were making noise as we

were passing the lounge, the lights went on, I screamed so loud from shock, my

mom asked “why are you two sneaking around”, Mthobisi said we didn’t want to

wake them up, she told us we must sit down. She was so upset, she said we came

to her house and lied to her, now my father is telling her a different story, she wanted

me to tell her what I had done, dammit, why couldn’t that old man take care of things,

he could have charmed that old hag but no, he just had to pass this to my mother

Mthobisi would deal with his mom, we just had a small disagreement and she should

really not worry about it.

My said how can she not worry when Mthobisi’s mom had called a meeting, she said

since I was not willing to tell her the truth she will find out tomorrow and we should

both make sure that we were there. What? Tomorrow? Couldn’t she wait till

weekend? My husband’s mom has no chill at all. I needed time to strategize and I
didn’t have enough, I couldn’t let my family find out what I had done, it would

honestly break my mom. Mthobisi and I went to the bedroom, he called his mom to

try to get her to cancel but she was not even picking up his calls. I was stressing so

hard that by 5 am I was up making breakfast for everyone, you know when you trying

to soften up people that was me, I made eggs, fried bacon and toast, by the time

Victor got up to make porridge I was already in the kitchen he was surprised he

asked if I was okay, because I only made breakfast when I had done something

really bad and was trying to get forgiveness, I told him that I’m a horrible person, he

said I was not and whatever I was going through I could talk to him. Damn, how do I

tell my wonderful step father about my problems, where do I even start? I told him I

would be okay in time, I just need a holiday, he laughed and said that always does

the trick, he helped me make breakfast, by 6 everyone was up including my sister

and husband, Mthobisi said he had a very important meeting and would not be able

to attend this family meeting, I gave him a very disapproving look, was he now living

me to face this mess all by lonesome self. I called my boss and told her I wasn’t

feeling too good and won’t make it to work, she was in a good mood and said it’s

fine, that woman is hardly in a good mood I should have taken advantage and asked

for a raise while she was in a good mood who knows when would be the next time

she would be happy again, it could be in the next 3 years. Victor also had to go to

work, he and my husband left at the same time.

I went and bathed got dressed wore a dress just to look like a respectful makoti for

my mother inlaw, who soon arrived, it was only 07:30 she came with 2 of Mthobisi’s

uncles I made them tea and biscuits while we waited for my father she said she was

not going to drink for all she knew I could have put poison in her tea, my mom was

taken aback by this but kept her cool. Daddy dearest finally arrived 30 minutes later,
he came alone, couldn’t he have brought his brothers as back-up, oh well I guess

they didn’t want to be involved. Mthobisi’s uncle said they were here as the inlwas to

report my behaviour, I had disrespected my mother in law in such a way that she is

even embarrassed to walk down the street because people look at her point and

laugh, really? That was good news for me, I smiled a little bit but kept my head

down, one thing my mom thought us was to keep our head down when the elders

talk to you and not answer back unless you are asked a question. Mthobisi’s mom

started singing like a canary on how I had come to her house attacked her and broke

her car windows and wanted to burn her house down, damn this woman can

exaggerate things, I kept quiet, my mother had tears running down her face, she

could not believe her sweet, innocent little girl was capable of such malicious acts.

My father looked at me and asked if had I lost my mind?

Why did I do that? I looked at her Mthobisi’s mother and asked if she was not going

to tell them why? She looked away and said “mxim”. I told all of them of how she was

trying to destroy my marriage, how she had made my husband cheat on me with

another woman and was now welcoming that woman with her child and was forcing

my husband to do some ceremony for this child that she and this woman were

claiming it’s my husband’s child. Now the tables had turned even the 2 uncles that

she had come it were looking at her like she’s a witch. She tried defending herself

but nothing she said could redeem her from the story I had just blurted out. She

stood up and told the uncles that they need to go because this meeting was a waist

of time. My father also stood up and said “if you kept your thug son in line none of

this would be happening” I was not sure if I had heard my dad correctly, did he just

say “thug”, how the hell did he know? Mthobisi’s mom, turned around she had

already made her way to the door, she turned and shouted, “what the hell did you
call my son? That’s not what you were calling him when he was dragging your ass

from being shot”. The room went silent, if a pin dropped we would all have heard it.

Wait? “What the hell is going on here”? I demanded to know. This must have slipped

out from both my dad and Mthobisi’s mom, coz after I asked they both calmed down

and my dad mumbled something about slip of a tongue, slip of a tongue my ass,

these two knew about my husband’s activities. The uncles were now feeling

uncomfortable with this whole conversation and wanted to leave, everybody stood up

and left, that was one awkward meeting the worst part my mom didn’t even question

the whole thing, any person who was clueless about what they were talking about

would have been curious, you don’t just go around throwing words like thugs and

getting shot without people getting curious and wanting to know what that is all

about, I was so confused. After Mthobisi’s family left it was just me, my mom and dad

left in the room, my sister was still not back from taking the kids to school, she said

she was going to go pass her house. I stood up, walked to my room before I could

open the door I went back they were both still very silent, I sat down, stood up again

walked around my mother chair and leaned over and asked “what is going on? ,

obviously the two of you know something that I don’t and I think it’s time we spoke

about it “ my father stood up and said he was leaving, I said “oh no, you have run all

your life from problems, today you are going to face me, you are going to tell me the

truth”. My dad said all I needed to know was that they both loved me very much and

would do everything in their powers to protect me, I told them I don’t need protection,

I need the truth, I was tired of all the lies. My mother told me to calm down, there was

no need for me to know everything, she told me she never questioned anything I did

so why should I question them? This was all soo very confusing, I could understand

my dad being like this, but my mother, goodness she was the most honest person I
knew, how could she take my father’s side in all this mess. I asked my father why did

he call Mthobisi a thug he said he called all guys thugs my mother knows that, he

even calls Victor a thug, I asked why did Mthobisi’s mother get defensive then and

what did she mean by Mthobisi saved his ass from being shot, what was that all

about, he said he also didn’t know that woman is crazy he doesn’t pay attention to

her otherwise he will end up like her, I could not believe this. I asked my mother why

was she not finding any of this strange, she said it was none of her business,

hallelujah amen. This none of my business shit had just gone too far. I was now

determined to make everything my business, I was going to dig and find out every

little thing there is to know. I was going to drill my father till the truth came out and I

knew just how, my father is one of those people that when they are drunk they blurt

out all their secrets, my sister and I used to always ask him for money or his card’s

pin when he was drunk and he would give it to us and then not remember the next

morning. My plan was to get him drunk then find out everything. My mother on the

other side, I didn’t know if she was genuinely clueless or if she was in on this, but I

was not worried, I had a plan I was going to find out. I spent the rest of the morning

in bed feeling sorry for myself, I didn’t have a car I couldn’t even go to a mall, not that

I could afford to buy anything with my bad debt, damn my life was simply and

completely screwed over. My sister finally got back from her house she asked how

things had gone in the meeting I told her so bad that I don’t want to talk about it, she

said good cause she was also not in the mood to talk, I asked if we could go to the

mall and maybe catch a movie just to forget about everything she said she was not

in the mood for a movie besides she needed to pack she was moving back to her

house. I asked what about the divorce, she looked at me and said she never said

she was getting a divorce, Lwazi has promised that he has changed and they are
going to go to therapy together he’s going to get help for his problems. My sister’s

mind was made up, it didn’t matter what I said she was not going to change her

decision, I told her I wish her well and I hope and pray that Lwazi for her sake has

changed but in the meantime I will make sure that my insurance policies are in order

because sooner or later we will need the money to bury her and she shouldn’t worry

about her kids, I will adopt them and bring them up as my own. I didn’t give her a

chance to answer, I hugged her and told her it was nice knowing her “till we meet

again” and I walked out her room, she shouted “go to hell Lesedi”. I don’t get why

she was being so careless with her life, she was just making excuses for him,

sometimes people really do change and sometime they just don’t some people are

not capable of change and I truly believed that Lwazi was the later. I left her in her

room packing and went to go play with my son in the tv room, he was with my mom,

she asked if I wanted to go grocery shopping with her I said no I was tired it was a

lie, I just didn’t feel like spending time with my mom until I knew exactly what was

going on here, I took my son and went to my room. I checked my phone and I had a

few missed calls from my husband, work, Cleo, Jessica and Andiswa as I was about

to call my husband when Mfundo called, eish, eish can’t this man take a hint, I didn’t

call him back yesterday after 3 missed calls doesn’t he get that I’m obviously

avoiding him, I waited for it to stop ringing I never picked up, I had too much on my

plate already to deal with, Mfundo was just going to add to my stress, I called my

husband he said he had been worried about me since he called and I didn’t answer

he’d also tried his mom she was probably still angry at him coz she’s still ignoring his

call, he asked how the meeting went I said it went well and thank you for ditching me

on the last minute, he apologized and said he had forgotten about that meeting, he

asked if the meeting went well does that mean I have made peace with his mom, I
sarcastically said “not exactly but one day me and your mom are going to be best of

friends” he laughed and said he loved how I managed to turn the worst situation into

a joke. My life is one big joke I thought so why not make fun of it. He told me he

loved me and we hung up. I called Andiswa she said they were just checking up on

me, they all worried, she wanted to know if I had a plan to get myself out of this mess

I said no, I’m gonna ask She Rocks to pray these debts away, we both laughed, I

told her I was fine they should all stop worrying. I called Jessica back she said she

was hosting a sushi evening the next day and was inviting me and my husband I

declined the invite, I’m one of the few people who hate sushi, she tried to convince

me otherwise but I wouldn’t budge on this, eventually she gave up. A few hours later

my sister came knocking at my door, I told her to go away I didn’t want to talk to her,

she came in anyway, said our father had called her and he wants to take us out to

brunch, I jumped up and said “okay, let’s go” she was surprised because I always

make excuses and avoided seeing my dad. Well I needed info out of that old man

and this was my chance. I gave my son to his nanny to look after him and drove with

my sister to go meet my dad, I didn’t even complain about her bad driving, we were

meeting my dad in some restaurant in Basonia. When we arrived he was not yet

there, we got a table and ordered drinks, I asked our waiter if could he grind a disprin

and pour it in the old man’s drink that will be joining us, the waiter was so surprised

he had probably never received such a request, my sister made that awkward

uncomfortable laugh and told the waiter that I was just messing with him he shouldn’t

take me seriously, I was dead serious, I heard that if you want to get a person drunk

quick put a disprin on their drink and they will be pissed drunk after 2 drinks, I

wanted my father drunk. My father arrived a few minutes later, this man is never on

time even when he’s the one who has invited you. We sat there, made small talk, my
sister asked him why he’s called us, he said he just wanted to spend time with his

daughters, is there a crime in that, I order him a drink he said it was too early for him

and he was trying to cut down on alcohol, I said how often do we see each other, this

was a special occasion he was allowed a few drinks, my sister kept giving me the

suspicious look. My phone rang, Mfundo again, I answered and said I was having

lunch with my dad and can’t really talk, he said he just checking up on me and he

misses me, I hung up, didn’t have time for this missing each other nonsense. He

called again and I switched my phone off. The drinks kept coming and we were all

relaxing and getting comfortable. My dad had his whiskies and my sister and I were

drinking our cocktails, I was drinking mine slowly, I wanted to make sure I

remembered everything. My dad was getting there in the drunk levels, how I wished I

had disprins to pour in his drink, my sister excused herself and went to the bathroom,

this was my opportunity, I asked him what he thought of Mthobisi when I first brought

him home, he said he was surprised, I asked why was he surprised, he said because

he didn’t know that I knew of such people, now I meet Mthobisi when we were both

in Varsity, what the hell did my father mean by such people I asked him what people

was Mthobisi, he looked at me and said “you know, my kind of people” I moved a bit

closer and said “what kind of people are you?” My dad laughed and said “I’m the

kind of people that your mother disapproves of, the kind that she says is too

dangerous to be around”. To say I was confused would be an understatement; this

man is speaking in riddles. “Did you know Mthobisi before I brought him to you?” He

calmly replied, “I knew his father” WHAT? I had never even meet Mthobisi’s dad he

died before I meet Mthobisi. What the hell was this? I wanted to scream, what the

hell was going on here, my father had lied to me, when I brought Mthobisi to meet

him he had acted like they had never meet before, asked him a bunch of question
and now he was telling me he knew his father, this man is unbelievable. I had so

many questions to ask, my sister came back and I didn’t want her knowing my

husband’s drama so I stopped asking a lot of questions, how I wished I had gone

alone. Mthobisi called me on my sister’s phone he wanted to know where we were

cause he was home, I told him we were having brunch with my dad but we’ll be

leaving soon.

I told my sister I would be driving us home, my mom had picked up my sister’s kids

from after care and all the kids were playing with my husband when we got home,

they were having so much fun we decided not to interrupt them. I wanted a word with

my mom in private anyway, my sister went back to her packing I cornered my mom

in the kitchen, I told her how much I love her and how I look up to her I told her to

stop protecting me from the truth, I am now a grown woman and can handle the truth

I asked her to tell me why did she leave my father, she said I know why, our father

choose a younger woman over her, I looked at her in the eye and told her that’s not

what he said today. My mother was so shocked she said “what did that fool say”. I

had to find a very nice and polite way to say this, I wanted to find a way to disarm

her, make her open up without realizing it, that takes skills, I asked “was he involved

in criminal activities?” my mother asked how did I know that, I didn’t but yeah keep

talking mommy I thought, I said “I think I married someone who is like him.” You

know how they say girls always marry someone who is exactly like their father, well

that was my reality and the worst part is I didn’t even know what my father was. My

mother shook her head and said “I have sat with Mthobisi and studied him, he is

nothing like your father, you have a good man who loves and cherishes you, don’t

ever think like that my angel” I could see she was about to cry, so I decided to let this
go. There will be other days. I changed the subject and told her we will be moving

back to our place the next day, we had invaded their space enough, she told us to

stay as long as we wanted and wanted to know what have we decided on about the

baby I said I don’t know, in fact I was starting to believe that this baby and ceremony

shit were just bringing me all this bad luck, maybe that’s why my life has been so bad

lately, maybe if we actually do this ceremony things will get better.

The next morning I was not going to work since I had already called in the day before

there was no need and besides if I went back after a day people will think I was

faking it, so it’s best to stay home for 2 days. Mthobisi said he would also not be

going to work, he was really concerned about his mom and said we should go and

visit her, I was not keen I asked him to call her first in case she is at work or

something, I was hoping and praying that she would pull her usual stunts and not

answer his calls, damn she answered, she said she was around Joburg and would

come and see us at my mom’s place, she also wanted to give me and invoice for her

car windows, that woman is so loud I could hear her over my husband’s phone but

I’m sure she intentionally wanted me to hear that part. We packed our things and a

few minutes later Mthobisi’s mom arrived. My sister had packed up hers and her kids

clothes and left went back to her crazy husband, my mom and Victor were at work so

it was just the nanny and my son and us in the house. I decide to be the bigger

person, this war had gone on for way too long. We had to sit down as adults and

discuss this situation, fighting was not going to solve anything. I told them that as

angry and upset as I was about this situation this was more than just about us, there

was an innocent child involved in this, that child is sick and needs help and if doing

that ceremony meant saving a child’s life then we all have to put our differences

aside and save that child’s life by doing a ceremony. I told them that since we stay in
a complex we will not be doing the ceremony there our neighbors would call the

SPCA on us, so we will do it at my mother in laws house, I asked her if she was okay

with that she said she was more than okay, I told her I would be there with my

husband by my side at all times and if he even looks at that Katlego woman then he

will see flames, Mthobisi quickly promised that he will not speak to her or do anything

with her, I told him that if that woman wants anything she will speak to your mother

and I looked at his mom and said “and I will appreciate it if you passed it on to me

and not your son”, she looked at me and said but he’s the father and I replied and

I’m his wife, we promised each other that we are not going to have secrets and if she

is not going to stick to these conditions then we can drop everything now, she

hesitantly agreed. She then said the child was very ill will it be okay if we hurried

things up and did the ceremony this coming weekend, I said I was okay with that,

Mthobisi also agreed. Talking things out is the best way out of many problems, if

people can just sit down and talk things out a lot of wars could have been avoided,

had she done this in the beginning instead of sneaking around we would have

avoided all that mess of broken windows, I know I acted impulsive there, but

sometimes war first and words later is necessary. Now everyone was happy,

Mthobisi’s mom said she will phone Katlego to let her know the good news. She

actually thanked me and gave me a hug. My husband said we should go buy a few

toys for my son before we leave, we decided to go with my mother in laws car

because it was already parked outside the yard.

We went to a small shopping center just out of Alberton, Mthobisi was driving, his

mom said she would sit at the back so she could play with our son, they were

bonding. We were all a happy family again, when we arrived at the shopping center

Mthobisi’s mom said she will stay in the car with our son while we buy him toys, she
didn’t feel like walking around, Mthobisi parked close to the entrance so we could do

a quick in and out. I was happy with my son and mother in law staying behind cause

once my boy gets in the shop he wants everything. We went to a toy store there and

grabbed a few toy truck, cars and an aeroplane, my husband wanted to buy him a

gun I gave his one sharp look and he put that toy gun down so fast, we went and

paid and left as we were leaving passing a jewellery store I saw the most gorgeous

watch ever, I love watches I showed it to Mthobisi and I said we should go in, the

shop is owned by an Afrikaner Mr. Peterson, I went to the same school as his son,

whenever he sees me he wants to chat up a storm, I avoid going to that store but on

that day that watch just pulled me in, my husband reminded me of how this old man

will just go on and on we’ve been to that store a couple of times so he knew, I told

him, I will tell him we in a hurry, then I jokingly pulled Mthobisi into the store and he

was acting like he is resisting going in, we were both laughing as we entered, there

were 4 guys in the store this was not unusually the store is hardly ever packed, Mr.

Peterson was behind the counter, I greeted him, his face was red but with white

people they turn red randomly so you never know, I told him I was passing when I

saw this gorgeous watch, now these guys in the store were moving around, my

husband was standing behind me, with his arms around me he kept kissing my neck,

Mr. Peterson said which watch was I interested in, it was on display I pointed it to

him then he stood there didn’t move, I smiled and said “well can you take it out?”, he

said “why?”, this old man was acting strange, I said because I want to buy it, he

opened the display case his hands were shaking and on his left ring finger he was

bleeding, “Oh my gosh Mr. Peterson you bleeding” I exclaimed, Mthobisi let go of me

and shouted “FUCK” next thing I heard was a click-click sound of a gun being

cocked by one of the guys we found in the store, he said to us “get on the floor and
shut the fuck up” shit, we had walked into straight into a robbery, we got on the floor,

they took the jewellery and money and walked out, as soon as they walked out

Mthobisi and I stood up, Mr. Peterson turned his chair upside down there was a gun

strapped to the chair, he pulled it out, my husband said to him “don’t do it man, it will

end bad, let them go” do you think an angry Afrikaans man will listen to anyone, he

ran out after them, a few seconds later we heard gun shots, and people screaming,

we just sat there I was shaking so hard Mthobisi had to hold me tight, I was so

scared, a few minutes later the gun shots stopped Mr. Peterson came back looking

tired and defeated, we asked what happened he said he thinks he shot one of them

but they got away. Mthobisi said how did he manage not to get shot cause there

were so many gun shots that we heard we were worried that he would come back

with a bullet somewhere in his body he said they were shooting at the parking lot and

he was hiding in between cars. We heard the word parking lot and cars and didn’t

even say a word to each other we ran out so fast to the parking lot when we got

there my mother in laws cars had so many bullet holes; the windows that she had

just replaced were completely finished, there was smoke coming out the car.

Mthobisi put his hands in his head and screamed, I passed out!!

Woman can take so much pain, so much hurt, abuse, throw anything their way they

will handle it like a pro, I’m talking from experience, I had been through hell back and

through it all I had survived but if there was one thing I was not going to survive was

losing my child. I’m strong I know that, I can handle my husband and his shady deals

anytime, I can handle running away from cops, being almost sent to a mental

institution, anything but not this, Lord knows there is no greater love than that of a

mother for her child, and for Mthobisi to lose his mother and son senselessly like this

would seriously drive him to his own grave, he would die. Someone poured my face
with water, I don’t know who all I know is there was just too many people around,

Mthobisi didn’t know where to go, there was me on the floor and his mother’s car

filled with bullet holes, as I tried to get up with the help of strangers around me I

could hear the tyres of Mthobisi’s mom’s car deflating. People told me not to stand

up to soon. I told my husband I was okay, and asked where our son and his mother

were, he couldn’t answer me. I watched him as he walked slowly towards the car, I

had never seen my husband shaking that hard, I was shaking myself. As he opened

the back passenger door I was holding my breath, his mom’s upper body slumped

over and almost fell out, all I heard was the crowd of people that had gathered

around to watch exclaiming “ahhhhhh” she had blood everywhere, “Oh God, please

no, please, don’t let her be dead” I whispered. Mthobisi screamed asking for

ambulance, paramedics, and help anything he could get, everyone was in shock and

panic people wanted to help but didn’t know what to do. I went to my mother in law’s

car fearing the worst, if she was looking like this what more of my son? I looked at

the back seat next to my husband’s mom, my son was not there, I thought maybe he

might have moved to the front seats, checked both seats in front, nothing, I was now

screaming, “where’s my son, where’s my son?” Mthobisi’s mom was alive thank

goodness, she kept going in and out of consciousness the few seconds she was

conscious she whispered “find Neo” then passed out. Find him where? What the hell

happened to my son? A lot of crazy thoughts were going through my head, oh Lord

did those fools kidnap my son? Is he lying somewhere dead? The police had now

arrived, you know police love to wait until the shooting has stopped and just come

and take statements and act like they working, I know I’m generalising here but hey

that’s how most of them are so I’m going to paint everyone with the same brush, they

came to us immediately and said a helicopter was on the way to pick up my mother
in law, “I shouted my son was with her and now we can’t find him”. One of the police

wanted me to give a statement, “really a statement after I’ve just told you my son is

missing?” I screamed at him. He asked what does my son look like I said he will look

like the kid that’s lost. Some guy came he said he was a doctor and Mthobisi should

put pressure on his mom’s wounds which was what Mthobisi had been doing

anyway, I was moving through the crowd like a mad woman searching for Neo, I

asked everyone around if they had seen my son, I took a picture of him I had on my

wallet and was showing it around to people, people kept asking me where I had left

him and the more I tried explaining the more tears would just run down my face and I

would just break down cry, a few ladies that I didn’t even know also helped with the

search, there were 2 cops following behind me who were asking questions which I

honestly didn’t have answers to and even if I did this was not the time to be asking

all I wanted was to find my son and make sure that he is safe. We went around the

parking mall with now a few people shouting “Neo, Neo” the helicopter came and

paramedics rushed Mthobisi’ s mom in and flew out, my husband’s clothes were full

of blood. An ambulance also came for the few people who were not critically injured,

I was shitting myself with worry not knowing whether my son was critically injured

and needed to be in that helicopter as well. Mthobisi had now joined the search I was

walking and praying at the same time, I was begging God to let my son be okay

wherever he was and to bring him back to us, with tears running down my face.

A few minutes while the search was still going on the same doctor guy called us and

shouted “I found your son, I found Neo”, we all ran to his direction, a car guard was

coming out from under a car and my prayers had been answered, this female car

guard had Neo underneath her, there was blood on both of them, Mthobisi and the

doctor guy helped the car guard to get out from under the car, she explained that
before the shooting started my mother in-law said Neo was getting wrestles in the

car so she the car guard that is, offered to play with him outside, while they were

playing she saw guys running out of the mall and then saw bullets flying all over the

place and she grabbed Neo and went underneath the car to try and hide, she said

while grabbing Neo a bullet hit her and she’s not sure if Neo also got hit, at that

moment the doctor guy was checking my son, the paramedics also came, gosh my

son had blood all over we couldn’t tell whether it was his blood or the car guards

blood, the paramedics were attending to her. I thanked her for saving my son’s life, I

could not believe that she risked her life to save my son, there really are some good

people out there. Paramedics said the bleeding was coming from my son’s arm

meaning he’d been shot in the arm, oh Lord no, poor Neo I think the whole thing

shocked him so much only when the paramedics were touching him to check for

wounds did he start crying, which made me cry even more.

My husband, car guard lady, my son and I all got into the ambulance, and were

taken to hospital. On the way the paramedics asked if the car guard lady had

medical aid and she said she didn’t they said they will stop the bleeding then transfer

her to Bara hospital, Mthobisi said they should not do such they must make sure she

is okay and not send her to Bara he will take her of her bill. We were taken to Clinton

hospital in Alberton, my baby was in so much pain, I wanted to take it from him and

put it on me, no child should have to suffer like that, I was dying inside just seeing

him in so much pain. Luckily it was the same hospital that they had taken my mother

in-law, they rushed my son to theatre and told us they need to remove the bullet from

his body before it moves to other parts of his body and cause more damage, this

was so terrifying. They gave us consent forms to sign to give doctors permission to

operate on him and if anything goes wrong the hospital or doctors will not be held
liable, how I hate these consent forms, but we had no choice, if we didn’t sign we

would be putting our son in danger and doctors will not perform an operation to a

minor without the parents or guardians consent, so we signed, my husband held me

and told me that our son will be okay, I so badly wanted to believe that. While he was

taken to theatre we had to go and find my mother in law. We were directed to

another theatre she was also been operated on trying to remove the bullets from her,

Lord only knew how many bullets had that poor woman had taken. We were told her

operation will take hours so maybe we should go home and change. We had no car

and neither of us felt like leaving the hospital we just had to be there, we could not

really do much except wait, and waiting is the most torturous thing that you have to

go through in these situation, wait to hear whether our son was going to be okay,

and wait to hear if my mother-in law was going to survive from all those bullets that

hit her. As much as I did not get along with my mother in law this I did not wish this

upon her, in fact I did not wish this to my worst enemy, no one deserved this.

Mthobisi decided to call Tshepang his brother and to tell him what happened; he said

he would come to the hospital that very moment. I decided to call my mom and

Victor I did not want my dad I wanted Victor around, he knew how to make me feel

better. Victor dropped everything and was the first one to arrive, he was so shocked

when he saw Mthobisi’ s clothes full of blood, I also had blood on my clothes but not

as bad as Mthobisi, Victor hugged me and the crying started all over again, he told

me to cry it all out. Victor called my sister and told her to bring Mthobisi and I some

clothes he also told her what happened. My mom arrived, in a state of panic, she

kept searching my body trying to check if I did not get shot and maybe missed it, I

told her we were inside when the shooting happened there was no way I could have

been shot. One of the nurses came out and said my son had lost a lot of blood and
his blood type is O negative which is not too common and they are running short of

blood so Mthobisi and I needed to donate, I didn’t mind at all, she asked if we had

eaten which we both answered “NO”, she said we should grab something to eat

before donating blood just to make sure our sugar levels are not low. We all went to

the canteen, my mom and Victor also volunteered to donate their blood even though

they were not matches to my son, they were just donating cause now suddenly we

were all seeing the importance of donating blood, Jessica always nags us to go

donate blood cause she is a regular donor and I had been saying I will do it but

always put it off. I didn’t even know what my blood type was, never thought that I

would have to worry about getting someone’s blood little did I know that my son

would be needing my blood one day so ignorance does catch up with you at some

point in life, from that day onwards I vowed to be a regular blood donor, it could save

my own life. We all went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. My sister arrived

she had our suitcases in her car since we had already packed before we let the

house; she also said she would donate blood.

We got the needles stuck on us to donate blood, as much as I hate needles on that

particular day I could have taken 10 needles being stuck to my veins at the same

time if it meant sparing my mother in-laws life and saving my son. In less than 15

minutes we were done, they needed mine and Mthobisi’ s blood urgently so we were

the first one to donate, the rest followed after us. The nurse took our blood and said

they were quickly going to take it to the lab and left. My sister and I went to go get

some clothes for my husband and I in her car, we came back and my husband and I

went to the bathroom and cleaned up a bit and changed. When we came back

Mthobisi said he was going to check on his mom, I said I would go with him, we went

to the theatre where she was being operated and stood outside, they were still busy
inside with her. One of the doctors came out, we quickly ran to him to ask how my

mother-in law was doing, he said “there was a bit of complication, your mother’s

brain was without oxygen for quite some time, I’m sorry but….” Before he could

finished the sentence, Koketso who had come out of nowhere I had not even

realized that she and Tshepang were standing behind us, started screaming

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO”

Both my husband turned and looked at Koketso, honestly, Koketso can be a bit

dramatic, even the poor doctor was surprised by this crazy woman’s reaction,

Mthobisi told Tshepang to speak to him wife, Tshepang gave her one very sharp,

stinging look and she apologized immediately. The doctor continued and said we

need to be prepared for the worst things were not looking good for my mother in-law.

I held my husband’s hand and told him we should go find a quiet place to pray,

Tshepang was in so much shock he became pale, he said he didn’t realize that his

mom was that badly injured, he wanted to know the full story from the beginning. I

was blaming my myself for what had happened, if I had not insisted that we go into

that stupid jewellery store then none of this would have happened, I told them,

Mthobisi said that’s ridiculous if anyone was to blame for this it was those fools who

robbed that jewellery store. We all sat there quiet for a few minutes then Koketso

said she wants some water, she asked me to walk with her to go buy some, she

obviously had something on her mind and could not say it in front of my husband I

thought as we were walking, she quickly blurted it out “do you see where this thing of

you and Mthobisi playing with guns has now brought us into” I told her not to talk

about things that she knew nothing about she asked me what were we doing with

those guns and why had we hidden them in their bed? “Koketso, I don’t ask what you

and Tshepang do in your spare time, so please don’t ask me personal questions”.
She was not giving up she said “for all we know one of those guns used to shoot

your son could have been one of the guns in the bag” shit, she was actually making

sense, I had no idea where those guns landed after we left them in Bedfordview,

what if they had sold them and no, I shook my head, I refused to think like that, not

with all that was going on that would drive me insane. Koketso went on “all I’m

saying is”, I told her I didn’t want to know what she was saying, this was not the time

nor the place, she should be supportive instead of being so damn judgmental, she

apologized. Koketso is one of those people that you should never, ever call when

you are feeling miserable and depressed instead of trying to cheer you up she would

remind you of all the horrible and bad things that were happening in your life then

leave you to slit your wrists. I was not going to allow her to get to me, I bought water

for her, Koketso won’t cough out a cent when she is around me, I have to cover

everything. We went back to our husbands and found them arguing about

something, it seemed pretty intense but as soon as they realized we were close they

stopped talking, sibling rivalry I knew it from my sister and myself and I was not

going to even try and understand. The was a phone ringing so I thought it was either

Tshepang’s or Koketso’s phone as I did not recognize the ringtone, they all looked at

me and asked if am I not going to answer my phone, then I realized that I was

carrying my mother in law’s phone I had taken it during the commotion at the

shooting. I took it out from my bag on the phone it was written Katlego (Mthobisi) did

she really have to put my husband’s name next to that woman’s name. Tshepang

asked who it is, I calmly replied “it’s your brother’s girlfriend” if looks could kill I would

be dead from the look I got from my husband. Koketso snorted out, “the perfect

husband wajola?” I dropped the call cause the person she was looking for was lying

in theatre fighting for her life and I was not going to let my husband talk to her. Wait,
what’s going to happen if my mother in law dies? Dammit, I should not think like that,

my husband would be buried with his mother if she died, that man loved his mom he

would not survive without her, I was praying that she pull through, I needed my

husband and without her he would die.

We all went back to my parents and sat with them, they had already seen my

husband’s brother and wife they were the ones who told them where we were. We all

sat in silence not really knowing what to say or do, these are the most uncomfortable

situations that you never want to find yourself in. Tshepang had called Nkululeko

who is my husband’s friend who also happened to be the biggest player I know, he

arrived with flowers, how I hate flowers, I know most woman love them and think

flowers are the most romantic and sweetest thing, for me they remind me of funerals,

I never even know what to do with flowers or even where to put them, I think the

dustbin is the best place for flowers these things die in 2-3 days and they bloody

expensive. I smiled and thank him, he said I should put them in my mother in law’s

ward; thank goodness they were not for me. The nurse came out and said our son’s

operation was a success they will be moving him from theatre to a children’s ward

and we should be able to see him a bit later. I breathed a sigh of relief and said

“thank God” she said they will have to monitor him closely he was not completely

cleared and since he’d lost a lot of blood they will put him on a blood drip. We

couldn’t exactly celebrate as we still had another person who was in theatre so it was

back to waiting.

I decided to call the office to let them know what had happened and that I won’t be

coming back to work anytime soon, my boss Andile was not there so I asked to be

transferred to Cindy she can pass on the message, I told her that my son had been

shot and I am with him in hospital l and I won’t be coming to work she was genuinely
concerned and I just couldn’t give her more details because the minute I start

explaining tears just come rolling down, I told her I will call her later to give her an

update, she said Mfundo was at our office cause we had scheduled a meeting with

him, I had completely forgotten about it, I told her to deal with him, she told me not to

worry about work she will take care of things and I should focus on taking care of my

son, she asked which hospital we were in because the people at work will want to

send flowers, there we go again with this flowers nonsense I couldn’t be rude I told

her Clinton hospital, I thanked her and hung up. A few minutes later an sms came

through on my phone from Mfundo it read “Lee, did your husband shoot your son?

Was he trying to shoot you and accidentally shot his own child?” I read the sms and

deleted it immediately. A few minutes later another sms from Mfundo “ Your husband

is a very dangerous man, please promise me you will be careful” I again read and

deleted, literally a few seconds later “I’m worried about you, please tell me you okay”

I was now realising these stupid sms’s are not going to stop so the best way to shut

him up was to send a quick response, I quickly typed “I’m okay, please stop smsing”.

Mthobisi asked who I was chatting to, I lied and said my friends, he said he was

surprised that they not here, shit I had not told them, I said they were on the way and

told him I needed to go get some fresh air and to call Jessica cause I forgot to tell

her, he said he would walk out with me, eish I didn’t see that one coming. We both

walked out, and went and stood outside, I decided to call Jessica, I told her what

happened she was shocked, she said she would leave work immediately and come

to the hospital she asked if I needed anything I told her to bring me Xanax, that is the

best drug that most white people cannot live without I needed one, it calms you down

and make you feel at peace. Mthobisi looked at me and said “you not taking that shit,

I’m not gonna have you dependant on drugs” and walked back in the hospital I didn’t
have the strength to argue so I followed behind him like an obedient kid whose just

been told to eat his veggies and shut up. As we were walking in my phone rang, shit

it was Mfundo and my husband heard it so I could not exactly ignore it as that would

look very suspicious but luckily he was walking in front of me so he could not see

who was calling so I answered “Hey Doll” my husband knows that’s how I answer my

phone when talking to one of my friends. Mfundo on the other end of the line was

completely pleased with himself thinking I’m calling him darling, he asked how I was

feeling I said I will be fine once I know that everything will be okay, he wanted to

know what happened and if my husband shot my son, this man was ridiculous I said

no “it’s a long story I will tell you when you girls are all here” he asked if I wanted him

to come and I said “no” but wanted to know what I meant by I will him when he’s

here, was this fool deaf, couldn’t he hear the girls part and pick up this was a cover-

up. The fool honestly did not get me, for a smart person that he was he could really

be stupid at times. I endured that painful awkward conversation for 5 minutes, the

more I tried covering up the more confused Mfundo got, in the end I said “I will see

you later then” and hung. Him being confused now had gotten me all tangled up in

confusion, even my husband was a bit confused by that call, he asked if I had been

speaking to Cleo, I said yes, he said it makes sense she’s the only one who has the

ability to turn a simple conversation into a conversation about alien and astronauts,

we both laughed, this was the first time laughing since the whole incident of the

shooting. He pulled me closer and hugged me and told me, “I love you so much

honey and I appreciate you being here for me, you mean everything to me” he let go

and gave me a passionate kiss. I was feeling like such a snake lying to my husband

like that.

We went back to everyone, my mom and Victor looked exhausted we said they
should go home and rest and we will call them if there were any new developments,

they hugged us and left, Nkululeko also said he would be leaving and will come back

tomorrow. My sister said she would stay; we had supported her when she was going

through hell and she was going to be here for us. Tshepang said he was not going

anywhere till his mom got up; I didn’t want to sound negative so I kept my mouth

shut even though I knew how badly she looked when she was taken to hospital. The

nurse came and said we could come in and see our son but we can’t all go in at the

same time so Koketso and Tshepang said they would sit at the waiting room and

wait in case a nurse or doctor comes looking for us about their mother that made

sense, so my husband myself and my sister went in. oh Lord he looked soo small

and fragile in that bed and had all these drips running all over him, I wanted to grab

him and take him home, as we walked in tears were running down my husband’s

face, he was so relieved that his son was alive. We were all so happy, he was still

unconscious so we gathered around his bed and held his little hands. Mthobisi said

he was going to call his family and tell them about our son he went out to make the

call. A different nurse came in to come and fix my son’s drips and check if he’s okay.

She looked at me and said “I think you are absolutely amazing, not many black

people adopt kids and love them the way you do” my sister and I both looked her at

her with confused looks, she continued “so do you know Neo’s biological parents?”, I

was now getting irritated with this woman, I shouted “I am his biological mother and

that man who just stepped out is his biological father, what rubbish is this?” my

phone rang it was Jessica I told the nurse to hold on I was not done with her. Jessica

said she was at the entrance “you know how you always say white people look the

same, well so do black people, I just walked in and the guy who was walking a few

steps ahead of me, I’m not sure but I think it’s the dude you banged in Cape Town”
“Holy Shit, Mfundo?” I screamed, she calmly replied “yeah him” I was now in total

panic “shit Jess, get rid of him fast” she whispered in panic “ohhh shit Lee, your

husband has just appeared”.

“Jess, you better not be messing with me right now” I shouted. “I swear to God Lee,

shit, what should…” before she could even finish her sentence I head my husband’s

voice on the background “Hey Jessica” she replied “Hi Mtho, I’m soo sorry to hear

about your mom and son, how they doing?” she asked, I could hear her voice was

shaky, she was panicking, Mthobisi explain that Neo was okay, and that we were just

waiting for his mom she’s in theatre “Are you okay Jess, you face is so red” white

people and their give-away faces, they can never hide anything you just see it in

their faces, Jess said she’d been running and she’d been too worried about us.

Mthobisi said he would bring her to me, at that moment Koketso came in my son’s

ward with Mfundo “look who I found Lee? Mthobisi’s friend” I chocked I couldn’t

breathe, Koketso remembered Mfundo from when he had come to my place and she

was visiting, shit, all my lies were catching up with me and this was the worst time to

get my shit exposed, I didn’t know what to do, the nurse who was still in the room

asked if she should get me water, I nodded my head, I couldn’t even speak.

I still had my phone to my ear, and could hear my husband telling Jessica how happy

I would be to see her, I wanted to scream to Jessica “stall him” but everyone in the

room was now looking at me, I felt like such an idiot. My sister said I was

overwhelmed by all that was happening and should try to calm down. Everyone was

talking and their voices were fading sounding like they were far even though they

were right next to me, I was feeling hot and dizzy, my sister could see I was not

okay; she grabbed me before I could fall and put me on a chair. I needed to take

charge; I couldn’t afford to be this weak and pathetic, what the hell is wrong with me.
My sister was hovering over me trying to make sure I was okay while Koketso and

Mfundo stood there helpless not knowing what to do, I whispered to my sister “get

this man out of here please, I will explain everything later but Mthobisi should not see

him, please Naledi I’m begging you, please” I have never pleaded with my sister that

much, so she knew whatever it was it must be serious she told Koketso and Mfundo

that I should be given privacy with my son and they should all leave as they were

about to walk out in walked my husband with Jessica, I wanted the ground to open

up and swallow me, this could not be happening. My husband said “Honey Jess…”

then my worst nightmare happened he saw Mfundo, looked at him, then Koketso

then me, my sister all of us one by one, the room was all silence it was like we all

just froze, what have I done? Koketso broke the silence, she said to my husband

“shame your friend came to support you, you guys are so lucky to have such

amazing people” my husband forced a smile and said “yes, we very lucky aren’t we

love?” he said with his eyes locked on mine, I didn’t want to look away that would

make me look guilty, I was mum, no response. Mthobisi asked Mfundo how he knew

about this, my heart was beating so fast hoping that Mfundo doesn’t say he’s been

smsing and calling me, he said he was with Cindy when I called work, thank God he

mentioned Cindy. Jessica came to me gave me a hug and whispered “I’m so scared

right now” I whispered back “me too”. Mfundo said to Mthobisi “can we talk?” oh Lord

nooo, nooo, nooo, what is this fool doing, my husband said this was not the time nor

the place, they can grab a beer sometime and talk then, Mthobisi was trying real

hard to compose himself even the veins in his head were popping out that’s how I

knew my husband was pissed off. Mfundo replied “why would I want to meet with

you. So you can try kill me again?” oh shit, everyone’s jaws dropped to the floor.

Koketso the witch was jumping up and down, “I knew it, I knew it, these two are
dangerous” she said pointing at my husband and I the ran out to the waiting room to

call Tshepang to witness this, you know how some people love the fall of others they

even need witnesses to come and see the shame and embarrassment, they need a

partner to celebrate your downfall that’s Koketso, she was enjoying every second of

this, I was expecting her to come back with popcorns to sit and watch and enjoy this

horror movie that was going down in my son’s hospital ward. Mfundo was not

finished he went on “Tell me something Mthobisi, did you shoot your son just like you

tried to shoot me? I know how trigger happy you get”. That was it for my husband

you don’t mention his son’s name in vain, he threw a punch at Mfundo’ s face

everybody in the room went “ouch” Jessica was even holding her face, that must

have hurt, his nose was bleeding, I stood up and try to intervene and tell this fool

Mfondo to shut up when suddenly the room started spinning and I feel to the floor.

When I woke up I was lying in a hospital bed with drips on my arm, my mouth was

soo dry I couldn’t even speak, my husband was sitting on a chair next to me his head

on my bed sleeping, I tried remembering what the hell had happened, the last thing I

remembered was the words Mfundo had with my husband, Oh Lord what had

happened? I woke my husband and asked what was going on? He woke up and

came to me and hugged me and started crying, “oh God, no please tell me that it’s

not our son, please tell me he’s okay” he let go and told me that our son was okay,

it’s me he’s worried about, I had given him such a fright, he was scared that he was

going to lose me. I asked him what happened he said I fainted and doctors had to

sedate me because I kept having panic attacks and each time drugs wore off I would

start having these attacks, he said I had been like that for 2 days and I’ve been

sedated all this time, they would wake me up to give me food then let me sleep. “Oh

my goodness what is wrong with me Mthobisi?” I said crying he told me to calm

down and not to worry I was going to be okay, doctors say it’s stress and trauma due

to everything I have been through the hospital has arranged for me to speak to a

professional. Oh my goodness 2 days? I have missed 2 days how was that even

possible? I could not remember anything that had happened in those 2 days these

attacks that Mthobisi was talking about didn’t make any sense to me. I asked him

what time it was he said it was around 2am, I wanted to get out of this hospital bed

and go home. I am not this person, since when do I get panic attacks and get

hospitalised for stress, that shit is not for black people, we don’t lie in hospital for

stress we speak to the pastor at church that’s if you go to church if not speak to your

buddies at the shebeen you don’t pay people to speak to them dammit. I wanted to

ask what happened the day Mfundo was there but I couldn’t find the right words I

didn’t even know where to start; instead I asked for water, my throat was extremely

dry. I sat there trying to piece everything together, then I remembered the nurse who

said our son was adopted, I had not had time to tell my husband that crazy story, I

wanted to tell him I knew he was going to laugh about it but these drugs were

making me drowsy and I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I fell asleep again.

When I eventually got up it was the next morning, there were voices around me, I

tried opening my eyes but they were too heavy, I could hear my husband’s voice, I

could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation he was having and he was

saying “No, my wife can’t be told, it would kill her” and the other person he was

talking to was saying “sooner or later the truth will come out” what truth? What’s

going on here? Then my husband’s voice “she’s my wife, my responsibility, I decide

what’s good and right for her, I say keep this shit to yourselves or I will sue this

hospital for every cent it has”. “Mthobisi, what have you done?” I screamed, I was

now trying to get up, what the hell was my husband hiding from me? Were they
talking about my baby? What else could make him want to sue the hospital? I

wanted to know, as I tried to get up I had somehow tangled the drip pipes all over me

and when I got up the needle of the drip stuck to my vein snapped out, next thing I

know I had blood everywhere. Can one person be so unlucky, next thing I know I’m

on the floor shaking and struggling to breath, fuck these are the panic attacks my

husband was talking about, I don’t know how or who got me back to my bad all I

know is I was hearing someone saying they need to calm me down and gone again

was I to sleep.

I was up a few hours later, I found She Rock and Cleo sitting next to my bed, I was

soo happy to see them. Cleo said “nice of you to finally join us. Damn girl you can

sleep.” I looked at her and asked what time it was, she said it was after 15:00, I

wanted water She Rocks got me some, I tried lifting the glass up and realised my

hand was now bandaged and drip was gone, thank goodness I hate those things,

they asked how I was feeling , I told them I felt pathetic and useless and I want to go

home, I told them they need to stay with me and make sure I don’t get any of those

stupid drugs they’ve been feeding me, I need to be awake, I want to know and see

everything that is happening. She Rocks said I was not missing out on much, it’s the

same old nonsense. I asked what day was it she said Saturday, good Lord, time was

flying by and I was stuck in hospital. I looked around and there were just too many

flowers around me Cleo looked at me and said “we couldn’t resist getting you

flowers, we thought you might never wake up” I laughed and said “I’m not the dying

type, now get this shit out of here before it kills me” we all laughed, Cleo told me she

had drawn up a will and all I need to do is just sign, she will get all my clothes, She

Rocks and Cleo will share my debts, they work they can afford it. I love these girls

they just have a way of turning a serious situation into a joke. We were joking around
and talking nonsense for over an hour, I even forgot I was in hospital that’s how

crazy my friends are, I was so lucky to have these girls in my life and I thank God for

them not everyone has such amazing, loyal friends in their lives, these days with

friends there is no unconditional love, they only love you when conditions are right

for them. My husband came and was very happy to see me awake; he said my

friends had been there every single day, they would sit with me while I slept and

would also go play with Neo, he thanked them for the flowers they had put in his

mom’s room and asked when would they be bringing back Neo’s birth certificate, I

looked at them and asked what the hell were they doing with Neo’s certificate Cleo

responded “we wanted to frame it for him” this was strange , I asked “what the hell

for?”, She Rocks responded “we just thought it would be nice” I replied “no, it’s

stupid, what do I do when I have to send a copy of his birth certificate for medical aid

or when I’m applying for crèche”, She Rocks said they are sorry they didn’t think that

far they just thought it would be nice to have it framed, I knew these girls were up to

something, just didn’t know what. Mthobisi told me to stop stressing he had made

lots of copies and certified them. I told him I was feeling much better and was ready

to go home, he said he will speak to the doctor and see if it’s okay for me to leave. I

wanted my son so badly, I was now concerned about him, I didn’t want to think about

that nonsense the nurse had said but at the back of my head it was eating me up.

How the hell did she come to a conclusion that our son was adopted? Mthobisi went

to go find a doctor and said he will also go and get us some food at the mall the mall

is not far from the hospital. I told the girls we should go see my son, Cleo said she

didn’t want me falling on her so she got me a wheelchair, they put me in it and

pushed me, but my friends being so crazy would push me hard and then let go of the

chair and there I was going on fast speed not even knowing how to brake the
wheelchair and hit the wall and these two clowns found that so hilarious they would

laugh so hard, other patients were looking at us like we crazy, eventually I decided to

walk on my own cause the wheelchair situation was just not going to work not with

my friends around. We got to Neo’s ward and my brave baby boy was all bandaged

up in his arms but he was playing and looked so cute, I ran to him and held him in

my arms, this was my baby, a mother knows her child I don’t care what that stupid

nurse said. He was happy to see me, me and the girls played with him for a while. I

decided to share what the nurse had said about Neo with the girls, they both looked

at each other then did the uncomfortable, awkward laughed and said she was

probably drunk or got me confused with someone else, I decided they were right and

I should dwell too much on it, it will drive me crazy. I told them we should go see

Mthobi’s mom I hadn’t been to see her ever since we got to the hospital and the last

thing I remember was she was being operated, Cleo she said she’s in a coma and

they had gone to see her a few times. We went to her ward, she was in Intensive

Care Unit (ICU), she had drips and pipes and machines connected to her, she

looked so weak and helpless, she didn’t look like the annoying mother in law that I

was fighting with just a few days I go. I felt so sorry for her. We didn’t go in, we

watched through a glass window as there was a doctor inside with her so we didn’t

want to interrupt. She Rocks said maybe I should go in and ask the doctor if there is

any new developments on her, I went in, as I got in the doctor was on the phone, he

was wearing those doctors masks and , I didn’t want to eavesdrop on his

conversation so I turned back to walk out, then I heard him say “I’m with the boss

lady now, she’s not looking good, don’t kill them until we get a go ahead from her,

continue smacking them around like you’ve been doing” he was white I didn’t
recognize the voice but I knew it was one of my husband’s people, but wait, did he

just say “boss lady?” oh my gosh.

I quietly crept out of the room, I didn’t want this man to know I was there, I found

Cleo and She Rocks waiting for me I signaled that we should go as Cleo was about

to speak I whispered “shhhhhh” and we walked back to my ward, they asked what

had happened in my mother in laws room, I honestly didn’t know how to tell them so

I said those pipes connected to hear freaked me out so I walked out before I could

even speak to the doctor, they seemed to be buying that story. How do I tell them

that I think my husband’s mother is the head of mafia and that my husband’s friends

have some people locked up somewhere and they are torturing them and waiting for

my mother in law to wake up so she can give them a death sentence, that’s not

something you share with your friends not matter how close you are, they would

probably think I’m crazy, hell sometimes I think I’m crazy with all that’s going on

around me. Cleo’s phone rang it was Andiswa she wanted to speak to me, I asked

her where she was I needed her to save me from the crazy two; she said she was

helping her boyfriend out with something. I had been so pre-occupied with my own

problems that I had kind of forgotten that my friends have lives outside of mine, I felt

bad. I asked her how the good doctor was doing, I was not even sure if she was

dating a doctor, I was crossing my fingers that he is a doctor, she said he’s good and

I won’t believe this but I have actually meet her boyfriend, I told her she knows I have

been out of it the past few days so that was not fair of her to bring her boyfriend to

meet me while I was not myself, she laughed and said “no, he’s the guy that found

Neo with the car guard under the car” oh my word, it’s a small world, I said she

should tell him how grateful I am for all his help that day. I thanked her and hung up.

Mthobisi walked in I had one question for him, “what happened to the car guard lady
who saved our son’s life?” he said she had been discharged, the bullet had only

grazed her so she was not badly injured she was at home resting and will not have

to worry about looking after people’s cars ever again coz She Rocks had actually

given her a job, her brothers needed someone to clean and look after the house

during the day while they at work, I looked at She Rocks and said “you are amazing,

thank you”. A nurse came and said I was being discharged, I just had a few

documents to sign and I could go home, I was so relieved, I told Mthobisi we should

go to my mom’s place so we could be close to the hospital. I went to the bathroom

and changed into my clothes that my husband had brought for me and we went to

see my son again before we left and the nurse said he would be discharged by

tomorrow, these were such good news I was over the moon, but we couldn’t

celebrate as my mother in law was still in a coma. The girls said they would come

see me at home tomorrow and left.

My husband and I drove to my mom’s place, both she and Victor were so happy to

see me, they were faffing over me, kept asking if the couch was comfortable and if

they should get me pillows, I hate being sick I told them I was fine. I asked where

Naledi was and they said she and the kids had gone back to their house, the house

was so quiet without the noise of all the kids, I missed all of them. We ate the food

that my husband had bought earlier, then Victor and Mthobisi went to go wash

dishes and chat, I guess they wanted to give my mom and I some privacy. She told

me this is the reason why she didn’t want me involved in any of my dad’s dealing

now I’m stressed because of him, I told her I didn’t want to discuss this, I was tired

and just want to go to bed. As soon as I stood up Mthobisi was by my side, making

sure I don’t fall, honestly this man, I was not disabled, I was stressed that’s all, as

soon as we were out of my mother’s sight he lifted me and carried me to our room, I
was laughing myself silly in his arms, I told him I need to faint all the time so he can

be this romantic, we both laughed. He told me how strange my friends have been the

past 3 days that I have been in hospital, he said at first they didn’t arrive only Jessica

was there and then Andiswa called him and asked why had he not told them that I

was hospitalised and he told her that he thought they were coming and she shouted

at him saying how can they come when they don’t know and they had found out

through Jessica’s post on Facebook, he said then when they came she apologised

and said she had missed the sms’s that I had sent to them, good cover up friend I

thought. I asked him where my phone was he said my sister had it, she’s had it since

the day I fainted in hospital, in all the chaos that was going on he had forgotten to get

it from her. He went on and told me that my friends would have these cocas

meetings in my hospital room and as soon as he walked in they would keep quiet, he

asked if I heard anything while I was sleeping, I laughed at him and said he likes

gossip, they were probably talking about fashion, shoes, etc. He said the strangest

thing was when Cleo forced him to taste some drink she had bought and when he

did taste it was water and she just took the glass and left him there without saying

anything, I told him he knows how strange Cleo can get at times so he should really

not be worried about her, he said “Cleo yes she’s crazy but then they asked for

Neo’s birth certificate, Andiswa said she needs it cause she wants to add him on her

policies, and they give me the whole speech about how they realised that life is too

short and they want to make sure all their things are in order, then today when I ask

about it they give a different story about wanting to frame it, you were there you

heard them”, well that was strange now that I think about it and their answers were

also a bit questionable. I told my husband I’m sure it was probably a surprise that
they wanted to do for us so he shouldn’t worry about it too much. I was exhausted

and I think he was still talking when I fell asleep.

The next morning we were going to pick up Neo from the hospital, I was so happy,

my sister came by in the morning with the kids, she looked good, I guess I expected

to see her with blue eyes since she was back together with her psycho husband, I

had missed her kids so much I was more happy to see them. She said we needed to

talk, I knew she wanted to ask about Mfundo, my husband had not said anything

about Mfundo it was like that whole punching incident didn’t even take place. I was

not ready to explain myself to my judgemental sister; I told her we will talk when I get

back from fetching my son. She handed me my phone back, it was no use to me the

battery was flat so I left it in my room charging, as we were leaving the house, there

was a car arriving I didn’t recognise it, Andiswa came out of it and ran to me to give

me a hug, she was happy to see me out of hospital. I asked who was driving her she

said the boyfriend, I remembered him from the crazy day of the shooting, he came

and shook my hand and said “nice to officially meet you, I’m Muzi Mbatha”, he told

me how my sister and I look so alike, as if we twins we get that a lot and at times we

would just pretend to be the other one just to avoid explaining that it’s not me it’s my

sister, he had already meet her my husband in the days that I had been half dead.

We told them we were on our way to pick up Neo and they can wait for us in the

house, my sister and mom would keep them company, they didn’t mind, they went in

and we drove to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital I changed my son into his favourite clothes and my

husband went to go sign he’s discharge papers, while I was still busy changing my

son, a nurse I had not seen before came to me and said “Hi” and smiled I smiled

back and said “Hi”, she said “I’ve got those results you asked me to do for you, it
wasn’t easy but I told the lab that they were urgent”, I looked at her confused, she

continued “don’t worry your sister and husband they will never know that you did a

paternity test on their son” she said looking at Neo. Shit, the nurse thought that I was

Naledi, what had my sister done. I thanked her and took the envelope she was

carrying I couldn’t let the cat out of the bag and tell her she had the wrong sister. She

stood there and cleared her throat, I looked at her and she said “Where is the rest of

the money that you promised”? Naledi had bribed this woman to do a paternity test

and I didn’t have any cash with me, I scratched in my bag knowing there was no

money there and asked her how much did I still owe her she said “R1000”. The fuck

is wrong with Naledi, promising so much money, I told her I would do an eft she

should sms her banking details and that I had forgotten my wallet in my other bag,

she said she trusts me and I better not disappoint her not after all the hard work she

did. I gave her my sister’s numbers and told her to sms her banking details on those

numbers. Mthobisi came back and kissed me on the lips and said “are you okay

Honey?” that’s when the nurse realised her mistake, she whispered “Shit” then ran

out of that room faster than Usain Bolt. My husband asked what was that all about, I

said “nurses are over-worked and underpaid, she was just sharing her problems with

me, she must have just remembered that she has other patients waiting” he laughed

and said he had missed me and my dry sense of humour. I told him we should go

pop in by his mom to see how she’s doing, he readily agreed we got our son and left,

kids don’t enter ICU so I waited with Neo outside while my husband went in to check

on his mom, he came back a while later and said her condition had not changed, he

looked so sad, my heart was breaking for him.

We got home and Cleo and She Rocks were there, they brought cake and had

balloons put up and a sign written “Welcome Home Neo” ahhh these girls were just
too sweet, Mthobisi asked if was this the big surprise that they had been planning

when I was in hospital, others said “no” and others said “yes” just two completely

different answers, I was tired of all this strangeness and secrecy I wanted to know

what the hell was going on and as for Naledi going behind my back like that I was

ready to give her hell but I couldn’t do it in front of everyone, I told her we need to

talk, she told me that she knows that I know, the nurse had called her to explain the

mix-up. We went to my room, she told my friends to join us I told her this has nothing

to do with them, she said “yes it does, I told them everything” I shouted at her and

said “why don’t you just tell the whole world while you at it?” we all went to my room,

I locked it I didn’t want anyone interrupting us. I asked them what was going on,

Andiswa said “Lee, you might want to sit down for this”. Knowing my fainting disease

I decided to sit on top of my bed. Cleo spoke “Naledi told us about the nurse who

thought that Neo was adopted and we all found it strange that she would think that,

we went to confront her and she said according to the blood types it was not possible

that Neo could be related to either you or Mthobisi let alone be your son” wait what?

They can tell that through blood? I looked at all four of them and laughed I laughed

so hard that I had tears in my eyes “and you actually believe her? You were all there

when I was pregnant with Neo, so how the hell can he not be my son when I carried

him for 9 months?” Now it was She Rocks speaking “Babe, remember you had just

changed jobs and also had to switch medical aids when you found out you were

pregnant and the medical aid you were on told you about the waiting period and

would not cover your pregnancy and you had to give birth in a public hospital” I

quickly replied “Yes genius, how can I forget that? But I was put on the private side

of the public hospital so it was not bad, anyway what’s your point?” now it was Cleo’s

turn to speak, had these people rehearsed this I thought, “we couldn’t sit and do
nothing, we had to find out the truth, so we decided to get Neo’s dna, your dna and

Mthobisi’s dna, to have them tested. Getting yours and Neo’s was easy, Mthobisi’s

was not that easy”, the glass they took after he drank the water I thought. Andiswa

said “I asked Muzi since he is a doctor to send them to get tested for us. Naledi had

already bribed the nurse at the hospital by then to have the blood tested that you had

all donated”. I looked at her and took out the envelope the nurse had given me with

the results and said “since you all want to meddle in my business, here are the

results, you read them I don’t want to know, all I know is that outside this door is my

son” but I had one question to ask, “what were you doing with my son’s birth

certificate?”, Cleo said they went to the hospital where I had given birth to try and

track down who had given birth the same day as me and the funny thing is all the

other 4 people who had given birth on that day in the same hospital had given birth

to baby girls myself included. I gave birth to a what? “So where is this girl that I gave

birth to did she somehow turn into a boy?.” Andiswa softly said “that’s a question you

need to ask your mother in law”. Oh God, what had that woman done? I quickly

opened the envelop that I got from the nurse and handed it to She Rocks and said

she should read it she said “the tests are negative for both you and Mthobisi, I’m

sorry Lee but Neo is not your son.”

As soon as those words came out of her mouth, we all started crying, there was not

a single dry eye in the room. I was crying so hard I was shaking, the child I had

brought up and believed to be my own was not mine. I gave birth to a daughter? I

remembered how when I was pregnant I would tell my husband that I am carrying a

girl and he would say how do I know and I would tell him she speaks to me, he would

laugh and say it’s a boy coz he speaks to him and we had both decided that we

didn’t want to know the sex of the baby till he or she was born. Oh Lord, what had
happened to my daughter? I asked the girls what happened to her and how was my

mother in law connected in all this; it still didn’t make sense to me that she was

involved. She Rocks said she is going to her car to get her laptop came back a few

minutes later. I told them to tell me what was on the laptop I have had too many

surprises but it was time that the truth came out. Cleo asked if I remembered Frans. I

tried remembering then it came back to me “isn’t Frans the rich guy who owned a

security company, you dated him for a bit didn’t you?” I said pointing at She Rocks,

she looked back at me and rolled her eyes and said “yes, unfortunately” , we all liked

Frans and he was good for She Rocks but the only problem was the guy was always

busy, always chasing this tender and that tender and when he was with She Rocks

he was always on the phone trying to get business, the one time that she

complained about them not spending enough time together he told her to set-up

times in his diary so they could maybe have 2 hours on a Tuesday and 2 hours on a

Friday that’s when She Rocks saw that this man was not serious about her so she

dropped him. I still didn’t get how he was involved in my dilemma. Andiswa said

when I gave birth Frans security company was contracted at the hospital where I

gave birth, okay maybe I was a bit slow but it still didn’t make sense. Cleo explained,

“There were cameras in the hospital and we figured those cameras must have

captured whatever happened in that hospital on the day you gave birth.” I looked at

She Rocks “I bet this was your idea Miss Lead Investigator” She Rocks loves solving

mysteries, when we were growing up she was always the one to bring evidence on

any of our boyfriends that’s cheating and we would plan some sort of revenge. She

replied “it was not easy; I had to schmooze Frans, go out to dinner with him just to

get this footage.” I sarcastically asked “are you cheating on Pastor Siyabonga with

your ex?” Cleo laughed and said “somebody throw She Rocks with some holy water,
she’s becoming a sinner.” My sister asked if we ever take anything seriously, I told

her serious landed me in hospital so I was done with stressing over things that I

cannot change, I have seen the test results and Neo still remains my son, I don’t

care what some tests show. Andiswa said maybe after seeing the video footage I

might change my mind, She Rocks played the dvd on her laptop, there were people

walking up and down on a hospital passage, it looked familiar but there was nothing

interesting on the video so I asked “did you seriously go on a date with Frans so we

could watch people going up and down in hospital, you need to up your cheating

reasons coz this….” I said pointing at the laptop, as I was still talking Cleo said

“watch this part Lee, look at that woman walking.” I looked and the way the woman

walked looked familiar, I asked if She Rocks is able to freeze and zoom in she said

she does IT for a living there is nothing that she cannot do, she froze the pic and

zoomed in, the woman was wearing a nurses uniform, I told her to zoom in some

more she did and as soon as she zoomed in the third time, I knew without a doubt

that was my mother in law. What the hell was she doing dressed in a nurses

uniform? Then I remembered the fake doctor in her hospital ward. I told She Rocks

to let the video play she kept going up and down, it honestly didn’t make sense what

she was doing coz the video footage only shows on the passages once you enter a

ward it does not show what is happening inside, I so wished I could see what was

happening in the wards she was going into. There was another female nurse that

she would stop and talk to, shit was that her accomplice? We watched then female

nurse came carrying a baby down a passage, shit was that my daughter? My mother

in law also came from the opposite direction of female nurse also carrying what

seemed to be like a baby then they went into a ward then the female nurse came out

pushing a baby bed and mother in law was in there for some time, people kept
passing this ward without anyone going in, a few minutes later, the nurse came back

to the ward, pushed the second baby out on the baby bed and disappeared we

couldn’t see her on any of the footage where the nurse had gone and next thing my

mother in law walked out all changed into her normal clothes looking like a school

teacher, no more nurses uniform and just carrying a bag. Whoa that was weird. We

all sat there in silent, She Rocks said they think that’s when they did the switch when

they were in that room for a long time, but what baffled everybody was why would

my mother in law want to swop her son’s child, none of us knew and all I knew at

that moment was that crazy bitch had gone too damn far, you don’t mess with

people’s lives like that. Who the hell did she think she is, she is going to bring my

baby back come hell or high waters or I will personally drown her in high waters, this

bullshit needed to end now, I was going to bloody wake her up from the coma and

demand answers, I was tired of this nonsense. I told She Rocks to print the picture of

the nurse we need to find out who she is, cause if my mother in law can’t tell me

what happened to my daughter she was the second best option, even saying my

daughter sounded so strange, did I really have a daughter out there somewhere who

didn’t know her mother and father. “Oh my goodness what kind of an evil person can

do this to their own child, what is wrong with Mthobisi’s mother?” Cleo said “that

woman is not normal shem, we need to get her an exorcist”. There was a knock at

the door, it was my husband he wanted to know if we were going to lock ourselves in

the room the whole day because they were starting to braai now. Dammit are we

having a braai? I told him we would be out in a second, we got our make-up bags

and fixed our faces since we all looked like we just come from a funeral from all the

crying and all agreed that this will stay between us and we won’t say anything to

anyone not until we figure out what is going on.

We joined everyone outside by the pool, Mthobisi and Muzi were on the braai stand

chatting and braaing meat while the kids were all over the yard playing, I looked at

Neo my heart just broke, how can he not be my son when I loved him so much and

when I had such a strong bond with him, something had to be wrong with those

results, as I was looking at him I had tears running down my face I didn’t even realise

that I was staring at him and crying, Mthobisi came and kissed me and he looked at

Neo and said “I get the same feeling too when I look at him, we almost lost our

precious son”. I wanted to scream “he’s not our son” but I didn’t, I held my husband

and said “thank God we didn’t”. I loved Neo and it didn’t matter what those results

proved in my heart he was my son and the love I felt for him was not going to get

erased by some stupid lab results. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves in

this unplanned Sunday braai. Victor and my mom said they were going to visit Linda

my step-sister, Victor’s daughter, I don’t know why she couldn’t just come and be

with the rest of us, she thought she was too high and mighty. My mom could see the

irritation on my face when she said they going to her she told me that I need to build

a relationship with Linda she’s family, only when it suits her I thought, my mom said

Linda was having marriage problems and needed us, I can’t deal with more

problems, I have enough of my own I thought , I smiled to mommy dearest and said I

will make some time maybe after 3 years I will have some free time, she laughed

and said “next weekend” there was no getting out of that one. My parents left

Andiswa and Cleo went to go buy alcohol since we don’t drink in front of my parents

we had to wait for them to leave as soon as they left alcohol was flowing, I was

drinking my stress and frustrations away, in fact I was drinking to forget. We all got

hammered we were so drunk, luckily my son’s nanny was there so she was watching

the kids and thank goodness my husband and I didn’t have to drive home. Cleo
called her husband to come pick her up as she was too drunk to drive and said she

will get her car the next day. Muzi the doctor said he would call those drive dry

services where 2 drivers come to collect you and the other one drives your car and

take you home, he left with Andiswa, She Rocks called her brothers to come pick her

up, my sister insisted on going home even though I didn’t see the point so she asked

She Rock and her brother to give her a lift and left her car and kids and asked that I

dropped the kids off at school the next morning since I was not going to work. I

hesitantly agreed, I knew hangover will be horrible tomorrow but the kids had some

of the school uniform at my mom’s house so this was not going to be hard. Everyone

left and it was just my husband, myself, the kids and their nanny, Mthobisi cleaned

up while I attempted giving the kids a bath which I was failing dismally on so the

nanny took over. My parents got back I didn’t even want to see them so my husband

and I went straight to bed; we were both so drunk that when we hit the bed we

passed out.

Alarm woke me up the next morning at 05:30, dammit this was too early for me and

my head was spinning out of control, I regretted drinking like that the night before but

it was too late for regrets. I went to my bag to search for some painkillers luckly I had

a few, Mthobisi was also up by now he laughed at me and said I shouldn’t be

drinking because I always get the worst hangover, I ignored him. Breakfast was

ready by 06:30, I got the kids ready and Mthobisi and I took them to school. Mthobisi

decided that he will work half day meaning he was only going to work after 12. We

left Neo with the nanny, I drove my sister’s car and my husband his car so we could

drop my sister’s car at her place. We dropped the kids at school and drove to my

sister’s place; I had my therapy session that the hospital had booked for me at 10:15

so we still had time. We arrived at my sister’s place to find her husband in the
kitchen making breakfast, wow this was the first, maybe the therapy really was

working, there was still a bit of tension between him and I so he apologised for

throwing me with petrol and said he had been drinking and that’s not who he is, I told

him it was okay as long as it didn’t happen again. I asked where my sister was he

said she’s still in bed and we shouldn’t wake her, I told him I needed to ask her

something quickly and ran upstairs before he could even answer, I found her in their

bedroom sleeping, I whispered “wakey, wakey sleepy head” she rolled over and

pulled the blankets over her face I pulled the blankets off her and that’s when I saw

it, her face was all bruised up, “oh my God, did that bastard hit you again?” Naledi

seemed like she was still drunk she mumbled something about falling, I marched

downstairs and went straight to the kitchen and screamed at Lwazi “you laid your

dirty hands on my sister again didn’t you?” my husband who had been sitting in the

lounge heard this and came to the kitchen rushing “what’s wrong Honey?” I pointed

at Lwazi and screamed “he hit her again”. My husband grabbed Lwazi by his shirt

collar and said “I have had enough of your bullshit, first you disrespected my wife

and house and I let it slide cause you family and now you hit her sister again?” he

pushed him out the door and Lwazi demanded to know where we were going, my

husband said we going for a small ride, he shoved him in the boot of his car and told

me to stay behind, I told him I was not staying, he said “Lesidi trust me you don’t

want to see this” I said “I’m not staying” and that was that, we both got inside the car

and he speed off, drove to Builders Warehouse close to The Glen shopping mall and

told me to wait in the car, I did as I was told, he came back with a shovel and put it at

the back seat. We drove into some area in Moderfontein it was the middle of

nowhere, no people around it was off the tar road it was just gravel road for a long

distance, we finally stopped he went into the boot and got Lwazi out, Lwazi asked
where we were my husband threw him with the shovel and told him to start digging,

Lwazi laughed and asked if this was some kind of joke, my husband went to the car

and came back with a gun and shot it in the air, it was a loud bang that even my ears

felt like they were going deaf, he told Lwazi if he didn’t start digging then the next

bullet will be going into his head, that got my brother in law to shut up, he started

digging and digging, he was sweating like a pig, each time he would try to stop to

catch his breath hubby would wave his gun around and Lwazi could see that this

man means business so he would continue, when the whole height was reaching

Lwazi’s thigh, Mthobisi said he could stop digging, Lwazi asked why my husband

was making him dig, Mthobisi calmly answered “it’s your grave” Lwazi’s eyes popped

out, he started pleading with my husband and told him how he will never hurt my

sister again and if he did he can kill him and even this time he didn’t lay a finger on

her, she arrived home drunk and fell down the stairs, that was such a lame excuse I

said. Mthobisi said he was going to give him a chance to save his life, he said he

would give him a 2 minute head start, Lwazi should run but if he catches him he

must know he’s history. Lwazi tried protesting that he had been digging and is now

exhausted so he won’t be able to run, my husband fired a shot next to his feet, that

was enough motivation to get Lwazi running, he didn’t say a word he just ran,

Mthobisi walked behind him and kept shooting next to his feet but he made sure that

he didn’t shot him. I went and sat inside the car while I was waiting for my husband

to come back, a few minutes later he was back dragging Lwazi by his collar, poor

guy didn’t have a chance with my husband, my man is fit, running is his thing, he

threw Lwazi into his small grave and told him that he had really never wanted for

things to come to this but Lwazi had pushed him too far. He lifted the gun and

pointed it and Lwazi, my brother-in law said before he kills him there was something
he had to know about Neo, something that he heard from my sister last night when

she came home drunk. Oh Shit, I was not going to let this fool destroy my family,

while Mthobisi was still a bit confused by what Lwazi might want to say about Neo he

lowered his hand and was about to ask him to explain I quickly grabbed the gun from

him and fired.

I don’t even know why I did that, it must have been instincts, adrenaline, whatever

you want to call it but all I know is I didn’t want my husband knowing this, not yet, I

still needed to get my head around it first. Mthobisi quickly grabbed the gun back

from me and asked what the hell was I doing, I looked at Lwazi at the grave

expecting to see him lying there dead, he was still standing I had missed, well I

closed my eyes while firing that shot, but in my defence I had never fired a gun

before in my entire life. Lwazi was so shaken at the realisation of the fact that I had

almost killed him that he was now quiet. Mthobisi was now angry at me for doing

what I did, he told me what if I had actually shot Lwazi, do I know the trauma I would

have gone through, he was now shouting at me and told me to never pull something

like that again and I could have hurt myself, he grabbed my hand and pulled me to

the car but still made sure that he had his eyes on my brother in law, he told me how

unsafe guns were and this is why he didn’t want me to come with him, he told me the

things he does he doesn’t want me involved in any of them and this is why he had

been keeping these things away from me, it’s for my own good to protect me, he told

me that once you kill there is no going back, you can’t bring that person back to life,

it’s permanent and it’s something that you have to live the rest of your life with, he

told me that I would not be able to handle it. We went back to Lwazi and he told him

it was his lucky day he was not going to die today but if he ever, even pointed at my

sister he would make sure that he brings him back to his grave and this time he
would bury him, he told him he shouldn’t even waste his time going to report him to

the police because it will be his word against 2 peoples and the minute he steps into

the police station we will know about it, and bad things will happen to his mother,

then him, hearing about his mom being threatened like that Lwazi swore that he

won’t go to the police and begged Mthobisi not to touch his mother. Mthobisi told him

we will leave him there and he should find his way home, he said he didn’t have his

wallet or cellphone with him and had no idea where he was, Mthobisi said he should

have thought of that before beating up Naledi and he should be thanking us not

complaining, “if you can beat a woman how difficult can it be for you to stop cars and

beat the drive up and take his car and go home”, I wanted to laugh but this was a

men’s conversation. We walked back to the car then Mthobisi turned around and

asked Lwazi, “by the way, what did you want to say about Neo?” Lwazi stared at me

and I shook my head vigorously hoping and praying that the bastard would keep his

mouth shut, all thanks to my sister and her big mouth, I know she can’t keep secrets

if it were up to me she would have never known about Neo’s paternity, Lwazi calmly

said “it’s nothing man” my husband replied “don’t ever call my son’s name in vain,

nxa” then we walk to the car and left Lwazi there.

We drove back to Alberton, Mthobisi asked if I was ready for my therapy session, I

said yes, he asked if can I do him a favour, I said yes, “can you not mention any of

the things that you know about, you know what” he cleared his throat, I got what he

meant but I was not going to let him off that easily so I asked what things, he waved

his hands in the air and said “you know the things that happen after hours” I laughed

and said but I’m supposed to be honest at these sessions, he smiled and said “just

be mindful of what you say my love and whatever you do, don’t let her hypnotise

you” that just cracked me up, I laughed so much I was actually beginning to forget
my problems. We arrived in hospital, I was late for my appointment it was already

after 11:00 the receptionist told us the therapist was running late, so we should sit

and wait, we waited for 30 minutes, I was upset and ready to hit the road what kind

of a person treats their patients like this. I told Mthobisi we should leave and I was

never coming back to these silly sessions and Mthobisi was still going to work, as we

were about to leave some white lady came and introduced herself as Mia Van Der

Walt the psychologist she apologised for being late, said she was held up in another

hospital where she had to council a suicidal teenager, shame now I felt sorry for her,

she had a tough job, listening to other people’s problems can be truly exhausting, I

told her it was fine and told Mthobisi to go to work I will catch a cab going back to my

mom’s house. I kissed hubby goodbye and he squeezed my butt and said he loves

me and left. I walked into the therapist office, she asked if I wanted anything to drink

I said water she had a cute little bar fridge in her office with water and gave me one

from there. She opened her file and read some notes and asked me to talk about

myself, that question is just always hardest for me to answer, I mean where do I

start, what do I tell you and what do I leave out, I doubt she had enough time to hear

about me. so I just told her the basic stuff, she asked about my husband and how

our marriage life was, I gave her the usual answer that all couples give “we have our

ups and downs” then she asked me about the downs, is this woman serious, I

decided to tell her about his mother and the Katlego saga, she listened and kept

writing notes on her file, then she asked how does that make me feel, I wanted to

say it makes me want to murder her but I didn’t I said it’s hurting and disappointing

because you don’t expect such from your mother in law, she’s supposed to treat me

like a daughter but she treats me like a stranger, I told her I honestly don’t know what

I had done to her, talking about my mother in law was now getting me all hyped up
and angry, I obviously could not tell the therapist about my mother in law switching

babies in hospital and that she had made me raise someone else’s child and that I

had a daughter somewhere, I couldn’t because I didn’t want her reporting this to

police and having an investigation launched I loved Neo and didn’t want to loose

him, they would probably take him and put him in some home while they investigate

and that investigation would probably take 5 years and they would still have not

found my daughter in that 5 years, I had better chances with Khu’mbule Khaya of

finding my daugher than the justice system, but I was not going to go there. Yes he

was not mine but in my heart he was mine and my husband’s and at that moment I

decided that I was going to keep Neo, I was going to do everything in my powers to

make sure that this nonsense of him not being my son never comes out, Neo is my

son period! She could see I was in deep thoughts so she asked what I was thinking I

told her that I was thinking of going to visit my mother in law since she is in the same

hospital, she wanted to know what had happened to her, damn this woman is nosey,

my bad, it’s her job to be nosey, I told her about the shooting incident, she was

listening and taking notes, without even realising it, my time was up, thank goodness

I was running out of things to tell her. She said I had too much to deal with in my life

and she would like to subscribe me with anti-anxiety pills and some other pills to help

me calm down and deal with my stress, she wrote me a prescription, if she only

knew that she was wasting her time I was not going to buy pills to help control my

mood, no thank you, that shit just doesn’t go down well with us, we drink Panado’s

for everything, ain’t nobody got time for Anti-what what pills. I left the doctor’s room

and decided to go grab some lunch at the shopping complex next to the hospital, as I

got there I started freaking out remembering the shooting, this was not even the

same shopping complex, but for some reason fear had just grabbed me by the balls,
I started sweating and shit I realised these attacks were real, maybe I should buy

that medication I thought, I decided against going into the shopping complex, in fact

my legs decided for me cause they wouldn’t carry me, I couldn’t move, so I turned

back went back to the hospital and went to the pharmacy and bought the pills I had

been subscribed with the medical aid, another benefit of having a medical aid, those

pills all together cost R479,00, damn medicine is expensive. I called Jessica to tell

her I had all these pills, that girl is like a drug dealer there is no pill that she doesn’t

know, she was happy to hear from me, she told me the last time she saw me I was

passed out on the floor, I laughed and told her I was fine now, that was just an act.

She asked if she could come see me later after work, I told her I was at my mom’s

place which is a bit of a distance for her but promised her that we will be back in the

North soon and we will catch up. She told me the anxiety pills were really good and

should give those a try they will calm me down the whole day. I took those and sat

down trying to remember where the cabs park and whether I should call someone to

come pick me up, a taxi was definitely a no-no, not after the Daveyton drama I had

with a taxi driver and I was not in the mood of a lot of people. I then decided that

maybe I should go see my witch mother in law before I leave. I walked to her ward

and there was no one around, I looked at her through the window at first, she lying in

bed looking so weak and hopeless. This is the same woman who had walked up and

down the hospital corridors carrying my daughter and swopping kids around. What

the hell did she do to my child? I wanted answers but I knew this woman as soon as

she got up she would be back to her arrogant self, I would never get a single answer

from her, in fact I wouldn’t be surprised if she already has paternity results of us and

Neo saying Neo is our son, I was convinced that the only reason we had busted her

lies is because she’s in a coma, I am sure she would have done everything in her
powers to make sure that the truth never comes out. I was get infuriated just thinking

about all these things, I walked inside her ward, I wanted to scream at her, I might as

well, this was my only opportunity where else would I find her like this, not

responding to anything I say or telling me that I am disrespectful, this was my

chance, I started shouting at her even though it felt like I was talking to myself at first

but telling her how much I didn’t like her and how she has abused my love and

kindness over the years made me dislike her more felt good. I could express my

feelings freely without her pulling up her nose at me. This venting to my enemy was

very therapeutic, it was much better than the session I had just had, why talk behind

a person’s back when you can talk directly to them, well it only works when a person

is in a coma but it’s still therapeutic. All this talking, screaming and shouting at her

was making me remember all the bad things she had ever done to me, the more I

thought of them the angrier I got then I grabbed a pillow from underneath her, this

witch deserved to die. I walked around the room with the pillow in my hands still

talking to her, then I got closer to her bed, I was now silent and my heart was beating

so fast but it had to be done, she had to be permanently removed out of our lives. I

lifted the pillow over her head and slowly moved it down to her head, as I was about

to press it down on her head and squeeze the life out of her, her eyes popped wide

open, I got such a fright, I screamed and fell backwards on my back with the pillow in

my hands, as I was still on the floor trying to figure out what the hell just happened in

walked the “fake doctor” I could smell his cologne from the last time I was in the

same room as him. “What the fuck do you think you doing?” he asked. Shit, I was

screwed. I slowly stood up and looking around for an escape route, even looking

between his legs to see if I could try slip in-between them and ran off but Mr. Man’s

eyes were gazing sharply at me, with the way he looked, he looked tough, I had no
chance not with this man, all that came to my mind apologize and pray to God that

he doesn’t hurt me. “Just get up Lesedi” he shouted, oh my gosh he knew my name;

it was like he read my mind he said “yes, I know who you are. What the hell were

you doing to Ma?” words would not come out, I was speechless, he looked me in the

eyes then looked at the pillow then repeated his question slowly this time as if

speaking to a child “w-h-a-t w-e-r-e y-o-u d-o-i-n-g?” I gathered myself and stood up

and said, “why are you calling her ma? I thought you were her doctor.” He said he’s

been respectful to an elder, respectful my ass I thought, white people call elders by

their first names, he quickly changed the subject and asked if am I going to answer

his question or should he call hospital security. Shit dammit, the last thing I wanted

was to be escorted out of a hospital like a criminal and have my picture posted in the

entrances with the heading that read “CALL POLICE IF YOU SEE HER”. I tried

faking a smile and told him that I was fixing her pillow making sure that she is

comfortable while I was trying to put a pillow under her, her eyes popped wide open

at hearing that her eyes opened he pushed me aside and rushed to her, he took out

those torch look alike things that doctors usually light your eyes with, and checked

my mother in laws eyes. I asked him “what are you doing? I know you not a real

doctor.” He ignored me and continued checking her, the man even had a

stethoscope hanging around his neck like a real doctor. When he was done he

looked at me and said she’s not out of the comma, it was just reflexes, some people

can move their hand or fingers or open their eyes while still in a comma, they don’t

really see what is happening, shooo that was a relief, at least she didn’t see me

trying to murder her. The doctor continued talking “by the way, I am a real doctor” he

took out an access card with his name and picture, I was too nervous to even read

the name, I mumbled “okay, sorry, my bad” and walked out, as I was about to step
out of the doctor he called my name I turned and he smile and said “the pillow” oh

shit I had forgotten about that, I turned back and put it on the chair next to my mother

in law’s bed. He said “your husband knows about me, you can ask him if you think

I’m a fake doctor” I walked out. I went to go catch a cab and paid R180 for a 10

minutes drive to my parents house, thank goodness payday had come so I had

money, on the way home my sister called asking if I knew where Lwazi was, coz he

disappeared after we left, I told her I had no idea, damn was he still stuck in that

place we had left him in.

I got home and had some bonding time with my son, it was so crazy that my son was

not my son, it just wouldn’t sink in my head. Now that I knew he wasn’t mine it felt

like any moment there would be a knock at the door with some random person

coming to claim my child as their own and at that moment that was my biggest fear, I

didn’t want to loose this little man, I loved him with all my heart and soul. Cleo called

to say she was on the way to pick up her car that she had left after the drinking

session, she came with her husband Vusi, he came in greeted and chatted for 2

minutes and said he has to go back to work then asked Cleo for lunch money, my

friend opened her wallet and gave him R50, he took it and said bye and left. I looked

at Cleo and said “what the hell friend? He asks you for his money that he works for?”

she looked at me and said “if I don’t take care of the money he will blow it on stupid

things” Cleo does not work, she’s basically a house wife but she controls Vusi like

he’s her kid, his bank card stay with her, she knows how much the guy gets paid and

let there be any deductions from his salary she calls him and tells him to call HR and

demand an explanation, I don’t know if it’s love or madness but it’s just some very

tricky situation but hey if Vusi allows it who am I to judge. We talked about husbands

and kids and marriages etc. She Rocks called and said she didn’t go to work she
had a terrible hangover and called in sick at work, I told her to come over, she came,

we opened a bottle of wine and the crazy girl’s talk begin. When girls get together

the general topic is sex, I think girls are more filthy and graphic when it comes to sex

discussions but when we are around men we act like we know nothing, it’s called

acting innocent, we believe that if a man hears you talk that filthy he will think that

you have been around way too much and no man wants a woman whose been

almost around a lot so we act like angels meanwhile we know things that you can

never imagine. Cleo said how she always imagines she’s having sex with someone

else while doing it with her husband, She Rocks said one day Cleo will call her

husband “Brad Pitt” and we won’t be surprised if she ends up in hospital with broken

bones, we all laughed coz we all knew Vusi is one of the sweetest guys alive, I don’t

even think he knows how to lift his hand to a man, woman or even kids. She Rocks

said there was one time when she had slept at Andiswa’s place then Muzi showed

up unexpectedly, Cleo curiosly asked “did you guys have a threesome?” I laughed

and say “Cleo you have a filthy mind, but did you?” I said smiling at She Rocks, she

burst out laughing and said we are disgusting and no they didn’t, that is soo tertiary,

we asked her what happened when the doctor showed up, did they play doctor and

nurse while Andiswa was sleeping Cleo added “and Muzi must have been the nurse

while you were a doctor” She Rocks was laughing soo hard, she was literally falling

off the couch. When she eventually stopped she said this whole thing was just to tell

us about the sounds that Andiswa’s boyfriend makes while she and Andiswa are

shagging, she said we must all swear that we are never going to tell Andiswa that

she told us, cause she was in guest room which is next to the bedroom and could

hear them while they were busy we swore that we wouldn’t say anything, she said he

screams his ancestors name and shouts “awe ma, awe ma, awe ma” Cleo and I
were finished, we couldn’t stop laughing. In the midst of our laughter my husband

called he asked how my therapy session went, I gave him highlights and told him

about his mom opening her eyes and the fake doctor, I of course left out the part of

me trying to kill her, he would never forgive me, in fact he would make me dig my

own grave and then kill me. I told him the girls were here and we will go buy braai

meat in Soweto, he told me to be careful especially after what happened the last I

was in Soweto getting drugged and all, I said I will be extra careful. I told the girls we

should go to Soweto to get some Shisanyama, we went with She Rock’s car.

We called Andiswa on the way, put her on speaker and told her to join us when she

knocks off, she said she was too busy had deadlines and stuff but would let us know

if she finishes early, Cleo just couldn’t resist she said “awe ma Andiswa” we all burst

out laughing, She Rocks dropped the call immediately and pointed at Cleo laughing

“you are an idiot, I’m never telling you anything”. These were my crazy friends, they

knew how much shit I was going through and not once had any of them mentioned

the Neo saga all they did was talk crap and make jokes to make me feel better, they

knew I would talk about it when I was ready and right now I needed cheering up,

every woman going through crap in their lives deserves some good friends by her

side and I was so fortunate to have such. She Rocks drove us to Social Link which is

in Emndeni which is close to Zola, we all knew she wanted to go pass her

boyfriend’s place afterwards, we got to Social Link it was empty since it was during

the day, we bought meat, they braai’d it for us and we took it with and went to

Siyabonga’s house, he was not there but She Rocks had the keys to the house, Cleo

looked at her and said “you the owner my friendship, you own this man” she got us

chairs from inside and we sat outside while waiting for Siyabonga, he came back

from where he works fixing the cars dressed in overalls full of oil but damn the man
still looked hot. As soon as he walked through the gate She Rocks stood up and ran

to him and jumped on him and kissed him, she didn’t care about the oils and getting

herself dirty, this was love, after what seemed like eternity of kissing they finally let

go of each other and Siyabonga came to greet us. He went inside as he was walking

inside the house, Cleo and I were just staring at his butt and Cleo was fanning

herself with her hands whispering “hot”, I looked at her and rolled my eyes.

A few minutes later he came out dressed in shorts and a vest and said he will be

washing the Quantam, oh Lord this was mine and Cleo’s dream come to life, we

were ready to perv over our friend’s boyfriend, this was all just innocent perving, we

would never do anything to the man, we had rules against such, besides we were

both married not that ever stopped anyone from cheating but you know what I mean,

She Rocks was just one of those girls that you don’t want to harm you just want to

protect. Soo there we are chilling infront of Siyabonga’s yard having our meet and

drinks and chatting away while Siyabonga washed the Quantam. This was just a

nice chilled vibe, She Rocks asked Siyabonga to wash her car as well so she gave

him her car keys so he could drive the car into the driveway behind the Quantam I

figured she did this to block our view because Cleo just wouldn’t stop fanning herself,

this was just too funny. Andiswa called and said she was not going to make it, she

was not even half-way from finishing what she was doing, we understood. She

Rocks kept going to check on Siyabonga to see if he was okay, and they would

throw each other with water, and run around laughing, they were such a cute couple,

I was really happy for my friend, she deserved some happiness in her life, she’d

been through enough bad times to last her a lifetime.

While we were sitting there chatting away, two cars stopped in front of Siyabonga’s

gate, in each car 4 people came out, something about them just didn’t feel right, I
sensed danger, I guess I have been through enough shit to know when things were

not right and when shit is about to hit the fence, I stood up and wanted to say let’s

leave but it would not make sense to my friends cause Siyabonga was finishing off

washing the Quantam and She Rocks car was next to be washed and that’s the car

we came with and for me to say we should go without any reason would not make

sense, as I stood up She Rocks assumed that I was going to the bathroom she

started telling me where it was, I shook my head and said it’s fine and sat down. By

now all 8 guys were inside Siyabonga’s yard 2 of them came to where we were

sitting and looked at us up and down as if weighing us up, the other 6 went to

Siyabonga, I could hear some argument from Siyabonga and the guys then they all

came to the front where we were sitting, Siyabonga was saying “asiyi khulumeni

lendaba njenga madoda” direct translation “let’s talk this out like real men” there

were 2 on his left and 2 on his right side and 2 behind him, Siyabonga walked with

them inside the house before he could enter, one of the 2 guys who was looking at

us asked “abo bani lezifebe lezi?” meaning “who are these bitches”. With that Cleo

stood up and was about to give him a tongue lashing when Siyabonga quickly

answered he didn’t know who we were he picked us up in Jabulani Mall. All our jaws

dropped and they all walked inside the house, leaving us there looking and feeling

foolish…“What the hell just happened”? I asked looking at both the girls, “Did your

man just deny us like Judas denied Jesus Christ?” asked Cleo, trust the biggest

heathen to quote the Bible. She Rocks was just standing there not saying anything.

When she eventually spoke she said “we need to go”. Both Cleo and I readily

agreed, we walked to her car only to find it locked and Siyabonga had the keys since

he had moved it from outside to behind the Quantom, our bags were in She Rocks

car we only had our phones with us. She Rocks said we should try and sneak in the
house to get the keys from Siyabonga, we all walked on our toes trying not to make

a noise as we were passing the kitchen window Cleo pointed to us to look inside, all

we saw was the 8 men with guns pointed at each other, we looked at the men inside

then each other then without even saying a word, we ran, no scrap that we stormed

out like we were chased by lions, we ran out of the yard, into street, after street, after

street, we ran halfway to Jabulani Mall which is about 5km from where we were, fear

is the greatest motivator, my friends would never run I have been begging them for

months to do fun runs with me they always turn me down, they would not even make

excuses they would just say no but on this particular day no one even had to say

let’s run, good thing none of us were wearing heels since we had not gone to work,

when we eventually stopped we were out of breath and couldn’t even speak. Cleo

threw herself on the pavement trying to catch her breath; we all followed, after a few

minutes of no words just heavy breathing Cleo asked “how the hell are we going to

get out of here?”

I don’t think we had thought that far, all we thought about was saving our asses, we

just left Siyabonga there, well he’s a man he will just have to defend himself. I turned

to She Rocks and said, “if Siyabonga is involved in shady dealings now is your

perfect opportunity to get out. Once the shadiness starts it does not stop, more shit

will come out so I say walk away now friend” , Cleo backed me up, “we love

Siyabonga and we think he’s amazing but if he’s going to put your life in danger then

baby girl you need to step now” I added “I know how much you love Siyabonga but

he’s somehow involved with dangerous people and what we saw in that house did

now look pretty, imagine if you were alone in the house with him and those men

came, think about what they could have done to you.”

Cleo and I went on and on just giving her reasons to end this toxic relationship, I

know I was being a hypocrite since I was in a similar situation but I’m married to the

man, we have a family together, I can’t just pack up and leave him but if I had seen

these things before we got married, I would never have married him, I would have

never allowed myself to go through what I had been through in the past few months,

it was hell and if I had an opportunity to get someone out of it before they even got in

I would do it until I turned blue in the face, the life I was living was no life to live. It

was as if we never said anything at all, She Rocks said after we were done with our

speeches was she’s going to call a friend of hers who stays nearby to drop us at

Southgate, both Cleo and I turned and looked at her and we asked “what about

you?” she calmly replied “I’m going back to my man”. “Have you lost your mind, did

you not just see guns been waved all over the place?” Cleo was getting angry now.

I was beyond annoyed with She Rocks I told her we were not going anywhere

without her. I wanted to call my husband but knowing him he will give me a lecture

first so I dropped that idea, as we were sitting there taxi’s kept driving past and

hooting, we had no wallets no bags withus, we couldn’t even catch a taxi. Cleo called

Vusi her husband to come pick us up, we couldn’t direct him since we didn’t know

exactly where we were, poor guy had to collect the kids then come all the way to

Soweto to pick us up, we decided to walk to Jabulani Mall to make things easy for

him, it was basically a 3 km walk, in the sun, not an easy walk at all. We walked in

silence since we realised that our talk was not working on this stubborn girl, then

after 10 minutes She Rocks broke the silence, “what you guys saw there is not what

you think” oh my gosh did this man pray and fast that much that She Rocks was

even blind to things that she saw, she was becoming the type of person who was

believed that their other half could never do anything wrong, she needed to wake up
and smell the gun powder dammit. Before I could say anything she cut me off, “the

two of you are so quick to judge, in your eyes Siyabonga is a criminal just because

you saw those guys in his house with guns, was Siyabonga carrying a gun? No.

Guns were pointed at him, did you not see that?” So what? if you know people with

guns you are dangerous even if you don’t have one yourself, look at me for instance

I knew people with guns and I had almost killed my mother in law, see what I mean.

She Rocks explained that the men we saw there are not Siyabonga’s friends in fact

Siyabonga only knew about them last week. Siyabonga uses the Quantum to collect

people from work and take them to work, but this is specific people from specific

companies like restaurants and call centres, people who work ungodly hours and by

the time they go to work or come back from work there are no taxis either it being too

early for taxis or too late for taxis, so some days Siyabonga can’t go and collect so

he would ask his brother to go and collect the people for him but then his brother got

greedy, on the way back from collecting people he saw some people standing on the

side of the road waiting for a taxi and picked them up got the cash and dropped them

off, so when nothing happened when he did that he decided to take his chances and

take the Quantum during the day while Siyabonga is in his other job fixing cars his

brother would take the car and drive around collect people and take them to town to

make extra cash, now to me and you that might seem like a smart idea but there are

levels to these things, to taxi owners he’s stealing their customers and that is a no-

no, you never touch a taxi owner’s customer, even if it’s raining and there are no

taxis around you leave those people alone because someone is always watching

and the stupid little brother didn’t know that so one day they followed him to see

where he parked the car and found out who the owner was and paid Siyabonga a
visit and demanded a R80 000 as payment for disrespecting them and stealing their

customers.

So what we saw were the goons of taxi owners coming to collect their money which

poor Siyabonga didn’t have and they’ve been threatening to kill him and his brother

and the reason why Siyabonga had to say he didn’t know us was if they knew one of

us was his girlfriend they would probably have shoot her just to show him how

serious they were. Damn this was hectic, we had judged him too harshly, we

apologised to She Rocks who had tears in her eyes from explaining this. She asked

if do we now understand why she has to go back to make sure he’s okay. We told

her we would all go with Vusi when he got to the mall. With all that talking that took

place we had arrived at the mall and didn’t even feel the 3km’s. While we were

waiting for Vusi I told She Rocks that maybe Siyabonga should speak to my husband

cause he’s dad was a taxi-owner but after he died his mom sold all the taxis and

wanted to have nothing to do with anything that involved taxis that’s what Mthobisi

had told me, so maybe they still had some connections and could help. She Rocks

said she will tell Siyabonga and they will take any help they can get. I received an

sms on my phone it was from a number I didn’t know it read “Lesedi, we will see how

far your selfish ways take you, I know Mtho agreed to having the ritual for my

daughter and you stopped it. I am going to make sure that you suffer for the rest of

your life. I will make sure you lose everything you have” I laughed and thought some

women have too much time on their hands, what was she going to do bewitch me?

Bitch please!!

Vusi finally arrived, Cleo filled him in on what had happened and I had never seen a

man so scared, if it were up to him he would have given us his car and taken a taxi

and went home, but his bully wife would not let him. we drove back to Siyabonga’s
house, the cars outside were gone, She Rocks ran in, damn the girl is brave, we

were not sure if maybe some of the men had stayed behind so Cleo, Vusi and I

walked slowly in while She Rocks went around the house calling out Siyabonga’s

name, he came out from the house and the sigh of relieve from She Rocks just

brought tears to my eyes, she really loved him, they hugged and she was all tears in

his arms and he kept kissing her tears telling her he’s fine she shouldn’t worry. We

went inside the car to give them some privacy. After they were done talking they had

decided that they were coming home with me to speak to Mthobisi about helping

them, now I wasn’t so sure, we all get those moments where we speak without

thinking things through and my husband might not like the fact that I opened my big

mouth about his father’s business, he never even liked talking about his father, but

what the hell, our friends lives were in danger. We all drove to Alberton to my mom’s

house on the way I called my husband and told him that Siyabonga was coming over

for a visit; I couldn’t give him all the details over the phone. He didn’t seem bothered

by that.

When we arrived my parents were out so it was just my husband and our son

bonding, this was so cute and precious, I took a picture I had to capture these

special moments who knows when they might end. Cleo and Vusi said they will not

stay so they took their cars and left. Siyabonga explained the situation to my

husband about the whole taxi saga, my husband was listening attentively he kept

nodding his head when he was done said “I guess Lee told you about my father

being in the taxi business”, She Rocks said yes and they are disparate for help, they

don’t have the kind of money they want and if Mthobisi knew of any of these people

could he speak to them try and get them to drop these demands and threats. He

looked at both of them with sincerity and said “I honestly wish I could help you, but
my mother made sure I never had any taxi dealings, all I can tell you is don’t pay this

money, once you pay now you will pay for the rest of your life, do you know how

many taxi owners there are in Soweto alone, if word gets out that you paid the few

that you going to pay and believe you me word is going to get out, more are going to

come wanting payments, you will end up losing everything you have.” Okay they

were not hearing what they were hoping to hear from my husband, Siyabonga asked

“so what would you suggest I do? Would they really kill my brother and I?” my

husband without even thinking about it “yes, they would kill you and your brother and

not lose any sleep over it. I would suggest you pack up all your shit and leave in the

middle of the night and disappear that’s the only way to come out of this alive”.

“Yhooo” was what came out of mine and She Rocks mouth; I was shit scared for my

friend.

My husband’s phone rang and it was in the kitchen so he asked me to get it and

answer for him, it was the hospital they said his mom is awake and has been asking

about Neo. I told them it was the hospital, Mthobisi grabbed his keys and said let’s all

go to the hospital. She Rocks burst out “the truth is finally going to come out about

Neo” Mthobisi stopped on his tracks and asked “what truth about Neo?” shit, I had

not told She Rocks that I had not told my husband, she calmly replied “the fact that

he is not your son.” my husband’s veins in the head popped out, he looked at me as

calmly asked “Lesedi, am I not Neo’s father? Whose child have I been raising?” he

was fuming I swear I could see fire in his eyes.

The cat was now out of the bag, I don’t even know why I had been keeping this a

secret, it’s not even my secret to keep for crying out loud. I could feel Mthobisi’s eyes

were burning through my skin that’s how pissed off he was, I swear he was ready to

murder me, She Rocks quickly said “wait, he didn’t know? Oh my gosh, I am so sorry
Lee, I just assumed, oh my gosh, I’m such an idiot” she said hitting her head. You

damn right you are, you are a very foolish woman I thought. “When did you think I

had the opportunity to tell him?” I asked, I was so mad at her at that moment I

wanted to bring out one heavy secret about her that would have Siyabonga dropping

to the floor, that’s how most women fight, you do one thing wrong against them and

they will tell your man secrets that they swore they would take to the grave with

them, this is why some secrets are best kept to yourself, if you feel like sharing it

write it down on a piece of paper and make double sure that you burn that piece of

paper and leave no evidence or if you are the type that talks too much, record

yourself saying it and make triple sure you delete that recording after you are done,

there is nothing more scarier than people finding your secrets through your hand

writing or from your voice recordings. Mthobisi said “maybe you should have told me

the day you slept with another man that got you pregnant”, oh shit we still on that, my

mind had just wondered off, I waited for my husband to finish venting and throwing

all sorts of accusations about how I had mislead him into believing that Neo is his

son and how I kept insisting that Neo looked like him that he even started to believe

it, but Neo honestly did look like him, his mom had done a good job in stealing a kid

that looks like her son. When he was done, I calmly said “I don’t know who Neo’s

father is and I don’t even know who his mother is, all I know is he is not our son, the

one person who has all the answers to this is your mother”, my husband started

screaming and shouting that I should not bring his mother into this, it had nothing to

do with her, I must just confess and tell him who this other man is, She Rocks

decided to intervene which was about bloody time as I was seriously getting tired of

this man’s accusations, she explained everything to him from the blood results to the

video footage but she obviously left out the part of her going to dinner with her ex to
get the footage as Siyabonga was still there. Siyabonga shook his head and

mumbled “here I was thinking my life is hard but compared to you guys I’m walking in

a park”. We all ignored him and Mthobisi said he needs to have a word with his

mother alone, I told him I was going to be there I had every right to know what was

going on I was not going to let them keep me in the dark, I was part of this, in fact his

mother had made me an accomplice to a crime without even knowing it, I hated that

woman okay maybe hate is a strong word, I disliked her, if me and her were standing

at a train station and a train was coming and there was no one around I would

“accidentally” push her on the train tracks and swear I had tripped and pushed her by

accident, that woman brought out the worst in me, now I had all these thoughts and

ideas of how I would like to kill her, this was so not me. She Rocks and Siyabonga

said they would go home as they had their own drama to deal with.

We drove to the hospital, found my mother in law shunting nurses around, the

woman has no chill, she’d only been out of the comma for a few hours and already

she was making sure everybody knows who is boss, demanding this and that. When

she saw us she was happy I don’t know if she was really happy or just acting, first

words out of her mouth were “is Neo okay?” my husband and I both looked at each

other and she must have taken that as a “No”. She started panicking and having

some sort of seizures, the nurses told us to go wait outside, the other one asked

what did we say to upset her cause she was fine until we got there, the “fake doctor”

came rushing in, to attend to her while we waited outside, Mthobisi was pacing up

and down we didn’t say a word to each other until a few minutes later when the

doctor came out. He greeted my husband, not sure if it was a greet or an

acknowledgement cause all he did was nod then say “Mthobisi” and my husband

nodded back and said “Gareth” and the doctor said “nurses tell me you and your wife
upset ma” my husband said he needed to ask his mother something that is very

personal. Gareth the doctor, now that I know his name I will stop calling him “fake

Doctor” and refer to him as Gareth, said there is no way in hell we should ask her or

even discuss anything that could possible upset her or she will have more seizures

and that is definitely not something we want to see her go through because each

time she has a seizure parts of her brain get affected and if she has too many she

could end up in a vegetable state that’s when someone can’t move or do anything.

How does my mother in law do it, do bad then we are expected not to do bad to her,

I was sick and tired of all this. We promised Gareth that we would not do or say

anything to upset her, he told us that she is now sedated and should be up in a

couple of hours and we should come back tomorrow to see her and that was that.

What a bloody waste of time, I was so bored, annoyed and irritated all in one.

We drove back home in silence, I actually now started feeling bad for my husband,

what kind of a mother does that to his own son, shit, was he even her son? I was not

about to ask that question I didn’t want to upset my poor husband any further, we

stopped by the garage on the way home he said he had a headache and needed

Asprins I didn’t blame him he was going through hell. I saw a guy that we grew up

with he was more of She Rocks friend than mine when he saw me he was happy

and wanted to chat while I waited for my husband who had gone inside the garage to

buy, I didn’t even remember his name when my husband got back and saw me

chatting to the guy he got very angry I could see the fire in his eyes, I quickly

introduced my husband and told him that this is She Rocks friend we all grew up

together, he greeted him and signaled for me to get in the car and drove off, I knew

whatever I said would just tick him off so I kept my mouth shut. We got home and my

parents were still not back and Neo was already fast asleep. We went to our room to
sleep and I kept waking up in the middle of the night and I would find my husband

walking up and down our room, this was really eating him up but I would act like I

didn’t see anything and go back to sleep, around 2am I woke up, I wanted to go to

the toilet, there was no walking up and down so I figured my husband must have

gone to watch TV, I switched on the lights to find my husband on the floor crying his

eyes out, this broke my heart into pieces, I went and sat with him, held him in my

arms and told him everything would be okay, I knew nothing was going to be okay

but it just seemed like the right thing to say. After some time he calmed down I

brought him water from the kitchen and told him to try and get some sleep.

We got up a bit late the next morning and I was going to work, Mthobisi said we

should take our suitcases and move back to our place after work, I quickly packed

our clothes in our bags, I actually dreaded going back to our place, my husband

drove me to work on the way he told me he had been meaning to tell me that

Champagne came through for me, I was confused until he explained that the guy we

went to go visit in Hillbrow police station about me being blacklisted, I asked what did

he do, he said all I needed to know was I was now cleared and could get myself a

car if I wanted. This was good news and under different circumstances I would have

been over the moon but right now it didn’t even feel like such a victory. I arrived at

work and the minute I stepped into the building everywhere I passed people came

and hugged me and told me how sorry they are about my son on what he went

through and how horrible the crime is in this country was and wanted to know how

my mother in law was, I eventually got to the office, Cindy was there already, she

was packing up, I asked her what was going on she said we were being sent back to

the cubicles to work with everybody else, our project had been given to other people

because she was not coping on her own and I had too many problems and was
never at work so Andile our boss felt that we were no longer good enough for this.

Wow, really? After all the hard work I had put in I was now being tossed aside like a

used condom, Andile had a bloody nerve but I was not about to barge in her office

and cause a scene, I calmly helped Cindy to pack and in less than an hour we were

doing the walk of shame back to our cubicles, nothing sucks as much as working in

an open plan office, there is no bloody privacy. I feel sorry for the people who get

calls from debt collectors cause the first thing they ask for when you answer the call

is for you to confirm your id number once you hear a person mumbling numbers after

saying hello you know they are in shit. Being back on the cubicle was horrible, I had

so much work to catch up on, decided to put on my headphones and listen to music

so I could avoid being distracted by the chit-chats that never stop. A few hours later it

was lunch time, I didn’t feel like eating, some white lady who sits across from me

offered me a salad, that woman is always on a diet, I ate a bit of the salad and was

drowning myself with work again I didn’t want to think about anything, I was tired of

my life and it’s drama. At around 4 Mthobisi called and said he was doing a site visit

in Carltonville which is far and won’t be able to pick me up on time, he asked if can I

get a lift with my friends or call a cab, I told him not to worry I would make a plan. At

around 16:30 I saw Mfundo walking out with Andiswa and his boss I slid down my

chair and tried hiding over my PC screen, unlucky for me he saw but he quickly

looked away as soon as our eyes met as if trying to avoid me, oh well, after the

punch he got from my husband I don’t blame him, he was probably the one who

asked that we be removed from dealing with his account, minus one problem for me

though.

It was now after 5 and people were leaving the office, I was not overly concerned

about going home early I was going to leave when I was satisfied with my work and
at that moment I was very far from being satisfied. I looked around and most people

had gone home only a few were still around I continued to work. After what felt like a

few minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder I turned around and it was Mfundo, I thought

the fool had left, he asked if could we talk I said I was busy and he said it would not

take long, I said okay, he said we should talk in private, not here. We went to mine

and Cindy’s old office it was locked we decided on Andiswa’s office, it was not

locked, we walked in and he shut the door behind us.

To say I was feeling vulnerable would sound like an excuse but I was at my lowest.

My life had literally been turned upside down by a number of unrelated events and I

wanted an escape, I wanted to forget, for the first time in my life I understood why

people use drugs and if I knew how to use them I would have went and got myself a

fix, but because I had never done them it was too late for me, they would probably

knocked me out cold so that’s one thing I was not going to start using now. I asked

Mfundo what he wanted to talk about, he came close and said this and started

kissing me, his lips felt so soft and welcoming. It felt like I had been waiting for this

moment all day! Firstly he took off the jacket I was wearing and roughly threw it on to

the floor, he was not being gentle and I loved that but I warned him not to leave any

bruises. No woman like bruises no matter how passionate your love making is. He

lifted me up onto the desk, it was not even his office but Andile’s, my boss who

thought that she shit chocolate and after the bitch kicked Cindy and I out of our office

this felt like the perfect revenge. Women with power tend to oppress other women.

This was not making love, this was straight fucking as he went down on me with his

tongue making circles where it mattered most and I must admit I orgasmed twice

before he even came up for breath! I loved this! This is how a man should handle

me. This is how I wanted it. Not the sissy way I had become accustomed to. I felt like
the forbidden fruit and I loved it. I loved the danger of the moment and the power of

reclaiming my body. I loved the independence of the moment and just being able to

feel young and carefree again. I pulled his head into me holding him into place just to

hold him there a while longer. Finally the moment of truth came, fine it wasn’t the first

time we had done but every time felt new and fantastic. He put on a condom and

penetrated me with such force my sub conscience screamed hallelujah! I thoroughly

enjoyed it. I clung on to him for dear life as though I owned the very breath he

breathed. It was warm and steady and I could smell a bit of mint in it. Its not like

waking up next to someone in the morning and they want a quickie before work. It

was well thought out and I loved the effort. When we were done and I was putting on

my bra my phone rang. He turned around and asked, “Is that your husband” and

casually without even panicking I picked up the phone and my husband asked what

was for dinner and if he should bring anything, I told him nope I was going to cook

but dinner will be late so I advise him to bring a snack or two. I told him that I loved

him and he quickly said I love you too before he hung. Funny enough, I truly meant

that.

I quickly called a cab to come and fetch me and Mfundo said he could drop me

home, I told him “no” under no circumstances was he to go anywhere near my

husband things were already at a boiling point between the two of them and I didn’t

want an explosion on my hands, he told me he was sorry that I had lost their

account, but his bosses were putting pressure on him and we were not delivering, I

told him that I was going through a lot and he knows it and the least he could have

done was stand up for me, he said he would speak to the board and try and get me

and Cindy back on the account, the power of a P*. I told him I needed to get going,

we both walked out luckily there was no one around, he helped me to pack up then
we walked outside to go stand by the boom gates to wait for the cab a few minutes

later it arrived I jumped in and left. When I arrived home my husband was already

there sitting in the dark, I switched on the lights and told him I will start cooking he

said he had grabbed takeaways for us on his way back. I told him I was tired and

needed a shower, I went and showered, I felt soo guilty and dirty. I don’t care how

brave you think you are but when it comes to affairs there is always that feeling of

being dirty and cheap and it never hits you when you are busy with the deed it

always hits you afterwards when you are alone. I scrubbed every inch and part of my

body I wanted to make sure there were no traces of what I had just done. I finished

showering and found my husband in bed fast asleep, I guess the lack of sleep from

the night before and the long driving today must have got him exhausted.

Next morning my husband told me he would be working from home and I could use

his car to go to work, I kissed him goodbye and drove to work. I went to my cubicle

and started working, the guy who sits behind me was having a fight with his wife,

everyone around was quiet acting like they are working meanwhile they were all

listening each time he would swear at her you would hear the sounds of shock from

people but the guy was so focused on this fight that he didn’t see all that was going

on around him, this is why I hate open-plan office, I decided that I was going to do

everything in my powers to make sure I went back to that damn office. I decided to

ignore the drama going on around me and listen to music on my headphones and

work. Lunch time, Cindy invited me to go to the canteen to go have lunch with her,

she said she heard Andile pissed of this morning cause someone had mixed up all

her files and papers that she left on her desk the day before and she was going off at

the cleaning supervisor about her people messing up her work, I wanted to laugh

knowing I was responsible, Cindy was complaining about how unfair they were being
for kicking us out of the office, I partly blamed myself for it, cause I was the one who

was always absent from work with all the drama going on in my life. During lunch my

husband called to say his mom was being discharged and he was going to go with

one of his friends to pick her up, he told me she will need someone to take care of

her while she recovered and he thinks it would be best if we go stay with her for a

while. What? Was this man insane? Me and his mother under one roof? He begged

me and told me that if we stayed with her we had better chances of her telling us the

truth about our daughter, my husband and I had been avoiding talking about our

daughter since he found out, he said to me in a whisper “I want to find our little girl

Honey, we owe her that much, she deserves to know she has parents who will love

her and do anything for her” that just brought tears to my eyes, I agreed to staying

with his crazy mother he told me he had already packed my bags and when I knock

off I should go to Davyton and not home.

At 5 o’clock I was packing up I knew how bad traffic to Daveyton was and I was

hoping not to get caught in traffic. I arrived and my husband was already there, the

last time I was at the place I had caused soo much havoc that I was ashamed to be

back here again, my husband’s other car was still there, the windows had been fixed.

I got in and greeted my mother in law, I made small talk with her, asked how she was

feeling and how the hospital was then she demanded tea and said she was hungry,

she was in a wheelchair and would be attending a lot of physiotherapy to try and be

able to walk again. I went and started cooking, I swear if I had poison I would have

poured it in her plate. She hates my cooking, as usually she complained about there

being too much salt on food and I had actually forgotten to pour salt, stressing about

her was a waste of time. Mthobisi said he was going to take care of something and

would be back later so I was left with his mother, trust my husband to do that to me. I
went and fixed up Mthobisi’s old room for us to sleep in, the witch had put a pictures

of his daughter, the child he had with Katlego, she looked to be about 6 years old. I

snapped, I grabbed the picture and went to my mother in law and asked “who is

this?” I said pointing at the picture, she looked at me and smiled and said “that’s my

granddaughter” I was trying very hard to hold myself together “why would you put her

picture in our room?” I asked her, “it’s my house, my rules, I can put pictures

wherever I want, if you have a problem with it, there’s the door she said pointing”. I

was now fuming, I wanted to grab her but she was in a wheelchair so I had to tread

carefully. Now this I had not planned to say, it slipped out, I said so while you busy

loving other people’s daughter’s, what the hell did you do to my child? She gave me

a confused face. I screamed, “I know you stole my daughter, I want her back, tell me

where she is or I am calling the police right now to arrest your ass, I don’t care that

you in a wheelchair there are lots of people in jail who are on wheelchairs you won’t

be the first.” She looked at me with pity in her eyes and asked “are you done making

a fool of yourself? You have no daughter you have a son.” I told her about the blood

tests and how we saw her switching babies, the look on her face I thought she was

going to have one of her seizure’s but thank goodness she didn’t. She calmly said “I

under-estimated you, you are smarter than you look. Do you really want to know

what happened to your daughter because the truth is not so pretty and knowing how

weak you are I doubt if you will be able to handle it.” I said I would be able to handle

the truth, I was ready for it. She asked if I remembered that when I was a few months

close to giving birth we had gone to stay with her, I remembered that because that

was the only time she was ever nice to me when she wanted to steal my child. She

asked if I remembered the day I gave birth, I said I did, Mthobisi had to leave and go

on some mine out of town the day before but I was only due 3 weeks later, I went
into early labour, my mother in law drove me to the hospital and we had planned for

a natural birth but when we were in hospital I was told there were complications and I

had to do a caesarean as this was now urgent. Everything happened so fast I was

having a bad reaction to some medication on the drip, I did not even get a chance to

see what my baby looked liked or what sex he or she was I was unconscious for the

entire day, I only got up the following day and my mother in law had told me that I

had almost died and they had been worried and only then did I see my baby. I asked

her again “what did you do with my daughter?” She looked at me with tears in her

eyes “what I did I did to save my son from pain and I did it to save your marriage,

you should be thanking me.” I slowly asked what she meant by that, how can

swopping babies save our marriage, Mthobisi didn’t care what the sex of the baby

was as long as he or she were healthy. She said that’s the problem, my child was

not healthy, when I was having complications the baby was also having her own

complications, a few hours after I had given birth she passed away. Tears just

flooded my eyes, I was speechless, my husband had been standing by the door this

whole time listening we just heard him ask “and you didn’t feel it was okay to give us

an opportunity to bury her with dignity.”

The battle was now on Son versus Mother. I quietly stood up and went to Mthobis’s

room and left him and his mom to argue, I had heard enough, I didn’t want to hear

any more of this crazy woman’s story. I didn’t believe her at all, not for a second,

earlier I said hate was a strong word, well at that moment I hated my mother in law

with every fibre of my being. I sat there, not even tears could came out, I was just

sitting staring into space for what felt like hours, after sometime my husband came to

the bedroom and grabbed our suitcases and said we living, I didn’t have to be told

twice, but to sound like I cared I asked what about his mother, he coldly replied and
said she was no longer our concern and he walked out the bedroom I followed

behind him, we went passed the sitting room his mom was sitting there crying,

crocodile tears I thought. As we walked out his mom asked where we were going, we

both didn’t reply and just proceeded to walk out, this felt so good, for once his son

seeing her for who she really was. Mthobisi gave me his golf’s keys and said he

would drive the Audi, damn he was really upset, so we were leaving her in a

wheelchair with no means of transport, I felt a bit bad for her but what the heck, let

the witch suffer. We did a convoy home, by the time with got there we were both

exhausted and I was feeling sick, I was throwing up like crazy, I thought it was the

stress of hearing about my daughter and besides I had been drinking with the girls

the day before so I assumed that also added on my whole body being tired.

That night Mthobisi sat with me in the bathroom holding my weave back to make

sure I didn’t mess it up with vomit, it was such a disgusting experience I don’t know

how he stood there with a straight face, shem I would have never, I would have

waited in the bedroom until he finished but not my sweet loving husband, I think he

also felt guilty about what his mom had done so he was going try and be there by all

means. I loved the attention and at the state I was in I was not even going to think

about the whole mess that we were in. We went to bed around 1 am from me being

sick. The next morning my husband suggested that maybe I should go see a doctor,

I was feeling much better and already I had taken so many days off I was not about

to give Andile my boss more ammunition against me besides I wanted our office

back and me being off work sick against was not going to work on my favour so I had

to put on my big girl panties and stop being a weakling and toughen the hell up.

We both didn’t feel like eating so I didn’t even bother making breakfast no one was

going to eat that so since we now had 2 cars I could drive myself to work but my
husband would not have none of that he said since I won’t go to the doctor he insists

on taking me to work just in case I become sick on the way at least he would be

there I couldn’t argue with that logic. So he drove me to work on the way I asked if

he wanted to discuss what had happened with his mom he simply said no, it was too

soon to talk about and he was trying to process everything that had happened first in

his head then we will discuss it, that’s my husband for you, I was not going to push

this because it would not have taken me anywhere so I let it go, the rest of the drive

was silent, not that we wanted to we were just dealing with too much and each one

of us was dealing with this differently, this was soo deep I could not even discuss it in

my therapy sessions. I sms’d Cindy asking her to bring me some painkillers I had a

horrible headache I was sure it was caused by all the vomiting from the previous

night and I didn’t want to tell my husband about the headache because I knew he

would have made a big deal about it. I arrived at work nice and early and went

straight to my cubicle to get some work done. Cindy arrived with muffins and coffee

she also brought me the painkillers which I took after downing 2 muffins, I’m not

even a big fan of those things but on that day since I had not eaten the night before I

was starving, I drank the painkillers after I finished eating and within 30 minutes after

that I was running to the bathroom to go throw up, I entered in one of the toilets and

everything I had eaten just came out, this was seriously starting to annoy me now.

As I was about to come out, I heard people talking the one was saying to the other

“I’m telling you, that woman is sleeping with Mfundo” and the other replied “have you

seen the way they look at each other, it’s as if they are ready to rip each other’s

clothes off, sies, some women have no shame” were these fools talking about me,

shit was it that obvious that Mfundo and I were having an affair, I opened the door

and made sure I made a noise with the handle while trying to open so they could
hear me, as soon as I came out they changed the topic without even flinching an

eyelid, these were professional gossipers, it was Andile’s PA and some admin lady,

no one important but if they continued talking like that this, this could land in wrong

ears and I had a reputation to matain, so I casually tried find out how much they

knew, I asked who was sleeping with who, they both looked at each other and acted

like they didn’t know what I was talking about, I told them that I had heard their

conversation about Mfundo and I was sure that Andile would not appreciate her PA

discussing her clients in toilets. The PA quickly answered and said she had heard it

from Andile, oh shit I thought, she went on and said that Andile suspected that Cindy

was sleeping with Mfundo because now Mfundo was insisting on having us back to

handle their account, in my head I was doing the moon walk I was just too happy, I

laughed out loud and told them that was ridiculous, washed my hands rinsed my

mouth and walked out. I got back to working and told myself I will just stay away from

sweet stuff they make me sick.

Lunch time Andile came and asked no not asked told Cindy and I that we will be

having lunch with her, I didn’t care as long as she was paying, she took us to

McDonald’s that woman has no respect how do you take grown folks for lunch to

McDonald’s were we supposed to have a bloody happy meal? I made sure I ordered

the most expensive burger not that McD’s has anything over R70, I was starving, I

ate a burger and fries and wanted another burger both Cindy and Andile looked at

me as if I had lost my mind as I gulped the second burger, damn McDonald’s had

never tasted as good as it did that day, I tried explaining to them that I was on

medication and it was making me hungry but why bother explaining myself, by the

way I was on medication that I had received from the therapy. While we were eating

Andile told us that the reason she had called this meeting, wait, was this a meeting
at McDonald’s bloody cheapskate? She said she needed us back on the account the

people who had taken over from us were not doing so great since we had not done a

proper hand-over they were thrown in the deep end and don’t really understand what

is going on, serves them right I thought. Before I could say anything Cindy replied

and said “hell will have to freeze over before we take that account again.” I was so

surprised by this response I became full immediately, what the hell was wrong with

this girl? After all I had done to get us back into that bloody office she was here

pulling the princess act. I cleared my throat trying to think of something clever to say

but nothing would come, Cindy continued, “the humiliation that you put us through

but removing us off the account was just too much, I’m sorry but we refuse to be

treated that way”. Did she just say “we” when did “we” discuss this, I so wished that

Andile had not ambushed us like that, at least given us some time to discuss this

amongst ourselves. I was dumb-struck could not think of a single thing to say, Andile

saw that as an agreement to Cindy’s statement and said if that’s how we feel then

she will take our response to the clients. Cindy then staged a walk out, I had no

choice but to follow since we had come with her car, damn I didn’t know that she had

it in her; we left Andile there mad as hell. I was sure she was going to give us written

warnings when she got back to the office.

As soon as we got in the car, I asked Cindy “what the hell was that all about?” She

smiled and said “sometimes you have to play hard ball, she shouldn’t think we

desperate”. I was too irritated to even ask any further questions, I told her to drive. I

was so mad at Cindy for screwing up our chances as soon as we walked in, my

collegues were asking what was the lunch all about with Andile, see what I mean

about open plan, everybody knows everybody’s business, if I continued working here

it would only be a matter of time before everybody knew about my affair. I told them
it was just to thank us for a job well done, I couldn’t tell people that we had just

rejected the offer to go back to our office, how stupid and foolish would I have

looked. I went back to work; I couldn’t even concentrate that’s how upset I was, my

phone rang it was Mfundo, the first thing he said without even saying hello was “what

silly little games are you playing? You told me you want our account back and now

Andile tells me you have just turned her down” I told him I would call him back and

hanged up, I couldn’t afford to have everyone listen to this conversation. I went back

to work and forgot about Mfundo and didn’t call him back until at 17:00 when my

husband called to say he’s outside our offices then crap I remembered I had

forgotten to call Mfundo but it was too late now, I put my phone on silence knowing

how stupid Mfundo can get and can just call anytime, I seriously needed to lay down

some ground rules with that man. With all the chaos that was going on in my life, I

needed a stress reliever someone like Mfundo. I found my husband at the parking

lot, he looked like he had aged by 5 years, stress can really kill a person. I got in and

we drove home, it was again silence, then he broke the ice and said “Honey, I’ve

been thinking since Katlego’s child is my only real child we should really push up

doing the ceremony I would never be able to survive loosing another baby.” To me

that felt like he had just put a knife in my heart.

I was soo hurt by my husband’s words “his only real child?” Why was he making this

sound like it’s my fault, I wanted to strangle him, what about Neo, what the hell was

he? I was so hurt my only answer to this was just floods of tears, he saw that I was

crying and stopped the car on the side of the road and came and opened the

passenger door, he apologised and said he didn’t mean it the way it came out, he

told me how much he loves Neo and I and in his eyes Neo will always be his son. I

wanted to believe him but the damage had already been done, I told him I was fine
even though inside I was broken into small little pieces but he couldn’t see that and I

was not about to explain it to him, even if I did he would not understand.

How do you make your husband understand the pain of knowing that another

woman has his baby and you don’t? How do you make any man understand that as

long as she is the baby mama and you not, she holds more power than you, it

doesn’t matter that you are the wife and she’s not, it doesn’t matter that you share

the same bed with the man every single night of your life and she does not, if he has

once had her and tasted her and got her pregnant who is to say it won’t happen

again? Marriage certificate means nothing but the baby means everything, I think

maybe because marriage is just on paper and a child is something that you can

touch and feel and is there forever. Ever notice how some baby mama’s as soon as

she and the father of the baby break up and he moves on she will be constantly

calling to say the baby is sick and notice how the baby daddy jumps and leaves you

with your mouth wide open. Girls, ladies, women whatever they might call

themselves but they always have a plan for their baby daddies, they never let them

walk scot-free, this is why I had always told myself I would never be involved with

any man who had a child unless if the woman was dead and buried and he took me

to her grave to prove it, but God has a great sense of humour cause here I was

married to a man with a kid outside our marriage a woman he had cheated on me

with. Mthobisi was still apologising not that I cared I just wanted to go home and

sleep and forget about this whole stupid day.

We got home and he said he would make us something to eat and told me to relax in

the couch and watch some tv, while he was making food I fell asleep in the couch

and was woken by him with food next to me, as soon as I looked at the food and the

smell, I was up from the couch running to the bathroom, he ran behind me and again
I started throwing up, now I was becoming worried maybe I really should think about

going to see a doctor. Mthobisi was in the bathroom with me and he had that

concern looked in his eyes and said this was all his mother’s fault, I had no strength,

I was feeling soo tired, I washed my mouth and told him I was going to bed and we

would talk in the morning, I didn’t even change into pyjamas I threw myself on top of

the bed and passed out. I walk up the next morning to find myself in a nightdress,

shame my poor husband had actually undressed me and dressed me I wondered

how he managed to do that but knowing hubby he was very resourceful.

I took a quick shower and grabbed some plain yoghurt from the fridge and kissed my

husband goodbye, he held me and wouldn’t let me go, he told me that we needed to

talk about yesterday I told him I would go see a doctor during lunch time and he said

he was talking about the Katlego and baby situation, my mood turned at the mention

of that woman’s name but I had to act smart so I said it’s okay we can go ahead with

the ceremony and do it this weekend, I could see the relieve in his face he said he

would speak with his uncle to organise since him and his mom were not in good

terms, I honestly didn’t care who handled what I just wanted to get the whole thing

over and done with.

On the way to work I was yawning so much exhaustion had me by the balls, didn’t

understand why since I had slept and had a good rest the night before. I got to work

after 8 and I was told by the guy who sits behind me that Andile was looking for

Cindy and I and said we should go to her office as soon as we arrived, what now I

thought, Cindy was not yet there and since she had nominated herself as our

spokesperson I was going to wait for her before going to Andile’s office. I ate my

yoghurt while waiting and my phone rang it was She Rocks, she said she was

resigning from her job and was selling the house and needed me to handle the sale
of the house as she was not going to be around, I asked where she was going she

said they had not yet decided but Siyabonga had asked her to disappear with him

and start a new life somewhere, they would probably go somewhere in the rural

areas start a new life and maybe even open a church, they were both very ambitious

I thought, I wanted to ask if she knew that people in the rural areas don’t give a tithe

of a R1000 like the people in Joburg, there is no church business in the rural areas,

yes I called it business cause churches have become money making businesses but

that’s a story for another day.

I asked if she was really sure about this and she told me it’s all she’s been thinking

about, Siyabonga is the one for her and she was not going to let him go, she was

going to make sure that things work between them, when a woman is in love there is

nothing you can say or do to change her mind, I told her I would support her and she

must let me know whatever she needs I’m there, she told me that she has cashed

out all her policies and savings and should be getting enough money to get them

started and live a cozy life for the next 6 months hopefully by then the house would

have been sold, she had really thought things through, I really admired her for

standing tall and proud for her man and I told her as much, she told me that when he

had asked her she had doubts and had told him that she would think about it, so they

will be meeting at lunch time is Sandton so she can break the good news to him that

she will be going with him. I asked when will they be leaving cause we needed to

throw her a farewell party she said she was not sure and would let me know after

she had meet and discussed things with Siyabonga, she really sounded excited

about this whole crazy adventure they were about to embark on, I was a bit scared

for her, how do you leave behind everything you have known all your life for a man, I

have seen that people are not always what they seem to be, we all have a past with
secrets, some with bigger secrets than others but one thing I have learnt is everyone

has that one dark secret that they would like to keep it closed and hidden and when

that secret comes out, it shatters everything, do not go around trusting everyone you

see and meet, you will get disappointed. I had actually forgotten that I was in an

open plan office by the time I was done on that call; people were discussing my

conversation like they were also part of it. Cindy had arrived I went to her desk and

told her we had been summoned she said “let’s let her fry a bit, we’ll go to her in 2

hours times” this girl had death wish she wanted to be fired I swear and was

dragging me in the firing line with her. I doubtfully agreed she told me to trust her she

had a plan, since I didn’t have a plan I had no choice but to go along with this.

An hour later I got a call from Mfundo I had to go outside to take this he was fuming

telling me how I had made a fool of him, told him I want the account back only to go

behind his back and reject it, I tried explaining that Cindy was the one delaying the

process he didn’t even give me that chance to explain instead he hung up on me,

well that was a first and hopefully the last I was not about to have a man that I could

not control, my husband was enough thank you very please. As soon as I got off the

phone I went straight to Cindy’s desk and told her let’s stop playing these silly

games, we walked to Andile’ s office, she was very sweet and polite as if we did walk

out on her at McD’s the day before this was definitely not the bossy bitchy Andile that

we were used to, damn Cindy had actually brought her to her knees, she was out

right begging us to take the account even promised us an incentive, god damn Cindy

agreed and said we would move back to our office the next day.

I knocked off and drove home to my husband extremely happy after knocking off. I

was in such a good mood I decided to prepare dinner before he got home, took a

bath and wore his favourite lingerie, a little something lacy black and blue and with
sexy g-string, I put on perfume on and made sure I looked and smelled extra sexy, I

loved my husband and there was nothing that I would not do in the world for him and

I wanted our marriage to work. I decided that tonight was going to be about us and

no one else. By 19:30 dinner was ready I had even lit the candles to make sure I set

the mood right, I usually did these kind of things for my husband when I wanted

something but this time I genuinely didn’t want anything this was my duty as a wife

and it was time I fulfilled my duties. I sat on our dinner table waiting for hubby but the

chairs were now starting to feel uncomfortable, I decided to go sit in the couch as I

waited, big mistake, I fell asleep and was woken up by a ringing sound, it sounded

very far I woke up, I got up looked around I didn’t even know where the noise was

coming from it was just very irritating, I opened my eyes then stood up, walked to

where the sound was coming from it was my phone I had left it in the kitchen, by the

time I got to it the phone had stopped ringing, I had 7 missed calls all from my

husband, damn I must have been real gone in my sleep to not have heard the phone

ringing so many times, time was now 21:17, I was still in my lingerie, where the hell

was my husband? My phone rang it was my husband again, first thing he said was

“Lee where the hell have you been, I’ve been trying to get hold of you for hours now”,

I calmly replied “I’ve been at home, waiting for you, where the hell are you?” he

impatiently said “listen to me and listen very careful, you need to get out of the house

now” I was not getting bored by this man’s nonsense now, “what’s that supposed to

mean?” “Honey please trust me on this, you have to get out of the house now,

please Lee this is a matter of life and death” did he say life and death, I ran to the

bedroom with the phone in my ear grabbed some jeans and a t-shirt and didn’t even

put them on just ran with them, I asked my husband where should I go? He told me

to get the car keys and run to the car.

I couldn’t find the car keys, I was panicking, and running around throwing things all

over the place moving cushions of the couch looking for the damn keys, my husband

on the phone kept asking me if I have found them and me screaming “shit, no, I can’t

find them anywhere” and him screaming “dammit Lee, think, think where did you put

the fucken keys, we don’t have much time” I was sweating like crazy, my husband

then said “okay honey, you going to have to go in the car and break the window, I

will talk you through how to hot wire it” as crazy as that sounded I was prepared to

do it, I said okay I will break the window as I was about to leave I saw the keys under

the table I went for them I told my husband I found the keys, I could hear the sound

of relieve from his voice, “now you have to run out of that house start the car and

drive as fast as you can out of there” I agreed he said he will stay on the phone with

me until I start the car, I opened the house door fearing the worst, with my bag, my

jeans and a t-shirt in hand I was still wearing my lingerie I figured I will change once I

know I’m safe. I didn’t run I sprinted to the parking lot nice thing about staying in a

complex is there are never too many people around and thank goodness there was

not a single soul around, I opened the car and jumped in, as I was about to start the

car I felt something cold touch my neck and heard a man voice say “and where do

you think you going?” then I heard the clicking of a gun sound being cocked.

Ohhhhhh shit!!!

I turned around to look at this man who was about to blow my brains out I wanted to

know who he was, he quickly told me to face forward and not look at him and then

asked me, “where is your husband?” I told him I didn’t know who he was talking

about and I was not married, now I understood how Peter denied knowing Jesus,

when you are faced with death there is no time to play nice, you deny anything that

will associate you with anyone that knowing them might put your life in danger but I
guess in this case I was wrong, you can’t bullshit a bullshiter because the man

simply laughed at me and said what was I doing in his car then, I knew I was

screwed so I said just asked what he wanted and he said, “I told you, I want your

husband” I still had my phone in hand so I lifted my phone to my ear and calmly said

“Honey, the man wants to speak to you” my husband said “shit Lee, whatever

happens just know that I love you”.

So was that our goodbye? Did that mean that I was going to die? I handed the phone

over to the guy who spoke softly to my husband, this man’s voice was not

aggressive at all, all he said was “give me my shit or your princess here dies”. Me

hearing the word “dies” freaked out, I was so not ready to meet my maker not like

this, I swung the door wide open and ran, I wasn’t just running I was screaming,

“help, help” I wanted to make sure that every single person in that complex heard

me, what’s the point of having so many neighbours if we can’t look out for each

other, I saw a few curtains being moved people peeking through their windows, one

young white man came out, he must have been 25years and asked what was

happening I said I was being robed, funny thing is while talking to him I was still

running so he had to run next to me to hear me, I guess it must have been the

adrenaline, he asked me to stop running and will take me to security, I stopped and

that’s when I realised I was practically naked and there were now a few people

coming to hear what all the commotion was about.

I wanted the earth to swallow me, the shame and embarrassment of being seeing by

all these people looking like that, some lady ran back to her house and came back

with a towel and gave it to me, I didn’t ask questions I quickly covered myself, there

was a black couple who were talking the most complain about how bad the crime in

this country was and how they were also robbed at their house 3 weeks ago, I didn’t
believe their story but it at least deviated the attention away from me for a bit.

Someone must have called security or they heard from all the noise that was being

made, they came and asked what happened, people of course pointed at me, I told

them that I had gone to my car to go get some work and there was a man inside,

security said I should take them to the car, now everybody was also following

behind, this reminded me a bit of the drama I had in Daveyton but there weren’t as

many people as there were in Daveyton.

I was ready for mob justice, I couldn’t wait for these people to beat that fool that was

in the car to a pulp, when we got to the car the car was empty, we searched

everywhere even underneath the car and nothing the man had vanished, worst of all

about this I didn’t even know what the bastard looked like, for all I knew he could be

in the crowd. Security guards went around the complex to go search for him while I

stood there with some of the people that stay there, they came back a few minutes

later and told us that there was no one around, they asked if I was sure that I had

seen a person in the car as if I was now crazy I said yes I was bloody sure, because

the person spoke to me. Security told me I could go wait with them at the gate until

my husband got home, people started going back to their places and I told security

to come with me while I changed and to make sure that there was no one in the

house, 2 of them came with me, they searched the house and again found nothing, I

quickly changed and packed an overnight bag and asked them to escort me to my

car, I asked them to check the car again, I could see they were bit annoyed by my

demands but they still checked it and said there was no one in sight, I thanked them

and asked if I should drop them off at the gate they said no they still needed to check

the grounds, I drove off. The gunman who was in the car had disappeared with my

phone, I couldn’t call anyone, I decided going to my parents was just too far and I
didn’t have the strength to explain myself to them so I drove to She Rocks Estate,

when I got to the gate security gave me a hard time telling me I needed a code from

She Rocks I asked them to call her after begging them for some time they eventually

gave in and called her, thank goodness she was home she told security to let me in I

drove to her place, she was already in her pyjamas it was almost 23:00, she asked

what was I doing there so late, she looked as miserable as I felt, I could see she had

been crying , I told her I was attacked she looked me over and asked if I was okay I

said I was a little bit shaken but would be fine, she made us tea and asked about

Mthobisi where he was when all this happened I told her I didn’t know, I was very

vague about the whole thing which made her realise that I was not ready to talk

about it.

We sat in silence for some time drinking our tea, each with their own thoughts. After I

was done with my tea I told her I was ready for bed, we went to bed, she has a 3

bedroom house but when I visit we always sleep in the same bed I guess cause we

always have so much to talk about but on this particular day, I was not in the mood

to speak and neither was she by the looks of things as soon as my head hit the

pillow I was gone fast asleep, a few hours later I woke up to go to the toilet, I cursed

myself for drinking that damn tea, as I was about to get up I could hear She Rocks

typing in her laptop, bloody hell doesn’t this woman sleep, I asked what she was

doing this time of the night she said without even looking up at me “research” and

went back to furiously typing, I went to the bathroom came back , I asked if she was

okay, my fingers were crossed that she would say she was fine and I could go back

to sleep, I was tired and honestly I had enough of my own problems and didn’t want

to hear about other peoples, but no she said something was wrong, I asked her

what, she said she didn’t know but could feel that something was not right with
Siyabonga, oh my gosh, men problems in the middle of the night was she for real,

speaking of men I suddenly remembered that I had not called mine to tell him where

I was, I asked She Rocks to borrow me her phone, she had left it in the kitchen I

went to go get it, there were a couple of missed calls from my husband on my

friend’s phone. I called him back his first response “Please tell me my wife is with

you, I’ve called everyone and..” I told him it was me and I was safe at She Rocks

house I could hear the sigh of relieve. He told me he had tried calling my phone and

that man kept answering telling him that I was in his boot, but he had called security

and they had told him what had happened they just didn’t know where I was and he

was worried. I asked where he was he said he was at my parent’s place he thought I

would be there be there.

I screamed at him “if you dare put my parent’s and our son’s lives in danger like you

did with mine I swear I will kill you” this must have taken him by surprise but I didn’t

care, it was enough that I was running away from guns I didn’t want my parents

going through that shit, they old how would they even run. He told me that he would

never do that, I screamed even more, “then why the hell are you doing it to me? Are

you not supposed to be protecting me? Because right now I don’t feel protected, I’m

tired of living like this, why can’t you be normal?” I was furious, Mthobisi said we will

talk more about this tomorrow as I was emotional right now, he said he had told my

parents that his car was giving him problems and he was in the area so he would just

sleep at their house and he had told me and I was okay with it. I said “whatever” and

hungup. I went back to She Rocks and told her that I had spoken to Mthobisi and

told him I was at her place, I was now so furious that I couldn’t sleep. I sat up and

asked her what she was researching she said “taxi violence”. Me ‘’errrrrr, okay, so

how happy was Siyabonga when you told him you going away with him?” to be
honest I was not interested in her answer, it was 03:45 am I was mad at my husband

and couldn’t sleep after that call so to get time going talking to her would probably

get me back to sleep.

She looked at me and said they didn’t meet, he never showed up and his phone has

been off ever since, she had left him countless messages and couldn’t get hold of

him she even went to his house, he was not there and she was seriously worried

about him, damn that got my attention, no wonder she looked so miserable, I told her

he was probably busy with church things and would call her back she said she

knows his schedule and he has no church things going on at the moment, I told her

that men sometimes disappear because they need space maybe she was just being

too clingy besides they were not married why was she stressing, she turned and

looked at me angrily “trust you to be insensitive about other people’s problems but

we must handle your problems with gloves, you are very selfish Lee.” With that she

walked out, what the hell was her problem, I wanted to go after her and tell her

where to get off, but I decided to let her cool off maybe I was a bit insensitive but she

didn’t have to be so dramatic, I dozed off and was woken up by She Rocks’s alarm

time was 05:00 she was still not in bed, I got up to tell her her alarm was on I found

her in the spare bedroom, this was funny we were like a married couple who had a

fight I told her the alarm had gone off she got up without even thinking twice and said

“let’s go” I told her I don’t start work till 8 she said “we going to the gym” what the hell

I don’t gym that early I told her she smiled and said “today you do” she took out

some gym clothes threw them at me and said I should change we leaving in 10 min I

quickly changed and in 10 min I was driving behind her to the gym. We drove to the

gym in Kylami, went to changing rooms and put our bags in lockers, I decided to

apologize for what I had said to her, she also apologized for calling me selfish, even
though I knew she meant it, but it was time I changed my evil ways she was right.

After gym I was exhausted She Rocks made me do all the hard machines I guess it

was punishment, I went to work today we were moving to our office, I was singing

inside “Oh happy day”. I got there and already our Pc’s had been moved to our

office, everyone in the office was giving me dirty looks, jelousy makes you nasty, I

smiled and greeted them as I walked past those horrible cubicles. I got in the office,

Mfundo was there with flowers, he smiled and said “this is to welcome you back to

the account and your office” how I hate flowers, I said thanks, I knew I was gonna

throw them in the bin the minute he walked out, I put my bags on the desk, some file

fell to the floor I bend down to pick it up with my ass facing him, this was not done on

purpose, I swear, he came behind me spanked my ass and said “dammit you so

sexy” I quickly stood up and as I turned around we were now facing each other, his

lips went for my lips, we had this long passionate kiss both focused on each other

until we heard someone at the door clearing their throat, we both jumped of each

other.

Oh my gosh, I didn’t know where to look, I was so embarrassed, I slowly walked over

to my chair and said to Mfundo thank you for the flowers, they are beautiful. The

person at the door was none other than Cindy, shit dammit I was screwed. Mfundi

could not even look at her in the eyes, he mumbled a “Hi” which Cindy replied to

cheerfully. Mfundo walked out, I started working well at least acted like I was

working, Cindy asked “is that how we got this account back? Lesedi are you fucking

Mfundo?” and I thought the cubicles were bad, I said “of course not, I am married for

goodness sakes” she looked at me angrily then said “is that why you didn’t want me

to date him, because you wanted him for yourself?” the girl was pissed, I tried

everything to deny it but she wouldn’t budge, she had seen what she saw and was
convinced that Mfundo and I were having an affair, what made matters worse was

the fact that she had thought that we had gotten this account because she played

hard ball only to be smacked in her face by the realization that it was because I was

banging Mfundo and that is how we got the account back, she said she was too

angry to talk to me or even look at me right now and would go out and come back

later I should cover for her I was not being asked I was being told to cover for her, I

said okay. I sat there feeling so bad for what had just happened, I couldn’t even

focus on work, my mind was all over the place, what if Cindy told Andiswa, I could

get into serious trouble, even lose my job, what the hell had I done? How could I be

so careless and stupid, I was so mad at myself.

My landline rang it was my husband, he said he was just checking if I got to work

safe, he said he thinks we should move from where we stay he had already found us

a place in Midrand, we will be moving the following week in the meantime we staying

at my parent’s place, wait what? Don’t I have a say in this? I asked him, he said we

were not safe at that place. Midrand? Really? We might as well be staying in Pretoria

that place is far I complained, my husband was getting impatient with my whining he

snapped at me “far from what Lesedi? Are you going to walk there? I am trying to

protect you, weren’t you the one screaming and shouting at me that I’m not

protecting you and when I do you give me hell, what do you want Lesedi please tell

me what it is that you want because right now you are being impossible”. Haaibo,

where did that come from? I said it’s fine we will do whatever he wants we always do

anyway and he snorted back “if you brought solutions instead of complaining then

maybe we would do what you want.” Damn he was in a bad mood. I asked him what

did he take from that man that had come to our complex last night because clearly

whatever it was it was very important to him, he snapped at me and said that is not
something that I should discuss with him over the phone. I said okay I will see him

later, he said “by the way tomorrow we doing the ceremony for Katlego’s child” shit I

had completely forgotten about that I said okay and hung up.

I went back to working, Cindy eventually came 3 hours later, I didn’t even want to

ask where she went. She looked at me and said “here is how this is going to work,

I’m not going to report you to Andiswa, knowing that crazy bitch she would probably

give you a raise for this, but if I feel that you are being favoured over me because of

your sleeping arrangements with Mfundo I swear to God Lee I will go straight to your

husband and tell him about this affair” that last statement made my stomach turn, I

just sat there dumb-struck, no words, speechless. Cindy then went to work and acted

like nothing happened and kept asking me questions all work related. At about 12:30

there was a knock at our office door, as I looked up it was my husband. He came to

me and kissed me and said he didn’t know we were back at our office, Cindy smiled

and said “your wife can be very convincing when she wants to be, she managed to

get us our office back”, Mthobisi looked at me and said “Wow Baby, well done, how

did you do it?” Cindy the bitch was really enjoying this she said “Yes Lee, tell your

husband how you managed to get us back into the office and the account, she is

such a miracle worker this wife of yours” I was annoyed now I said to my husband I

would tell him when we got home it was a long story, he said he bought me lunch, it

was prawns but the smell was so bad, I love prawns I asked him why they smelled

so bad and told him they were probably rotten I didn’t want them, Cindy said she

would have them he had also brought me a new phone and had done the sim swop

for me on it as well shame my husband can be sweet, I thanked him and he said he

would couldn’t stay long as he had to get back to work.

I walked him out to his car, on the way he told me to go to my parent’s house after

work, he will bring my clothes and the next day we would be going to his mother’s

house for the ceremony. I agreed realising that this shit was now serious. I went

back to the office and Cindy was all smiles she was even humming, the bitch had me

where she wanted me. I managed to do a bit of work and drove to my parent’s house

after work.

I got home and both my mom and Victor were already there my mom jokingly said if

we going to be there so much we need to start paying rent, we all laughed I played

with my son for a bit until my husband arrived with our suitcases, this man and

suitcases though. We went to bed, Mthobisi wanted to make love, I was tired, I had

been ready for him the night before but tonight I was not in the mood so I just laid

there while he did his thing, this was wrong but I was exhausted and honestly

couldn’t perform at all. When he was done he passed out, how boring, I laid there

with so many things running through my mind, I decided to tell my girls to come

support me tomorrow at my inlaw’s ceremony.

I didn’t know their numbers off by heart but I had all their business cards in my

business cards pouch, took their numbers from there and send them all each a

message telling them I needed them at Daveyton the next day, they all agreed that

they would be there, She Rocks said she would not stay for long coz she still had not

found Siyabonga, I said it was fine. Next morning it was Saterday morning we got up

early before my mom and Victor they sleep in on weekends we got dressed I wore

my traditional outfit and Mthobisi said we should go with one car, I told him my

friends would be coming he was happy and said I could do with the support. I wanted

this day to be over and done with already I was just over it.

We arrived at Mthobisi’s mom’s house, she was still in the wheelchair but bossing
people around, there were a few people helping with the cooking and shit and since I

was the makoti I was also expected to help out under normal circumstances I would

have helped out with the cooking but these were different circumstances I didn’t

have to do shit, and since hubby and his mom were not in good terms I could do as I

please. I went and greeted my mother-in law there were people around so I had to

be polite, Mthobisi didn’t even come close to her he went and to speak with his

uncles. I went to the bedroom and my friend’s arrived, looking supper gorgeous in

their traditional wear, we all went and sat in my husband’s bedroom, they saw the

child’s picture and commented on how pretty she was I gave them the death stare

which made them change the topic immediately. I asked She Rocks about the latest

on Siyabonga, she said even his family didn’t know where he was and it’s been more

than 48 hours so they have opened a missing person docket with the cops, shit this

was more serious than we had all thought. Cleo with her big mouth said “I hope his

not dead”.

We all turned and looked and her and she said “I’m just saying, we all know the

situation his in guys” I quickly said maybe he was just trying to avoid She Rocks the

stress of moving to rural areas and had just gone without her, in a few weeks he will

miss her and come back, I was trying to be positive and supportive as much as is

possible could after the mouth lashing I got from She Rocks I didn’t want to take any

chances. She Rocks said that she had thought the same thing but Siyabonga would

have never just left like that, something was not right. Andiswa changed the topic

and started asking about work, we all had so much to complain about, we were all

complaining about our bosses, that’s one thing that you can never go wrong on if the

conversation is going to the left shift it by asking about work. While we were still

talking there was a knock at the door, it was Koketso, she was late. I asked why
didn’t she come to help out earlier with the cooking she said Tshepang said she

shouldn’t he was standing in solidarity with Mthobisi against their mother, wow,

music to my ears. She Rocks said she was going to the toilet and walked out, this

was a perfect opportunity to talk about her, Andiswa quickly said “guys we need to

do something about her, she is going crazy” I told them about Mthobisi’s friend who

can track people’s phone and we all agreed that we will ask my husband after the

ceremony to find Siyabonga’s phone.

As we were talking She Rocks phone rang, it was a private number I took it and said

I will answer as I was answering her phone the door opened but I don’t think the

person who opened it realised that there were people inside, she was busy talking to

the people that she was with and her back was to us. I was still on She Rocks phone

the person on the other end said, “I’m sorry to have to tell you this but we believe

that we have found your fiancé and he was shot, I’m sorry but he is dead” I said I’m

sorry what then the woman who was standing at the door said “and this is where my

precious daughter was conceived” she said turning around to find all of us staring at

her, my mouth was wide opened it was soo obvious this standing in front of us was

Katlego and did she just say her daughter was created in this room? I still had the

phone in my ear and the lady was screaming “ma’am are you okay? Are you still

there? We will need you to come and identify the body, I gave the phone to Andiswa

and jumped on top of Katlego and started beating the bitch down.

Katlego had no chance I jumped her from behind and started throwing punches, the

ladies who were with her didn’t know what to do, I also don’t know what had gotten

over me I am not like that, I am well behaved and always together well not always

but most of the times, okay maybe not even most of the time but this thing deserved

to be put in her place and sometimes words just don’t have as much of an impact as
a beat-down. You can talk until you are blue in the face and the person you talking

to might not even have a conscious some people are heartless and the only

language they understand is a proper beating, note this only applies from one

woman to another, not man, the only time a man should lift a hand to a woman is to

hand her money or his credit card but that’s a story for another day, back to the

situation at hand which was not one of my proudest moments but it had to be done,

neke kgalemela lenyatso, direct translation stopping the looking down on other

people. How dare she come into my home, I know it was not my home but my in-

laws but it’ the same as my home, I’m married into that home so it’s mine dammit,

did she say her baby was conceived in my husband’s bedroom, I punched even

harder and the thought of that, as the 2 ladies she was with were about to come and

stop the fight, Koketso jumped in front of them and closed the door, this also caught

me by surprised and she stood there just watching the fight, Katlego tried throwing

her arms around hoping she would hit me but I made sure that she does touch me at

all.

I was pulling her weave out which must have hurt but I didn’t care, I was taking out

all my stress and frustrations on her. Andiswa and Cleo came to try and stop me,

they pulled me off her as I let go she slapped me across the face soo hard that my

ears were buzzing, I tried going back to her but my friends were holding me

back. Koketso also held her hands trying to stop her from slapping me again; she

started screaming “what is your problem, are you insane? How dare you attack me

like that.”, the door opened and She Rocks and the ladies Katlego had come with

entered, I screamed back “that’s for sleeping with my husband you bitch” one of the

ladies looked at her and with shock in her face asked “you slept with her husband”

Katlego replied, “she’s mad, I don’t even know who her husband is” She Rocks
interrupted and asked what was going on, everybody was just talking all at

once. Katlego took her friends and they left with me standing there holding a few

pieces of her weave in my hand, I don’t condone violence but that felt good, I felt like

jumping up and down, it was small victory but it felt great.

The victory was short lived though as soon as we had all calmed down from the fight

I had to tell She Rocks about the call, I didn’t know whether to tell her now or after

the ceremony, this ceremony to me was a joke, I could not wait to have it over and

done with. Koketso looked at me and said “damn Lee, when did you become so

ghetto? I didn’t know you had it in you” I looked at her and asked what was the

closing of the door all about she said she wanted to make sure that I beat the shit out

of her without any interruptions, She Rocks was on the floor laughing she said “Lee

each time you come to Daveyton you create chaos, I think you are cursed with this

place, maybe you should stop coming here” she was laughing so hard she couldn’t

even finish her sentences. Andiswa and Cleo on the other hand were not amused at

all, they kept asking why did I do that, and I should have taken the higher ground and

just ignored her, Koketso was arguing that I did the right thing and She Rocks just

thought the whole thing was to funny she could not stop laughing it broke my heart

knowing what I knew so I decided to let her have a bit of fun and I would tell her after

the ceremony.

Koketso said she would go out and see if things were in order outside and if people

had heard about the fight. She came back and told us the ceremony had not started

and they saying they waiting for Katlego, we all figured that she must have gone

back home to fix herself up after that fight, why the hell was her head not covered

anyway I thought. A few minutes later Mthobisi came into the room and said that

Katlego had just called his mom and her kid had relapsed and she was rushing the
kid to hospital, he said we should go too. I looked at him and said “excuse you?” I

was in no mood for round two with Katlego I told him if he wants to go he can go to

his “other family” I was not going anywhere near another hospital anytime soon,

dammit I had had it with hospital. My friends gave me the “go” look but I was

serious, I was not going there. My husband realising that my friends were listening

to this conversation asked if we could speak outside. We went outside and he told

me that this might be his only chance of seeing his daughter alive but if I felt so

strongly against him going to the hospital then he won’t go. Damn this man was

good, how do you refuse after being hit with such a line, I agreed but told him he

could go on his own I will not be going, I told him that Katlego and I got off on a

wrong start he asked what I meant by that I said I’m sure she will tell you when you

see her, he looked confused but he had to rush to the hospital and couldn’t ask any

further questions which suited me just fine.

Mthobisi’s mom made an announcement that the ceremony will have to be

postponed due to the baby being sick and in hospital, people were disappointed

especially since most were just there for the food and someone in the crowd asked

what about the food, she told them they can stay and eat the food and there was

happy noises all around, forget that the child whom the ceremony was being made

for was in hospital, all they cared about was their stomach not that I blamed them.

Since there was no point in staying in Daveyton the girls and I decided to go out for

brunch I didn’t have a car so I drove with Andiswa and She Rocks and Cleo followed

behind us, on the way Andiswa and I were planning on how to break the news to

She Rocks about Siyabonga, and we both decided the sooner we tell her the better

for all we know the person they found was probably not even Siyabonga. Andiswa
had taken the details of where we were supposed to go and identify the body; it was

in Midrand so we drove to News Café in Midrand, the one in San Ridge Square.

She Rocks kept calling us asking where we were going and why we were going to

Midrand when there are so many restaurant’s in East Rand where we can have this

bloody brunch, we kept telling her we haven’t been to Midrand in ages and we

needed a change of scenery, she followed behind us moaning, sending us voice

notes every chance she got shouting at us. Cleo didn’t care; she stayed in Pretoria

so this was close to home for her. We arrived at News café and before we could

even sit down Cleo was already ordering a drink, we all turned and looked at her she

said “what? It was a long drive, and too much drama for me to handle, I need to calm

myself down” we all laughed. We ordered drinks and for some reason She Rocks

wanted a virgin cocktail, Andiswa ordered for her a whisky, She Rocks asked why

are we trying to get her drunk, we said there is something we need to tell her but she

has to drink something alcoholic first, that got her very curious, as soon as our drinks

arrived, she down the whisky in one go and said “okay, now tell me” Andiswa looked

at me and said I should speak I rolled my eyes at her and gave her the I hate you

look and said to She Rocks, “when you went to the bathroom in Daveyton a call

came in on your phone, it was the police, they found a body and think it might be

Siyabonga.” Tears just started flowing out of She Rocks face, she was even shaking,

she demanded to know where the body was, we told her we have the mortuary

address it’s somewhere here in Midrand and that is why we had decided to come

here, the waitress came and asked if we were ready to order food, we asked for the

bill Andiswa paid and we left, I had to drive She Rock’s car as she was heavily

shaken, we drove to the address Andiswa had taken, arrived there and we told them

who we were, I had never been to a mortuary before and this was going to be one
scary experience, looking through dead bodies, I don’t know how the people who

work there do it.

We were told to go to some office and wait there, while waiting Cleo said “we should

have gone pass a bottle store before coming here” no one said a word we were all

silent, a man came and we asked if he was going to take us to the room where all

the bodies were, he said no, they have pictures and we can identify him in pictures

we don’t have to go through that trauma of walking around bodies, thank goodness

for technology. He showed us the pictures of 3 guys they looked nothing like

Siyabonga, he said they had not been identified we were all so relieved that it was

not him and then a lady came in carrying a big brown envelope and whispered

something in his ear and left, he opened the envelope and said we should also look

at this picture too, as soon as he put it on the table we all knew without a doubt that

was Siyabonga, Cleo screamed out the loudest and started crying, She Rocks was

in so much shock she just kept nodding and didn’t say a word, there was a small

fridge in there, the guy saw our shock and took out water and gave us cold water

and said he will give us some privacy, we sat there for maybe 15 minutes all in

silence Cleo sobbing like a child She Rocks just nodding her head like a crazy

person. They say grief occurs in 5 Stages, first its denial and I figured She Rocks

was in denial and disbelief. Second stage is Anger, third stage is Bargaining forth

Depression and the last stage is Acceptance. Andiswa and I were just sitting there

trying to figure out what to say, what do you say in such a situation, sorry just didn’t

feel like the right word to say, condolences also didn’t feel right.

This man was She Rocks life she had put all her hopes and dreams on him and their

future looked soo bright but now within minutes her whole world had just crumbled

down right in front of her eyes and the worst part about it there was not a single thing
any of us could do to reverse it. This girl had suffered so much in her life and for this

to happen, this just made one realise how unfair life was. Her parents had died

tragically and now her future husband, what’s one supposed to do when life just

throws you disaster after disaster, I truly felt her pain it was as if this was happening

to me that’s how much I loved my friend. Eventually She Rocks stood up and said

we should leave, we all followed behind her in silence not sure exactly of where we

were going when we got to the parking lot she said we need to go tell Siyabonga’ s

family. I was a bit hesitant but since I was her driver I didn’t have much of a choice

on the way Cleo said we should pass by the taxi rank she needs to get something

she made us park on the side of the road, I knew there was a bottle store just before

the taxi rank and Cleo had gone there to get booze, she is such an alcoholic, she

came out with 2 plastic bags, I didn’t even want to ask what she had bought. We

drove from Midrand to Soweto and all the way She Rocks was silent, not a single

word. When we got to Soweto she directed me to Siyabonga’ s mother’s house then

looked at me and said “it’s my fault that he’s dead, I couldn’t be happy with the fact

that he was a mechanic I had to push him to do more, I looked at all of you and all

your husbands are making money, Mthobisi has a decent job, Andiswa is dating a

doctor, Cleo’s husband makes lots of money and I just wanted Siyabonga to also be

successful, I pushed him into this transport business and look where that got him,

why couldn’t I just be happy with what he had and what he was? Why did I have to

try and change him into something that he was not? Why Lee, Why?” and she broke

down and started crying, I didn’t know she felt that way and I had no words to

respond to that I just held her in my arms and told her everything was going to be

okay, even though I didn’t believe that but saying it felt like the right thing to say and

that moment, Cleo came to the car and had mixed up something I don’t know what it
was but it had vodka in it, she gave it to She Rocks to drink and said it will calm

down her nerves, She Rocks drank it in one go, then she gave her a gum and said

that should cover the smell of alcohol, damn Cleo is a pro-drinker.

As we were about to enter Siyabonga’ s mother’s house my phone rang, I had

forgotten to put it on silence which actually reminded everyone to put their phones on

silent, it was Mthobisi’ s mother, what did the witch want, I dropped the call as I was

about to turn it on silent she called again, damn this woman, I dropped

again. Andiswa asked if we were ready we said yes as we were standing outside

knocking at the door an sms from my mother in law came in “Answer your bloody

phone this is important”. She can’t even fake being nice on an sms, mean machine.

I told the girls to go in and I decided to call her back there was not even a Hello

“Lesedi, what the hell is wrong with you?” I knew she was referring to the fight but I

decided to amuse myself and act dumb, I asked her what she was talking about she

shouted and said she’s talking about the woman that I had beat up in her house, I

snorted back and said “you mean your other daughter in law, Katlego?” she asked

what was I talking about because Katlego had not even come to the house she said

“the woman you beat up you stupid girl was not Katlego it’s the woman I bought the

house from she used to stay here before I moved here, how stupid can you be going

around beating up people, she has opened a case of assault against you and now

the police are here looking for you.”

What had I done?

Did she say the police were looking for me? I had beaten up a wrong person?

Assumption truly is a mother of all f&*k up’s. What were the chances, I mean the

stupid woman walked in there like she knew the place and when she said Mthobisi’s
room is where her baby was conceived I mean I was convinced that she was

Katlego, shit I had beat up a wrong person, no wonder the poor woman thought that I

was crazy. These kind of mistakes happen all the time, you get accused of cheating

with a collegue or a friend or worse someone that you don’t even know, it goes to

show how insecure we woman can be. I still had my mother in law on the phone

yapping and yapping none-stop, I needed to think I went to She Rocks car and sat

there, Mthobisi’s mother asked where I was because she wanted to send the Police

to me, she said she was not going to assist a fugitive, I was now being called a

fugitive by my own mother in law the way she was going on you would have sworn I

had killed a person, I told her this was an honest mistake I thought that she was

Katlego and that got her even more angrier “so if it was Katlego that gives you a right

to hit her? Lesedi you deserve to go to jail, you are a danger to society, look at what

you did to my car.” Was she really going to bring up the past now? And knowing

what she does, was she seriously calling me a danger to society, talk about a pot

calling a kettle black. I realised that there was no wining this argument so I hung up

and called my husband, he said he was in hospital, Katlego’s kid wass extremely

sick the doctors can’t figure out what is wrong with her all they knew was her life was

hanging by the thread, I actually felt sorry for Katlego, I asked my husband if Katlego

had come by the house in Daveyton, I wanted to make sure I couldn’t trust his

mother he said no she didn’t, the baby had been sick from the night before so she

couldn’t come to the house today because the child’s condition had just gotten

worse.

Oh shit, that witch was not making up stories, I didn’t know if I should tell him then

that I was now wanted by police he was already going through so much I didn’t want

to add to his burdens. I told him I will be praying for Katlego’s baby and to stay
strong, I also told him how much I loved him and how the child was going to pull

through this, I was trying even though it was hard to be a supportive wife. I stayed in

the car for some time waiting for the girls, I couldn’t exactly go inside at this stage, I

was also not in the mood for tears I knew people in there were probably all just

crying buckets and buckets of water, I had the police to worry about. I didn’t know if I

should hand myself in or run, I could not imagine myself in jail, orange is soo not my

colour. I had to come up with a plan, maybe if I go and apologise to the woman, or

maybe in court I could claim insanity, already a lot of people were starting to think I’m

mad, I could pay my therapist to testify and say I was not okay upstairs, shit all my

ideas were stupid, why couldn’t I think like my husband. I needed him right now, but

in the same breath I didn’t want to be selfish, he was facing a life and death situation

and mine was not that urgent. After what felt like hours the girls finally came out and

I still had not had any good plan to get myself out of the mess I had created. She

Rocks said she would be staying over and if we wanted to go it was okay she

understood. She didn’t have to tell me twice, I hugged her and told her that she will

be in my thoughts and prayers, Cleo and Andiswa had actually wanted to stay but

seeing me so jittery they knew something was up and they also said their goodbyes

and we left I drove with Andiswa she asked what the hell was going on, I told her we

should stop at the garage so we can check on Cleo, I called Cleo and told her to

follow us to the garage, when we were there I told them that I had beat up a wrong

person, Andiswa went on her high and mighty horse and told me how she told me

so, I honestly did not need this right now, I told her to drop me off at my mother’s

house, she said maybe I should go to her place since my mother in law didn’t know

where she stayed and would not send police to her house, we agreed, Cleo said she

was going home she was tired and tipsy, the whole time while they were inside
Siyabonga’ s mother’s house Cleo had a water bottle filled with alcohol and was

pumping herself with alcohol, people thought she was drinking water but she was in

fact drinking alcohol. I told her to drive carefully and watch out for roadblocks

especially in her condition, or we could end up being cellmates; she laughed and

said I had a temper problem and need to work on it before I hurt someone real bad,

this was the alcoholic friend telling me that I have a problem.

I told her she had a drinking problem and AA was waiting for her, we all laughed.

Andiswa and I drove to Fourways and Cleo drove home. When we arrived Andiswa

opened a bottle of wine and we drank all our problems okay maybe not all our

problems but most of our problems and just talked nonsense the whole time. My

husband called to ask where I was, I told him I was in the North of Joburg with

Andiswa, he screamed and told me that it was not safe for me to be anywhere near

Fourways, he said he was on his way to pick me up, didn’t even give me a chance to

explain myself. I told Andiswa that hubby was on the way and I will be leaving soon

she was disappointed but said if anyone could keep me safe it was my husband. In

less than half an hour Mthobisi was calling saying he’s outside, he didn’t even want

to get inside, Andiswa walked me out, Mthobisi waved at her and I got in the car and

we left. The first thing I got when I went inside the car was “Lesedi, how many times

do I have to tell you the same thing?” he went on about how he had told me to stay

away from this side of town but I never listen to him I always do what I want when I

want, the man was obviously stressed over other things and taking it out on me but

as a good wife I had to be silent and let him take it all out, in the middle of the

freeway I told him to stop the car, he looked at me and said I don’t need to be

dramatic just because he’s shouting at me there is no need for me to want to get off

in the freeway, how will I get home and what will he say to my parents, I screamed
“Mthobisi stop the fucken car I need to throw up” with hearing that he swerved the

car to the left almost missing another car by inches and hit dead-break and came out

to my side, by then I was already out throwing up like crazy, he asked what had I

been drinking I told him wine, he said that’s it, he’s taking me to a doctor tomorrow I

have been sick like this for days, I need to get medication before things gets out of

control. I agreed that we will go and see a doctor tomorrow because I was also

starting to get worried now. He had water and gave me some to rinse my mouth then

we drove home to my mother’s house.

When we got home my mom and Victor were watching old boring movies so we

decided to go sit in the pool with Neo, the sun had already gone down but it wasn’t

dark. I asked him about Katlego’s baby he said she’s not doing too well and things

are not looking good and he is angry at Katlego for not telling him about the baby

sooner and was even having doubts of whether this really is his baby but he couldn’t

exactly ask her to do a DNA test not with the baby being sick like that, I actually felt

sorry for my husband he was going through so much. He told me that the only

people that mattered in the world and the only people that he cared most about was

me and Neo we were his number one priority. He was teaching Neo how to swim

and they kept splashing me with water, this was such a beautiful sight, my family

together. After playing around with Neo for some time he was tired so my husband

took him to his nanny for a bath. We went inside the house to have dinner, to our

surprise my sister and her husband had just arrived for dinner. My sister was very

happy to see us, as for Lwazi her husband he couldn’t even look at us in the eyes,

not that I blame him after our last interaction, I went and hugged my sister and

looked her over looking for any signs of bruises and there were none, I even realised

that she was not wearing any make-up so things must have been good at home, at
least my husband did one thing right, Lwazi now knew not to mess with my sister or

his ass would be buried. We sat down and ate dinner, Mthobisi spoke to Lwazi as if

nothing had ever happened between the two of them he spoke as if they were the

best of friends he was even inviting Lwazi to go play golf with him, I wanted to laugh

but I managed to hold it in, Lwazi of course came up with every excuse in the book

not to go play golf with my husband, not that I blamed him, who knew what could

happen if he won against my husband, I’m sure that is what he thought, Mthobisi

would bury him for wining against him.

We all had a good diner my mom had gone all out, it was like the last supper, there

was starters, main course and desert, by the time we got to desert my stomach was

so full I felt like I was about to burst. After dinner Naledi and her husband left they

said their nanny will give them hell if they get home too late. We walked them out

and they said our goodbyes, we went back to the house and Victor and my mom

said they would be going to bed, we said we will stay up and watch some Tv. We

watched a bit of tv, then there was a knock at the door, I thought it was Naledi and

that she had maybe forgotten something, I told Mthobisi to go open the door, he

opened and then closed it immediately then looked at me and said “shit Lee it’s the

cops” my heart almost came out of my mouth I knew they were here for me, I said

“oh God Mthobisi they here for me” they knocked harder and threatened to break the

door down if we don’t open. Victor and my mom had now been woken up by the loud

noise and they came to see what was going on, Mthobisi was still standing by the

door my mom asked why is he not letting them in and he should open the door

before they break it. Mthobisi opened the door and the policeman said “we are here

for Lesedi Hlatshwayo Jumbe” Victor stepped up and asked what the hell was going

on and why were they looking for me in the middle of the night, the policeman said
they have been looking for me all day, and they were here to arrest me on charges

of assault. My mother looked at me and asked “Lesedi, what have you done?” she

looked at Mthobisi who was as clueless as she was.

Mthobisi asked “who did you assault Lee? When? How?” he was so confused, the

police explained that I had beaten up a woman who used to stay at my mother-in

laws house and accused her of sleeping with my husband. My mother looked at me

and I could see the disappointment in her eyes she simply said “I did not raise you

like that” and walked off to her room, the police took out hand cuff and read me my

rights, I didn’t even know that in South Africa people get told their rights I only

thought it happened in the movies, there were 2 cops the female and a male, the

female police took out handcuff and was getting ready to cuff me, Mthobisi told her

there was no need for that, she insisted that it was procedure and they have to cuff

me, I was numb, I couldn’t even speak. They cuffed me and took me outside and

there was a van waiting for me, I couldn’t get in with those stupid cold handcuffs in

my hand she untied me and told me to get in. Mthobisi said he will follow the van to

the police station and I shouldn’t worry he will get everything sorted, he will call his

lawyer. The police van drove off with me sitting at the back crying my eyes out. What

the hell have I done?

The drive to the police station felt like the longest drive of my entire life, I was shit

scared not knowing what was going to happen when I get there. We finally arrived,

the female cop open the door for me and told me to get out, she told me to walk next

to her, I guess this was to make sure that I don’t run away not that I would be

that stupid, I know how trigger happy the police can be, one mistake and you could

be kissing a bullet. We went inside and they wanted my details not that they didn’t

already have them thanks to my mother in law. They wanted my work address which
for obvious reasons I gave them a wrong work address and telephone numbers the

last thing I wanted was police showing up to arrest me at work, that would be more

than humiliating, I would have to move to a different country and change my name

after that kind of humiliation. After giving them all my details and statement on which

I stated this was a case of mistaken identity which of course the stupid cops just

laughed at and said I was lying and maybe the woman whose name I learned was

Lilian Sibeko was sleeping with my husband and that is why I beat her up.

The cops that were taking my details and statement were different cops from the

ones that arrested me. They told me to remove all my jewellery, my belt and

shoelaces I was told this was to make sure that I don’t hang myself, I assured them

that I wouldn’t and I was told that’s what everyone says and the next thing they find

them in the cell hanged with a belt, they also took my cellphone and was told I will

spend the entire weekend there since the courts only operate Monday to Friday and

it was only Saturday. After all that I was taken to a holding cell, as I was being

escorted my husband budged in he asked if I was okay to which I shook my head, he

told me not to stress he will get me out, he was alone, I was expecting him to show

up with his army to bust me out, I asked where the lawyer was he said he was on his

way, but I could see something was wrong I didn’t get a chance to ask, the cops told

me to keep going they don’t have time to waste. In my entire life I had never been in

holding cell or anything that resembled prison, not for public drinking when it was still

illegal or for drinking and driving, or for tickets, my husband always manages to get

our tickets squashed I didn’t know how I just reap the benefits of driving without any

outstanding fines because if you get stopped on the roadblock and you have

outstanding tickets you either pay on the spot or get sent to prison. The place is

disgusting it’s no place anyone would wish to find themselves in, there were 2 ladies
in there sitting on the floor they had wrapped themselves in the filthy blankets from

there. The prison guard locked the huge ass gate behind me as soon I entered, I

greeted the ladies and remained standing, they signed for me to sit down next to

them and I told them I would rather stand thanks, the smell from the blankets was

enough to make me want to throw up.

One of the ladies asked “so how far are you?” I gave her the blank stare, I didn’t

understand the question and I replied “far from what?” the other one said on your

pregnancy, I laughed to which they both gave me confused stares; I told them I was

not pregnant not even close. The other one said “yes you are” what was this being

told my life by two jail birds? I ignored them and asked how long had they been

there, they said since last night, they said they were sisters and the boyfriend had

promised to give the other sister money so they went to his house to get the money

when they got there they found the man without another woman and beat the shit out

of them both, the girl had managed to escaped but the guy is now in hospital, Jesus

Christ, imagine being beat up in your own house for your money, damn these girls

were brutally, they asked me why I was there I said I beat up the woman who slept

with my husband, I didn’t feel like going into details about the whole mistake, at the

hearing of the beating of someone they got all excited stood up the other one gave

me a high five and the other a hug, we had just formed a bond by beating up other

people, this was crazy. I was waiting for that gate to open any second and to be told

that I was getting out of this place. The floor was cement, no tiles, no carpet just

cement, the place was seriously cold and I was starting to shiver from the cold so the

two crazy sisters offered me a blanket, it was now getting late and time for being

fussy was gone, I took the filthy smelling blanket and covered myself. The two sisters

were all chitty chatty, I answered where I could but my mind was not there at all, not
that they noticed, I didn’t know what time it was as I had no watch or cell phone but I

eventually fell asleep which means my husband had failed me, I had spent the entire

night in a holding police cell.

The next morning I got up feeling extremely cold, some police officer came to tell us

about breakfast, eeeuww, there was no way in hell was I going to eat prison food. I

asked if my husband was there he said no, shit what the hell happened to him last

night? A few minutes later I was called out and I was told that I was being released, I

was so happy, I hugged my two new found friends and wished them luck and walked

out, I didn’t even get their names they must have said them but for the life of me I

could not remember. As I walked out I found my mother in law there all smiles in her

wheelchairs, where the hell was my husband. I wanted to grab the chair from

beneath her but I had to behave I was still at the police station, I asked what she was

doing there, she said she had bailed me out and the least I could do was be grateful.

I faked a smile and said thank you, I asked where Mthobisi was and she said he was

somewhere sulking because she had told all their lawyer associates not to help him

in getting me out, I asked why would she do something like that, she said she

wanted to show him that he still needs her, the things this woman does are just too

mind blowing. I went and signed my cellphone and jewellery out and by some

miracle it was all there. She said she would take me home, she had a driver, who

was driving her, she was now showing us her true colours. When we got in the car

she said “I have spoken to Lilian and made her understand that you are not all there”

she said pointing to her head, meaning that I was out of my mind so she convinced

Lilian to drop the charges against me and in return she wanted me to convince my

husband to start speaking to her. I looked at her and wanted to ask if she had lost
her mind, after all the shit she had put him through, but after spending a night behind

bars I didn’t want to get into this woman’s bad books I smiled and said I will.

When we arrived home, my husband was on the phone to say he was surprised to

see me would be an understatement, when he saw me he ran towards me, hugged

me, lifted me in the air and asked if I was okay, I told him I was fine, he asked how

did I get out, I pointed to the door, his mom was being wheeled in by her driver. My

husband looked at her and said “you not welcomed here” his mom replied “is that the

thanks I get for getting your wife out of jail” I didn’t have strength for this fight, I had

just spent the night sleeping on the floor with stinking blankets I was exhausted and

all I wanted was a nice warm bath and my bed. I told my husband and his mom that I

was going to take a bath and left them there at each other’s throats. I went to my

room switched on my phone and I had countless messages, which I decide I would

check them when I was done bathing. I left the phone on top of the bed and went to

go bath. I took a nice long warm bath which was so relaxing I found myself dozing off

a couple of times, I didn’t want to get out of the bath, I wanted to stay there forever,

life would have been simple that way and I would not have to worry about jails and

defending myself from one person to another. How I missed being young and having

no responsibilities or problems, it’s funny how life works, when you are young you

wish to be grown up and when you grown up you wish you were young, it goes to

show that we are never satisfied with anything that we have. I got out of the bath,

feeling rejuvenated, I went back to my room to find Mthobisi’s mom there I asked

what she was doing she said she was waiting for me, she said we had a deal, she

got me out of jail and I was supposed to speak to her son and convince him to

forgive her, I said I will do it but she should wait a few days for him to calm down.

She looked at me and said “I’m not a very patient person so I took it upon myself to
make sure that you get me back in my son’s good books” I was now seriously getting

bored by this old witch, I told her to please leave my parents house and to stop

forcing this issue. She cleared her throat and said “whose Mfundo and why does he

keep calling you? Earlier on when you were in the bath, he called a few times and

the fourth time I decided to answer the first thing he said was “Baby are you okay?”

now I’ve already put 2 and 2 together and if I can pass this information to your

husband rest assured you will wish you were still behind bars.”

My eyes popped wide opened she continued, “I’m going to ask you a very simple

question and your answer will determine your future as my daughter in law.”

Are you going to help me or not?”

I held her by her arms and said “there is nothing going on between Mfundo and I, my

husband, your son, he knows him, they are friends” I know the friends part was a lie

but she didn’t know that. “You want to go and tell him that he said “Baby” on the

phone, he calls me that even in front of my husband but by all means go ahead and

tell him and see if it is going to make any difference in his life” I was bluffing here and

in my heart I was praying that she doesn’t go to my husband with this, he would bury

me alive. She looked at me and smiled and said “Okay, I’m sorry Lesedi, I’m just

desperate, I need my son back” Did she just apologize to me? Pig were going to fly,

never in my wildest dream did I think I would hear such words coming out of her

mouth directed to me. I told her I would speak to Mthobisi she thanked me and left. I

got dressed and went to go find my husband who was by the garden playing soccer

with our son, he said She Rocks had called a few times asking where I was, oh shit,

my friend was going through hell and I was going through my own drama, I told him

we should go to Siyabonga’s mom’s place to show our respects, he agreed and said

we will go after lunch. I knew what that meant it meant I had to cook Sunday lunch
since my mom and Victor had gone to church. I went to the kitchen and started doing

the whole seven colours thing that every black family does on Sunday complete with

beetroot. When my mom and Victor arrived I was almost done, my mom looked at

me and said “you back from prison?” I told her it was not prison it was just holding

cells. She asked where did I learn to beat up people? I told her it was once off thing

and will never ever happen again, I apologized to both her and Victor for shaming

and embarrassing them like that and told them it would never happen again. I served

lunch at exactly 13:03 Victor enjoyed every single thing on the plate he was even

chewing the chicken bones and so did my husband and my mom, I’m not good but

excellent at this cooking business.

After lunch my husband and I drove to Soweto, on the way he told me that our place

in Midrand was ready and we will be moving there the next day which was Monday, I

told him I can’t take time off work people were already complaining that I’m acting

like I’m related to Jesus with so many days off, he laughed it off and told me I don’t

have to worry about that he had hired a moving company to help us with the moving,

they will pack everything for us and send it to our new place, we just need to go to

our place after leaving Siyabonga’s house to just mark what needs to be packed with

what he had stickers from the moving company that we will use. I asked him about

his mom, he switched me off immediately and told me he didn’t want to talk about

her, I decided to let it go. I asked him why were we running and what were we

running away from, and my husband said I shouldn’t concern myself with

unimportant things, errrr how was this unimportant, this man mara, he said he will do

everything in his power to make sure that I am safe and secured and he loves me

completely and fully and would never let any harm come my way. My husband is

good with words and also very good at avoiding questions he never answers
anything directly. We arrived at Siyabonga’s mom’s place, Cleo and Andiswa’s cars

were already there, I wondered if were we expected to come here every day, She

Rocks was nowhere in sight, Cleo and Andiswa were serving tea and scones to

people that had arrived. They saw me and Cleo came to us.

She said we should go to the bedroom to give Siyabonga’s mom our condolences,

we went to the bedroom where Siyabonga’s mom was sitting on the mattress with

She Rocks, damn my girl had made it into the mattress, that’s a big deal in black

people’s culture, it meant she was accepted as Siyabonga’s bride. We sat down and

greeted them, Mthobisi did all the talking, he told his mom how his son was a good

person and how he didn’t deserve to have what happened happen to him and how

sorry he was and if there was anything she needed she should let us know.

Siyabonga’s mom thanked us for coming and said he’s son was lucky to have such

good friends. My husband took out a roll of R100 I don’t know how many hundreds

there were but there were lots it must have been almost R2000 and put it next to

Siyabonga’s mom and we walked out.

The girls and I finally got a few minutes to talk, I told them about my ordeal of

spending the night behind bars, Cleo said “I told you so” Andiswa laughed and said

maybe my mother in law is not so bad after all both Cloe and I gave her the “are you

crazy look?” that woman is a snake, the only reason she got me out was because

she wanted something from me, this was no for me at all, it was to benefit her evil

self. I asked them when the funeral would take place they said next weekend and I

should make sure that I don’t get arrested on that day because She Rocks needs all

of us there, I laughed and told them I will try my best to be a law abiding citizen.

My husband and I drove to our place to do a bit of packing and mark what needs to

be packed, I obviously wanted to pack my own jewellery and my own personal

things, I didn’t want a stranger doing that for me, they would probably misplace

things and it would be mission impossible to get it back. We arrived and the house

was in a bit of a mess, after my last time there searching for the keys I had turned

the house upside down. Mthobisi tried tiding up while I went to the bedroom to go

pack my things, I packed my jewellery and the expensive shoes and a few of my

clothes. When I was done I went to go find my husband he was in the study and

packing some documents when he saw me he looked up and asked if I was done, I

said yes he said we should leave it’s not safe around here. He had packed a few

things and said he needed something from our bedroom, I followed behind him, he

got on top of the bed I knew he was going to open the ceiling and whatever was up

there I didn’t want to know what it was this time so I went to the kitchen to wait for

him, he eventually came out of the bedroom carrying 3 bags and said we should go.

We went back to the car and drove out of the complex this was to be the last time I

set foot in this place that I have grown to love and call home for the past 3 years. It

was a bitter moment especially since we were being forced out, I was not ready for

this but being with my husband meant following his lead and after being pointed with

a gun I honestly didn’t mind leaving this place, I had had the most amazing times in

this place but the past couple of weeks were just insane in the house, my brother in

law had almost burnt me and my sister to the ground in the same house, the police

had come and raided our house looking for my husband and in the same house my

maid had almost killed my brother in law in the process saving my life. Which

reminded me we had to pay her, even though she was not working most of the

weekends it was no fault of hers we had too much going on and it was just best to

keep Ausi Maria out of it.

We drove out of the complex and my husband stopped by the gate and went to go

speak to security I figures he was telling them about the movers that were coming

tomorrow, when he was done he came back to the car and asked if I would like to

drive, I said no, I love being driven, I think most women do unless if the guy is a

terrible driver then it’s safe to drive yourself. He looked at me and said “ohh shit

Honey, you were supposed to go see a doctor today” I told him I was now feeling

much better so he didn’t have to worry about it and I really appreciated him trying to

look out for me like that, he told me that was husbands were for.

As we were driving he started driving fast, I looked at him and asked if were we

rushing somewhere he said no he would just like us to get to my mom’s place before

it gets dark. The next thing I knew my husband was cutting in front of cars that were

in front of us, I asked him what the hell was he doing, he said “Honey, I need you to

trust me, there are some people who are very dangerous and they are after

something very valuable, they will do anything to get their hands on it and now they

are trying to make my life very difficult by throwing all kinds of shit my way” this didn’t

make sense at all, I asked him what he had and why the hell can’t he just give it to

them so they can leave us alone, he said he said it’s not that easy, while talking the

car was in full speed, by now I decided to put on my seatbelt I could see that here I

was going to see flames. He said we were being followed and he’s trying to escape

from the people following us that is why he’s driving like a demon. I was in complete

panic, he got off the freeway and off ramped at Joe Slovo and continued speeding

into Hillbrow he said this was a safe option, there were lots of people in Hillbrow and

he knew the corners there so it would be easy to avoid them, I was so scared I didn’t

even want to look back to see how far they were and which car was chasing us, my

husband told me he will drop me off somewhere so I can be safe while he deals with
these bastards, I was speechless. Next thing there was gun shots, oh crap, they

were shooting at us. Mthobisi said they just trying to scare us I shouldn’t worry, that’s

when I felt a sharp pain I wasn’t sure what it was and if it was cramps, I touched

myself to see what was happening, when I moved my hand it was wet, I looked at it

and there was blood, I turned to Mthobisi and calmly said “I think I’ve been shot” I

showed him my hand full of blood

Blood freaks me out but for some reason in this situation I was calm, maybe it’s

because I had seen enough blood to last me a last time. I had seen my mother-in

law full of blood and bullet holes and inches away from death, my son also covered

in blood, come to think of it, the shit I had been through the past couple of weeks

was enough to make a sane person go completely out of their minds. My husband

grabbed my hand and looked at it again I guess he was trying to make sure that he

had really seen blood in it, he said “My baby don’t stress or panic, you are going to

be fine, do you hear me?” I said “okay honey”. “Lee whatever happens promise me

that you won’t close your eyes, no matter how tired or how heavy your eyes feel,

promise me you won’t close them”. I said I promise, I was in too much pains to close

my eyes anyways. He took out his phone and put it next his mouth and said “call

Abel”, his phone has voice recognition, I could her the phone dialling, the car

Bluetooth was on so the call was on the car speakers and I could hear everything

which is not normal for my husband all his deals are done in private I never hear any

of his conversations but I figured since we were being chased there was no time to

hold the phone in his ear.

The guy answered the phone and said “Mtho my brother, are you good?” my

husband didn’t even bother answering the guy he shouted “Abel, I need you to clear

your rooms, get everyone out, my wife has been shot” I could hear the confusion in
Abel’s voice as he tried asking what was happening and who shot me, he was

asking all these questions at once, Mthobisi said he didn’t have time to explain we

were being followed and he was trying to loose these guys following us, Abel asked

how long would it take till he gets there, my husband said less than 15 minutes and

hung up, after that I was in and out of consciousness, my husband kept calling my

name but he sounded so far that I wasn’t sure if this was real or if I was dreaming,

we eventually went into some building my husband drove to the basement, I asked if

we had been driving around in circles because I was sure I had seen the building

before, he said it was the only way he could loose the people following us, when we

got inside he came out and opened the passanger door and carried me to the lift,

under different circumstances this would have been very romantic but right now it

was a matter of life and death, we got to the 8th floor and my husband rushed me

into some dodgy looking doctor’s office, we got in and there was a girl who looked

nothing like a receptionist, more like a hooker, but you know what they say about

beggers, in this situation I was a begger, the girl asked what happened, Mthobisi

didn’t answer he just told her to bring Abel, he put me on the chair when I looked at

him his shirt was full of blood, I started screaming at him asking why is he not taking

me to a normal hospital, I told him this place didn’t look sterile and I will die from the

germs, he told me to calm down and hospitals were not safe because we will be

asked a lot of questions and since there is gun wounds involved they will definetly

call the police, I didn’t care. Abel came and the hooker looking girl had a wheelchair

with her and they put me in it and took me to one of the rooms.

My husband was by my side telling them that they need to remove the bullet and

how those bastards are going to regret messing with him. Abel put me on top of the

bed and cut my clothes, there was soo much blood. He looked at my husband and
said “She needs to get to the hospital now, she’s wasn’t shot, she’s pregnant” at

hearing I haven’t been shot I jumped up and said “what? I was not shot?” I didn’t

even listen to the pregnant part, Mthobisi started jumping up and down from

excitement “She’s pregnant, Lee, we pregnant, oh thank you Lord.” Abel shouted,

“you need to get her to the hospital fast Mtho, she shouldn’t be bleeding, something

could be wrong.” That’s when panic set in on both of us. He said he will drive us

with his car to Benthrust Hospital since we were in Hillbrow and it’s the closest

hospital and with our car we probably would get spotted by our followers and couldn’t

risk that. I was put back in a wheelchair and wheeled to the car in the

basement. My husband and I sat in the backseat, we had to lie on our seats to make

sure we were not spotted, Abel speed off to the hospital in less that 8 minutes we

were there, he jumped out and came back with a nurse who had a wheelchair and

they put me in and took me to a room, a doctor came who commented on how pale I

looked, he asked how many months was I, I told him till a few minutes ago I had no

idea I was pregnant, he said he will do scans and tests to make sure the baby was

okay, Mthobisi was next to me telling the doctor to please make sure that our baby is

safe.

I don’t know how many tests I had gone through all I knew I was exhausted, the

doctor told me that they will have to keep me over night to make sure everything was

okay, but as far as they could tell the baby was okay and I needed to be as stress-

free as possible because stress was not good for me or the baby, I told him I will

slow down and make sure I relax a lot more than I normally do. My husband sat with

me and told me I could sleep if I wanted to he will stay with me all night, which I told

him it was absolutely unnecessary as the doctor had told us that everything was

okay and besides the nurses will kick him out and tell him about visiting hours, he
laughed and said no nurse will keep him away from his wife and son, already his

mind was made up that I was carrying a son. I slept with a big smile on my face,

who knew thing would turn out like this from that disaster; I said a small thank you

prayer that I didn’t have a bullet in my ass.

When I woke up my husband was sleeping in a chair his head in my bed, this man

really did love me. He must have felt me move because he immediately jumped up

and asked if I was okay, I asked if was he having a bad dream he laughed and said

he doesn’t dream, I bet he had nightmares with the way he was living. He told me he

had already called work and had told them I won’t be coming, damn was it already

Monday? It’s amazing how the weekend just flies by but the week takes forever to

end. The doctor came and did the rounds and I was told the baby and I are all good

to go and I should just take it easy. My husband was over the moon and so was I,

the fact that we were on the run from some people no longer mattered all that

mattered was the child that we were going to have, things were defiantly looking

good for us.

We took a cab to my parents’ house in Alberton, they were not there I told my

husband we should pack the rest of our clothes that are there, he told me I will do no

such, he will do all the packing I must sit and relax the doctor told me to take it easy,

the more I protested telling him packing will no strain me it’s just taking one item at a

time and throwing it in a suitcase it’s really nothing, the more he would not hear of

it. I realised I was not gonna win this so I let it go, I might as well enjoy it, how many

woman can say their husband are willing to do all their house chores because they

are pregnant? Well I was going to enjoy this while it lasted. It gave me a chance to

play and bond with Neo while my husband was in the room packing, when he was

done he came to join us we played a bit and everytime Neo would jump on top of
me, he tell him not to because he’s going to hurt me not that it made sense to our

son. Mthobisi suggested since I had been booked of the entire week we should take

Neo with us for the week to our new house, I agreed. His nanny packed a few of his

clothes and we drove off to our place in Midrand, we had left the other Golf 7 in

Hillbrow and driving the Audi to Midrand. This was going to be my first time going to

see my new home, this is every woman’s nightmare, woman want to see the place

before they move in, you want to have the feel of the place, plan on what is going to

go where etc, but unfortunately for me I never had that opportunity I was just been

thrown in not that I had much of a choice after running away twice from people with

guns from our previous place. Just the entrance to our new complex was stunning,

scratch complex because this was a golf Estate, the walls from outside were soo

high you could not even see what was over those walls, we arrived at security who

asked us a bunch of questions and requested our licences and scanned them as

well as the car disk, I was feeling safe already.

We were taken to some office to fill in some forms and have our fingerprints scanned

and were told that each time we leave and come in we will have to put our finger at

the boom gate to scan our finger prints, this was amazing but at the back of my head

I was thinking what if my husband’s people cut my finger out and use it to get out of

the complex, I quickly shook that crazy idea out of my head. when we were done we

went to the house, it was a free standing house, there were other houses around and

were still being built, so the area was still being developed, there were some that

were completed and everywhere I looked, the houses looked amazing. We went

inside, I wanted to scream from excitement, this was the most beautiful house I had

ever seen, it was a double story house, the lounge, the kitchen, the bathrooms, yes

bathrooms, it had more than 3 bathroom, I had tears in my eyes just walking around
the house seeing each and every room that looked so perfect, I went upstairs, 4

bedrooms 2 of them were en suits, with each room I entered I was just amazed. My

husband looked at my and asked “Honey why are you crying don’t you like it?” I

looked at him and hugged him and told him I love everything the house is perfect

and I love him with all my heart and soul. I couldn’t contain my excitement, I was

over the moon. I told my husband I cannot wait to start decorating the house. This

was the best day of my life. My husband looked at me and said “I have been

planning this for months now, I wanted to surprise you and the look in your face right

now just melts my heart. I love you soo much Lee. I am soo happy that we are

going to have an extra addition to our family, this house is just perfect for that. I think

it would be a perfect time for you stop working, and focus on our kids” I was smiling

from ear to ear until I heard the last part. Leave my job? Had this man lost his

mind?

One thing for sure I was about to unleash my pregnancy hormones on his

ass. Every pregnant woman’s excuse after screaming at a person, telling them their

past, present and a not so bright future.

“I’m sorry what?” I said with my eyes popping out, my husband looked at me as if I

had just asked him where to catch taxis going to Brazil in Bree Taxi Rank. I ignored

the stupid look on his face, and went on “just because you implanted your seed in

me that does not give you a right to tell me what to do. I will not quit my job, I would

go out of my mind sitting at home twiddling my thumbs.”

My husband protested, “You heard what the doctor said, you don’t need stress and

pressure in your life”, I rolled my eyes and screamed “stress and pressure in my life
come from home, I would have to quit you to have less stress and pressure in my

life, not work.” Okay the last part just came out wrong, but you know how when you

angry you say things that you wouldn’t say under normal circumstances and how

once they have come out of your mouth you can’t take them back, well that was me

in that moment, my husband was so hurt by my words I could see it in his eyes all he

said was “Wow!” then took and carried Neo and they went downstairs, I had

completely forgotten that Neo was with us, I hate fighting in front of our son. I was

left there with egg on my face, I felt bad for what I had just said especially after been

given such a beautiful house by him and I go and give him hell like that. I picked up

my tail and went down to apologize, I looked for them and couldn’t find them, the

house was that big that I felt like I was getting lost, I decided to call my husband I

heard his phone ring on the kitchen table, damn did they go out and left me behind I

wondered.

I decided to explore the house some more while waiting for them I went out the back

they were standing by the pool. I exclaimed “oh my gosh, we have a pool too.” I

was jumping up and down like a small child with excitement, Neo joined me in doing

the happy dance, Mthobisi just looked at us and laughed and said he doesn’t get

why the pool excites me because I don’t even know how to swim, I laughed and said

I can just imagine the kind of parties we are going to have in this place, I was already

hearing the compliments I will be getting from the people who will come to our house

on how gorgeous our house was. I turned to my husband and told him I was sorry

for what I had said upstairs I didn’t mean it and used the whole pregnancy hormones

excuse and he said he understood and from now on will try to be less sensitive

because he knows how I get when I’m pregnant, on my previous pregnancy I had

thrown him out of the house because he had forgotten to put the toilet sit down up to
this day I have no idea why I made such a huge deal about that, we both laughed at

remember how hectic I was. The moving truck arrived and offloaded our things. My

husband told me not to lift a thing, so I stayed with Neo watched him run around the

garden.

I was the happiest woman alive, I could not believe that this was me, after all the

craziness I had gone through I deserved this calm and peace. The moving company

had come with packers so they unpacked our things, my husband came to get me

from the garden so I can tell them what to pack and where to pack it. I was just

giving instructions, after what felt like forever they eventually finished, our furnisher

was not enough for the house, so my husband said we will go furniture shopping

during the week to furnish the rest of the rooms. We went to the mall for lunch as I

had not done grocery shopping as yet since we were hardly at home in the past few

weeks after lunch we bought groceries then went home. Neo slept in his our room

even though he kept waking up in the middle of the night screaming, my husband

would go and check on him thank goodness for that because I was beyond

exhausted. Mthobisi and I didn’t do the hanky panky because he didn’t want to hurt

the baby, you would swear I was 9 months pregnant the way he was acting but I

loved being spoilt like that.

The next morning my husband had to go to work so Neo and I were left in the house

without a car and trust me in these suburbs you cannot go anywhere if you do not

have a car, everything is just too far and I didn’t even know if there were any taxis

that passed this side of the area. I decided to do a bit of work since I had my work

laptop with me, I checked my mails replied to a few and did a few reports while my

son took his afternoon nap by the time I was done, it was already dark I decided to

start cooking, Neo was running around the house breaking things so I had to watch
him, I had forgotten what a handful he can be. When my husband got home he was

shocked to see me cooking, he told me that week I should relax and not do anything

he will continue with the cooking. I was happy he asked how my day was I told him

how bored we got sitting there the whole day with nothing to do this was my way of

telling him that I cannot be a house wife, he saw the broken vase in the dust bin and

asked what happened I said “Neo needs to go to crèche, he’s almost 2 and being

cooped up in the house all day is not good for him he gets bored.” My husband

would not hear of it, he said we should wait until he is at least three years old, kids

catch all kinds of germs and diseases from each other so let’s wait till his immune

system is strong enough.

This is the thing with me and my husband we never agree on anything, and in the

end one of us has to compromise, I guess that’s what marriage is about, but one

thing I was not going to compromise on was my job, I was not leaving that for

shit. He suggested that we get a full time nanny, and since Ausi Maria’s niece he

suggested since Ausi Maria already works for Jessica during the week. Before I

could even debate he took out his phone and called Ausi Maria and put her on

speaker she was so happy to hear from us, he told her to tell that we have moved to

Midrand and our son will be staying with us on full time basis and we need a full time

nanny. Did he just say Neo will be staying with us full time, okay when was this

discussed? I didn’t want to start an argument with Ausi Maria on the phone so I just

kept my mouth shut. Ausi Maria said her niece had gone back home she was not

sure when she would be back but it wouldn’t be anytime soon because a family

member had died and then she went on about how they needed money for the

funeral and blah blah blah, I even zoned out and started thinking my own things,

Ausi Maria knows how to play the sympathy card, my husband felt bad for her and
said he will transfer some money into her account so she can contribute to the

funeral, I rolled my eyes thinking how good at playing at people’s emotions. By the

time he got off the phone I just laughed at him and told him he just sucked, he

laughed and said he knows.

The next morning my husband said he will leave us with the car so we don’t get too

bored but told me not to go too far, he said he’s colleague who stays close by will

pick him up by the gate, and after work he will go pick up the Golf from Hillbrow. As

soon as he left the house I took a shower and by the time I was done my son was

up, I bathe him and we got in the car, I strapped him on the car seat and off we

went. I called She Rocks and asked if she was at work she said no she had just

gone to her place to get a few things and will be going to Soweto, I asked if she

wanted to grab breakfast quickly before she left she said no she didn’t feel like

eating, so much for that. I called Cleo who I know does nothing all day and asked if

we could visit her, she said she was dropping the kids off at school and after that

would be free, I told her not to and to bring them with to my new place instead so

they can play with Neo. We agreed to meet at Boulders Mall, not my favourite place

but I was just picking them up so. I got there before Cleo and went inside to buy Neo

ice-cream.

Cleo called and said they were here, I went to go meet them at the parking lot then

she followed behind me to my house, on the way I had to send sms the golf estate

management to get a code for her to use at the gate to enter, the security in this

place was just amazing, I felt very safe, without the code you can’t get in, security

also can’t let you in. We drove in, when Cleo saw the house she was blown away,

the exact reaction I had except for the tears, she hugged me and told me how she

can’t wait for us to start having parties in the house, we were on the same page. We
sat and chatted about this and that, she said she had brought wine and got it out of

her bag and got 2 glasses out of the cupboard and poured the wine, I looked at her

and said I can’t drink, she looked at me and said is it too, early to start I said yes, I

was not ready to tell people it was too soon and should anything happen I didn’t want

the whole sympathy look from people so I decided I’m gonna keep these news

between myself and my husband for now. We made food for the kids and for

ourselves, they were having a good time playing outside, Neo was enjoying the

company. Later around two after Cleo had 2 bottles of wine all by herself she said

she will be going home, I told her she should have a bit of coffee to calm herself

down as she was obviously drunk, she listened and we sat by the pool and

discussed Siyabonga’s funeral, how much we should all contribute as She Rocks

friends and all that nonsense, an hour later she was a less drunk and drove

home. My husband came home a few hours later.

The whole week went by smoothly and quickly things were slowly returning to

normal, we had no drama and my husband and I managed to go furniture shopping

for the rest of the rooms in the house and the house was looking good, I had also

managed to do a lot of work while my husband was at work I didn’t want Cindy and I

getting kicked out of the account again, so the gap of me being away from work was

not really felt as I was communicating with everyone via emails and sending

whatever reports were needed on time.

Saturday we got up early and took Neo to my parent’s house and went to the

funeral. The girls were there already helping with serving tea and scones, I offered

to help Mthobisi gave me the don’t you dare look so I said I was not feeling well and

would love to help but can’t, they all looked at me concerned I told them it’s nothing

serious. There was a church service with a lot of people testifying on what a good
guy Siyabonga was and the amazing things he had done in their lives, how he had

given his last money to some family who had no food and no rent money, how he

visited the sick, pray for them support them and would always bring toys for the kids

in hospital and never asked for anything in return. There was a woman who spoke

and said her mom was diagnosed with cancer and they wanted a bone marrow and

not even her family memebers wanted to go test to see if they are a match

Siyabonga went and tested and was a match and went through the painful

experience of having a bone marrow transfusion the best part of this all Siyabonga

had never meet this woman before and saw her sitting in hospital bed when crying

when he went to go visit one of his sick church members in hospital, there was not a

single dry eye in the room, we were all crying like babies.

We went to the grave yards and seeing him being put in his grave was soo painful

for She Rocks that she passed out, Andiswa rushed to her with water, this was such

a horrible thing for my friend to be going through she really didn’t deserve any of

this. After the funeral we were all just too emotional we were told there would be an

after tears but screw that I couldn’t celebrate I just wanted to go home and

sleep. My husband and I said our goodbyes to our friends and Siyabonga’s family

and we left we drove straight to Midrand and called my mom and told her we won’t

be fetching Neo. I got home and went upstairs straight to bed and slept. Mthobisi

cooked dinner and woke me up when he was done I went down to eat and told him

on Monday I am going back to work no discussions about it. He smiled and said

okay, that’s when I knew he was up to something my husband doesn’t just agree to

things. The next day which was Sunday we slept in and were just lazing around

doing absolutely nothing which is my favourite thing to do doing nothing.

Monday morning I woke up nice and early excited and looking forward to going to

work, I had a nice long bath and dressed in my knee high black skirt and a cream top

with a black blazer and heels when Mthobisi woke up and saw me wearing heels he

said I might fall and hurt myself I told him he was being ridiculous now, I will stop

wearing them when I’m 8 months. He knew this was one argument he was not

winning so he left it. I drove to work and went straight to our office, Cindy was not yet

there so I went straight to work and did as much as I could. Only around 10 did

Cindy arrive looking like she had just been hit by a bus, she came and gave me a

hug and told me how happy she was to see me and said “Congrats on your

pregnancy” we had a voice shout from the back “you pregnant?” we both turned to

look it was Mfundo, I asked “don’t you knock?” Cindy said she needs to go to the

bathroom quickly she needs to throw up from the hangover and ran out to the

bathroom now I was left with the fool Mfundo. He looked at me and said “how far

along are you?” I said almost 8 weeks, he looked at the calendar and said “you

carrying my baby” I looked at him and told him that he is insane the baby is my

husband’s. He insisted that it was his baby, I was seriously getting annoyed with this

fool now. He started telling me how this was a blessing because his wife cannot

have kids and they have been trying everything they’ve gone to all kinds and sorts of

doctors and nothing worked. I didn’t get how this had become my problem. He told

me there was only one thing left for both of us to do. We had to divorce our partners

he was telling me they will be hurt but they will get over it we belong together and the

fact that I was carrying his baby was a sign from God. I wanted to bash his skull

from the anger. I told him Cindy will be coming back any second now so we can’t

talk about this now we’ll talk later. He then said “I can tell Mthobisi myself about our
baby if you are scared of him” I shook my head and said he shouldn’t worry I got

this.

There was only one way out of this situation, I had to get rid of Mfundo permanently.

Romeo must die. I had learnt a lot from my husband and killing Mfundo was not

going to be a walk in the park but it was either him or me because my husband was

going to kill him if he found out.

A pregnancy is supposed to bring joy, happiness, laughter, love and all good things,

it’s meant to be enjoyed by two people that created the child that is about to be

brought into this earth. It’s meant to bring famalies closer together, it’s meant to

make the marriage or relationships stronger. Mine was anything but the above, I

was starting to question myself as who this baby I was carrying belonged to, I

wanted with every fibre of my being, with every cell in my body the baby that I was

carrying to be my husband, no married woman wants to carry another man’s baby. It

is a disgrace to you and your family when you are married and are pregnant with

someone else’s child, when you married people don’t even ask who the father is they

automatically assume that your husband is the father which is how it should be. I

could kick myself for being so stupid, the affair with Mfundo was the worst thing that I

have ever done, biggest betrayal to my husband, I swore to myself that is a secret I

would take with me to the grave and I would make sure that I Mfundo takes it with

him to his grave too, well I was gonna send him to his grave sooner than he could

ever imagine. Cindy walked in and asked if everything was okay with that “I know

what you doing look”, I smiled and said everything was fine.

Mfundo quickly switched from being a needy boyfriend to being a client and

demanded reports and said we had been slacking and he wasn’t happy with how we
were handling the account, we were ready for him we gave him everything he

needed and in less than an hour he was out of our hair. Midday I received a call

from my husband wanting to know if I had eaten breakfast, dammit I had forgotten

about eating with Mfundo hovering around food was the last thing on my mind but I

had to be fair now, I was not doing it for me I was doing it for the life that was

growing inside of me and I needed to make sure that the baby was healthy, I lied and

told him Cindy had brought breakfast he asked if he could bring me lunch, as I was

about to say yes I remembered that I had said to Mfundo I would meet up with him

later to discuss the baby situation. I told him I had already ordered lunch to be

delivered to the office so he shouldn’t worry about bringing me lunch. When I got of

the phone with my husband Cindy said “so since you now pregnant maybe you

should end things with Mfundo.” This is why I don’t like people knowing my

business just because they know they start thinking that you need their advice, one

thing people need to learn is if a person doesn’t say “I need your advice” you best

keep your mouth shut because I am sure that person knows what they are doing

even if they don’t there is a good reason why they didn’t ask for your advice maybe

because they know you live in a bubble not in a real world and your advice is the

worst in the world, for example I could never ask Cindy for advice even if she was

the last person left on earth, she has never gone through the shit I have gone

through and if I had to explain to her my situation she would crucify me and nail me

on the cross and tell me how much of a loser I was, these snobbish girls are a

problem, they act like they have perfect lives. I put on my most innocent face and

said Mfundo and I were over, I had made a mistake and was now focusing on my

husband and family and will not have time to play around. She looked at me and

nodded encouragingly and said I had made a right decision and I didn’t need to
sleep my way to the top. Did she say sleep my way to the top? I didn’t want

to argue because I knew it would not end well so I just nodded and said she was

right. We dicided to do a bit of work and I decided to sms Mfundo and told him we

should meet in Rivonia for lunch so we could talk, he replied within seconds and said

good idea, it’s like the fool was waiting for my message. I wished I had poison in my

bag so I could put it in his lunch.

Around 1 I told Cindy I was going to meet Andiswa for lunch in Rivonia, she didn’t

care she was ready to go home she had been drinking water and Red Bull for her

hang over but nothing seemed to help, I felt sorry for her cause I know how much of

an annoyance hang over is. I drove all the way to Rivonia, in my head I already had

the conversation planned, I knew how I was going to start it and end it, I was

prepared shem. As I was pulling up to the restaurant I received an sms from Mfundo

it read “Emergency at work, we will have to meet tomorrow instead.” Bloody hell, I

had prepared myself mentally for this stupid man to cancel on me on last minutes, I

was so annoyed but I decided I was not going to waste the trip I was going to sit at

that restaurant even if I was by myself and enjoy a good meal. I parked the car and

went inside the restaurant I ordered a nice big juicy steak with mash potatoes and

veggies, I decided I was going to sit there and just have some me time, now that I

was pregnant I was going to need lots of those because we all know as soon as the

baby comes there is no rest, no sleeping so I needed to enjoy myself while I still

could. My husband called and said he just saw his car in a shopping complex in

Rivonia am I there? Coincidence? I didn’t think so. I told him the name of the

resturaunt I was in he said he will pop in, the first thing that came to my head was

what if Mfundo had been with me. Mthobisi arrived all smiles, he gave me a kiss and

said it’s soo good to see me eat, I looked at him and asked why he was stalking me,
he laughed and said he was in the area and saw his car. He asked why I was alone

and what happened to the lunch I had ordered at work I told him I felt like steak, he

smiled and said the pregnancy craving had started. He ordered food and the lunch

that was supposed to be with my lover had turned to lunch with my husband, the

craziness that is my life. After lunch I drove back to work, did a bit of work and went

home.

My husband got home late I had already cooked diner, he told me things go a bit

hectic at work and he lost track of time, not that I noticed, I had soo much in my mind

that it didn’t really bother me that he was late. We had dinner and because this had

been on my mind the whole day it just came out I said “if you wanted to kill a person

how would be the best way to do it?” Mthobisi choked on his food, he couldn’t stop

coughing I had to stand and hit him on his back and bring him some water, I swear

the man almost collapsed from my question when he had finally caught his breath he

asked me where the hell did that come from? And who on earth did I want to kill. I

told him I was just wondering I didn’t want to kill anyone it’s just a conversation the

ladies were having at work, he looked at me and told me not to bullshit him, he

knows me and I was becoming like him lately and he didn’t like that. I smiled and

said he was being too dramatic; I could never be like him even if I tried he was too

much. I reminded him of him giving his brother and new wife a bed that was filled

with guns I told him I could never do that, where on earth would I get so much guns

from, he laughed and said with a bit of money you can get anything you want. I told

him since we are in so much danger maybe its time he took me to a shooting range

so I could learn how to shoot. He shook his head and said he will always protect me

and with me being pregnant there is no way in hell he was taking me to a shooting

range. I protested and told him that he will not always be around to protect me and I
needed my own gun especially now that I was pregnant, I need a gun, he told me I

can always use my pepper spray, I shouted and said what’s pepper spray gonna do

when I’m facing a gun. My husband was now getting a bit suspicious, he told me

that I had not once ever since he had known me shown an interest in guns yet here I

was demanding my own gun out of nowhere, he told me I am going to tell him what

is going on right now or hell is going to break loose. How on earth do you explain to

your husband that you want to kill your lover because he wants to expose your dirty

little secret? I couldn’t. I told him that my boss Andile was just really pissing me off

and sometime I just fantasized about killing her but I would never really do it. This

was a perfect opportunity for my husband to preach about workplace pressure and

how bad it was for the baby, dammit I should have thought of something else this

was not working in my favour. The more I tried explaining that everyone at work

talks about killing her but it’s just a joke the more he told me I was under pressure

and it was not good and I needed to think about the baby and resign, shit there was

no getting out of this. But if I resigned it would mean I would not have to deal with

Mfundo on daily basis and his stupid fantasies of being my baby daddy but I would

be bored out of my mind. I looked at my husband and said “You are right, I will do it,

I will resign, on one condition, that you tell me all your dealings, all your schemes, all

your secrets about everything and you leave nothing out, if I am going to stay at

home I need to know what you do and where our money will be coming from” He

choked again, this time I just sat there and let him suffer.

He had a glass of water next to him so he grabbed that and drank it, composed

himself and said to me “it’s best if you don’t know much Honey, the little that you

know is already too much.” What was this man on about I knew next to nothing

about his dealing and he was telling me I already knew too much. He told me that it
was the pregnancy hormones that was making me so irrational I didn’t need a gun

and I certainly didn’t know to know about his dealings, he laughed and said next

thing I will be telling him I want to be part of his team, I gave him a very sharp look

and said does he think that I’m not good enough to do what he does, he stood up

and said “this is the part where the emotional blackmail starts, so I’m going to go

upstairs before the water works starts.” Damn this man knew me too well, he walked

upstairs and I shouted behind him “you just scared that I would do a better job that

you.” He went up the stairs laughing. I cleared up the table and washed the dishes

then went to bed, I found my husband fast asleep.

Next morning he was up before me, he kept trying to get me to wake up but I was

soo tired, I kept telling him to give me 5 minutes which turned into an hour he

eventually pulled the blankets off me and told me to get up or I would be late for work

then want to kill my boss, he said this laughing I was so annoyed, I wanted to

strangle him but I got up and when I wanted to go bath he said there was something

he wanted to show me in the study, oh gosh I was not in the mood for my husband’s

surprises but I followed behind him, he opened the study and on his desk there was

a desk he opened on of the drawers and removed it and underneath the drawer was

a key stuck under with a sallotape, he removed it and took it out and on looked at me

“Honey, I need you to focus, open your eyes.” I was still soo tired I was sitting on the

chair and I kept dozing off, I told him my eyes were opened, he told me from his desk

I need to count 5 steps and he did that then removed a carpet and underneath that

was a safe he opened it with the key that was stuck under the drawer and took out a

cellphone, he told me that this is where our safe was and should shit hit the fence

this is where is should run to. “Wow, you dragged me out of bed to come show me a

cellphone? What a bloody waste of my sleep.” I said walking out the door and
banging it behind me. I wanted to go back to bed but I was too annoyed to sleep, so I

decided to shower by the time I was out of the shower my husband had already left,

there was an sms on my phone saying he’d gone to work and he loves me, I didn’t

bother replying I was just still pissed off over the safe that had a cellphone in it, I

wanted guns okay maybe just one gun so I could shot Mfundo and get him out of my

life. I dressed in my black dress with a gold belt and a maroon blazer, put on my

heels and remembered how my husband doesn’t want me wearing heels with my

condition and laughed. As I went down the stairs to go to the garage, I found my

husband had made me breakfast, nothing fancy just eggs, toast and bacon and there

was a note next to it written “Honey, please eat this before you go it will only take

you 5 minutes, I Love You with all my heart and say Hi to the little one” I smiled and

sat down and ate the breakfast when I was done I tried calling him but his phone was

off so I sent him a message thanking him for breakfast and I sent him a picture of an

empty plate to show that I had eaten everything.

I drove to work traffic from Midrand was not as bad as from Fourways, I arrived nice

and early with few people around, this gave me an opportunity to chat to my friends

on Skype, we have a group chat so I messaged them and told them we had moved

into a new house, they obviously wanted a house warming and I said I would speak

to my husband and let them know when it would be suitable for us both to have them

over, my friends were already planning who we should invite and who we shouldn’t I

was also getting excited about the idea of having a party at our new house, okay let

me be honest I was more excited about showing off my new big ass house to

everyone, I knew people were going to be jealous, She Rocks said she doubts if she

will come but congratulated me on the new house, she said she didn’t feel like being

around a lot of people I totally understood. My day was getting better until Mfundo
called he told me that he was available today and if we could possibly meet for lunch

he would really appreciate it, I told him it’s fine but we not going to Rivonia again, I

choose Rosebank, he agreed. Cindy arrived and we got to work, she was feeling

fresh today and was very happy for some reason I didn’t want to ask because unlike

some people I actually do not like other people’s business besides if she starts

sharing her good news she will also want to share the bad news next thing she’s

sharing her problems with me and I must give advice, I’m not about that life, deal

with your own shit, we all have problems, and mine were as big as a mountain I was

not about to add other people’s problems on top of mine, I know it sounds selfish but

sometimes you just have to be, Sis Dolly is there for a reason. She couldn’t stop

smiling she honestly thought I was going to ask her why she was so happy but I

didn’t so she asked “did you notice that I’m in a good mood today?” I shook my head

without even looking at her then she paused obviously waiting for me to ask why she

was in such a good mood which never came then she said “aren’t you gonna ask

why?” I again shook my head but she didn’t see that cause she had already stood

up to go to her bag opened it and pulled out a box, oh gosh she bought new

jewellery yipppe she opened the box and there was a ring I jumped up and said “you

bought yourself a ring, this is like an engagement ring?” this girl had lost her mind,

who does that. She excitedly replied “no silly, my boyfriend got me this, I’m

engaged.” And she started jumping up and down, I didn’t know what to do so I

jumped up and down with her like an idiot and acted all excited for her, I

congratulated her and told her she should wear it so people know she’s taken she

said they want to do things the right way, the guy must still go to her family and blah

blah blah blah, honestly that’s what it felt like she was saying cause the story was so

long that I started thinking my own things. We eventually got back to work and
worked until 12 then Cindy said she was going to Sandton to meet up with her man, I

wanted to yawn but I held it in. After she left I called Mfundo and said we could meet

in 20 minutes if he was not busy, he said he was busy but work could wait we

needed to talk urgently.

I drove to Rosebank and found Mfundo at Tasha’s already waiting for me, was

drinking water, I sat down across from him, waiter came and I ordered orange

juice. He made small talk and asked about how things were at work I told him we

were not there to discuss work but my baby, I made it clear to him that he had no

claim or rights over this baby, this baby was mine and my husbands and I would

appreciate it if he stopped harassing me because what he was doing was illegal and

I could get a restraining order against him, this completely caught him by surprise, he

looked at me and said “harassing?? Is that what you think of me? you want to get a

restraining order against me? we work together for crying out loud” I told him I was

planning on resigning just to avoid him. Then I reminded him that we always used

protection when doing our thing so there was no way in hell that he could be the

father. “I think you are forgetting Cape Town” I smiled and said “we used protection

in Cape Town I even saw the opened condom on the floor when I got up the next

morning so don’t tell me about Cape Town.” He smiled back at me and said “Yes

Lee, we used protection on the first round” if I was white I swear my face would

have turned red but I must have gone pale because he asked if I was okay because

my face looks like it has no blood. I took a sip of water just to calm myself down and

asked “how many rounds did we have” he said three and the last two we didn’t use

protection, I screamed at him and asked how could he be so irresponsible and

stupid, he said he was drunk and just went with the flow, if I was white I would have

thrown him with a glass of wine in his face, but I couldn’t because firstly I had no
wine and even if I did black people don’t waste alcohol like that, secondly I would

look so stupid in front of all the people that were there and thirdly I was now more

convinced than ever that killing this fool was the best idea so I had to look like I had

no motive like I had nothing to gain when he dies and causing a scene in public

would definetly not help me. I told him that we need to do DNA tests but we can’t do

them now because it’s not safe I could end up having a miscarriage he told me he

didn’t need any tests he knew that the baby was his. I was soo mad, angry annoyed

if I had a gun I would have shot him right there and then. I told him I was staying

with my husband and he should stay with his wife and focus on getting her pregnant

because this baby was not his. I told him how every single day my husband and I

make love and I could never fall pregnant with his 2 small rounds, that hit home but I

didn’t care, I even tried implying that maybe his wife was not the one with a fertility

problem and that maybe he just couldn’t make babies, I was pulling at straws here

but I had to do everything in my powers to plant that seed of doubt in his mind. He

finally agreed to waiting until the baby was born but insisted that he wants to be

involved, he wanted to go with me to the gynaecologists appointments and to have

the scans of the baby, I agreed knowing that he was going to die before that ever

even happened.

We left the restaurant together, we had parked in the same parking but I didn’t know

that’s where he had parked. I went to my car and he went to his I drove in front of

him out of the parking lot, paid my parking fee and left, he drove behind me paid his

parking fee and droved behind me, I stopped at the robots then opened a dashboard

to look for a cd that’s when I heard a screeching sound of a car, I thought a car had

lots it’s brakes and was going to hit me, I looked in front of me to see if I can skip the

robots they were still red and there were cars passing so there was no way in hell I
could pass so I looked into the review mirror to see if the car was close to hitting me,

what I saw happen behind me almost gave me a heart-attack. The screeching car

had stopped in front of Mfundo’s car there were 2 guys who came out with guns,

mind you this is daylight in Rosebank, it’s not a quiet area it busy there are people

around, the guys waved their guns around people dispersed like rats in Alex and ran

in different directions, the two guys pulled Mfundo out of his car threw him on the

BMW that had stopped infront of his car, the road we were on was a one way from

the parking you could only turn left, the other guy got into Mfundo’s car and reversed

it, the one in the BMW cut in front of me missing my car by inches and speed off. I

sat there frozen, I didn’t know what the hell to do.

My husband’s shirt and pants were full of blood, not just small drops of blood but the

type that you get when you come from war. I sat on top of the bed thinking what the

hell should I do now, then it hit me, could my husband have been involved in Mfundo’

s kidnaping but that would mean he knows about the affair. Could he be that cruel,

buy me a house and act all happy about the baby knowing that I’m sleeping with

another man? Oh Lord did he kill Mfundo, was I holding Mfundo’s blood, he’s blood

was literally in my hands. I had killed poor Mfundo, I was poison, and everything I

touched turned into a disaster.

As much as I wanted Mfundo dead I didn’t want him to suffer I wanted him to have a

quick and painless death and by the look of the blood in my husband’s clothes he

must have been tortured. I threw the clothes back on the floor and lay on the bed

and waited for my husband to come out of the shower to explain the nonsense that

he had done. There is a saying that says, evil prevails when good man sit and do

nothing, well I was a good one and I was not planning on sitting and doing nothing I

was not going to let evil prevail. I had no plan but I was not going to let my husband
off the hook on this one that easily. I lay on the bed trying to figure out the way to

approach this situation I must have been exhausted because I dozed off and the

next thing I heard was my husband on top of me kissing me and asking when did I

get home and why didn’t I join him in the shower, I jumped up like I was being

chased by paw-paw’s and shouted “did you kill him?” this took my husband by

surprised when my husband is taken aback by a question or situation he does not

respond or react immediately at times you would think he did not hear you, maybe

he thinks of 20 possible answers first and chooses the one that will satisfy the

person, he picked up his bloodied clothes and threw them in a washing basket like I

had not just asked him a question, this thing of taking his time when I want answers

pisses me off to the max, it makes me feel like exploding.

I screamed much louder this time, even though I knew he heard me the first time but

was still deciding in his head which answer to give me “did you kill him?” he slowly

turned and looked at me and I could see his eyes were red, shit, he had been

crying. He spoke softly and said “I tried everything I could to save his life” my heart

sank. I didn’t know what to do, I just stood there, and he sat on the floor at the edge

of the bed and started wiping. I didn’t know whether to join him in crying or celebrate

the fact that my secret would never come out and I was free. With Mfundo dead my

stress levels would go down drastically, I would not have to worry about covering up

anything; my life could go back to being normal and simple, thank you baby Jesus. I

went and sat next to him on the flood and held him and asked what happened, my

husband explained.

“I left the office early thinking I would surprise you for lunch so I called your office

and was told you were there and I told them not to put me through I was just

checking, when I was close to your work I got a call to go sort out something in some
company that we are contracted with in Lenasia, it was something small so I figured I

would be back to take you to lunch on my way there I called your office again and

was told you had already left for lunch, I decided if I hurry I could join you for

lunch. As soon as I was done with what I had to fix in Lenesia I headed back rushing

I took the R59 knowing there was no traffic that time of the day on that road, you

know that road that passes Kibler Park?” I nodded wondering where this story was

going he continued “about 2 kilometres before Rhema South Church there was a

female driver in front of me and she was going real slow Honey, she was driving 80

and she was on the fast lane, I wanted to over-take her but I got a call and I got

distracted so I slowed down because I needed to stop and go to the boot to go get

some documents to give details to the guy who was calling, it must have taken me 2

minutes to get the info and give it to the guy when I was done I got back in the car

and drove, the lady was now a bit further but I could still see her car when out of the

opposite direction another car came and I could see the drive was trying to swerve

and control the car but the car was out of control it went straight into that lady’s car,

her car span out of control, I stopped and parked on the side of the road, tried to get

her out that’s when I realised she was travelling with 2 boys and she was pregnant,

one of the boys must have been about 8 years old was sitting at the back and that’s

where the other car had hit them, the boy was full of blood in his head, the one who

was in front must have been about 4 years he was not badly injured just a few

starches but the one at the back seat I pulled him out of the car first and put him on

the floor but he kept standing up and running I guess it must have been shock and I

tried to calm him down, got the pregnant lady out and the 4 year old in front, a few

cars also stopped to help, we called an ambulance and the little 7 year old boy didn’t

make it Lee, by the time the ambulance got there he was gone, he died in my arms,
soo young, so innocent, he’s never going to celebrate his 16th birthday he’s life gone

just like that all because of a stupid man who was driving a car that is scrap and not

road worthy. I

can take anything, I mean anything but not the death of small kids, no that is just

wrong” he was crying as he was telling me this story, I was soo touched by this that I

too had tears in my eyes, I held him and told him what an amazing man he is if it

where anyone they would not have stopped to assist, my husband has a good heart,

he might do all the crazy things that he does but that man is amazing. I told him we

should send the family flowers or something just to send our condolences he said in

all the commotion he didn’t take their numbers. We both sat there holding each

other for some time. I started thinking if it was not my husband who had

orchestrated the whole thing maybe that was just a random hijacking and Mfundo

was just an unlucky victim. I was now hoping and praying that he would be found

safe, I was actually more worried than before.

There was only one way to relieve stress, I started kissing my husband passionately

on the lips from lips I moved down to his ears and started licking them I knew this

turn him on I moved my hand down to feel if he was getting hard and I was right the

ear trick always works, he was only covered in a towel since he had just come out of

a shower, I moved down to his neck kissed his neck in circles then laid him on the

floor on his back and kissed his chest and I went down to his belly button and kissed

that and I could feel him shaking from the anticipation of what was to come, I slowly

removed the towel and put his balls inside my mouth, then slowly worked my way

into his magic stick, then back down again to the balls I put them inside my mouth

and sucked the balls like they were grapes my husband was in heaven, he was

making all the right noises at this moment I could have asked him to buy me a
Gautrain and he would have said “yes”, but this was not the time, there is a time for

everything right now I needed to cater to my husband. I sucked his magic stick soo

hard that he was ready to come as soon I felt that he was about to I stopped and he

gave me the “you not being fair look” I laughed, stood up and said I was hungry, he

came and give me a kiss and said all the food I needed was right here in front of me,

he was kissing me and undressing me, he removed all my clothes until I was left with

my bra and panties, I was soo turned on I was ready to jump him, he looked at me

with concern in his eyes and said “Honey, we can’t the baby.”

I smiled and said he had nothing to worry about I will be on top, he seemed to

believe that would work, and asked if I was sure I just nodded while my tits were

being sucked by the time he got to my g-string I was already soaking wet, he sucked

me with the g-string on, he moved it a bit to the side and was sucking my clit so good

I almost climaxed as soon as I was about to, he stopped and I climbed on top of him

and rode him like a horse, we made love for hours and in the words of Robert Kelly,

this was the greatest sex I’ve ever had. Mthobisi suggested we serenate each room

by making love in all the rooms of the house, we did in most rooms not all of them

the house was just too big. By the time we were done we were both famished, the

kitchen was the last room where we made love, we did it standing and all sorts of

ways. After the sexathon, I know there is no such a word but that’s the only word

that can best describe what had just happened, we grabbed the pizza ate and went

to bed both with the biggest smiles on our faces.

In the morning I was up early fresh and energised it’s amazing what a bit of

rendezvous in the sack will do for your energy. I decided I was going to put the

Mfundo incident behind me, he was a grown ass man, could take care of himself and

was not my responsibility. Mthobisi was already out of bed I could hear music
playing downstairs, I quickly went down to greet him, he was making breakfast and

singing along to Mbongeni Ngema’ s Stimela Sase Zola track and dancing in the

kitchen, I stood there watching him and thinking can we just be like this forever with

no stress and no problems, he turned and saw me and pulled me to dance with him

we were both laughing and he was singing to me “thambo lam le Kentucky “ which

means my kfc bone”, it’s meant to be romantic but I just find it to be so

funny. Whenever my husband is in a happy place he plays that song and sings and

dance along and I just crack up. We had breakfast eggs, bacon and toast I honestly

didn’t feel like eating but because he had gone through so much effort the polite

thing to do would be to eat the food, he even packed me some snacks yoghurts and

fruits after breakfast I went upstairs took a shower passionately kissed my husband

to a point where we were ready to rip each other’s clothes off but I had to pull away

because I knew I would end up going to work at 12:00 if we didn’t stop.

I got to work and Cindy was already there, we were both in great moods which

meant work was going to take priority today. At around 9 I got an sms from my

husband saying he can’t wait for tonight, he’s got a surprise for me, I replied and said

I was counting the hours till I knocked off and can’t wait to see the surprise. I got

back to working and at about 10:30 our landline rang Cindy answered and said there

were people at reception to see me, I figured it’s probably some of our clients I asked

her to go deal with them, she left and came back in less than 5 minutes, I said “that

was quick” she replied and said “they not client’s they said they are here to see you

for a personal matter” I asked if they said who they were she said no they didn’t. I

told her they can wait I was busy with a report and if I left it now by the time I come

back I won’t remember where I had left off and might get figures all mixed up, I

continued working and forgot about them, 30 minutes later our phone rang and
Cindy picked up and was told that the people were still waiting for me, I stood up and

said “oh shit, I forgot about them” I made my way to reception to find a man and a

woman waiting for me. I walked up to them and I didn’t recognise either one of them

they introduced themselves the man was Raymond Makhathini and the woman was

Sylvia Gamede I shook both their hands and asked if there was something I could

help them with the lady asked if we could speak in private, I asked the temp at

reception if there was a room available that we could use, she said there was and we

went into one of the meeting room. Raymond the guy spoke first “What we about to

ask of you is a lot and we need for you not to be alarmed, we know your condition

and we in no way want to upset you but this has to be done” that statement was

enough to alarm me, Sylvia took over “maybe we should introduce ourselves

properly we are from the Hawks” I looked at her with a bit of confusion in my face

and she continued “what used to be the Scorpions” this just came out of my mouth,

“oh crap” and my face went pale. Raymond now spoke “we’ve been investigating

your husband and his mother for some time now and we are now convinced that you

know what he does and we need you to tell us everything that you know about your

husband’s dealings.” I looked at both of them with shock in my face then Sylvia said

“think about yourself and your baby, do you want to give birth in prison because

that’s exactly what is going to happen if you choose not to tell us what we want.” I

was sweating soo hard I was ready to give birth right there and then.

What now? Do I turn on my husband to save my ass?

The first thing that came to my mind was call the police and report the hijacking, I

took my phone out and as I was dialling it hit me that what the hell will I say I was

doing with Mfundo, my husband will definitely find out about this if I call the police so

I put the phone down and drove away, I know it was a selfish thing to do, a man had
just been hijacked or kidnapped whatever the hell happened in front of me but

instead of helping out and calling the police I was driving away. I tried consoling

myself by telling myself that I was not the only person who saw what happened and

by now people must have called the police. I was still shaking from shock so I pulled

up into a garage to try and calm my nerves.

I sat in the car with tears rolling down my eyes, cursing the day I had set eyes on

Mfundo, cursing the day I started this stupid affair, wishing I could turn back

time. When you are single and cheat on your partner it’s bad, when you are married

and cheat on your partner it’s bad and it’s a sin, in my situation when you are

married to the type of man that I was married to and cheat on him, it’s not bad it’s a

disaster, more than a sin and a death application. Temptation will always be there,

your true character is tested when you can resist temptation. We as human beings

need to learn to say “No”, and understand that it’s okay not to fall for everything,

there will always be a sexier or richer guy than your man, accept what you have

because there is nothing more fulfilling than accepting what you have. I had cheated

on my husband on basis that I was lonely, he was hardly around and he was always

working, I didn’t appreciate the fact that he was working to get us to live comfortable

lives all I cared about were my needs, my wants.

All that selfishness had brought a demon into my marriage, a demon called Mfundo

and he was messing my life in all ways possible, that’s what happens when you have

an affair, you open a door for all kinds and all sorts of demons, you don’t know if the

person you bringing into your life is going to build or destroy it, you don’t know what

drama they are going to bring you, and trust me a concubine never wants to build

anything they are there to destroy. If you have a drama free life with no side-chicks

or guys then for your own sanity forget your partner’s sanity but your own, keep it
that way. Some people might think that their lives are boring because they have

none of these dramatic and nerve wrecking moments but living at the edge of your

seat all the time, biting your nails from nerves because you are shit-scared of what’s

going to come out of your fancy closet underneath your expensive clothes is no fun

at all. I could try and twist and make this seem like it was my husband’s fault when

in true reality I had brought this shit upon myself I had no one else to blame but

me. I got out of the car and could hear the police sirens and I knew someone must

have called the police and my heart was beating so fast thinking that maybe

someone might have seen my car and I will get pointed out and the police will come

to the garage and question me, I got the water from the garage and stood very far

from the car and acted like it wasn’t even mine, there were a lot of police cars going

up and down and thank my lucky stars none of them stopped at the garage, as soon

as the police cars were out of sight I got into my car and drove straight to the office

without even looking at the review mirror I didn’t want to even see what was going on

behind me, I was leaving all the negativity of my life behind.

When I got to the office Cindy was already back, she asked why I took so long to get

back from lunch I mumbled something about traffic and accident. She went on to tell

me about her date, I could see her mouth moving but what was coming out of it I

could not hear, my mind was still on the event that just happened in Rosebank,

Cindy would laugh at her own jokes and to keep up the pretence I would also laugh

when she laughs even though I didn’t hear what the hell she had just

said. Eventually she was done with her story and was looking at me that’s when I

realised she had asked me a question and I had not heard, she asked if I was going

to answer her question, I cleared my throat and said “sorry Cindy I just got distracted

there for a second, what was that?” she replied and asked if did Mthobisi manage to
get hold of me because when she came back the receptionist had told her to tell me

that my husband had called 3 times looking for me. I checked my phone no missed

calls from him, I smiled and said “yes he got hold of me”. We tried to work but Cindy

was too excited about whatever had happened during her lunch and I couldn’t work

because of my stress from lunch, it was a very eventful lunch for both of us and

neither one of us knew the other person’s lunch event which suited me just fine.

As I was sitting there trying to work I wondered if I should call the police station in

Rosebank and try to find out if there are any news regarding Mfundo, but then again

who would I say I was and the last thing I wanted was my number to be traced back

to me and taken in for questioning imagine if they thought I was involved in all this, I

would defiantly fail the lie detector test because I was planning on killing the man, I

would probably go to prison for a crime that I committed in my head, I had already

spent the night in holding cells for beating up a woman the last thing I wanted was to

spend the rest of my life or even a day in prison, hell I didn’t want that and I was

going to make sure I do everything in my powers to stay out of this Mfundo situation

no matter what. I decided to call my husband and find out why he would call me at

work and not on my cell phone, his cell phone rang and no answer I called 3 times

and nothing, then called his office and was told he had gone to lunch with his wife

and not come back as yet, I laughed and said “silly me, he’s probably still on his way

back, I left him and had to rush back to the office because there was some

emergency at work” I don’t know why I explained myself but I felt I needed to cover

up which is what I had been doing lately I had become so used to it that it was

becoming second nature, the receptionist laughed and said “don’t worry, it’s

pregnancy brains, it happened to me too when I was pregnant I would walk to the

bedroom and not remember what I was there for and 2 hours later realise I had gone
to the bedroom to sleep but by then I would be in the kitchen looking for something

that I don’t even know.”

Oh my goodness my husband was already telling people at work that we were

pregnant so much for waiting till we over 3 months and they say women can’t keep

secret, screw that, men are the ones with big mouths. I wondered where the hell he

was. By 16:30 I had not heard from my husband and as much as I usually use work

as an escape from my problems on this particular day I could not concentrate on

work my mind was just on that stupid lunch incident, I was trying to wreck my brains

trying to figure out what had happened, if Mfundo was okay, where had they taken

him, did they take him with them so they can remove the tracker out of his car, where

they planning on killing him. Mfundo drives a Merc not some old Mercedes Benz but

one of these latest models, when people tell you only VW’s get stolen or hijacked

don’t let them fool you all sorts of cars get stolen, even those old Nissan 1400

bakkies get stolen, heck even even bicycle’s get stolen this is Africa. Both Cindy and

I decided to knock off at 16:30 that way we could beat traffic and I was not in the

mood of sitting in traffic, luckily when I got out of work there were not that many cars

on the road so traffic was flowing.

Each time I looked at the review mirror it looked as if Mfundo’ s car was behind me

and then I would look again and it would just be a normal car behind me, when I got

off the freeway to drive home I stopped at the robots and I had a quick glance behind

me and started hyper-ventilating thinking of what had happened earlier, I was

traumatised by all that and I had no one to talk to about it, this was one of those

things that you have to take to the grave with you, every woman has that one secret

that she would never dare trust anyone with it and would take it to her grave with her

for example the true identity of the father that another man has been raising for
21years believing it’s his own, you get a few selfish woman who in their death beds

will feel guilty and start confessing and leaving the kids behind confused as to why

she never told the truth all these years and the man angry for being made a fool all

this time, but some old folk believe that you won’t die until you come clean about

certain things. Dammit the stress I was putting myself under was not good for the

baby, I wanted to get home take a nice long bath and just forget about this day. I got

home parked the car and my husband’s car was there already, I hoped and prayed

that he had brought dinner I was not in the mood to cook. Since there was not that

much of traffic I was home early and I knew my husband would not be expecting me

this time so this was going to be a surprise. I got inside the house, his old school hip-

hop music was blasting in the house I put the volume down and called out to him, no

answer.

I went to the kitchen there was whiskey on the kitchen counter in a glass, he had

been drinking I smelled it and the smell was soo good that I was tempted to have a

sip, but for the sake of the baby I resisted. He had brought Pizza which was already

half eaten, how long had he been home I wondered. I went upstairs to our bedroom

and I could hear the shower running so he was obviously in the shower which

explains why he didn’t hear when I put down the music volume and when I called

him. As I was about to walk into the shower I noticed the clothes laying on the floor,

I picked them up just to be sure of what I was seeing and I almost threw up.

As I sat there listening to that man and woman threatening my live hood, at first I

was scared then I was annoyed then I was pissed off, when I reached the stage of

being pissed off, I stood up so quickly and banged the table with both my hands and

told them that if they were here to threaten me then they should leave because it is

either they arrest me or get out of my workplace, I told them I am a South African
citizen with rights just like anybody else and I am being harassed at my work place

for something that I know nothing about, if they had been investigating as hard as

they claim to have been then they would be here with a warrant of arrest not here to

ask questions about my husband and his mother ,if there was anything they wanted

to know about my husband to go to him and not go behind his back, this took them

by surprise, I had been silent for some time while they were talking

and I’m sure they were convinced that they had gotten to me. While they were still

stunned I stood up and opened the door and signalled for them to get out and told

that I have lots of work to do, they looked at each other and headed to the door,

when the woman was passing me she said “we will see each other soon”, I ignored

her and walked behind them to make sure they exited the reception area, I watched

them leave our offices and went back to work.

I found Cindy working hard she was so focused she didn’t even hear me walk in,

when I sat that’s when she noticed me she didn’t even ask who those people were,

thank goodness because I was not in the mood of explaining so I grabbed my phone

and went to the balcony close to the smoking rooms luckily there were no smokers

loitering around, I dialled my husband’s number, he answered after three rings, I told

him that we were in shit and that there were cops that came to see me, he quickly

said he knows and I shouldn’t worry about it and we shouldn’t discuss this over the

phone he will come over for lunch and bring me lunch, what am I craving

today. Was this man talking about food? Our lives could be going down the drain

and he’s worried about lunch. I didn’t respond to the lunch question, I asked him

how he knew, he replied “Lee, we’ll talk when I get there, you have nothing to worry

about my love.” When people say don’t worry that is when I worry the most, it’s like

a person is saying that because they know that they are worried but don’t want to get
you worried. After calling my husband I went back to work but I just could not bring

myself to focus, I kept thinking about these people from the Hawks, damn we were in

serious kak, how the hell were we going to get out of this one.

I have never personally known of anyone being investigated by Hawks, only people I

read about in newspaper and saw them on the news covering their faces with jackets

it was always serious allegations, on the other hand I had never known of anyone

who had been harassed by cops or been to jail till this year when my husband’s true

colours came banging at my door. What the hell is going to become of us? I kept

checking the time, anticipating lunch time so my husband could get here and we

could talk.

At 13:07 my husband called to say he was at the parking lot, I told him I would go

and meet him there. I rushed to the parking lot to find my husband with burgers and

chips as our lunch, I didn’t feel like eating, my stomach was in a knot it had been in a

knot ever since my morning visitors, Mthobisi was eating like we had no problems in

the world, I looked at him and asked “how do you do it? How do you act so chilled

when we are being investigated by South Africa’s FBI? For all we know they could

be going through our dustbins, oh my gosh our phones could be tapped, we are

going to jail” my husband smoothly replied “let them investigate all they want I have

nothing to hide, I don’t even know why you panicking” I looked at him in amazement,

“really? You don’t know why I’m panicking? Where should I start? How about the

id’s that were in our house, how about the guns that were in your brother’s bed?

Would you like me to go on?” he gave me a blank stare as if he had no idea of what

I was talking about, I wanted to slap him so hard but I held myself. So I continued

with my questions “how did you know that the cops were here to see me?” he calmly

replied “a contact of mine called earlier and told me to get my house in order” my
husband coming to my work place was supposed to come and give me answers not

this nonsense he was talking, I grabbed my food and told him this was a waste of

time and he shouldn’t have bothered coming, I got out the car and slammed the door

and left, he shook his head and opened the passenger window and said “Honey, we

are not going to jail forget about those cops they have nothing on us.”

Normal couple’s problems are what we are having for diner or which movie are we

watching tonight not going to jail shit, this was abnormal in every way I looked at it. I

walked away while he was still talking, I made sure I walked in between cars so he

doesn’t follow me with his car, I was mad as hell. I went back to the office, and when

I got there was an sms on my cell phone from my husband ”make sure you eat your

lunch” I deleted the sms and threw myself on the chair and opened the burger and

chips and ate, tasted real good I was still angry at my foolish husband but I had to

think of the life that was growing inside of me, no matter how angry I was I could not

starve myself to punish my husband. I had so much work to complete, I decided to

focus on that and by the time Cindy and I were almost done it was 18:15 so we

called it a day, I drove home and luckily the traffic by that time had already cooled

down. As I was about to take the New Road off-ramp to Midrand I got a call from my

husband, I ignored it, he then sent an sms, “are you safe Honey?” I ignored it. I got

home parked the car and got in the house to find my husband watching Tv, he was

obviously waiting for me, I didn’t greet just shoot straight upstairs, he called after me

I ignored him, I got in the bedroom changed into my pyjamas and went to bed and

covered myself with blankets. A few minutes later I heard footsteps and knew he

was coming, I pretended to be fast asleep even though it would have been

impossible to be fast asleep so quick. He came inside the bedroom and I wished

that I had locked it, he whispered “Honey, Honey, are you sleeping?” I replied “yes,
go away” he said he wasn’t going anywhere until we fixed whatever was bothering

me. I told him if he was not going to tell me the truth then I will be going to the guest

bedroom to sleep there, I was responding to my husband while still covered in

blankets and I was not even looking at him while talking, he grabbed the blankets

and removed them off me and said “Okay Lesedi, let’s talk. What would have

happened if you knew everything I do, what would have happened with those cops

who came to your work?

You would have blurted out everything. This is why I always tell you that it’s best

that you don’t know everything, now you can’t go to jail because you know nothing,

so stop being such a brat, I am going through hell right now but I am trying my level

best not to stress you, I don’t want you worrying about unnecessary shit, it’s mine to

deal with and I will handle it, you need to focus on you and the baby” with that he

stormed out of the bedroom. Shit, that’s when I realised that things were really bad, I

knew it, I thought. I decided to stop being selfish and go and be supportive to my

husband I found him downstairs in the kitchen drinking whiskey, I held him from

behind and told him I was sorry for being so selfish, he’s emotional blackmail had

worked, now the focus had shifted on me and it was about him. I asked him what we

were going to do about this he said he had will make a plan he had a lot of resources

but this meant that he has to go back to his mother as they were both drowning in

the same shit and as much as he didn’t want to speak to her they needed to pull

each other out and the one would fail without the other, team work right there. Just

hearing about his mother was enough to make my spine go cold. I begged him not

to tell her that I was pregnant, he promised me that he would not say anything about

my pregnancy to her. He promised me that things will be fine and I should not

stress this is not the first time he’s gone through something like this, I looked at him
and asked when did he go through this before, he smiled and said a few months

before we got married, before I could ask more question he lifted his hands up and

said “remember the Hawks you don’t want to know too much” we both laughed,

that’s the only thing you can do sometimes when you are faced with these situations.

I remembered my mom used to say “when you are stressed you should laugh it

confuses your enemies and the devil” I was about to put that into practice, not that I

thought the devil was worried about us, we were planting our own way to hell slowly

but surely, I on the other hand was going to hell by association not by choice but by

marriage. Oh this thing called marriage; how we long for it and when we are in it we

wish we were not, the confusion of life. I am not a big fan of bread but that night I

was craving bread so I made us toast with eggs, it tasted amazing like it was the first

time eating it, cravings will do other things to you.

Next morning my husband told me after work we going to a funeral in the evening so

we will be using one car one that day. Funeral at night? Who the hell gets buried at

night?

Oh Lord, Mfundo? I almost shat myself.

I ran to the bathroom and said a small prayer that God should not let it be Mfundo

that we are going to burry, I slowly came out trying to look all innocent when I got

back in the bedroom my husband was gone, I decided to quickly shower when I was

done he was back in the bedroom but busy on the phone. I could hear him making

arrangements for the funeral, this man was serious, I decided that I needed to look

decent if we were going to a funeral, I wore a black skirt, white shirt and a black

blazer and decided to put pumps in my bag just in case I needed to run during or

after the funeral, you will never know hey especially if we were burying Mfundo like I
suspected who knew if my grave was also dug and ready for me, better be safe than

sorry,

running in high heels is not easy. Mthobisi finally got off the phone and went to

shower, he wore a black suit with a white shirt and black tie, we actually matched, I

laughed when he came downstairs to join me for breakfast, I reminded him of how

we used to laugh at couples that wore matching outfits, he said this was not planned.

We used the Audi to go to work on the way I got a chance to ask him who we were

burying at night he laughed and said it’s not exactly a funeral, it’s called an awake, I

was even more confused. I asked “is someone dead?” he replied “yes, but we not

burying anyone, we doing an awake for the person, it’s a Nigerian thing, it’s a bit

complex, you will see when we get there tonight.” My husband being his usual

vague self, I asked him what happened to the surprise that he said he had for me he

said ‘oh shit honey, I’m sorry I forgot about that, I will give it to you tomorrow since

tonight we’ll come back late” I said it was fine. He dropped me off at work and said

he will pick me up at 16:30 so we don’t get stuck in traffic, I agreed and kissed him

goodbye. Work was busy as usual, Cindy and I were visited by Mfundo’ s boss and

our boss Andile who came to inform us that Mfundo had gone missing no one knows

where he is and his wife has opened a missing person file, shit all the memories of

Siyabonga came back of how She Rocks went up and down trying to find him, I

actually felt sorry for Mfundo’ s wife, I actually wondered if maybe I should go

forward and say he was hijacked but with all the shit that was going on with the

Hawks the last thing I needed was a spotlight of cops all over my ass, I quickly put

the idea of coming forward out of my head. We were told it was business as usual

we will just be reporting directly to Mfundo’s boss until further notice.

This is why I always wonder about people who dedicate their whole lives to work,

neglecting their families and loved ones all for work, the day they die they get

replaced so quickly you would swear someone was waiting at the door for them to

die, and all that time you thought you were irreplaceable and that you were the only

one who could do this job. I believe that family should always come first, and work

second, work will not miss you when you are gone, two months down the line and

everyone would have forgotten that you even existed, that’s just the harsh reality of

workplace. As soon as they left Cindy asked if I was okay since Mfundo was “my

lover” she told me it can’t be easy hearing that he’s missing, I told her we had broken

and I would appreciate it if she didn’t call him “my lover” she apologised but kept

giving me sympathetic looks throughout the day I couldn’t wait for the day to be over,

I was tired of Cindy and her stupid looks.

At 16:27 my husband called to say he was outside, I was already packed and ready

to go I left Cindy working she said she would leave in an hour’s time. I got inside the

car and we left and unfortunately for us there was a bit of traffic, Mthobisi explained

that one of his friend’s mom died, all I kept thinking was why couldn’t it have been his

mother that had died, I already had an outfit in mind of what I would wear at his

mom’s funeral, but bad people just don’t die that easily, “life is so unfair” I didn’t

realise that my husband was still talking and I had said this out loud he asked why

was I saying that I said “why did your friend’s mom have to die?” he looked at me

and held my hand and said I’m too sweet and this is one of the reasons why he loves

me so much, I didn’t even know the friend but I was worried about him, if he only

knew I couldn’t care less all I cared about was when will my mother in law die, I

didn’t hear half the things he said because I was in fantasy land of his mother’s

funeral. I eventually decided to snap out of this amazing fantasy and asked him
about his daughter that was in death’s bed, he said she was still ill but Katlego the

mother was now refusing him access ever since he kind of mentioned doing a

paternity test, he wasn’t sure if she’s stressed over the child being sick or if she was

hiding something and he didn’t want to push her too hard but the truth will come

out. After an hour and 30 minutes of sitting in traffic we finally arrived, when we got

there I wasn’t sure if this was a funeral or a party.

The funeral / awake was in Rosetenville, if you have never been to that place, its

okay trust me you are not missing out on much, the place is like cousin of Hillbrow if

you know what I mean. Not only was it in Rosetenville but it was in a club, every

street corner in Rosetenville at Main Street has a club and next door to a club there

is a church oh and lots of saloons, internet cafes and shops that claim to fix broken

phones. When we got to the club the owner was a Nigerian man who greeted my

husband and hugged him I was introduced to him but the name went from in on one

ear out the other immediately, there were already a couple of people there mostly

young girls with very short dresses, I wondered if they got the memo that we were

here for a funeral of some sorts but the Nigerian man that they were with didn’t seem

to mind the short dresses in fact the shorter the dress the more booze you seemed

to get, yes there was alcohol being served this was a club after all. Some of the guys

came wearing t-shirts with the dead mother’s picture on them and of course my

husband knew almost everyone who was there, the girls were giving me dirty looks,

it was as if they were warned to stay away from our table. A lady by the name of

Fatima she was black I know the name might be a bit deceiving and her husband

James joined us, I chatted to Fatima who unlike the other girls there looked decent

like she was going to a funeral. She told me James was her husband and she had

not seen him in months he had arrived here for this funeral, I was so shocked, I
asked how can she stay for months without seeing her husband she said he was

running away from the police and was now living in Mozambique and even coming

here was a risk. I could see she was uneasy the whole time probably worried about

the police showing up.

Shit, was that how things were going to be between my husband and I? A few

minutes later the guy whose mom died arrived his name was Boggy I kid you not, it

was even on the pamphlets saying condolences to Boggy for the loss of his mother,

he didn’t look like anyone who had just lost his mother he was jolly and went around

to all the tables greeting and asking people if they had enough drinks. A few minutes

later the ceremony started there was a live band playing music then a pastor who

preached about death while people were sitting there with their drinks and then did

this long prayer. The pastor explained that they are doing an awake here in South

Africa and it’s their way of saying goodbye to the mother because they are unable to

go to Nigeria for the funeral and the proper funeral will be held in Nigeria the

following day, this whole awake thing suddenly made sense. I had had enough I

wanted to go home, I told my husband and by 21:45 we drove home on the way

home I asked my husband if is there any kind or sorts of people that he didn’t deal

with? He asked what did Imean; I let it go because I knew no straight answer would

come. When we got home I took a quick shower I smelled of cigarettes and as soon

as I hit the bed I passed out. The next morning we were both so tired that we over-

slept by the time I got up it was 07:30, I woke Mthobisi up who grumbled and when I

told him the time he said “shit, I’m supposed to be at the airport by 10:00” he jumped

up “where the hell are you going?” I demanded to know, he said he forgot to tell me

but he was doing a branch visit to their Durban branch to sort out a few things and

would be back tomorrow he said all this while running to the shower and asked me to
quickly pack a bag of clothes to change the next day, I did as requested then sms’d

Cindy to tell her to cover for me I was running late she immediately replied and said

“no stress”. My husband got out of the shower and asked if I will be dropping him at

the airport I said no I was already late he pretended to be hurt, I jumped in the

shower when I got out my husband was leaving we said our goodbyes and he told

me to eat breakfast and will call me when he lands in Durban. I quickly got dressed

grabbed an apple and yoghurt on my way out. I got to work after 9 Cindy was not

there I checked my phone no messages from her oh well, I figured she might be

gone to get breakfast and I started working.

When I checked my mails I had an email from Jessica she said there was some

comedy show at Monte Casino that evening and she had tickets for me, Andiswa,

Cleo and She Rocks, the girls had already responded to the mail saying they would

be attending so I said I would too. I called Cleo and asked if we could drive together I

didn’t feel like sitting in traffic all by myself she agreed and said she will pick me up

and we can leave my car at work and pick it up after the show since my work is on

her way home, I agreed to this plan. A few minutes later Cindy arrived with muffins

and coffee, she said she brought them for me if I believed in witchcraft I would not

have eaten them my grandmother used to tell us to never accept food from

colleagues because they will put muthi that would make white people hate you and

you will end up getting fired, this used to crack my sister and I up. Around 12 my

husband called to say he had landed safely in Durban and was now at their Durban

offices, he told me to go straight home after work as he didn’t feel comfortable with

leaving me on my own, I said I will and didn’t mention the Monte Casino comedy

show besides I was not going there with our car so I had nothing to worry about. At

17:11 Cleo arrived and we drove together as soon as we drove past the Rivonia Off-
ramp traffic was hectic, we called Cleo and She Rocks who were already there and

told them traffic was holding us back they said the show only starts at 7 so we can

relax, I was just glad that She Rocks will be getting out a bit and a comedy show

would do her some good, she needed a good laugh after what she’d been

through. As we got to the William Nicol off-ramp that off-ramp is always a mess, taxi

drivers driving like they own the road especially if there is no traffic cops around,

there weren’t any cops on sight on that day just our luck, there are 2 lanes that turn

to the right and we were on the far right lane in front of us there was one of those

moving trucks, that transport people’s furniture when they move, the William Nicol

off-ramp is a bit of an uphill and it’s not unusual for a car to roll back a little bit while

trying to go forward especially after you had stopped. So we waiting for the robot to

turn green and the truck in front of us starts rolling backwards, I was busy on my

phone chatting to Jessica telling her how far we were, Cleo hit the hooter on her car

to signal for the guy in the truck that your car is rolling backwards but the truck kept

coming at us, Cleo calmly says “Lee, those guys from the truck just jumped out of

the truck” I looked away from my phone and saw 2 guys running out of the truck the

next thing I heard was a cracking sound and I realise that’s Cleo’s car windscreen

cracking, I was still trying to figure out what the hell was going on when Cleo said

“Lee, we have to get the hell out of the car before the truck squashes us….” we both

opened our doors and jumped got out as I got out on the passenger’s side a taxi

came out of nowhere and hit me so hard I landed under the truck.

I didn’t know where to look suddenly the room became too small and hot, my mouth

became dry I couldn’t find my voice, Andile was staring at me she didn’t even feel

sorry for me, for all she cared I could faint and she would just continue with her
business and wait for me to get up, what a witch. I finally managed to whisper “can I

have some water please”

Andile went to her bar fridge and took out water with her eyes still locked on me, I

was sweating like a pig, she passed me the water I waited for me to compose myself

when she felt I was ready she again asked “what the hell did you do to Mfundo, my

some sort of panic attack had given me an opportunity to think of a story to feed this

woman. I told her Mfundo had over-heard me telling Cindy that I was pregnant and I

got the feeling that he was not happy to hear that because he started asking about

how much will I take with maternity leave and how this was going to affect my work

on their account, Andile listened attentively and then said “some men can be such

chauvinist at times, you are staying on that account I will speak to his boss about this

new information” with that she walked out and left me in her office, looking at her

desk just reminded me of the time I had with Mfundo, damn if walls could talk I would

be in so much trouble. I walked out of Andile’s office feeling victorious. Where the

hell did they find that fool Mfundo and was he mad at me because I had not come

forward to the police about what I had seen I could always say that I didn’t see

anything that’s why I didn’t go to the police, yes that would be my story I was playing

music loud and didn’t hear or see anything. When I got to our office Cindy was there

I decided not to share that I was about to get my ass kicked out of the account she

would probably have celebrated, there was no need to get her all excited, she will

just see the day security comes in the office to carry me with my chair and go throw

me back in the open plan office that was the only way I was leaving this office, I was

not going to go down without screaming and kicking a few security guards that will

be escorting me to my old office space.

During lunch my husband called to tell me that everything was going well and he will
be leaving Durban at 5 so he will find me at home since he left his car in the airport

there was no need for me to go pick him up. After hanging up from my husband I

couldn’t decide if I should call Mfundo or just leave things as they were, if I called

what would I say? I had basically left the poor man to die, what kind of a person was

I? I tried fishing from Cindy but without making it obvious if she knew where Mfundo

was found she had no clue, I decide to sit this one out, hope and pray that he goes

back to the same hole that he crawled out of. By 16:30 I was ready to go home, I had

not done much work I was seriously stressing about this Mfundo situation. I drove

home and thank goodness for She Rock’s cooking she had cooked enough food for

6 people and so there was still lots of food left I decided to warm that up as our super

when my husband arrived he was so happy for a nice home cooked meal, he kept

complimenting my cooking and I was not about to burst his bubble by telling him my

friend cooked the meal and besides if I tell the truth about that then he will want to

know why did I lie about going to dinner with her then the accident situation will come

out, the problem with lies, one lie covers up another and then another and another

next thing you know you have built a shack filled with lies well in my case a mansion

filled with lies, I honestly needed to stop with the lies. We had nice diner and talked

about stupid random things then went to bed, I had the most horrible dream about

the accident, the taxi hit me and I landed under the truck and this time the truck rode

over my tummy and I was screaming for help and no one could hear me, there were

people walking around no one bothered to look under the truck I was screaming for

help at the top of my voice and still no one could hear I the truck had now turned into

one of those construction trucks it had a saw underneath and the saw was cutting

my stomach opened, I was screaming and that’s when I realised that Mthobisi was

shaking me asking me what’s wrong and I was still screaming. I looked at him and
cried “the baby” and held my stomach he told me it was just a nightmare and I had

nothing to worry about, I insisted that he switch the light on so I could make sure the

baby is okay, this was a strange request because how was I going to see inside but I

just wanted to make sure that I had no cuts. Mthobisi switched the lights on and the

first thing I did was lift my t-shirt to check for any visible marks I even told him to

check he didn’t even know what we were looking for but said everything looks fine,

he held me in his arms until I feel asleep, I slept peacefully this time with no

nightmares. I got up the next morning Mthobisi said he would be working from home,

I drove to work when I got to work I realised that I had forgotten my cellphone at

home, what a stupid move. I called my husband but he didn’t answer I figured he

was probably still sleeping. Cindy called me on the office landline and told me she

was running late and would come after 11 I told her I will cover for her, I didn’t even

ask why she would be so late, to be honest I didn’t want to know there was just too

many things going on in my life to add other people’s problems called it selfish

besides I had an excuse, “preggies”. I called Cleo to check on her she told me she

was good the insurance was going to pay her out so she had nothing to worry about,

I was relived. I also called Andiswa to check up on her, she told me things were

going so well between she and her doctor boyfriend that he had even asked her to

move in with her, I told her bad idea, he needs to put a ring on it first she laughed

and said not every man wants to get married I was just lucky to have found one that

wants to do that, I told her if you give him everything now then he will not see the

point of marrying her, this argument between Andiswa and I went on for sometime I

was not going to let it go until she got my point and she eventually did at least I

convinced myself that she did. Then while still busy with Andiswa Mfundo showed up

I told Andiswa I would call her back. I didn’t know whether to hug him or be angry
with him for trying to get me kicked of the account so I decided to hug him and I told

him I was glad that he was safe, he pushed me off him and told me that he wants to

have nothing to do with me, this took me by surprise. He told me that he will make

sure that I don’t just get removed from the account but that I also get fired. I was soo

shocked I knew I left him at lion’s den but come on to come after me like that was

really unnecessary, now I didn’t know whether to apologize or stick to my story of not

knowing what had happened but if I mention my story without him first saying what

happened then he would know I’m lying and if I apologize I will be admitting guilt so I

kept my mouth shut, didn’t say a word, went back to my desk and told him to leave

because I was busy. He looked at me and said “you are a cold and heartless bitch I

don’t even know what I saw in you in the first place, nxa” he walked out and

slammed the door, now I was in deep shit, I had pissed this powerful man to the max

but I still had one card up my sleeve, my husband could kick his ass any day and if

push came to shove I was going to threaten him with my husband.

At about 11 Cindy arrived I didn’t ask where she was from nor did I fill her in about

Mfundo’s threats, we walked and an hour later my husband called me on the landline

he was angry I could her from the sound of his “hello” I asked what was wrong he

told me the Fourways clinic had called about my test results, “what test result” I

asked. “The ones you had after your accident Lesedi” oh shit, I didn’t know the fools

were going to call me and when hubby calls me by my full name I knew shit was

about to go down. “I’m on my way to come pick you up so we can go get the results”

he hung up before I could even respond.

In 20 minutes he called to say he was outside, I told Cindy I was going out for lunch.

Went to hubby tried kissing him hello but he pushed me away and said “how do you

hide a fact that you were in an accident from me Lesedi?” I tried explaining that it
was nothing serious and that is why I was not admitted in hospital he was livid, he

wanted me to tell him everything that happened so I started from the beginning told

him how we were going to a comedy show and a truck in front of us lost use of its

break and how I got hit by a taxi, I thought coming clean would make things better

but whoever said honesty was the best policy had never met my husband he was

screaming and how careless and reckless I had been and how disappointed he was

that I didn’t trust him enough to tell him this. We finally arrived at the hospital and

went to the doctor’s office he had my file. He sat across from us and said “I’m afraid I

don’t have good news, we ran some tests and they reveal that the baby might have

cerebral palsy.” We both looked at him with confusion he saw the confusion and

explained that cerebral palsy is brain damage and most kids who have it cannot do

anything on their own the child becomes disabled and would never be able to speak

or walk. He told us that we have an option of either terminating this pregnancy now

while it’s still early or keep the child.

We both sat there with our mouths wide open.

They say right before you die your life flashes before your eyes. You see everything

that has happened in your life so clear, you get answers to questions that you’ve

always had but where too afraid to ask, all your enemies faces flash before your

eyes. I was expecting to see myself from the day I was born till that particular day,

the day that my soul left my body. I wondered if my mom would go to William Nicol

offramp to collect my soul then I remembered

she was too much of a Christian to do that, my soul would linger there and eventually

try to get companion and end up being the ghost that kills anyone who drove a taxi,

after getting smashed by a taxi like that I was mad at all taxi drivers. As I was still in

my dream land it was soo calm and peaceful until I opened my eyes which I regret.
When I opened my eyes some guy just was pulling me out from underneath the truck

the guy I would later discover that is the taxi driver and a whole off commotion

around, I could hear some loud mouth woman shouting “woooo, wooo, kube

ngigibele ibus hayi lama simba we taxi bheka manje sibulele umuntu “translation “I

should have taken a bus not this shit taxi, now we’ve killed a person” black women

can be so dramatic at times, I wanted to say I was not dead but I was in too much

pains to explain myself at hearing this the taxi driver dropped me like I was a hot

potato luckily I landed on my feet he went to the woman who was screaming and

shouting and calmly said “Unga linge ugibele itekis lami wena mama, uyasala khona

la efreeway uzozibona ukuthi uzohamba ngani” translation “don’t you dare get into

my taxi woman you will stay here on the freeway and you will see how you get

home.” There were a few people who had joined the complaining lady but they were

mumbling in the background and you couldn’t exactly hear what they were saying

after hearing that Miss Loud mouth is getting left behind everyone shut their mouths.

This is why having a big mouth is not always such a good thing now she was going

to be stranded all by herself, at hearing this people started acting like they were busy

on their phones others looking very far like they had never complaining, taxi driver

feeling very pleased with himself asked if there was anyone else who wanted to join

her and it was all silence. By this time Cleo was by my sidefafing over me asking if I

was okay. Taxi driver came back to me and asked “umdala kangaka we-Sisi yini

ekwenza ukuthi udlale estradini?” The man had just asked me at my age what

possessed me to play on the streets? I was livid what the hell was wrong with this

man why in the name of Father Christmas would I be out in the streets playing at my

age? I didn’t even get a chance to answer because Cleo got on top of him and

started pouncing on the taxi driver screaming at him telling him that he almost killed
me, I was about to stop her when the mama who was told she would be left behind

came running I was expecting her to stop the beating when to my surprise she joined

in. I started screaming at my friend telling her to get off the taxi driver Cleo was like a

possessed woman who was fighting a priest who was about to baptize her with holy

water. When I turned to look at the cars behind Cleo’s car I realized where the anger

was coming from her car was smashed by the truck and rolled and hit the car that’s

behind it and the car behind hit another so about 5 cars had collided with each other

“oh shit” I exclaimed but my voice was overpowered by the taxi passengers who

were cheering Cleo and the “Miss Big Mouth” woman and some ladies were even

throwing in a few slaps at the taxi driver, taxi driver was calling out all of his

ancestors by name. Next thing I heard sirens and cops running up to us, I had never

been so grateful to see cops like I was at that moment. They removed Cleo from the

taxi driver and stopped the other women from hitting him and took the umbrella from

“miss big mouth” that she was beating the crap out of taxi driver with. Cleo started

screaming at cops telling the taxi driver tried to kill her friend cops obviously would

not hear of anything that Cleo had to say and told her she needed to make a

statement, cops and bloody statements. I started feeling some type of way honestly I

didn’t know if I had pains or if I wanted to pee I screamed so loud that everyone

stopped what they were doing and turned their attention on me. Cleo came running

and asked “did Mageza break your spine?” If you have lived in Joburg long enough

you will know taxi drivers are called Mageza if you don’t know why then you need to

get a friend who stays in Joburg to explain to you. Before I could even respond she

ran to the taxi driver luckily one of the metro cops was keeping an eye on her so he

grabbed her before she could reach him and the while Cleo was attacking the taxi

driver the other motorists were attacking the truck driver who tried explaining to
everyone that his brakes had failed and there was not much he could do but no one

was listening everyone wanted his blood, the situation was so chaotic that the cops

had their hands full. Ambulance also arrived and I immediately told the paramedics

that I had pains and was pregnant and they quickly attended to me at hearing this

Cleo got more concerned I wished that she had not heard me but I was too late. I

was put in the ambulance and Cleo started explaining how I got hit by a taxi and

ended up under the truck but taxi driver pulled me out before truck could crush me.

They said I needed to be checked by a doctor immediately and put me inside the

ambulance, I told Cleo to stay behind and attend to her car she went to her car got

my phone and told me she will call me to check on me and will come to the hospital

to check on me. I was rushed to Fourways Hospital which is not too far and my

situation was declared an emergency thank goodness I was awake, a doctor

checked on me and to my relief my baby’s heart was still beating normal, doctor did

some tests just to make sure that everything was okay, I was told to stay overnight

which I flat out refused, there was no way in hell my husband was finding out that I

had come to the North side of town and worse got hit by a taxi and landed in

hospital, he would come to the bloody hospital and finish me off for not listening to

him. I told the doctor since my baby and I were both fine I didn’t see the need of

spending the night in hospital I lied and said I had a son at home waiting for me and

my husband was out of town so he would have no one to look after him, he didn’t

believe me but I didn’t care, private hospitals will always make you spend a night

unnecessarily then charge you an arm and a leg just for one night as if their beds are

made out of gold. I called She Rocks and she told me Cleo had told them about the

accident and she and Andiswa were on the way to the hospital, good shot now I

didn’t have to worry about transport to work to go collect the car. Within 5 minutes
they had arrived at the hospital and were so relived to hear that I had been sent

home, I of course omitted the part of refusing to stay over-night. I called Cleo and

she said she was dealing with towing company that was coming to tow her car.

Andiswa wanted to know why I didn’t tell her I was pregnant, news travel fast

especially where Cleo is concerned, I told them I had just recently found out and was

still trying to digest with that I was forgiven and getting congratulation’s hugs and

they were already discussing a baby-shower and how they were going to spoil the

baby with this and that, I have amazing friends, Cleo called to say her husband was

there to pick her up and wanted to know if they should pass by the hospital to come

and check on me, I told her I got discharged and there was no need to worry we

were fine. She Rocks said she will drop me at work then follow me home to make

sure that I don’t pass out on the road while driving I laughed and told her she was

crazy but she insisted telling me how some she once saw a show of a guy who was

in an accident and he was fine and could walk the following day he was found dead it

was all due to the head injury he had suffered during the accident, at hearing that

Andiswa suggested She Rocks sleeps over to make sure I was okay since my

husband was not there, I didn’t care all I wanted was to go home and forget all about

this day. Cleo went her way and She Rocks took me to work on the way there my

husband called he wanted to know why I had not been answering my phone, in all

the commotion that was going on I had not bothered to check missed calls, I

answered the calls that were coming in, I lied and told him that She Rock had taken

me out for dinner and we were now driving home and she will sleep over at our

place, he was just happy that I would have company, he didn’t ask anymore

questions told me to say hi to my friend and he couldn’t wait to see me the next day
when he gets back. I told She Rocks that since she was sleeping over there was no

need to fetch my car, she will drop me off at work the next morning.

We arrived at my place this was She Rocks first time at our new house she was

highly impressed with everything she took pics of every room and sent them to

Andiswa who was also blown away, I have crazy friends. We sat and She Rocks

said she would cook, my friend is one of those annoying people who are good at

everything, she made me the best meal I have ever had, we sat watched tv more like

the tv watched us because I don’t think either of us knew what was playing on tv, we

had so much to talk about. She told me how much she missed Siyabonga and how

she wishes she had atleast something that could permanently remind her of him,

how she wishes she had not been preventing then at least she could have had a part

of Siyabonga with her forever. I decided to lighten up the mood a bit because the

Siyabonga talk was getting a bit depressing, I told her how Cleo beat-up a taxi driver

accusing of wanting to kill me, She Rocks was on the floor laughing she wanted to

call Cleo to confirm the story I told her not to dare or I will be next in the hit list. We

only went to bed after 12 midnight.

Next morning She Rocks wanted to go to the gym in the morning I honestly didn’t

want to go but since I didn’t have transport I had to tag along, why do people torture

themselves with gym at 5 in the morning? I told She Rocks I wouldn’t be doing too

much exercising since I was pregnant, the “I’m pregnant” excuse is the best excuse

ever, you get to skip long lines in banks you get first preference on everything, She

Rocks google on her phone and showed me that I could still do certain exercises,

google is not always your friend I ignored her google facts and told her the doctor

said I should take things easy, she let me off the hook and I sat in the steam room
the whole time when she was done she came and got me I showered and she

dropped me of at work.

I got to work at exactly 08:00, as soon as I walked in I got a message from Andile my

boss’s PA that Andile wanted to see me, what did she want, I was seriously not in

the mood for her. I decided to hear whatever she wanted while it was still early. I

walked to her office. She didn’t even greet or try to make small talk she just looked at

me and said “Mfundo has been found and he wants you to be removed from the

account. Do you want to tell me what the hell you did to piss him off so much?”

I wanted to scream, cry, shout do something but I couldn’t, we were sitting in front of

a doctor so I had to compose mysef, I am certain my husband felt the same way, he

asked the doctor if there was something that could be done to rectify the damage to

the baby, what a stupid question I thought but when you are in that situation you just

want solutions and quick fixes, the doctor told us it would be impossible to fix

whatever was wrong with the baby at this moment once he or she is born I could

take the baby to specialists and with new development’s being done everyday

anything is possible.

I remembered when we finished high school there was a girl by the name of Lumka

and her parents could not afford to take her to tertiary, even though her matric marks

were very good she could not get a bursary or loan to help her continue with her

studies so she found herself a job as a child minder, the child she was looking after

was 12 years old and he had cerebral palsy, the child could not do anything for

himself, he could not walk, speak or feed himself, she even had to attend school with

him, he went to a school of disabled kids, his white rich parents did not care much

about him they had basically given the child to Lumka and she used to tell us that
while in class the kids would sometimes just shit on themselves because they can’t

speak and tell you they need a toilet and she being the child minder had to clean

after him when he messed himself in class, it was the hardest 2 years of Lumka’s

life. To cut the story short after 2 years of doing all this hard labour the family was

involved in a car accident and the boy and his mother died only the father survived,

Lumka married the father and lived richly ever after.

But for me there was no happy ending, I was not about to kid myself about the

responsibilities of taking care of brain damaged child, it would be mission impossible,

I was not coping with a normal child right now, my parents were looking after him

because both my husband and I worked crazy hours and travelled a lot. The doctor

was still explaining about how the baby would be, he said we didn’t have much time

though so we had to make a decision in less than 2 weeks, Mthobisi said we will get

second, third and fourth opinion and we left. He asked if he should drop me back at

work, after hearing such news I had no strength for work but I told him to drop me off

so I could collect a bit of work and my laptop so I could work from home, we drove all

the way to my office in silence. I went inside the office and told Cindy I was not

feeling well and will be going home, she asked if it was the baby and tears just

flowed down my face, she came and hugged me and asked if I would be okay to

drive I told her I would be fine she said she could take me home, I told her not to

worry my husband will drive behind me to make sure I’m okay, I could see the relieve

in her face, she told to let her know when I got home and I don’t have to tell her what

is wrong until I’m ready to share, she gave me tissue and told me to fix my make-up

to avoid being asked a million questions by other staff members who will see my

eyes and realise that I had been crying, this was also to save her own ass I knew

because as soon as I walk off with tears on my face she will have 111 calls asking
what is wrong with me. I fixed myself and walked out I passed a few people, thank

goodness Cindy had told me to fix myself.

I found my husband and he had moved and parked next to my car, he told me he will

drive behind me. We did a convoy home, I was sobbing all the way home, how on

earth could I be blessed with such an amazing gift the one minute and the next

minute be expected to get rid of it, life can be so unfair, what did I ever do to deserve

such a terrible punishment. When we arrived home Mthobisi locked himself in his

study and worked at least I assumed. I sat and watched tv, not that I was watching it,

I was crying I put on the tv so my husband wouldn’t hear my sobs, I kept touching my

stomach and remembering how soon I would have to get rid of that little precious life

growing inside of me, this was the most painful thing that anyone could go through,

my husband was mad at me and we were both dealing with this in our own way, me

with tears and him with shutting me out, when things like this happen it is so easy for

couples to just tear themselves away from each other instead of dealing with the

issue together. As I was sitting there crying my eyes out there was a knock at the

door, I was not sure if I heard right because first of all we stayed in a very secured

golf estate where people have to get codes and shit to get inside so no one can just

pop in unannounced, second of all we didn’t know anybody in the complex. I put the

tv volume down just to make sure I was hearing correctly. There was definitely a

knock, I wiped my face and went to open the door. Standing at the door was a black

female in very I mean very, very short skirt, she was dark skinned and had the

longest legs I had ever seen in a black woman, longer than She Rocks, I stood there

amazed by her beauty whoever said dark chicks were not hot had obviously never

meet this woman standing at my door. She must have said something because she

was looking at me as if she’s expecting an answer; I cleared my throat and asked if I

could help her with anything. She smiled and said she’s our neighbour and thought

she should come and welcome us into the neighbourhood, what the fuck was this

America, people don’t welcome each other to the neighbourhood in South Africa, I

actually stepped outside to look at the house next door and the one across the street

and just like I suspected they were still being built I pointed at the houses and looked

at her and she quickly replied “oh no, I stayed on the next street, there is just so few

people staying here I thought I should come and make friends” I have enough friends

I thought and besides how are you my neighbour if you stay on the next street, but I

didn’t want to seem rude so I asked her to come in, she had brought wine as a gift,

how white is this girl I thought, I thanked her and she asked if we could open it and

have a glass coz it’s a really good wine and it would be a shame not to taste it, I

went to the kitchen and came back with one glass and a wine opener and gave both

to her she asked if don’t I drink I smiled and said “I’m a born again Christian and only

drink communion wine with no alcohol served by my pastor at church” there was an

awkward silence for a few seconds she then did the uncomfortable laugh and

apologized and said she had no idea, I stood there waiting for her to say she’d be

leaving but she opened the wine and poured herself a glass, I was now beyond

annoyed.

I went to the other room dug out a Bible from some boxes and went back to the lady

and told her that it was nice meeting her but it was prayer time and I would be

reading the Bible and meditating on the word of God, instead of standing up and

leaving with her stupid wine she asked if she could join me because she really needs

prayers she’s going through a lot and blah blah blah, I took her bottle of wine and

went to the door opened the door and showed her out I was honestly not in the mood

for this, she looked at me and slowly walked out, as she was walking out my
husband came downstairs he was on talking on the phone “yes, my wife and I will be

there in 30 minutes” both the long legs lady and I turned around, she screamed “oh

my gosh, Mthobisi is that you?” my husband’s eyes popped wide opened, I didn’t

know if it was shock, surprise or confusion, he can be hard to read at times. I looked

at her and said “how do you know my husband?” I don’t think any woman would be

comfortable with her husband knowing beautiful woman, I must admit I was hoping

and praying that he would not say she’s an ex-girlfriend because jealousy would

have turned me green on the spot I would have been walking around looking like

Hulk. My husband sensing my irritation and quickly replied “I have no idea who she

is Lee” she quickly cut him off, “my husband was one of your clients, we meet years

ago in some work function” she described where the function was and who the

speakers were, Mthobisi said he remembered the function but could not place her,

the more she explained the blanker my husband looked, he couldn’t remember her,

the happiness that was in me for the fact that he could not remember such a striking

woman. Eventually when she realised that she was not wining with her subtle

reminder she said “I’m the one who was engaged to the white old man”

“hahahhahahahhahahaha” my laugh just burst out I didn’t realise that I had laugh out

loud, the reason why I laughed so much was when Mthobisi had come back from

that function he had told me the story about this dark ugly gold digger girl who was

with some white old man and everyone had just been talking about how desperate

she looked on that old man’s arm. They were both staring at me, I apologized for

laughing and told them I had just remembered something funny. The lady was now

annoyed she thought I was laughing at the fact that she had said she was engaged

to an old man, she grabbed her wine from my hand and walked out, “good riddance

to bad rubbish” I said. Mthobisi looked at me and shook his head, he asked what I
was doing with a Bible in my hand I walked away and didn’t respond; now he was

talking to me after ignoring me for that long.

I went upstairs to our bedroom he was right behind me and said “we going” I turned

around to look at him I told him I wasn’t going anywhere I was tired and wanted to

sleep. He said “I’ve made an appointment we are going to terminate this pregnancy.”

Tears just started flowing down my face, what the hell happened to second opinion,

third and fourth besides this was my body and my decision I had never agreed to the

stupid abortion in the first place.

I said “we are keeping this baby”

I screamed at him “if you want me to terminate this baby you will have to drag me out

of the house kicking and screaming, I am not going anywhere, this baby is staying, I

don’t care if it’s going to be disabled or not, you are not God, you don’t get to decide

who lives and who dies, fuck you.” I had never ever sworn at my husband, I was mad

as hell but the last part was really not necessary, he looked at me and calmly said

“I’m giving you 5 minutes to calm the fuck down, you fucked up Lee, our baby is

brain-dead because of you and your being irresponsible, this is what you wanted,

you wanted him dead so now we going to kill him, I told you to stay at home but your

had to go gallivanting, I hope you are proud of yourself.”

I could not believe that my husband was blaming me for our child’s misfortune, I was

told in therapy that when you angry you should count to 20 and by the time you get

to twenty you would have calmed down. I decided to practice that shit, I counted in

my head 1,2,3,4

before I could even get to 5 I realised this was not the right time to be testing out my

therapy shit and that shit only worked on white people I went close to my husband
and slapped him so hard that he actually lost his balance and almost fell. I looked at

him and said “if you want to look for someone to blame for this look in the mirror, this

is punishment for all the shit you and your crazy mother do.” I didn’t even give a

chance to answer or fight back I went out the room and slammed the door. I needed

some air and time away from the crazy man who called himself my husband before

we ended up killing each other.

I walked downstairs I was so angry I couldn’t even sit down, I opened the front door

and walked out, I didn’t know where I was going I was just walking, I kept mumbling

“nxa, that stupid son of a bitch” I was not crying or feeling sorry for myself I was mad

as hell. As I was walking jogging in front of me was Ms Long Legs, she moved

across the road as soon as she saw me trying to avoid me, I felt really bad, I had

managed to piss off two people in one day, I cared deeply about and the one and the

other I couldn’t care less even if she got hit by a bus in front of me I would be Johnny

Walker and just keep walking, but we were staying in the same complex and the last

thing I needed was enemies so I went up to her and asked if we could speak, she

acted like she couldn’t hear me and kept jogging so I jogged behind her and

apologised, she turned around and said it was fine and asked if my husband and I

could come over for dinner tonight, what the hell is wrong with this woman we were

not friends I was just being friendly by apologising, I was honestly not looking for new

friends not at my age, I was too old to be in new friendships, woman are complicated

and as their friend when their lives get complicated you are also in the mix and your

life suddenly gets complex, the lesser friends you have the easier your life will be. I

smiled and said we already had plans and maybe next time. She suggested the next

day, damn woman was bloody pushy, I put on the biggest fake smile and said I will
ask my husband and get back to her, she said okay and jogged away to my relief, I

thought she would push another day for her stupid diner, just when I thought I was

done with her she came back and said “we have not given each other our names,

I’m Zanele Van Schalk Wyk” that surname it made me want to laugh but I kept it in,

she had obviously gotten her hands on the old man. I also introduced myself and told

her that I will see her around she should enjoy her jogging and walked back home. I

found my husband in the kitchen cooking, the way he was throwing things around I

could hear he was still angry, I sat down and watched tv, when he was done he

dished up for me, the food didn’t look appetizing but I had skipped lunch with all the

drama that had been going on and I was starving, I put the spoon in my mouth and

almost spat the food out, it was ugly and disgusting my husband’s eyes were glued

on me probably waiting for my reaction, I smiled and said the food was lovely, my

man can cook but this I don’t know what it was, it tasted like poison, maybe he was

trying to kill me after that fight. He ignored me and ate his food, I had no choice but

to down the poison that I was being fed. I don’t know how but I actually finished the

food as disgusting as it was but after every spoon I took I had a sip of juice just to kill

the taste of my tongue. When I was done I took the plate to the kitchen then I

realised there was a sms on my phone I had left my phone in the kitchen next to my

husband’s the sms was from Mfundo it read “I’m going to tell Mthobisi everything, I

will make sure you lose everything Lesedi, your job, your husband and eventually

your life, you crossed a wrong person.” I deleted the sms immediately. I asked

Mthobisi if he wanted something from the kitchen he said no I decided to wash the

dishes as I was washing dishes my husband’s phone rang, he asked me to bring it to

him I looked to see who was calling it said “Mfundo”, I dropped the phone without

answering then shouted “it’s my mom, she’s probably looking for me coz my phone
is off” that was the first thing that came to my mind I knew the bastard would call

again so I quickly put his phone on silent and put just like I thought he called back, I

dropped again and put the phone in my ear and said “Hey Ma” luckly my husband’s

back was on me so he could not see what I was doing and he was watching soccer

highlights so he was focusing on that. I removed the phone from my ear and kept

saying “yes mom” meanwhile I had the phone in my hand I blocked Mfundo’s

numbers, then I went to my husband’s whatsap and blocked Mfundo in there as well

then delete his calls on call history and called my mom just to make sure in case

hubby checked his call history. I was shaking like a leaf as I was doing this, I had

never done anything like this before, my mom answered the phone I didn’t even say

hello I couldn’t say hello because hubby thought I was already talking to her so I just

told her how much I missed her, my mother asked what was wrong and I told her

nothing I just really miss them and I then went to the other room and told her I was

pregnant and what the doctor had said and I broke down and started crying like a

small baby, I could her in my mom’s voice that she also wanted to cry but she was

trying to be strong for me she told me whatever decision I made she would support it

and that she loved me very much, moms can be so comforting at times I felt a bit

better after talking to her. I went back and put my husband’s phone on the kitchen

table and hoped and prayed that the fool that I brought into my life does not call back

with a private number and since I couldn’t block private numbers from coming in my

best option was to put all phones on silent. I went back to my husband and decided

to humble myself even though I was not wrong this time and apologize, marriage is

about compromising, I needed to remember that, I apologised for slapping him and

for swearing at him, he said it was fine I must just make sure it never happens again

the last thing he wanted was to be one of those husbands who got abused by their
wives. It was a Friday so we decided to stay up and watch movies and try and not

think about our messy situation just this weekend, we were going to stay and home

and just bond as a couple. Mthobisi stood up and said it’s strange that his phone

hasn’t rang in 2 hours he asked me where his phone was I quickly stood up and told

him that I would go and get it I wanted to make sure there were no calls from Mfundo

even though I had blocked with technology you can never be too sure. I hurried to

the kitchen, my husband was right behind me as soon as I took his phone of the

table he grabbed it off my hand and said “thanks Honey” and went through his

messages and missed calls and went “shit how did I miss so many calls? Was the

volume that loud that we didn’t hear the phone ringing?” I didn’t respond to this. I

grabbed my phone I had a couple of missed calls from my sister and Mfundo, I

figured my mom must have told my sister I was so not going to call my sister back,

the last thing I wanted was to hear people’s sympathy, sorry was not going to fix my

situation so people could keep their sorry’s shame, sometimes when I’m going

through rough times I find it best to first deal with it on my own before sharing it with

other people. There were a few whatsap messages from my friends asking about the

baby shower and when am I going to know the sex of the baby, eish once people

know that you are pregnant all they ever talk about is baby this, baby this, it really

gets boring, I didn’t reply to any of the baby questions. I checked my text’s and there

was one from Mfundo it read “I’m outside your complex, I’m here to tell your husband

everything.” Oh my gosh, panic set in, I started pacing, Mthobisi was busy talking on

the phone, it was a cold night but out of the blue I started sweating, the bastard was

serious about destroying my life, I didn’t know whether to run outside and go to the

gates and try and chase him away or just sit there and cross my fingers that he

doesn’t get in, but I knew with money you can buy your way into anything if he
showed security at the gate R200, they will open the gates for him with a colgate

smile on their faces. Another sms came through from Mfundo, open the door I’m

outside knocking, there was no knock at our door then it hit me, the idiot didn’t know

our new place, I wanted to jump up and down with joy, I replied to the sms and said

“Go and fuck yourself you fool.” The more I thought about it the more I realised that

this man was serious about destroying my life and the best thing for me to do was to

just confess, come clean with my husband before Mfundo comes and twists the

truth, there was no way I could keep Mfundo from finding my husband sooner or later

the 2 worlds were bound to collide and in my situation the collision was happening

faster than I had ever imagined and all I had to do was roll with the punches as

difficult as it seemed confessing was the only way out of this situation.

“Honey, I need to tell you something, it’s very important. Something happened

between Mfundo and I and I am not very proud of it in fact I’m ashamed, it’s been

eating me up and I think it’s best that you hear about it from me than from anyone

else.” My husband’s vein in the head popped out the first sign of anger but he was

trying to act calm “out with it Lesedi, what the hell did you do?”

Tears just rolled down, I was about to destroy my marriage.

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Dezemba Boss!!!

**************************************************************

I was about to destroy the one thing that meant everything to me, all for a stupid man

who meant nothing to me, a stupid fling, a few moments of weakness were about to

bring every single thing that I have worked so hard for tumbling down,
I knew my fate, I was ready for it, my husband was probably going to kill me, bury

me and take my body to Kruger National Park and feed me to the crocodiles. I

deserved every punishment that came my way I didn’t care and the least I could do

was come clean before Mfundo beat me to it. As I was trying to explain my dilemma

to my husband a phone ring but now remember I had put his phone on silent and

mine was off so where the hell was a ringing phone coming from? Hubby whispered

“oh shit, I forgot to put it on silence” then quickly rushed to his laptop bag and got a

phone out and glanced at me with a guilty look on his face and answered “Hi, I can’t

talk right now I will call you back.” As soon as he hung up I screamed “what the hell

is that?” he looked at me and said it’s a phone, I screamed even louder “why in

bloody hell do you have another phone that I know nothing about.” He lied and said it

was a work phone I say he lied because I could see in the bastards face that he had

been caught with his pants down, I know I usually struggle to read his face but this,

he was guilty, we didn’t any judge to confirm it, I knew it and the bastard knew it too.

He did what every male does and said “Honey it’s not what you think, I know how

this looks but I promise it’s not” the worst part about this situation is I hardly ever

went through my husband’s phone, I know of a lady at work who goes through her

husband’s received calls, dialled calls, sent and received sms’s on her husband’s

phone every single day of her life and poor guy has to explain anything that looks

suspicious to her, I was not that hectic, and for him to go and have another phone it

meant one thing, the bastard was cheating.

I was soo angry I demanded to know who he was cheating on me with; he swore that

he was not cheating on me, I demanded to see the phone and he point blank

refused. I went upstairs angry and left him with his phone, I came back a few

minutes later with my bags in hand he was still standing in the same spot I had left
him, bastard was probably trying to come up with an excuse to think I almost

confessed to a snake bloody hell, I was now more than ever convinced that I was not

going to confess for shit. He asked where did I think I was going with I told him

maybe he should move his mistress in because I’m leaving and no I’m not going to

my mother after the last fight we had he showed up at my mom’s place with his own

suitcases so I was not going to make the same mistake of going to my mother’s

again he grabbed my bags and said I am not going anywhere, he’s tired of me

always running away when we have fights, he was right I always ran from the heat, I

told him to tell me the truth then, he stuck to his stupid story of something that he

does it’s best that I don’t know anything about them. He reminded me of the Hawks

and said the phone he had the number was not rika’d so no one could access it and

this is where he gets information from, I still demanded to see the phone this time he

gave it to me and I told him that he obviously had time to delete whatever crazy shit

was in there from his girlfriends while I was upstairs, he told me it doesn’t matter

what he does I always have doubts about him. I checked the phone it was these

simple Samsung phone with no camera so there were no pictures I was expecting to

see naked pictures from girls and kinky sms’s but to my disappointment none of that,

yes disappointment because that way we would have been even. I did pick up that

there was a number that was called regularly and sometimes in the early hours of

the morning, I memorised that number and gave him back the phone.

He asked what was it that I wanted to tell him earlier about Mfundo, I said it’s nothing

important and that’s when he got mad and said when I had started the conversation I

said it was something important that I had wanted to tell him. I told him at the

moment it felt like it was important but now it feels foolish and childish that I can’t

handle my own business and feel the need to report every small thing to my
husband, I was softening him up and boosting his ego at the same time, I told him

that Mfundo and I had a disagreement about work and now Mfundo wants me fired

because I don’t want to do the stupid ideas that he suggested. Just hearing Mfundo’s

name was enough to make me see flames in my husband’s eyes, he said “that

bastard never learns, don’t worry Honey I will handle him.” And that was that, no

further questions, if I knew things were going to be so simple I would have come to

my husband with this sooner instead of running around like a teenager, I was a bit

relieved but I was still hoping and praying that whatever happens that my husband

doesn’t give Mfundo a chance to speak because I knew shit was going to be spilled

out that hubby will not be too happy to hear. I told my husband that it was no use

pro-longing the whole pregnancy thing and I would be terminating it on Monday, he

held me in his arms and told me that he loved me very very much and we will make

another baby and he’s sorry for everything that I’m going through he understands

that it can’t be easy for me, we went to bed and he held me in his arms the whole

night I had never felt so safe and calm as I did at that moment and something at the

back of my mind kept telling me there is a huge storm coming, you know the calm

before the storm.

The next morning it was Saturday, the girls wanted to come over to the house,

Mthobisi said he had to pop in at work and finish a few things so he left, the girls

came and we decided on having a little braai, there was alcohol and since I was still

pregnant I couldn’t drink even though I was going to terminate it just felt wrong

drinking in my condition. It was a nice chilled environment with my friends, we were

talking about the usual crazy things we normally talk about, Andiswa was telling us

about her doctor boyfriend and how their sex life is so boring because the doctor

won’t let her give him a blow job or let her be on top he says “izinto zabo marhosha
lezo” meaning those are things that are done by prostitues, we were all laughing and

Cleo couldn’t hold herself she wanted to know what sounds the good doctor makes

in bed, Andiswa looked at She Rocks and said “you told them didn’t you?” we all

burst out laughing and started making the “awe ma” sounds that Cleo’s man makes

in bed, I was having an amazing time with my friends and they were getting a bit

tipsy. After a whole lot of talking about nonsense I decided I needed to offload on

what’s been happening and who best to offload to than your friends that you’ve

known for half your life. I started the talk with the “can we get in the no judgement

zone because I need to share something with y’all that is extremely judgemental and

I just need y’all to listen and no judgements” they all crossed their hearts and said

“no judgement” I continued “I’ve been having an affair with a guy name Mfundo” She

Rocks coughed so hard I wasn’t sure if she was laughing or choking from her drink

you never know with her especially when she’s tipsy, Cleo’s eyes were all out like

she had just seen a ghost, Andiswa was not surprised I had previously hinted this to

her.

I continued with my filthy story, I told them everything from the first day he gave me a

ride home and kissed me outside my apartment, being hijacked with him, the cape

town trip, the sex in my boss’s office up the previous nights threatening calls. They

were all listening attentively I think they even got sober coz everyone had now put

their drinks down we were sitting by the pool and just like all typical black people we

just had our leg in water none of us were even intending on swimming, swim for

who? Aint nobody got time to get their weaves damaged by the chlorine in the pool.

Cleo stood up and said “I’ve always known you were a wild child but damn girl that

story you just gave us would make a porn star blush” we all laughed and Cleo

reminded her that we were on the “no judgement zone” She Rocks asked “I’m not
judging you Lee but how on earth do you go and mess up such a good thing that you

have with Mthobis? Do you know how many girls would give their right arms to have

the life that you have and you just go and throw it away like that for what? A small

dick? If you were soo horney and lonely as you claim couldn’t you have just gone

and bought yourself a vibrator? No man Lee this is just too damn low, I’m sorry but

someone has to show you your mistakes I’m not gonna sit here and act like I’m

condoning what you did, you fucked up and you need to be told” As Andiswa was

about to tell her about the no judgement She Rocks continued “Fuck no judgement

zone” and walked away, She Rocks doesn’t like things that are not in order she was

extremely upset. Cleo said “Lee, you know how sensitive she gets when it comes to

relationships especially now after the whole thing of loosing Siyabonga” shit I had

completely forgotten about that, maybe sharing was not such a great idea but it felt

good to have these things off my chest. A few minutes later She Rocks came back

and I was hoping she had calm the hell down I was not ready for round 2 of her

shouting, damn she was worse than my mother, as soon as she got back she stood

by the sliding door that leads to the swimming pool and we all kept quiet and looked

at her, she said “I’m sorry Lee, I shouldn’t have gone off at you like that, you know

you are all like sisters to me and if one of you messes up I feel responsible, with that

said we need to take care of this Mfundo situation before Mthobisi finds out.”

Right behind her popped out my husband from behind the slinding door curtains and

said “too late, I heard everything”

My heart almost popped out of my mouth, Cleo was so shocked by the appearance

of Mthobisi from behind She Rock that she tried standing up forgetting that her feet

are not on the ground by are hanging inside the pool and feel face down inside the

water, she started splashing water all over the place, our eyes hair
everything was covered in water, Andiswa and I were a bit confused of what the hell

Cleo is doing until She Rocks screamed “she can’t swim she’s drowning” within

seconds Mthobisi was inside the pool with his jeans and shoes on getting Cleo out,

he put her on the side and pumped her stomach to remove the water, my poor friend

had swallowed soo much water, eventually she eventually came to and asked what

happened I told her she drowned and Mthobisi saved her life, She Rocks could not

hold herself she burst out laughing we were all trying to keep a serious face but the

fact that she had just almost drowned on the shallow end of the pool had all of us in

stitches.

When Cleo had dried up and was her usual self again Mthobisi said to all of us “I

know about the disagreement between my wife and Mfundo, I will speak to him man

to man you ladies have nothing to worry about. I’m sorry for scaring you Cleo” we

were all relieved that he had only just got there when She Rocks had just got back

from the bathroom. Mthobisi said he was going to his study to continue working, I

asked if he wanted to invite his friends over so they could join the braai but he said

he had too much work to do and didn’t have time to socialise. I sat with the girls and

we decided to go to one of the rooms in the house and locked ourselves in there so

we could discuss this matter in private without my husband walking in on us.

She Rocks who we should be called madam speaker because she chairs these

meetings, and decides what should be done and what shouldn’t. She started, “If

Mthobisi speaks to Mfundo then my friend you are double fucked, we need to make

sure that those two don’t meet and most of all that they don’t talk” Andiswa said she

agrees because the last we needed was Mfundo blabbing shit out to my husband.

Cleo said “how about we take care of Mfundo like we the same way we took care of

my step-dad?” There was silence in the room for a good 5 minutes with not a single
person saying a word until Andiswa spoke “Errrr guys what happened to Cleo’s

stepdad?” both She Rocks and I looked away and started scratching our heads,

we’ve never spoken about Cleo’s step dad ever, we deed and swore that we would

never discuss it with anyone in fact I had put it so behind me that I had actually

forgotten about it. We became friends with Andiswa when we were in tertiary and not

once had anyone of us shared that with her so we all understood where her

confusion was coming. She Rocks responded and said “Cleo’s stepdad died, and

that’s where it ends no further discussion of this.” Cleo said “what’s going to happen

if Mfundo tells Mthobisi that Lee is pregnant with his child? Do you want to loose

your husband Lee over nothing? Didn’t Mfundo say that he wasn’t you to loose your

job, family and life? That life part means the bastard is going to kill you in case you

didn’t read between the lines.” I was now feeling numb, I couldn’t feel any part of my

body I was just numb, I thought sharing was going to make me feeling better but now

it had just brought back so many memories that I even regretted telling these girls

about Mfundo now not only had I gotten them involved in my lies I had them planning

on killing a man that had nothing to do with them. My phone rang it was my husband

he wanted to know where we were I told him I was showing the girls the house. I told

my friends not to stress about this I will find a way out and we left the room we went

to go sit outside again, by now the fun was gone everyone was tense. Soon after the

girls decided to go, I was also tired. When they left Mthobisi came down and sat with

me we watched a bit of TV then there was a knock at the door we both knew who it

was, the long legs neighbour who doesn’t take no for an answer, we switched off the

tv and slowly sneaked upstairs hoping she would get the picture and just leave she

kept knocking for like 5 minutes and eventually gave up, I was not in the mood of

having dinner with her and her white old man. We went to the bedroom Mthobisi told
me that I shouldn’t share personal things with my friends like the thing with Mfundo

because now it will be hard to take care of him the way that he wanted to without my

friends knowing that it was him, eish me and my big mouth.

The following morning we decided we will be going to church but we didn’t know any

churches in the area so we decided to drive around until we find a church that looks

interesting, we found a Baptist church and decided to go there, it was packed with

white people and just a few blacks, the service was really sweet and touching it was

about love, and loving your neighbour, white folks preach about cute and fluffy stuff

unlike black churches from the location where the pastor preaches about gossip and

greed the whole sermon shouting at people for their gossip. We left church feeling

bad for not loving our neighbour and ignoring her and we both agreed that we will

invite them over for dinner next time, church always leaves a nice good feeling inside

a person, try going to church you will come back feeling like you have no problems in

the world but that feeling ends as soon as you arrive at work on Monday.

When we got home I decided to cook lunch for myself and hubby, he left and went to

go buy snacks because he couldn’t wait for me to finish cooking he was too hungry.

While busy cooking I took my phone out of my bag, I had put it in silence since we

were at church when I check I had 12 missed calls all from Mfundo, what did the

bastard want as I was holding the phone looking at the missed calls his call came in I

answered immediately, he said “Lee we need to talk” I replied “I have nothing to say

to you, you want to be childish and play childish games well, game on Mfundo, I’ve

played these games before and trust me I’m a master at them” Mfundo said he didn’t

want to play any games and just wanted to talk to me, “I swear you must be bipolar

or something, you say one thing then do the other , I don’t know what it is that you

want from me.” he softly said “I want my child Lesedi” I dropped the phone in his ear,
this fool was shitting on me. He called again “Lesedi, I don’t want to fight with you but

you are giving me no choice, I want my child and I will do anything to make sure I get

my baby, if it means destroying your marriage so be it” I shouted back “it’s not your

child you fool, it’s not” he went on, “you are a heartless woman you have proven and

shown that to me when I got hijacked right behind you, you didn’t even bother calling

the police or coming forward to say what you had seen, at first I thought you were

involved in the whole thing but I’ve learnt that you were not but I am still mad as hell

at you, do you know what I went through?” I said “no I don’t know what you went

through and frankly I couldn’t give a rat’s ass” he continued “well I’m going to tell you

anyway, I was taken to some place that’s in the middle of nowhere and they beat the

crap out of me asking if my car had tracker they then took my wallet and wanted to

know the pin to all my cards, I gave it to them and one of them drove off to withdraw

money from my cards and I was still getting mored by these man when the guy

eventually came back with the money they took me to some house where they kept

me and said they waiting for 12 midnight because my cards have a R2000 limit so

they kept me for 3 days without food just water to keep me alive, until the 3rd day

when they all left and some kids who were playing outside the house heard my

screams and that’s how I escaped.” Well he needed to loose a bit of weight so them

starving him were actually doing him a favour, I interrupted him and said “Mfundo I’m

really sorry for what you went through but I didn’t see anything, I didn’t know about

the hijacking, I was playing music loud on my car there was no way I could have

heard or seen anything and not have reported it to the police.” He shouted, “you’ve

become such a good liar you even believe your own lies, I know you saw everything,

but it’s fine, you will get what’s coming to you.” he then hung up on me this time, he

sounded very emotional while telling his hijacking story I guess he was still
traumatised not that I blamed him, it sounded hectic. I called She Rocks and told her

to hold on then Cleo and did a conference call with the 2 of them I excluded Andiswa

because she would never understand the shit that we did.

“Ladies I’ve just received another threatening call from you know who and the man is

seriously insane, he is going to destroy me I have to do something. He is out of

control it doesn’t matter what I say to him he hates me and hate is a very powerful

feeling it drives people to do things that they would never do when they in their right

minds.” Cleo spoke “I’m with you Lee, counter-acting sounds like the only solution

out of this” She Rocks “ke jeowa ke vote” meaning I’m loosing the vote, it was 2

against one now. Cleo said “Yeah Rocks, we have to do this, I know you’ve gone all

Christian but remember what the bible says about God helping those that helps

themselves and how how God forgives so after the deed you can repent and you will

be forgiven” She Rocks snorted “oh shut up Cleo, there is no such verse in the bible,

you love making up your own shit” we all laughed. She Rocks asked “so when are

we doing operation Stepdad?”

I responded “tonight” and as soon as I said it I knew there was no turning back.

We’ve killed before and we had sworn it would never happen again but

circumstances were forcing us back into doing what we did as teenagers.

She Rocks said “I have a plan, call Mfundo and tell him you need to meet with him

right now, I’m gonna call Mthobisi and tell him I’m feeling depressed and need my

friends around that will give you an excuse to leave the house” I hung up called

Mfundo back and apologised and told him we needed to talk, Mthobisi is a bad

husband and I’ve been wanting to leave him for a long time and him coming along

was a blessing in disguise and after the talk we just had I realised that he was the

man for me and we could be a family I told him we should meet and discuss logistics
of how we were going to leave our partners, I knew he must have been smiling from

ear to ear by the sound of his voice, he immediately agreed to us meeting and

discussing this further, I told him I would sms’s him where we should be meeting.

Little did he know that he would be joining his maker shortly.

I quickly finished up cooking the Sunday lunch I had completely lost my appetite, my

mind was not even there all I could think about was getting this thing with Mfundo

over and done with. My phone rang it was She Rocks she said she had spoken to

Mthobisi and faked a few sobs here and there as to sound a bit convincing, she told

me that I should make-up a story to lure Mfundo to Witpotjie, there is a farm there

and there owner used to be friends with her father when he was alive, she has

access to the farm, the owner of the farm sometimes asks She Rock’s brothers to

look after the house when he and his family go on holiday and one of her brothers

was currently looking after the farm the family is gone on a December holiday and

are only coming back next year, the only people around is the employees but they

don’t work on weekends which is why we have to make sure we do everything

tonight. I agreed, she said she will sms me the address to the farm and I can forward

it to Mfundo, She and Cleo were already on the way there to prepare.

Gosh the way we were speaking you would swear this was just some chicks going to

a farm on a picnic not something as scary as what we were on our way to do but that

gave me an idea. I called Mfundo and said we will be having a picnic on some cozy

farm somewhere where there will be no disturbance and it’s very calm and peaceful

and after the last incident of him being hijacked he thought I was being really

thoughtful and sweet as he said he was still traumatized and didn’t like driving in

busy area so a picnic sounded like a perfect plan he said, yes I thought this is going

to be very peaceful indeed you foolish bastard. My husband arrived while I was still
talking to Mfundo, luckily Mfundo was finishing so he ended the call and I continued

talking “yes, I’m also worried about her, let me speak to my man and I will get back

to you Doll”, I was of course talking to myself, Mthobisi asked if that was Andiswa, I

said yes he told me that She Rocks called him sounding very depressed and we

should go check on her, I agreed and told him I would go and change quickly, I

needed to dress comfortable, I wasn’t going to be dragging a dead body in heels, I

wore black legging, black long top a hoody and Jordan sneakers.

When I got downstairs my husband was waiting for me with keys in hand and asked

if I was ready, I said yes and grabbed the keys from him, he closed his hand and

said he was coming with me, WTF? I popped my eyes wide opened I didn’t realise

that he wanted to go with when he said “we should go check on her” shit this was

going to spoil my everything, you know when you have planned everything and one

thing just doesn’t go according to plan it ruins everything and the way we planned

this mission was so last minute that we didn’t have any plan B, C or D we just had

plan A, how stupid could we be, in the past few months I had become good at a lot of

things and that included coming up with lies on the spot but at that moment my mind

become Eskom, everything was on load shedding, I wanted to come up with a clever

excuse but lights were out, nothing, no lie, no excuse, instead I let him lead the way

to the garage.

He opened the door and no we don’t do the whites thing of a guy opening the door

for the lady, you open your own damn door. I sat on the passenger seat and while he

was reversing I quickly sent a message to the group whatsap that the girls and I use

saying Mthobisi is insisting on driving me to She Rocks house, Cleo quickly replied

and said he can’t because that will ruin everything. She Rocks said she will call

Koketso, I asked what the hell for and no reply from her then Andiswa responded
and asked why she wasn’t invited to She Rocks’s house, shit I had forgotten that we

had not included her in the plans, I didn’t feel like explaining myself so I choose not

to reply, as we were approaching the gate to exit the complex my husband’s phone

rang it was Koketso, all I could hear was my husband going “aha, yes, no, yes, okay”

and then giving out directions to our place, then he hung up and made a u-turn, I

asked what was going on and he said Koketso and his brother are on their way over

to our place, they just called now to say they were on the way so he is sorry but I’m

going to have to go to my friend alone, my inner self was doing the moonwalk from

excitement how She Rocks pulled that off was beyond me but the girls was

extremely creative.

He parked the car outside and kissed me goodbye and went back inside the house. I

took the car and drove out of the complex I called She Rocks and told her how much

she rocks, she loves hearing that. She told me that we need Andiswa to pull this off

and she and Cleo have decided that it was time to tell her what had happened with

Cleo’s stepdad, she’s our friend she deserves to know the truth besides that

Andiswa has a doctor boyfriend and can get them what they need to take care of the

current situation, I didn’t fully agree with this because 15 years ago we had all

agreed to keep this shit between the 3 of us and if you add people it doesn’t matter

how much you trust a person especially women, they cannot keep anything to

themselves, it’s like it burns them up from inside and they just have to share with

someone and they will of course make that person swear that he will never breath a

word, and the person they told will also go and tell another who will also be told not

to tell anyone and it just becomes a vicious circle of everybody knowing the secret, I

trusted Andiswa but she is human, some secrets are just too big for anyone to keep

to themselves, I tried arguing this point with She Rocks and Cleo who had already
made up their minds that Andiswa had to be in, I was out voted and accepted the

decision, She Rocks said we should me on Heidelburg Road the road leading to

Carnival City at the garage there they will buy snacks for me and Mfundo and lace

some with sleeping pills. She said she will send me gps coordinates and I can send

them to Mfundo I agreed, on my way I text Mfundo the gps coordinates that I had

received from She Rocks .

I arrived at the Sasol garage in Heidelburg Road, all the girl were already there, I

was given a picnic basket by Cleo, in it there was a fruit salad, strawberries and

cream, chips, chocolates, nuts and biscuits “wow, this looks really romantic, thanks

guys” I said they all laughed except for Andiswa who seemed a bit uneasy about the

whole situation, She Rocks said down the road was a hardware store we should all

go there. We left all our cars and drove in Andiswa’s boyfriend’s double cab and

went to the hardware store, I figured this is one of the reasons She Rocks and Cleo

wanted Andiswa involved, her boyfriend’s car was big enough to carry a body. When

we got to the hardware store, Cleo led us to the shovels section, she said we should

all pick one that won’t be too heavy and will be able to use, as I was about to start

feeling one I felt a tap on my shoulder I jumped soo high I almost hit a roof, I turned

around to see who it was it was some Nigerian guy, “my sister, how are you?” I was

soo not in the mood for this, Cleo quickly answered “I’m sorry but whatever you

selling, we not intrested.” The guy ignored Cleo and said “don’t you remember me o,

you came to my mother’s wake with your husband.” She Rocks replied “what the

fuck is a wake?” then I remembered him, “oh shit, sorry I didn’t recognise you, how

you?” he asked if Mthobisi was around there somewhere I said no he was at home,

he jokingly asked whose grave were we going to dig buying shovels, I laughed

uncomfortable and said we were looking because one of the girls is fixing her
garden, he introduced himself to my friends, the guy would not stop talking and

asking questions of why we were shopping so far when didn’t even stay around. The

girls were now getting agitated, I made up an excuse about being in a hurry and

finally got the hint and left. Cleo said “since when do you and Mtho have friends

called Boggy?” I told them Boggy was my husband’s associate and left it at that. We

got our shovels, Cleo paid cash for them and we drove back to the garage, got our

cars, Cleo drove with Andiswa since she was still carless and in 15 minutes we were

at the farm, it was humongous, She Rocks said her brother had gone on a date with

his girlfriend, so we had a couple of hours till they got back, she showed us around,

while she was showing us around Mfundo called and said he’s at the gate, all this

time I had been calm but after getting a call from Mfundo I started shanking, Cleo

told me to compose myself this was no time to chicken out she said “it’s kill or be

killed time Lee, we going to go hide inside the house, we will come out when the time

is right.”

She Rocks handed me the remote to the gate and they ran to the house while I went

to go open the gate. I opened the gate for him, he was driving an Audi A4, he

entered and got out of the car and gave me a warm hug and a kiss on my lips, I was

so disgusted I wanted to throw up but I had to keep it together. We took a walk

around the farm and he was really impressed, I told him my step-brother was looking

after it for a friend’s parents, he kept telling me how he would like us to raise our kids

in a place like that and not in the hussle and bussle of Joburg, I reminded him that

this was still in Johannesburg, he laughed and said he would still like a place like this

somewhere in the rural areas to retire in it, shame he was making plans for

retirement well he was about to get early permanent retirement . I showed him the

spot where we would be having our picnic, the girls and I had already set it up picnic
blanket was nicely laid out, with our mid-afternoon snack and juice on ice, he was

soo impressed looked at me with tears in his eyes and said “no one has ever done

anything this romantic for me Lee, I don’t know how to thank you, this might seem

small to you but it means soo much to me” shit that hit the heart, I felt so bad, I

wanted to tell him that this was all an act, nothing was really, we sat down, and we

started talking about work, he was no longer telling me about getting me fired now he

was telling me about how when we are together he will help me open up my own

company and he will bring me business since he has a lot of connections, I kept

agreeing to everything he was saying. Then he said “it’s going to be difficult though

for my family to accept that I’m marrying my brother’s wife especially since his family

hates us so much.” Wait what? Did he say brother? “Mthobisi is your brother?” He

calmly replied “yes, his dad had an affair with ….” Before he could finish that

sentence all I heard was a ping sound and Mfundo toppled over, Cleo had hit him on

the head with a shovel.

I was still in shock from what I had just heard, I was about to kill my husband’s

brother, oh shit!

I was now shaking again, I tried speaking, but everyone was so high on adrenaline

that no one bothered listening to me, everyone was talking over each other, Andiswa

took out an injection and told She Rocks to find a vein in his arm, She Rocks had a

cloth and she tied it over his elbow like drug users normally do and said to Andiswa

the veins are now popping out, it felt like everything was happening in slow motion

but I knew I had to stop them I could not kill my husband’s brother. “Guys, stop,

please stop” I said but my voice sounded so low that no one could hear me because

everyone was talking, Andiswa put the injection in his veins and cleared everything

inside Mfundo’s veins, Mfundo’s body started jerking out of control, we all stood
there motionless just watching at one point it looked like he was getting up but he

didn’t, his arms legs and body were all just twitching this went on for about 2 minutes

then foam started coming out of his mouth, automatically we all just held our mouths,

then suddenly there was no movement coming from Mfundo, everything just

stopped, it felt like time just froze for those few minutes, watching someone take their

last breath is not an easy thing, I had to hold tears back while all this was happening.

Then Andiswa said “okay, it’s done, how much time do we have?” I didn’t realise we

were now on deadline.

She Rocks said less than 30 minutes, “Sorry, time for what?” I asked. Cleo said

“Rocks brother and girlfriend are on the way back, that’s why we came out before

you could give us a sign” I started breathing heavy “what the fuck are we going to do,

we can’t dig a hole in less than 30 minutes” Cleo and She Rocks started digging

while Andiswa and I packed the picnic goodies in the picnic bag, when we were done

packing up we joined them in digging, bloody hell digging a grave is no child’s play, it

was hard, the sun had already gone down but we were sweating like pigs, next thing

we knew the white people’s dog came out of nowhere and started dragging Mfundo’

s body that was laying on the floor by his clothes. Cleo said “shit if we bury Mfundo

here this dog will always come at this spot and start barking it won’t take long for the

owners of the place to start becoming suspicious and start digging here, we can’t

bury him here.” We all agreed that it would be too risky besides our hole was not

going anywhere. Cleo told Andiswa to bring the bakkie and we will load Mfundo at

the back and go and burry him at Retvlei Farm in the South of Joburg, She Rocks is

a volunteer there so she has access to all areas. Retvlei Farm for those that don’t

know is a public park, it has picnic areas, braai areas has a zoo area where there is

all sorts of animals, they usually need people to volunteer to come help them take
care of the farm and help clean and feed the animals, She Rocks had been a

volunteer there for years, Cleo and I shem we would never, we don’t even like

animals, we saw it as a waste of precious time and energy, now She Rocks kindness

and generosity to animals was coming in handy.

Andiswa went and brought back the bakkie, we lifted Mfundo, the bastard was heavy

and put him inside the bakkie. Andiswa asked “what are we going to do with

Mfundo’s car?” bloody hell we had not thought of that, this is what happens when

you do things in a rush. Cleo said she will drive it and we can just dump it in the road

somewhere, we all agreed that we would not leave it at a garage, most garages have

camera’s. She Rocks jumped into the back of the bakkie and searched Mfundo’s

pockets she removed his phone, wallet and car keys and handed them to Cleo who

immediately switched the phone off. We decided it would be best if we left our cars

at my mom’s place since it was close to Retvlei farm then just travel with Andiswa’s

bakkie. We left before She Rocks brother arrived and convoyed, after passing dawn

park, Cleo parked the car on the side of the road and went inside Andiswa’s car and

we all drove to my mom’s house in Alberton, luckily she and Victor were not there

just the nanny with Neo, I hugged my son and told him I loved him. We left mine and

She Rocks cars and all left with Cleo’s boyfriend’s double cab. She Rocks wanted to

drive but Andiswa would not hear of it, she told her she drives like a taxi drive, the

bakkie had no canopy it had that black seal that covers the back so Mfundo was at

the back while the 4 of us were in the front, while we were driving to Retvlei Andiswa

said she would like to hear what happened to Cleo’s stepdad, She Rocks told her

they will tell her everything once we have completed this mission and that we

needed to focus on this for now. I changed the topic and asked Andiswa where she

got the poison that killed Mfundo, they all looked at me and said it’s not poison it’s
insulin this was in case Mfundo’s body was ever got discovered there would be no

trace of poison it would simply look like his heart had failed, the plan was we knock

him out then inject him with insulin it will kill him but it just takes time, they didn’t want

us stabbing or shooting him, the last thing we wanted was blood in our hands and to

go crazy like Lady McBeth and be constantly washing our hands, so after digging the

grave we were going to throw him in the grave then if by some miracle he was still

alive we were going to shot him then close the grave. “And why wasn’t I told this plan

earlier?”

I demanded to know Cleo responded “Because you were already shitting your pants

before we did anything if you knew you would have somehow, somewhere just

messed up” I gave Cleo the annoyed look. My phone rang it was my husband, he

asked how She Rocks was doing, I told him she was a bit better now that we were all

with her, he asked where we were going as he could hear I was in a car, shit, I didn’t

know if Boggy his Nigerian friend had told him that he saw me at a hardware store, I

didn’t know what lie to tell so I told the truth, well half of it anyway, I told him that

while we were at She Rocks house her brother called and asked her to go look after

the farm that he’s taking care of and we all went with her and we decided to do some

gardening at the farm so we went to a hardware store to buy some gardening

equipment and that’s when I ran into Boggy, he said “oh that explains the farm that

Boggy says he saw you go in” WTF was his Nigerian friend following us? I looked

outside to see if we were being followed there were no cars on sight, that’s when I

realised we were on the wrong side of town, we had just passed Southgate, and we

were not even supposed to be on that side of town, I wanted to tell Andiswa that she

was getting lost but the call with my husband had me fuming I whispered to him in an
angry tone “you had me followed?” he quickly replied “no Honey, Boggy was just

passing there and he saw my car.”

I told him we will discuss this when I get home and hung up without saying goodbye

and told Andiswa that she had taken the wrong route, She Rocks and Cleo were too

focused on some nonsense they were reading on She Rocks tablet that they had not

realised that we were on the wrong path, She Rocks looked outside and said “Damn

Andiswa you have taken us to Soweto, this is that road that leads to Bara.” Cleo

laughed and said “okay right Sowetan, can you direct us out of here.” She Rocks

replied “sure thing Daily Sun” we all burst out laughing, She Rocks told Andiswa she

will have to make a u-turn a few meters from where we were, as soon as we got to

that turn Andiswa made a u turn and that’s when out of nowhere we saw blue and

orange lights appearing “oh shit” said She Rocks. I screamed “drive Andiswa”, she

accelerated the car, and that’s when we heard the loud sound from the police loud

speaker shouting “stop the car or we shot” we all knew that this is South Africa we

were lucky that we were even being warned that they will shot, we all screamed to

Andiswa “Stop the car”.

Andiswa stopped the car and the 2 police officers came to our window I was sitting in

front with Andiswa and Cleo and She Rocks on the back sit, the cops shone their

torch on us in front which was so bloody bright it hurt my eyes, then they went to the

back seat and we all said a small prayer that they don’t go to the back because they

would find a dead body, they unfortunately went to the back I swear my heart was on

the floor it just needed someone to sweep it off, Andiswa was shaking soo hard the

whole car was shaking, they came back and said

“Out, get out all of you”, when we got out of the car I was shaking so bad you would

have sworn I was drunk, I couldn’t feel my knees my entire body just became stiff.

You know that saying that fear will paralyze you, that is exactly what happened to me

literally. The cops didn’t seem to notice what was going on with me even if they

noticed I doubt if they would have cared. They told us to lift our hands up and lean

against the car.

Oh shit!!!!

As we were leaning against the car with our hands lifted I heard a thump from inside

the car, I wasn’t sure if I had imagined it or if it really happened my eyes

automatically looked into Andiswa direction who was standing next to me who also

must have heard that sound coming from inside because her eyes were popped out

like they about to fall out of her eye socket. I knew we were in shit now; we were

definitely going to jail. Andiswa mimed “faint” I wasn’t sure if I was reading her lips

correctly I lifted my eyebrows to show her I was not sure what she was saying she

moved her lips slowly without a sound coming from her mouth and this time I

understood perfectly what she was saying, I dropped on the ground and Andiswa

was on her knees next to me immediately shouting at the cops “that’s what we’ve

been trying to tell you, our friend here is pregnant, we not from around here and

don’t know the area too well, we were taking her to the hospital she’s been having

some strange cramps” Cleo and She Rocks had now also come to join the shouting,

everyone was now talking at the same time explaining how sick I am and how it was

critical that I get to the hospital as soon as possible, Cleo was even threatening on

suing the police should anything happen to me or the baby, once women start

shouting there is no shutting them up, well in our case the loud talking and shouting

was to cover the noise coming from the back of our car, it was not that loud but we
were all worried that at it might get louder, the female cop threw bottled water on my

face, which ticked me off but I couldn’t get upset I had to act like the water woke me

from my fainting, faking is hard I don’t know how some people do it, I got up and

asked what was going on and where I was, I wanted to laugh but I had to act sick,

damn acting is hard, no wonder the old Generations crew demanded more money,

that shit is not easy, imagine having to be someone else for 8 hours damn.

The cops were now apologizing and told my friends since they don’t know the way to

the hospital they will escort us to Bara hospital, we all went silent for a few seconds,

did they just say escort us? With that they rushed into their car and we had no

choice but to get into the bakkie and drive behind the cops who had put their sirens

on, showing that this is an emergency, on any given day this would have been nice

and amazing, but the hospital was the last place we wanted to find ourselves

in. Mfundo’s tapping were become more aggressive now, the bastard was alive and

kicking, this man had more lives than a cat. I turned around and look at the backseat

at She Rocks and Cleo and asked “whose idea was it to use Insulin again? Why the

hell couldn’t you have just bought poison, you had to go all fancy and shit didn’t

you?” Cleo answered “Lee this was all last minite.com things so where the hell were

we suppose to get poison from on a Sunday? Insulin is as good as poison anyway,

give it time, he’s going to die” she said filling her nails like we were talking about

shopping or something casual. I won’t lie I was freaking out, the girls seemed chilled

about the whole situation, She Rocks said “how many people in their lives can say

they got a police escort, how cool is this? I feel like I should call someone and tell

them about this amazing thing that is happening right now, in fact I need to take a pic

of this.” I irritable said “you are unbelievable” she started snapping away taking
pictures and selfies, I realised this is one of those arguments that you cannot win, it’s

like arguing with a crazy person, no winning that fight.

We arrived in Bara, the cops took us to the entrance of deliveries, we went through

security gates and went inside the premises, the cops left to our relief and we all

waved goodbye, then got out of the car. Mfundo’s tapping had now calmed down. I

said “we need to inject him with more insulin we can steal some more here in the

hospital, or the shit they inject when people are having an operation, he needs to die

today.” I wanted to tell them about Mfundo being my husband’s brother but shit had

become so complicated, I would reveal those details after we had buried him now I

needed everyone to focus on having his ass killed, that and only that. Andiswa said

she had more insulin so there was no need to raid the hospital cabinets. The

problem now was how are we going to inject him since we were not the only people

around, there was a few people who would pass mostly the cleaners who were

throwing the sheets and hospital gowns in some bin that I figured was probably a

washing basket and those clothes were probably going to go get washed. We

looked around to check if there were no cameras the last thing we wanted was to

appear on the e news dragging a body out of a bakkie, imagine the embarrassment

of everyone who knew seeing us on TV, I shook my head trying to get those crazy

thoughts out of my head. She Rocks said she would jump inside the bakkie and

inject Mfundo and then we can drive to Retvlei Farm as previously planned and go

burry him there, she jumped in and within a few seconds she was back out and the

syringe was empty, we all got back inside the van, Andiswa drove, when we got to

the security gates and were waiting for the car in front of us to go Andiswa turned

and looked at me and said “shit, these security guards search the boots of cars, I’m

turning back, with that she put the car on reverse as she was reversing Cleo shouted
“there is a car behind you” luckily she missed it by inches, some women and driving

though, how do you reverse without checking what the hell is going on behind

you? The car in front of us left it was now our turn, security guy came and told us he

needed to check the back of the bakkie, She Rocks jumped out of the car and went

and spoke to the security guard we couldn’t hear what they were saying, eventually

she came back and shook her head and said “no luck, the bastard wants to search

the car, turn back Ands, I told him we forgot something inside” with that Andiswa

made a u-turn we went back to where we had parked and we all just sat in the car

speechless, silent, no word from either one of us.

We all jumped from the fright we got when Mfundo’s knocking sounds

started. Andiswa said “there is no way in hell he could be up already, unless if he’s

diabetic or…. Oh shit, what did we do with the picnic basket with all the food in

it?” Cleo said she threw it in the back with Mfundo and asked Andiswa why she was

asking, Andiswa replied, “because he’s probably eating the bloody chocolate which

is why the insulin is not working, sweet shit cancels out the insulin” we all rushed out

of the car and lifted the bakkie cover to find a weak looking Mfundo munching on a

chocolate, he was surprised to see us, his eyes stared into mine, I quickly turned

away from his sharp piercing eyes , the girls grabbed the chocolate away from him

and pulled him out. Cleo said the only way to get Mfundo out of the hospital was if

he sat with them at the back, they put him in the back seat with them, his limbs were

weak he couldn’t really do much, his drool was running down his face, Cleo and She

Rocks put him in the middle and Andiswa and I sat in the front seat and we went

back to the gate, this time there were 2 cars in front of us, we patiently waited,

Mfundo said “wa—ttter” he was struggling to speak, Cleo replied by saying “shut-up”

it was eventually our turn for our car to be searched and security came none of us
came out this time, he searched where Mfundo was and came back looked at the

back seat and that’s when Mfundo saw the gap and with everything that is in him

screamed out loud “help, help me”

I wanted to die.

Bad things happen in to good people they say, I’m a good person most of the times, I

know what we were doing really didn’t say “good people” but deep down I’m a nice

person who makes mistakes and sometimes I make mistakes with the wrong people

who decided to want to screw me over just like the fool named Mfundo, how the hell

do you do that? How could he do that? Scream for help like a small child, I wanted to

smack him but I was a bit far from him. This was a total shock for all of us, we had

not been expecting this, Security Guard asked “kanti kwenzak’alani lana bo sisi?”

meaning what’s happening here ladies, She Rocks jumped out of the car pushed the

security guard soo hard that he trampled over and fell and ran to the boom and

opened it and shouted to Andiswa to drive, Andiswa speed off, security guard stood

up and chased after She Rocks who jumped inside the car, Cleo was finished with

laughter, I asked She Rocks what the hell had gotten into her, she said it’s not like

he could have done anything to her he doesn’t even have a gun. She turned to

Mfundo and said “you’ve been a very, bad, bad boy, what are we going to do with

you?” good question, it was already dark and we couldn’t exactly take him to Retvlei

Farm as by then they were already close. Damn this mission was becoming harder

and harder. She Rocks said since she stays alone we could take him to her house

and we will continue with the mission the next day since we had failed dismally to kill

Mfundo and maybe we will come up with fresh ideas. We went to the garage and

bought some rope and the thick grey salotape, when we got back in the car Cleo

stick in Mfundo’s mouth who had now been quiet for some time, maybe the insulin
was working after all even though it was taking it’s time. We drove back to my mom’s

place, Andiswa parked the car at the corner of the street the last thing we wanted

was my mother asking a lot of questions about the man sitting at the back seat and

we couldn’t exactly put him at the back now since we were in public. Cleo and I went

and got the cars, my mom and Victor were not there to our relief, we left She Rocks

car at my mom’s house and told the Neo’s nanny we will come and get it the

following day. I thanked the girls and told them I will see them tomorrow.

I went home and found my husband in the couch watching tv, he gave me one look

and said I needed to get in the shower before I even kiss him, I don’t blame him I

was full of sand, I laughed and jumped on top of him and he passionately kissed me

and told me how much he missed me and I should never leave him for so long

because his stupid brother and wife never showed up so he should have gone with

me. I smiled knowingly and said “sorry”. I went upstairs took a shower and I was

bushed I just wanted to get in bed and pass out. I went downstairs to go tell Mthobisi

I was going to bed, he said “Honey, I have these voicemails from Mfundo he says he

wants to speak to me urgently, so I tried calling him back and his phone is off” my

jaw was on the floor, I asked my husband when the voicemail was left on his phone

and he said yesterday, thank goodness I had actually thought he had wrestled She

Rocks and got free, Jesus what the hell would I do if he did that, he would go straight

to the cops, we needed to get him killed as soon as possible and Mfundo was

stronger than us so we needed help, I knew it the girls knew it they were just not

ready to admit it. I couldn’t exactly ask my husband to help me kill his brother

because I had slept with him who now believes that I was carrying his child, Mthobisi

would first kill me then kill Mfundo. I told him that if it was as serious as the voicemail

said it was then he would definitely call him back, I of course knew that call was
never going to come. I wanted to ask about him and Mfundo being brothers but it

would bring up a lot of questions from my husband so I decided I would wait until he

told me which might never happen but I didn’t care, all that occupied and bothered

my mind was getting rid of Mfundo’s body.

We went to bed and I slept well for the first few hours and then had a nightmare

about Mfundo screaming for help in his grave and Mthobisi hearing him and digging

him out and him pointing at me and saying “that witch killed me” I screamed and I

must have screamed out loud because Mthobisi got up and pulled something under

the mattress then asked me what wrong, it was dark I couldn’t see what it was but I

was sure it was a gun, I told him I had a bad dream he put it back under the mattress

and switched on the lights, I was soaking wet from sweating, he brought me a towel I

actually had to change my night dress because it was too wet and was making me

cold, I tried going back to sleep and just couldn’t sleep, each time I closed my eyes I

kept seeing Mfundo’s body twitching, my husband had his arm over me covering me

and every few minutes he would ask if had I fallen asleep after the 5th time I decided

to not respond which made him think I was asleep he then feel asleep, as soon as I

felt he had fallen asleep I moved his hand over to his body and tried to sneak out of

the room as soon as I touched the door handle to open it to get out he asked “Honey

where you going?” I told him I needed fresh air and was going to sit outside by the

pool, “it’s 2 am Lee, try and get some sleep.” I calmly said “I can’t”, he sat up and

asked “are you worried about tomorrow’s procedure? I am too Honey, please don’t

stress about it, everything will be fine.” I almost asked what procedure until I

remembered that I was having my baby terminated the following day, soo many

killings in my life, haai no this was just too much, the worst part I had forgotten about

that. My sweet husband got up and said he would come and sit with me outside, he
was being so sweet and supportive, I could not allow Mfundo to ruin things between

me and this man, where on earth was I going to find another man like him. He was

not perfect had his flaws but neither was I and one thing about men is they don’t

easily forgive infidelity that is the hardest thing to forgive and I was not about to have

him doubt and question everything I do because I cheated once okay not once but

who is counting. We sat outside on the pool chairs and while sitting there I realised

that I have everything that any woman could ever want, what the hell was I doing

with Mfundo?

Greed and lust are not things that you should easily give into, next time there is

temptation I will ask myself is this person worth me losing everything I have and

everything I have worked so hard for and if the answer is no I am going to turn the

other way and walk away and keep walking each time I see that person that was a

promise I made to myself. Mthobisi brought me a fleece blanket and told me it’s cold

we should go back inside, I told him he could go in I will sit outside for a few minutes,

he kissed me on the forehead and told me he loved me then went inside and came

back in a few minutes with warm tea, I had a few sips then decided to go inside we

watched TV until 5am then hubby ran me a bath and I had a nice long bath by 06:45

we were both ready and neither of us could eat. I called She Rocks and told her that

Mthobisi and I were going to see the doctor and I would see her later, I asked how

she slept she said “like a baby” she was obviously stronger than me.

We drove to the doctor’s office, my husband had made the appointment and it was

for 08:00 we filled some forms, I was a bit nervous, we saw the doctor who explained

that the procedure would be very simple I will be given a pill which would make me

have a miscarriage and they will then remove the foetus she made it sound so

simple but to me it was thee most hardest thing that I had ever had to do. I took the
pill and in less than an hour I was having hectic pains, Mthobisi was there with me all

the way holding my hand telling me everything will be okay, I started bleeding the

nurse came and took me to another room and where the removal would be done, my

husband could not come with me when this procedure was being done, the doctor

and nurse removed the foetus I was not allowed to see it, when they were done I

was whisked to another room where I had to rest and recover. I laid in that bed

crying for the baby that I never got to see, a baby I would never get to hold his tiny

hand, a baby I would never get to name, a baby I would never get to kiss and tell him

how much I loved him and most of all a baby that I never protected. I cried so hard

the nurse came and asked if I was okay, I told her to bring my husband. Mthobisi

was by my side in a few minutes and he held me and cried with me for our baby. We

cried for a good hour. Eventually we had to leave, the nurse told me that I will be sow

for a couple of day and I should take it easy and no carrying of heavy things etc, I

nodded.

We left and my husband decided to take me to lunch, while we were waiting for our

food Mthobisi went to the bathroom I decided to switch on my phone and check my

messages, I had a few from work, I had forgotten to tell Cindy I wasn’t coming in, her

sms read “Mfundo has gone missing again, he was using his wife’s car and it was

found left on the side of the road somewhere in the East Rand, call me” and there

was another message from her “Why is your phone off, I hope you not with Mfundo

wherever you are.” This is what I hate about people knowing your business they

keep throwing it around even if it’s not necessary, what the hell was wrong with her

why even ask that. I called her and told her that I had just come out of hospital I had

a miscarriage and had not seen Mfundo since last week and hung up, she called

back I’m sure she wanted to give me her stupid condolences but I was not in the
mood I switched off my phone. Lunch came we ate and left when we got home I told

Mthobisi that I wanted to go check on She Rocks he said she should come to me I’m

in no condition to drive, I couldn’t argue with that because if I insisted on going it

would raise questions. He received a call from work and told me that he needs to

pop in at work and will be back soon, he kissed me good bye and told me to call him

if I needed anything, I agreed and thanked him for being so supportive.

As soon as I heard the car drive off I called She Rocks she said she was at Retvlei

Farm doing her volunteering work and I should join her, I said I was on my way. I

was in pains after the procedure but I didn’t care, I slowly went upstairs walking was

ten times slower now I couldn’t walk fast I went to our bedroom lifted the mattress on

my husband’s side of the bed and found the gun took it and put it in my bag and

drove to Retvlei. I phone She Rocks and she directed me to where she was she was

deep inside the farm I doubt if anyone ever goes there, Cleo and Andiswa were there

and they had already dug the hole, I asked where Mfundo was and they said they

think he’s becoming immune to the insuline they had overdosed him and he still

wasn’t dying, they were even thinking of burying him alive, I said good idea let’s bury

him alive, they all said no he might wake up and scream and someone would hear

him and we would all be in deep shit. Cleo dragged him out and put him on the

ground and said “maybe burying alive is not such a bad idea, if the insulin doesn’t kill

him the sand he will swallow, the heat and dehydration will definetly kill him” I

couldn’t take the chance of him coming out of that hole, I took out the gun pointed to

Mfundo’s head and pulled the trigger.

The sound was soo loud it was deafening, there was blood everywhere. Then out of

nowhere we started hearing voices, and they were coming closer to where we were

and someone shouted “Helloo, is everything okay?”

I think the girls were still trying to figure out what had just happened but there was no

time to for that we had to act fast, in my defence I had to kill Mfundo because none

of the plans that the girls tried seemed to work no disrespect to them but time was

not on our side, and you know what they say about people that are in threat they get

into survival mode and I knew Mfundo would do everything in his power to make

sure that he stayed alive, I mean nobody wants to die, take me for example Mfundo

had threatened my life and these were the results of his threats, he had no one but

himself to blame for this, lesson to be learnt here never threaten to expose a woman

to her husband about an affair especially if that woman’s husband is Mthobisi

Jumbe.

She Rocks whispered “Lee, what the fuck? A gun? Blood? Shit! Are you out of your

mind?” I didn’t even get a chance to answer because she ran to where the voices

where coming and said “Oh hey guys, I banged the lid of the metal bin while trying to

close it hence the loud bang, sorry about that” they sounded like they believed her

and we heard one of the guys thanking her for always volunteering her time to come

and help with the animals and cleaning and we heard them leave a few minutes later

She Rocks came back and said “let’s bury this body and get out of here” we pushed

Mfundo in the hole and threw the sand that he had laid on full of blood and buried

him inside, the girls were not saying anything they were all pissed off at me for the

gun stunt, I tried apologising but Cleo told me to shut up and continue covering the

grave with sand, I didn’t want to piss them of any further so I continued with the

covering of the hole with the shovel, it was exhausting and we did it in

silence. When we were finally done I asked the girls if they wanted to go out and

grab something to drink they all refused, tjeeer they were really pissed off at me. I

got into my car then I realised something, I searched on the seats, underneath,
literally everywhere in the car and couldn’t find it I screamed to everyone as they

were getting into their cars and screamed “I can’t find my phone, I think we might

have buried it with Mfundo” Andiswa shouted “Say whaaaaattt? I’m not opening that

hole again, that’s bullshit Lee, you can’t be this careless” Cleo said “Buy another

phone dammit, the body is probably rotting and stinking away as we speak, fuck that

shit, stop being stingy and buy another phone dammit” She Rocks angrily said

“problem is if we leave that phone there and someday the body is discovered with

Lee’s phone then we will all be definitely be linked to the crime so ladies as much as

I am mad at Lee right now but we going to have to re-do everything”.

We got the shovels out of Andiswa’s bakkie to say they were mad would be an

understatement they were spitting fire and this time there was no silence, they were

all hailing all kinds of insults at me I can’t even write them down that’s how bad their

insults were in all languages and at some point I think She Rocks threw in French

swear words too or maybe it was tongues I don’t know all I know the language was

definitely not South African I made a note to self to google that word when I got

home, I didn’t protest I truly deserved it and if I were on their shoes I would do the

same. When we were half way through reaching Mfundo’s body, we heard a phone

ringing, Andiswa was the first to ask “is that your phone Lee ringing?” I nodded but

realised something the sound was not coming from underneath us instead it was

coming from before I could even finish that thought Cleo shouted “Fucken hell Lee,

the phone is ringing in your bloody car.” I jumped out of the hole and I knew this time

these girls would beat the crap out of me, I was still a bit sow but those pains would

be nothing compared to being moered by these girls and I knew that I had pushed

them too far and the only thing I could think of was running to the car and locking all

doors and I did exactly that and just as I had thought they were running behind me
with their crazy insults when they reached the car Cleo grabbed the door handle and

tried opening the door and it was locked they started screaming telling me to open

the door I wouldn’t hear none of that. I opened the window slightly and told them I

would only open the door if they calm the hell down but that was not the answer the

girls were looking for, Cleo shouted “if you don’t come out of this car right now Lee, I

swear I am going to smash this fucken window you talking to us through” she said

pointing her shovel to the window and I knew she meant it, she would do it so I

grinded my teeth and faked a smile and opened the door She Rocks said “step away

from the car Lee, you have a lot of work to do” I stepped out Cleo threw a shovel at

me and said “you are going to close that shit up on your own” I looked at her and

looked at each one of them I thought this was some kind of joke but the look in their

faces told me that they meant it, I went back and covered the grave with the girls

standing around drinking and doing absolutely nothing to help while I sweated like a

pig running from it’s owner that’s about to turn it into bacon.

At least I was not starting from the bottom it was half way through, I knew I deserved

it but bloody hell these friends were cruel and they say they love me, as I was busy

covering the grave I was also thinking that maybe I should ditch these friends and

get myself new friends, how cold could they be at that moment I was really getting

angry I was sweating everywhere even in places that I didn’t know would sweat. I

was eventually done and that’s when they decided they were going to help with

putting the grass on top so it doesn’t look like it’s been touched or disturbed. They

had now calmed down a bit, well I kind of took over 2 hours that’s enough time to

calm anyone down. Now they were talking normal again no more foreign insults,

thank goodness for that but it was my turn to be sulking as soon as everything was

done, the place looked like it was untouched, She Rocks and Andiswa even threw
some leaves just to make it seem like the place was never touched, I marched into

my car this time no one followed me and I drove straight home. I saw my husband’s

car parked on the driveway, shit I had taken longer than I had expected, I got inside

the house and he was lying on the couch and the tv was on as I got closer I realised

he was sleeping, I quickly snuck upstairs, threw my bag on the bed removed my dirty

clothes threw them on the washing basket and went into the shower, the water felt

soo good like it was washing away all my sins, what I did nothing could wash it away,

I was stained for life. I started thinking about how messed up my life was, how I had

just killed a man, a mother was without a son, a wife without a husband, sisters

without a brother and it was all thanks to me and my selfishness, how did I get to this

place, I had turned into someone that I didn’t like much, I didn’t want to be this

person.

You know that feeling of regret you get after you have done something really bad,

well take that feeling and multiply it by hundred and you will get how I felt, with all

that guilt and regret that I was going through I found tears streaming down my face

and I just dropped to the floor and started crying while still in the shower, I started

praying “father God, I don’t want to blame the devil for what I did it was all me and

I’m sorry, you must be very hurt and disappointed well, I don’t blame you, I don’t

even deserve to be talking to you right now all I wanted to say was I’m sorry and I

promise that I will change, I will never do anything like this ever again, no more

affairs and definitely never killing ever again, I promise I will go to church every

Sunday I will change, please Lord forgive me,” and I couldn’t stop crying I must have

been in that shower for over an hour when I eventually managed to pull myself

together I rinsed my face and wiped myself and got out of the shower and stepped

into our bedroom only to find my husband on the bed holding my phone and his gun
that I had used was on the bed next to him, I wanted to say something but what the

hell could I say, he smiled and stood up and said “dry yourself up, put on body lotion

and get dressed you will find me downstairs and while you still getting dressed Lee

make sure you think very hard about the story you are going to tell me, because I

want nothing but the truth from you. One lie Lee and I swear to God I will kill you”

with that he walked out and left me with my mouth wide opened.

When a man threatens to kill you what do you do? Well if you are anything like

Lesedi you kill that bastard before he kills you, I kid, I kid, I can’t going around killing

everyone who says they will kill me especially not my husband but at that moment I

knew I was in deep elephant shit, and there was no way out of this one, I knew he

had probably read all my messages between me and my friend he knew what we

were up to and there was no way I could lie about that so the safe option out of this

was to tell the truth. I got dressed went downstairs and found my husband looking

very angry, this was not a good day at all I had managed to piss of soo many people,

how and when did I become this person. I’m an all-round sweet person that

everyone loves, okay I used to be lately all I have been managing to do is piss

people off and then kill some, I was honestly going to change this was not the way to

live.

I got downstairs Mthobisi said “are you ready to tell me why you took my gun and

where the hell you have been all day?” I looked at him and said “I took your gun

because I wanted to use it to threaten someone” Mthobisi came close to me and put

his finger in my head and said “hey wena, hey wena, do I look like an idiot? That gun

was used, I’m asking you for the last time Lesedi, what the fuck did you do with my

gun?” I blurted out, “I shot Mfundo, he was threatening me” Mthobisi dropped on the

couch and said “you did what?” I repeated my statement, he put his hand on his
face and covered it and whispered “shit, shit, shit. Did you kill him?” I couldn’t even

look at him I just nodded and Mthobisi said “why didn’t you come to me Lesedi?

Why?” I told him I was scared and didn’t know what to do, I know it’s wrong to lie

about the dead but this situation called for throwing Mfundo even further down the

ground, the man was already six feet under so what damage could a few small lies

about him do? I told him that Mfundo had a crush on me and had made advances

on me and when I had turned him down he threatened to get me fired and from there

on things just spiralled out of control, I told him he wanted to destroy me because I

wouldn’t sleep him, I was so convincing I even had tears streaming down my face,

this was not planned those tears were from fear. Mthobisi listened to me and didn’t

say a word, eventually when I was done talking he said “What did you do with his

body?” I explained that I got my friends involved and we buried him, I told him where

we had buried the body he told me he needed some time to think things through,

he’s going out to get some fresh air and something at the back of my mind told me

he was going to the grave. He left I sat there trying to think what to do next when my

phone suddenly rang; it was She Rocks she told me “We’ve been calling you and

couldn’t reach you we then called your husband. Mthobisi told us about the

termination of the baby, why didn’t you say something Lee? How can you keep

something so big from us?” I told her I didn’t want us loosing focus, I wanted us to

finish what we were dealing with first and deal with the rest later. She said she

understood but they’ve been talking and Cleo thinks that I need cleansing, she said

Cleo thinks that I have too much bad luck in my life and need to see a Sangoma we

both laughed and said how crazy Cleo is with her traditional beliefs, if I told anyone

that I had been pissed off with this girl earlier on they would not believe because now

the friendship was back on like nothing happened.

A few days went by with my husband and I both acting like everything was fine but

there was definitely as strain in the marriage and neither one of us wanted to

address the issue, there was just a huge elephant there and no one dared to speak

about it, every day I would go to work come back cook dinner we would eat go to

bed, no action in the bedroom, sleep wake up and start the process all over again,

Mfundo had been reported missing at work but this time his wife told the police that

before he disappeared he told her that he was leaving her for another woman who

was pregnant with his child thank goodness he had not said my name so there was

no missing person investigation everyone just simple thought he was a man in-stupid

that’s what they call man who thinks he’s in-love. So his Boss was the one handling

our account and he was a nice guy unlike Mfundo. Cindy kept saying she can’t

believe Mfundo left his wife for another woman and how many woman was he

sleeping with and how men like Mfundo make woman stop believing in love, I

couldn’t be bothered so to keep peace I would just agree to everything that she said I

didn’t want to go against her and for her to start raising suspension on me. The

December holidays were approaching so since we had cancelled our girls holiday

earlier in the year, we decided to go to Durban, Jessica’s parent’s (my white friend)

had a beach house and she and her boyfriend were going to be there and a couple

of friends and we planned to spend the 31st of December at their place they were

going to have this big party, Jessica knows how to party so we all knew it was going

to be one crazy party. She Rocks also wanted to see her grandparents who stay in

Bergville which is a few hours away from Durban, so the plan was to pass there stay

for a day or 2 then drive down to Durban. Mthobisi agreed to everything he was

going to come with us but two days before the trip he changed his mind and said

he’s been asked to be one of the skeleton staff members and he kind of didn’t have
a choice I was disappointed but there wasn’t much I could do about it, he gave me

his blessings and told me to go with my friends and enjoy myself.

We spend Christmas at my mother’s house my sister and her husband were also

there and our kids, my mom cooked up a storm as usually, we ate ourselves silly and

couldn’t even walk after lunch. I told my husband we should go and see his mother,

so around 3 we drove to Daveyton, his mom was alone, it was a truly sad and

depressing sight, and we brought her food from my mother’s house. I sat with her

and apologised for everything that I had done against her, Christmas is after all time

for family and forgiveness so what better day to make peace than on Christmas

day. She also apologised to me but didn’t name her sins against me I figured if she

did name them one by one she would only finish apologising by year 2027, I told her

I forgave her and gave her and Mthobisi some time to speak and went outside. I

wondered if I should go and apologize to the lady I had beat up thinking she was

Katlego and decided against it. I wanted to ask about Katlego and her child but

didn’t want to spoil the day so I let it go.

We went home and I finished my packing as we were leaving the next morning with

my friends. Mthobisi looked better like a weight had been lifted of his shoulders, that

talk with his mother did him good, forgiveness is a powerful thing. That night my

husband slept peaceful ever since I had told him about the shooting he had not been

sleeping well he would toss and turn and wake up in the middle of the night but we

never spoke about the thing ever again but I knew it was eating him up.

The next morning we had planned to leave at 6 am but as usual my friends were late

and so was I, in fact 6 am was the time I woke up which was the time we were

supposed to be leaving for KZN, we were all meeting at She Rocks house I still don’t
know why because it was just out of the way we would still have to drive to the N3 go

pass Alberton, the clever option would have been to meet at one of our homes in

Alberton but we are woman we don’t think about such things, so we were going to

use my husband’s Q3 as it had lots of boot space and 4 women travelling alone

really needed boot space. I drove to She Rocks house at 7 and she had been long

ready and waiting, she’s so annoying always keeping time and never makes us

forget about how we don’t keep time and always tell us we would probably be late for

our own funerals. She had full 2 suitcases that could not even close, I helped her

carry them to the car they were so heavy I screamed “did you pack brick in these

suitcases?” she laughed and said “maybe”. Cleo arrived with her husband who was

just dropping her off we greeted him and made small talk I told them I had carried

She Rocks heavy suitcases I was not doing that again so Cleo’s husband got the

suitcase out and put it in my husband’s car and said his goodbyes and left, I was soo

surprised she only had one suitcase Cleo usually travels with twenty million things,

her luggage always goes missing at the airport which is why she hates flying and she

always gets charged for carrying way to many things. I asked her if she forgot some

of her clothes she said we going to Durban we going to be half naked most of the

times I popped my eyes out at her and she gave me the naughty look “we going to

have such a crazy time, you know what they say about Zulu guys?” I laughed and

said “no Cleo what do they say about Zulu guys?” She Rocks jumped in and said

“Cleo pleas behave you are married, we don’t want another Lee situation in our

hands.” And walked inside the house, Cleo turned to me and said “she needs to get

over herself, who said married woman can’t have fun, I’m tired of having chicken

every day, I need some beef and maybe some mutton once in a while” we both

laughed. Andiswa arrived an hour later looking miserable, the whole Mfundo thing
had not been sitting well with her, she had been having nightmares and was grumpy

and moody especially towards me, we hadn’t chatted much since the entire thing

went down. I greeted her and hugged her she didn’t even bother hugging me back

she just stood there, she also came with one suitcase when I offered to put it in my

car she snapped at me and said it’s fine she will do her own dirty work, “wow” I said

and walked inside to go get the cooler bags with our water and energy drinks. Finally

at 11:15 we were all ready to hit the road this was supposed to have happened at

6am but hey we were going on holiday time didn’t matter.

Cleo said she will drive the first hour of the trip since we were starting in Bergville

and that’s 3 hours away from Johannesburg, Cleo drove there was soo much traffic

and by the time we reached the Total Garage leaving Joburg on the N3 an hour had

already passed and Cleo said it’s time to change drivers her hour had lapsed we all

protested that we were still in joburg but Cleo being Cleo got out of the driver’s seat

and went to the back seat and sat with me and She Rocks, Andiswa had no choice

but to jump to the driver’s seat since she was already in front, I went and sat in the

front seat next to her, she was driving soo fast and so bad it was as if she’s doing it

on purpose just to torture me and being in front meant I got to experience

everything, she would cut in front of cars missing them by inches, hit the brakes for

no apparent reason, my hand balanced on the windscreen more than 5 times, Cleo

and She Rocks were sleeping in the backseat, I was soo annoyed, each time I tried

making a conversation Cleo would hit the brakes to a point where I’m almost thrown

out of the car, I eventually put on my seatbelt because the bitch had lost her mind,

and kept my mouth shut.

When we go to the off-ramp to Bergville I woke Cleo and She Rock up and Cleo was

like “ohhh we here already, damn Andiswa you were flying” if she only knew how she
almost killed us she wouldn’t be smiling I thought. When we got to Bergville there

were a lot of portholes so Andiswa couldn’t drive fast and eventually we arrived at

the grandparent’s house safe and sound. We were welcomed by the grandparents

who were very happy to see their granddaughter She Rocks and her friends. We

settled in, Andiswa said she was going to one of the houses with gogo while the rest

of us freshened up. A few hours later they came back with a Sangoma, we were all

confused until Andiswa said “I told Gogo about your problems and she suggested

this woman so she can cleanse you, you have too much bad luck and you need

cleansing.”

I wasn’t sure who Andiswa was talking to but seeing everyone staring at me I knew it

had to be me “Mrs Bad Luck” I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her outside, I was

ready to beat the hell out of her, how dare she?

As soon as we were outside away from everyone I asked Cleo, “what the hell do you

think you are doing?” Cleo calmly replied “Lee I am trying to help you here, you need

this” I screamed at her “who the hell do you think you are telling me what I need?”

The others from inside the house heard the commotion and came out to ask if

everything was okay, by this time I was inches away from Cleo’s face, She Rocks

came between us and told us to stop acting childish. I told her to speak to her friend

and I walked back inside the house and went to the guest bedroom and slammed the

door I was really pissed off.

I called my husband and told him we got to Bergville safe, he asked what was wrong

because he could hear from my voice that I was not okay, I told him about Cleo

getting me a sangoma and telling me I have too much bad luck and needing

cleansing, he laughed so hard I had not heard my husband laugh in a very long time
hearing him laugh like that just made my heart melt, I really loved this man. He told

me that I shouldn’t be mad at Cleo she meant well, as I was sitting in the room

talking to my husband I could smell impempho (incense) being burnt, didn’t the

stupid girl get rid of the sangoma. Andiswa came in the room and said I should come

out the sangoma is not going to make me drink chicken blood or start throwing

bones all she’s doing is burning the incense and asking for good spirits to follow us, I

asked if we were being followed by bad ones and she laughed. She also apologized

for being “such a bitch” of late she said she didn’t know how to deal with what we

had done and lashing out was her only solution, she said “at least you girls have

done this before so you know how to handle it.”

I told her it was never easy the first time we did it and it’s definitely not easy this time

either we just choose not to think about it all the time or else we would go crazy, she

wanted to know what had happened with Cleo’s stepfather, I told her I was not ready

to talk about it especially now with a sangoma waiting for me on the other room,

between talking about Cleo’s stepfather and sangoma the sangoma was a safer

option I would do anything to avoid that topic it brings back very painful memories

and I seriously didn’t want to start crying now. We went out of the room there was

soo much smoke in the room I could barely make out Cleo in all the smoke but I

couldn’t see She Rock in the room, the sangoma was chanting and saying a whole

lot of things about removing bad luck from these children and bringing them peace

and blah blah blah. I stood there listening for a bit and eventually she was done and

said she needed to have a few words with Cleo, thank goodness it was not with me

but I figured she wanted her payment from her. Andiswa and I went outside to find

She Rocks sitting by the stoop, she said she doesn’t understand how Cleo thinks

and there was no way she was going to sit there and listen to a sangoma. I knew
She Rocks would be against the whole sangoma thing she is just too holy than thou

to deal with such, while I on the other hand didn’t really care about any religion, the

only problem I had with Cleo and this sangoma was the fact that I was ambushed

and not given a choice that just ticked me off. She Rocks said we should stay the

night then leave the next morning for Durban.

Later we decided to cook for the grandparents we made them nice dinner then we all

ate, I was still mad at Cleo so Andiswa decided that we all needed to go for a walk,

okay the town is soo small the only restaurant we could find was KFC, so we went

there to get ice-cream and talked about this, Cleo said she doesn’t feel like she did

anything wrong all she was trying to do was help me I told her I have never forced

her to go to church before whenever we go to church she tell us her ancestors were

not born again and we leave it at that so why must she force her ancestors on me.

Only then did she understand and apologized, we made peace went back to the

grandparents and slept the next morning we were woken up by chickens apparently

they make that loud noise to wake people up when I checked the time it was only

04:30 what the hell was wrong with these chickens, every 15 minutes we would be

woken up by some kuuuuruuukukuuuuuuuu sound coming from chickens I wanted to

go out grab them and put them in a pot with boiling water and cook them, by 05:30

we were all up and couldn’t take the noise anymore.

We bathed, made breakfast for the grandparents gave it to them in bed and by 09:00

we were driving to Durban, She Rocks drove until we go to Pietermaritzburg and I

had to drive on those Graaf Reniet curves, I find that road to be the most scariest

road ever and the worst part was the rain was pouring so heavy I felt like the car

would slide of those mountains I was driving so slow the girls were complaining and I
kept asking if they wanted to die each time they started complaining about my driving

and that would shut them up.

We eventually arrived in Durban we were staying at Waterfront and Spa Hotel

behind uShaka Marine World, we checked in and went to our room to drop our bags

and changed into shorts and bikinis then went to the hotel restaurant for some

cocktails, luckily the weather in Durban was beautiful. Cleo said we won’t meet any

interesting people in the hotel so let’s have one drink then go to the beach, we did

exactly that, the beach was packed soo many people I think the whole of KZN was in

the beach on that day so we decided to go chill in one of the restaurant’s upstairs

and watch people. As we were sitting across from us there were 3 guys with one girl

and I was facing them, one of the guys winked at me, I acted like I had not seen this

since I was wearing sunglasses and a big hat he was also not sure if I had seen the

wink then he waved, I again ignored them, She Rocks was taking pictures and

selfies while Cleo who was facing me kept asking me if there was talent in this place.

Our drinks arrived then 2 of the 3 guys came to our table and one of them said “you

know it’s a crime for such beautiful ladies to be sitting here by themselves with no

man to protect them.” Before we could protest they both sat down and told the

waitress to bring 8 more drinks of what we were drinking and it’s on them. She

Rocks said “thanks but…..awuuuu” Cleo had kicked her from underneath the table to

shut her up. I burst out laughing Cleo is something else the guys introduced

themselves, their zulu accent was sooo yummy pure and holy zulu, we were all now

drooling over these guys they were also not bad looking scrap that they were hot.

They kept buying drink after drink after drink eventually I was like “ladies we need to

go” the other guy who was with the girl came and told the guys they should go

because they had made plans to go to Gateway but the 2 guys were not ready to
leave us just yet so they told the other guy they would get a cab and meet him there.

My friends also didn’t want to go so we stayed and ordered food to snack on as we

could feel that we were a bit drunk, the 2 zulu guys had told us their names but I

don’t think anything they said registered between the alcohol and their sexy zulu

accent we could hear nothing, we talked about nonsense Durban and all the fun

places we were going to visit. My phone rang it was Mthobisi calling with his work

landline, I walked off from our table to answer he told me this was to show me that

he was not lying about having to work and he knows I was probably doubting him but

he wishes he had gone with me and misses me very much, I told him Durban was

really boring, nothing interesting and was not missing out on much. He said he loved

me and I went back to our table, the guys had now ordered tequilas, and everyone

was waiting for me when I got there I was given my shot with salt and lemon and we

all drank up. Around 5 in the afternoon She Rocks told the guys we needed to go

take a nap because we were really drunk and we will hook up with them later we

went back to our hotel and went to our rooms and napped, around 7 Andiswa was up

going to all our rooms waking us up, we were still drink but we decided we were not

going to stay in this hotel the whole night so we dolled ourselves up and hit the road,

the guys we had meet earlier their names were Mzwakhe and Bonga, we called

them and they said we should meet at Florida road there is a hot club they want to

show us there, we drove there when we arrived a white Mercedes Benz stopped

next to us, there were 2 guys inside they asked us where we were going we told

them to a club they told us they stay in La Lucia and they are having a party can we

join them. I was driving, Cleo was poking me from the back seat and whispering “La

Lucia is a rich surburb, let’s go” something in me said let’s just go in the club and
meet with our earlier guys but my friends seem keen on going to La Lucia so I

agreed and the guys said we should follow behind them.

I followed them and we arrived at the most exquisite house ever but because they

had said there was a party I was a bit baffled there were no cars around or people or

even the sound of music I said out loud and I wanted them to hear me too “if there is

a party shouldn’t there be loud noise and music?” the guy who was driving came to

our car and said “my house is sound proof.” Andiswa who was sitting in the front seat

next to me said “bayanya aba, there is no party here” meaning these guys are

bullshitting us there is no party here, as soon as she finished saying that the guy who

was driving bended and reached for his sock and next thing we knew a gun was

pointed at us and he said “get the fuck out of the car”

Holy crap, didn’t the sangoma cleanse me from all this bad luck?

In all my years alive, 2014 has to have been the most dangerous, dramatic year of

my life I could not wait for the damn year to end, I had had enough. I thought maybe

bad things happened to me in Joburg but now I was realising in Durban too. I carried

this dark, terrible, horrific cloud everywhere I went and since the sangoma didn’t do a

good job in removing the bad luck maybe I needed a wooden cross and to be

sprinkled with holy water, this was no way to live for anyone. Okay, okay, it wasn’t

bad luck on its own; the fact that we were likers of things and suffered from FOMO

also played a major role in our string of unlucky fortunes.

So Merced guy driver was standing next to our car with a gun pointed at us, telling

us to get out of the car, the first thing that came to my mind was this bastard and his

friend will lock us in their fancy house that was probably not even theirs maybe they

were house sitting for someone else since it was December holidays and would
make us their sex slaves until the owners came back. I imagined being locked up in

some room and not been given any food or water for days and crying myself to sleep

every single night I put the car on drive and hit the accelerator and drove off, I heard

the guy shout “fucken coconut bitchess” and saw him on the review mirror running to

his car and within few seconds they were behind us, to say I was scared would be an

understatement I was shitting myself, She Rocks kept saying “drive faster Lee they

catching up” I didn’t do advance driving like she did I couldn’t cut corners and ish like

her, the worst part about this whole situation we had made so many turns going to

the stupid house that I didn’t even know where the hell we were, I don’t think my

friends knew either or maybe they were still in shock because not once did anyone

say we taking the wrong way, I just drove and every turn I made, those fools were

behind me, suddenly Cleo said “I think we driving around in circles, we just went past

this street a few minutes ago.” I shouted, “I don’t know the way out, does anyone

remember?” Of course nobody remembered there was a sharp curve and instead of

curving with the road I went straight without realising that I was supposed to curve

with the road the next thing I heard was the girls screaming “Stoooooooop” I hit the

brakes hard and that’s when I realised I had actually driven into someone’s yard and

had I not stopped when I did the car would have plummeted into the pool, I was an

inch away from driving the car inside the pool, Andiswa said “switch off the lights” I

did and we all sat in silence and heard the Mercedes driving pass, thank goodness

they didn’t see us we sat in the car in silent for about 5 minutes then got out and

went to the front of the house, the lights in the house were off and it there was no

fencing around the yard, we looked around and figured they would be coming back

we went back to the car, my knees were shaking I asked She Rocks to drive besides

she did advanced driving so she would be able to cut corners better than me. She
reversed the car out and I put on the navigator on and set it for our hotel, on the way

we kept looking behind us and every white car that we passed we hoped and prayed

that it would not be a Mercedes Benz we arrived in our hotel and went up to our

rooms, we each had our own rooms but that night no one wanted to be alone so we

all went to Cleo’s room, we were now completely sober, fear will sober you up by

force.

We sat there and discussed what just happened, it was our first day in Durban and

already we were being chased by gun man for what? Cleo said those guys were

going to rape us there is no two way about it. Andiswa said maybe this was a sign

that we should go back home we all turned and looked at her like she was crazy,

Cleo told her there was no way in hell we were going back to Joburg just because

some loosers tried to scare us and we were all with Cleo on this, we were on holiday

here and it would take a tsunami to get us back in Joburg, no way we were leaving

until we were content with our holiday, we had planned and postponed this trip for

months, those Mercedes guys can go to hell for all we cared, besides Durban is too

big we were probably never going to see them again, we convinced Andiswa and

eventually she gave in. she Rocks went to her room and came back with a bottle of

Ciroc and Cranberry juice we called reception and asked for ice, they brought us a

bucket filled with ice and we decided to have our indoor party which was safer

anyway just to avoid drama. We called the guys we had meet at the beach and

apologized for not showing up at the club and told them we would see them the

following day, we drank and talked until the early hours of the morning. When we got

drunk Cleo said “let’s go find those bustards tsa Merc and show them who they

messing with” we all laughed and told her she was drunk and we were not going

anywhere and Durban cops don’t play they arrest drunk drivers, you can’t even bribe
them, it was especially bad for us because we had GP number plates so they

assume that you are going to come with a “Joburg attitude” whatever that is, but in

all our travels we had learnt that if you in another province the police don’t take

kindly to GP number plates, so we decided to sleep. I slept in Andiswa’ s room and

She Rocks and Cleo slept in Cleo’s room.

Each time Andiswa would hear a sound of a car speeding outside she would wake

up all jumpy and wake me up and tell me the Merc guys are here, she did it more

than 5 times to a point where I wanted to run to my room but I didn’t want to be a bad

friend, we had introduced Andiswa to a lot of hectic stuff, the other two girls and I

had gone through a lot of horrible thing since high school and we found a way to

cope with things but to Andiswa this was all new, I so wished that we had no

involved her in Mfundo’s drama she was becoming paranoid and that scared me a

bit, what if one day she said something to a wrong person, I had to stay close to her,

just to make sure that she didn’t run her mouth, but one thing I notice even when she

was drunk she never mentioned Mfundo and I prayed that it stayed that way some

people when drunk their mouths become and open tap.

By 08:30 I was up I woke Andiswa up and told her I was going to my room to shower

I didn’t want her freaking out thinking I was taken by the Merc guys, silly girl. I went

past Cleo room, knocked and knocked eventually She Rocks opened and said

“where’s the fire” I told her the fire was up her ass they need to get up we need to

get breakfast before the hotel restaurant closes for breakfast. She looked at me and

told me she’ll tell Cleo but she’s not doing breakfast she needs to sleep. I went to my

room showered and wore Billabong shorts and a Billabong bikini top and a blue

transparent top over it, I kept my weave loose and put on silver sandals and Gucci

sunglasses, I looked too damn hot even if I say so myself. I grabbed my cellphone
and went to knock in Cleo’s room they were still sleeping, I went to Andiswa she said

she wasn’t feeling too good, I figured she was just lazy to go down for breakfast I

decided screw these girls I’m hungry and we paid for this damn breakfast I’m going

to go eat, I took the lift and went downstairs to the restaurant, I decided to sit outside

it felt a bit uncomfortable sitting in a restaurant all by myself while most people were

with their families or partners, the sun was shining so brightly which was not doing

any good for the hang over I decided to order some energy drinks to clear the

babalaaz and added lots of chilli on my food. So there I was sitting on the couches

outside soaking up the sun when some random guy came up to me and asked

“would you mind if I joined you?” without even looking at him I coldly replied “yes I

would terrible mind if you joined me.”

I thought he would get the hint and go but guy went on “Why would you mind? I saw

you having breakfast alone and…” before he could finish I took off my sunglasess

and continued the sentence for him “and you thought I needed company?” he

nodded and I shook my head “you couldn’t have been more wrong, I need peace

and I don’t feel like making small talk so thanks but no thanks” I put my shades back

on and closed my eyes, when I opened them a few minutes later the guy was sitting

there I shrug my shoulders and asked “and then?” and he calmly replied “all the

other tables are full, don’t worry I won’t say a word” I decided to just ignore him. I

called the girls but none of them were answering, they were starting to annoy me, we

didn’t come all the way to Durban to just sleep all day, I seriously wanted to go to the

beach but there was no way in hell I was going alone. My phone rang it was my

sister she asked how Durban was I told her it was boring because the girls were

hung over and didn’t want to get up and I wanted to go to the beach but didn’t want

to look stupid walking by myself, she was surprised that I got up after a night of
drinking and told me I should make friends and let the girls sleep, she was right. I

asked her how she and Lwazi were doing she said things were good, he had really

changed if she only knew my husband converted him but I wasn’t going to brag

about that I thanked her for the call and told her to give her kids a big hug and a kiss

for me, talking to my sister made me miss home. I called Mthobisi, he was happy to

hear from me told me how he was tired of living on take-aways and had been

speaking to Cleo’s husband and they will be joining us on the 31st for the news eve

party, I was happy to hear that I told him how much I missed him. I wanted to tell him

about the Merc guys but couldn’t do it without making myself look guilty I let it go

God will deal with them I consoled myself with that.

When I was done talking to my husband the guy sitting across from me said “I

wouldn’t mind taking you to the beach since your friends are still sleeping.” I lifted my

eyebrows and said “sorry?” he replied “I heard when you talking on the phone about

going to the beach but too embarrassed to go alone, well I wouldn’t mind

accompanying you and don’t worry I won’t say a word I know how much you don’t

like talking which is extremely strange for a woman”

Sitting there getting fried by the sun was not going to do me any good, I had nothing

to lose I would take my own car I knew where the beach was and it was daylight

unlike the previous night, and all this guy would be is my body guard, I agreed.

I had to make sure I take all the necessary safe percussions the last thing I wanted

was the same situation as the night before happening, I asked the guy what his room

number was he told me and I asked for his name he said “Bantu” I laughed and

asked “as in Bantu Holomisa?” he said he gets that all the time but no his surname is

Sithole. I called one of the waiters and asked if they knew the guy and he said yes

he also stayed in the hotel I asked him for the notebook that they use to write down
orders and a pen and I wrote a note and asked him to please put it in my friend’s

room and I gave him She Rocks room number and told the guy we could hit the

road. We went to the parking lot, he suggested that we took his car I told him we

were both taking our cars he told me finding parking might be a problem, I didn’t care

I told him I would even walk an hour I didn’t care I was taking my car and he was

taking his and that’s final. We convoyed to the beach and parking was not that hard

to find but we didn’t find parking next to each other he parked 7 cars away from me

which suited me just fine.

We got to the beach and I took of my shoes and top and was left with just the bikini

bra and my short and went in the water, I thought I heard the guy say

“dammmmmmn

,she’s hot” but I acted like I didn’t hear that, oh I don’t swim, I’m like Jesus I walk on

water, I’ve had to many close drowning experience that I do not mess with water, I

remember when I was in high school the was a school trip and we went to the beach

and we had to form a circle of 8 people and hold each other’s hand and keep going

deeper and deeper into the beach and not let go of the person’s hand I was holding

on my right some white girl that didn’t like me much and on my left was a coloured

girl who used to love fighting and as we were going deeper and deeper into the

beach I kept telling the group I was in that we were going too far in and we should go

back but no one wanted to lose the competition and as we got deeper a huge wave

came and threw us all under water I panicked so much I let go of both girls hands

and tried pushing up the harder I pushed up the more I panicked and panicking

made things worse I was drowning the coloured and the white girl were so angry at

me they just stood there shouting at me on why the hell did I let go because now

we’ve lost, a life guard had to come and rescue me which was a huge
embarrassment because when the trip was over and we had to go back to school

everyone knew I had almost drowned at the beach, I didn’t want to go to school for

days from embarrassment but the nice thing about high school is there will always be

another scandal that will make yours look like a drop in the ocean.

When the water reached my boobs, I was ready to go back to the swallow end, as I

was turning to go back I saw Bantu running in the beach he had his shirt off and was

left with just shorts, my goodness the guy probably spent every single day in the

gym, he had muscles everywhere, I must have stood there with my mouth wide open

until a wave hit me unexpectedly and I fell on my face and swallowed that salt water,

he came and pulled me up and asked if I was okay, I put on my embarrassed smile

and told him “I can be so clumsy sometimes but I’m fine, thanks” I went to go sit in

the sand while he swam, damn brother man was also a good swimmer unlike me.

After about 20 minutes he came out and said don’t I want to swim some more I told

him I don’t swim, he said okay lets go get the sand of me we moved until the water

touched our knees I tried washing the sand of me with the sea water but I was not

doing such a good job, he looked at me and said “maybe I can be of assistant, let me

wash the sand of you” I smiled and splashed him with water and said “I don’t think

so” he laughed and took a handful of water and threw it and me and I ran laughing

out of the water and while running kicked some water his direction, he chased me

and said “damn ufiti yhoo” I ignored that comment and told him we should go wash

the sand by those outside showers we went wash the sand of our bodies and he

suggested we go to the restaurant to go get something to drink, I told him I can’t

because my friends were probably up by now, we walked back to our cars and he

bought me ice-cream he said it’s to cool me down.

I thank him and told him I was going back to the hotel, he said he’s meeting up with

some friends in Woodlands and left, I drove to the hotel, I checked my phone I had a

an sms from She Rocks saying they got my message, they will see me when I get

back and they are stuck because I had left with our only means of transport, shit I

had not thought of that, I got back to the hotel and went looking for them, I found

them in Andiswa’s room she was not looking good they said something about tonsils

and high temperature, nothing worse than being sick while you on holiday, Cleo had

given her warm water with chilli to gargle with and that’s a remedy she got from her

grandmother, I suggested we call her boyfriend since he is a doctor he will know

what she can take to get better soon. She called him and he said she sounds bad

and should get antibiotics that’s the only thing that could clear the tonsillitis quickly,

we asked him for the name and he said we won’t get it over the counter so we will

have to get a prescription from a doctor, this was sounding like a long process, he

said he knew of a doctor whom he studied with in university and will give him a call

and see if he can see her and give her a prescription for the antibiotics, he said he

will call back with all the details. The girls wanted to know who this “Bantu” guy was

that I had disappeared with and what we did, I told them everything since I had done

nothing wrong.

A few minutes later Andiswa’s doctor boyfriend called and said he’s friend said we

could come through but he is closing at 13:00 so we need to hurry, he said his

offices were in Mahatma Gandhi Street and will sms Andiswa the rest of the details.

The girls had already showered I went to my room to shower again and changed into

a Guess denim mini skirt and a white levis tank top She Rocks was wearing very,

very short hot pants with a loose fitting orange Roxy t-shirt that showed off her

cleavage, Andiswa was wearing track pants and a jacket and kept saying she’s cold
Cleo was wearing a white short summer dress but it was soo transparent you could

see her bikini underneath but nobody cared we were in Durban and most people in

there walked around half naked. We drove to the doctor’s office, She Rocks and

Cleo said they would meet up with the guys that we had meet on our first day at the

beach restaurant and were hungry since they didn’t have breakfast so they were

going to eat and when we done we should call them they will come pick us up, the

beach was not too far from where we were so we agreed.

Andiswa and walked in and there were two ladies and reception we told them we are

here to see Doctor Khaya, they gave us a file and Andiswa had to fill in her details

while we were sitting there we heard these two reception ladies talking because

when we walked in we were talking in Sesotho and when we spoke to them we

spoke English they assumed that we couldn’t speak isiZulu the one whose hairline

was none existent said to the other one who had on a gold tooth, “azwe zidina

leyicwicwi zaze goli, zifikila lana ngalesi shanga zazo nesilungu zifune ukusithathela

amadoda” direct translation “these snobs from Joburg are annoying and they want to

take our man, Miss gold tooth responded “kanti sizobashaya banye thina bazosazi

kahle, angeke basuke le bazodlale phezu kwamadoda wethu.” Meaning “we are

going to beat the crap out of them they can’t just come here and play on top of our

man.” Oh my gosh, the xhosa girl in Andiswa oh maybe it’s the xhosa ancestors in

her rose and she stood up and said “ningazo thetha ikaka nini ngathi siniva, asifuni

madoda enu anganamazinyo, rhaaaa! Sithi sigula nibe nisixelela nge kaka

zamadoda.” My friend was saying “don’t talk shit about us while we can hear you, we

don’t want your toothless man. While we sick you telling us about shitty man.”With

that she threw the file at them and sat down, ready for one of them to respond so

she can show them hell, the one with no hairline apologized and said they were not
talking about us they were just speaking in general and can we please not mention

what happened to the doctor because they could lose their jobs, we just looked at

them and didn’t say a word, the phone rang and miss gold still with a bit of an

attitude said “you can go through the doctor is ready for you” and handed the file to

Andiswa.

I told Andiswa I would wait for her in the waiting, she went inside the doctors room

and close the door, I sent a WhatsApp message to She Rocks and Cleo asking how

were things at the beach, they said the guys have just arrived and they saying we

should go to eMlazi for lunch. I told them Andiswa has just shown her Xhosa colours

and almost smashed the receptionist ladies, they sent laughing-crying smiles and

while I was smiling looking at their messages I heard Andiswa inside the office

scream I thought maybe she was getting an injection but then I hear her say “Lee,

help me” I ran and opened the door and went inside when I got there the doctor had

his hands over my friend’s mouth telling her to calm down, I shouted “what the hell

are you doing?” he turned around to look at me, when I saw his face, my heart

almost stopped my phone fell to the ground and I shouted at the reception ladies

“call the police”

The stupid reception ladies looked at me as if I had just lost my mind I repeated

again now with anger “call the fucken police now.” Miss gold tooth jumped up and

asked what was going on, the guy let go of Andiswa grabbed me and put me inside

then locked the office door

Oh my soul, I don’t know what I have ever done wrong to anyone or maybe my

ancestors must have been very bad people because right now I knew this was not

just bad luck I was being punished for something, there is a verse in the Bible that

says “the sins of the forefathers shall be laid upon their sons” well the sins of my
forefathers were being paid me. I wish I knew what they did so I didn’t make the

same mistake, I didn’t want my children’s children to be going through the same shit

I was going through every now and again.

The guy put me on the chair next to Andiswa and told me to shut my mouth. Andiswa

was soaking wet from sweat I didn’t know if it was the high temperature that was

making her sweat or if it was fear I on the other hand had was shaking like a leaf.

Andiswa asked in a shaky voice “what are you going to do to us?”

the guy calmly replied “nothing, I’m doctor Khaya this is my surgery.” I screamed

“you are a rapist, we saw you last night, you were driving that white Mercedes Benz

and you pointed a gun at us and chased us all over that place, what’s it called again

Andiswa.” I even forgot the name of the place. Andiswa said “Its ntoni ntoni Lucia” I

wanted to laugh but this was not the time I would remind her of that later. Andiswa

continued “Or maybe you wanted to hijack us.” the guy picked up the phone and

called reception and told the ladies not to call the police there was a

misunderstanding and he hung up.

He said “let me start from the beginning, we invited you ladies to a party at my house

and when we got there I had my gun in my sock but it was not sitting properly so I

removed it and was talking to you so when I talk I use my hands that might have

seem like I’m pointing the gun at you but I promise you I was not.” Tjeeeeeeeeeer

guys can spin a story, this guy could be caught by his wife on top of a woman naked

and would make the wife feel like the wrong person for assuming the worst, he was

good I had to give him that, so Andiswa asked “if that’s the case then why didn’t you

let us go, why did you chase us?” he said he wanted to explain to us what the

situation was and that there were cars in there already but parked in the garage and

on the other side of the house and it was full that’s why they took us to the other side
of the house and there were people still coming who were going to park where we

parked. We didn’t buy his story but we acted like we did, just so we could get out of

that place alive. He told us not to mention what had happened to Andiswa’s

boyfriend he wouldn’t want his friend thinking badly of him, we said we won’t and

asked him to write us a prescription so we could go buy the medication, he wanted to

check Andiswa and I went with them in the other room I couldn’t trust this man with

my friend you know what they say about safety in numbers he asked her to open her

mouth and said her tonsils were swollen he offered to give her an injection which will

work faster than the medication, Andiswa and I said at the same time “No”, I quickly

said she was afraid of injections which was of course a lie we just didn’t trust him

enough, who knew what he would put in that injection.

He wrote us a prescription for antibiotics, painkillers and some voltarans to bring

down the swelling, we took the prescription as we were about to leave he said we

should go out for drinks some time so he can show us that he is not a bad person

and to clear the bad vibes between us, we gave him an uncomfortable smile and

said okay deep down we knew that shit was not going to happen, we stood up my

phone was still on the floor I picked it up I saw him bend his head to look under my

skirt this man was a proper pervert, he handed Andiswa his business card and we

said we will call him and left. I immediately called She Rocks and told them to come

now. Within 5 minutes they were there and they said they left Mzwakhe and Bonga

the guys we had meet the previous day at the restaurant by the beach and they had

come with their friend and I was going to like him they said, Cleo said “damn Lee, did

Andiswa infect you with her tonsils you look pale.” I told them about the doctor and

they were as shocked as we were Cleo said that “this man by day is a doctor and by

night a serial killer and rapist, Jesus must just come now, this is too much” we all
laughed Cleo had a way of turning a bad situation into a joke, we decided to go buy

the pills for Andiswa before going back to the beach. After buying the pills She Rocks

called the guys and they said nothing much was happening at the beach so let’s

rather meet at our hotel and we will convoy to Umlazi together, she asked us and we

all agreed plus we needed to change.

We went back to the hotel, changed into jeans and sneakers since we were now

going to ekasi, and no longer the beach, Andiswa drank her medication and wanted

to stay in her room and sleep we begged her to come and told her to dress warm

eventually she gave in but said she would not be drinking it was good for us because

she would be our designated driver. We went down and the guys were patiently

waiting for us at the hotel restaurant having beers, when I got close I realised they

were sitting with Bantu they guy I had gone to the beach with earlier, I smiled and

said “small world, I didn’t know you guys knew each other.” They explain how they

work together and blah blah blah, I wasn’t really interested, Cleo whispered in my

ear “we told you, you would like the friend.” I showed her the middle finger discretely,

the guys didn’t see.

We convoyed to Umlazi, the guys in their BMW 2 Series which looked gorgeous and

us behind them on the way we were discussing about how Andiswa should tell her

boyfriend that the guy he sent us to is a crook and Cleo kept saying we should open

a case against him since we know where he works, She Rocks told her the cops

would laugh at us and ask us what they did to us which is nothing except chase us

up and down, besides in most people’s eyes we will look like we were looking for

trouble who goes around following strangers cars, we from the roughest part of the

world and we should know better than to go around trusting people, she was making

sense so we all agreed to put the doctor episode behind us and not let it ruin our
vacation. Cleo said “what happens in Durban stays in Durban.” We all laughed and

said this was not Vegas but what the heck let’s make it our Vegas.

In Cape Town there is Mzoli’s in Durban there is Kwa Max, we all love it, we cannot

go to Durban without going to Umlazi and when we are there we know life just gets

soo damn interesting, just like we can’t go to Cape Town without going to Gugulethu.

We parked next to the guys and went in, at the entrance the bouncer with his huge

muscles said “sanibona bosisi abahle.” We just melted no accent beats the Zulu

accent especially on guys, good Lord. We found a table and sat there, Cleo and

Bonga went to buy meat, She Rocks, Andiswa and Mzwakhe went to go buy the

drinks and I was left with Bantu. There was an awkward silence I didn’t know what to

say to him so I just played with my phone acted like I was doing something important

meanwhile I was staring at a blank screen, he finally broke the silence “you still don’t

feel like talking?.” This question caught me off guard I said “no, yes, I mean I’m fine

now I was just a bit babalazed this morning.” He smiled and said “you not from

around here hey.” I responded “is that a statement or a question” we both smiled and

he said “you have a beautiful smile” I put my left hand on the table and showed him

my ring he laughed and said “I know, I saw it this morning, just because you married

it doesn’t mean I can’t compliment you on your beauty” Cleo and Bonga came back

before he could continue, I breathed a sigh of relief Cleo asked what we were talking

about, he said “beauty” I quickly said “the beauty of KZN” Cleo agreed and said

“wouldn’t it be nice if we stayed here, we could go to the beach every single day.

” I shook my head and said “No, we would get tired of it, it’s nice when you come

once in a while” and then Bonga and Bantu were also with Cleo about how calm and

peaceful it is here I told them every once in a while you need something that’s going

to shake you, show you that you are alive you can’t have tranquillity every single day
what are you going to do when you get to heaven, you will be bored out of your mind

because you are so used to all the birds singing and beautiful gardens, you can’t

have heaven on earth while you here you need to experience earth, I was talking

from experience, earth had hit me left right and centre. They all laughed and said my

reasoning was crazy. The others finally arrived with drinks and we started drinking

except for Andiswa who was drinking juice. A few minutes later our meat was

brought to our table, Cleo and Bonga had brought a whole lot, but the girls were

hungry since they had not had breakfast. Andiswa was struggling to swallow since

the tonsils were still in full force but she loves meat she was forcing it down even

though it took her 5 minutes to swallow a small piece. We ate drank there was a dj

playing nice music we danced and had soo much fun.

It was now around 8 pm the guys said we should go to a club called Egagasini its fun

we will enjoy it, we finished up our drinks and headed to our cars, we were a bit

tipsy, Cleo suggested we go change we can’t exactly go in a club in jeans, we went

back to our hotel, changed into sexy dresses and heels and headed out, this time

Andiswa put her foot down and said she is not going anywhere her throat felt like it’s

on fire she wanted to sleep so we let her sleep and left when we got to the parking

lot the guy were whistling at how hot we looked, we laughed it off and Cleo said she

would drive, we went to Egagasini club which was not too far from the hotel, most of

the people that we had seen earlier at Max were there too, it’s an underground club,

it’s in the basement there is even a pool inside the club, the place is amazing, the

guys bought drinks we danced but nothing dirty or sluty just calm and cool dancing,

we were having soo much fun, I decided to go out so I could call Andiswa and check

on how she’s doing, she didn’t answer I figured she’s probably sleeping as I was

about to go back inside Bantu was behind me he held me by my shoulders and didn’t
say a word just started kissing me, his lips felt soo juice, I wanted to push him away

and tell him to stop but I found myself moving closer and responding to his kiss and

putting my tongue in his mouth, there were people all around but no one could be

bothered by what was happening we eventually stopped and went back to the club, I

went to my friends and we both acted like nothing happened I wanted to kick myself

for doing that. Jesus why am I so weak? We danced and partied away, around 4 am

we all decided we should go sleep.

Bonga and Mzwakhe said they will call a cab to take them home since they stayed a

bit far and were too drunk to drive and Bantu had left his car in the hotel so he was

going to drive with us. On the way to the hotel as soon as She Rocks and Cleo hit

the back seat they fell asleep, too much dancing and drinking had them tired. Bantu

and I were laughing at how quickly these two passed out, as we were driving Bantu

put his hand in my thighs and started rubbing them, his hand kept going higher and

higher up my thigh I wanted to remove it but the sensation of what was happening

just felt too good, his hand reached my g-string and moved it to the side and started

playing with my cookie, I was breathing heavy and had slowed down on the speed of

the car, next thing I knew my dress was up and his mouth was on my cookie sucking

and licking it, I was out of this world, we got to a robot and it was red and I sat there

enjoying being sucked I didn’t even realised that the robot had now turned green, his

other hand was in my boobs massaging them and the other fingering me, his tongue

was going in and out of my cookie all I wanted was to scream out loud as I was

about to come and I figured that he saw that I was about to so he stopped and said

“there is more where that came from, come to my room” this man had just turned me

on and left me hanging, that’s when I realised I was standing at a green robot I drove

and he fixed my dress as we arrived at the hotel and woke my friends up. We all took
the lift he got off at his floor and winked at me as he was walking out, I was sooo

thirsty for him, we went up to our floor I said goodnight to the girls and we went to

our rooms, when I got in my room I could not sleep, I decided Fuck it, “what happens

in Durban stays in Durban” I went to the lift and since he had given me his room

number earlier I still knew it I went and knocked and he came and opened and he

was in just his underwear, I grabbed him and we kissed and ended up in his bed.

After a few minutes of kissing I ran to the bathroom all that alcohol had filled up my

bladder, I sat there did number 1 and 2 then washed my face when I got back, guy

had passed out, so much for my Durban D***. I threw myself next to him and guy still

wouldn’t move all he did was snore, within a few minutes I also passed out. I woke

up around 10 the next morning the guy was not there I figured he must have gone for

breakfast, I was not in the mood, I took a lift went up to my floor, when I got there

one of the cleaning ladies who had just finished cleaning my room said “Kade

bakufuna abangani bakho, indoda yakho ikumele eroomini lakho” translated “your

friends have been looking for you, your husband is waiting for you in your room.” I

looked at myself the shit I was wearing, clothes from last night it was pretty obvious

from anyone what was happening. I had no phone with me, no car keys, only my

room card, so even if my friends called my phone was in my room, I couldn’t take the

car and go buy new clothes, I had no wallet with me, shit. As I was still standing

there thinking what to do next I heard the door to my room open….

Fuck my life..

My first instinct is to always run, I don’t stand and try to negotiate when in danger,

first thing that always comes to my mind when I’m faced with any dangerous

situation is run, you can call it being a coward or anything you want, but running will

save you from a lot of explaining, negotiating for your life and a whole lot of messy,
awkward uncomfortable situation and that is why I always run. And then sometimes

life just throws you a curve ball where you cannot run because your legs fail you

instead of carrying you they trip and you fall on your face that is the one time you will

wish you don’t get up until the paramedics come and get you up.

Back to the hotel, there I was standing there looking and feeling helpless, I had no

strength, my head felt heavy and you know when you haven’t bath you just feel

heavy from the dirt and just can’t function properly and I was wearing heels on top of

all that tiredness so running was the last thing on my mind, so I just stood there

ready for my husband, ready to say whatever came to my mind when suddenly the

cleaning lady opened the room we were standing in front of and pushed me inside,

everything happened so fast I didn’t even know what the hell just happened I just

found myself on the floor, the cleaning lady had pushed me soo hard and so

unexpectedly that I lost my balance and fell on the floor I stood up and looked

around and realised that I was actually in Cleo’s room. The cleaning lady told me to

get up and look if there is anything that I can wear in this room that will not make me

look like “girl from yesterday” I searched through Cleo’s wardrobe and found a

decent looking summer dress, quickly wore that and some flip flops, I could hear my

husband talking to my friends outside “it’s so unlike my wife to leave her phone

behind, she takes that thing everywhere she goes.” At least he didn’t sound angry

unless if he was pretending for my friends, then the voices were fading away, I told

the cleaning lady to go check if they are gone and she went and came back and told

me its all clear I could go. I thanked her and she told me “I will come to your room

tomorrow you can thank me properly because I’ve just saved your marriage” hebana,

“thank her properly? Is she mad?” I gave her an awkward look and walked out; as I

was walking out she shouted “noma ungangibeka kabi okusalayo ngiyayifuna imali
yami.” Translated “even if you can give me dirty looks I still want my money.” You

know how people usually say “claps once” well this deserved 5 claps, that’s how

shocked I was by this woman’s demands I was even scared to ask how much she

wanted, all I knew was I needed to change rooms fast. I got out and didn’t know

where to go, I decided to go to the hotel restaurant.

As I came in the girls were sitting on the couch with my husband, I put on a brave

smile even though my heart was beating at a thousand rates per second they were

all in a deep conversation no one saw me coming until I stood by their table, I acted

surprised “Honey, what are you doing here?” Mthobisi stood up and the look on his

face was written anger, he came to me hugged me and whispered in my ear while

still holding me “where the hell have you been?” I pulled away from him and smiled

and said “I got up early and since I know my friends here are not too fond of getting

up early I decided I was not going to have breakfast by myself like yesterday so I

went for a walk and since I don’t really know how bad the crime is here I decided not

to take any chances by taking my wallet or cellphone with me. Didn’t you girls get

my message? I asked one of the cleaning ladies to tell you when you got up.” The

girls looked at me confused Cleo said “I think I heard someone walk in my room and

mumbling something but I was half asleep and half-awake so I wasn’t sure if that

happened or if I dreamt it.” Andiswa said “I’m just glad you safe we were worried

sick about you after that doctor incident I don’t trust this place.” Ahhhhh, ahhhhh,

ahhhhhhh I had just jumped out of one hot fire and now Andiswa was throwing me in

another. We all gave her death stares, like really, did she just say that? Mthobisi

looked at me and said “do I want to know about the doctor incident?” I smiled and

said “no Honey, its women’s things, doctor almost gave Andiswa wrong

injection.” And Cleo and She Rocks both laughed and said “yes, long and boring
story, but Andiswa’s tonsils are now getting better, thank goodness she didn’t take

the injection.” I joined them and we had breakfast, on a table at the corner I saw

Bantu having breakfast by himself but he was faced the opposite direction from us

and couldn’t see us and was reading a newspaper.

While we were still sitting there chatting about this and that Bantu stood up but

because were sitting close to the door he obviously had to come pass our table to

get out, and I said a little prayer that he doesn’t come to greet us “please God,

please don’t let this man stop at our table please.” As he was walking out he saw us

smiled and came straight to our table, I almost peed myself. She Rocks looked at

me and saw the fear in my eyes, then raised her eyebrow to ask “what’s wrong?” I

lifted my eyes to show her Bantu, without even thinking twice she stood up and

before Bantu could say anything she excitedly said “Hi Doll” and gave him a long hug

then whispered something in his ear which I couldn’t hear and they both walked out

of the restaurant. Mthobisi looked at me and said “you ladies have only been here

for 2 days and She Rocks got herself a man? I respect Durban guys” we all

laughed. She Rocks had just saved my ass once again, I seriously needed to stop

being so reckless. A few minutes later she came back all smiles and winked at

me. Mthobisi looked at She Rocks and said “isn’t he a bit young for you?” Cleo

burst out laughing, Andiswa said “She needs a Ben 10 she’s too rich, young boys

need to suck her dry.” She Rocks laughed and said “eeeuuuwww did you just say

they must suck me? You are disgusting some of us are still eating here.” My

husband said “there we go again, this is how your dirty talks start, I’m going to your

room Honey, I need to send a couple of emails. I will see you guys later.” He kissed

me and I protested and told him we were on holiday and no work, he promised he

won’t take too long and left.

As soon as he left the girls were on my case, “what the hell is wrong with you, no

scrap that, what the hell are you doing wearing my dress?” Cleo shouted. She

Rocks, “Lee, I am this close to washing my hands of you, we have had to baby you

far too many times, you are a grown ass woman and this shit needs to end.” Cleo

took over “you have changed from the girl from next door to the whore from next

door. This shit is not on, we looked like idiots this morning not knowing what the hell

to say about your whereabouts.” Andiswa said “you obviously did not learn your

lesson from Mfundo I say we tell your husband the truth, that’s the only way you are

going to learn and appreciate what you have.” Say whaaaaatt? “I’m sorry Andiswa

do what?” I asked, before she could answer Cleo said “let’s not get emotional, there

is no telling anybody anything, Lee you just need to stop fucking around, close your

legs and open your mouth.” She Rocks said “if she opens her mouth then dick will

be getting in that mouth, can she just close everything? Mouth, legs, armpits,

everything.” I agreed and I apologised for putting them in that difficult situation and

they made me promise that I will close everything and I promised that I will only open

for my husband. I didn’t even ask what She Rocks had said to Bantu because that

would have seem like I’m interested. Cleo wanted to know if I shagged Bantu, I told

them that nothing happened we both were too drunk and passed out which was the

truth and I choose not to tell them about what happened in the car while they were

sleeping, I was already being crucified imagine what they would do if I told them that,

they would bury me alive. The thing about being friends with the same people for soo

many years you develop a bond and trust that is so deep and so strong that you

want nothing but the best for that person, I know there are friends out there that wish

for each other to fail, girls that can’t wait for you to cheat so they can run to your

husband and expose your cheating ass. My friends were the opposite of that, they
would do anything and everything to protect me and I would do the same for them,

when girls decide to stick together trust me they will stick together like glue, we had

been carrying a secret for 15 years and not once had any of us decided that we

should re-visit that file and start throwing around that secret around and threatening

to expose it. We had grown up together and know most of each other’s secrets, we

had seen Cleo and her sister suffer in the hands of their step-father and everything

we tried doing to prevent it failed until one day we decided enough was enough, but

that’s a story for another day. Fact is we had pledged loyalty to each other and this is

why we didn’t like adding new friends to our crew, they wouldn’t understand and

would probably be throwing our secrets on social networks if we were ever to fight,

we have seen girl fights getting nasty and we had vowed to never be those girls no

matter what.

We decided that we were going to spend the day at the beach; I went to go get my

husband who was busy with calls and emails and told him we need to go out and

have fun like a normal couple. He looked at me and said “we not a normal couple,

you have changed, you lie and you sneak around and kill people. What is going on

with you Lesedi?”

Wow!!!

With a man, you make one small mistake and he will judge you by that for the rest of

your life, if you cheat and your man finds out he will never ever look at you the same

way again. And we women are expected to forgive when they cheat or get their side

chicks pregnant, you must welcome that baby with warm open arms, as if you were

there enjoying the benefits of making the baby, and if you don’t accept the child you

are judged as the cruel, heartless person, whoever said being a wife was easy
doesn’t know what they talking about. You have to get into this family that might not

like you and will try to make your life a living hell, if you are lucky your mother in-law

might pretend to like you in your face and talk smack about you behind your back but

if you are unlucky like me, she won’t even pretend to like you and will talk smack in

your face. And you might get those annoying sister in laws who don’t know how to

mind their own business and are the biggest gossips in the family and whenever you

and your husband fight they are the first ones to call you to find out what the story is

not so they can help but so they can spread the bad news with the biggest smiles on

their faces to everyone and then their words that will shatter your heart that they will

say behind your back but make sure you are close enough to hear it, “I knew she

wasn’t the right woman for my brother, he should have rather married his ex, she

was wife material.”

Those are just to cons of marriage, one thing I learnt in therapy was in every

situation there is pros and cons and you need to list the 2 and if the cons outweigh

the pros then you need to re-think the situation you are in. The pros of marriage are

you could be married to a wonderful man, who loves and adores you, a man who

worships the ground you walk on, a man who will buy you thee most beautiful house

and take care of you like a queen, a man who will protect you and always makes

sure that you are safe, a man who puts you above everything and everyone else, a

man who holds you in his arms when you sleeping and each time he turns tell you

that he loves you, a man who makes your heart melts and gives your butterflies in

the stomach each time you see him and that is what I had, Mthobisi was all those

things and more. My pros beat the cons. Marriage can be what you make it out to

be, you can choose to be happy or miserable in it, yes it’s not easy but neither is life

and just because it’s not easy it doesn’t mean people will stop getting married, life is
not easy but yet we still continue bringing lives on this earth, so just like everything

else you work on it and I decided that I was going to save my marriage, I was going

to work so hard on it, I was even going to take stripping classes when I got back to

Joburg and put up a dancing pole in our bedroom, no more messing around, I was

going to focus solely on my man.

I looked at Mthobisi and said “we are on holiday, I’m not going to fight you, this is our

time to relax, call me whatever you want to call me all I know is I’m your wife and

mother of our child.” I then walked out. He ran after me, and found me on the

corridor, he apologised and said “I’m sorry Baby, I’m just going through a lot of

pressure I didn’t mean to take it out on you. I promise I will put work away and we

will go and have fun, okay.” He looked at me and saw I had tears in my eyes, he

wiped them away and said “I didn’t mean to hurt you Honey, I’m so soo very sorry,

please don’t cry.” I wasn’t crying for what he said I was crying for my own sins, I had

so much shit going on and I just needed to be a loyal and faithful. The girls came out

of one of the rooms and saw me crying they asked if I was okay I told them I was fine

and they should go by themselves I suddenly didn’t feel like going to the beach and

my husband and I needed to catch up, I went to the room got the car keys and told

them they could use the car. They left; Mthobisi and I went back inside our room. I

asked him how he got to Durban he said he flew down in the morning and when he

landed he wanted to call me to pick him up from the airport but wanted to surprise

me so he hired a car and drove himself to the hotel and only for him to be

surprised. I apologized for not being there when he arrived and he said he

understands he knows how much I like taking walks so it’s not something out of the

ordinary, thank goodness I had decided to say walk. He suggested we go to the

beach and not get cupped up in the hotel room the whole day, I agreed and told him
I had walked up a sweat when I took the walk so I needed to shower, I went

showered then wore dark pink linen shorts, a bikini and a transparent orange t-shirt

and blue slippers, my husband also changed and wore blue Lacoste shorts a

maroon Bugatti t-shirt and we put on our shades and hit the beach in his hired Polo

Vivo. We got to the beach and went to the water, my husband knows how scared I

am of drowning so he would put me on his back and walk in the water deeper and

deeper and as soon as he knows that we in deep would tell me “okay Honey, I’m

dropping you here, you need to swim back.” I would just laugh and tell him I will call

Daily Sun and tell them he tried to feed me to sharks, we were both having such an

amazing time just playing around and having fun, after swimming we decided to go

to the restaurant I thought the girls would be there but they were not, so we ordered

drinks and I called them they said they were in some suburb called Red Hill with the

guys we were with the night before, there was some pool party and we should come

through, oh hell no, I told them they should have fun my husband and I were still

bonding.

They told me I was missing out and for the first time I don’t know in how long I

actually didn’t care about missing out, I was happy being with my husband and didn’t

care what anyone else was doing at that moment, all that mattered was the man

sitting in front of me and going to a pool party would mean sharing him with everyone

around because you can’t go to a pool party and just talk to one person the whole

time. After a few drinks my husband suggested that we go to Moses Mabhida

stadium, when we got there we went on the Sky-Car that takes you up on top of the

stadium and you can see half of Durban when you are on top of the stadium, it’s the

most beautiful thing ever, I was glad he didn’t suggest bungee jumping because

there was no way in hell I was doing that, he has suggested it before and I have told
him how much I value life and how I don’t want to insult God by dying while doing

that because I would die mid-air no questions asked and that would be sending a

message to God that I did not value my life that is literally throwing your life

away. From Moses Mabhida we decided to go to the Pavilion for a bit of shopping,

we shopped around bought clothes, then went and had dinner and after dinner we

were both too tired so we decided to go back to our hotel, by the time we got to the

hotel it was around 9, we decided we were not going to tell the girls we were back

we would just go to our room and spend some much needed quality time. As we

were kissing and about to get down and dirty, my phone rang, I told him to ignore it,

we continued kissing and every 5 minutes the phone would ring, Mthobisi told me

that the phone was irritating him and I should answer it, I answered “Hello” She

Rocks answered “Hey Lee, we just wanted to update you that we still at the party

and having lots of fun but most importantly we all still safe.” Couldn’t she have just

sent a message to tell me that instead of calling 50 times, I was horny and wanted to

get some I couldn’t have been bothered by their whereabouts, it took everything in

me not to slam the phone on her ear but I politely said, “I thought you guys were

back in your rooms” she laughed and said it was too early for them to leave the party

and started telling me about what had happened earlier about some gay guy who

had had too much to drink and threw up on some girl in front of

everyone, the girl was so embarrassed and ran to the bathroom but the gay guy

acted like nothing happened and continued chatting to his friends after throwing up,

she said they had burst out laughing and now the gay guy had threatened to beat

them up. The first part of the story had me yawning but them getting beat up by gay

guy had me in stitches I was on the floor laughing, I told her “you girls are going to

shit bricks, gays will beat you up nice and proper and then say “sorry chomma,
ukuthi nawe uyaphapha” and then suggest you be friends” she was laughing soo

hard I had to hang up while she was still laughing because once she starts she never

stops. By this time my husband had gone to the bathroom he came back and said

“shall we continue where we left off and maybe switch off your phone I know your

friends will be calling none-stop now that they drunk.” I agreed and switch off my

phone and we continued with our love making, it was soo beautiful, pure and holy at

some stage I thought I hear Angels sing “Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.” When

you hear Angels sing during love making you have got to know that was the best

love making ever. After a couple of rounds we both fell asleep. Something woke me

up, it was a vibrating phone, I knew it couldn’t be mine because my phone was off, I

woke Mthobisi up and told him his phone was ringing, he didn’t want to wake up and

said “they will leave a message” I tried going back to sleep but the phone kept

vibrating on the table and was really irritating me, I stood up and went to his side of

the bed picked up the phone without even checking who is calling and said “we

sleeping” the voice on the other side was She Rocks “Lee, your phone is off.” I

answered in my most irritated tone “I know, that’s coz I’m sleeping, are you chicks

back?” she giggled and said “sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt the you know what. Any

who we on the way back, it’s soo hot Cleo tried turning on the aircon but ended up

turning on the heater” I could hear the others laughing in the background.

There is nothing more annoying that talking to a drunk person when you sober. I

asked where they were she said in some location they had to drop of some chick

who had no transport to go home and went on about Cleo and Andiswa’s phone’s

being off because their batteries had died which was why she was the one always

calling, I really didn’t care but try telling a drunk person that. I was beyond annoyed I

heard Andiswa scream “what the fuck is this guy doing? Then I heard a sound that
sounded like a window being broken, I shouted “what’s going on?” all I could hear

was “let go of my phone you freak.” Then I heard a man’s voice, “les’febe asifuni nge

phone, asithatheni imoto” translated “this bitch doesn’t want with the phone let’s take

the car.” I screamed “ruuuuuunnnnnn” but the phone went tuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!! I

immediately called back and it went straight to voicemail, I called again and still

voicemail, shit. I stood there in silence frozen.

I knew if I was in the situation that my friends were in my first instincts would have

been to run and not look back, but I wasn’t in that situation, I had to think like She

Rocks, I hoped and prayed that she was the one driving after all she did that

advanced driving where you are taught to drive like people in Fast and Furious, so if

she was driving I knew she would have hit the road and left those fools behind

swallowing her dust, but if it was Cleo or Andiswa then it would be a different story, I

just didn’t want to think about that. I kneeled down and said a quick prayer “Father

God please let them be okay.” Then woke my husband up, he didn’t want to wake

up, he said he was tired I shouted “my friends have been hijacked.” He jumped out of

bed and said “what? Where? When? Shit with my car?” he stood up and started

pacing up and down, and said to me “tell me everything that happened and don’t

leave anything out” I told him about the call that I got from She Rocks and how it

sounded like she was struggling with a guy trying to take her phone over the window

I assumed they must have opened the windows a bit for air because they were

complaining about aircon and when the guy couldn’t get her phone he decided to

take the car I heard him tell the others that they should take the car. Mthobisi was

listening attentively to my story when I was done he asked “the voice? Did you

recognise it?” You know at school how they always encourage people to ask

questions and tell you there are no stupid questions; well they are wrong because
my husband had just asked me a stupid question. I looked at him and asked “how

was I supposed to recognise a voice of a stupid tsotsi? Are we going to call the cops

or what?” He shook his head and said “not yet. I’m going to call me people from

here.” I gave him a surprised look and asked “you have people here too?” He

ignored that question I guess it was a stupid question to him, he signalled for me to

hand over his phone, I had even forgotten that I was still holding his phone. He

called someone and the conversation went “Hey Homes, sorry to wake you but I’m in

your province and I’m in a bit of a situation.” The other person on the other end must

have said something coz my husband was quiet for a bit then Mthobisi went on “no

I’ve not been arrested, my wife’s friends went out to some party on the way back

they ran into some boys who tried to rob them.” The guy on the phone spoke again

and my husband replied “were they drunk? What kind of a question is that Homes,

how can you even ask me that? No they were from a tea party they’d been drinking

tea all night, of course they were drunk.” Under different circumstances I would have

burst out laughing, my husband can be very sarcastic when annoyed. There are

serious situations where you find yourself in and laughing at those situations is just

wrong but the more you try hold in the laugh that’s when it comes out, there is a

word for it, I was going to ask She Rocks, then it hit me, my friends were missing,

Mthobisi signalled that he was going to the passage to continue this conversation.

He went out, I grabbed my phone switched it on and tried again calling all 3 of my

friends numbers they were all on voicemail, I wanted to call the police but knowing

them they would tell us to wait 48 hours to report people missing. After about 5

minutes my husband came back and said “that guy is as thick as a brick, but he gets

the job done that’s all that matters, he will find your friends and my car.” I looked at

him and asked “if he’s as slow as you say he is shouldn’t we be call the police?” he
again shook his head and said “when have the police ever helped us? Your BM was

never found by your police, calling them would just complicate things, I don’t want

them touching my car. If they recover the car it will have to stay at the police station

and that’s the last thing I need.” I gave him an S look and asked “what’s in the car

that you don’t want the cops to see?” he walked to the bathroom and from the

bathroom screamed “nothing”. I screamed back “if we can’t call the cops can we at

least call tracker, they will know where the car is.” He came out brushing his teeth

“again baby, if tracker couldn’t find your car how on earth are they going to find this

one? Besides I had the tracker removed from this car it was an unnecessary

expense, they proved useless when your car was stolen. I only kept it on the Golf 7” I

put my hands on my face and screamed “what the fuck are we going to do then. And

why the hell are you so chilled about this situation.” Before he could even respond I

went on “Jesus Christ, do you understand that Cleo’s husband arrives tomorrow,

what the hell are we going to tell him. oh Lord, what am I going to tell She Rocks

brothers, and Andiswa’s mother, oh my God, this should have happened to me, not

them they are such good people they don’t deserve this. As soon as we find them we

getting on the plane and leaving, I can’t deal with this holiday there has just been too

much drama.” I was venting, I guess I needed to Mthobisi got dressed and told me to

stay at the hotel in case the girls came back but he was going out to look for them, I

told him I was not going to stay in that room all by myself but he reassured me that

wherever the girls were him and his people would find them and I shouldn’t stress he

will call me every 30 minutes to update me. His phone rang he answered “Homes,

are you here?” He hung up and told me his friend was downstairs he will call me to

update me and kissed me and left.

Sitting alone in that hotel room was driving me up the walls, I tried not to think too
much but I kept imagining my friend shot dead and lying on some bushes

somewhere, I would shake my head each time those thoughts came and start

praying, I swear fear can turn you into a saint in no time, I even downloaded a Bible

app on my phone and just randomly choose chapters to read, when I realised they

were not making sense I decided to search for some scriptures that related to what I

felt I searched fear and I came across 2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the

spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and sound mind.” This got me up on my feet,

so if the bible says God didn’t give me a spirit of fear why was I wasting time being

fearful when I should be using my sound mind. I grabbed the hotel phone and called

reception, I asked them to transfer my call to Bantu’s room, as I was about to give up

he answered I could tell he was had been fast asleep by the sound of his voice, I

didn’t make small talk I got straight to the point and asked him for the numbers of the

guys we had meet at the beach, I had even forgotten their names, he gave me 2

numbers without even asking why I wanted them, I guess he wanted to go back to

sleep, I thanked him and hung up, I called the first number and phone went straight

to voicemail, before I could dial the second number my husband called and said they

are where She Rocks phone signal had last picked up and on that road there is just

glass and skid mark, it’s either they drove off with them or my friends drove off but

there is no blood which is a good sign, I gave out a sigh of relief. He told me he loved

me and if they show up at the hotel I should let him know and hung up. I tried calling

the second number which rang for a long time with no answer, I must have called it

more than 8 times but there was still no answer, I eventually gave up and kept

opening the door thinking I would see the girls running up to their rooms all cheerful

and ready to tell me about their adventurous night.

After 2 hours of my husband calling me every 30 minutes like he promised , he

called and said “I think we might have found them baby but it’s not looking good.” My

knees felt weak, I was standing I decided to sit, then stood up again then sat again

and Mthobisi asked “Honey are you still there?” I whispered “Yes, I’m just scared of

what you are going to tell me.” My husband didn’t seem to be listening to what I was

saying all I heard him say was “Oh fuck, that’s She Rocks covered in a foil Homes,

she was wearing that dress this morning when they left. Tears just started flowing

down my face “covered in a foil? Please don’t tell me, no I can’t even say, no she

can’t be, please Mthobisi go wake her up, go put the phone in her ear she will wake

up when she hears my voice, please Mthobisi please tell me she’s okay, please.” I

was crying so hard I don’t even think Mthobisi could make out what I was saying.

[/premium]

There are those people in your life that you have had for as long as you can

remember and each time something happens whether good or bad you just cannot

wait to share it with them and to hear their opinion, with She Rocks it was always her

laughter that would follow an embarrassing story that you had just shared with her,

and her laugh always made me feel like I had been worried over nothing, her laugh

was so beautiful and contagious, once she start laughing we would all end up

laughing at times it came at awkward and uncomfortable situations but all those

situations would just smooth up and be easy because of her laugh.

She was technological advance and we all knew if you were stuck on how to use

your tablet, laptop or even cellphone she was our go to girl. She was the first person

to introduce us to power banks and we kept calling it “bag charger” since you can

charge your phone in the bag without electricity, which annoyed her and said it made

us sound rural, we should at least call it portable charger. She had been my friend

for as long as I could remember I could not remember She Rocks and I not being
friends. She was one of those friends who were not afraid to tell you when you were

screwing up, fight with you with everything that they’ve got and not because she was

malicious but because she truly cared and after the fights the friendship never

ended, I loved her like a sister. What was I going to do without her?

Mthobisi kept asking me not to cry, but I just couldn’t stop I was crying so hard I was

even shanking I told him I needed to be there I said I would take his hired Vivo and

drive to wherever they were he refused and said I was in no condition to drive, I

wasn’t but my friends needed me. I asked him where Cleo and Andiswa were and he

said he didn’t know. He told me to make myself strong coffee he will call me as soon

and update me. I slid of the bed and landed on the floor and continued crying I

cursed the day we decided to go on this stupid holiday. It was now around 6 am the

sun was out, I decided to call the only person in the world who never judges me, the

person I can always run to no matter what, the person who would lay down her life

just so I am safe, my mother. She was still sleeping as soon as she answered no

words could come out, I just started crying, my mom being who she is told me to let it

all out after about 10 minutes of crying like a baby I eventually managed to compose

myself and tell her what happened with sobs in between, after I was done telling her

the whole story she told me we should pray, she prayed for what felt like 15minutes

at some point during her prayer my phone was beeping from a call coming in I

checked and it was my husband calling but I couldn’t interrupt my mother, I could not

wait for her to finish when she finally said amen, I quickly shouted “Amen, I will call

you back just now Ma, I love you.” I immediately called my husband back he didn’t

pick up, I called again and still no answer, if I had bumped my back against the wall I

swear I would have spit my heart out of my mouth that’s how terrified I was. You

know when you soo scared that you want to pee that was me I ran to the bathroom I
don’t know how many times I had been to the bathroom it was more than 6 times my

stomach was even running, while I was still in the bathroom my phone rang and I

had left it on top of the bed, I quickly finished and ran back and answered without

looking at the caller id “Hey Honey” the person at the other end of the line “is that

what you call your friend’s husband’s, hahahaha, listen Lee I’m trying to get hold of

my wife but her phone is off, can you ask her to call me back when she wakes up

please.” Shit, it was Cleo’s husband, he had caught me completely off-guard, I didn’t

know whether to come clean or wait for him to get to Durban or what I was

speechless, I simply said “I will” then there was an awkward silence I guess he was

expecting me to say something else but I couldn’t speak I closed the speaker of the

phone so he couldn’t hear me cry, he continued “you do know that I’m arriving today

there right? How’s Mtho he told me he wanted to surprise you, how surprised were

you?” I was literally choking from trying to hold back the sound of me crying, I tried to

compose myself and said “very supr – ised” that pause in between surprise just

happened automatically and completely gave me away, he asked if I was okay I said

“no I’m not it’s marriage problems nothing that can’t be fixed.” He said he will see me

later then and hung up. I lay in bed thinking what the hell are we going to tell Cleo’s

husband when he gets here, and her kids, good Lord who would look after her boys

if she’s dead. Doesn’t the bible say something about God not giving you problems

that you cannot handle? God was trusting me with way too much lately he needed to

realise that I was not that strong, maybe he should give the problems to someone

with bigger muscles I had none, I tried searching for that scripture but couldn’t find it.

A few minutes later my husband called and said the girls had managed to run away

from the robbers and speed off but on the way while speeding they had not realised

that there was a curve and they lost control of the car, the car capsized and spit,
Andiswa and Cleo out, and She Rocks had been stuck underneath the car with the

car on top of her, Jesus Chris I just imagined that huge heavy car on top of my friend

and started feeling like I was suffocating. He said Cleo was talking she’s the one who

told them what happened and was badly bruised the paramedics were not sure of

the extant of her injuries but the doctors would be able to tell them in hospital. I was

too scared to even ask to speak to her I knew I would just start crying which would

make her feel worse. I asked about Andiswa and he said she was injured and

unconscious he told me they were following the ambulance to the hospital and would

call me when they get there, I told him to let me know when they get there and I will

get a cab and join them. I quickly took a shower and got dressed then waited. My

mom called I told her what I knew so far, she told me she couldn’t sleep after my call

and had been praying ever since, ahhh my mom bless her heart, I thanked her and

told her I was on the way to the hospital and will speak to her later. A few minutes

later my husband told me they were at Parklands hospital. I called reception and

asked them to give me numbers for a cab, how I wish She Rocks was around with

her techno stuff she would do that Uber taxi service on her phone and I wouldn’t

even have to call. I called the cab and was told it would be there in 20 minutes, that

felt like 20 hours.

The cab eventually arrived, I told the driver I was going to Parklands hospital he said

he knew where it was and drove me there, when I arrived I called my husband who

said he would come meet me and reception. He came and told me that She Rocks

was being operated on, “what? She’s alive? What about the foil that she was

covered in, don’t they usual cover people with foils when they are dead.” Mthobisi

explained that she had lost a lot of blood and her body temperature kept dropping

and the only way to retain heat was to cover her in a foil, I didn’t hear anything else
that he said I was just too happy that my friends were all alive. I hugged my husband

and looked up and whispered “thank you” Mthobisi told me to sit down he needed to

tell me something “they might have to amputate She Rocks leg”

I put my hands on top of my head and had to stop myself from wailing like a Nigerian

woman.

“What?” I screamed, Mthobisi was not done with bad news, I cringed and told him to

get me some water I was feeling hot and dizzy, he got up and went to the vending

machine and got me some water then came back and sat down next to me, I didn’t

want him to say anything it felt like each time he spoke he just revealed more bad

news. We sat there in silence for about 5 minutes, then a doctor came to us, my

head was bent and my hands covered my face I was tired of people staring when

passing me, with tears running down my face.

The doctor said “How you holding up man?” that voice, I jumped from my seat and

saw that evil doctor who had chased us at La Lucia, it really is a small world, the fool

recognised me and quickly said “sorry ma’am I didn’t mean to scare you, you must

be Mtho’s wife. I’m doctor Khaya.” My husband said “we call him Homes or Homey

since that’s what his name means when translated.” I nodded. Khaya said when

Cleo got thrown out of the car she landed on a nail with her spine, they had just

removed the nail but they don’t know if she will be able to walk or not but we’ll have

to see when she gets up and even if she can’t walk now there is physiotherapy that

can help her. I waved my hands and said “wait, wait, wait, are you telling me that

Cleo might be paralyzed?” Khaya replied and said they not sure of anything at the

moment, we will just have to wait till the drugs wear off and she wakes up and they

will see if she has any feelings in her legs. Oh my God, this felt like a long horrible

nightmare, I kept hoping that I would wake up at any second and it will just be a
dream. He pulled Mthobisi to the side so they could talk he was not very good at

whispering coz I heard him say “did you manage to get your diamonds out of your

car?” mthobisi said “shhhhh, why must you be soo loud?” and pulled him outside.

Diamonds? That explained why he didn’t want police called, Jesus this man of mine

never ceased to amaze me but I had bigger problems to worry about diamonds are a

luxury and not a problem so I was not going to stress about that. They came back

inside I asked Khaya how my other two friends were doing he said he didn’t know he

had been working on Cleo. He said the other doctors will let us know. Mthobisi held

me in his arms and told me everything is going to be alright, I truly and honestly

wanted to believe that but nothing was ever going to be the same ever again. We sat

in silence for about 30 minutes when a nurse came and asked if I was Lesedi I

nodded fearing the worst she said my friend Andiswa was awake and was asking for

me and even though it was not yet visiting hours they will let me see her, I thanked

her and followed her to the ward, Mthobisi said he will wait in the waiting room, when

I saw her she had bruises all over her face and her arm was hanging up, I wanted to

hug her but was too scared that I might hurt her, I looked at her and just burst out in

tears, she looked at me and told me to stop it she was still alive, she said witches

from Eastern Cape were trying to get rid of her but she’s a die hard, this put a smile

on my face, this is what I love about my friends they always manage to make jokes

in serious situation. I asked her if she needed anything she wanted water I got her

some, I didn’t want to bombard her with too many questions about what happened I

was just happy that she was alive. I told her about Doctor Khaya her response was

“that man is everywhere he’s like Ebola” I asked her if I should call her mom, she

said no, her mother had a way of dramatizing things she will leave her out of this for

now, I completely understood, Cleo’s mom is those parents that get too involved in
your business she would probably show up at the hospital with Sangomas saying her

child is bewitched, to her mom nothing is ever an accident some relative or another

is always responsible, she asked if she could use my phone to call her boyfriend, I

gave it to her and left to go check on my husband and if he’s heard anything about

She Rocks waking up, when I got there Mthobisi and Khaya were standing with

another doctor who was explaining that the car had fallen on her leg, it was not as

bad as they thought, no broken bones it’s just her skin came off and she might need

skin grafting, I took a sigh of relief, she was had been taken to a ward. Now I wanted

Cleo to wake up so she can start moving her legs and then this whole nightmare will

be over, two up and will soon be running and one to go. Mthobi’s phone rang he

looked at it the looked at me, I lifted my eyebrows and asked “what’s wrong?” he

said it’s Cleo’s husband and I went “shit, he lands at 16:00, you need to tell him.”

Mthobisi went outside and answered the call. I decided to go to check on She Rocks

a nurse showed me her ward as soon as I entered She Rocks said “ohh my God

Lee, have you looked at yourself in the mirror, you look terrible.” I laughed and knew

my crazy friend was back. I gave her a hug and wouldn’t let go until she whispered

“you are hurting me, my body is still in pains.” I quickly let go. The first thing she

asked for was my phone I told her Andiswa was using it, she said she’s going to ask

to be moved to Andiswa’s ward so they could gossip properly. She asked me “do

you know what skin grafting is?” I said no she went on “they are going to remove

skin from my ass and put it on my leg.” She said this like it was no big deal like she

was telling me about a new mall that was opening; I looked at her in disbelief and

thought whatever drugs they had given her I need to get myself some of those, she

was so calm about everything. Mthobisi came rushing and said Cleo was awake, and

said “Hi Rock Star”I followed behind him and the nurse told us that we shouldn’t go
in, we ignored her and went in, doctor Khaya was asking her a few questions we

stood behind him, I was shaking from worry, he asked her to move her toes I held

Mthobisi’s hand and squeezed it tight, he asked her again to move her toes, she said

she did, he took a pen and tickled her under her feet, she didn’t move and I know

how easily she gets ticklish, the doctor asked “did you feel that” she asked “what?”

he did the other leg and again she felt nothing, I wanted the earth to swallow me, my

friend was paralyzed, Mthobisi said to the doctor “what does that mean?” the doctor

explain that it could be a temporary thing or a permanent thing but the current

situation was Cleo is paralyzed, I got on my knees and started crying, Cleo was also

now crying, the doctor told us to wait outside he needed to sedate Cleo. Mthobisi

picked me up from the floor and took me to the waiting room, after I had calmed

down I went back to Andiswa’s room she said Khaya had already told her boyfriend

what had happened he had booked a flight and was on his way to Durban and would

be arriving this evening, I just nodded she told me Jessica had called to remind me

about the party at her house in Balito, “shit is today the 31st?” It was New Year’s Eve

and we were spending it in hospital. I told her I will call her back later and told her

that She Rocks will be her roommate soon if she gets her way which she normal

does. She said she was tired and the medication they gave her was making her

drowsy, I took my phone and left her to sleep. I went to Mthobisi and asked what

Cleo’s husband had said he said he was shocked but was relieved to hear that she’s

alive and he had not told him that she was paralyzed, he just couldn’t bring himself to

doing it over the phone, he said he would be going to the airport to pick him up he

was going to get a cab to get us back to the hotel and would leave me to rest at the

hotel and go pick him up from the airport, I said I was going to stay in the hospital

and he can go. He gave me a phone and said he found it in the car, it must have
been when he was searching for diamonds I thought, it was She Rock’s phone, the

cause of all these problems. I took it to her, she was so happy to have her phone she

quickly switched it on and called her brother and asked to be put on speaker so he

doesn’t have to repeat the same thing to the other brother, and told them she had a

bit of an accident but was fine and made it sound like it was no big deal, she told

them not to drive that night as it was new year’s eve and there were a lot of people

driving drunk and reckless on the road, the way she instructed her brothers you

would swear she was the oldest meanwhile she was the youngest. When she was

done I asked why didn’t she tell them she was in hospital, her answer was “why? So

they can worry themselves to death, I’m all they have I’m not going to stress them

over small things.” I was obviously small minded by thinking getting your ass cut off

and put to your leg was a big thing, I knew I would have called everyone I knew even

my grandmother from Limpopo and asked her to donate her ass, wrinkles or no

wrinkles I wouldn’t have cared. She Rocks was busy listening to her voice mails and

her eyes popped wide open she said “listen to this.” And put her phone on speaker

“Hey, it’s Aunty Tanent from Retvlei Farm, I just thought I should let you know, one of

the joggers who do jogs at the farm went with his dog yesterday jogging and the dog

kept barking at this one particular spot, and wouldn’t leave so the dog owner called

security and they dug on that spot and a body was discovered. The police want to

question you, call me when you get this.”

She Rocks looked at me and said “WE ARE IN DEEP SHIT!!!”

We were silent for a couple of minutes each thinking of a way out of this situation at

least that’s what I was thinking I don’t know what was going on in She Rocks

drugged up head. I stood up and started walking up and down She Rocks was

staring at her leg which was all bandaged up, after a few minutes of silence She
Rocks just burst out laughing, I looked at her with annoyance and said “you are

unbelievable, what the hell is so funny” she was laughing so hard she even had tears

in her eyes I told her I was leaving, she said she’s doesn’t know why she’s laughing

she thinks it’s the medication they gave her, it’s calming her and making her happy

for some reason, she said she knows we in shit but can’t help but laugh, I was

seriously annoyed, I told her to sleep the medication off and we’ll talk about the

matter at hand later and left her there laughing, she was seriously losing her mind

and maybe she cold plead insanity when we go to court she would definitely fitted

the part. I went to Andiswa’s ward and found her asleep which was good for me I

was in no mood to talk and telling her that the cops wanted to question She Rocks

would definitely push her over the edge, one crazy friend was enough I could not

deal with another one, I took my phone and left her a note saying I took it. I couldn’t

bring myself to going to see Cleo, guilt was eating me up, poor girl was paralyzed

and on top of that she could be going to prison in a wheelchair, this was the most

terrible news for anyone to get and I just didn’t know how I would face her. So I went

to Mthobisi who was in the waiting room and busy on his phone on a call, in all this

my husband had been cool calm and collected and handling his business on the

side, I told him to take me to the hotel, it was after 1pm I was starving and tired I had

not eaten all day, I asked Mthobisi if we could grab something to eat on the way to

the hotel, he agreed, we got some take-away and drove to the hotel, as we were

driving my phone rang it was She Rocks, I quickly picked it up fearing something

might have happened “what’s wrong?” I asked she calmly responded, “I think I might

have found a way out of our problems, I will fake my own death, it will be easier with

the accident, we can blackmail Doctor Khaya into making me a death certificate and

you guys can say I didn’t survive in the accident, then we all get fake passport and
move to Mozambique or Lagos and start a new life from there.” I listened to this

crazy idea and waited for her to finish when she was done I said “eish, robala tu” and

dropped the phone. Mthobisi looked at me and said “I’m so glad the girls are okay,

well not okay but, you know what I mean honey.” I held his hand that was on the

gear and told him I completely understand what he meant and I’m glad too that they

are safe. He looked at me and said “I don’t know what I would have done if you were

in that car when that accident happen, this is why I always need to know where you

are all the time, it is not because I am trying to control you but for your own safety

and protection.” I looked at him and nodded in agreement, this thing of just

disappearing without telling anyone is not safe, a lot of things happen on the road

and not because you were driving recklessly but you need to remember there are

other people on the road who could be drunk or high on drugs and end up hitting

your car or you might say I don’t drive, you will get hit by a drunk driver while walking

on the pavement minding your own business, I had learnt my lesson, from that day

going forward I was going to be responsible, you only have one life after all. We got

to the hotel Mthobisi dropped me off and said he was going to pick up Vusi (Cleo’s

husband) from the airport. I got in our room put the food down took a shower and

went straight to bed afterwards without even touching the food, I was beyond

exhausted, I didn’t want to think I just wanted to pass out and forget about all my

problems. At 08:37 in the evening I was woken up by my phone ringing I didn’t

realise I had slept for that long, it was Jessica, I answered “Hello”, she responded in

shock, “Jesus Lee, are you sleeping? We are about to turn up and you in bed

sleeping, did you forget what day today is, it’s new’s eve babe, wake the f up, take a

nice cold shower and come to Balito.” I tried explaining that my friends were in a car

accident, she told me she knows She Rocks and Andiswa called her and told her to
make sure that I go to the party. I laughed and said I will speak to my husband and

get back to her. I got up, and found a note from Mthobisi saying he’s at the bar

across from the hotel with Vusi. I called him and said “why didn’t you wake me up?”

he said after the hectic night I had he decided to let me rest for some time because

he knew how tired I was. I asked how Vusi is doing and he told me to hold on he’s

going outside I figured he didn’t want to speak about Vusi infront of him which I

understood. When he was outside he said “Honey, Vusi is not okay hey, he’s been

crying ever since we got back from the hospital, I’m doing my best to console him

and I think the beers are doing the trick we going to be here for some time.” And

what the hell was I supposed to do by my lonesome self in the hotel? I said it’s fine I

understand. I decided to try going back to sleep but because I had slept so much

during the day I just couldn’t fall asleep, it was soo hot I had the aircon on full blast. I

got up, watched a bit of tv and there was nothing interesting, I was bored out of my

mind I honestly didn’t know what to do with myself. I decided to call my mom and

check up on my son, she said Mthobisi had called her and told her that the girls were

fine, she told me prayer works and she will keep praying for them, I spoke to Neo for

a bit he wasn’t making much sense with his baby talk, I missed him so much and just

wanted to go back home, I had had enough of this holiday from hell. You know when

you miss home you will even miss your irritating siblings that you don’t get along

with, I called my irritating sibling, she sounded happy and upbeat, I asked about her

kids whom I missed so much she said they had been asking about me, I told her I

want them for a weekend when I get back and she readily agreed, I asked about

Lwazi not because I cared but because I was trying to be nice, I was hoping she

would say he got hit by a truck and died but unfortunately for me the bastard was

sitting next to her and I heard him tell her to greet me, I mumbled tell him to go jump
off a cliff, she didn’t hear me. I hanged up and scrolled through my phone book I had

no one else to call, boredom had hit me hard. I started thinking about how life will be

if we go to jail, just the thoughts of prison made me want a drink, shit there will be no

drinks in jail, maybe She Rocks idea of faking her own death was not so bad after all,

without She Rocks the police would not know us, the only reason I figured they had

called her is because she volunteer’s at the place, now the rest of us are not known

there, so the police were probably interviewing everyone that volunteered at that

park. One thing I knew I wasn’t going to do was move to Mozambique or Lagos for

that matter, starting a new life in a foreign country is no child’s play, I was not about

that life. All this thinking had me feeling very anxious. When I turned and looked at

the dressing table the car keys were lying there, the devil told me to grab the keys

and drive to Ballitos and go and have fun and forget all my problem, why sit in a

hotel room alone on the 31st of December of all days? Turn down for what? For

Who? I suffer from a disease called “getting bored easily”, it is the most annoying

and frustrating disease in the world, it’s the same disease that makes men leave

their wives at home to go partying with kids young enough to be their daughter, it’s

the disease that breaks-up happy homes, it’s the disease that the people who have it

are in denial about it, they think they are just having harmless fun, that fun is harming

and breaking their families and they don’t even realise it.

The moment a man think it’s okay to spend over R2000 on alcohol on someone else

who is not your wife or girlfriend then you just know he’s got that disease.

I quickly went to the shower, showered then wore black Guess jeans, a white tight

Guess t-shirt with silver Levis push-ins and sat on the bed, I called Jessica and she

answered with “how far are you?” I told her to send me the address and I will use

google maps on my phone, she said she was sending as we speak, I hung up got
the address, grabbed the keys and my bag and something inside me said “stop”,

oppssy I had forgotten to put on lip gloss who goes to a party with ashy lips, looking

like you just came for food, I quickly applied some on my lips and now I looked

picture perfect. Okay the stop voice was not for the lip gloss I just used the lip gloss

as an excuse not to listen to my inner voice telling me not to go. I walked out and

went to the lift, waited for the lift and when it finally arrived Bantu was inside the lift

with some guys, he asked if I was joining them for their party, I smiled and shook my

head. He continued oblivious to the fact that I was not in the mood to speak to him

“where is your entourage today, you guys are always together.” Just the mention of

my friends brought tears to my eyes, luckily the lift had reached the ground floor so I

rushed out without saying a single word, I went to the Polo Vivo and wiped the tears

of my face, next thing I knew there was a knock on my window, it was Bantu, I

opened the window, he asked if I was okay and asked if he had said something to

offend me, I said “no, my “entourage” as you put it, was in an accident in the early

hours of the morning, that’s why I called you looking for your friends numbers.” I said

this with tears now rolling down my face. He was shocked to say the least and

apologised for being insensitive and said he had no idea, he asked if they were okay,

I said they will be and told him they still in hospital, he said “shit that’s bad they

spending new’s eve in hospital?” To most people New’s Eve is more important that

the new year, how you spend it and what you do on the 31st kind of symbolises how

your year is going to be, when the clock strikes midnight and you are in bed that’s

basically how your whole year is going to be, you will be shit bored the entire year,

this is why I didn’t want to spend the night all by myself cooped up in the hotel. Bantu

said he will go visit my friends the following day in hospital and he was now feeling

low so he wouldn’t be going to the party anymore instead he was going back to his
room to sleep. He left me sitting in the car, shit now I felt bad, if a person who didn’t

even know my friends that well was cancelling his party plans because of their

accident news what kind of a friend did that make me for wanting to go to a party. I

switched the car on and drove a few meters parked the car and went inside the bar, I

saw my husband sitting at the bar with Vusi, the bar had a few people, Vusi saw me

first and smiled stood up and come and hugged me and said it’s good to see me

again, I asked him how he was doing, he said he was still in shock about his wife not

being able to walk, I told him not to loose hope he said the doctor had referred them

to some specialist in Pretoria so they were going to go see him when we got back. I

hugged my husband and he said “thank you for joining us Honey, Muzi’s here too

he’s just gone to the bathroom.” I had completely forgotten about Andiswa’s

boyfriend, Mthobisi said we should find a table and sit instead of sitting by the bar.

We found a table a few minutes later Muzi joined us, he hugged me and asked how I

was doing, we had a small chat, catching up, Mthobisi ordered me food, he said he

knows I didn’t eat he was right I was starving. My phone rang it was She Rocks,

before I could even say hello she said “did you make it to the party?” I said no I’m

with the guys, she asked if I had thought about her plan because she and Andiswa

both think it will work, I told her I have and we will talk about it when I go visit them. I

hung up and Vusi asked if everything was okay with the girls I told him everything

was good they just miss me and were asking what we are up to. My food came I ate

and we drank and chatted. Around 11 Vusi said he was tired and wanted to go to

bed, Muzi said they can go together he had hired a car and Mthobisi and I stayed

behind and continued drinking, a few minutes before 12 we went outside to go watch

the fireworks which was beautiful and at 12 midnight we kissed and promised to love

each other forever, we were both drunk but neither of us wanted to stop drinking so
we continued drinking and making silly jokes and laughing at each other, this was

fun, chilling and having fun with my husband around 2 we realised we were the only

people left in the bar so we paid our bill and left the car there and walked back to the

hotel which was just a few meters away. When we got to our room as soon as we hit

the bed we both passed out.

We woke up the next morning after 10, my husband was actually up before me,

when I got up he was already in the shower, I checked my phone and had a few

missed calls from Jessica and She Rocks. I sent Jessica an sms with “sorry” and 2

smiley faces, she didn’t reply I knew hangover must be killing her. I called She Rocks

and she asked that I buy them pyjamas they were tired of hospital pyjamas, I asked

what kind she said the sexy kind she wants a zulu man, I laughed and said what are

you going to do with a zulu man when you move to Lagos, she got all excited and

asked “so you agree with that idea?” I asked her if she was still on that medication

that made her crazy she said it was not making her crazy just happy and no she was

off it, I told her I would stop by the shops before going to the hospital. Mthobisi got

out of the shower while I was still on the phone he said he will go and get the car

while I shower, kissed me good morning got dressed and left I went in and showered

by the time I was done my husband was back he said Vusi and Muzi had already

gone to the hospital so we will meet them there, I felt sorry for She Rocks because

Cleo and Andiswa both had their men there and she had no one. On our way to the

hospital we went to the shops it was hard to find any that were open since it was a

public holiday, eventually we found Edgars opened, I bought 2 pairs shorts and t-

shirt pyjamas for She Rocks, Pants and T-shirt for Andiswa and Cleo. I bought them

toiletries too and we headed to the hospital. I started at Andiswa’s room and She

Rocks was there she had moved in, I just laughed when I saw her there she said “I
told you I was going to move.” Mthobisi said “you are probably bulling the poor

nurses around Rock Star.” She smiled and said “So brother-in law, if you had to

choose between Mozabique and Lagos where would you stay?” Mthobisi said “I

would choose Maputo.” Andiswa said “I would choose South Africa.” She Rocks

gave Andiswa a dirty look and said “well you moving and you better start applying for

jobs for your boyfriend in Lagos, I’m sure there is a lack of doctors there.” Cleo said

“I am not moving and that’s final, you want to move to a foreign country where you

don’t know a single soul, you go right ahead and do it, but I’m staying here and

facing our demons.” Mthobisi was a bit confused he asked the girls “what’s this move

thing you girls are fighting about I thought this was all just a joke but I can see now

it’s getting serious.” I made a nervous laugh and said “don’t mind them Honey it’s

these meds, they messing up with their heads.” I then quickly changed the topic and

asked where Andiswa’s boyfriend was she said he was here earlier but he has family

that side so he went to go meet up with his cousin. I gave them their pyjamas and

toiletries. A few minutes later Doctor Khaya showed up and said he was there to see

Mthobisi he asked if they could speak outside. While they were outside I told She

Rocks to stop with this moving nonsense we will first hear what the police have to

say and then act for now we needed to relax and not stress ourselves too much.

Andiswa agreed and added “besides we didn’t actually do the killing, you did Lee.”

That caught me completely off-guard but it was a sign as clear as daylight that come

troubles Andiswa was going to throw me under the bus to save her ass.

Mthobisi came back and said to She Rocks “why did you ask Khaya to make you a

death certificate?”

Andiswa and I both looked down and put our hands I put my hand on the forehead

trying to hide from the embarrassment. She Rocks smiled and said “I was joking,
doesn’t Khaya take jokes.” Then she started laughing, “I swear she’s losing her

mind” I said. Mthobisi looked at us and shook his head and said “I wonder what

crazy scheme are you ladies hatching now?” We all laughed and said we not

planning anything it was She Rocks going crazy. We chatted for a while about

nothing serious then decided to go see Cleo, Mthobisi said he was going to make a

few calls and we should leave without him, I got a wheelchair for She Rocks which

she didn’t want to use but the nurses insisted that she use it and not put pressure on

her leg and Andiswa could walk on her own it was her arm that was broken. We

found Vusi sitting next to Cleo he was sitting on a chair next to her bed and his head

was on the bed when we got close we realise he was fast asleep, Cleo was on the

bed going through his phone.

She Rocks said “geez C, did you talk him to sleep so you could check his phone for

any signs of infedility?” the she started laughing, all Cleo said was “mxim” we were

all a bit nervous and didn’t know what to say, Cloe asked why She Rocks was in a

wheelchair, She Rocks said “because I can’t walk” then realised that Cleo was

staring at her then quickly corrected her statement “I mean I can’t put too much

pressure on my leg until the operation is done. How you feeling C?” She ignored She

Rocks and looked at me and said “Lee, can I ask you for a favour?” I responded

without even thinking about it “anything babe” she whispered “can you sneak me in a

bottle of Hennesy and some Red Bulls.” We all burst out laughing, and she looked at

us and said “that’s how I know my friends, I don’t want these serious looking people

looking like they came to a funeral, by the way Lee, why in God’s name are you

wearing that long dress like you going to a night vigil, I’m not dead I’m still alive, stop

looking so miserable and get those pity looks of your face all of you.” that made us

ease up then Cleo said “I’m serious about the Hennessy though.” I sent a message
to Mthobisi asking him to bring some and paper cups. He replied and asked “Cleo

wants this? Your friend is an alcoholic even in death bed she wants booze” I replied

with a laughing smiley face, and told the girls my husband would bring some.

Andiswa asked “Did you find any nudes or dirty messages in poor Vusi’s phone?”

Cleo laughed and said “not yet” Cleo is the type of wife that goes through her

husband’s phone 20 times a week, just to check if there has been an irregular

activities, if he gets a call from the same number more than 3 times poor man has to

explain who that is and why they calling him so many times and let him say he

doesn’t remember who the call was from he will get a lecture from her she will even

threaten to call his family to report him. Cleo told us that she was getting discharged

the following day and would be flying down back home she missed her kids. She

Rocks and Cleo were also getting discharged the following day, She Rocks had

asked that her operation be done in Johannesburg and the doctors had agreed, so

the following day we would be all flying back home. Mthobisi came back with our

Hennessy, he told us that the insurance company had called and they say

apparently someone had poured oil on the road to make it slippery this is why the car

rolled soo many times, the police suspect that it could be the towing guys as there

has been a lot of reports of them doing that so that they can make money by towing

the car. Imagine people dying because some idiot decides that he wants to tow cars

and make money, some people are just selfish and evil, we were all so annoyed by

these news. He poured for all of us in a in those paper cups so that it looked like we

were drinking water when he was about to give a glass to She Rokcs we all shouted

“Noooo” she was already crazy with just the pills imagine her with the pills and

alcohol she would climb on roofs, she looked at us and shouted “Nurse, nurse” I

moved close to her and put my hand on her mouth, we were all laughing at her
craziness I told her if she shut up I would give her a sip, I let her go and she laughed

and said “if you guys don’t give me some, I’m going to tell the nurse that you are

drinking, especially the two of you” she said pointing at Cleo and Andiswa we all

laughed and I gave her a sip. Vusi was woken up by all the noise and laughing that

we were doing. He looked around and saw all of us standing there and said “sorry

guys I must have fallen asleep, I didn’t sleep a wink last night.” We told him we

understood, he joined the drinking. We were now becoming too loud as the drinks

kept coming, it got to a point where the nurses told us to leave because we were too

noisy, we decided to take the party to Andiswa and She Rocks ward, we had a

couple of drinks and got kicked out of there too. So we had no choice but to leave.

We went back to the hotel, I went to all the girls rooms and packed up their clothes

as we decided that we would leave straight from the hospital to the airport, we were

not on the same flights as most flights were fully booked, Cleo, Vusi, Andiswa and

Muzi were in one flight and She Rokcs, myself and my husband were on the next

flight which was 2 hours later. Luckly Muzi had hired a car so they were going to use

his car.

The following day we headed to the hospital, I was soo happy that my friends were

leaving that place and we were heading home, it felt like this nightmare was finally

over. We went to the airport checked in, She Rocks and Andiswa were both in

wheelchairs so we got special treatment, we didn’t have to stand in long lines. We

arrived in Joburg and Mthobisi had left his car at the airport parking which She Rocks

calls “the holy ground” because of it’s expensive parking. I told She Rocks that she

should stay with us until she is back on her feet, and she agreed because staying on

her own was a definatly no-no so we drove to our place, freshened up and Mthobisi

said he had a couple of things to take care of so he will see us later and left. She
Rocks and I stayed behind and did what girls do best we gossiped about everything.

My phone rang it was security, they said “sorry madam to interrupt but there is police

here at the gate looking for you.” I swallowed hard and said “sorry who?” with all the

excitement of going back home we had completely put the police incident at the back

of our minds, the cops were supposed to be questioning She Rocks and not me and

as far as I was concerned no one in that park had my details, I never signed up for

any volunteering work so why were they at my gate? No one knew She Rocks was

staying with us, she hadn’t even told her brothers yet, so I asked the security “who

exactly did they say they are looking for?” he responded “Lesedi Jumbe.” My heart

was in my throat my voice would not even come out I whispered “Let them in”

Security guarded shouted “sorry ma’am what did you say?” I said “Let them in.” I

turned to She Rocks and said “the police are here.” She Rocks replied “oh my God,

where are those meds when I need them? Shit, let me call my lawyer and my

pastor.” I looked at her and shook my head and said “they not here for you they here

for me. Did you maybe write my details as your next of keen on your forms at the

zoo?” She replied “No” Then there was a knock at the door and we both knew our

lives were about to be turned upside down and it was now survival of the fittest.

You know when you know that you know that you know that you know that you have

no way out then you know there is definitely no way out, I thought of running through

the sliding door and jumping in the pool and drowning myself but that would be a

cowards way out, only cowards commit suicide and leave everyone else to deal with

their mess and I was no coward, at least I thought, besides I had my friends whom I

needed to protect from all this, so killing myself would leave them behind facing the

music on their own which would be very unfair towards them. But to be honest death
looked so attractive at that moment compared to going to jail, prison is no child’s

play.

She Rocks looked at me and said “Should I open and say you not here?” I think she

said that because I had been standing motionless for some time instead of going to

the door, I shook my head and said “no, it’s okay, I’ve got this” I said this trying very

hard to sound confident but I was shaking inside and outside. I went to the door,

opened it and put on the biggest fake smile and said in an apologetic voice

“Sanibonani bo-baba” my greeting sounded like someone begging not to be hand-

cuffed. It was two gentleman they smiled extended their hands at me and introduced

themselves, a smile I thought, well that’s a good sign, I asked if they wanted to come

in and without any response they stepped inside the house, at least I would not have

to be arrested outside my house I didn’t want any cars passing to see me being

thrown at the back of a police van, reputation is very important, or else I will always

be known as the criminal, people can just make up their own stories without even

knowing facts. I know people think people who stay in the suburb’s mind their own

business, they do but everybody loves a little bit of gossip especially when

something scandalous happens to their neighbour right under their nose there will

definitely be movements in windows and curtains being shifted so they can get a

better view. They sat on the couch across She Rock and greeted her, she nervously

greeted back. I sat next to She Rocks and we both held our breath as the police

officers began to speak the one said “We’ve been trying to get hold of you for some

time Mrs. Jumbe, your phone always goes to voicemail.” They must have been

calling with private numbers and I had blocked all private calls from coming in since

the time when Mfundo was harassing me, but I obviously couldn’t say that to the

people of the law so I said my phone had been giving me problems, the one officer
was eyeing She Rocks hectically he never said a word I think he had said his name

was something Motaung, with all the nervous, stress and pressure I was under the

last thing I was interested in was their names and rankings. The other officer

continued “we actually got your address from your cellphone service provider, so

when did you move this side?” was he seriously making small talk, I was waiting to

be read my rights and stupid man was still asking me about my move dates, before I

could reply She Rocks who had been shaking next to me, was now annoyed by

these two who would not get to the point she irritably said “to go through all those

lengths to find her, it must be something really important that you want from

her.” The Motaung guy who had been drooling over She Rocks finally opened his

mouth and said “Yes, we think we might have found her car.” I was a bit lost there

for a second and so was my friend because we both said “her car?” they asked if

was I not hijacked last year, I said “yes, ohhh, the hijacking, that car, that’s what you

here for?” both cops looked at me with confused looks on their faces and said “yes,

that car. How many cars have you been hijacked with kanti?” I smiled and said I

had given up on that car ever being found. She Rocks looked at me and smiled and

said “there is a God. Thank you baby Jesus for saving us.” the cops looked at her

confused I cleared my throat and said “yes, thank you Jesus for saving our lives and

car, not many people survive hijackings some get killed.” The one whose name I

could not remember agreed with me and started telling us about how many crime

scenes he’s attended where the victims of a hijacking were shot dead. They told me

that my car was being kept by the police in Aeroten near Southgate Mall and they

needed me to come and identify if it is indeed my car and I should bring all the car

papers when I come to identify it, I said I would do so and thanked them I was so
relieved not because they had found my car, a car at that moment was the least of

my problems, I was just relieved that they had not come to arrest us.

As they were about to stand to leave, Motaung asked us “are you ladies not a least

bit interested in knowing how and where your car was found?” We had been so

happy that this was not about Mfundo that neither of us had even bothered to ask

where or how the car was found. I give them an uneasy smile and said “I’m just

grateful that the car has been found, but how did you guys find it?”

The cop said their colleagues in Pretoria had received a tip off from some white guy

who was trying to buy a car from these 2 black guys and when he checked the

engine number some numbers were scratched so he told the two guys to come back

the following day he will have cash, he called the police and the following day 2

police officers came dressed in normal clothing and acted like they were the guy’s

friend when the two crooks arrived, the cops checked the vin and engine numbers

then the one went inside the house to call the police station so they could check the

vin numbers when they checked they realised it was a stolen car, the two criminals

were arrested on the spot. For the first time in a long time I was impressed by the

cops, I never knew they actually did any work. I was so touched I wanted to hug

them and thank them but I held myself and thanked them and told them to thank the

white man too and the two police officers who went to investigate. They were

modest about it and told me it’s their job, there is no need to thank them

We thanked the police for coming to tell us this and said we would contact the

insurance company first as they had paid me out for the car and now the car

belonged to them so they will decide what happens to the car I no longer had rights

to the car. Cops said most people didn’t bother telling the insurance that the car had
been discovered, I told them I didn’t want to break any laws or commit any type of

fraud, insurance companies have private investigators everywhere those are the last

people you want to lie to. A few years back a guy who stayed in the same street as

our got hijacked there were hobos all around asking questions about the hijacking it

turned out those hobos were actually private investigators undercover hired by the

insurance company, so I knew not to mess with insurance, besides I had too many

lies that I was trying to push under the carpet and they just kept crawling out.

I realised that with all the stress I was under I had not offered them anything to drink

I asked if they would like something to drink and the Motaung cop said “yes please”

and said pointing at She Rocks, “let’s go to the kitchen so you can pour me some

water.” She smiled and said “I can’t” they both looked at her with confused looks on

their faces I quickly replied so it doesn’t sound rude “she can’t walk” they looked at

her and she pointed at her Wheelchair. Motaung was so embarrassed he

apologised and become uncomfortable and said they needed to go because they

have other places to go. She Rocks looked at me and rolled her eyes. They gave

me some number to call when I was ready to come and identify the car. I thanked

them and walked them out, when we were outside I saw my husband’s car parked

down the street, he must have seen the cop’s car and stayed away. How my

husband and I are always running from cops is just unnatural, I laughed at the

thought and the cops asked if everything was okay I told them I was just thinking

about something funny that had happened earlier. They got in their car and left. I

waited for Mthobisi whom I was sure was watching from his car to come, as soon as

they turned a corner and were out of sight my husband started his car and reversed

it all the way to the house. When he got out of the car I just burst out laughing and

said “which bank did you rob now? Cops found your fingerprints.” He laughed and
hugged me and said in my ear “why walk in a bank to steal money when you can do

it at the comfort of your own home with internet.” I pulled away and looked at him

and said “don’t joke like that.” And walked back inside the house, he followed behind

and said “come on baby I’m just teasing, I would never do that.” She Rocks asked

“do what?” having guests at home sometimes is just a pain in the butt as you have

to watch what you say all the time, especially when you have nosey ones. I looked

at her and said “nothing.” She Rocks asked Mthobisi if he saw the cops, before he

could even answer she started telling him about the car recovery and how it was

found. He was as surprised as we were that the cops actually did all that. I cooked

dinner while She Rocks and Mthobisi talked about the whole cops and car thing and

chatted about nonsense, I made beef lasagne and salad which was quick to make

as I was in no mood for cooking. We ate outside by the pool area and Mthobisi

opened a bottle of wine, we chatted and just had a chilled relaxed time.

After super I fixed up the bedroom downstairs for my friend to sleep in, we said good

night to her and went upstairs to our bedroom. Mthobisi was exhausted, he had not

slept much in Durban with all the drama that was going on, he passed out before his

head could even hit the pillow. I couldn’t sleep I just kept going through everything

that had happened. I had really hoped 2015 would be better than the previous year,

I eventually fell asleep. I the wee hours of the morning I heard a screaming sound I

jumped out of bed immediately without even thinking, Mthobisi was still fast asleep, I

shook him and told him to wake up, the second he was up there was the screaming

again, he grabbed his gun from underneath the bed and walked out the door, I

followed behind him, he turned back and said “stay here.”

The screams were no doubt She Rocks screams, something was happening to her

and not just something but something bad. I wanted to be there for her, I wanted to

protect her, keep her safe and most importantly I wanted to make sure that no harm

came her way. But my husband had said I should stay behind and the last thing you

want to do is piss of a man with a gun it could just go off on your ass, I learnt a thing

or two from Oscar. He went downstairs, I stood in our bedroom filled with fear, I

checked that all windows were closed and prayed that the downstairs windows were

also closed; I also prayed that Mthobisi should not mistake my friend for a burglar. A

few minutes later I heard my husband calling me to come downstairs, I ran down and

went straight to the guest bedroom, I found She Rocks on the floor crying,

I asked “what happened?” looking at them both, Mthobisi said she was having a

nightmare, I went and sat down next to her my husband said he would leave us to

talk. I sat next to her and held her and told her everything would be

okay. Eventually she calmed down and stopped crying, she looked at me and

apologised for waking us up, she wiped her tears and said “look at me crying like a

little baby, I’m being silly, I don’t even know why I’m crying. I was just so scared Lee,

I dreamt the whole accident, the car spinning out of control, the car rolling and I

guess when I thought I was rolling that’s when I must have fell and hit the

floor. Gosh I don’t know why I’m like this.” Out of all my friends She Rocks was the

tough one she endured more pain and hurt than all of us combined. I told her it was

understandable, she had gone through something really horrific and any person who

had gone through that would feel the same way. She asked me to help her up so

she could sit on the bed, she said she didn’t want to sleep and asked if we could go

and watch tv, I honestly wanted to sleep but I couldn’t say no so we went to the tv

room and watched tv.

I wondered if Andiswa and Cleo were experiencing the same trauma that She Rocks

was going through I wanted to call but it was around 2am the last thing I wanted was

for them worrying that something was wrong by me calling at those times. Mthobisi

came back downstairs and asked if we were okay, I told him we were going to watch

a bit of tv but he could go back to sleep if he wants, he choose to go to sleep, traitor

leaving me alone to watch music videos with She Rocks in the early hours of the

morning, not that I blamed him, he was exhausted.

Around 5am She Rocks feel asleep on the couch I put a blanket over her and went

upstairs and slept next to my husband, by 7:30 he was up and was waking me up,

this was so not my day to sleep, he was telling me about his day the previous day, I

kept dozing off and he would get annoyed that I am letting him speak alone, it was a

Saturday for crying out loud and all I wanted was a bit of sleep but I was surrounded

by people who had no interest in my needs for sleep. I eventually realised that I was

not going to win this sleep battle so I got up and went downstairs to go make

breakfast; She Rocks was still fast asleep. I went to the kitchen and made omelettes

and stuffed them with bacon, peppers and cheese, I knew how much She Rocks

loved it and just wanted to spoil her a little bit. Mthobisi came downstairs and had

already showered he looked at me and kissed me and said “something smells

delicious, I’m sorry Honey but I can’t stay for breakfast.” I turned around and said

“you are going to eat this food, I didn’t slave away in this kitchen for nothing, it’s

Saturday whatever it is you rushing for it can wait for a few minutes.” He smiled and

did the soldiers salute and said “Yes Sir, I will eat my breakfast sir.” We both

laughed, he knew exactly what to say to calm me down, I took plates to the dining

room and went to the tv room to wake She Rocks so she could eat. Mthobisi

galloped his food so fast within minutes he was done, he drank his orange juice in
one go. Both She Rocks and I were amazed at how fast he was, when he was done

he kissed me goodbye and said he will see us later and left. We took our time eating

breakfast and now that she was under no medication since she had just woken up I

decided to bring up the police questioning that she was wanted for, she said she has

thought about it and was going to turn herself in, I looked at her and said “my friend,

you are not a fugitive, you are not wanted, there is no need for you to use terms like

“turn myself in”” we laughed and she said “you know what I mean besides I want it to

sound dramatic so when I tell this story to my grandkids I can say I was once wanted

by police that’s how gangster your gogo is.” We both laughed, even though we knew

how serious this was but in the midst of hard and painful situation we always find a

way to make it funny, there is no point in always being depressed. She was silent

for some time then said “Lee, I want you to know whatever happens that I love you

like a sister and you and the girls are the best thing that has ever happened to me.” I

smiled and said I love her too and she should not stress we will call that lady who

called her and ask if we could go see the police today and I will be with her every

step of the way. When we were done eating, she called Tanet the lady who runs the

volunteer’s group, she explained that she was in Durban and was involved in a car

accident and just only got back to Joburg the previous day, Tanet said the police

were questioning everybody that volunteers at the park and most people were not

back from holidays and she gave her the numbers to call and told her that was the

investigating officer and she should call him whenever she was up for it. I decided to

call the insurance company to tell them about the car but since it was weekend I was

told to call on Monday so I could speak to a manager. She Rocks said we should go

to the police station on that day, so we can get this over and done with and stop

living in fear because each time we see a police car we will think they are looking for
us, fear makes you paranoid. I agreed but there was one problem, we didn’t have a

car. She said we will do Uber taxis and go to her house and collect her car then use

that. I helped her to bath then I went and had a shower we got dressed, Uber

services arrived in 9 minutes and took us to She Rocks house. I packed her a few

clothes and we took her Audi S3 and left, I drove and each time I got close to a car

she would freak out like I was going to bump it, on the freeway when I was driving

100 instead of 120 she was panicking and told me to slow down and said it felt like I

was driving 180, Jesus Christ this accident had really messed her up this was the

same girls who would speed to a point where you would feel like throwing up. I

decided not to argue and just moved to the slow lane and drove 80 km/h. We were

told the investigating officer would be at Mondeor police station since that’s the

nearest police station to that park, She Rocks could walk with crutches but when we

got there she told me to push her on the wheelchair she needed the police to see her

as a helpless woman who was not capable of murder, I agreed and pushed her

inside the police station, we asked for the investigating officer and were pointed to

his office, we got there and introduced ourselves, he asked if I was the volunteer at

the farm and I said “no, she is, I’m just accompanying her since she can’t drive

herself.” He looked uncomfortable and apologized, what is it with people being

uncomfortable around disabled people. He said he didn’t know had he know he

would have come to her instead, he was so uncomfortable he couldn’t even ask

questions properly, this wheelchair things was working to our advantage. He asked

a few questions about the farm and if she had ever seen anything funny or doggy

going on there and how often she went and within a few minutes he was done. I

asked what the story about the body was. He said a body was found but they had

sent it to the pathologists to have it checked and they are trying to have it identified
but so far they had no idea who it was or how he ended up at the farm but when they

found him there was a female ring next to him and they think it could be his wife’s

ring or something but the ring could help them solve this case or at least identify him,

I still had my ring and so did Cleo and we were the only ones married so we were not

worried, for all we knew it was probably not even Mbundu’s body. He thanked us for

coming and we left.

On the way back home She Rocks phone rang it was Andiswa, she was in utter

panic, She Rocks phone was connected to her car on Bluetooth so if someone called

the call would be on the radio speakers, I told her we were home free, we had just

came back from the police station for She Rocks questioning and the police don’t

suspect anything. She responded “I wish I could say we really are home free but I

think I might have done something stupid.” My heart started beating fast I knew this

girl was the weakest link in all of us. She Rocks shouted “Oh God Ands, please

don’t tell me you went to the cops, please.” Andiswa replied “no man, why would I

do that? Muzi gave me a promise ring a while back, he just asked me about it, the

whole time we were in Durban I thought I had forgotten it at home but it’s not here

and now that I think back the last time I wore it was when we went to Retvlei to,

uhhmmm, you guys know, and the shitty part about that ring is it has my name on it

on the inside.”

I hit the brakes soo hard that She Rocks almost flew out the window.

I wanted to scream, shout, no scrap that I wanted to punch Andiswa in the face, how

on earth could she be so stupid, so careless. She Rocks looked at me and said “the

hell Lee, are you trying to get us killed?” I mumbled a sorry she continued “I can’t

deal with this, this is too much. Andiswa do you realise that you have just signed our
ticket to jail?” Andiswa wanted to know what we meant, we were approaching a

garage, I went in the garage so I could park and calm my nerves, we explained to

her what the investigating officer had said about the body and the ring, only then did

it sink in her that her stupid promise ring was about to get our asses behind bars,

who still gives promise rings at this age and time anyway, no wonder she didn’t tell

us about it, she was probably embarrassed that her boyfriend was still doing high

school nonsense. I got out of the car I needed fresh air, I couldn’t think straight and

Andiswa was just pissing me off more and more.

I walked around the car with my hands on my head, just when I thought our lives

would get back to normal now this. Why? Why could things just be normal? Why

did my life have to be so bloody messed up? I went inside the garage shop and

bought 2 bottles of water and some disprins, I had a headache after that call. I went

back to the car and found She Rocks chilling playing hip hop like our lives had just

not turned from a hundred to a zero in less than 5 minutes. I gave her the water and

drank my disprins, I told her we should go visit my mom and her brothers since we

were in the south, she said she won’t see her brothers until she has recovered a bit,

so I drove to my mom’s house, I needed to see my son and spend the few days I

had as a free woman with him. We were now on a waiting game, waiting for the day

the cops come and collect us one by one all thanks to Andiswa’s stupid doctor

boyfriend’s ring.

We arrived my mom was not there but Victor and the nanny were there, I had missed

them so much I hugged Victor as soon as he opened the door I held him for longer

than I had intended, he asked if everything was okay and I just started crying, he

knew once I start I don’t stop so he told me that I shouldn’t let Neo see me like that

he will be upset, that got me to pull myself together the last thing I wanted was for
Neo to see me falling apart, every parent tries their best to hide the hurt and pain

they are going through from their children. Neo came in running and almost knocked

She Rocks off her crutches which she was struggling to use as she was still not used

to them. I hugged him and told him how much I missed him. We sat with Victor and

She Rocks told him about the accident and how it happened, she kept saying how

she wished that she was driving instead of Andiswa because Andiswa is a terrible

driver. Victor told her not to think of the what if’s and just focus on getting better, I

told him about the nightmares she was having and how she now was scared to be in

the car, Victor suggested a friend of his who is a councillor he said She Rocks

should see him immediately because she has been through so much and has never

dealt with everything and the accident on top of everything else was just too much

for her to bear. She Rocks agreed but I knew that agreement was just to shut Victor

up and I think he saw it too because he took out his phone and called the guy, I

could see the annoyance on She Rocks face, he went outside to speak to him while

he was gone She Rocks complained “eish, uyalibona letaima lakho sending me to

therapy sessions, I just need a message session, can we book one for tomorrow just

to relieve the stress.” I said I would check if they are not too hectic and see if we can

book it out the entire place for the following day and check with our other friends if

they wanted to come. We had this massage parlour that we would go to in Midrand,

on weekends they close at 13:00 so we would book the place out from 13:00 till late

and have a girls pamper day, all our other friends would come, we would have

massages, foot scrubs, manicure and pedicures with wine on the other hand, just a

nice fun, clean girls pamper day with lots of catching up, gossip and laughs. The

place was owned, by a friend of a friend of a friend, you know those long distant

connections but it’s still a connection and you use it to the max that was the
case. Victor came back and said he’s friend is on the way to speak to She Rocks

about the trauma that she went through, Victor is really an amazing guy, he treated

my friends like they were his own kids. She Rocks thanked him with tears in her

eyes and said Victor always looks out for her and she really appreciates him. Victor

wanted to watch the news, he watches news channel only, so we went to go sit by

the pool so we don’t make a noise while his focused on his news. I called Maxwell

the guy who runs the massage parlour and he said we could come the following day

and asked if he should organise us drinks I told him not to worry we will bring our

own, the last time he organised us drinks he bought Savannah’s and Hunters Dry’s

and lots of boxed wine which none of us drink but we didn’t want to offend him so we

pretended to drink it and one of the girls was running late so we asked her to stock

up on alcohol before she comes which was what saved us.

We decided to call Cleo to check on her, Vusi answered and said they were at the

physiotherapist and he would ask Cleo to call us when her session was over, I asked

if she slept okay and no nightmares he said she slept like a baby. I played with Neo

who kept asking for his dad, so I called Mthobisi and told him we were at my mom’s

place he said he would drop by later when he was done, I told him to speak to Neo

and they spoke for a few minutes. A while later Victor’s friend arrived, Victor

introduced him as Joseph and he and She Rocks went to Victor’s study to talk, I was

just glad that she was finally getting some help, the nice thing about knowing friends

in high places is you don’t even have to go to their offices to get counselling they

come to you, le good life, for how long were we going to have this life that was my

worry, everything felt like it was borrowed.

My sister arrived with her kids I was so happy to see them I had missed them dearly,

she said she and Lwazi were going to Bela-Bela and wanted mom to baby-sit for the
weekend, I told her I would take them, plus I was taking Neo too so it would be fun to

have all the kids around. She thanked me and said she was not staying for long she

still had to go buy a new bikini for her trip and left. I played with the kids chasing

each other up and down. Mthobisi arrived and joined us, my husband and I both

love kids, we were rolling on the floor with them and just having a good time. After

what seemed like hours She Rocks came out, Joseph said he was leaving he went

inside and spoke to Victor who walked him to his car. We also decided to leave my

mom was in her stokvel gatherings and was not going to be back anytime soon, so

we left I put the kids in She Rocks car and we made our way home, Mthobisi had to

make a detour somewhere, these days he was hardly around but I could not worry

about that I had way too much on plate as it was. We decided to cancel the spa day

for the following day, we had the kids and Andiswa and Cleo were probably not

going to make it. On the way home we bought burgers, fries and milkshakes for

everyone I knew how much the kids loved junk food and how my sister deprived

them of any junk food and always cooked them veggies, well when they were with

their aunty they could eat as much junk as they wanted and I would always tell them

if their mom asks we had carrots, broccoli, cauliflower and spinach for supper.

When we got home the kids wanted to play so we sat outside playing with them for

some time, later on we had burgers, I fixed up rooms for them upstairs to sleep on. I

asked She Rocks if I should sleep with her downstairs she laughed and said she

would be fine she was going to take sleeping tablets if she struggled to fall asleep

and the talk she had with Joseph had helped so she was feeling a whole lot

better. Mthobisi arrived while we were preparing for bed, I was a bit annoyed with

him and demanded to know what the hell was going on with him lately he was hardly

around, he said he had things to take care of and that was it, no further explanation, I
shook my head and faced the opposite direction away from him. He started

reminding me about what the marriage councillor had said before we got married

about not going to be angry with each other, I was surprised that he still even

remembered that I said “okay fine, I won’t be angry if you tell me where you go to

these days.” He said “remember my Russian friend? Well he’s been having a bit of

problems with the law enforcement and we’ve all just been trying to help him out, I’m

not out there hitting on other woman Honey I promise, I love you too much I would

never do anything to mess our marriage up, I promise my love, you are the only

woman for me” every woman needs to hear this every once in a while, I smiled and

we kissed and as we were about to make love Neo started crying, I had to go to his

room and check on him when I got back my husband had passed out.

The following morning Mthobisi said he would not go anywhere and spend time with

his family we played with the kids She Rocks and I shopped online, Mthobisi went to

buy a few groceries with the kids when they came back I cooked lunch we just had a

very nice relaxed Sunday with no drama. The following day which was Monday I

had to go back to work, I was still in holiday mode so it was hard getting up but I had

to, She Rocks said I could use her car since Mthobisi would be using his during the

day, he was still not back at work.

I got to work nice and early because there were hardly any cars on the road, when I

got there Cindy was there, we hugged and said the compliments of the new year

nonsense, in all honesty I didn’t want to be at work I wished I was still at home with

my husband, she told me about how adventurous her holiday was, I told her about

mine and about my friends accident she said she was glad I was not in the car when

it happened. We got back to business. She told me we had a strategy meeting with

Mfundo’ s company at 11:00 for the plans for the year ahead, we had already worked
on this last year so we just added a few touch-ups had breakfast and got ready to go

to their offices. We got to their offices 15 minutes earlier and went to the boardroom

to go set-up to prepare for our presentation, as we were setting up through the

corner of my eye I saw someone that I thought I recognised, I looked again and tried

placing her face but it just wouldn’t come. The company directors came and we

presented they asked a couple of questions and in two hours we were done. We still

hung around and chatted with everyone as they had snacks and cold drinks for

everyone. I went to the toilet while everyone was still chatting and eating when I got

there I ran into the lady that I had seen earlier and I thought I recognised, as I was

going in she was going out we almost bumped each other I apologised and she gave

me a death stare and walked back inside, that’s when it hit me, this was Mfundo’ s

stupid wife, Ngwako, talk about awkward, we had beef from varsity and I had never

liked her back then I still didn’t like her now, she turned to me and said “I’ve been

looking for you, I even came to your place but I was told you had moved. Did you

and Mthobisi get divorced?” How dare she ask me such question I looked at her and

decided I was not going to answer her. I walked inside a stall, did number one and

came out she was still standing there looking at me as if she was challenging me, I

washed my hands and asked her “Ngwako, what exactly do you want from me.” she

angrily replied “listen here you stupid whore, I know about the affair between you and

my husband, now tell me where the hell he is so he can sign the bloody divorce

papers.”

I choked.

I started coughing uncontrollable; I was not doing any justice to myself because I

looked as guilty as hell. Ngwako just stood there and watched me, coughing my

lungs out, I don’t even know why I coughed that bad, but I couldn’t stop it didn’t
matter how hard I tried. A coloured lady who had been inside one of the toilet

cubicles came out and asked if I was okay, I shook my head, she grabbed me by the

arm and took me to the kitchen to give me some water. Ngwako was right behind us

telling the lady to let me die because I deserve it, after I had drank some water the

coughing was became less and I could at least pull myself towards myself. I thanked

the lady and she left and I was once again left with the crazy woman, I swear if we

were not in a work environment I would have punched her in the face and given her

a proper beat down. She continued “now that you are done faking, whatever it is

that you were doing, tell that bastard to come sign those papers.” She said this

waving her hands on my face. I had reached boiling point now, I grabbed the hand

that she was waving all over my face and twisted it hard and pulled her closer and

whispered in her ear “If you ever wave your dirty hand in my face, I swear I will snap

it off your arm faster than you can say bring back my husband. If you can’t keep

your man at home don’t make it everybody else’s problem. I worked with your

husband that’s all, I don’t know what this shit about an affair is about and frankly I

don’t care” She shouted that I was hurting her arm, I twisted it harder one last time

just to drill the point in her thick head then let it go and walked away, I didn’t even

turn back to see if she was coming after me or not all I heard was “nxa, stupid bitch, I

hope you get struck by lightning” I wanted to laugh but then I remembered in tertiary

before Ngwako and I became frienemies (that’s a word for friends who have turned

to enemies) she once told us in Polokwane in her neighbourhood there was a

beautiful lady who was dating this very ugly, ugly guy, guy whom we shall refer to as

ugly.com, he was so ugly that when he walked past babies would start crying, but he

was very rich so the lady who we shall refer to as lady McStingy because she liked

McDonalds, just liked him for his money and there was nothing the guy wouldn’t do
for the lady, it didn’t make what he did the lady McStingy would not sleep with him

she kept saying she was not ready, but she was not a virgin in fact had slept with a

few guys from the same neighbourhood but just didn’t want to sleep with mubi.com (

mubi means ugly) so mubi.com became very frustrated by this and decided to take

the matter to higher powers. One day while lady McStingy was sitting with her

family eating a bucket of KFC that Mubi.com had bought for her, in broad day light

with the sun shining and no clouds anywhere there was a huge thunder next

thing lightning struck and the only person who got hit in the house with about 7

people inside was lady McStingy and this is where is gets interesting, Ngwako said

the lightening hit the girl and threw her outside and by the time she had rolled

outside her panties were off and were on fire and that’s the only thing that was off

her dress was still on and she was not hurt and had no scratches anywhere, and that

was the last time she ever said no sex to Mubi.com after that she gave it to him all

day every day and anywhere he wanted it. I decided I was going to ask She Rocks

to pray for me, the last thing I wanted was my panties on fire but in my case she

would probably make my panties stick on me forever and never get off, Ngwako was

a weirdo I wouldn’t put that past her. I walked back to the boardroom all smiles like I

had not just had a fight and continued with small talks like all was good in the

world. One thing I have learnt about being a woman is that when they are in public

they will put up the bravest, strongest face and walk with their head held up high

even though their lives are falling into pieces. How many times have you been

shown a beautiful woman who looks super confident and looks like she has no

worries in the world and you get told that her man is cheating and she’s getting

divorced and fighting him for custody of their kids, and you look at her and think

nothing says she’s going through hell, her make-up is impeccable, the way she talks
and smiles you would never say she is fighting world war 5 all by herself, women

know how to hide pain. You want to see a strong and powerful being look at a

woman.

When we got back to the office Andile our boss came to see us and congratulated us

on the excellent presentation, they had already called her to give her an update, well

who needs Mfundo when you have brains, we were definitely going to be staying in

that office and best of all I didn’t have to sleep with anyone to stay, not that I would

sleep with Andile, eeeeuuuuwww that woman thought too highly of herself she would

probably make me do all the work in bed, I must have laughed out loud at the crazy

thoughts I was having about my female boss because both Andile and Cindy turned

and looked at me, I awkwardly smiled and said I was thinking about something my

son had said, they wanted to know how he was doing and if he was traumatised by

the shooting incident that happened the previous year, I had even forgotten about

that, last year was hell all around, I told them he had probably forgotten about it and

was now all good and I showed them pictures of him and videos, I can sometimes be

one of those moms that just go on about their kids, I showed them pictures upon

pictures, pictures of him smiling, laughing, sleeping, playing and videos of the same

things as the pictures, Andile got bored and said “cute” and left Cindy on the other

hand was lapping it all up. We eventually got back to working, while I was focusing

on work my husband called to say he’s taking She Rocks to the doctor for her

appointment, he said Neo’s car seat was in She Rocks car which I was using and

they will come by to pick it up, “Is it really necessary? Just put him at the back seat

with the other kids and fasten his seatbelt.” I honestly didn’t see the point of them

driving to my work just for a car seat, Mthobisi said “you are obviously in a bad mood

so don’t worry I won’t come to you but I will not put our son’s life at risk, I will just go
and buy him a new one.” He said calmly, I had just had it, I said “okay so now I’m a

bad mother by saying put him on the back seat, you know what Mthobisi, do

whatever makes you happy.” And I hung up the phone. I did not mean to fight with

him but all that was happening was eating me up and I was taking it out on the

wrong person, this was a small, silly and unnecessary fight but it had a potential of

escalating out of control. I needed to control my temper I was always on the edge

and snappy and this was not good for any man. No man wants to be shouted at by

his wife especially in front of other people that is disrespecting him in the worst

possible way. Cindy who always pretends not to be listening to my phone

conversations said “was that necessary, shouting at him like that? Do you know how

many women out there would give their kidneys just to have the father of the baby

ask “how is the baby doing?” your man wants to keep your child safe and you throw

him with pap and salads. You need to be more appreciative of what you have before

someone else comes and starts appreciating him.” Damn this girl was making sense,

I was being mean unnecessarily, I decided to take an hour to let him cool off then

called him before I could even apologise, he told me he had already gone to the

shops and bought a car seat and for Neo and they were now on the way to the

doctor with She Rocks and the kids and hung up before I could speak any further. I

sent a whatsap message to She Rocks and ask if everything was okay, she replied

and said Mthobisi was pissed off they were now at the doctor and she will update me

on how she went when she comes out.

After work I drove straight home, the house was empty, I decided to cook while I

waited for them to come home, this would be my way of apologising. Two hours

later, they arrived, Neo was fast asleep Sihle and Buhle were running around all

happy and I just knew that they had sugar and this was going to be a long night,
Mthobisi came in with two boxes of Pizza, after all my hard work sweating over the

stove he saw the annoyance in my face and apologized and said he thought I would

be working late and not make it home in time for dinner, I wanted to scream, “why

the hell didn’t you call to ask?” but She Rocks was giving me the “don’t” look so I just

smiled and said “it’s okay”. I asked what the kids had and he said they wanted

milkshake then ice-cream, I looked at him and said “soo much sugar, you do know

that they not going to sleep tonight.” I looked at She Rocks and said “why didn’t you

stop him?” she said she was at the doctor when all that happened. I decided to let it

go. The kids ran upstairs and a few minutes later I heard a sound of things falling I

looked at Mthobisi and he lifted his hands and said “okay, okay, I will go and

check.” He ran upstairs when he got there all I heard him say was

“Fuuuuuuuuuuuuckkkk!!!” I ran upstairs to see what was going on. The kids were

standing outside Mthobisi’ s study I asked them “what did you do?” they were both

pointing at each other. I tried opening the door to get in but it was locked. I shouted

from outside “what did they do?” he yelled back annoyed “they dropped the plant,

I’m just putting it back together, go back downstairs with the kids I will get you

there.”

Errrrrrrr, why lock the door then? And why send me downstairs instead of asking me

to help?

When I got downstairs She Rocks said something is happening to Neo, we had laid

him on the couch because I knew if I put him in his bed he would get up. I looked at

him and it looked like he was having fits, I screamed for Mthobisi to come downstairs

right immediately.
Husband and wives keep things from each other, one of Mthobisi’ s guy friend’s once

told us that his father had told him to never tell his wife or girlfriend everything that he

does, his dad had told him that women whether wife or girlfriend should never be told

everything especially things that can get you in trouble, women are sensitive being

and when they angry their emotions cloud their judgement. He said his dad used to

work at a car factory and would steal car parts and sell them so he always had

money because people are always looking for cheap car parts and his one mistake

was telling his wife that he steals car parts at work, one day him and the wife had a

fight, the wife was so angry that she went to the husband’s work and told the boss

that her husband steals car parts and sells them, she did this in front of the husband

and his colleagues, imagine the embarrassment, needless to say the guy never went

back to work, and they lived miserably poor ever after. So when Mthobisi didn’t tell

me everything I did not take it personal I knew where he was coming from but

curiosity was killing me, I wanted to know what the hell was going on with that plant

but that had to wait, our son was sick and needed us.

Mthobisi came rushing down and all I could do was point at Neo, he picked him up

and said my mom had told him we should just wake him up when he does that, he

usually does it after he had played too much, I must have over-reacted because I

just thought of Mthobi’s daughter who had a similar sickness and thought our son

was going through the same thing. In a few minutes Neo was up and wanted to go

play with the other kids, I was soo relived I hugged him and kissed him which just

made him laugh, he’s so adorable. Mthobisi said he would play with him and the

kids just to make sure he was okay.

I sat with She Rocks and we chatted about her visit to the doctor and she said the

doctor said she was healing nicely and if she continued that way she might not need
the skin grafting. I told her about running into Ngwako and how she threatened me

with lightening, she laughed and told me she wouldn’t put it past her because at

varsity she used to tell guys that if their girlfriends were giving them problems and

didn’t want to sleep with them she knew of a prophet who would strike their panties

with lightening to make the job easy for them, we were both laughing so hard

reminiscing on varsity days and how crazy we all were. Mthobisi joined us and said

Neo was fine and was having fun with the other kids, we all chatted and laughed

about good old day and how we’ve all grown up.

The following morning, I again used She Rocks car and went to work, the entire

week was just the same routine, work, home, bath the kids, sleep then again same

thing, to be honest it felt good to have normal life again with no drama, we had not

heard from the police nor had I had any contact from Ngwako, 2015 felt so good and

normal I was loving it, Mthobisi and I were in a good space, we were happy no

stress, no drama, and I hoped and prayed that things would stay that way. On the

weekend we decided to visit Cleo, Mthobisi and the kids came with us, my sister had

sort of dumped her kids with us, she was having the time of her life, calling everyday

but just not saying when she would pick up the kids not that I was complaining

having the house filled with kids was such a blessing, the house felt like a home.

Cleo was very happy to see us, she told us how hard it’s been for her been in a

wheelchair at times she would forget that she can’t walk and would want to do

something and try standing up and would just end up with her face on the floor, trust

Cleo to make fun of any situation, she said her kids were now more naughtier than

before because they knew she couldn’t chase after them and she’s told them

numerous times that the day she starts walking they are all getting a hiding for all

their sins, we all laughed, Andiswa arrived with her “promise ring” boyfriend, we all
hugged and She Rocks and I were being offish towards her we were still annoyed by

the ring situation, Cleo asked what was going on and we had not told her about a

body being found, so telling her now about the ring would just freak her out and

might even mess with her recovery we were no doctors but the last thing we wanted

was a set-back, Cleo was determined to walk and any stress or pressure could just

take her back to step one, she was at the physiotherapy almost every day. She

Rocks was still in crutches and she had now mastered walking with them, Andiswa’s

arm was also recovering well, so the gang was looking much better than when they

were in hospital, I just wanted to see Cleo walk again that was my daily prayer. We

warmed up to Andiswa it was not her fault that her stupid boyfriend had bought her a

promise ring and it’s not her fault that the ring fell of her finger I don’t blame her in

that digging that we were doing and the sweating I wouldn’t have felt mine fall of

either. The guys decided to go and buy meat and braai while we chilled with wine

and kids playing all over the place. It was a nice relaxed weekend, we had a nice

braai, ate, drank and just had good clean fun. On Sunday my sister called and said

she was coming to collect the kids, I told her to bring Lwazi and they can stay over

for lunch. She Rocks and I cooked lunch while having wine, while Mthobisi swam

with the kids outside. My sister and her husband arrived, we had lunch, they told us

about their holiday, my sister was glowing, she was really happy and she and Lwazi

were both going through counselling, the man had really changed, I still didn’t trust

him though, he had landed her in hospital who’s to say he won’t do it again, but I was

the last person who should be judging, I lived in a glass house, and you know what

they say about people who stay in glass houses, they should never throw

stones. We had a pleasant conversation with them, no fighting with her husband,

Mthobisi again invited Lwazi to play golf with him and She Rokcs jokingly said “but
you not allowed to win or else you get a beat-down.” Only after she had said that did

she realise the awkwardness that happened in the room,I drank my glass of water

while my sister acted like she was doing something on her phone, Mthobisi laughed

and said “damn straight” which actually broke the ice and we all laughed. She Rocks

breathed a sigh of relief. After lunch my sister packed the kids clothes and told me I

should get a maid because the kid’s clothes were unwashed and She Rocks and

Mthobisi had just bought them extra clothes when they ran out of clean clothes. She

was right I needed help the house was too big and I was at work most of the times

so I was not getting around to doing everything and Mthobisi was adamant on having

Neo staying with us and I had realised that was one battle I was slowly loosing so I

had just given in but at the moment She Rocks was still around and helping out with

Neo so the pressure of looking for a helper was not that much even though we had

never really discussed when she will be moving out I knew the day would come

when she would leave so I had to make plans to get help.

The following Monday at work I decided to follow up with the insurance so we could

go identify the car they had been giving me the run-around like I was trying to take

the car for myself while I wanted them to get the car so we can get this car episode

over and done with. I was told that an assessor would meet me at Aeroton where

the car was being kept by the police. I also called Aus Maria to beg her to come

work for me she said she would never abandon Jessica besides there were too

many benefits working for her all she did was sit and watch Nigerian movies on TV

all day who would not want to get paid for that, I got her point looking after a child is

not easy, she said her niece was back and she would love to come and work for

us. She said she will tell her to catch a taxi the following day and bring her clothes

with her and I can fetch her from the taxi rank. Aus Maria was not wasting anytime; I
honestly needed that I appreciated that. I called Jessica and she was all happy she

said her boyfriend had proposed and she’d been wanting to tell me but she’s just

been hectic, she said he proposed on the news’s eve party that I missed and then

went on about the wedding and the wedding dresses and this and that, I

congratulated her and she told me they will be having an engagement party soon

she will let me know of the details. We spoke for 45 minutes and it was all wedding

this, wedding that, I was happy for her but yhooo that call was just draining. Cindy

said I should take lots of pictures at Jessica’s engagement party and wedding, she

could do with some tips for her wedding, I rolled my eyes and said I will. She Rocks

called and asked if she should cook dinner I told her under no circumstances was

she to cook, my husband would divorce me and marry her if she did, she laughed

and said that would be incest because Mthobisi is like a brother to her and she said

this is why she loved staying at my house because she got to sit and do absolutely

nothing. She Rocks and I were very good friends but I believed that if you let your

man eat another woman’s food he will start praising her cooking and starts missing

her cooking next thing you know he wants more than her cooking and She Rocks

food is a chef in the kitchen it’s okay if she helps me cook but not cook alone that’s

where I put my foot down.

The following morning I went straight to Aeroton and meet up with the guy from the

insurance, we saw the car it was definitely my car they asked if I wanted it back I

said no it had too many bad memories, if I wanted it back the insurance company

would sell it to me for almost half the price of what I had bought it for, I didn’t care

that car was cursed they could throw it away for all I cared for. That took less than

an hour I then drove to work and got there around 9 which was not too bad, Cindy

and I got down to business and worked. At about 16:15 I got a call from Nomzamo
Dlamini, Aus Maria’s niece she said she was going to catch a taxi to Midrand could I

meet her at Shell Garage in New Road, I agreed as that was on the way home so it

would make things easy for me. I told her I will only leave work once she gets close

to Midrand. At 17:00 Cindy left I called Mthobisi and asked him to get take-aways as

I was waiting for Aus Maria’s niece, I did some work while I was still waiting for the

call and at about 19:30 I called and her phone was off, stupid girl I thought, I called

Aus Maria and her phone just rang with no answer, I was proper annoyed I packed

up and decided to leave. I drove home so angry and as I got to the highway the car

just started swaying out of control but I managed to stop it and pull it on the side of

the road, I got out to go see what the problem was and realised that both the front

tyres had burst, this was very strange I thought, they were at the point where I was

driving with on rims, I wondered when did I get a puncher as I had not driven on any

potholes which is mainly the cause of tyre bursts, I grabbed the phone from inside

the car to call my husband to tell him, and She Rocks was on AA so they would

come and tow me, “Hey Honey” Mthobisi answered I said “you won’t believe this but

I’m stuck on the…” before I could even finish the sentence I was struck on the head

by what felt like a cricket bat and I fell on the floor face down and my phone just

scattered all over the road, I was still conscious, as I was still trying to get my head

around what was happening I was then picked up and thrown into the boot of She

Rocks car, I started screaming and shouting but nothing, I felt the car go up and

down and realised the bastards were changing the tyres, I had been so focused on

the call with Mthobisi that I did not even noticed that a car had stopped behind me,

but when I was being dragged into the boot, the car looked familiar, I just couldn’t

remember where I had seen it. I continued screaming hoping someone would hear

me and stop even though the chances of that happening were very slim because
every car that passed was on high speed. Within a few minutes the car was

moving, shit they had changed the tyres so quickly that I knew that they must have

been the ones who burst my tyres because they didn’t even bother coming to get the

spare wheel in the boot or the jack. Then I realised this was planned it was no

coincidence at that thought that’s when I screamed the loudest and started kicking

the boot door, the car stopped and I prayed that they would let me go, a few seconds

later the boot opened and before I could even look at the person’s face I was

punched on the face and blacked out.

My name is Zandile Mbatha fondly known as She Rocks, Rock Star and anything

else that has to do with Rocking and being amazing. You might be wondering why

I’m writing in Lesedi’s diary well my friend has been missing for more than 2 weeks,

we’ve searched everywhere and anywhere for her and no sign of her. A week after

she went missing my car was found dumped in the middle of nowhere in Midrand

with a lot of blood on the boot, some of the blood was found to be Lesedi’s blood and

the other was of an unknown person, as I write we don’t know if she’s dead or alive.

It’s been very hard, stressful and painful weeks for all of us especially for Mthobisi;

the man has been close to having a mental breakdown. I have been trying

everything in my powers to stay on top of the situation but Mthobisi is really broken

and I’ve been trying to be supportive, everyone has been trying to be there for him, I

don’t even want to talk about Lesedi’s mother she has been soo stressed that she

was booked in hospital for three days, I shake just thinking what she’s going through

no mother deserves to not know where their child is, this family has been through

hell, they do not deserves this, especially being such an incredible, loving and caring

family.
Lesedi’s sister has been crying none-stop I even avoid talking to her, the way she’s

acting you would swear Lee was dead. Neo poor child doesn’t understand what is

happening but he keeps asking for his mom, it’s really heart-breaking. So now its

second week since Lee has been missing and my grandmother from back home in

Bergville has been on my case saying that her sangoma has been warning her about

my friends and the dark cloud they under, like really, my grandma has the worst

timing ever, people are on high levels of stress and she’s being EFF short of telling

me to bring back the money, she even insisted on bringing her sangoma to Joburg

so she could cleanse Lesedi’s house, her husband and her kid, trying to stop her

was like trying to stop water from getting inside the house, I eventually told her that I

had moved out and was back in my own place and had no access to Lesedi’s home

that was the only way to stop her, which of course was a lie, I could not leave when

things where so bad, Mthobisi needed someone to take care of him and his son.

Oh by the way their nanny had arrived, she was not very helpful though, always

chatting on her phone, if not doing that then watching Nigerian movies, what is it with

helpers and Nigerian movies, I have never had a helper who did not enjoy watching

those movies, I should make a Nigerian movie, Yeoville and Hillbrow would be a

perfect set-up for it and I could talk to that Nigeria drug-dealer who stays in my

complex about how Nigerian witchcraft work, you can never have a Nigerian movie

without witches in it, okay there I go deviating from the main story, my mind just goes

all over the place, I will try and stick to the story at hand and forget about other things

like how I could be friends with Beyonce if she was from South Africa, I would stalk

her until she friends me shame, that girl is just everything, I bet she wouldn’t give me

as much sleepless nights and headaches like my current friends, take Andiswa for

example she’s been saying we should tell the police that we think Lee going missing
has something to do with Mfundo like really? First of all how do we explain Mfundo

and second of all Mfundo was a dumb-ass who nobody would miss, his obsession

over my friend was what got his ass buried until the stupid dog found him, oh by the

way there hasn’t been any new developments on the body, sometimes I’m grateful

for our slow police force who worry more about what goes into their stomach than

solving a case, if this was America the FBI would have found our asses and we

would all be in orange outfits right being someone’s wife, but you know what they

say the Lord works in mysterious ways, I just have to keep up the praying and fasting

for my friend to found.

So on the third week I had to go back to work, the insurance company had hired me

a car since my car was kept by the police as evidence I didn’t even know how long

that was going to take all I knew was I didn’t want to be using a car where my friend

could ha e been killed in. Mthobisi was never around but every now and again he

would pop in to check on Neo. He was not even back at work this thing of his wife

missing was really tearing the man apart. He would leave in the early hours of the

morning and come back at night when we were long asleep that was 80% of the

times, the few times he was home he tried to spend with Neo and most of them were

spent in his study talking on his phone and doing whatever else he was doing. I went

to work and did the usual as I was about to knock of Mthobisi called to ask when I

would be coming home, told him I should be there in the next 45 minutes, he told me

to hurry, that was weird, he hardly ever called me let alone tell me to hurry home, I

become nervous and excited at the same time could this mean they had found

Lesedi I wondered. I hurried out of the building and drove like I was being chased by

demons, but the stupid car the insurance company had hired for me was not fast

enough, when I would go over 120 the steering wheel would start shaking like, what
the hell. As I got into the M1 there was traffic, shit dammit, just my luck. You know

you have those people that each time something funny or exciting happens you want

to call and tell them my person was Lesedi I wanted to call her and tell her that I

think Mthobisi has some good news but I couldn’t call her, so I called Cleo who has a

way of killing the vibe she didn’t pick up, I didn’t want to call Andiswa, lately she has

just a bit too paranoid for my liking the only person who knew how to handle her was

not around and I was not about to spoil my mood on her.

When I got to New Road Off-ramp traffic had cleared off thank goodness. I arrived at

the house to find Mthobisi still parked outside he had even fallen asleep in the car.

Why did he have to wait in the car? My excitement suddenly turned into fear, the

house door was opened. Oh God, please don’t tell me they had kidnapped Neo too.

I quietly moved to Mthobisi’ s car and opened the driver door, he jumped up and

pulled out his gun and…..

I act tough and have a big mouth but point me with a knife and I will still talk to you

like you are nothing, but point a gun in my face and you will just see dust behind me,

I don’t mess with those things my fiancé was killed by a gun, Mfundo was killed by a

gun in front of my eyes by my best friend, guns are no jokes, once you are dead

there is no reverse button there is not coming back. So there I was with a gun

pointed to my face, Mthobisi was a zombie who had not slept for days I knew one

mistake and I would be dead, I screamed “it’s me She Rocks please, please don’t

shoot.”

He looked at me confused and looked around and asked what’s going on I told him

that he had told me to come home quickly so I had rushed to find out what the

problem was he pointed me to the house and said I should go see for myself. I
walked in the house to find Nomzamo the nanny walking around the house naked as

the day she was born, at first I wasn’t sure if I was seeing right I had to wipe my eyes

not once but twice just to be sure that I was really seeing what I was seeing, I walked

inside the house and angrily asked “what the hell are you doing?” she smiled at me

and said “Hello, you back already?” I cleared my troth and said “yes I’m back and so

is the man of this house, he’s been trying to get inside his house but couldn’t with

you naked all over the house.”

She looked at me surprised and said “oh my goodness I didn’t realise he was back, I

had just taken a bath and it was too hot so I decided I would dress later. I didn’t

realise it was this late already. I’m soo embarrassed.” With that she ran upstairs,

embarrassed my ass, she knew exactly what she was doing the witch was trying to

seduce my friend’s husband, if Lee knew this she would kill her literally, she should

thank her lucky star, some woman have no shame, how do you do that to a man who

has lost his wife, by lost I don’t mean dead, I prayed every single night that wherever

Lesedi was she would be alive, I had been on this road before and it is not a pretty

one to walk in and the last thing Mthobisi needed was a tjatjarag nanny throwing

herself on him, I was soo pissed off that I wanted to fire her, but she wasn’t my

helper and I was just a visitor in the house I had to know my place. I went out and

told Mthobisi it was all clear he was actually embarrassed by the whole situation

which I found to be a bit funny. I decided to prepare us diner, I know Lee doesn’t

want me cooking for her husband but we were hungry and the nanny had locked

herself up in her bedroom after her failed mission.

Mthobisi opened up a bottle of wine, we drank and didn’t talk much he was really

depressed about the situation and sometimes when a person is going through hell

the best possible thing for you to do is to shut the f up and let the person drown in
their own sorrows I’ve never really believed that talking about problems help but we

not the same, what works for you might not necessarily work for me. I went to go

check up on Neo he was fast asleep, thank goodness I was off those stupid crutches

they had really limited my movement, now I could walk freely even though I was still

limping, I was just grateful that my wound was healing nicely and would not have to

do the skin grafting rubbish. I served us dinner, I tried not to cook too well, I didn’t

want Mthobisi leaving his wife for me for my cooking like Lee said, I missed her crazy

ass friend so much that everything in the house was just a reminder of her.

We sat I called Nomzamo to come join us but she said she had eaten earlier and

was not really hungry. Mthobisi hardly touched the food and a few minutes later he

thanked me for the lovely food and said he was going up to his study to work.

Dammit man, the man was really hurting. A few minutes later I heard Neo crying so I

had to rush upstairs to go check on him since it seemed like neither Nomzamo nor

Mthobisi were doing it, I went to his room picked him up and held him until he fell

asleep again then I put him back on his bed and walked downstairs as I was walking

pass Mthobisi’ s study I heard sobs, shit he was crying, I stood there and listened for

a few seconds, I didn’t know if I should walk in or walk-away, I chose the latter, I

walked away and pretended to have heard nothing. What was I supposed to walk in

there and do, hug him and tell him everything is going to be okay? That is for white

people, he will survive, besides he needed to cry it all out. I walked downstairs and

watched a bit of tv, then decided to call Cleo and share the drama from the nanny,

Cleo said I had every right to fire her she was out to get our friends husband and

needed to be stopped, I now regretted telling Cleo because the way she was going

on I was worried she would say “let’s kill her” but that goodness she didn’t say such.

I was done with killings, I was now starting to be paranoid and I felt like we were all
paying for our sins and who knew who would be next to disappear, another reason of

me not going back to my place was deep down I was terrified, and I couldn’t help but

wonder if were those people who took Lee were not looking for me and took Lee by

mistake, I mean she was driving my car after all, that thought haunted me every

night, even the police had asked if I had any enemies or anyone who would want to

hurt me since that was my car and I had said no.

The following morning I went to work again with the “slow motion car” that I was

using while pretending to be working, hacking into my Lesedi’s mails to see if there

could be any clues of where she might be, because I didn’t have much work to do, I

sometimes think I’ve been put there to be the black face not that I mind, the money I

earn is more than enough to shut me up and not say anything about being a black

face. I do what needs to be done and most of the times have fake meetings while I

go out with friends having lunches all over. Don’t get me wrong I’m very grateful for

the job I have but the industry I work in is so white dominated that you can literally

count all the black faces in one hand in our office and there is over 700 people

working there. While busy goofing around Mthobisi’ s mom called and said she

would be coming over for diner that evening, why the hell was she calling me was

she expecting me to cook for her, Lee hated that woman’s guts, an enemy of my

friend is my enemy. Shem she was going to be baptized with take-aways la kimi, I

will buy her a pizza futhi just to make sure the picture is very clear that we are not

friends and I’m not going to be nice to her just because I was staying her son’s

house.

I decided to do some real work since I was not getting anything useful on Lee’s

private mails. By 16:00 I was tired and ready to go home and sleep, I was so not in

the mood for Mthobisi’ s evil mother. I drove home well not home but you know what
I mean and traffic was not as bad as the previous day, when I got there I was super

annoyed to find Nomzamo had cooked I asked her why she was surprised at my

question and said it was her job and she wanted to make up for yesterday’s

misunderstanding, well at least the girl was dressed this time. Mthobisi was not yet

back and I was worried that his mom would arrive before he got there, I wouldn’t

even know what to say to that crazy woman. Nomzamo had gone all out she cooked

seven colours and more, the food was enough to feed an entire village.

I showered then played with Neo and Nomzamo decided that waiting for Mthobisi

and his mom was a long story so she stuffed her face she had seconds and thirds

and then decided that she was going to sleep, she was so full she could hardly walk,

I just looked at her and burst out laughing. When I was about to give up on Mthobisi

and his mom they walked in together, his mom was so happy to see me she even

gave me a hug. I dished up while she played with Neo and we had a pleasant dinner

I was trying very hard to be nice to her until she dropped a bomb on me “to be

honest I don’t think Lesedi is ever coming back, in fact I think she staged the whole

thing, I’m sorry to say this my son but I think she ran away from you, maybe moved

in with her lover.”

I stood up ready to punch the old bitch in the face but stopped on my feet when she

said “Zandile my child I think you would make a perfect wife for my son. Look at how

good you are with him and his child, your cooking could do with a bit of improvement

but we can work on that.”

Before I could even respond Mthobisi stood up and…..

We all knew how much Lesedi’s mother in-law hated her but for her to be pimping

her daughter-in-laws friends to her husband was another level of low. I looked at

Mthobisi who had now also stood up and was telling his mother to get out of his
house, she had no right disrespecting his wife like that. She still sat there and told

her he should watch his tone because she was still his mother and he shouldn’t

speak to her like he was going down a cliff. Mthobisi’ s mom had guts shame I have

to give that to her, the way she was so calm, cool and collected about the whole

situation you would swear she had not just suggested incest.

I could not deal with anymore of that drama so I excused myself and went to my

guestroom, I wondered how Lesedi survived all the drama with that woman,

Mthobisi’ s mom needed more thank holy water she needed to be exorcised she was

possessed by heavy demons, I was beyond pissed off and annoyed. I was soo angry

that I couldn’t even fall asleep I needed to punch something no not something I

needed to punch Mthobisi’s mom. After hours of tossing and turning I finally fell

asleep I had a hectic dream, we had found Lee and she was dead, Mthobisi’s mom

was celebrating and I was wearing a wedding gown we were having Lee’s funeral

and my wedding at the same damn time, I woke up all sweating, I decided that this

was it, I was packing my shit and leaving this house, things were getting out of

control, that woman had planted a seed and now things between Mthobisi and I were

going to get weird, awkward and uncomfortable and that’s the last thing I needed in

my life, hell I didn’t even see Mthobisi that way but now that his mom had said all

those things it might seem to him like I was interested in him, thank goodness we

had that crazy nanny in the house, I just had to make sure she was always around

whenever Mthobisi and I were together.

The following morning was so hard I had to sneak around the house to make sure I

don’t bump into Mthobisi, luckily I didn’t, I found Nomzamo and asked her to pack my

things while I’m at work I will be moving back home, she didn’t even ask why her

eyes lit-up like she had been waiting for months to hear me say those words. I didn’t
care what she did to Mthobisi he was not my responsibility and one thing I was not

going to be doing was taking my friend’s second, no thank you, besides Mthobisi had

a dark side to him that scared me senseless. I drove to work, a few hours after doing

some work Mthobisi called to ask why did I tell Nomzamo that I was moving out, he

gave me the whole speech about it not being safe for me to stay on my own not until

we found Lesedi, he told me those people could have been after me and could

probably be still looking for me, he said at his place at least he could protect me,

when I was on my own I was vulnerable, he told me to ignore what his mom had said

she just runs her mouth. He made a lot of sense so I agreed to staying, even though

my mind was telling me otherwise.

Later that evening Mthobisi did his usual home-late arrival thing I was kind of glad

that I didn’t have to sit and have dinner with him so I sat and chatted to Nomzamo

who had all sorts of crazy stories to tell she even told me about a woman who was

pregnant for 12 months only to give birth to a frog, I was dying from laughter I told

her she watched too many Nigerian movies and was beginning to believe the

nonsense she watched that got her a bit upset and she threatened to stop telling me

her stories since I didn’t believe her, I was done besides her stories were going to

give me nightmares for years to come. She took Neo to bed and I also decided to

retire to bed, a few hours later I heard Mthobisi arriving, thank goodness I had

missed him there was still that awkwardness and I didn’t know if I should tell the girls

about what Mthobisi’s mom had said or just keep it to myself I decided to keep it to

myself we all had more than enough to deal with.

The following morning I had a fake meeting and would be having breakfast with the

girls in Pretoria, I had to go and pick up Cleo who was now in crutches she was

recovering so well, Lesedi would have been really proud of the hard work she was
putting in to make sure she walks again. Andiswa was already at the restaurant we

ordered coffee and breakfast and did our usual catching up, it was not the same

without Lee around, we were all trying very hard to stay positive but it had already

been 3 weeks and as much as neither one of us wanted to say it chances of her

being alive were very slim, I mean look at us with Mfundo, we got rid of him within 48

hours, who would keep a person alive for 3 weeks, a woman nogal, woman talk too

much they can never shut up, whoever had Lesedi had his hands full, my friend can

talk a person’s ear off. We had all drawn up a list of suspects of whom we thought

might have taken our friend, first on the list was that psycho woman Ngwako,

Mfundo’s wife, second this was on Andiswa’s list which we did not entirely agree with

Mfundo’s people, she believed that Mfundo had a big mouth and must have told

someone that he was leaving his wife for Lesedi and maybe now those people were

after her and third on the list was the people that killed Siyabonga, maybe they were

now after me, fourth on the list were Mthobisi’s enemies whom when we asked him

he said he had none, and lastly it could have been a random hijacking that went

wrong. There were endless ideas and thoughts of what could have happened to Lee.

We still were nowhere near finding Lee and we were all beginning to loose hope.

After breakfast we said our goodbyes and Andiswa would drop Cleo back home. I

went to work slow motion was extra slow on that day, I don’t know why maybe

because I was just anxious.

Later that evening Mthobisi and I arrived home at the same time, he drove behind

me from the gate. He sat in the car while I walked inside the house he probably

wanted me to make sure that the nanny was fully dressed, I dropped my bag and

went out to tell him the coast was clear he laughed and said he was not sitting in the

car because of that, “yeah right” I said and laughed, at least things were not soo
uncomfortable between us. I went inside and he said he would be right in. Nomzamo

had cooked but not her usual huge meal fit for an army, I was relieved because I was

seriously not in the mood for a big meal. Mthobisi walked in and said to me “I need

you to drive me somewhere, I can’t take my car because it’s known so we will need

to use yours if you don’t mind.” This was strange but I agreed and told him it was

slow and he said I drive too fast anyway.

We left without even eating super, Mthobisi said we will be picking up some people

in Bedfordview, damn this was going to be a long drive and I was not really in the

mood but I agreed, he directed me we arrived in Bedford and picked up two guys

who looked like they were going to world war seven, one white and one black, I gave

Mthobisi a questioning look but he wouldn’t even look at me, I drove and the white

guy spoke on his phone with a deep Russian accent, and was saying “wait for us to

get there and don’t do anything until we arrive” this was getting creepier by the

second. Mthobisi kept directing until me we arrived in some house that looked

deserted he told me to switch off the car lights and stay in the car, and all three got

out and ran so fast I didn’t even see where they had disappeared to, a few minutes

later there was loud bangs, I jumped up my seat and looked around and locked all

the car doors, after the first bang more bangs continued, shit these were gun shots, I

swear I almost wet my pants I had never been soo petrified in my life, I started

worrying about Mthobisi and his friends, what if they were the ones getting shot, I

didn’t know if I should go look for them or stay in the car, or drive away and leave

them behind, the only thing I could think of was saving my ass, I decided to start the

car and leave them, they are grown ass man, one thing my grandmother thought me

was if a person had an id they are old enough to take care of themselves and those

three had more than id’s they had passports so they could double take-care of
themselves, as I put the gear on one but then realised that Mthobisi would not leave

me behind, how would they get home, I switched the car off and opened my door,

the gun sounds had now silenced down, I don’t know what got over me or where this

bravery had come from, I had said earlier I do not mess with guns, I know how

dangerous those things are so ask me why the hell was I going to where the gun

sounds had come from instead of running the opposite direction?

The good book says the Lord can never give you something that you cannot handle,

this was a test of faith, I recited a Bible verse Psalms 23 “even though I walk through

the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” I must have said this 10 times as

I walked closer to the darkness, it was soo dark I couldn’t even see my fingers. As I

got closer the shooting begin again, from the bullets going back and forth there was

a bit of light fear and shock had me wet my pants, I was shaking harder than a leaf. I

started screaming, “stop, stop” I don’t even know what the hell I was stopping, out of

nowhere Mthobisi grabbed me and shouted “why the fuck didn’t you stay in the car?

Do you want to get killed?” I shook my head and he told me to shut up and dragged

me back to the car, he opened the front passenger door and threw me inside, a few

seconds later the white man with the strong Russian accent jumped in at the back

seat and said “I got hit” the fuck, while I was still to process that that’s when the black

dude came and threw a person at the back seat then jumped in and told Mthobisi to

drive. Without any questions Mthobisi raved the car I was still shaking from fear I

wanted to close my eyes and open them again and realise that this was all just a bad

nightmare. Mthobisi turned at me and asked if I had “first aid kit” in the car. Who

carries around first aid shit, I wanted to snap but remembered the white guy said he

got hit, I turned around to see how bad he got hit and there sitting in my car in the
middle of the two guys was my friend Lesedi, but wait, she was not moving. I

screamed “Oh God, please don’t tell me she’s dead.”

My question got no response, everyone just looked away. I locked at Mthobisi who

would not even look my direction he just kept driving. Oh God, she was really dead,

how on earth were we going to tell this to her mother. Tears just started dripping

down my cheeks, I could not handle loosing another person in my life I knew I was

going to crack this time, this was too much for any person, how many people am I

supposed to loose for God to understand that I was not strong enough to handle it? I

wanted to jump to the back seat so I could hold her one last time and tell her how

much I loved her and how much I appreciated having her in my life. I removed the

seatbelt and got on sat on my knees to try and move to the backseat, Mthobisi

turned to me and said “sit properly and put on your seatbelt.” This was a command

and I was not being given an option, I didn’t have the strength to protest so I got my

butt back on the seat and cried silently in case I got commanded to shut up, Mthobisi

was in a foul mood not that I blamed him, his wife could be dead in the backseat, the

fact that he could still drive was beyond me, I would have been in a stretcher on a

helicopter with paramedics performing CPR on me if I was in his shoes. My thoughts

were interrupted by Mthobisi talking to me, I tried listening but nothing made sense,

he was giving me instructions but I didn’t understand, I was still in tears and trying to

make sense of what this man was saying. I kept saying “huh?” and this was not

because I didn’t hear him, it was because I didn’t understand what he was saying, he

wasn’t make sense, I think the Russian friend at the back got tired of me saying

“huh?” he interrupted and said “listen here young lady, my friend has repeated the

same thing three times to you, I’m going to say it to you for the last time you better
listen carefully because the next time I repeat this it will be in Russian.” Words

wouldn’t escape my lips the only thing I could do was nod.

I was dropped off in hospital with Lesedi, I shouted for help as soon as I got to the

entrance, nurses came to my aid and I showed them my friend who was on the floor,

she was too heavy for me to carry on my own so I had laid her on the floor, they

came with a wheelchair and rushed her into a ward, I followed right behind them,

they asked me what had happened, I told them I didn’t know I found her outside our

complex on my way back from work, they checked her pulse and heartbeat and told

me that she was alive, I was soo happy I actually hugged the nurse who told me that,

she pushed me to the side and told me I shouldn’t be too happy because she was

barely alive, her pupils were dilated, she was badly dehydrated and went on with

medical terms that sounded like French to me. As one of the nurses removed the

track top my friend was wearing to put in a drip she exclaimed “oh my God, is your

sister a druggie?” she asked, I quickly moved closer to defend my friend before I

could ask the nurse if she was insane she pointed at the needle marks in her arm,

her arm looked like it had gone on a needle war, I could feel a lump in my throat, I

looked at the other arm and it was the same, “oh God, what did they do to her?” I

was told I needed to go outside, I couldn’t even move from the shock I had just seen,

one of the nurses had to hold me by my shoulder and escort me out, I sat on the

chairs at the waiting room unable to fathom what I had just experienced when my

phone rang, it was a private number, I answered and I just heard Mthobisi’s Russian

friend’s deep accent, “make the call young lady, what are you waiting for?” he said

“oh shit, uhmmm, I will do…” before I could even finish the sentence the phone went

tuuuuuuu, stupid son of a gun had hung up on me. I had forgotten their stupid

instructions, I called Mthobisi who let the phone ring a few times even though I knew
he was waiting for the call, I then spoke as loud as I could making sure the nurses

around the reception area heard me I told him that I had found his wife outside their

complex and I think someone must have dumped her there, then I forgot what else I

was supposed to say I was silent for a few seconds Mthobisi must have realised this

because he quickly said “say then I took her put her in my car and drove her to

hospital.” I repeated the same thing he said, I could see a few people were listening

to this conversation, good thing they could only hear me. I again kept quiet Mthobisi

then said “now say the name of the hospital, and then pretend that I said I was

coming there.” Shit I didn’t even know which hospital we were in, everything had

happened so fast and I was given so many instruction that I had forgotten to check

the name of the hospital, I tried scrambling my brains remembering the name written

at the entrance and nothing my mind was blank, one thing about me is I’m not so

good at telling lies and when I’m scared I blank out and it was happening at a wrong

time I could feel Mthobisi getting agitated I finally whispered “I don’t know it.”

Mthobisi said “you don’t know what?” before I could blurt out “the name of the

hospital” he screamed “it’s Castenhof, just say I took her to Castenhof Hospital and

then we end this uncomfortable conversation.” I loudly said “Castenhof Hospital”

and told him I will see him when he gets there. Before he hung up he said “don’t

forget to call the police, they need to be there before I arrive.” Jesus Christ these

guys had given me so much instructions my head was pounding just trying to

remember everything. I quickly called the detective who was in charge of Lee’s

missing docket and told him the tale of how I had found Lee, he said he was in

Pretoria at his house sleeping it was after all around 1 am but would send someone

to come and take a statement and evidence maybe Lee had some DNA on her from

the people who took her, up until he said it I had not thought about that, shit could
she have been raped by those fools that took her, the thought of my friend being

molested by some idiots just broke my heart into a million pieces. I couldn’t even

speak on the phone my voice was shaky the cop asked if I was okay, I told him I was

scared of what they might have done to her, I thanked him and I hung up. I sat there

not knowing what to do next, I wasn’t sure if I had another task on the list of things

that I was given to do, I was blank, how I wishes I had written the things they said

down, there were just too many to remember but I doubted if Mthobisi and Russian

guy would have approved of me writing all that down. I wished I had someone to

call, someone who would come hold me and tell me everything is going to be okay,

how I wished Siyabonga was still alive he would know what to do. How I wished I

had a mother or a father because in moments like these it doesn’t matter how old

you are, you need a parent to just re-assure you that all will be well. But I was not

about to feel sorry for myself, this was not about me, I had a friend who I had to be

thankful that was alive and just pray for her recovery, I decided to go and have a

sneak-peek maybe she’d woken up and would be telling me her silly jokes. When I

got to her ward there were nurses all around her bed and 2 doctors, this was not a

good sign, I needed to go to the bathroom or somewhere private to talk to God. As I

was standing there two cops in uniform arrived and I heard them ask the receptionist

about Lesidi she pointed them to me they came and introduced themselves to me,

right behind them was Mthobisi. I blurted out “perfect timing”

The two policemen gave me a confused look and one of them asked “what’s perfect

about your friend being on deathbed?”

I sometimes think out loud and this was one of those moments, of course there was

nothing perfect about the situation, I wanted to kick myself, I didn’t know how to

respond, I just looked on the floor and pretended to be focusing on something

important, Mthobisi came and joined us, which saved me a bit, he introduced himself

to the two officers, then asked me “what happened? Where did you find her? How

did you find her?” Jesus Christ, ask me 20 million questions at once in front of police

nogal, this was such a bad idea but I had to keep up this act, Mthobisi had blatantly

told me that it’s the only way they were going to find whoever was responsible for

this, whatever this is. I again told the story of how I found her laying on the floor like

she’d been thrown out of a car and how I picked her up and put her in my car and

took her to the hospital. I had said this story so many times I was now starting to

believe it, if I had to be put in a lie detector test I would pass with flying colours

shem, I was now starting to believe that the truth is a lie and the lie is the truth. The

cop asked me why I had decided to bring her to Castenhof instead of Waterfall

Hospital, I explained that I was not very familiar with Midrand and didn’t even know

there was Waterfall Hospital, I knew of Castenhof because we would pass it when

going to Tembisa. Mthobisi looked at me and nodded like he was satisfied by how I

had just remembered that lie to the tee. They asked if there was anyone in the street

or any suspicious cars around that I might have seen when I was getting Lee on the

side of the road; I said I didn’t see anyone or any cars. They said they will need a

statement from Lee and I showed them her ward, the nurses told them she’s still

unconscious and they will gather whatever DNA evidence they can get and send it

to them and they had also put the clothes she was wearing in a transparent plastic

bag and handed it over to the police, they gave the nurse their numbers and told her

to phone them as soon as she woke up, she said she would write that in her file for
the next shift nurses to know who to call when she woke up. The police thanked us

and left. Mthobisi and I were told to wait outside, when we got to the waiting room

Mthobisi said “I was a bit worried there for a second with the cops, the way obhayize

ngakhona on the phone, I was sure you were going to mess up again” I said mxim

and punched him in his arm, he looked at me and said “ouch, She Rocks

Mayweather. How are the boxing lessons going?” Was this man seriously asking

me about boxing after what we had just been through? I said “boxing is great; I have

a fight in 2 months I need to gain at least 6 kilos to be in the same weight as the girl I

will be fighting but I’m so unfit since the accident I haven’t been able to train

properly.” Mthobisi and his friends always tease me about boxing because I’m a girl

and I do boxing but I’ve gotten used to their silly jokes and I usually laugh them

off. Mthobisi continued “most women want to lose weight and you trying to gain, talk

about crazy!” I stood up because now I was getting seriously annoyed and in that

moment I became Andiswa when she’s angry I think I spend too much time with that

girl I was beginning to even behave like her I screamed at Mthobisi “yewethu, can we

focus on your wife and not worry about my weight for a second?” he looked at me

and for the first time I saw fear in his eyes, and he said “I don’t want to think about

what my wife is going through right now, she’s fighting off the most heaviest drugs

and if she makes it out of this alive it will be a miracle, those drugs fry your brains,

she could come out of this place a vegetable, so I would rather talk about stupid

things than talking about my wife’s situation right now.” Damn I had no idea the

situation was that bad, the nurses never told me anything, wait, how did he know

about the drugs because I didn’t mention anything to him about Lee’s arm being full

of needle marks. Before I could even ask him that question he told me that they

went back where we found Lee and the things they found there were not something I
would like to hear about. I cringed and told him it was okay, I didn’t want to know all

I wanted was my friend to be okay. We then sat there in silence for almost thirty

minutes it wasn’t uncomfortable at all, I needed the silence and he needed to think,

after what seemed like eternity a nurse came and said we could go see her Lee

since we refused to leave the hospital she was doing us a favour, when we got there

she was hooked into soo many machines, in her mouth nose it seemed like they

were everywhere, I ran out the ward, I couldn’t stand to see my friend like that,

Mthobisi followed me and asked if I was okay, I told him I needed some fresh air and

I will be fine he could go back. He went back inside, I sat outside for a while taking

the fresh air in trying to clear my lungs out from all the hospital medicine fumes, my

phone rang it was Nomzamo, I had forgotten that she was home with Neo first thing

she said “do you know what time it is? It’s after 3 am, I don’t think your friend will be

too happy to find out that you were out on dates with her husband while she’s

missing. To think that you were so upset when you saw me naked around the

house, kanti sisi you want the man for yourself. You have reached the train stop my

darling, I’m not going to let you take him just like that, khohlwa, libala, forget” this

bitch was unbelievable, I simply responded to her by saying “We’ve found Lesedi we

are in hospital with her.”

That must have taken her by surprise she mumbled “I’m sorry I didn’t realise.”

I wasn’t done “When she gets out of hospital I’m sure she will want to remove all the

trash out of her house and by trash I mean you, so do yourself a favour and start

packing your bags.” And I hung up.

I called Lee’s mom but her phone kept going to voicemail so I tried Victor who

answered after a couple of rings, he didn’t sound like he was sleeping, poor man he
loved Lee like his own child I told him the good news that we had found Lee, he was

so happy he said he’s going to wake his wife to tell her the good news I tried

stopping him but I guess the phone had left his ear because the next thing I heard

was him telling the wife that Lee had been found, I had them both celebrating in the

background, he had obviously forgotten about me, I waited for him to get back on the

phone and they were just talking going on and on in the background, what is it with

old people, didn’t they want more details? I decided to hang up and called again this

time he picked up immediately I told him Lee was in hospital, the people who took

her had drugged her up and the doctors were trying to get the drugs out of her

system and things were not looking good. I told him they should come in the

morning to see her, I gave him the name of the hospital and he thanked me and

hung up.

After speaking to Lee’s step-dad I mounted the strength to go back in the ward and

see Lee, those pipes and cubes were everyone it was just not a pretty sight, Mthobisi

was sitting in a chair next to her, he was holding her hand talking to her. He’s back

was facing me so he didn’t see me come in all I heard was “I love you soo much

honey, please promise me you are going to come out of this alive and if you do, I

promise I will never leave your side, I will be your bodyguard 24 hours, I will take you

to work in fact you won’t even have to work my love if you don’t want to but if you

want to work you can work, baby you can do anything you like, I won’t stop you all I

ask is that you please come back to me. I will make you breakfast every morning

and cook you diner every night, please baby, I wouldn’t be able to live without you, I

don’t want to live without you, you are my life, you are my soulmate.” I knew I should

just walk back out but damn this man was so sweet, I was soo touched by this cute

speech he gave to his wife, as I was about to walk out Mthobisi said
“I will find those bastards that are responsible for this and I will kill their mothers,

father, children, grandparent, uncles, aunts, cousins and anyone close to them and I

will make sure that they watch while I do it, and then finish off with them.”

“Iyhoooooooooooo!!!!” I exclaimed

Mthobisi turned so fast, and before I could make a run for it, he grabbed me by the

arm and said “what did you hear?” the look in his eyes said he meant business, I

tried looking away from his blazing eyes but he’s eyes were locked on mine I just

had to be honest and tell the truth before Mthobisi burnt me with his eyes I told him I

heard him threatening to kill the families of the people who were involved. He looked

at me and smiled and the fire in his eyes disappeared like I had just missed the boat,

did he say worse things before I arrived I wondered? He said “I was just saying that

out of anger, you know me Rock Star, I’m not that kind of a person” I was beginning

to question what kind of a person he really was in the last 24 hours I had seen

another side to my friend’s husband that I had not known existed and to be honest I

was happy not knowing it, ignorance is bliss sometimes. He told me he needed to

make a few calls and would like me have some private time with Lee, I sat down and

couldn’t even look at her. I decided the only thing that would make me feel better in

that situation was a prayer, I asked God to not take her, we were not ready to lose

her, she had so much to live for, I prayed and I bargained with God promising that if

she comes out of this alive I will make sure she lives a straight and narrow life that

she goes to church every Sunday I will even fetch her myself every Sunday, it was a

long prayer when I was done I heard Mthobisi say “Amen” I asked him “what did you

hear?” he laughed and said “you got jokes neh mfazi ka (wife of) Mayweather.” I

laughed and said “watch yourself I will knock you out.” One of the nurses came and
said our time was up we need to go home and get some rest; we didn’t fight this time

we were both exhausted.

When we got inside my slow motion car the back seat was filled with blood, I didn’t

even ask how the Russian was doing after being shot earlier, the way he was so

rude to me pissed me off to a point where I didn’t care if he was okay or not, besides

he had called earlier which means he still alive. On the way to Mthobisi’ s house I

sent an text to my boss telling him I won’t be in and was not feeling too good, I was

not in the mood to explain that long complicated story, where would I even start? It

would be one long sms with no ending. When we got to the complex Mthobis

pointed out and said “that is where you found Lesedi” I just nodded I was too tired to

even look, he stopped the car and said “Rock Star this is serious, look at where I’m

pointing, we broke a few flowers to make it look like someone had been on that

flowerbed.” I got out of the car and the wind was blowing hard, I saw the spot and

promised Mthobisi that I will not forget. When we got in the house I threw myself in

bed and passed out and only got up the next morning around 11. Mthobisi had

already gone to the hospital, Nomzamo had made me breakfast to apologize for the

way she spoke to me last night, I dint’ trust it, she could have poisoned it, I told her I

wasn’t hungry and thanked her, I would rather eat hospital food than her because

she just saw me as competition to her meal-ticket and a desperate woman is a

dangerous woman, she has no boundaries and will go to any lengths to get what she

wants and I had just escaped death just the night before from gun shots I was not

about to die from a small thing like food not after surviving bullets. I showered

dressed and realised that Mthobisi had taken my slow motion, but his car was there,

I didn’t want to drive it not after what happened when we drove his car in Durban, I

decided to use Uber taxi services, they picked me up and took me to hospital. When
I got there Lee’s mom, Victor, her real dad, sister and her husband were all there. I

was again asked the same question, how I found her; I had to recite the story all over

again. Lee’s father said “this is all thanks to that no good husband of hers fault, I was

against this marriage from the start, do you now see what he’s done to my child

now?” he said pointing at Lee’s mom. Naledi responded “dad please don’t start this

again and you no saint either.” That completely shut him up, his daughters knew

how to handle him shem. I went to Lee’s ward and Mthobisi was there sitting next to

her in silence he probably wanted to avoid yesterday’s disaster where I heard him

talk about killing people. I went in and asked if he was okay, he said yeah he just

needed to be away from Lee’s dad, I totally understood him, that man had no off

button no wonder Lee’s mom divorced him. I called the girls and told them about the

new developments, they said they would come to the hospital as soon as they

could. I spent the entire day in hospital the girls came they cried when they saw how

bad she looked. We decided to go out and have late lunch since I had not eaten all

day, we used Andiswa’s car. Cleo said “God I don’t want to sound negative but

Jesus Lee looks bad.” Andiswa said “I don’t understand why they would take her

and keep her for over 3 weeks then just dump her in front of her place, nje, just like

that, what was this all about? What did they want to do with her and why bring her

back when they did?” they both looked at me as if expecting me to have answers, I

told them I didn’t know I was as clueless as they were, I hated lying to my friends but

Mthobisi and Russian man had made me swear that I would not breath a word to

anyone about what had happened, I felt like I had signed a none-disclosure

agreement and I was not about to break my promise. I shrugged my shoulders and

we ate the rest of the lunch in silence we couldn’t even make stupid jokes like we

normally do, this was one heck of a scary situation, drugs, guns, I shivered just
thinking about the whole thing. When we were done we went back to the hospital,

there were still no changes in Lee’s condition. Victor and Lee’s mom said they were

leaving, her dad had already left, and we said our goodbyes and told them we will

keep them updated. Cleo had to go too her husband had dropped her off and was

on the way to pick her up they had to go get their kids from crèche. The rest of us

stayed behind even though most times we were not allowed to go in her ward we just

hung around hoping she would feel our presence and know we are all there for

her. Around 7 people started leaving, Mthobisi suggested that we also make our

way home, my car had been cleaned spotless it even smelled of chemicals, I was

glad. When we got home I went straight to bed.

The following morning it was Saturday so again Mthobisi left before I even woke up

for hospital but this time he took his car and I had my slow motion to use, I drove

myself to the hospital and again the whole family was there this time Tshepang

Mthobisi’s brother and wife Koketso were also there, his mom was nowhere to be

seen, wherever she was she was probably praying that Lee dies, that woman hated

my friend with passion, she couldn’t even pretend now that she was close to

death. There had still being no changes in Lee’s condition and we did our swapping

since only two people were allowed to see her at a time. Around 5 people started

leaving and Mthobisi told me I could go as well he will be home late he had other

things to take care off, I bought myself take-aways on the way back and ate them

outside the gate I didn’t want Nomzamo seeing that I was not eating her food but

eating take-aways she could try another way to get rid of me, I know I was acting

paranoid but I didn’t trust that woman one little bit. I got home played a little with

Neo we had not seen him in the past 2 days since things had just gotten crazy and I

missed spending time with him. Around 8 I went to bed and Mthobisi was still not
back. At 23:14 I received a call it was the hospital they told me they had been trying

to get hold of Mthobisi but his phone was off and we need to get to the hospital as

soon as possible because Lesedi’s condition had taken the turn for the worst, my

heart just dropped, this was not the news I was hoping to hear, I took of my pyjamas

and wore sweatpants and track top and ran upstairs to Mthobisi’s room, he was not

there, shit I called and his phone and it went to voicemail “Mthobisi it’s me, Lee’s

condition has worsened we are wanted at the hospital as in right now, time is now

23:28 please get back to me asap, I’m going there now.”

I couldn’t drive fast enough to get to the hospital and slow motion had a tendency of

being slow when you were in a hurry. I arrived and Mthobisi was already there, he

said he got my message he’s phone was on there must have been some network

problem, I asked him what the problem was with Lesedi and he said the doctor had

told him that Lee is not doing so well, her organs were failing and we needed to

prepare for the worst he said the doctor said she might not make it through the night

and they needed us to say our goodbyes. My knees felt week I almost fainted,

Mthobisi told me to sit down he will get me some water and he’s already called Lee’s

family and his to come.

I held Lee’s hand and told her with tears running down my face “you are not going to

die, do you hear me? You are not going to leave me, you are not going to leave the

man that loves you with all his heart and your beautiful child, you cannot die, I will

not let you Lee, I swear to God, I’m not going to let you die.” As I was speaking Lee

squeezed my hand at first I thought I must have imagined it, but then she did it

again, I froze with shock, I didn’t know what to do I had to be triple sure that what I

thought happened really happened I needed confirmation, I whispered “do it again

Lee” and she did something even better she lifted her hand I swear I heard angels
sing, my friends and I, we always say we hear angels sing after good sex but this

was better than sex and angels were not singing “hallelujah” like they normal do they

were singing after good sex they were singing “amazing grace” I started jumping up

and down from excitement, she opened her eyes and I knew with no doubt that my

friend was back and she was going to be okay. She wanted to say something but

with the pipes in her mouth she couldn’t speak I wanted to remove them but realised

I might hurt her even further so I decided to go find a nurse, I told them and two

nurses came running to check, that’s the nice thing about private hospitals you get

special attention, they told me to stay outside, I did as I was told and went around

looking for Mthobisi to tell him the good news. I found him outside he was on the

phone I decided not to interrupt and just go back inside but you know how you

cannot control your ears they hear things that you wish you could not have heard. I

heard him say

“Mfundo’s brother has gone too far this time, they are fucking up with the wrong

family. Don’t’ worry I’ve got enough ammunition to kill an entire village in my

car. We’ll meet at your place I want everything and everyone in that house dead, we

will not even leave a cockroach alive. I’m sending that asshole a clear message, this

is war and he better be ready to finish the shit he started, I want him to suffer more

than I am suffering right now.”

What the fuck?? Mfundo’s brother did this?? Shit just got real!!! Did he know about

the rest of us? ohhhh God were we next? My heart was ready to come pop out of

my chest the way it was beating soo hard, my ears started buzzing I couldn’t hear

anything else around me, fear completely paralyzed me, my hands became stiff and

I blacked out!!!!
There is nothing more frustrating than waking up in a strange and unfamiliar place

with pipes and machines all around you. Not knowing how you got there, or when

you got there just feeling lost and confused. I had heard She Rocks screaming at

me not to die but now she was nowhere to be seen all I was seeing were two nurses

faffing over me. When finally the pipe in my mouth was removed my throat was

extremely dry, first thing I asked for was water, the nurses held a glass to my mouth

and there was a straw I drank from the straw when I was done I asked where had my

friend had gone to they told me she was outside waiting for me, one of the nurses

went to go get her then came back and said she can’t find her but she had asked

reception to call my husband and tell him I was awake. I asked her what happened

to me and they both looked at each other and asked “don’t you remember?” If I knew

why I was in hospital I wouldn’t be asking, how silly of these nurses, they said they

didn’t know much but police were involved because they had to give statements to

police etc. Wow I thought I must have been in an accident. Mthobisi came rushing

in, the look on his face when he saw me talking to the nurses. My husband hardly

ever gets emotional but on that particular day tears just started rolling down his face,

he came next to my bed looked at me and shook his head, words wouldn’t even

come out of his mouth, it was like he was seeing me for the first time, the nurses

stood there watching this with tears in their eyes, they knew they should leave but I

guess this was just too interesting to watch. Mthobisi still staring at me with tears

choking him whispered “I thought I had lost you forever. Thank you God.” Then he

hugged me, longest hug of my life, I had drips and things all over me and damn the

man was pulling and those were hurting me but I couldn’t burst his bubble, I let him

hug me as long as he wanted when he finally let go of me he still couldn’t stop

staring at me. I asked him “what’s wrong?” he smiled through his tears and said
“nothing Honey, you just look so beautiful I can’t keep my eyes off you, everything

else is perfect.” Okay so many compliments something had to be up. I looked at the

nurses who were still standing there and asked “how long was I out for?” one of

them mumbled “we not sure.” I looked at Mthobisi and asked “which ward is Cleo

and Andiswa sleeping in?” The nurse asked “whose Cleo and Andiswa.” I quickly

replied “they are my friends we were all in the same accident.” Mthobisi shook his

head “no Honey you were not in an ….” One of the nurses told him not to overload

me with too much information it was still too early and I needed to recover first. Next

thing I knew my entire family walked in my mom, Victor, Naledi and my dad. First

thing I said to them was “when did you guys get to Durban?” They all gave me

confused look and one of the nurses asked them all to go wait outside she was going

to call my doctor to come and see me. As they were walking out I heard my dad say

to Mthobisi “Didn’t you say on the phone she was dying, was that supposed to be

some kind of a stupid pathetic joke?” Mthobisi mumbled something which I couldn’t

hear. Dying? How bad was this situation? A few minutes later a doctor came, he

examined me and said my recovery was something short of a miracle, I didn’t know if

I should say thanks or smile so I just gave him a blank stare, he asked me if I knew

my name I said “yes, my name is Lesedi and I am married to Mthobisi the handsome

cry baby who was just here now.” He laughed and said “at least you haven’t lost your

sense of humour.” Oh my God, what else had I lost I tried feeling my arms they were

still there with drips and all, this must have been a bad accident, my legs, I couldn’t

feel my legs, I shouted “My legs are gone, my legs are gone” one of the nurses

pinched me on the legs and I screamed “ouch” and everybody laughed and I said

‘”okay false alarm, what did I loose in the accident, can I have a mirror I need to see

if my face is still the same.” The nurse said she will get me a mirror when the doctor
was done with me. The doctor kept asking me to tell him about the accident, I told

him I couldn’t remember much all I know is me and my friends were involved in a car

accident. He told me to tell him the last thing I remembered, I tried remembering and

all I could remember was Mthobisi in our hotel in Durban, the beach, the swimming,

then crying I remembered being in a hotel crying I don’t know why I was crying I tried

wrecking my brains but I couldn’t remember. Doctor said I had been through a rough

time and should take my time things will come back little by little. I had no idea what

he meant by rough time but I was not interested in knowing he told the nurse to bring

me the mirror, he left to go speak to my family and She Rocks walked in, I looked at

her confused she was just too happy to see me, she hugged me tight, what is with

people and tight hugs while I’m tied up in drips, while she was hugging me I had a

flashback I had hugged her the same way and she told me I was squeezing her too

tight and she was in a hospital bed I asked her “where is your drip? I know how

much these nurses love drips.” She laughed and said “you’ve only been back for less

than an hour and you already cracking jokes, I have missed you soo much

Lee.” Okay, she was being weird we’ve been together the whole time, same hospital

and everything and now she’s telling me about missing me. I asked her which ward

were Andiswa and Cleo in, and then she had a concerned look in her face and said

“Lesedi…” Before she could continue Mthobisi walked in and said “Rock Star don’t”

then pulled her to the side and whispered something to her. What is up with all the

secrecy though? While they were still talking a nurse came with a mirror gave it to

me and left, I looked at myself and screamed “Oh my Gosh” both Mthobisi and She

Rocks turned and looked at me and asked “what’s the matter.” I shouted “I look

terrible, I look like I’ve been hit by lightning.” As soon as I said the word lighting

Ngwako’s face came to my head and I whispered “Ngwako, that bitch tried to kill
me.” Now everybody’s attention was on me. She Rocks exclaimed “I knew it, I knew

it was her. Tell us more Lee, was she with Mfundo’s brother?”

I shouted “Mfundo is alive, I saw him he’s alive or maybe he’s haunting me, maybe

it’s his ghost but I saw Mfundo”

She Rocks came close to me and said “Lee, stop it, stop talking about this, I’m sure

you need some rest.” I screamed “No Zandile I don’t need to rest, what we need to

do is to get the hell out of here, we are not safe, and none of us is safe.”

She Rocks looked at me and said “you never call me by that name only when you

are very serious. Goddamn Lee, you are scaring me.”

Mthobisi who had been quiet this whole time said “it’s not Mfundo it’s his brother, it’s

he’s twin brother to be precise, my brother.”

“Mfundo had a twin?” I asked Jesus what sick game were they playing? I clearly

remembered seeing a face that looked like Mfundo’s telling me I will pay and

everything else is blank…

She Rocks exclaimed “Wait, what? Mfundo is your what? Okay I don’t even know

why I’m surprised this family is just full of secrets. When did this happen? I mean

how long have you known that you have a brother I mean that Mfundo is your ohhhh

God, I can’t, I just cannot believe it. After what we’ve done, oh Lord, nooo, this is not

happening” while She Rocks was having what seemed like a panic attack my family

walked in, my dad looked at Mthobisi and asked what has he done to She Rocks and

why she looked so pale, he told him to stop abusing her, the poor child had just

fainted all because of him. I looked at She Rocks and asked “You fainted? What’s

wrong Doll?” she looked at Mthobisi then said her blood sugar was low but I could

tell she was lying she was definitely hiding something from me I was in no hurry I
was going to find out sooner or later, that girl can’t hide anything. My mom came

and sat next to me “My angel, the doctor says that you have anterograde amnesia

but it’s temporally, he says you went through a traumatic experience and your brain

can not deal with what you went through so it’s blocking it out, you might start having

flashback but you do not need to rush or pressurise yourself into remembering

because it will all come back when you are ready.” I told her I was starting to

remember a few things. My mom continued “my child you were kidnaped and taken

away from us for almost 3 weeks, we don’t know what you did or where you were for

the last 3 weeks, then this past Thursday your kidnapers threw you outside your

complex. Do you remember any of that?” I shook my head I could not believe that I

had been missing for 3 weeks, kidnaped? “Soo we not in Durban?” Mthobis

responded “No Honey it’s been almost two months since we’ve been back from

Durban, your friends were in an accident you were with me when it happened you

were not with them.” I again had another flashback, I screamed “I remember, I

remember, I was standing on the side of the road calling you my tyre had burst.”

Everybody was now silent waiting for me to go on then tears just started flowing out

“I remember screaming for help after being thrown in a boot of a car, oh my God,

was I raped?” This is South Africa that’s the first thing that comes to mind after

hearing that you went missing for three weeks is you were raped and used as a sex

slave. Naledi shook her head and said “the doctors ran tests and examined you and

it doesn’t seem like you had had any forced entry in your you know what, they also

did HIV and STI tests and they all come out negative, well Mthobisi here had to sign

a consent form for all that and more.” Okay, so that bitch Ngwako had kidnapped

me for three weeks with her brother in law, this was all just too overwhelming for one

night. I told everybody that I was tired and needed to rest, I wasn’t tired I had been
sleeping for only God knows how long the last thing on my mind was sleep, I wanted

to think, fuck running I was not going to run I was going to make sure I remember

every single thing they did to me in that 3 weeks and do it back to them 7 times

more. My mom cried and hugged me and insisted that Victor stay in the hospital and

look after me, Mthobisi told them not to worry he was not going anywhere he would

be sleeping in hospital with me. I was told it was around 2 am in the morning, so

everybody left, except for Mthobisi, the nurse told me I needed to rest I asked her to

give me something to make me sleep because I could not fall asleep, she told me I

am not allowed to have any drugs, I looked at her and decided to let it go, my mind

was overloaded with all the information that I was learning and I needed to rest my

mind a bit. As soon as the nurse left Mthobisi got in bed with me and held me in his

arms, it felt soo good to be in his arms again, he said he will talk until I fall asleep,

I’m usually the one who talks the most, I would even talk until he falls asleep and

only realise after maybe 10 minutes of talking to myself that the man is sleeping and

when he had problems falling asleep, he would ask me one question “how was your

day today Honey?” and I would tell him everything that happened from the moment I

left the house and drove to work to walking into the reception area and greeting

people and by the time I would be done telling him everything that happened he

would be fast asleep and I would be up counting invisible sheep. He has never

offered to talk me to sleep; this was too good to be true. I smiled and said “I should

make hospital visits more often if this is the treatment I’m going to get.” He laughed

and said “don’t you dare, you almost drove me to killing…” then he stopped himself

before continuing any further. I laughed and said “who were you going to

kill? Mfundo’s brother?” he told me we should stop talking about this, we need to

talk about positive things I asked him about Neo, he said he misses me and I need to
get better and go home soon because Neo is not allowed in hospital and he needs to

see me to know that I’m okay, I told him to call me when he gets home so I could

speak to him. I looked at him and asked “where’s my phone?” He replied “you didn’t

have anything with you when we got you in that house.” I told him he was now

confusing me even more, what house was he talking about now? “Wasn’t I thrown

off a moving car and left to die outside our complex?” I asked, he laughed and said

“if anyone threw you off a moving car, that person and his stupid car would be found

at a bottom of a lake” we both life but deep down I knew he meant that. I told him to

tell me about what he got up to while I was missing. He imitated my ways of telling

him about my day and told me how he would leave home and get stuck in traffic for

an hour and would end up reading a newspaper in traffic unlike me who did my make

up while sitting in traffic, we were both laughing and having a good catching up

session but I couldn’t laugh hard because each time I laughed my ribs and stomach

hurt, I didn’t want to tell Mthobisi and worry him. After a few minutes of him softly

talking about his days I feel asleep. I was woken up by Mthobisi moving his arms off

me, I whispered “where you going?” he told me he was going to take a shower and

change and I shouldn’t worry one of his friends was outside to make sure no one

came to my ward and She Rocks was on her way. He kissed me and left. I stayed

there with nothing to do but think, I wrecked my brains trying to remember what the

hell happened in the 3 weeks and just bits and pieces were coming to my mind but

Mfundo’s twin brother’s face was always there, I don’t know what he did to me but

each time I had a memory about him I would start shivering.

She Rocks finally arrived looking like death, worse than me, she said she couldn’t

sleep when she got home all she did was think about was my ordeal and how we are

going to get out of this mess. I told her not to stress Mthobisi would take care of “his
brother” she looked at me and said “you say it like it’s no big deal, yesterday you

were freaking out that we not safe today you all cool, calm and collected.” I told her

after the shit I had been through I deserved some calmness in my life and the last

thing I needed was to panic and stress.

Too late for that Andiswa and Cleo arrived, I could see the fear and panic in their

faces, we hugged and they told me how relieved they were to see me but wanted to

know what we are going to do about the “Mfundo brother situation” I gave She Rocks

a quizzical look and said “you told them?” she said “well, I told you I couldn’t sleep, it

was eating me up, Jesus Lee, how many people is that man working with? It must

have taken a lot of planning for them to burst your tyres, follow you, kidnap you and

drug you for weeks. We are not dealing with an ordinary person here.” I jumped and

sat up “what did you say? I was drugged? Ohh Gosh, that’s why the nurse wouldn’t

give me sleeping tablets, oh my God, what kind of drugs?” Jesus Christ this is why I

had been twitching the whole time I was craving a fix.

Shit, that bastard got me hooked on drugs…

I told the girls that I think I’m addicted to whatever drugs they had given me because

I had been twitching all morning and feeling anxious I just didn’t know why. Cleo

suggested that I should drink water and not think about it because the more I think

about it the more I will want something. It was such a strange feeling, I was craving

something and not a normal simple craving that can be dissolved by water but a

craving that was soo strong that it was now starting to make me shake and I was

sweating, the girls were now looking at me with concern in their eyes, I griped She

Rocks hand very tight and told her “pray” Cleo let out a laugh I don’t think anyonehad
expected that to come out of my mouth she then said “when did you become

religious?” I didn’t bother responding but at that moment it felt like prayer was the

only thing that would help me all I said was “Cleo come around my bed and hold my

hand, Zandile start praying.” With that said we all held hands and She Rocks started

with her prayer which must have lasted for 15 minutes she included tongues in there

and everything and when she was done the cravings were still there but the

calmness in She Rocks voice when she prayed had actually calmed me

down. Andiswa asked if they should get me a nurse or something I said no I was

okay, I told them I was feeling much better after that prayer even though I had that

craving it was now a bit down after a few minutes of chatting a guy popped his head

in my room and asked “is everything okay ladies?” Cleo almost fainted from being

shocked she shouted “who the hell are you and what do you want from us?” I told

her to calm down it was Mthobisi’s friend he was just watching me making sure I’m

safe, I told him to come in, I had seen his face before but I couldn’t remember the

name as he came in I remembered him “Champagne, oh my word is that you?” Cleo

burst out laughing, he smiled and said “that’s my slave name, you can’t be calling me

by that in front of such beautiful ladies, the name is Sipho ladies.” I nodded and said

“okay Sipho, it’s nice to see you again.” He nodded back and said “I’m glad we

found you in time”. Was he also in my search party, I wondered. He then left and

said he will go and wait outside. Andiswa asked “Lee what did he me by that last

statement?” I smiled and said “he’s probably high, ignore him”. We all laughed but

She Rocks was laughing the loudest as if she’s trying to cover something up then

she quickly changed the topic. She asked me “did you see Cleo is now walking?” I

had no idea why She Rocks would tell me Cleo is now walking, I smiled and asked

“when did she not walk?” The girls filled me in, the blanks about Durban were filled,
everything I could not remember about our holiday I was reminded, She Rocks even

had pictures in her tablet, she had pictures of everyone and everything they kept

showing me people and asking if I remembered the people, I remembered most

people only a few that we had meet in Durban I didn’t really remember.

After sometime of being filled in about my life and the past month’s events that I

could not remember Andiswa suggested that we Facebook stalk Mfundo’s brother,

only one problem, none of us knew his name, so She Rocks suggested we find

Ngwako on Facebook and he will probably be in some of her pictures. We used She

Rocks tablet and found Ngwako on Facebook her profile picture had her and

Mfundo, we all rolled our eyes, I suggested we look at her pictures, luckily she had

no privacy settings so we could go through her profile with no problems, she even

had her wedding pictures posted on Facebook, mara some people can make

stalking so easy, we went through her wedding pictures, and there behind them as

one of the grooms was an identical twin to Mfundo, they looked exactly the same. I

showed the girls and as we went through the rest of the pictures there were some

pictures where Mfundo and his brother were standing together. “Ohh my goodness

this is why I kept thinking it was Mfundo, these people look the same.” In some of

the pictures he was tagged so we discovered that his name is Fundani

Mabandla. Soo the bastard who had me hooked on drugs had a name, Fundani

Mabandla well the face I was all too familiar with. The question that bothered me

was “why? Why did they kidnap me and try and get me hooked on drugs, if I can just

remember” I said smacking my head. She Rocks said “hey calm down, I think we all

know why, they know about Mfundo and they coming after us Lee. Did you say

anything about what we did to them?” I shook my head and said “No, I don’t know

Rocks, I don’t even remember the shit they did to me, how do you expect me to
know what I said to them?” Andiswa responded “Lee, we understand that you can’t

remember but you need to try harder girl please, our lives are at stake here, I am

freaking out, I can’t sleep, I’m struggling to eat, this is really bad guys.” Cleo side-

eyed her and said “says the girl who almost sent us to prison, Lee while you were

missing Miss Thing over here wanted us to go to the police and confess, imagine

how stupid we would have looked, you would have cops at your door now waiting for

you to recover so you could join us in prison.” We all laughed except for Andiswa

who was visible annoyed “everything to you Cleo is a joke, I wish we would have

died in that accident, I’m so tired of leaving in fear”. We all turned and looked at her I

was the first one to speak, “Geez Andz, I didn’t realise things were that bad for you, I

had said from the beginning you should not get involved in this, I’m sorry we dragged

you in my mess and the last thing I would want is for you to die, I love you too

much. I love all of you girls, we will all be fine, no one is going to die, look at me I

survived three weeks of hell”. That put a bit of smiles on their faces , Cleo said “I

want to be like Lee when I grow up, a die-hard, now that you’ve returned can we call

you Lesedi The Legacy?” We all laughed and told her she was stupid. Cleo was the

one person who had the ability to turn the most serious situation into a

joke. Mthobisi found us all laughing and stood by the door and just watched us I

asked him to come join us he simply replied “I’m just taking in this moment in, seeing

you laugh like this makes my heart so happy Honey, have I told you how beautiful

your laugh is?” Cleo replied “Errrrrrr, nooo, your wife laughs like a hyena, no need to

lie to her just because she’s in hospital.” Again we all burst out laughing.

Mthobisi switched on to his serious face and said “I’m glad I found you all in one

room, I need to talk to all of you.” I was not ready for more bad news. I quickly said

“if it’s bad news please get me some morphine first I don’t think I can take any more
stress, I need something to calm me down, I’m craving drugs Honey badly, you know

how you feel when you are hungry and you just know the only thing that will satisfy

you is food or when you are thirsty and the only thing that will quench that thirst is

water that’s how I feel. Please baby get me something just to get the edge off” She

Rocks said “No Lee, you need to fight it, you can do it my friend you are stronger

than this, just keep telling yourself that, if you take something now, you will

constantly need to take something and it will become an everyday thing.” I knew she

was right but my body was not agreeing with her. Andiswa said “maybe we should

pray again.” I smiled and said there was no need I would be fine. Mthobisi was now

fuming “I swear that bastard is going to regretting doing this”. I was now twitching

worse than before the craving was so bad I even felt like pulling my hair

out. Andiswa said she will get a nurse, she did I was checked and was told I could

not get any drugs. I decided to try what the therapist had said I should try when I’m

upset I counted from 1-20 I know it sounds silly but it clears your mind you don’t think

about anything except for numbers, the room was silent everyone waiting for me

finish when I was done Mthobisi said “I need you girls to take a little holiday to

Hermanus for a few days.” I protested and said “we’ve just come back from holiday”

in my mind even though I have been told numerous times that Durban happened two

months ago, we had just come back from Durban. Cleo looked at me and said

“that’s outside Cape Town right, Cape Town is always fun and we can go see

Andiswa’s mom while we there, I’m in, I say let’s pack and go” She Rocks said they

have a Cape Town branch so she can work from there so it shouldn’t be a problem,

Andiswa is a free agent she can work from anywhere I reminded them that I was still

in hospital and couldn’t just leave. Mthobisi said he had arranged for me to be

transferred to a hospital that side, “you all leave tonight, Cleo you can take your kids
with.” Cleo shook her head and said her mom had been complaining about not

seeing her grandkids enough so she will dump the kids with her. Everyone seemed

excited about this idea except for me but I had to go with the flow so not to worry my

friends. They all left to go home and pack when they were gone I asked Mthobisi

“what is going on here, you can’t just send us to the outskirts of Cape Town, you are

up to something I know you.” He looked at me and said “what I’m about to tell you

remains between the two of us. While you were missing I used all my resources to

find you, everyone I knew people deep under that I only contact when it’s a matter of

life and death and that’s how you were found. One of the things that I discovered

was that ohh shit, I don’t know how to tell you this, without breaking you any further,

can it wait until you are fully recovered Honey? “ he asked “No, I want to hear

everything now, this could help me recover the missing parts in my memory please

Mthobisi tell me.”

He continued “my father had an affair with Mfundo’s mother and that’s how Mfundo

and Fundani were conceived, my mother found out and all hell broke loose, she

vowed to make that woman’s life and her children’s life a living hell and she has kept

to her promise. We all grew up hating them knowing them as the family that tried to

steal our father from us. My mother is a very vengeful woman, she….” He stopped

mid-sentence. “What did your mother do?”

“My mother stole Fundani’s baby, our son is Fundani’s son and that is part of the

reason why they took you.”

“Wait… Your mother? Oh my God, that woman is sick!! Does she know and

understand what she’s put me through. Does she even care? Why would she give
me Fundani’s son? Oh God Mthobis, how is she your mother? She is pure

evil. They thought I knew, that’s why they kept saying I will pay for this.”

Mthobisi continued “this is why I need you out of town for a few days, I need you

where no one can reach you, in Hermanus you will be safe.” “And what are you

going to do while I’m gone”, I asked. He slowly replied “I’m going to do what my

mother should have done a long time ago, and what I was supposed to do last night

but got a call to tell me you woke up and I couldn’t leave you, I’m going to kill that

entire family”

I nodded slowly and said “I want in, I want to be there when Fundani takes his last

breath, I want to watch him die a slow painful death” the shock in Mthobisi’s face

after I had said that, I must say I surprised myself too but after what they did to me,

they deserved to die and I had to be there to see it…

Mthobisi pulled out a gun and handed it to me and said “we start today, are you

ready???”

We heard voices coming from outside my room Mthobisi quickly put the gun away,

two gentlemen entered and introduced themselves they were police officers. They

said the nurse had called them to tell them that I had woken up, they wanted to ask

me a few questions to which my husband protested saying I was not in a good

space, he told them to speak to my doctor and he will explain to them, but the police

wouldn’t hear none of that, they asked me questions about where I was and who

took me and how I ended up outside our complex all I kept telling them I didn’t know

and I didn’t remember. Eventually they said if I remember something I should give

them a call. They gave me their numbers as they were walking out I asked “is it
okay if I go to Cape Town for a few days?” The police officers looked at each other

in disbelief. WTF, did I say something wrong I wondered. The one looked at me and

asked “did someone die, are you going to a funeral?” I gave him a blank stare, he

continued “is someone in Cape Town on death bed and are demanding to see you to

pass on some message before they die?” No was my answer, stupid man continued

“then I suggest you stay here in Johannesburg where we will be able to get hold of

you in case we catch the people who did this to you.” he said pointing at me, and

then they walked out. Deep down I was happy I didn’t really feel like travelling again,

but I couldn’t show that to my husband so I had to pretend to be upset and

disappointed about the whole situation, he smiled and said “that’s what you wanted,

you didn’t want this holiday did you?” I looked at him opened my mouth and put my

hand on my mouth and said “how could you say that about your wife?” he laughed

and said “if you were not on a hospital bed I would be on top of you right now” we

both laughed. I told him to borrow me his phone so I can break the bad news to the

girls who were already looking forward to the trip, I conferenced called all of them I

didn’t want to break the news to one person at a time and the repeating myself over

and over was not going to work, they understood that I had to stay for the police

investigation even though we all knew the police were going to come up with

nothing. She Rocks said she will pop by later to see me, I thanked them for being

such good friends and for not giving up hope that I will be found someday, Cleo

quickly said “I’m not going to lie friend, I thought you were going to come in a body

bag, we should really do a ceremony to thank the ancestors.” She Rocks argued

saying why can’t we do a ceremony to thank God, this was one argument I was not

going to get involved in, I told them we can do both, thank God and the ancestors in

one party as soon as I was fully recovered. When I was done with the call Mthobisi
said “Mrs. Busy body, organising parties while in hospital bed, this is what I love

about you, nothing gets you down.” I smiled and handed him his phone, he jokingly

asked “aren’t you going to go through my phone and check messages to see who

I’ve been talking to while you were gone?” I laughed and said “No thanks, I wouldn’t

want to do that to myself, I will have strokes and heart attacks all at once after seeing

the nudes on your phone” we both laughed. The doctor came in and said it’s good to

see me happy, he examined me and said he was happy with my recovery, in a day

or 2 I should be able to go home. Mthobisi said “yes, please her stay here is costing

me 5 cows, I should go to her parents and ask for some of my lobola money back.”

The doctor laughed and said he’s the perfect man to help me recover with all his

crazy jokes. Mthobisi got a call and left me with the doctor who was still busy

checking me, the doctor wrote a few notes on my file and left. A few minutes later

Mthobisi came back and said, “Fundani is expecting me to make a move so we

going to put our plans on ice and besides you still need to recover.” I nodded in

agreement, he said he needed to go but didn’t want to leave me alone I asked where

Champagne was he said he was going with him, “if you going with Champagne it

means something is going down, what’s going on Mthobisi?” he looked at me and

said “nothing is going on, we just need to go sort out a few things we will be back in

no time but I will wait till one of your friends or your mom to arrives before I leave.” I

just looked at him and didn’t respond, we were getting along so well and then he

goes again and becomes he’s old secretive self, I could never get anything out of

him before and earlier he had opened up to me and that felt good and now he was

being defensive again. I picked up a magazine that one of the girls had brought for

me, when I checked the dates we were already in March I exclaimed “shit, I missed

Valentines?” Mthobisi laughed and said not to worry cause he got me a valentines
gift, I was not upset because I was worried about the gift I had missed, I was irritated

because now I wouldn’t be able to buy him those corny valentines gift, the heart

shaped chocolates in a heart container and a white teddy bear with a red heart, I

bought him those kind of corny gifts every valentines because I knew how much he

didn’t like Valentines and over the years he had warmed up to the valentines

idea. He laughed at me and said I can give him the gift I gave him the same teddy

bear I gave him last year he still has it, he will smile and pretend to be happy, I

ignored him and read my magazine, after a few minutes of reading I feel asleep, it

must have been that boring article I was reading about re-incarnation not that I

believed in that but I just thought they would have something interesting.

I dreamnt that She Rocks and Mthobisi had gotten married while I was gone and had

3 kids, 3 cats and 3 dogs, and they stayed in house number 3 and they didn’t

remember who I was it was like I had just been wiped out of their memories, the

more I tried explaining who I was the more confused they got, I was so angry at both

of them and for some reason I had no one else to go to and they were rejecting

me. I woke up sweating and angry and there was She Rocks and some lady

standing next to my bed “what’s going on?” She Rocks smiled and said “this is

Layla, she’s here to do your nails, I saw how horrible they looked and didn’t want to

say anything to hurt your feelings since you in hospital and all so I got you her to do

your nails here.” I smiled and sarcastically said that is very thoughtful of her

because obviously when people come to see me in hospital the first thing they check

is my nails to see if they are manicured or not. She Rocks angrily said “Well then

grumpy, I will just take my nails lady and leave if that’s how you want to be.”
I angrily stared at her and said “yes by all means take her, both of you go, disturbing

my sleep for shit”

She Rocks said “You really are ungrateful Lee you know that, all I was trying to do

was do something nice for you and you give me this.”

I replied “Are you being nice because you feel guilty? Coz maybe you fucked my

husband while I was gone”

The nails lady had been silent until I threw that line at She Rocks, she then said “I’m

sorry but I have other clients I have to tend to, can I come back when you two have

resolved your problems.

Both She Rocks and I said at the same time “sit down” then She Rocks turned and

walked towards my bed her face was written danger, if I didn’t have those drips

hooked on me I would have stood up and ran, her face had turned into the a

monster’s face and she slapped me so hard I swear saw I saw Jesus when he was

still a baby that’s how hot that clap was it sent me back in time.

The nail lady quickly jumped up her sit and pulled She Rocks and said “you can’t

beat up a sick woman, what is wrong with you?” She Rocks shouted “She has lost

her mind, hopefully that slap will bring it back.” My ears were still ringing from that, I

decide to shut my mouth because she had all the powers, she was healthy I wasn’t

and I could never be able to take her on, not in my condition. I knew if I said another

word this time I would get a proper panel beating from her. She continued “I am not

like you Lee, I do not sleep with people for the sake of just riding a dick and expect

no consequences afterwards, I respect myself, your husband and for some stupid

reason I respect you too which is why I would not be caught dead in bed with

another woman’s husband, I know the same can’t be said about you. Let’s go Layla”
Layla asked “didn’t her husband say we must stay until he gets back?” She Rocks

replied “he did but I’m not staying another second with her, she can go fuck herself

for all I care.” With that they were out of the room, I was left all by my lonesome

self. Now that I had time to think I regretted accusing She Rocks of sleeping with

Mthobisi she would never do that but I had to ask just to be sure even if it cost me a

few seconds of deafness, with women you can never be too careful. I had no phone

so I couldn’t call her to apologize, oh well, and besides maybe I had reasons to

worry. Why attack me like that if she was innocent, this whole situation was

confusing. I decided to not think too much because that was now driving me up the

wall, I read the magazine, got bored of that watched some tv, there was nothing

interesting, nurses kept coming to check on me but I was bored out of my mind,

hospitals are sad, lonely and depressing, now I really missed She Rocks. After what

felt like eternity of boredom my sister Naledi arrived, I was soo happy to see her at

that stage any person’s visit would have been extremly appreciated. She teased me

about how much I hated hospitals when I was growing up and how I would get panic

attacks each time I visited a person in hospital we both laughed and I told her “that

was a hectic phobia I went through” and I teased her about how she could not stand

germs and how she would wash her hands all the time and clean everything with

bleach and would always have windows in the house opened to get rid of

gems. She laughed and said “that used to annoy the shit out of you” I then told her

about the dream I had about Mthobisi and She Rocks and how I snapped at her

earlier, I didn’t mention the part about being slapped senseless. She was silent for a

moment and said “She Rocks has been friends with you since your teenage years,

that girl loves you and treats you like you are her family, she would never do

something like that, I read somewhere that one of the side-effects of drugs is
paranoia” trust my sister to bring something that has nothing do with the current

situation, I wanted to kick her out but remembered how bored I was before she

came. I decided to change the topic and ask about her husband and how he was

treating her, she said “I know what you did.” I looked at her all confused “what did I

do now, is there anything that you don’t blame me for, for crying out loud Naledi I’m

in hospital have some sympathy.” I said trying to remember all the wrong things I

have done against her and which one would make her mad she told me that I have

pulled the sympathy card way too many times it no longer worked on her “I know that

you and Mthobisi threatened to kill Lwazi, he told me everything.” Ohhh, that’s what

she was referring too, I took a sigh of relief and said “what did he tell you?” she

said “he told me that you guys threw him in a boot and took him to the middle of

nowhere, made him dig his own grave and told him to run for his life and started

shooting at him.” I couldn’t help it but laugh she looked at me and joined in on the

laughing I told her something had to be done to stop him and since she wouldn’t

leave him scaring him was the best option I was not ready to lose a sister, to my

surprise she hugged me and thanked me and told me she is very grateful for what

we did because ever since then he has never lifted a finger on her, she told me how

worried he was when I had gone missing, I told her it was probably because he

thought Mthobisi would go after him to release his stress. She then put on a serious

face “but on the real sis your husband should not play with guns what if he had

accidentally shot Lwazi when he was scaring him?” I shook my head and said “my

husband doesn’t make mistakes when it comes to shooting, I think he went to

shooting school or something, I have this weird memory flash back of Mthobisi and

some strange people shooting at each other and me being dragged out of some

house but I’m not sure if it’s real or not.” My sister again said “it’s probably the drugs,
Mthobisi only saw you when you got to the hospital.” I was soo over her and blaming

everything to the drugs we chatted about the kids and other silly things. A while later

my mom arrived with home cooked food, trust mom’s to feed you, she said I looked

to skin and needed more than hospital food, she forced me to eat, yes forced me

she said if she leaves the food there then I won’t eat, but I’m sure she was more

worried about leaving her Tupperware another obsession woman have that I just

don’t understand, my cupboards are filled with Tupperware from my mother’s house,

sister’s house, my friend’s houses, you know how when you go to a braai people will

insist on you taking some food home and they put it in their Tupperware, well I’m the

kind of person that never returns things, I had some much in my house it didn’t know

whose is whose each time my mom came to my place she would take hers it’s funny

how she knew exactly which one was hers because to me they all looked the

same. I ate her food and it was very good, I don’t know when last did I eat such

delicious food. We all chatted a bit about things that happened while I was gone. A

few hours later they all had to leave, I borrowed my sister’s phone and called

Mthobisi he said he was on his way back and within minutes he arrived and my sister

and mom left.

First thing Mthobisi did when he got to my ward was check my nails then he went “I

don’t know much about this nail business but that woman did a terrible job on you

Honey.” I couldn’t help but laugh at his silliness, I told him I didn’t do my nails and

that I had a fight with She Rocks, he looked at me and asked what we fought about, I

couldn’t tell him, I didn’t want to sound like the insecure wife, no woman ever wants

to come off as insecure. I nervously asked “when I was gone, I mean I was gone for

a very long time Honey, 3 weeks is enough for anyone to give up hope, did you ever

find yourself you know… uhhhmmm tempted to you know..?” He gave me a

confused look and asked “tempted to do what Honey? To kill?” Is killing the only

thing in this man’s mind. “No, to sleep with someone else, specifically She Rocks, I

mean she was there all the time, if anything did happen between the two of you I

would understand.” He stood up from the chair he was sitting on and I saw veins

popping out in his head and I knew he was pissed he walked around the room for a

few seconds and didn’t say a word I was now nervous I wished I could take back

what I had just asked. After a few minutes he softly spoke “do you understand what

bullshit that is Lee that you have just asked me. Do you seriously think I would sleep

with anyone else but you, I’m a grown ass man, I don’t have time to play games,

when I took those vows and said I promise to love you and only you I meant it, what

in God’s name would I be doing sleeping with your best friend. That is beneath low, I

can’t even believe that you would think so little of me after everything I’ve done to

find you.” I had no words after that speech, he completely shut me up. I tried

speaking “don’t even bother apologising Lee, here’s a phone and sim card I bought

for you, I need some air.” He threw me with an iphone 6 and left. I felt soo stupid,

horrible all the bad words you can think off. I opened the iphone box and started

syncing my contacts into the new phone.

A few minutes later I had another visitor one that I was not ready to face yet, I

needed to be healthy and strong before facing her because as old as she was the

bitch needed to be disciplined, the one and only my mother in-law.

She looked at me and smiled “Ohhh, thank God you are alive.” If looks could kill she

would have dropped dead right there and then. I smiled and asked “Wow, you know

God? Your dad Satan would be very disappointed to hear you say that” she laughed

and said “you are very funny even when you at death’s door you still make jokes.” I

looked away and she came next to my bed, fixed my pillows and then pulled one
underneath me and said “remember when the roles were reversed, I was in a

comma and you were healthy and you had a pillow on your hands ready to suffocate

me but too chicken to go through with it, well, I on the other hand have killed many in

my life.” With that she lifted the pillow and brought it to my face and pressed it

against my face while she held me down….

I swear Mthobisi’s mother has nothing on the devil; Satan calls her master that’s how

evil that woman is. She hated me with passion and the feeling was mutual. If I could

order lighting from the dude from Limpompo it would be sent to her to hit her every

single day for seven days because I’m sure that’s how long it would take to kill the

witch and when she dies I would order another one for her grave, just in case she

decides to rise again with her anything was possible. She put the pillow on top of my

head and held me down and asked “how does it feel to be on the receiving end?” I

screamed, punched and kicked I was not going to let her kill me without a fight the

witch was too strong for me and me with drips and everything else on me I had no

chance against her, that’s when I knew and accepted that she was going to finish

me, I was a dead woman, Mthobisi’s mother had finally won but one thing I knew for

sure I was going to haunt her until she committed suicide the old hag was never

going to have a break from me once she killed me. Out of nowhere when I had

accepted that I was on my way to meet my creator someone walked in my room and

screamed “help, help she’s killing her” with that my mother in law let go of the pillow

that she was suffocating me with, I was breathing soo heavy you would have sworn I

had just finished running a marathon, within a few minutes nurses and security had

surrounded my room it turned out that She Rocks was the one who screamed for

help, Mthobisi’s mom just stood there with a huge grin on her face and said “we were
just playing around, I don’t see what the big fuss is about” She Rocks knew that the

bitch was lying and I couldn’t say much my throat was dry, She Rocks stood by my

bed and ask “are you okay friend?” I shook my head and pointed to a glass of water,

she handed it to me, I took a few gulps after I was done I told the nurses and security

that I was fine no need to stress and that’s how me and her I said pointing at my

mother in law play and gave them a nervous laugh they laughed too and left, I knew

my reasons for protecting her I wanted to punish her in my own way, she was going

to pay for this, breaking her car windows was not even the tip of the iceberg I was

going to do muchworse, I was going to hurt her in the most painful way

possible. After the nurses had gone I looked at her and told her to get out of my

room she smiled and said “with pleasure” and left. I was soo angry tears wouldn’t

even come out of my eyes I wanted to get out of that hospital and stop being soo

helpless, I wanted to punish Mthobisi’s mother. I had all these ideas racing in my

head on how she would pay for what she did to me, that woman had made my iife a

living hell since I married her son but now the gloves were off, this was the last straw

I was ready for her.

She Rocks stood there not sure what to do, I told her I needed a few seconds to

calm down, I took more than 30 minutes to calm down when I was eventually calm I

apologised to her for accusing her of sleeping with my husband she said she had

actually thought about it and if she were e in my shoes she would have felt the same

way, she apologised for slapping me, I told her, her clap actually made me realise

how stupid I was being, we made up, made peace and were friends again, well that’s

how things always were with me and her we fought like hell and loved each other like

sisters. We started talking about Mthobisi’s mom and how I should punish her, She

Rocks said I should buy a slow death poison and pretend to have forgiven her and
pour the poison in her food that would make her die a slow and painful death which

is what she deserved, I laughed and said “for a church chick you are pretty

gruesome when it comes to death” she smiled and said “the Bilble says the wages of

sin is death and I’m sick and tired of your mother in law she deserves to die.” We

both laughed. Mthobisi walked in and asked if everything was okay because while

he was sitting outside he saw security guards rushing inside I shouted “while you

were sitting outside getting fresh air your crazy mother tried to kill me” this time I

could not contain myself tears just started pouring out of my eyes, it didn’t matter

how hard I tried to be strong that witch just knew how to get to me, he looked at me

then She Rocks and asked “my mother? Are you sure it was my mother?” Mthobisi

was either blind or in serious denial about his mother’s hate for me and that is the

worst thing because guys struggle to believe that their mother’s hate their wives or

girlfriend, to a guy a mother is that loving person who loves him and everything that

is associated with him, explaining to Mthobisi would have been a waste of time. She

Rocks explained that she found his mom with a pillow on my head trying to suffocate

me and she screamed for help. Mthobisi said there must have been some sort of

misunderstanding or confusion he said will call her and get an explanation. Mxim,

stupid man, I decided to not involve him further in this, a fight between a wife and

mother in law should never involve the husband. He left to go speak to his mother

on the phone, I told She Rocks that she will spin the whole thing and make it seem

like I was in the wrong. He came back and said her phone was off, I actually wished

that she had been involved in a car accident after leaving the hospital and died, but

evil people last longer than the good people that witch had a lot of years ahead of

her and for some reason she was going to make me suffer like Mfundo’s family, I
had no idea why I didn’t care all I knew was I was going to fight back with everything

that was in me.

Mthobisi said since we were all in the same room we might as well discuss my

insecurities, I apologised to him and told him that She Rocks had already told me

that nothing happened between the two of them and I believe her and I truss him I

don’t know what had gotten over me. We all made peace and all was good again. I

told She Rocks she could bring her nails lady again the following day she laughed

and said “she thinks we are crazy black women she sent me an sms and said it was

nice knowing me but she doesn’t want to be associated with aggressive, violent

people.” We all laughed, after some time She Rocks said she was tired she was

going home to sleep. I was left with my husband whom I tried to find out what he did

during the day but I would not get any straight answers, he again slept in my bed in

my room we cuddled the whole night. Following day he said he was spending the

entire day with me because when he left me I had too many questions for him, Victor

came to see me then my dad, Andiswa also came and before I knew it the day was

over. The next day the doctor said I was doing remarkable well and I could go

home, I was soo excited I was finally going to see my Neo. Mthobisi left early and

said he needed to make sure everything in the house was in order before I got home

so She Rocks fetched me from the hospital, I was soo excited going home I felt like a

small kid. Everything in the house was perfect, the first thing I did was hug Neo and

promise him that I would never ever give him up for anything he was mine for ever,

he was soo happy to see me but I don’t think he understood why I was telling him all

that. Nomzamo his nanny was there she acted very uncomfortable around me, I

didn’t know why and I was not really concerned, it was soo good to be home, that

evening my parents, sister and her husband and my friends came for dinner, She
Rocks and Nomzamo made a feast and we all had a good time it felt soo good to be

back.

The few days that followed I stayed at home bonded with my son while She Rocks

and Mthobisi went to work, Nomzamo was always there too so I felt safe, Mthobisi

had installed an alarm system with panic buttons, ambulance buttons and all. On a

Friday Nomzamo asked if she could get a weekend off as she had been working

ever since I disappeared without any weekend off to make sure that Mthobisi and

Neo were okay, I agree and she said she would leave while it was still early before

taxis got finished. I was left with Neo we played and just had an amazing time,

around 2 Neo was exhausted so I took him upstairs to his room to sleep when I

came downstairs the entrance door to the house was opened, I thought that

Nomzamo had forgotten something and came back to get it since she had the keys

to the house, I shouted “Nomzamo, Nomzamo did you forget something?” and there

was no response, I shouted again still no response, I went to the kitchen because I

thought maybe she couldn’t hear me from where I was in the kitchen and there was

no one, I went around the house and nothing I went outside in the pool and still

nothing and I just thought I must have left the door opened by mistake as I walked

back inside the house there stood Fundan,i out of nowhere I almost passed out

“what? What do you want?” I asked shaking. He smiled and said “it’s not what I want

it’s what you need, I brought you this.” He said dangling something in his hand, I

stepped back and shouted “is that drugs?” he continued smiling and said “I know

you’ve been having craving it, this will make you feel like a million dollars, I promise,

remember how you enjoyed it at my house.” for some weird reason I remembered

the free and happy feeling I got after being injected with what he showed me. he told

me to sit down he will inject me and I didn’t have to worry about anything he will do
all the work, like a small child I listened to him, I sat on the couch he tied my arm up

and looked for a vein as he was about to inject me I heard the sound of a gun

clicking “inject that shit in my wife and I will blow your brains out” Mthobisi said

calmly

So there we were all chilling in my house, Mthobisi with a gun pointed at his half-

brother and his half-brother with an injection pointed at my veins, I was actually the

only one who didn’t have anything pointed. Fundani smirked and said “I don’t think

you want to do that big brother, have my brains splash all over your pathetic wife

over here, do you want her traumatized for life?” he said pointing at me with the

needle in his hand. Mthobisi laughed and said “you underestimate my wife, she won’t

even flinch if I shoot you now, and will probably wipe your brains off her face then go

make herself lunch and eat it next to your body” at that moment Fundani grabbed

me and got up with me in front of him. “Mthobisi we are the same blood you and I, I

am not as soft as Mfundo, I will fuck you up badly boy” Now it was Mthobisi’s turn to

speak, the way this conversation was going there was no shouting and screaming at

each other like women usually do, I know if this was a fight between me and my

friends there would have been a lot of screamings going on, this was like two people

sitting in an office discussing a merger between two companies and each person

bringing their opinion and point on how the merger will affect both companies, that’s

how cool and calm they both were. “Fundani, you know me, I don’t make threats

that I can’t deliver on, I would say ask your wife but you know” he shrugged his

shoulders. At the mention of his wife Fundani pushed me to the floor and went for

Mthobisi, but Mthobisi was ready for him, he punched him in the face so hard I

expected Fundani to fall but he didn’t he just staggered backwards a bit and as soon

as he could get his balance back he went for Mthobisi who I think also expected
Fundani to fall because he was now coming to me with his back turned from Fundani

before I could scream for Mthobisi to look behind him, Fundani had already kicked

him soo hard that the gun flew to the floor and Mthobisi fell on the couch, I expected

Fundani to go for the gun but he didn’t, he went for Mthobisi again I ran for my phone

which was on the dining room table while Mthobisi and Fundani were punching each

other and I screamed “I’m calling the complex security.” At hearing that Fundani got

off Mthobisi and went for the door with blood dripping in his mouth and shouted “this

is not over brother” and got out, I went to the couch to check on Mthobisi who looked

bad with blood on his face, he told me he is fine and I shouldn’t worry, I went to the

kitchen got him ice and some wipes to wipe the blood of his face. I put the ice in his

face and was just fussing over him he told me to relax he was okay. He laughed and

said “I’m sorry that pig Fundani ruined your couch and carpet, now they full of

blood” I laughed and said I didn’t care about that I just wanted him to be okay.

Mthobisi went to go shower while I cleaned out the house, it honestly looked like

some war had happened. She Rocks arrived back from work and when she saw the

blood at the door she screamed “Lee, Lee, oh God please let her be okay” I came

out from the kitchen and she hugged me soo tightly I couldn’t even breath “thank

God you are okay” she said when she finally let go of me and looked me over to see

if I had any wounds when she didn’t see any she asked “what happened

here? Whose blood is this all over the house?” I told her it was Mthobisi and

Fundani’s to which she was very surprised that Fundani had guts to come to my

house after everything. She then asked “so where is his body?” I laughed and said

“his body is still walking around alive just with a few bruises.” She laughed and said

“we are not normal, seriously, first thing I thought of was you guys had probably

killed him and put his body in the freeze in the garage.” I smiled and told her we
were not that ruthless and said “speaking of bodies, have there been any new

developments on the body that was found at that farm?” She shook her head and

said she was happy that there hadn’t been any developments because her heart was

ready to fail her, there was just too much drama for her to handle, we both

laughed. She offered to help me clean the house, I got us some gloves and we

started cleaning and She Rocks filled me in on her day at work. Mthobisi came

down after he was done with his shower, he said he had some chemical in his car

that can remove the blood stains from the couch and carpet, he got it for us and the

thing smelled terrible but it did the job, the carpet and the couch looked as good as

new. Mthobisi said he was going out and would be back before dinner, as he was

about to leave She Rocks asked “what do we do with this injection.” She asked

holding the injection that Fundani had almost injected me with. Mthobisi grabbed it

to her and said “I will take that, thank you” he came to me kissed me and told me

that he loves me and headed for the door then said looking at both of us “try not to

get into any trouble while I’m gone” and left. I quickly filled She Rocks on what

Fundani almost did to me she asked if do I think Mthobisi is going to Fundani now, I

told her with my husband no one knows how his head works and I had given up on

trying to figure him out and asking would not help either he never gives me straight

answers.

We prepared dinner, Neo got up, and She Rocks bathe him while I continued with

the cooking. We watched a bit of Tv then Mthobisi called to say he was running late

and we should eat without him, that’s my husband for you, sounding all professional

but I guess he couldn’t exactly say “I’m going to be home late, I’m still busy killing

some people.” The thought of that made me laugh out loud, She Rocks wanted to

know why I was laughing because we were both silent and out of nowhere I just
burst out laughing “I was just thinking of how weird my husband is.” I said, She

Rocks responded “Tell me about it. Do you know that your husband is friends with

Russians? Not just some typical Russian family where you can take Neo for play-

date, but some really hectic ones.” I shook my head and said the less I knew about

my husband’s dealings the better. She Rocks was not letting this on go she

continued “does it not bother you at all? I mean what he does and who he is

associated with?” I again shook my head and said “should it?” she gave me a

confused look and said “if I were you I would be concerned.” I looked at her and said

“one day you are going to get married. Are you going to share all your secrets with

your husband?” She smiled at hearing “get married” and confidently said “of course I

will.” I looked at her and said “I don’t mean small secrets like you stealing sugar in

your mom’s kitchen type of secret; I’m talking deep dark secrets. For example will

you tell your future husband that you’ve killed two people in your lifetime?” That shut

her up for a second I continued “I’ve learnt that in marriage somethings should be on

a need to know basis, I don’t need to know who or what Mthobisi is involved with,

just like your future husband doesn’t need to know that he’s marrying a serial killer

who might one day kill him in his sleep.” She threw me with a cushion and we both

burst out laughing.

It was getting late and we decided to call it a night. I activated the alarms in all the

rooms and gave She Rock a panic button to press should she even hear a mosquito

buzzing next to her ear; I didn’t want to take any chances. In the early hours of the

morning I heard Mthobisi come in. I tried opening my eyes but they were to heavy I

could see him but it was foggy, I asked him “what time is it?” he said “shhhhhh, go

back to sleep.” I tried closing my eyes but something wasn’t right. I jumped out of

the bed and before I could open my mouth…

Mthoibisi was next to me “calm down Lee, it’s me your husband.” For a second I

could have sworn I thought he was Fundani, now I was becoming paranoid, I asked

him where he was from so late he said he had something to take care of and I had

nothing to worry about. He went to the shower, I couldn’t fall asleep, I would sleep

for a few minutes then start seeing Fundani’s face and I would jump up shaking, it

was a scary experience, at one point I even fell of the bed which woke Mthoibisi up

and I could hear from his voice that he wanted to laugh but was trying very hard to

keep it in, he asked “What are you doing on the floor” I snorted back “you pushed

me” he laughed and said “come sleep on top of me then, I promise I won’t push

you.” I smiled and jumped on top of him, we started kissing and as we were about to

get carried away, Neo started crying, that child’s timing is the worst. Mthobisi told

me not to worry he will attend to him, he went and a few minutes later he came back

with Neo and said we should sleep with him he was restless, we put him in the

middle and a few minutes later Neo and Mthobisi were both fast asleep, I eventually

joined them in lala-land.

The next morning I was the first one to get up, it was a nice sunny Saterday so I

decide to make us all breakfast, while I was still busy preparing She Rocks came to

join me in the kitchen she told me she was moving back to her house was tired of

paying a bond in a place that she didn’t even stay in, I didn’t fight her on this she

probably missed having her own space and I was not about to fight that. We had

breakfast just the two of us and I decided to let Mthobisi and Neo sleep in. Around

10 Mthobisi came downstairs with Neo, he was carrying him in his shoulders, I

smiled this was such a perfect picture, father and son, I didn’t care what Fundani or

Mthobisi’s mother said that boy was ours and there was no way in hell we were

giving him away. They had breakfast while I helped She Rocks pack; the cops had
given her car back so she was happy to be rid of the car that her insurance company

had hired for her, she hated it. When I went to the dining room to check on my boys,

they were having a food fight and the room was a mess, I scolded at Mthobisi telling

him he shouldn’t let Neo play with food and should be teaching him to save food not

throw it around the house, there are too many people out there who have no food

Mthobis apologised as soon as I walked out I heard him tell Neo “one thing you must

know my boy while it’s still early, never argue with a woman, that’s one fight you

can’t win.” I shouted “I heard that” he laughed.

We thanked She Rocks for staying with us and told her she’s welcomed to stay with

us anytime, as we walked her to the car, Mthobisi carried her suitcases to the car,

Neo cried when she was leaving, he had really gotten attached to her in my

absent. We went back to the house Mthobisi said his brother Tshepang and his wife

Koketso were coming over for dinner, I didn’t mind because with She Rocks gone

the house was really starting to feel empty. I jokingly asked “is your mother coming

too?” He smiled and said “one day you and my mother are going to need to end this

war that is going on between the two of you it’s unhealthy.” I mumbled “tell that to

your mother.” He lifted his hands up and said “I’m actually not going to involve

myself in women things. How about we go for a picnic today, you must be tired of

being cooped up in the house” I laughed and said “picnic? Why? Since when do we

do picnics? Don’t come here with your coconut tendencies.” He laughed and

jokingly said “says the biggest coconut, you seem to forget that before I meet you,

you and your friends used to have tea-parties, you should thank me for teaching you

real parties.” We both laughed and I threw him with a dish-cloth. I packed us a few

snacks and fruits we showered and hit the road.

We went to Gillooly’s Farm, it’s not too far from OR Tambo airport, it is soo

beautiful. We sat across the dam, Neo was feeding the birds, Mthobisi and I laid on

the blanket kissing and just having fun like a young couple should, on the outside we

looked like we had no care in the world. We played with Neo chasing each other

around and when Mthobisi would catch me he would tackle me to the ground and get

on top of me and Neo would also get on top of me and start tickling me, we were

having such an amazing time that when the sun went down I was surprised that it

was already that late, we packed up and went to the car, sometimes my husband

knew exactly how to cheer me up.

It was too late for me to rush and cook dinner so we decided on pizza and wine and

besides Koketso hated fancy food she much rather preferred a bunny chow with

drink-o-pop than lasagne. A few minutes after we got home, they called to say they

were at the gate, Mthobisi went to the gate to get them. I put the plates, wine and

pizza outside by the pool area so we could sit that outside. A few minutes later they

arrived Koketso exclaimed “yhoooo, yhoooo, yhooooo, such a huge house? how

much are you paying to stay here?” Trust my sister in law to ask the most

inappropriate questions. We all ignored her and I told them we will be sitting

outside. Koketso asked me to show her around the house, Neo was falling asleep

the day’s activities had him exhausted I took him upstairs to his room with Koketso,

and showed her around. “Mthobisi’s drug’s, guns or whatever it is must be selling

very well if he can get you in place like this.” I smiled at her and said “Mthobisi

doesn’t sell drugs or guns Koketso you know he works and so do I, I don’t get why

it’s a problem when two hard working people move up in life.” She snorted “if that

makes you sleep well at night.” I decided I was not going to entertain her jealousy, I

asked her how things were between her and Tshepang, she rolled her eyes and said
“not as well as things between you and Mthobisi” she said pointing around the

house. There was not a single thing that I was going to say without Koketso

reminding me of how we’ve made it and they haven’t.

We went back downstairs and joined our husbands who were drinking whiskey by

the pool area, when Koketso saw the food she complained “you stay in such a fancy

estate and all you got us for dinner was pizza, it’s true what they say about rich

people they are very stingy” I tried explaining to her that we went out during the day

and lost track of time and didn’t have time to cook dinner, Koketso wouldn’t hear

none of that she just went on and on, until Tshepang told her to stop complaining

about nonsense, that shut her up. Mthobisi opened a wine for us and Koketso and I

started drinking, she went on again “seeing you guys drink whiskey reminds me of

the day Mthobisi and Lee rocked up at our place looking for guns under the

bed.” Mthobisi and I both nervously laughed, Tshepang said “this is how you get

when you get drunk, I think you should stop drinking” Koketso waved her hands

frantically and said she will behave, true to her word she stopped making snide

comments and we ate pizza, drank and just had a good time. Mthobisi suggested

that they sleep over as it was already late to drive, they agreed. After hours of

drinking Koketso and I were tired and drunk so I took her to the guest bedroom so

she could sleep and I went upstairs to our bedroom to sleep. The nice thing about

being drunk is as soon as the head hits the pillow you pass out which was exactly

what happened to me. I woke up with a throbbing headache, which is what I hate

about wine I checked the time on my phone it was after 2 am Mthobisi’s side of the

bed was empty I figured him and Tshepang must have passed out downstairs. I

went downstairs to get some aspirin’s and water, luckily She Rocks had left some of

her medication in the kitchen cupboards, I found painkillers and drank two of them as
I was walking back upstairs I heard voices coming from outside from the pool area it

was Mthobisi and Tshepang talking the door was slightly opened as I was about to

open it wide and go sit with them I heard Mthobisi say “It feels like I’m fighting a

loosing battle with that bastard brother of ours, he is always 3 steps ahead of me, he

thinks the same way I think, it’s like I’m fighting against myself.” Tshepang spoke “I

think you need to take this to the board, this is bigger than you broer, it’s bigger than

all of us, that fool is our blood, we fucken share the same genes with him, as much

as I don’t like the way you and ma operate, I know when the shit has hit the fan and

right now the shit has hit the fan and the fan is blowing the shit all over your faces, I

say take this to the board man.”

WTF is the board?

I kept asking myself what is this board nonsense they keep referring to. The only

board I could think of was a board of directors, was Tshepang insane? Was he

telling Mthobisi to take his personal life to the board of his company directors? Okay,

my husband like most guys when he speaks to his brother they have some code

word they use and I sometimes struggle figuring out what they saying, I figured this

board must be a term for something else. I opened the door and walked out to them

and asked if they weren’t cold, they said no and asked why I was up I told them I

was getting painkillers for the headache. Mthobisi looked at me and said “you not

supposed to take any medication Honey; it could set back your progress.” I

regretted telling and answered “it was just She Rocks painkillers not nyaope.” They

both laughed, Mthobisi said “your friends have medication for everything, She Rocks

even had medication that she sprayed on your throat, mara women love medication

and they share it like it’s sweets, remember your crazy white friend Jessica?” I
ignored them and told them I was going back to sleep, Mthobisi said he will join me

shortly. I got to bed and passed out again this time with the help of painkillers.

The following morning Tshepang and Koketso left before breakfast they said they

had church to attend to, Koketso said their pastor would be praying for deliverance

and she didn’t want to miss those prayers, deliverance from what, I have no clue,

some of these church term can be a bit confusing. Mthobisi said we should take Neo

to my parents because he needed us to do something in the course of the week and

didn’t want Neo around for that. I packed Neo’s clothes while he and Mthobisi took a

bath. I suggested we go to my parent’s church since they were going to be at church

and we hadn’t been to church in ages. Mthobisi wore his suit and looked so yummy I

could eat him up, he knew how sexy I thought he was in a suite, I wore a black

dress, maroon jacket and heels, it felt soo weird walking in heels after weeks of not

wearing them that I eventually took them off and wore black pumps. We drove to

Alberton to my parent’s church we got there a few minutes after the service had

started I spotted my mom and Victor a few seats ahead from us. The service was

nice and short and within 2 hours everything was done, this is why I love these white

churches, no long preaching just to the point and done. After church they were

serving cookies and coffee, we found my mom and Victor outside having coffee, they

were happy to see us and even more happier that we had come to church. Mthobisi

said “I had to drag Lesedi kicking and screaming to church you know how much she

doesn’t like waking up Ma.” We all laughed, I asked my mom if we could leave Neo

with them for the week she asked where our nanny was I told her she took some

time off and I wasn’t sure when she would be back. Nomzamo had actually not

called ever since she left and when I had tried calling her the phone was off. I would

just see her when she decides she wants to come back. My mom suggested that we
go to their place for lunch to which Mthobisi declined saying we were rushing off

somewhere, my mom and Victor were both surprised because Mthobisi loves my

mother’s food and never says no to it. Victor said “it must be an important meeting

for you to miss our food.” Mthobisi laughed and said “Not at all it’s just that time is

not on our side. Ma please keep some food in the lunch box for me.” that’s the

Mthobisi I knew, my mom said she would, and I knew she was definitely going to do

that’s how much she loves her son in law.

Mthobisi and I drove to Bedfordview, he drove around in circles we kept passing the

same places over and over I asked “Are we lost?” he looked at me and said “no, it’s

just that I’m debating with myself whether I should take you with me or not baby, I

honestly don’t want to get you into this world, it is very scary and once I open this

door there will be no turning back.” He stopped the car and said “I need to know that

I can trust you with my life Lesedi” now I was curious “of course you can trust me

Honey.” I said, he opened the dashboard and removed a blind-fold and said “Honey

I need you to wear this, this is for your own safety I promise, please put it on and I

will put your sunglasses over it so people don’t see that you are blind-folded.” I

laughed nervously “you joking right?” I could see in his face that the man meant

business, I put the blind-fold on without any further questions and he put my

sunglasses over it, I couldn’t see a thing, I felt the car moving and there was silent, I

was now nervous, what is this place that I am not meant to see, I wondered, a few

minutes later the car stopped somewhere and Mthobisi pressed the buzzer then

gave a code with long numbers all I know is it started with 68952 and the rest of the

numbers I don’t remember, I figured the gate must have opened coz a few seconds

later he drove again. He got out the car and came to my side of the door opened my

door and held my hand and said “let’s go” I wanted to ask where but was too scared
of what I might hear. When we got inside he removed my sunglasses and the blind-

fold I looked around and we were in a club, I looked at him confused. He asked if I

wanted anything to drink I said “water” he went behind the bar and grabbed me

some water. “Is this your club?” I asked “No” was all I got. Then he walked to the

back of the club, I stood there and he told me to follow, I followed behind him like a

helpless kid, he opened a door and there were stairs leading down and a lift, we took

the lift, this place was soo odd, when we got downstairs, I actually don’t know if it

was up or down, all I know is we got out the lift and there were girls half naked

dancing on poles, this was getting stranger and stranger by the second. We went to

the very last room that was opened, Mthobisi went in ahead of me I followed behind

him there were about 11 men, 7 were white, 2 black south African, 1 coloured and 1

was Nigerian and the other I don’t know which race he was he looked half of

everything, the one noticeable thing about these guys is they were all dressed in

suits, they were sitting around a big ass table, the room looked like a boardroom,

there was a big screen tv on the wall but it was off, the room was a bit dark and

scary or maybe it was because my eyes had not yet adjusted since we were from the

light in the club. Mthobisi stood in front of the tv there was one empty seat I figured

that was his “Gentleman, thank you for availing yourself in such short notice, today

I’m bending the rules a bit, I brought my wife, rules say no wives allowed but I

needed you to see this with your own eyes so you can understand my anger. Honey

please take off your jacket.” I removed my jacket and he showed them the needle

marks in my arms, no one said a word they just nodded then Mthobisi told me to go

wait outside. I went outside wondering what the hell was that about. Some lady

came and asked if I wanted something to eat, I said I was fine. I sat there for what

felt like 3 hours eventually my husband came out with some off the guys they were
now laughing and smiling. He took me back to the bar and we went to the car and

he again asked me to put a blind-fold and said it will only be for a few minutes. He

took me to a very nice restaurant where he bought me diner and just spoiled me, I

wanted to ask what was the club thing all about but I felt I would be spoiling the

moment because after that meeting my husband was soo happy and I didn’t want to

spoil his mood by asking too many questions. Around 9 we decided to drive home to

sleep, he was driving and I was telling him about story that She Rocks had told me

about her boss suspecting that his gay. Mthobisi took out his phone and called

someone “I’m being followed” and then hung up. My eyes popped up and as I turned

to look behind us Mthobisi “don’t look back, you will make it obvious.” He drove like

a maniac, skipped robots and made sharp turns, my left hand was holding the roof of

the car while my right hand was gripping the chair. After a few minutes he made a

call again and said “I’ve lost them.” He still continued driving like a maniac, he

skipped another robot and next thing we heard was the police siren. I looked at him

and asked “aren’t you going to stop.” He laughed and said “why would I do

that?” my stomach was turning upside down after the food I had eaten and this

crazy driving, the police car chased us for a bit but my husband’s car was too fast for

them, he left them I was so relieved.

We somehow ended up on Joe Slove Road as we were taking the bridge to join

before the Vodacom building to join the freeway we saw blue light, we both knew

there was a road-block ahead. It’s a one way so there was no turning back we had

to go and face the fire. Mthobisi slowed down, I whispered “why you slowing

down? Please tell me you are not carrying anything illegal in the car that might send

us to jail.” Mthobisi switched off the car lights and put the car on reverse and

reversed it, I was praying inside soo hard, I didn’t want to go to jail, Mthobisi
continued reversing the car, the next thing we saw were the blue lights next to us

Mthobisi whispered “shit” The cops shouted using an intercom “Get out of the car.”

Mthobisi turned and looked at me and said “Baby we are fucked!!”

I don’t know about how other people feel but the sound of police sirens and the blue

lights but they scare the crap out of me, this has nothing to do with the fact that my

husband is a criminal, I’ve always just been scared of the police, whenever I get

stopped I feel like I’ve done something wrong or they will find some fault and fine me

or try to arrest me. Hearing my husband say utter those words and seeing the police

car next to our car didn’t just scare me it shook me to the core, I wanted to open the

door and run out, but where the hell would I run to? Mthobisi said “act calm and stay

cool okay Honey” I shook my head and thought, easier said than done, but the way I

was so freaked out I was even scared to open my mouth and speak it felt like the

police would hear me and arrest me. Mthobisi opened his window and didn’t get out

of the car like he was instructed to I looked at him and thought, this man has balls of

steel, why the hell isn’t he jumping out the bloody car? Does he want the damn

police to start shooting at us? Like I said before I was soo terrified that no words

would come out of my mouth I was just watching everything happen in front of my

eyes.

Mthobisi “Sanibonani bo-baba” one thing I’ve learnt about South African’s is you

have to greet, it doesn’t matter if the person is Zulu, Sotho or Venda first thing first is

you have to greet them, this shows some sort of respect. In Joburg Zulu is the

universal language everyone speaks it so automatically when you greet you will

greet in Zulu and only when they greet back will you find out if they speak Zulu,
Sotho or something else. They greeted him back in Zulu and I thought to myself that

this is going to be tough, most Zulu men are extremely stubborn , they asked him

why he was driving reverse on a one way and why he was not getting out of the car

like they asked him to. My husband all cool and calm replied “my car is out of petrol,

I just realised now when it started jerking, I was reversing because it’s not able to go

up this steep hill, a few meters from here there is a garage so that is where I was

going.” And to my husband’s luck there is a garage a few meters from that bridge,

the cops got out of the car and told my husband they will help him push the car to the

garage. They parked their police car in front of our car and started pushing the car

which my husband had just put on Neutral, and this car that was being pushed was

on full tank. After a few meters we were at the garage, the cops were sweating so

much their sweat would have filled up buckets and buckets. Mthobisi thanked them

and gave them money for cold drink. They took it and told him to always check the

petrol before going anywhere, next time he could be stuck very far from a garage,

my husband nodded in agreement and they left. As soon as they left we went inside

the garage shop and bought sweets and water and I burst out laughing, I asked him

“how on earth did you come up with a petrol lie so quickly?” He shrugged his

shoulders and said he didn’t know where that story came from it just came to him like

a bolt of lightning. I laughed and said “You are too crazy.” We drove home in a

different route and managed not to run into any cops as soon as my head hit the

pillow I passed out.

The following morning Mthobisi had to go to work, Champagne my husband’s friend

arrived for what was supposed to be him looking after him, I protested and told them

I would be fine and besides I doubt that Fundani will pull another crazy stunt, but

Mthobisi and his friend were having none of that, we all eventually agreed to having
Champagne come check on me every hour, I was happy with that, the last thing I

needed was a baby-sitter. I stayed home with no car and no kid to play around with,

I read magazines and watched a lots and lots of TV I even managed to watch Days

Of Our Lives and damn it’s still the same as 20 years ago, I fell asleep while

watching it. I was woken up by my phone ringing it was my husband calling to check

up on me, I told him I was good and all was well I was just bored, he told me to

enjoy the last few days that I had at home because the following week I was needed

back at work. Mthobisi had been dealing with my boss and updating them on what’s

been happening with me and as far as they knew I was still in hospital, I was happy

with them thinking that, the last thing I wanted was to be back at the office after all

that is where everything started. I decided to take a nice long bath, I left a note at

the door for Champagne letting him know I was okay, he hadn’t come by in 2hours

so I knew he could probably come while I was bathing and start freaking out if he

doesn’t see me.

After the bath I decided to cook dinner, I hoped and prayed that Mthobisi would

come home early from work, it was barely one day at home alone and I was already

bored out of my mind I was ready to pull my hair out, that’s when I realised that being

a house-wife is definitely not for me, I would die in a week. While I was cooking I

received a call from She Rocks who said she needed to conference call all of us at

once so I held on the line while she connected with Cleo and Andiswa, finally

everybody was on the call “Look Rock Star, the pots are burning so whatever it is

you want to say, say it fast” I said. Andiswa replied “Yhuuu, you just got out the

hospital and you cooking? Where is that lazy helper of yours?” Cleo “probably too

busy trying to seduce another married man” I laughed and told them I don’t know

where she was she left for the weekend and I haven’t been able to get hold of her
ever since and besides I don’t mind cooking for my husband. She Rocks had made

this conference call because she had something to tell us but us being women, you

know how women never shut up, we are the typical example of that, always have

something to say, we went on for about 10 minutes talking about our own nonsense,

when She Rocks finally got tired of waiting for us to finish she burst out “Ladies, I

made the damn call, if you had recipes to share with each other or tips on how to

remove stains from a blouse you should have called one another on your own damn

time, bloody hell, I can’t even get two seconds to say what I wanted to tell you.” we

all went silent for a few seconds the Andiswa said “Geez She Rocks, how bad are

things with you and the CEO that you have to take out all your sexual frustrations on

us?” we all laughed but She Rocks was not amused, the joke about the CEO always

ticks her off, there is some guy who is a client of hers and he’s a CEO in his

company, he’s had a thing for She Rocks for years but she cannot stand him, he’s

arrogant, ignorant, sexist and loves to brag which are all the things that she

hates. She saw that she was not winning this so she said “Can we all meet at Lee’s

house since it’s sort of centre for all of us, say in 45 minutes?” Cleo moaned and

said why can’t she tell us over the phone and She Rocks said she needs to show it

to us. I secretly hoped that she had meet someone and was bringing him to show us

but what were the chances, this is Joburg, every man you meet has some scandals

in his closet. I text all three of them the security code to use at the gate when they

arrive.

Mthobisi arrived before the girls got there, he asked me about my day and I actually

had nothing to say, I usually have a long list of things that happen during the day at

work and can’t wait to get home to tell him but on that day I had nothing, I wanted to

tell him about the episode of Days of our lives but didn’t remember much of that
since I fell asleep while it was playing. So instead he told me about his, more like a

summary of his day all he said “I had a good day Honey, it was stressful but

good.” Really? Does that even make sense? How can a good day be stressful,

what’s a bad day like then? I decided to let it go because I knew my husband was

not going to say anything further about his day, that topic according to him was

done. A few minutes later She Rocks arrived, Mthobisi asked if she was joining us

for diner, I said yes. Then Andiswa arrived, we waited for Cleo and I decided to dish

up while we waited, we chatted about work and how their day was they got into detail

and told me how work was and which Boss was giving them a hard time and I looked

at my husband and said “that’s how you suppose to explain how your day went.” He

laughed and said “I don’t have so many words in my vocabulary” we all

laughed. After eating Mthobisi said he had some work to do and went to his study.

Cleo had still not arrived, I called her phone and it rang with no answer. Andiswa

said she can’t stay much longer she needed to get back home her boyfriend was

coming over. I asked She Rocks “what did you want to show us?” She said we

have to wait till Cleo got there.

We waited and waited and eventually She Rocks said “okay, I don’t think Cleo is

coming so I will show this to you two.”

She opened her bag and took out her tablet and opened pictures of a man and a

woman with a little girl, it looked like a cute happy family. Before I could ask why she

was showing us that picture Andiswa exclaimed

“oh my gosh, isn’t that Cleo’s husband?”

I quickly grabbed the tablet from She Rocks and scrolled to the next pictures, there

were more pictures of Cleo’s husband with this woman and the kid, in some pictures
it was written “Love of my life and our angel” I fell sick in my stomach, I asked She

Rocks whose Facebook account this was she said she it belonged to some girl who

was applying for a job at their company so the company does social media

background check to see what kind of a person you are, if you post nude pictures or

rude, racist comments then you don’t get hired so she was checking this girls

background and that’s when she came across pictures of Vusi with this girl and their

daughter. I felt sick I ran to the bathroom to throw up that’s how disgusted I was. I

came back and hear Andiswa shouting at She Rocks “are you out of your damn

mind? Were you seriously planning on showing those to Cleo? What kind of a friend

are you?” She Rocks was not going to take it lying down she angrily replied “I’m the

kind of friend who will not keep the truth from her best friend, yes I was going to

show this to Cleo in fact I am still going to show it to her. What kind of a friend would

I be if I didn’t show it to her.” I asked She Rocks if she was sure if the child was

Vusi’s child, she took the tablet from the table and shoved it to me “look at that child

and look at Vusi and tell me there is no resemblance there” she took out her phone

and showed us the pictures of Cleo’s boys and they looked exactly like the little girl.

“Oh God, what has that idiot Vusi done? This will kill Cleo, you guys know how much

she’s always wanted a girl and just kept having boys and for Vusi to do this to her.” I

said feeling defeated. While we were still in shock Andiswa’s phone rang “Shit, it’s

Cleo” she said “put her on speaker” I quickly said. “Hi A, are you at Lee’s

house?” Andiswa “Uhmmmm, yeah. Are you at the gate?” Cleo “No, I’m still at the

home, I had such a busy day, I was waiting for Vusi to come home but fell asleep on

the couch, the fool didn’t wake me up when he got here, I just got up. What did She

Rocks want to show you?” Andiswa who is a terrible liar started stuttering I quickly

interrupted “Hey Cleo, it’s nothing serious she just missed my cooking and made an
excuse, she showed us some pictures of a guy she’s crushing on.” Cleo laughed

and said “am I on speaker?” we all echoed a “yes” she continued “Go for him Rock

Star, he might be the one, you never know, he could be as amazing as

Vusi. Besides these days women don’t wait for men to ask them out, throw hints and

signs his way friend.” She Rocks rolled her eyes and put her finger on her neck and

slide her finger across her throat signalling that she is going to kill me. We said our

goodbyes to Cleo and hung up. We all agreed that we will think this through and find

a right way to tell Cleo but one thing for sure we were going to tell her.

After my friends were gone I decided to go find my husband who was still in his

study, he was watching something in his laptop as soon as I walked in he closed the

laptop “are you watching porn?” he laughed and said “yes Honey, I’ve got nothing

better to do with myself and too much time on my hands.” I looked at him and gave

him a serious face “I need to ask you something and I need you to be very honest

with me.” he nooded and said “ask away” I contined “Did you know that Vusi is

having an affair?” He gave me a blank stare and after a few seconds of silence he

asked “which Vusi?” I shouted “Cleo’s Vusi, how many other Vusi’s do I ever talk

about?” He showed no emotions at all, no surprised emotion or shock, nothing all he

said was “oh him? Nah I didn’t know.” Then preceded packing up some papers that

wee on his desk I looked at him amazed “aren’t you going to ask with whom is he

having an affair with?” Mthobisi was now acting very bored by all this, why wasn’t he

as shocked as I was? Did he know? I couldn’t read him. “Honey, that is not really

my business, I will know he had an affair with who, and then do what with that

information? Vusi is a man, he might look like a wimp but he’s still a man.” I

screamed “so if he’s a man that gives him a right to cheat? That is such bullshit

logic.” Mthobisi still calm “That’s not what I’m saying, Cleo treats him like one of her
kids, I’m not surprised that he went out to find someone who will treat him like an

adult.” I knew exactly what he meant but I was not going to stand there and agree

with him instead I said “so what you saying is it would be okay for me to go and find

another man who is not a thug and will not make me run away from police and put

my life in danger?” That must have hit home because he stood up from where he

was sitting came to where I was standing and put his finger in my forehead and

poked me and said “Do not push me Lesedi, you know what I’m capable of, DON’T”

and he walked out and left me standing there with my mouth wide open. When I

went to bed he was in the shower he came out and didn’t say a word to me, I didn’t

know if I should apologize for what I had said or just leave things as awkward and

uncomfortable as they were, I decided to ignore him, I was still angry about what he

said about Vusi being a man, so if he’s a man he should be allowed to cheat, go and

create another family, if he’s man enough to do that then he should be man enough

to tell Cleo that he no longer wants her and has found someone better. I was so

angry I couldn’t even sleep, I kept tossing and turning the whole night.

The following morning Mthobisi and I were still not talking, I honestly hated the

tension between us so I decided to be the bigger person and apologized, the

annoying thing about my husband if you apologize to him he will ask you what

exactly it is that you are apologising for, I honestly wasn’t apologizing because I felt I

was wrong I was only doing it because I wanted peace and silent treatment doesn’t

work well for me as I have a big mouth and always want to talk so I told him I was

apologizing for disrespecting him last night. He smiled and said he accepts my

apology and I should stop this things of saying hurtful things when I’m losing the

argument, I promised that I would stop doing that, we kissed and made up. He said

he had a surprise for me and I shouldn’t go anywhere during the day he will come
back early from work. Champagne came after my husband left and did his usual

routine checks every hour. She Rocks called and she was more adamant than ever

that Cleo be told the truth. She said she had taken half day at work and would be

knocking off at 12 and had already asked Cleo to come to my place so we can break

the news together to her, I don’t know how I felt about being ambushed like that but I

agreed. By 10 I had already showered and had breakfast and was waiting for She

Rocks who arrived at 11:15 she said she sneaked out of work she just couldn’t wait

for 12 o’clock. Cleo arrived shortly, I hugged her tightly and wouldn’t let go when I

eventually did let go she said “what’s wrong Lee? Are you having more bad

memories about the Durban accident? I’m fine love, we are all fine” I smiled at her

and told her “I just want you to know how much I love you and how much I value

your friendship, you’ve been with me through thick and thin and I want you to know

that there is absolutely nothing that I wouldn’t do for you” She Rocks said “yeah and

that goes for me too Cleo, you know how much I love you.” Cleo looked at me then

at She Rocks then back at me and said “what’s going on here, the two of you are

starting to scare me.” Before for we could answer my husband opened the door and

shouted “surprise” with the door wide open and outside behind him was…..

We all jumped to look at him and I was the first to walk out and the girls followed

behind me, I was nervous and excited at the same time. I screamed when I saw it

was an exquisite Black Audi A5 Coupe, I looked at him and looked at the car then

pointed at the car then pointed at me, I was speechless the only thing I could do was

point, he nodded and said “yep, I know how much you wanted this car and how

disappointed you were when you couldn’t get it because you were blacklisted” I

started screaming again and this time my friends joined in we were all jumping up
and down with excitement. When we eventually calmed down I asked him if we could

test drive it, he said he can’t stay for long, I can drive with him around the complex

then he has to rush to the office as he has a meeting. He had come with some

people from the dealership, they shook hands and said they are glad that I like the

car and they left with the extra car they had come with. Cleo and Andiswa jumped at

the back and I drove the car with Mthobisi sitting next to me. It felt soo sleek and

sexy I was beyond happy, I couldn’t stop kissing my husband while driving and

thanking him, the girls told me to stop being reckless, I listened and drove around the

block and then back to the house. Mthobisi took his car and left me with my new car

and drove to his meeting and said he will see me later.

The girls and I went back to the house; I was so excited I couldn’t even sit

down. Cleo asked She Rocks if she knew about the surprise and if that was the

reason she had asked her to come, oh shit I had forgotten about Cleo’s problems in

my excited state. She Rocks said “no, I don’t know how to say this but I’m going to

say it, Vusi has been living a double-life, and he has another family.” Cleo looked

dumb-founded then said “which Vusi are you talking about?” Geez how many Vusi’s

did we know exactly, then I realised we knew quite a few. She shook her head and

said “my Vusi? You mean my husband?” we both nodded. She looked at us in

disbelief then laughed and said “okay, you guys got me, you got me really good.

Shooo, I almost feel for your joke” I told She Rocks to open the Facebook account of

the girl and show it to her the pictures, she did, Cleo stared at the pictures for a while

and said “oh my God, I know that girl, she used to stay a few streets from us, her

name is Lisa, she used to offer to watch the kids for us when we go out and we

would pay her , oh my God, I saw her pregnant about two years ago then she

disappeared, what in God’s name is this, all this time Vusi was screwing her right
under my nose.” She kept going through all the pictures, and each picture she

looked at just brought on more anger. I didn’t know what to say, we just stood there

watching her, when she was done going through everything she sat done and asked

if she could go lie down in the spare bedroom. Really? She wanted to sleep after

hearing your husband is having an affair with your baby-sitter you want to sleep? I

brought her a glass of water and took her to the spare bedroom so she could nap,

people react differently to situations I know I would have been in tears and calling my

husband and insulting him with every insult that has ever existed but not Cleo, in all

this she didn’t had not shed one tear, she was angry yes but she didn’t cry I guess

she was still in shock. She Rocks and I sat in silence for almost an hour while Cleo

napped in the spare bedroom. What was supposed to be the happiest moment in

my life with a new car was killed by Vusi’s stupidness. Andiswa called me to ask

how things went with Cleo, I went outside and updated her on what happened, I

couldn’t even tell her about the surprise from Mthobisi it just felt wrong to be happy

while my friend’s life was falling apart.

I went back to She Rocks and we talked about the car, she was telling me about how

expensive it was to fix and how I should drive extra careful, then she went deep and

told me about the speed how the car can move in 5.1 seconds and how it’s super-

charged and V6 , that’s when I lost interest and started thinking about my own

things. How she can talk like a guy blew me away, no it actually made me yawn, I

don’t care about how a car is made, all I care about is getting inside it being

comfortable and driving it. She Rocks will tell you about the engine, the turbo and all

these other things that you will never hear women talk about when they talk about a

car. I shook my head trying to get back to what she was saying, “you should work in

a car factory, I can totally see you in overalls fixing engines.” She looked at me
shook her head and said “you’re an idiot.” Cleo walked out and asked “whose an

idiot?” I pointed at She Rocks while she also pointed at me, we all laughed. Cleo sat

down and said “I’ve thought this through; well I don’t know if two hours is enough to

think about my life but for now I have decided I am going to pretend to know nothing

about this, I am going to continue acting like I’ve been acting like nothing’s changed.”

Both She Rocks and I were completely shocked by this, She Rocks asked “how are

you going to let him touch you knowing that he might just be coming from touching

another woman?” Cleo replied “What am I supposed to do? Pack up my shit and

leave? Go where? Back to my mother’s house? With three kids? I have nothing, I

have no job I am completely dependent on that man. I know I should have had a

back-up plan but I never in my wildest dreams expected this to happen, yes I’ve

seen other woman go through such but you guys know Vusi, he’s a weakling, I

thought I was doing him a favour by marrying him, I never thought any other woman

would be interested in him.” She was right though, she had no money of her own,

everything was done by her husband, I felt soo sorry for her, I wished I could take

the pain away from her. She Rocks asked “don’t you have policies on him?” I turned

to her and sternly said “don’t you dare, no don’t even say what you thinking. Vusi is

the father of Cleo’s three boys. We are going to respect Cleo’s wishes and we are

staying away from this.” While I was still reprimanding She Rocks, Cleo’s phone

rang it was Vusi, Cle said “Speak of the devil, and I mean that literally.” She calmly

answered the phone “Hey Baby” she went outside to continue the conversation. I

looked at She Rocks and said “Stop it, you are acting like a bloody serial killer, you

are bored and you honestly need a hobby to keep you busy.” She snorted back “I’ve

got plenty of hobbies.” I rolled my eyes and said “then get a man dammit” that shut

her up. Cleo came back and said she has to go and cook diner for her
husband. She Rocks looked at her and said “please don’t poison him it’s easy to

find poison in an autopsy.” I turned and gave the “shut up” look. Cleo ignored her,

gave us hugs and left, soon after She Rocks also left. I prepared the perfect diner

for my husband while drinking wine just to get myself in the mood; I needed to show

my love and appreciation for this man before I found myself in a similar situation to

Cleo. I went to the bedroom and found sexy lingerie in the wardrobe, I knew that

that evening I was going to make my husband speak in other tongues, I smiled and

went downstairs to continue cooking dinner. As I was about to finish I cooking I got a

call from Mthobisi “Hey Honey, listen I’m going to be a bit late, something is going

down and I need to take care of it.” I told him it was fine I would see him when he

gets home, I won’t lie I was a bit disappointed but hey what could I do.

I finished dinner then had another glass of wine and watched TV after two hours my

husband was still not back, my phone rang, I thought that must be him but it was a

landline number I answered “Hello ma’am this is Zolani from Tracker am I speaking

to Lesedi Jumbe?” I said yes wondering if Mthobisi had already had tracker installed

in my car, the guy on the other end of the phone said they’ve been trying to get hold

of my husband but his line just keeps ringing with no answer. I asked if there was

something wrong “it’s just that he’s car is in a dangerous area and we want to know if

he’s okay.” I told him to give me 10 minutes and call me back I will try and get hold of

him. In that 10 minutes I must have called my husband 20 times and the phone just

kept ringing and ringing, I was now starting to worry, my husband never ignores my

calls if he’s in a meeting he will send a message with just one line “meeting” so this

was very much unlike him, all these thoughts just came to my head I started thinking

of the time he was stuck underground in a mine, shit, he didn’t say anything about

going to any mine, shit what if that bastard brother of his had taken him? I was now
stressing, in about 12 minutes Zolani guy from Tracker called to ask if I had

managed to get hold of my husband and I said no. I asked him to give me the

address of where he was, he said for the past 3 hours my husband’s car had been

moving around in Alexandra but now it was parked in some place in Alexandra, he

gave me the address and GPS Co-ordinates, I thanked him and again tried calling

him for about 20 minutes still no answer, no I was shit scared, I didn’t have

Champagne’s number otherwise I would have called him to go check on my

husband.

I decided what the hell, I had the address of where he was and I had a car. I quickly

changed into leggings, long t-shirt and sneakers and headed out the door to my

car. I entered the address on the car’s gps, I didn’t know what I was going to do if I

found my husband locked up in some shack in Alex but I knew sitting at home

waiting and worrying would drive me insane. When I reached the London off-ramp

to go into Alexandra I actually wished that I had taken my husband’s gun but I left in

such a hurry and with no plan I didn’t even think of that. I turned soo many times that

if I had to be chased out of there I wouldn’t know where I had turned. Eventually the

car GPS said “you have arrived at your destination” I sat in the car for about 10

minutes thinking what the hell was I doing in this doggy looking place, the place was

very dark and scary. I switched of my lights and opened the door and slowly walked

around at the back of one of the houses I saw my husband’s car. I slowly walked to

the car then looked through the windows to see if my husband was lying dead inside

the car and there was no one inside “shit I should have brought the spare key” I

whispered to myself. I slowly crept to the house and tried looking through the

windows, the stupid windows were either tinted or very dirty because I could not see

jack shit inside. I decided to try the window on the front of the house as I was still
peeking through the window I heard a sound of a gun being cocked oh shit I thought,

next thing I knew there was a loud bang and I was on the floor.

I knew I should have stayed home but worry and curiosity had the better of me and

we all know what curiosity did to the cat. I was naïve, I thought I could go to

Alexandra township and act all heroic put on my Superwoman outfit and rescue my

husband and live happily ever after. Unfortunately for me happily ever after did not

exist in my life, my life was a fit in or ship out kind of life, I was fast getting used to

that. As I was on the floor trying to figure out where the hell had the gun sound come

from and to see if I was shot and where was I shot, a person came out of nowhere

and held me by both my legs and started pulling me like they were pulling a dead

body, the fool dragged me I wanted to scream and tell him to leave me alone but

decided to just act dead and keep my mouth shut.

He dragged me inside the house and threw me inside and said “I found this one

snooping around outside.” My eyes were tightly shut I didn’t want to see anything in

case they decide that I saw too much and kill me so I didn’t wont to risk my life, like I

was not stupid enough by going there in the first place I didn’t want to perform any

more stupid acts.

A familiar voice said “Lesedi Jumbe open your eyes and tell me what the hell you are

doing here and also tell me how in hell did you find me?” it was my husband. To say

I was relieved would be an understatement but my relief quickly turned to fear when I

saw blood in my husband’s hand “Jesus Christ Honey , you bleeding. What

happened to your hands?” he looked at his hands as if he had no idea what I was

talking about. He stood up and got a cloth and wiped his hands then said to the guy
who had dragged me in the house “cover that shit up” I turned to look at the guy who

had dragged me and next to him was a person tied up in a chair I shook my head in

disbelief and whispered to Mthobisi “who is that?” he ignored me and told me to get

up he’s taking me home, this was not a request or a suggestion it was a command, I

got up he held my hand and dragged me outside, he took me to my car and told me

to drive behind him, he was angry I could see it in his eyes. I drove behind him

thinking of how I was going to apologize for this mess up, was I even wrong by going

to where he was, I was just being a good wife who wanted to make sure that her

husband was okay. Mthobisi was driving way over the speed limit and I had to keep

up and I have to say my car was a machine it moved effortlessly now I understood

why guys become passionate about cars.

We arrived home in no time, I asked Mthobisi if I should dish up for him and he said

“no” I tried apologizing for going to Alex but he wouldn’t hear none of that. I

explained that I was worried about him and when the Tracker company called and he

wasn’t answering his phone I thought he was in danger all he said was “I’m a grown

man, I need to be taking care of you and not the other way round.” I smiled; every

woman wants a strong man who will protect her. I asked why was he not answering

his phone and he explained that he forgot his phone in the car and didn’t think the

tracking company would call me because he was in Alexander, he was annoyed and

even wanted to cancel the tracker but after a lot of arguing and negotiating he

agreed to keep the tracker in his car. By the time we went to bed I was tired and not

in the mood for any kind of sex so we just slept.

The next morning Mthobisi woke up early and said he needed to get to the office

early, I knew he was lying he was going back to Alex but I didn’t argue I just nodded

half awake and half asleep, I was unusually tired. I got out of bed after 10 and didn’t
feel like doing anything so I just sat and watched TV. Sitting at home was really

depressing; I decided to call Cleo to check on her. She said all was well with her and

her husband was not showing any signs of infidelity, so she was sticking by him and

will continue acting like she knows nothing until she comes up with a better plan, the

woman was in denial but who was I to judge so I let it go. Around two o’clock while

sitting at home bored out of my mind the one and only my housekeeper Nomzamo

arrived, looking gorgeous from head to toe, hair done, nails done.

She greeted me with a warm hug and asked how I was doing and why I had not bath

that time of the day, I told her I was feeling tired, she went to her room to pack her

clothes, I wondered how on earth did she afford that hair, it must have cost 3 times

her salary but what she did in her spare time was none of my business, she could be

standing at Oxford road in Rosebank for all I cared for as long as she did her job

when she was needed to I was not bothered. I needed to address this thing of her

coming and going as she pleased. I decide to first take a shower, when I was done I

called her so we could talk, I started by complimenting her on her hair and nails and

new clothes, she thanked me and started telling me about this rich guy that she’s

dating and how he’s been spoiling her rotten I was really not interested in her love

life so I got to the point and told her that if she wanted to continue working for me

she needed to respect me and my husband and we cannot plan our lives around her,

she was supposed to be back on Sunday but decided to come back at her own time

and what if I was going to work and Neo was home who was going to look after him,

worse I couldn’t even get hold of her, she honestly was the worst helper but I didn’t

tell her the last past. She apologized and said it will never happen again, I didn’t

believe that but I tell her the last part, I told her that I was giving her another chance,

she promised that I won’t reject it she will make proud, I wanted to roll my eyes but
didn’t want to seem rude so I just told her that I was going to takw a nap for a bit I

honestly wasn’t feeling too good.

I was woken up around 5 by a call from my husband “Hey Superwoman” he said, I

laughed and said “Hey Spiderman” he asked if I was sleeping I said yes “are you

okay?” he asked sounding concerned “I’m good I was just feeling extremely tired for

some reason but being dragged on the floor will do that to a person” I said reminding

him of his friend from last night, he apologized and said maybe I should book myself

into a Spa I didn’t argue with that because I really needed a nice, long massage, he

told me he would be coming home late and I shouldn’t pull my superwoman stunts

again he is fine and he doesn’t need me to come and rescue him, I laughed and said

I will stay at home besides I had no strength to do anything, none whatsoever. I got

up, washed my face and went downstairs I wanted to start cooking dinner. I had

actually forgotten that Nomzamo was back until I heard her talk on the phone when I

went to the kitchen.

“She’s still sleeping, you won’t believe how she threw the employer employee book

at me, arrggghh if she only knew that I don’t even need this job she would die. I can’t

wait to leave this hell-hole, these coconuts are just too annoying.” I cleared my

throat, I must have surprised her she jumped and the her phone fell on the floor and

battery and sim card flew all over the kitchen, she stood there looked at me and said

“I wasn’t talking about you, I mean I was but I didn’t mean what I said, I’m sorry.” I

told her it was fine, I also spoke ill of my boss so I completely understood where she

was coming from. I went to the fridge and told her not to worry about dinner I will

make it, grabbed some water and left her standing there with her mouth wide opened

I went outside to the pool area and sent a text to She Rocks telling her about
Nomzamo and her bad attitude. She texted back and said “You should fire her, I

honestly don’t trust her.” As I was about to answer her back my phone rang, I

answered “Lesedi, I know I’m the last person you want or expect to hear from but

please don’t hang up.” It was a familiar voice but I wasn’t sure who it was I asked

“Who are you?” she replied “It’s me Ngwako.”

I angrily replied “you are right, I don’t’ want to ever hear from you ever again, stay

the hell away from me.” I hung up

She called again, I dropped, she then sent a text

“I’m sorry about what we did to you, I had no idea that Fundani would go that far, but

please we need to talk I feel guilty about what happened to you.”

I replied “Take your guilt and shove it up your ass.” And blocked her number.

I was fuming, how dare this bloody woman call me and tell me that crap, I wished I

knew where she stays she needed a panel-beating to fix that ugly face of hers, the

bloody witch. I walked around the pool trying to calm myself down. Eventually I

decided to go and start cooking dinner while Nomzamo sat and watched TV, she

was the madam and I was the Eve. While I was still cooking my phone rang again I

thought it was that witch Ngwako again but when I checked the screen showed that it

was my mother in law, I was not in the mood for her drama so I ignored the call. She

called three times on the fourth time I decide to answer so she can stop “Helloo” I

said annoyed, my mother in law never bothers with greetings “I want us to make

peace for the sake of my son and your son” she said sounding like I was the one

with a problem. I didn’t respond, she continued, “ I know I have treated you bad in

the past but I want things to change between us, I’m tired of this fighting.” I cleared

my throat and said “we’ve been here before, I prefer us being enemies, bye” I hung

up the phone and continued with the cooking.

When I was done cooking I dished up for all three of us and put Mthobisi’s food in

the oven. I sat in front of the tv with Nomzamo and she was very chatty, I guess she

was trying to cover up for her gossip about me, I actually didn’t mind her none-stop

yapping, it felt like I had been stuck in the house for days all by myself I was close to

speaking to plants and walls. She told me about her life and her boyfriend who has

all this money from tenders, I asked if he was married she became uncomfortable

then said his wife is in a coma and could die any day. I rolled my eyes and shook my

head, I didn’t want to hear any more of this bad story and the cruelty they were doing

to the poor woman, I imagined myself in that woman’s position, I could have been

that woman, while I was in hospital dying she could have seduced my husband then

gone to the hospital to finish me off, I shivered just imagining that. She Rocks was

right, I had to find a way to get rid of this crazy woman, I had seen what Cleo’s nanny

did to her I was not going to be another Cleo, she was showing me who she is and

as Maya Angelo wrote “If a person shows you who they are, believe them the first

time” and she had definitely shown me her true colours. Sometimes talking too much

just revels your true self without you even realising it, this is why it’s always best to

shut up and listen. Around 8 my mom called she said Neo had a high temperature

and she’s worried about him because he’s been quiet and he didn’t even want to

play all day. I asked if she wanted to take him to hospital she said she will keep

checking him and if it goes higher she will take him to the hospital. I thanked her and

asked her to keep me update. I called Mthobisi to tell him and he answered to say I

was amazed that he answered would be an under-statement, he suggested that I go

pick him up but I told him that would not help the situation it won’t be good for me to

be moving him around while his sick, he was better of with my mother, he agreed but

said the following morning we should go pick him up, I agreed, I asked when would
he be home and he said soon.

I went to bed and my husband was still not back, sometime during the night I heard

him crawling into the bed, he kissed me on the forehead and said “I love you honey”

I asked him what time it was he told me not to worry and go back to sleep and I did

exactly that.

The next morning Mthobisi woke me up and said we should go pick up Neo at my

mom’s place so we can take him to the doctor, I was soo tired I couldn’t even open

my eyes. I asked him to call my mom first and check if his temperature is still high,

he did while I hoped and prayed that our son is fine. After talking to her for a few

minutes he told me that she said his tempura was back to normal and he was

running around the house playing like he was never sick, thank God, I soo did not

feel like getting out of bed, he asked if his mom had told me about diner at her place

in Daveyton that evening. I jumped out of bed and said “I AM NOT GOING TO

YOUR MOTHER’S PLACE FOR SUPPER, NOT TONIGHT, NOT TOMORROW

NOT EVER!!!” I was not going to play anymore nice games with Mthobisi’s mother

that women was psychotic and I was not about that life, I’m tempted to say she was

Bipolar but I won’t say that because that is a medical condition that only a

professional doctor’s can diagnose you with that. Mthobisi waited for me to finish

venting then simple said “I will pick you up at 5” he kissed me and said he loved me

then left. Just like that I had no choice I was going to diner by force. I slept for an

extra two hours after my husband left when I eventually got about I found breakfast

had already been made by Nomzamo but it was cold I had cold toast and cold eggs I

don’t understand why she mad e food while I was still sleeping, I had a few bites

then suddenly started feeling all nauseous, I ran to the bathroom and started

throwing up, Jesus what is wrong with me I wondered. I rinsed my mouth and
washed my face when I was done and I found Nomzamo standing at the door staring

at me she asked “are you pregnant?” I walked past her without saying a word. Why

is it when you start throwing up black people just assume that you pregnant? My

friend Andiswa throws up when she has a hangover, okay I didn’t have a hangover

but I wasn’t’ pregnant, I don’t even remember the last time I had sex and I had only

been back a few days so there was no way in hell I could be pregnant the problem

was Nomzamo’s shitty cooking. I went to my bedroom to take a bath, I poured the

bubble bath needed to relax, I fell asleep in the bath and woke up when the water

got cold.

I again had nothing to do, I still say I don’t know how housewives do it, staying at

home is the most boring thing that can ever happen to you. Nomzamo asked me to

take her to the shops because the cupboards were a bit empty ever since She Rocks

had left I was neglecting my wifely duties I don’t even know what she meant by that

but I drove her to the shops just to shut her up. We went to Carlsworld and bought a

few things, she wanted us to go for lunch at News Café after the grocery shopping I

looked at her and told her I was not in the mood, I could see the annoyance in her

face when I said that but I didn’t care I just wanted to go home, sit and do nothing

,that was becoming my favourite thing sitting and doing nothing. She said she

understood, when we got home I called my mom’s house and spoke to Neo’s nanny

and she said he was still fine, active and running around, I was relieved that he was

still okay, I love this boy with all my heart. I decided to take a nap before Mthobisi got

home I was feeling tired. After four Mthobisi came and woke me up, he told me to get

ready because we would be leaving in 30 minutes. I quickly got up, jumped into a

shower, wore a long dress and a floral scarf. Mthobisi smiled in approval of what I

was wearing, I just looked at him like he was crazy and told him we should go I was
ready. This was one night that I was not looking forward to but my husband being the

person that he was I had no choice and another disadvantage was that he got along

with my mother so well that at times I felt guilty about this war between me and his

mom, and now that she was pretending to be trying to like me the least I could do

was act along in front of him and behind him his back, between me and her the

claws will come out.

We drove to Daveyton inside I was motivating myself so much you would swear I

was going to the Olympics. When we finally arrived at his mom’s house my heart

was beating so hard remembering how she had tried killing me on our last encounter

but I had to pull myself towards myself the last thing I wanted was to show this

woman my weakness. As soon as we walked through the door she acted all happy

to see us and gave both Mthobisi and I warm hugs we sat in the dining room she had

cooked a feast, had I been alone I would not have touched the food, I do not trust

that women she could poison me with the most un-detectable poison, just thinking of

that I said I would share my food with Mthobisi I knew there was no way in hell she

would poison her own son. A few minutes later Tshepang and Koketso arrived, I was

so relieved at least two extra people that she favoured so there was no way my food

could be poisoned, we ate and the food was really nice, I even complimented her on

her nice food then we had desert and wine for the ladies and whiskey for the guys.

Mthobisi’ s mom had really gone all out to make this dinner extra special. She even

asked if me and her could go outside and talk in private, I expected her to pull a gun

and shoot me in the head when we went outside but she was quite the opposite, she

was nice and sincere, she apologized for all the hardship that she put me through

and told me that she realised how much her son loved me and she was going to

support him and would stop fighting him, she apologized for trying to kill me, for the
first time in my life I actually felt like I was being welcomed in my husband’s family

which is weird because we had been married for years and all these years his mom

had always made me feel like I didn’t belong. We went back and joined the others,

Mthobisi looked at me and winked at me, I smiled and nodded showing him that all

was good.

While we were sitting there drinking, chatting and having a good time, there was a

knock on the door. Mthobisi’s mom asked Tshepang to go open the door he went

and a few seconds later I heard him say “you are not welcomed here please leave.”

His mother shouted and I think she was a bit tipsy from the wine we were all drinking

“Tshepang, stop being rude, let the people in we have more than enough food.”

Tshepang shouted back “okay, but you asked for it, I’m not going to get involved in

this shit” next thing we knew an elder woman about Mthobis’s mom’s age walked in

with a huge grin on her face. Mthobisi’s mom’s glass fell to the floor and her mouth

was wide opened, her eyes popped out like she had just seen a ghost, I had never

ever seen fear in my mother in laws eyes but that night she had fear written all over

her face, how I wished I could record that moment. I stood there wondering what the

hell was all this. Mthobisi went to his mom and asked if she was okay she couldn’t

even speak she just nodded, I just wanted to know who this woman that had scraped

the crap out of my mother in law was. She spoke and when she spoke it was like she

commanded respect her voice was soo powerful all you could do was sit back and

listen. She started “I came here to apologize for what my son did but that does not

give you a right to keep my last-born hostage, he had nothing to do with all of this.”

Koketso and I were obviously the only ones who were confused here because our

husband’s seemed to know exactly what was going on here. Amidst my confusion

Fundani walked in and said “Ma, I told you not to come here, these people are evil,
let’s go” I shouted “wait, this is Mfundo’s mom?” the words came out loud I was

thinking that and didn’t mean for it to come out, she turned and asked “Fundani, is

this the one you impregnated?” I was not sure if I had heard right but obviously I was

not the only one because everyone in the room shouted

“WHAT?” At this stage soo many things were going through my mind, why me? Why

so much bad luck? What did I do to deserve all this misery? Okay I won’t lie and say

I’m a good person but still I did not deserve to suffer this much. I had paid for my

sins and this was more than enough now. I wanted the earth to open up and

swallow me, this life was just too much for me, I was not strong enough, somehow I

knew things were about to get worse but what came next completely shocked

me. Koketso shouted “Haaibo Lee you slept with this guy who was having problems

with his wife” I shook my head and looked at Koketso and asked what the hell was

she on about she said “phela I was there when dude came to your place while you

were still staying in Fourways” I needed some intervention from higher powers,

lighting , tsunami anything to hit us all of us at once so we can all die and leave no

one behind so that no one will be left with unanswered questions, nothing is more

frustrating than having all these questions with no one to answer them so if we were

all to die right there and then life would have been perfect. At this moment Mthobis

and his mother, hell the entire family including the extended family was now glaring

at me waiting for me to come up with an answer. I did what any self-respecting

woman would have done in that position I fainted, well if you want to get technical

about it you can say I faked fainting, that was the only way out of this one. Koketso

has a big mouth period, first of all Mthobisi didn’t know about Mfundo coming to our

place and obviously stupid Koketso thought that Fundani was Mfundo, and this was

when he was out of town on work, hell I had completely forgotten about that
incident. Why did the stupid woman have to bring it up, couldn’t she wait till we were

alone then ask me in private.

There is that saying that bad things happen in threes, well I was already on two I was

not about to wait for three and the only way to avoid another bad drama was by

faking fainting. I have to say to it is damn hard to fake fainting I had to make sure I

position myself in a way where I would not fall and hit my head, in fact I didn’t want to

hurt any part of my body. I heard Mthobisi’s mom say “don’t worry I will wake her up”

and I thought to myself “no stupid woman there is no waking up, I will wake up when

I get home” the next thing I felt water in my face, I swear I almost drowned while

laying on the floor, the crazy woman must have thrown me with five litres of water, I

jumped up and shouted “what’s going on?” Koketso burst out laughing, she found

the whole thing soo amusing I wanted to slap her but I was dripping wet but honestly

if I was watching that happen to someone else I would have been on the floor

laughing but I was pissed, both at my mother in law and Koketso.

Fundani’s mom started shouting at Mthobisi’s mom as to why she had thrown me

with cold water and how insensitive she was knowing I was pregnant and in a cold

weather like this what if both baby and I got pneumonia. Hebana, this pregnancy

nonsense again, I was cold and shaking from the cold water but I managed to

scream out, “I am not pregnant, Fundani please tell me you didn’t rape me.” I said

with everything in me begging, Mthobisi had his eyes pierced on Fundani waiting for

him to answer and I could tell that if he said the wrong answer that was going to be

the end of Fundani, witnesses around or no witnesses my husband was going to

finish him off and no one was going to be able to stop him. Fundani cleared his

throat and said “no Ma, she’s not the one I got pregnant.” The said looking at me “I

am not a rapist, I didn’t rape you.” He then turned to Mthobisi and said “You have
your wife back now bring my brother back, I’ve stopped this war and if you want it to

start all over again say the word and I will destroy your entire family.” Mthobisi

moved closer to Fundani and said “you and your cheap mother come to my mother’s

house and disrespect us like this and you are telling me about ending the war, this

war will be over when I say it’s over.”

There was complete silence for a few seconds which was broken by Mthobisi’s mom

who looked at Fundani’s mother and said “take your bastard and leave my

house.” Fundani’s mother looked at Fundanni and it was as if they had just spoken

some silent language because next thing they were both following each other to the

door. Jesus Christ my in-laws had drama for days. After they left everyone was

pretty upset, no one was interested in dinner. Mthobisi’s mom wanted to speak to

her son’s in private while Koketso and I went to the bathroom so I could dry myself

up, when we were alone I shouted at her “what were you thinking saying that

nonsense about me.” Koketso suddenly had amnesia she said she didn’t know what

I was on about, I reminded her of how she told everyone in there that I had slept with

Fundani, I explained that he was a twin of Mfundo and that I worked with Mfundo,

she just shook her head and said “you are very kinky” obviously the women was in

the dark about what was happening right under her nose. I explained to her the

whole situation but left out the part about sleeping with Mfundo because I knew she

was never going to keep it to herself. We went to Mthobisi’s old bedroom and she

put on the heater for me while we waited for my clothes to dry up in the tumble dryer,

there was no way in hell I was going to wear my mother in laws clothes. Eventually

my clothes got dry, I got dressed and Mthobisi and Tshepang got out from the family

meeting that their mom had called, funny thing was Koketso and I were part of the
family but we didn’t know half the shit that went down. When they were done

Mthobisi told me that we are leaving, I was not being asked I was being told.

We got into the car and drove home, Mthobisi was silent all the way home, he didn’t

say one single word, I kept asking if everything was okay and he would just nod and

look ahead on the road and not even bother looking at me.

As soon as we got home, Mthobisi said to me “What the hell was Mfundo doing at

our house in Fourways? Were you having an affair with him Lesedi? Is that why you

and your friends killed him?

Where were fainting spells when you needed them? I prayed that I would faint right

there and then but nothing, my knees were not even weak, my body was now

becoming used to all these different kinds of shocks it was no longer shaken or

moved by any of this drama, my body had learned to adapt to this new life of mine. I

was speechless, I opened my mouth but no words would come out, closed my mouth

and opened it again and still nothing would come out of my lips. Mthobisi went to the

kitchen brought me water, I thought he was going to throw it in my face like his mom

had done earlier but he handed it to me and said “drink up” my lips were soo dry you

would have sworn I had walked in the desert for ten days without water, I took the

water and drank it, you would have sworn I had thorns in my throat, it was soo

painful going down my throat I guess my throat was also dry, after drinking half the

glass Mthobisi asked “Are you ready to tell the truth?” I nooded and said “I was not

having an affair with Mfundo.” Mthobisi stood up and said “don’t, don’t fucken lie to

me Lesedi.” I stood up and out of nowhere tears just started streaming down my

face as I shouted “I swear to you Mthobisi I did not have an affair with Mfundo.” I
suddenly remembered Bill Clinton saying “I did not have sexual relations with that

women.” Hell if there was one thing I learnt from that president was deny, deny and

deny until there was evidence, as long as it was just hearsay I was going to deny it

until I was blue in the face. Mthobisi asked “then what the hell was he doing at our

house if you were not sleeping with him?”

I looked at him which so much innocence in my face and said “he was dropping of

some files that we were working on, I had a project to finish and there was no way I

was going to be able to finish it without those files and Mfundo was going out of town

the following morning so I asked him if he could drop those files at our place. I didn’t

I was doing anything wrong by having a collugue drop off some files and I certainly

did not thing that you would have a problem with it, which is why I never bothered

even mentioning it. He seemed to be buying that story but with my husband you will

never know, I had to find a way to make sure that Mfundo’s secrets stay buried. He

said we will continue this conversation some other time he was tired and wanted to

sleep.

When we got to bed I could not sleep my head was buzzing with guilt, why in God’s

name did I have an affair with that stupid man, his brother of all people, I regretted

every single thing that I did with Mfundo and if I could reverse time I swear I would

do things differently, I wouldn’t cheat, I wouldn’t lie to my husband, hell I would be

the best wife, but it was too late for regrets, I had made my bed it was time to lie in it

but I wasn’t going to lie down in a dirty bed without a fight. It must have taken me

hours to fall asleep and eventually I did even though I had terrible nightmares in

between. I was woken up by my husband who was banging wardrobe doors

unnecessarily. I didn’t even bother asking him why he was banging doors, I got up

brushed my teeth and kissed him good morning I went downstairs and obviously
Nomzamo was still asleep, that girl is her own boss I tell you. I made him breakfast

at 06:45 he came down and said he was running late, I told him I didn’t slave on

breakfast for him to just leave the food like that, he had a few bites then left. As

soon as he left I decided to call She Rocks who is more clued up on everything and

since she had stayed with my husband while I was away maybe she had some clues

on how he thinks. She answered immediately and said she was busy downloading

some app, and asked if she could call me back in five minutes because she needed

to reboot her phone in order for the app to be installed in the phone properly. Fifteen

minutes went past and there was still no call from She Rocks, I figured she must

have gotten busy at work.

I went back to bed and slept for about 2 hours when Nomzamo came to my room

she said I had left my phone in the kitchen and it was ringing none-stop, I had about

7 missed calls from Mthobisi and She Rocks. I decided to call She Rocks first

because I needed her advice, I knew Mthobisi was in his moods and speaking to him

without a plan was a no-no. I told She Rocks what was going on and she said

maybe Mthobisi’ s mom knew something hence the long meeting and maybe coming

clean with him would be a better option, I told her there was no way in hell I was

confessing, confession is for Catholic’s and I wasn’t one.

I then called Mthobisi back and he said I needed to be careful around Nomzamo

something was up with her and he would fill me in when he got home, this was soo

confusing, what did the nanny have to do with anything, then I remembered Cleo’s

situation, Jesus Christ was my husband also sleeping with our nanny? I was not

anxious, I wanted to confront her but what if I was over-reacting I decided to take a

shower then go out because being in the same house would her would just drive me

up the wall. I drove to Cleo’s place to visit her, she was pretending to be okay but I
could tell that deep down she was falling apart. I asked how things were between

her and her husband, and she said all was well and she was still acting like she

knew nothing and her husband was still his sweet loving self and treating her like a

queen which is very confusing because he doesn’t act like a cheating person at all,

he always tells her where he is she even wonders when does he get time to see the

other woman, I told her these bastards always make a plan. I decided I needed to

change the topic, I told her about what I was going through and she said under no

circumstances was I to confess the affair with Mfundo that was one secret I had to

take to the grave, two friends with two different opinions I was conflicted, but Cleo

made sense, confession is never good for the soul like we are made to believe, she

cooked us lunch and we chatted about a lot of things, I spend the entire day

there. Around 5 Mthobisi called and said he was on his way home, I told him I was

at Cleo’s place he demanded that I leave too immediately. I was a bit annoyed but

since I was in bad books with him I decided to obey and do as I was told. I hugged

Cleo told her I loved her and got into my car and drove home.

As soon as I got into the driveway Mthobisi also arrived and parked behind me. I

asked him before we went in what was this thing that he said was going on with

Nomzamo, he said I will find out as soon as we inside. He opened the door, as soon

as I stepped in, I knew something was not right, I looked around then looked at

Mthobisi thinking we must have entered a wrong house. I screamed “Nomzamo,

Nomzamo” and each and every room that I entered was empty all our furnisher was

gone, Mthobisi was right behind me every step, I turned to him and said “Shit Honey,

we’ve been robbed” he looked at me and shook his head and said “That bitch and

bastard took our stuff”

I looked at him confused “what bitch and bastard?” He looked at me amazed that I

still did not get it, “Fundani and Nomzamo, dammit” I opened my mouth in shock

and asked “how do they even know each other?” Then everything started to make

sense, Nomzamo knew way too much but it always seemed like it was things that I

had told or her and since I was not around I thought maybe She Rocks could have

mentioned somethings to her so I never took everything to heart, but now everything

was starting to add up. The stupid bitch had really played me well, I had fallen for

her stupid trick, I was soo mad if I could grab her with my hands I swear I was going

to kill her. How could she. Mthobisi said we should drive up to security and asked

them if they saw anything, we got into his car and drove to the security gates, we

asked them and they told us that Nomzamo had actually said she was the wife of the

owner of the house and they were now moving and because security had seen her

around they believed her. They had cameras at the gate and they played for us the

tape of her moving out with trucks and each time she passed the cameras she had a

smile on her face it’s like she knew we would be watching this. But in all the footage

there was none with Fundani, it was different guys that obviously work for the moving

company. Security suggested that we call the police and open a case of theft, I

agreed and said we were definitely going to do that. Mthobisi gave me the look that I

knew too well, the “that shit ain’t gonna happen” look.

We went back to our empty house, the bedrooms were untouched so they left our

bed and our clothes it was only downstairs were they took everything. Mthobisi

turned to me and said “Honey please call your mom and tell her that you sleeping at

her place tonight.” I quickly asked “what about you? Where are you going to

sleep?” He said he would also be sleeping at my mom’s house but would only be

joining us later for now he needed to make sure that I was protected and that nothing
like this ever happens again, he asked me to pack a few clothes for both of us, I did

that and he put the suitcases in my boot. I called my mom and told her I was coming

to sleep over, she didn’t ask any questions she said she would get my room ready. I

begged Mthobisi not to come home too late I didn’t want my parent’s thinking we

were having problems and worrying about us, he told me he wasn’t going to lift

a finger all he needed to do was give instructions and would come join us.

I drove to my mom’s house very slow, I did not want to get there way before

Mthobisi, traffic was flowing which was just not helping, I drove on the slow lane on

60 at some point I even put on hazards just so cars could pass me and think

something was wrong with my car, there is really nothing more annoying than

arriving at your parent’s place and having to explain why your husband isn’t with you

and I know with me the harder I tried to explain the guilty I would sound. After an

hour of driving I finally arrived at my mom’s place, she wasn’t there but Victor my

step-dad was he was sitting with Neo, I joined them we chatted and played. An hour

later Mthobisi arrived, he immediately wanted to shower, I wanted to ask what

happened but the blood on his shirt sleeve was enough answers for me. Soon after

my mother arrived, with Indian food take-aways, just what I needed, I helped her to

dish-up, first question she asked was were Mthobisi was, thank God he had arrived

when he did because now I could just tell her he was in the shower instead of trying

to come up with some long complicated lie.

When Mthobisi was done taking a shower, we had our Indian diner, we chatted

about a few things, my mom asked us why were paying them a visit on a Thursday,

before I could think of a lie Mthobisi said “our house was broken into, they took

everything.” My mom was in soo much shock I gave Mthobisi a dirty look, what the

hell was wrong with him. I didn’t want my mom worrying about me all the time. My
mother told us that we should stay with them until the police find the people that took

our furnisher. Mthobisi wasn’t done, “it’s our maid that stole from us, security

showed us footage of her moving the furniture with movers, but I found the guys that

own the moving company, our furniture will be returned to our house unstarched.

“ There was an uncomfortable silence then my mom said “Good, people need to

learn to work and not just expect others to work and them to just benefict.” Hebana,

what was wrong with this mother of mine siding with my crazy husband. Victor was

my saviour all he said was “you can’t solve violence with more violence.” This is why

I loved this man, he was the voice of reason. My mother started arguing that people

needed to be taught a lesson and blah blah blah. I actually zoned out from the

discussion because my mom was convinced that this was the way to go, I don’t

blame her though she was tired of all the crime and the last thing she wanted was to

have to worry about her daughter’s safety.

After dinner Mthobisi and I kissed Neo good night and we went to bed. As soon as

we arrived in my bedroom. Mthobisi said “Honey we need to talk.” My heart started

beating soo hard, those are words that freak any grown men and women out, I tried

sounding confident even those I was shaking on the inside and asked “what’s up

baby?” he looked at me with a serious face and said “I love you with all my heart

and soul you know that right?” I nodded my head, he continued “I want you to know

no matter what happens I will always love you. What I’m about to ask you is not to

hurt you or to try and humiliate you but for my own sanity I need to know.” Shit, was

he still on about the Mfundo affair, I already had my defences up I was ready to

deny, deny, deny. Before I could even say “I never had any sexual relations with

that man” he took out a package form his gym bag and said “this is a pregnancy test,

I need you to test yourself just to eliminate any doubt in both our heads that you
could be carrying Fundani’s child.” I looked at him confused and reminded him of

what Fundani had said and how sincere he sounded when he said it. He told me

that he didn’t trust anything that came out of Fundani’s mouth and would prefer that

we prove him wrong. I had no words for this I reluctantly took the pregnancy test

and went to the toilet to pee on it, I was tempted to pour water on the stick but there

had already been too much lies, I needed to be honest. I peed then went back to

Mthobisi and gave it back to him, he was reading the instructions on how it works

and said we needed to wait for a few minutes. We waited for what felt like eternity

eventually it was the moment of truth. He looked at it then looked at me then looked

at it again and he didn’t have to say a word I knew what the results were.

“Okay, the suspense is killing me, what does the damn stick say?” with all my heart

and soul I soo badly wanted the damn pregnancy test to say I wasn’t pregnant, I was

not prepared to carry for nine months in my belly a child of a man who had held me

hostage for weeks and feed me drugs, I hated Fundani more than words could

explain, if I had access to him like I did with his brother Mfundo I would not hesitate

to take his life and I think I would actually do it with a smile on my face, but Fundani

was like a cockroach he showed up in places where he was not wanted

unexpectedly, how do you find a man like that and kill him without him finding you

and killing you first. Mthobisi had a look of relief in his face; he smiled and said “you

are not pregnant Honey.” I grabbed the stick from him and it showed one line, I

quickly grabbed the paper to read the instructions and it said one line means you not

pregnant and two lines means you are pregnant. I started jumping up and down with

excitement, I was so happy and relieved. Mthobisi said “come here” I went to him,

he gave me a long hug and a kiss and told me how much he loved me. We kissed,
took of each other’s clothes and made sweet love, it felt so good, nothing beats

making love to your husband, we went on until the early hours of the morning.

The following morning Mthobisi woke up early and got ready for work, the love

making had my body feeling so relaxed I didn’t want to wake up, thank God for Victor

who makes breakfast for my mom every morning so since we were there he had no

choice but to make for us too, so at least I didn’t have to wake up early to prepare

breakfast but I had to be at the breakfast table to eat breakfast with everyone. My

mom said “I can’t wait for you two to go back to your house; Lesedi is too loud for my

liking.” I chuckled a little I had not realised that I had been that loud during our

session, I looked at Mthobisi who was focusing on his plate and I could see he

wanted to laugh but was holding it in. I quickly changed the subject and said to

Victor “when I grow up I want a husband like you who makes me breakfast every

morning.” We all laughed Mthobisi said “but you have a husband who makes you

breakfast, lunch and super.” I rolled my eyes and said “I wish”. We spent the rest of

the breakfast teasing each other and joking around. Everyone left for work except

for me I went back to bed and slept a few minutes later Neo came in and wanted to

play, I was too tired to play so I grabbed a few of his toys and gave him to play in the

room while I slept, an hour later when I woke up he had my body lotion spilled on the

floor, the mirror smeared with lotion, his clothes full of lotion, the carpet, the bed, I

was so annoyed I shouted at him and all he said “soli mama” and that just melted my

heart these kids know how to manipulate us even from a small age, I hugged him

and told him to not take mommy’s things, I cleaned up and took him to his nanny to

bath him. I got up and decided to go visit my sister since I had nothing to do at

home, I called her she said she was at work which was a surprise because my sister

is an estate agent and she hardly ever goes to the office, she said we could meet up
for lunch later. I received a call from Aus Maria she was crying telling me how hurt

she is by what her niece had done to us, I asked her how she knew she said

Mthobisi had paid her a visit and told her everything, she said she will let us know as

soon as she finds out where she is at the moment she had no clue where Nomzamo

is, I thanked her for calling to apologize and told her not to blame herself you can’t

control these kids.

Around 12 my sister called and said we should meet for lunch at Aspen Hills in some

restaurant there. I called Mthobisi to let him know that I would be meeting with my

sister for lunch I gave him the name of the restaurant, I had turned a new leaf I

guess after all the drama I had been through I needed my husband to know my

whereabouts all the time. He was happy that I had told him, I asked him if my car

had tracker he said “not yet, but they should install it by next week. Are you okay

with having tracker on your car, it’s your car after all and the decision should be

yours,” Okay, wow I had not expected that from him, I told him yes, I wanted tracker

installed. I arrived at the restaurant before my sister who was never on time, I order

juice while I waited for her, she arrived 20 minutes later I looked at her and said “my

stomach was about to explode with all the juice I have been drinking while waiting for

you, are you ever on time?” She smiled hugged me and said “traffic was a

nightmare.” I looked at her in amazement “you literally work 10 minutes away from

here, what traffic are you talking about this time of the day?” She rolled her eyes

and said “don’t get technical Lee” the waiter came with the menu and we

ordered. She looked at me and smiled “so, how does it feel to be back in the land of

the living?” I laughed and said “it’s still the same, I just appreciate life more and

don’t like wasting time and making people wait.” She looked at me and said “Okay, I

get it, you won’t get over this until I apologize, I’m sorry for being late it won’t happen
again I promise.” I snorted back “was that so difficult to say?” And we both laughed,

we talked about our husband’s and I asked her if I could borrow her kids for the

weekend because I missed them very much, she said “I wish you could but they’re

going to Tembisa with their nanny for the weekend.” I looked at her in disbelief “you

let your kids go to the location with your nanny? Are you out of your mind? Do you

even know where in Tembisa she stays? Do you know how big Tembisa is? What if

she doesn’t come back with them? Naledi, do you even watch the news read the

papers, do you know how kids get lost, stolen kidnapped every single day and you

just give yours away just like that?” I could not believe her ignorance, who does

that? She looked at me and said “Lee I know you have been through hell and back

and I feel for you I really do, but I think you are a bit paranoid. Are you still in

therapy? Coz you really should be” There are people that just go around looking for

trouble while trouble is sitting somewhere just chilling in the sun and they disturb him

and beg him to follow them and when trouble follows them they start saying they are

cursed or bewitched or have bad luck and my sister was one of those people. She

was still talking “you have trust issues and you need to work on them. I know

Tembisa is big and not every person has ill intentions.” I looked at her and decided

that I was not going to win this argument so the best thing to do for myself would be

to just shut up and let her be. Our food arrived and we talked about our mother-in

laws both my sister and I had mother in laws from hell, in fact they could be twin

sisters. Around two my sister said she had a client she was meeting to show a

house to and asked if I wanted to come with her, I declined; I was bored but not

bored enough to go around looking at houses. I went home and played with Neo. I

got a call from She Rocks who asked where I was I told her in Alberton at my moms

place she said “I know it’s short notice but tonight, there is drag racing Kibler Park,
please come with.” I laughed and said “since when are you into drag racing?” she

said she meet this guy and it’s a long story but she will tell me if I went to this drag

racing nonsense with her, I said I will check with Mthobisi and get back to her. I

knew Mthobisi would not like the idea of me going to a drag race. I called him and

told him that She Rocks had invited me to this thing, he said “It’s not a drag race as

such it’s people spinning cars and doing stunts, it’s fun you should go you will enjoy

it.” I laughed and said “how do you know about it?” he casually said “I’ve been there

a few times.” I cleared my throat “you have?” he choose to be his typical self and

not answer my question and simply said “so when you go drag racing with your

friends am I supposed to sit and home with your parents? Aren’t they going to think

I’m a wimp for letting you go out while I stay at home and watch them?” I laughed

because I knew what he was implying; it definitely wouldn’t look right so I told him to

come with us. I called She Rocks and told her that Mthobisi would be coming with

us, she said they will be at my house at 18:00.

Around 5 my husband arrived and he said he was not feeling well, he said he had a

splitting headache, we had not taken any painkillers and since I was not allowed any

pain medication I didn’t have anything to offer him, I raided my mom’s medicine

cupboards and she had some disprins which Mthobisi took 3 of but the headache

wouldn’t go away, he said he needed to lie down a bit and wanted the room to be

dark, I closed the curtains in our room and let him sleep it off. At 18:00 She Rocks

arrived with Andiswa I told them Mthobisi had a headache and wouldn’t be coming

with us. She Rocks said it was still too early we needed to chill a bit and leave

around 9 I suggested we cook super while we were killing time, I had to somehow

make up for all the noises I made last night, when I told my friends this they couldn’t

stop laughing at how random my mom was by mentioning it. We prepared supper
more like She Rocks cooked and we just did the chopping and passed everything to

her to prepare. My mom and Victor arrived and told us how nice whatever we were

making was smelling and couldn’t wait to taste it. She Rocks whispered “hopefully it

makes her forget about last night” before my mom and Victor arrived we were

drinking wine as soon as they arrived party was over we gulped the wine on our

glasses and finished them before my mom or Victor could see, they know we drink

but not in their house. We dished up, I went to go get Mthobisi in the room to tell him

the food was ready he said he would eat later, shame my poor hubby really didn’t

like being sick, it was just a headache but you would swear he was dying the way he

was acting. The food was delicious, my mom and Victor loved it and even wanted

second servings. After eating I told my parent my friends and I would be going out

but Mthobisi would be staying in as he is not feeling well they understood. I kissed

him goodbye and told him to get better and we left in She Rocks car. On the way

She Rocks told us about the guy she had meet last year who is a Dj, both Andiswa

and I said “a DJ?” this was a rather strange turn of events how do you move from

dating a Pastor to dating a Dj, she laughed and said “I know what you thinking but

it’s not like that, he’s not those hectic dj’s he own an events company, anyway I meet

him last year but at the time we were both and relationships and we just became

friends, so I ran into him last about two months ago when I went to go buy pizza and

from that day on we’ve been talking and have been on few dates, he’s a really cool

guy I like him a lot.” Again Andiswa and I both said “Ahhhhhhhh” she laughed and

said “oh shut up you two. Anyway he will be here tonight, he brought me here for

our second date and I had sooo much fun, he is different, none of our dates have

been in restaurants it’s always something different with him, I can’t wait for you guys

to meet him. You are going to love him”

As soon as she said that I had a bad feeling, what if new boyfriend was Fundani, like

I said before that guy was like a cockroach , he had a way of showing up

unexpectedly.

But then I remembered that She Rocks knew Mfundo and since Fundani and Mfundo

were identical twin brothers there was no way in hell she would have missed

that. We finally arrived at this drag racing place, the place was in the middle of an

open space with nothing around, those huge space that after sometime they buy and

build townhouses or malls in, the was a long line of cars waiting to go in, we were

probably like the 40th on the line and there were still a lot of cars waiting behind us,

you could smell the burnt tyres , the atmosphere was exciting to say the least, there

were all kinds of race blacks, whites, coloureds, Indians and most people came in

their pimped up car, I felt like I was on Fast and Furious set. She Rocks explained to

us that apparently this is illegal and we are at a secret venue, Andiswa laughed and

said “wow, how big is this secret if over a thousand people know about?” She Rocks

ignored her and continued “they text you an invite the morning of the race and tell

you when the venue is going to be. Not everyone gets a text but those that get

spread the word.” Andiswa who was not buying this secrecy thing said “if the police

wanted to stop this they would have, trust me they know about it.” I looked at her

and said “shhhh, it’s a secret” we both laughed. She Rocks shook her head and said

“your sarcasm will get you nowhere. I’m in too much of a great mood to argue with

the two of you.” We finally arrived at the front of the line, She Rocks spoke to the

guy at the entrance then gave him money and they let us through Andiswa asked

“were you giving him the secret code to get inside?” She Rocks simply said “I was

asking if my boyfriend has arrived?” I turned to She Rocks and said “Is he that big

that even bouncers know him here?” Andiswa said “by big, do you mean big as in
fat or big as in big famous, gosh I miss Cleo she’s the one who usually asks these

kinds of questions.” We all laughed, there were cars everywhere we couldn’t find

parking anywhere, we eventually found it after a few minutes of driving around. We

got out, She Rocks took out a cooler bag from her boot and led us to the stands the

set-up looked like that of a soccer stadium, there were stands all around and a big

circle in the middle we sat at the stands, there was a lot of people there, She Rocks

crew was already there so we sat with them at the stands, she introduced us, there

was a lot of them I will blame the loud music on not remembering their names, but

there were just too many people that she introduced us to over nine, then she saved

the best for last, her boyfriend of course, “guys this is John Black.” Cleo said “sorry

who” I just burst out laughing and Cleo also couldn’t hold it in the guy lovingly pulled

She Rocks closer and said “babe, stop calling me that, I’m John and not John Black

just John but they call me Jay-Jay.” He said pointing at his friends who all together

said “John vuli gate John, John vuli gate.” We all laughed, for those that don’t know

that’s a line from a South African Movie Tsotsie. John laughed and said “having a

name like John is a problem.” A guy driving a Subaru came and started spinning his

car, there was smoke everywhere, people were screaming and cheering him on, he

span the car a couple of times then another guy with a BMW came also span the car

in circles then got out the car while the car was moving, I’m sorry for my ignorance

because I had always thought this was stunts that was done in movies but seeing it

live in front of my eyes was an eye opener, the guy then chased the car and went

back inside it. Every car that came out the driver would try to do things to outdo the

one who came before him, it was so much fun to watch. We were drinking our ciders

that She Rocks had brought, John and his friends had hubbly bubbly and their beers,

there were a lot of people with hubbly bubblies in fact every second group of people
had a pipe, most people there came in groups. Each time a car would come out and

do stunts people would cheer and clap, it was all fun and exciting, there was a time

when a guy came out in an old BMW that he probably inherited from his late great

grandfather because that thing was an ancestor, he spun the car once and after that

the car started coughing then switched off, there was booing from the crowd and the

poor guy was so embarrassed worst of all the car wouldn’t start some of his friends

had to come and push him out, it was funny though because someone in the crowd

threw him with ice and said “its to cool the overheating car down.” She Rocks and

her boyfriend looked really cute, they were cosying up, they would take pictures

together and when she was struggling to take a video because too many people

were standing in front of her while she was trying to capture cars spinning her

boyfriend lifted her up so she could take a nice video. His friends were all nice,

crazy people, they joked around a lot they were just a fun bunch to be with, they

made fun of each other and told us funny stories about John. Before we knew it

was already after one am, I asked She Rocks to drop me home, she and Andiswa

said they would crash at my house since it was too late to drive to the North and

cops would be everywhere as it was the weekend. John said to She Rocks she

should leave her car at my place and go sleep over at his place, She Rocks made up

an excuse and ended up going with Andiswa and I to my parent’s place. On the way

back Andiswa asked She Rocks “soo Rock Star, does John have bad writing skills, is

that why you made up that lame excuse and didn’t want to sleep at his place?”

Writing is our language of saying sex, most girls have different names for sex, in high

school we called it going to Miami and as we got older it changed; now we called it

writing. I know of some ladies that call it the government, all women have a name

for it. She Rocks said “I think he writes in cursive” both Andiswa and I said “you
think?” she laughed and said they haven’t gone that far yet and changed the

subject. We arrived at my parent’s house and they crashed in my sister’s room while

I tiptoed in my room to find my husband asleep. I quickly changed and realised that I

smelled of smoke from all the car’s smoke and hubbly bubble that everyone was

smoking, I went to shower came back and found Mthobisi awake. “How was it

Honey?” he asked, I smiled and told him everything that happened, from the moment

we left the house to us arriving and not finding parking, next thing I heard him

snoring, I never learn, I was disappointed I still had so much to tell him and the guy

goes and passes out on me.

Next morning when Victor made breakfast and the girls took over from him and told

him to go relax. Andiswa came to wake us up, we went to go join everyone for

breakfast. My mom said “you girls are amazing in the one night you’ve been here

you’ve cooked diner and now breakfast, I need to swop my daughter and adopt the

two of you.” we all laughed and I said “I know mom hey, but how are we going to

break the news to Naledi that we giving her up for adoption.” We all laughed.

Breakfast was good, after breakfast the girls left to go home and change. Mthobisi

said he had things he needed to take care of when I asked what he just gave me a

“you ask too many questions” look and I knew better so I let him be. I played with

Neo, Cleo called and asked if she could visit us with her boys, I happily agreed,

within an hour they were at my parent’s home, the kids played while we sat and

chatted, she told me about how smooth her husband was. She said she discovered

that he had an extra phone that stayed in the boot in the spare wheel compartment

she discovered this when she was using his car and had a flat tyre so she drove to

the nearest garage to ask the guys there to change it for her, when they removed the

spare wheel out came the spare phone too, she said the phone was off and when
she tried switching it on it wanted pin numbers so she just put it back and acted like

she didn’t see it. When her husband came home and she told him about the flat

tyre, he didn’t even ask about the phone. “I guess it explains why he never cared

when you checked his phone all the time.” I said, she shook her head and said “I

thought I was being clever by doing random inspections of his phone and reading

text and checking his out-going calls, if a man wants to cheat he will find a way, it

doesn’t matter how strict you think you are. Anyway tell me about the new man in

our Rock Star’s life.” I gave her the low down on what had happened the previous

night mind you she only asked about She Rock’s man but me being the woman, I

had to tell her everything from the beginning, besides I needed it out of my chest

since my husband didn’t give me a chance to share it with him. I love gossiping with

other women because they lap everything up they make all the right noises at the

right time unlike when you are telling a guy gossip, most never react the just give you

a blank stare, we want someone who will make all the ahhhh’s and ohhhhh’s and

nooooo’s at the right time, men will never get this, it’s a woman thing we are just

made different. Cleo asked if we’ve heard anything from the police about the body

that was found, deep down I somehow suspected that Mthobisi took care of that but

those were just my suspicion I had no proof and as much as I wanted to ask him I

somehow felt it would be best if I left that alone. I told her we hadn’t heard anything

from the cops She Rocks had been to the farm a few times but there were no new

developments and she said no one was even talking about it anymore it had sort of

become old news, people move on very fast in Joburg. Cleo had to leave I thanked

her for the visit and walked her and her kids to her car, she said she will let me know

when she got home. I went and sat with my mom who was reading a book, I asked

her if she knew Naledi was giving her kids to her nanny for the weekend she said no
but didn’t seem bothered about it, I don’t know why I was the only one paranoid over

this.

Mthobisi called and said we’ve been invited to a braai / party in Bedfordview I need

to get dressed he will pick me up in an hour. I was so not in the mood of people,

with braai’s you always have to be polite, smile, say the right things and pretend to

be having fun even if you are bored out of your mind. If there is one thing I’ve learnt

about my husband’s Bedfordview friends is that they are rich so I obviously couldn’t

just wear jeans, top and sneakers and go I had to dress the part, good thing I had

packed like I was going away for a month. I took a shower and put on my long green

chiffon dress that showed a bit of cleavage, with a gold Egyptian belt and gold

sandals, I did my make up and tied my hair in a ponytail, I looked like I was a

wedding but that’s how people dressed in Bedfordview braai’s and the last thing you

want is to look and feel out of place. Mthobisi arrived, he told me I looked gorgeous,

he showed and wore green Lacosta shorts to match my dress and a white Polo golf

shirt and navy lacosta Shoes, my mom looked at us and said “hot date?” we just

looked at her and laughed. We left home around five in the afternoon. The house

we went to was magnificent, it was like something from a magazine, very big, they

had guards at the gate, just the outside was enough to make you ask yourself “what

am I doing with my life if there are people living like this?” As you walk in there was

a table with glasses of champagne, Mthobisi grabbed me a glass, then we walked

inside the huge beautiful house, there were people around, we went to the back of

the house to sliding doors that led us outside and outside was this big pool, a bar

and chairs all around it and there were white couches everywhere, damn this place

was gorgeous. I had been so mesmerised by a place that I didn’t even notice that

my husband was speaking to someone, I just heard him say “Lee?” he had obviously
been speaking to me for some time but I had not heard anything. I turned and said

“huh? Sorry Honey I got distracted by this beautiful house.” the guy said “Well thank

you ma’am. I can ask my wife to give you a tour of the house later.” I smiled and

realised that I had missed the introduction and said “that would be lovely thank

you.” he spoke for a bit with Mthobisi then 3 other guys came and joined us, talked

about a whole lot of things that didn’t really make sense to me, not that I was paying

attention to them I just smiled whenever they all looked at me or nodded whichever

felt it was the right time to and would also laugh when they laughed, I was rescued

by some lady who looked soo elegant that I actually felt under-dressed. She said

her name was Tee, she was the lady of the house, she offered to show me around. I

excused myself from the gents and left with the Tee character, she looked flawless; I

don’t know how you could have an immaculate house like that and still look so

gorgeous, I asked if she needed help with the braai, marinating the meat and stuff

she told me not to worry the catering people were taking care of everything. Jesus

how rich were these people to have a catering company do everything for a braai, I

decided it would be rude to ask that so instead I asked if they had any kids “Yes,

Brian and I have 4 kids.” In that body I wondered, I must have stared at her body

because she quickly responded “oh no, two are from his ex wife and two are my

sister’s who passed away.” I mumbled something about being sorry, I honestly didn’t

know what to say, sometimes asking too many questions is just not advisable, I

decided to shut up and admire the house. We went from room to room everything

there was just too magnificent for words, my phone rang it was my husband. “Hey

Honey, your sister just called we need to go.” My heart sank a bit thinking something

happened to the kids in Tembisa “Is it the kids?” I asked, “No, it’s your dad, he had a

heart-attack.”
I quickly told Tee that I had to go and that my dad had a heart-attack, she said she

would walk me down, we passed more beautiful rooms and paintings as we went

down but I could not concentrate in any of that, I needed to get to my father fast. I

found Mthobisi waiting for me downstairs, we rushed to the car. On the way to the

hospital I called Naledi to ask her what happened, she said she didn’t know but she

suspects that it has something to do with Priscilla, his young girlfriend; my father’s

girlfriend was young enough to be his last born. She said she and her husband were

also on the way to Sunning Hill Hospital, she didn’t know if she should tell mom or

not, tricky situation that was, my mom and dad are divorced and my mom happily

married to Victor, the last thing we wanted was to cause tension between Victor and

my mom so we decided we will first assess the situation with our dad then call our

mom if it’s necessary otherwise I would just tell her about it when I got home. When

we got to the hospital we found Priscilla in the waiting area, you could see the panic

in her face. I went to her and hugged her and told her everything is going to be

okay, I had never spoken more than five words to her before not because I didn’t like

her but because I just never had anything to say to her before so it would always be

“Hi, how are you?” and uncomfortable smiles and that’s all we would ever say to

each other but here we were in hospital playing sad family, I asked her what had

happened to my dad she said she didn’t know he just collapsed. Really? People do

that just collapse I wanted to ask but didn’t want to be rude, a few minutes later

Naledi and her husband Lwazi arrived “How is he?” was the first thing she asked, “I

don’t know, I haven’t seen him, doctors are busy with him.” I said my sister turned to

Priscilla and asked “what did you do to him?” Priscilla looked as guilty as hell she

said “Nothing, he just collapsed and I called the ambulance.” While we were still

talking a nurse came to us and said we could go in but whatever we do we shouldn’t

upset him, Naledi said “in that case she better stay out here.” She said pointing at

Priscilla, what had gotten into my sister I smiled at the nurse and said “family politics,

Naledi stop it, we all going in.” Mthobisi and Lwazi said they would wait in the

waiting area, plus my dad didn’t really like Mthobisi so I didn’t argue with that. We all

went in to find our dad with an oxygen mask covering his face and drips in his arm,

really not a pretty sight “hey daddy dearest,” I said trying not to look shocked, he

removed the mask and whispered “my favourite girls” Naledi and I stood on his left

side, Priscilla stood by the door crying, my dad told her to come in and stop acting

like he was dead, this brought a bit of laughter to all of us, he assured us that he

would be fine we had nothing to worry about but the look in his eye said something

else. I left Naledi and Priscilla to chat to him while I went to go find a nurse and

corned her about my father’s condition she said “your father’s heart is really in a bad

condition, he’s been on the waiting list for soo long and there is not much we can

do.” I asked “what waiting list?” she said “for a heart transplant.” Oh lawd, my father

needed a new heart and we didn’t even know about it. I thanked her, went back to

the room, we were all chatting I acted like I didn’t know anything but the heart thing

was eating me up, I knew very well what this meant, he could die anytime.

After we left the hospital Mthobisi suggested we go home, I agreed I was in no mood

for a party not after what I had learnt. On the way I way Mthobisi asked why I was so

quiet, I wasn’t ready to talk about it so I said “I’m just worried about my father.” He

held my hand and told me everything is going to be okay. His phone rang he

answered then handed it to me and said “it’s for you.” I answered “Hi Lee, how is

your dad?” I didn’t recognise the voice but it was that of a female, “he’s going to be

okay, thanks for asking.” I said trying to place the voice, “ohh that great, it’s Tee by

the way, you were at my place earlier. Maybe we can do lunch some time, I don’t
have a lot of friends around, I’ve just recently moved from Durban.” Oh wow, rich girl

wanted to be friend I agreed anything to cut the conversation short. When we got

home my mom and Victor were not there, I decided to take a nap while Mthobisi

played with Neo outside.

I was woken up the following day by Mthobisi who said that my mom said we should

go to church with them, we had breakfast then I told my mom and Victor about our

dad being in hospital, they already knew Naledi had told them, my mother asked me

what was eating me up because when I don’t want to face reality I slept and the

previous day I even missed super I told her I was tired from the braai and all she

didn’t seem to buy that story but she let it go. We went to church and all I was doing

was praying for my father, getting a heart transplant is such a tricky situation

because someone needs to die to save you, I couldn’t bring myself to asking God to

kill another person so that my father could get a heart all I did was pray for the heart

that God gave him to be strong.

After church I wanted to nap again but Mthobisi and Neo wouldn’t let me, they kept

hitting me with a ball until I gave in and went to go play with them outside. My mom

asked me to go help her prepare Sunday lunch as we were cooking she asked me

again what was the problem this time I couldn’t contain myself I told her about my

father needing a transplant, she looked worried and said “don’t worry my child, if

there is one thing your father is good at it’s taking care of himself.” I don’t know how

she did it, not hate him after everything he did to her, he left her for a younger

woman but my mom never spoke bad of my dad, it was as if it’s something that

happened to someone else, my mother really did practice what she preached, Naledi

and I struggled forgiving him until she sat us down and told us to, and I think at first

we did for her, then for ourselves it’s true what they say fake it until you believe
it. After lunch Naledi came by and we went to the hospital to go see our father, when

we got there we got told he got discharged, they didn’t even bother telling us, but

when he was on his death bed we were good enough to be called, I was soo

angry. Naledi called Priscilla and she said she was going to call us later and tell us,

if she was in front of me I would have slapped her baby face.

The following morning it was the day I had been dreading since the day I arrived

back from being held captive by Fundani, going back to work. It felt like the first day

of school, I was terrified, I knew I would get hundred and twenty eleven fifteen bucks

questions, sorry I couldn’t resist our president’s numbers but you know what I

mean. Monday was there and I choose to wear black on that day because it felt like

I was going to my own crucifixion and black just felt like a suitable colour. I made

sure I got there early, luckily we still had our office I don’t know how Cindy had

managed but she had somehow managed to keep us in there. I avoided people like

hawks I went straight to the office, Cindy arrived looking biggish, I didn’t want to

comment, women hate being told that they’ve gained weight and there is never a

subtle or nice way of saying it so best thing is act like you didn’t notice. She asked

on how I was with that pity look on her face that I hated and I knew I would be getting

it from everyone I told her I was fine and wish people didn’t give me that sorry look,

she apologized and said she just can’t get over what I had been through, it’s such a

touching story, I thought if you knew the rest of it I wonder what you would think. By

ten o’clock I had told the same story to over fifteen people, I was feed-up. Around

eleven I was called in to Andile my boss’s office when I got there the Indian lady from

HR was there Sadia, she got straight to the point “we understand that you have been

through hell and back and we feel for you we really do, but you have exhausted your

sick leave days, your annual leave days, family responsibility days, compassionate
leave days, everything.” I looked at both of them and said “ohhh, okay.” I was

honestly confused by this conversation, what did all these leave days have to do with

anything. Andile decided to speak “what we are trying to say is you have no days for

anything left.” I was still lost, Sadia took over, “okay Lesedi this is how it works, in 3

years you get 30 days of sick leave and you have finished those 30 days in 1 year in

fact you have gone over the 30 days when we add your sick days from last year. We

have tried covering that up by taking your annual leave and any other form of leave

and you still don’t have enough days.” I looked at them both annoyed now by this

and said “As you both know this was not by my own doing, I did not choose to get

hijacked and be held hostage, be drugged, get raped and every other filth thing that

your minds can not even begin to imagine. It’s my first day back I’m still traumatized

I am undergoing intense therapy and you expect me to worry about leave? Figure

out what you do but I want my full salary or I swear to God I will go to every

newspaper, radio station and tell my story and see which clients would still want to

work with you after that.” I swear both their jaws dropped to the ground, I didn’t wait

for them to pick them up I left.

Two hours later I got a mail from Sadia apologizing and asking me to fill in some

forms, they were going to make a special leave for me, I knew Andile would never

apologize. The rest of the day was actually good, I felt like I took my power back by

shouting at my boss and HR and the best thing I couldn’t get fired because I was still

traumatized, thank you white people for such words that allow you to behave in your

worst behaviour without any consequeses. I spent the rest of the day catching

up. In fact the entire week was catching up on what I had missed and Cindy and I

had an intern which meant we didn’t have to do all the admin, she was a very sweet

young girl who asked a lot of questions and was eager to please, she made us
coffee every now and again. On Wednesday She Rocks conference called all of us

and asked if we could go to some party that her man is playing at it would be in a

Club in Fourways on Friday, we all agree except for Cleo who said she would have

no one to look after the kids and her mom had watched the kids a few days back.

When I got home I told Mthobisi about it and he said he would be working till late and

wouldn’t make it but if I drink too much I should call him he will come and pick me up.

Friday finally arrived, I was actually looking forward to just going out with my friends

and getting some fresh air. I packed clothes that I was going to wear when we go

clubbing later with my girls, you can’t exactly go clubbing with the same clothes that

you wore at work unless if you are a guy. After work I drove to Andiswa’s house we

were all meeting there for pre-drinks, She Rocks was already there with Andiswa we

had a bottle of wine, well they did I didn’t I was trying to cut down on drinking. We

chatted, She Rocks was telling us about the new man her life, the Dj, I loved seeing

her soo happy after all the hardship that she had been through. Andiswa also had

good news she suspected that her Doctor boyfriend was on the verge of proposing, it

was just good news and good vibes all around. Around 10 we drove to the club

which was in Witkopen not too far from Andiswa’s place we could have walked if it

wasn’t for the cold. When we arrived She Rocks called boyfriend, he came and

meet us outside, as we walked in there was a huge poster “Welcome Winter Party”

with the line-up of all the dj who would be playing and a cover charge of R200 per

person, I looked at Andiswa who was looking at the same thing, John said to the

bouncer at the door “they are with me” and in we walked behind him and left people

standing on the line to pay. I smiled and whispered to She Rocks “the pecks of

dating a dj” she laughed. John led us to the VIP section and we had a table

reserved for us, a few minutes later some scrounge looking guy came to our table,
John introduced him to us as the owner of the place, damn if you saw him in the

streets you would want to give him R2 he didn’t have anything that shouted owner of

a club, I guess he didn’t want people knowing. The club was filled with a lot of white

people, the music was nice,the vibe was good. A waiter came and took our

orders. She Rocks man was so cute and sweet each time people came and asked

to speak to him he would first ask She Rocks if he could go, even to go to the toilet

he would ask She Rocks for permission to go. Each time he would ask She Rocks

for permission Cleo and I would kick each other under the table, he was being a

such a sweet boyfriend, he would kiss her hand randomly then introduce her as “my

woman” to people, it was such cute love. When it was his turn to go play he asked if

she wanted to go stand with him by the dj booth, she said no she wanted to

dance. She made us dance to all of the songs he played, by the time he was done

playing our feet hurt, some girls ran to him and said he played well, he didn’t pay

them much attention just went to his “woman”. Cleo and I were dead tired after

being forced to dance for 2 hours, I called Mthobisi and told him I was drunk, I wasn’t

I was just lazy to drive alone such a long distance, he said he would be there in

fifteen minutes, luckily I had left my car at Andiswa’s place and we came with

Andiswa’s car. Within 10 minutes Mthobisi was there and Andiswa also decided to

leave She Rocks said she would be going to another club with John. On the way

home I told Mthobisi about the new man, he didn’t get to meet him because he

waited for me in the car and didn’t go inside. We got home around 2 am, I asked

where he was to have gotten to where I was so quickly he said he was dropping of

something in those areas, and that was that.

Saturday morning I was woken up by a call from She Rocks, thank goodness I hadn’t

drank a lot the night before, my body was just a bit stiff but everything else was
fine. I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying so I hung up and said I would

call her when I got up. She called back immediately; I checked the time it was

already after 10. “Gosh Rock star don’t you sleep?” I asked annoyed by this early

call on my resting day, she was crying “I’ve been exposed…..” I didn’t understand

“Exposed? Who exposed you to who?” the way she was sobbing I jumped off the

bed to try and not wake Mthobisi up, “ babe you not making any sense what’s

going.” She was still crying “Lee, please come help me, something bad happened, I

don’t know what to do.” she was saying this through her tears “oh shit, oh shit,

please don’t tell me you killed John.” I don’t know where that came from but She

Rocks had been sounding like a serial killer the last time when we told Cleo about

her cheating husband, through her crying I don’t think she heard that. I asked where

she was she said she was at home. I removed my pjamas washed my face and told

Mthobisi She Rocks was in some sort of trouble I would call him when I got to her

house and I would be using his car, he was sleeping he just nodded and went back

to sleep. I drove like a maniac on the way I called Cleo and Andiswa filled them in,

we all knew that She Rocks never speaks about problems she always said she only

speaks solutions, she hardly ever cries and for her to have called so early it must be

really bad. I parked outside her complex waiting for the other two to arrive, Cleo

surprisingly got there first she said her husband had the kids, Andiswa arrived a few

minutes later, we went in through security she had sent me the code.

When we arrived at the house we found the door opened, first thing was has she

been robbed, but when I looked around everything looked in place. I found her

sitting on the couch in front of her Samsung Curve Tv, that thing is soo blody

expensive when the hell did she get it I thought, better to be crying in a mansion than

in a shack I read that somewhere. Cleo asked her “what’s wrong Doll?” She Rocks
was still sobbing, she tried explaining “I, I had sex with Jay-Jay, John this

morning.” Andiswa “Damn girl, was it that bad?” Cleo and I both gave her the shut

up look. “Okay babe, you don’t have to tell us if it makes you uncomfortable.” I said,

she put her hands in her face and said “I asked him if he had condoms and he said

yes, and he did, he put it in before, then when we were done I noticed it was not

there, I asked him where it was and he said he removed it during penetration.” We

were all still not getting what this big crisis was and why she was so upset, so she

continued “then he said he is HIV Positive.” I put my hands on my head and I

wanted to scream and all of us just started crying, we all felt so powerless, there was

just tears for a good 5 minutes no words. What do you say to such horrible

news. Then Cleo asked “have you bathed or showered?” She Rocks shook her

head “We are going to lay a rape charge against that bastard, you consented to

having sex with him not to him infecting you with HIV, this is the same as rape”

I have heard of soo many stories where woman had falsely accused a man of rape

and I had always thought that you had to be so sick and twisted to accuse any

person of such a crime. Rape has to be one of the most petrifying experiences any

person can go through and one moment that would be forever tattooed in your brain

and for an innocent man to be accused of that it must be hell,I don’t know how I felt

about sending John to jail, there was a simpler approach to this and I felt we were

over analysing the situation, it was simple, John had to disappear, permanently, and

he more than anyone we had killed before deserved it, no scrap that he was begging

for it. The response from She Rocks was one that we had not expected she

stopped crying and said “No Cleo, sending him to jail would be too easy, I want to

punish him, besides if he goes to jail he might get raped there and infect someone’s
boyfriend, or husband and when that person comes out of prison they spread it to

their partner who might also have another side person who they will also infect and

will just become this vicious circle, we need to make sure that he never ever infects

anyone ever again, and no, we not going to kill him that would be too easy.” I think

none of us had expected that Andiswa said “can we deal with the matter at hand, we

can decide later what happens to your boyfriend, I mean Jay-Jay, we need to get

you to a doctor asap.” Cleo looked at Andiswa and asked “what the hell for she’s

already been infected.” Andiswa explained to us that there is something called Post-

Exposure Prophylaxis in short PEP, it’s mostly given to people that have been raped

and this minimizes the chances of a person getting infected, She Rocks googled it

and read all the information to us about it, “so it’s like a morning after pill basically,

you have to get on the treatment within 72 hours after the deed right?” asked

Cleo. “Guys we don’t have much time, most doctors close at 13:00 on

Saturday’s. We need to leave now. Andiswa shall we go to your man?” She shook

her head and said he’s out of town for some conference and will be back next

week. “Should we call Nothabo then?” Cleo asked, “Hell no, that woman is too

judgemental with her spoilt brat daughter” Women judge each other harshly and

Nothabo was no exception she always acted like she was better than the rest us I

don’t think it’s because she’s a doctor but we all have those friends that just think

they are high and mighty for no apparent reason. She Rocks said she knew of a

doctor in Bel Air close to North Gate and we should go there. We all got into

Mthobisi’s car and I drove, when we got to the doctor there was only one person in

front of us so we didn’t have to wait long. She Rocks was still crying, the girls were

trying to calm her down, my phone rang it was my husband so I went outside to go

answer. “Where did you go?” he asked I told him that I went to She Rocks she had
an emergency and he said he needed to use his car and since I had left mine at

Andiswa’s he was at home stranded, I told him to use my mom’s car and he said

there was no one at home, they had left. “Jesus Mthobisi, can’t you use a cab or

call one of your hundred friends to come pick you up?” I asked annoyed, was he

expecting me to leave my friends and drive back for 40 minutes to give him the car,

no man he was being ridiculous. “Lesedi, I need my damn car now.” He said then

hung up. Oh well, he was just going to be strong because I was not going to drive to

Alberton, he was going to learn patience by force.

I went back inside, it was our turn to go in, She Rocks asked me to go in with her, I

agreed. The Doctor was a young looking guy, he looked so hot I so wished She

Rocks had meet him before the bloody dj. He looked up at her and said “Hey

Zandile, how you doing?” They knew each other? What is wrong with She Rocks

why couldn’t she date him, I looked at her in amazement she smiled and said “not so

good.” She saw the question in my eyes without me even asking her and asked the

doctor “how’s your wife and kids?” That shut me up. He said they were well and

showed us pictures of his daughter in a bike that she wants to sleep in and never

wants to get off it. The doctor had a way of making you feel like everythings

was going to be okay without him saying it. “What can I do for you ladies

today?” She Rocks started crying again I explained that she has been exposed to

HIV virus. I told him that the condom burst while they were having sex the last thing

I wanted was this doctor judging She Rocks and the kind of people she dated. He

asked “when last did you get tested?” She Rocks said about 4 months ago, he

asked if she wanted to be tested again and then maybe also go with her boyfriend

for HIV tests because she could be worrying over nothing. I wanted to tell him that

the bastard is positive but She Rocks replied before words could come out of my
mouth “he doesn’t want to get tested Doc.” The doctor said you can’t force a person

to test if they don’t want, she will just have to show him her results and maybe he will

feel guilty and also want to test. “Can you give her something in case he is HIV

positive.” The doctor said he will prescribe some pills, there was one that she

needed to drink as soon as possible and the others were to be taken for 5 days and

then the ARV for a month. He explained that she will feel sick for the first few days

but she shouldn’t stop taking them, her body will get used to it and the ARV’s are to

be taken at night. He quickly wrote a prescription and said there is a pharmacy

across the road and I should rush there to go buy the medication before they close

while he does HIV tests on She Rocks. I went out and gave the prescription to Cleo

and Andiswa and told them to go buy it before the pharmacy closes and I went back

to the doctor, they were just waiting for the stick to show the results and he said

“Okay, you are HIV Negative, please take try and keep it that way.” We thanked him

and went to go meet the girls at the pharmacy on the way I got an sms from my

husband “how far are you?” I didn’t respond. When we got there the pharmacists

was still counting the pills, when she was done she said that will be R849.10, “say

what? These are supposed to save people’s lives and they so costly. Where are

poor people supposed to get this kind of money from?” I asked, she looked at me

and with not even a sign of a slight smile said “poor people go to government

hospitals.” That shut me up, She Rocks handed her medical aid card and paid with it

and we left , I asked if we could go to Andiswa’s house to collect my car, we drove to

her place as soon as we arrived She Rocks drank the one pill she was told to drink

immediately. The opened a bottle of wine and drank two glasses before she asked if

we wanted some. I declined and said I still needed to drive back home as my

husband needed the car. Her phone had been ringing none-stop ever since we got
to her place and she had been ignoring it. She went took it out of her bag and

answered “What do you want from me John? Is it not enough that you infected me

with your virus, now you have to finish my batry phone too with your endless

calling? Why are you so unfair? What did I ever do to you to deserve this?” She

started crying again. As much as I wanted to stay and comfort her my hot-headed

husband was probably losing his marbles wherever he was so I needed to get

home. I asked Cleo if she could drive my car and follow me home we would come

back after I had dropped of Mthobisi’s car, she agreed. We told Andiswa we would

be back, She Rocks was busy on the phone outside with John, what I would have

done to be a fly on that wall to hear the logic behind John’s craziness.

As we were leaving Andiswa’s place I called Mthobisi to let him know I was on the

way home to drop of his car, he told me not to bother he had made another plan but

he needed something from the car and since I had refused to bring it earlier when he

asked me to I’m going to have to do the drop of myself. He said this with so much

confidence like I knew what the hell he was on about. Before I could ask more

questions about this drop-off he told me he has to go and will text me the instructions

and hung up. “ Really?” I said starring at the phone. Andiswa asked what was going

on, I told her there has been a change of plan and I’m waiting for my husband to text

me then we will go, we went back inside the house.

She Rocks was now done on the phone, she said John wanted to come and see her

so they could talk, Cleo said “I hope you told him there is nothing to talk about and

you never want to see him again.” I turned to Cleo and said “Maybe the guy wants

to explain what happened, during the uhmmm, you know.” Cleo went of “what is

there to explain Lee? He tried to infect her with HIV that’s all there is to it, I say he

should stay away from you Rock Star.” I looked at Cleo in amazement, this is the
same woman who knows her husband is cheating with their nanny and won’t leave

him, mara woman are something else. I said “Cleo she needs to know why he did

it? John was acting like a man that’s inlove I don’t think he would intentionally infect

She Rocks, maybe we missing something here and her avoiding him is not going to

give us any answers or closure for She Rocks.” She Rocks finally spoke “can you

guys stop talking like I’m not in the same room. It’s my decision to make, I am going

to speak to John, he’s on his way here.” Cleo clapped three times and said “I give

up” Andiswa said “I just think that if he’s intentions were to just give her the HIV

virus then he wouldn’t be calling so much and trying to make peace, maybe the

condom burst guys.” She said shrugging her shoulders “the condom didn’t burst he

removed it and I get the feeling that he is used to doing that, I didn’t even feel him

remove it, that’s how smooth of an operator he is, I don’t know if I should be angry or

sad, I just want to tell him what a monster and pig I think he is, so let me have this

moment girls.” Cleo nodded and said “okay but we will be close by in case he tries

to give you TB this time.” We all burst out laughing, trust Cleo to say the blondest

things.

A few minutes later John arrived, he greeted and we all just stared at him, he asked

She Rocks if they could speak outside we all said “No.” He looked at her and asked

“you told them? This is awkward.” She Rocks pulled him by the arm and they went

outside to the balcony and we could hear her screaming and shouting at him but we

couldn’t hear what they were saying, damn these two were worse than Mthobisi and

I, we could hear John trying to get a few words in between. After what felt like hours

of screaming session She Rocks came in again dragging John and said “get

out.” He walked to the door and left. We were all dying to find out what he had to
say for himself this time before we could ask I got a text message from a number I

didn’t know “Drop it in Raleigh Street in Yeoville.”

At first I was a bit confused what was it that I was being instructed to drop in

Yeoville? Then I remembered Mthobisi had said I would have to do the drop-of

myself I wondered what the hell would I be dropping off. Andiswa and Cleo were

interrogating She Rocks about what John had said my mind was not even there

anymore she said something about John saying he was joking when he said he was

HIV positive, he didn’t think She Rocks would react the way she reacted, how the

hell did he expect her to react. So She Rocks said if he really isn’t HIV positive then

why did he refuse to do those rapid HIV tests that you buy at Pharmacy with her

when she suggested they buy them and test and he said he felt that she didn’t

believe him when he said he was negative and didn’t want to test because he was

forced to, I was now getting angry on her behalf. John was playing stupid games, if

he knew he was not HIV positive then why not test and get this over and done with, I

just don’t get men sometimes. She Rocks took out her pills and said she was going

to start drinking them now because the sooner she started the lesser were her

chances of getting infected, as she was about to drink, she saw the instructions and

they said “Avoid Alcohol.” And she had already drank half a bottle of wine so she

said she will start on them the next day but the ARV’s she will drink them in the

evening before she goes to sleep. Then she started crying “I have survived soo

many things, I have had so many close calls with death and this, this is just another

level of fear, I am so scared, I know that one day we are all going to die but I don’t

want to be killed by HIV, I know it sound silly but that’s the one thing that I don’t want

to die from, I have been careful all these years and then some idiot just comes out of

nowhere, oh God this is the worst punishment ever.” We all were quiet, I was too
busy thinking about the sms to actually focusing on what was going on here I blurted

out “Honestly Rock Star I don’t understand why you are being so overly-dramatic,

you got the meds, you are fine, you are going to be fine, can we move on from this

already?” She Rocks stared at me in disbelief “I’m sorry Lesedi if my life means that

little to you. You are more than welcomed to leave. You know there is still a chance

that I could contract the virus even after taking all these pills and ARV’s right? And to

you that’s not a big deal? If this was you in my shoes you would have expected us

to do and say the right things but you just can’t hold yourself for just 30 minutes

that’s just asking too much of you. Some friend you are.” Eish the last part really hit

home, I tried apologizing but she wouldn’t hear none of that, “I didn’t mean it that

way, I’m sorry, of course you are allowed to vent for as long as you like.” I regretted

saying the last part because that’s all she did for the next hour, she spoke our ears

off. I made a vow to self that next time She Rocks gets a boyfriend, we are

drugging him and doing HIV tests on him while he’s passed out, my ears were ready

to bleed from the tiredness of hearing her go on none-stop about this.

My phone rang it was Mthobisi he was his sweet loving self “Honey are you in

Yeoville?” I cleared my throat “errrr, why would I be in Yeoville?” I acted dumb and

asked. “The guys said they sent you a message with directions. Honey I’m on the

way to Mafikeng, I won’t be able to do the drop of, please baby, I know it’s asking a

lot but I need you to do this for me, for us.” Haaibo, this drop-of business was

becoming serious. I said I would do it, I decided that I will just not ask any more

questions because that was not going to help with anything.

“Can you guys accompany me to Yeoville please, I need to drop something off for

my husband.” I asked after I had hung up the phone. She Rocks gave me a funny

look and said “what business does Mthobisi have in Yeoville?” I looked at her and
said “I have no idea, I took his car to come to you without telling him so apparently

there is stuff in the car that needed to be delivered to Yeoville and now he’s on his

way to Mafikeng so I have to deliver.” She Rocks said she needs to take a quick

shower first and Andiswa told her to feel free to raid her wadrobe and wear

whatever she wanted. After she was done showering we left in Mthobisi’s car on

the way Cleo called her husband I guess to check his movement but to her

disappointment he answered and told her how much he loved her. Andiswa said

“your husband should be Xhosa he’s just too good at this lying business to be Zulu,

not once had he ever slipped up, it takes a pro to be this good. He should open his

own school of how not to get caught.” I wanted to laugh but the silence in the car

meant Cleo wasn’t happy with that comment so I acted like I was focused on the

road while trying very hard to hold the laughter inside. Cleo said “Go and ahead and

make joke Andiswa, you will get married one day and we’ll see how funny this will be

when this happens to you.” She Rocks rolled her eyes and said “can we go to

Tandoor when we get to Yoeville? Remember how crazy we used to be about

Yeoville when we were in High School? The weed in that place was out of this

world.” We all laughed remembering how we would save our lunch monies just to go

clubbing at the end of the month in Yeoville. “I don’t think they opened this time of

the day.” I said, I knew once we get there they will not want to leave. “Okay let’s go

to the car wash, the one that has an African Restaurant next to it, I haven’t eaten all

day.” Said She Rocks, “the one in Rocky Street? They sell Nigerian food man there,

I’m hungry but eyy, the last time I ate that food my stomach was upset, I’m getting

Nando’s.” She Rocks said not that one. I exclaimed “You mean Malalaituka? Hell

no, Mthobisi once sent me there to go pay off some cop.” That had come out

unintentionally, they all looked at me and I knew I had just over-shared, Cleo broke
the silence and said “so you think the cop is still there up to this day waiting for you,

please man Lee, do you know how many times I’ve had to pay off cops for bribes but

still drive in the same spot without fear.” She did make a point, so we all agreed that

we would go to Malalaituka for lunch since we were hungry. I drove there and

Andiswa suggested I take the car to the car wash I declined since there were things

that belonged to my husband and could be in any corner of the car and the last thing

I wanted or needed was the car wash guys stealing that.

We went inside Malalaituka, and placed our order, She Rocks ordered pap,

chakalaka and steak, my friends don’t really like eating pap they say it makes them

pick up weight but screw it we were having a rough day so we all decided pap and

steak would do us good. And we ordered a couple of ciders, we ate and were soo

full that all we wanted to do was sleep, that’s the boring thing about eating pap

during the day it feels you up so much that you just want to sleep. We continued

drinking and chatting till my phone rang, I answered “my sister, we are ready for

you.” the voice said “Sorry?” I said “Bring the staff my sister.” Only then did it click

that these were my husband’s people. I said “okay, so where in Raleigh street

should I meet you?” “Go to Becker Street look for a bright yellow building and park

there.” Before I could ask any questions he hung up. “Ladies finish up your drinks

we need to go.” I told the girls. They gulped their drinks with no questions asked at

this stage we were all a bit tipsy, I asked She Rocks where Becker Street was she

didn’t remember but put it on her phone gps, we got to Becker Street and I told them

to be on the look out for a yellow building Cleo spotted it and we went and parked

next to it. I called the number that had called earlier and and it went to

voicemail. We sat there for about 5 minutes when I decided I should call Mthobisi, I

exaggerated and told him we’ve been waiting for 20 minutes and no one has showed
up. He said he will call them, within a minute they were calling me again with a

different number, I told the guy I was parked outside the yellow building, “I see you,

stay on the phone with me I will tell you where to go.” I started the car. “Where we

going now?” Andiswa asked “whose there with you?” was the question from the guy

at the end of the phone, I told him it was my friends. Then he whispered something

to someone he was with and said he will call me back. Okay this was getting

stranger by the second and I didn’t want to show the girls that I was irritated so on

the inside I counted to 10 on the inside. The guy called back and told me to stay on

the phone he will direct me where to go, he told me to turn left on the next street, I

did as I was told I made a couple of turns and found myself in Berea I kept looking to

see if there was a car following us but this was during the day there were lots of cars

around and it was hard to tell which one was following us. When we got close to

Barnato High School the guy told me to stop there. I stopped and the girls asked if

we were done touring Joburg, I laughed and whispered I hope so. The guy at the

end of phone said “call MT and ask him to tell you where he stashed the stuff in the

car.” and he hung up. I called my husband who told me to look in the dashboard

there is a money bag with crumped out papers I just need to put those in a dustbin

and leave. “wait, dustbin?” he hung up. I told She Rocks to grab the money bag and

throw it in the bin a few feet from us. She grabbed it and went to the bin and threw it

in within seconds a police car came out of nowhere and stop in front of her, they

removed the money bag and cuffed her and told her she was under arrest.

“What the fuck is going on?” Exclaimed Cleo

There is confused and there is dumbfounded at that moment I was both. I had no

idea what was going on or what had just happened. You know when you so

shocked that your brain stops functioning and your heart stops beating and you don’t
hear anything that is going on around you, that was me. Cleo and Andiswa were

both talking at the same time, panicking, I was just griping the steering wheel like it

was somehow supposed to protect me or give me answers. After Cleo and Andiswa

realized that they were not getting any answers from me, Andiswa shook me from

the back seat and told me to snap out of it. Andiswa said “Lee, call the guy you were

speaking to and ask him what the hell is going on.” I grabbed my phone with my

hands shaking then remembered I didn’t have his numbers because he kept calling

me with different numbers, I tried explaining this to Andiswa but when I spoke it

sounded like I was speaking gibberish, I couldn’t even understand myself.

Cleo shouted “Lee, pull yourself together, what the hell is wrong with you.” While I

was still trying to find my voice and a right language my phone rang, it was She

Rocks, ”put the phone on speaker” shouted Cleo from behind and I did, I didn’t even

say hello before She Rocks said “what the hell are you idiots waiting for? Follow the

damn police car and come get me out.” and hung up. My mind had just switched off

I didn’t think of that, I started the car without saying a word to the two ladies at the

back, as I was about to drive off my phone rang again, it was a number I didn’t know

I answered “Hello” it was the guy who had given me the instructions before he simply

said “whatever you do, do not go to the police station, you will all end up going to

jail.” “What?” I screamed and he hung up. I switched off the car and got out; Cleo

and Andiswa followed me outside “what the hell is going on Lee?” Andiswa asked “I

need to catch my breath.” I said while stalling for some time to figure the situation

out “Give me the keys you can catch your breath at the passenger seat, you heard

what She Rocks said, we need to follow those cops.” She said while trying to yank

the keys away from me, I wouldn’t have none of that I griped the keys tight and said

“we can’t follow them.” Cleo looked at me and said “you have lost your mind.
We are going, you can stay here if you like but we not going to let our friend go to

prison for shit she knows nothing about, it should be you at the back of that

van.” They were now both about to tackle me for the keys and I knew that this was

one fight I was not going to win so I said “fine I will drive but the guy who called

said…” before I could even finish the sentence Andiswa said “we don’t care about

your dodgy friends, She Rocks needs to be taking the ARV tonight and if she’s in jail

she won’t be able to do that, will you be able to live with yourself knowing that we

could have prevent her from contracting HIV but didn’t because we let her stay in jail,

and you know if she gets arrested now since it’s weekend chances are she will come

out on Tuesday and by then the window period for the ARV’s to work would have

long passed.” They were making a lot of sense and leaving her there would be

cowardly, I decided not to listen to those fools that got us in this mess in the first

place, I drove and by then the police van was out of sight, we drove around looking

for it, Cleo spotted it and we followed it to Hillbrow Police Station, it’s funny how each

time I was at this police station it always had something to do with my husband, I

swear that man would be the death of me. I told the girls we should sit and come up

with a plan, while I was still talking all I saw were both doors opening and both of

them jumping out, I was left there by myself, I didn’t know if I should continue sitting

there or follow I decided to follow. As I was about to open the door my phone rang, it

was my husband I didn’t even give him a chance to speak “She Rocks has been

arrested and the girls are blaming me for it, please, please sort this out.” Mthobisi

told me to calm down and tell him everything that happened. I quickly summarised

everything, he asked where we were now, I told him that we were in Hillbrow police

station and he said we should not go inside, I told him it was too late because Cleo

and Andiswa were already in there, doing only God knows what inside
there. Mthobisi calmly said “you need to get them out, I will take care of She Rocks

but get those two out before they mess everything up.” that was asking for a lot,

that’s like me asking me to move a mountain, I didn’t have enough faith to move a

mountain and those two believed they were human shields for She Rocks and I was

Bin Laden’s daughter.

I went inside the police station and found Cleo and Andiswa bombarding some poor

police officer with questions about their friend who had been arrested a few minutes

ago, the more the guy explained that if it happened a few minutes ago then she’s still

being booked in and they won’t be able to see her, the more they insisted on wanting

to see her, Andiswa was even threatening to call her minister friends, show me one

Xhosa girl who does not know some big shot person and I will show you ten who

do. I grabbed them both by their arms and pulled them outside, and told the police

officer to excuse them they are just stressed out, I could see the relief on his face as

I took them away from him. “Can you two just calm down, Mthobisi is sending a

lawyer to take care of this.” Andiswa looked at me and asked “And what exactly is

this Lee?” I didn’t know how to answer that. “What kind of people are you and

Mthobisi connected with Lee? What the hell was on those papers that would get She

Rocks arrested?” Cleo asked. I shook my head and said “I am as clueless as you

are, I don’t know what was in those papers I honestly wish I knew but I don’t know

what is going on.” We went back to the car and sat there in silence waiting for

Mthobisi’s lawyers to show up, worst part I didn’t even know what the lawyer looked

like he could pass us any second and I wouldn’t know it was him.
After a few hours of waiting my phone rang it was Mthobisi “my guys are inside. Are

you okay?” Was he seriously asking me if I was okay right now. I didn’t respond I

just hung up. A few minutes later I heard a knock on my window, we all looked up I

opened the window “What the hell are you doing here?”

I didn’t know what that fool was doing there nor did I care to know all I knew was he

was not welcomed here, okay I know I sounds like I owned Hillbrow Police station

but the way I was a regular at the place if it was possible I would buy shares and be

a shareholder that way at least none of my people would get arrested, wishful

thinking I know. “I’m here for my girlfriend, she called me and told me she got

arrested I thought she would be in Yeoville Police station so I spent the last hour

there looking for her.” Cleo said “I’m sorry what girlfriend? Because as far as we

know our friend is single and we don’t know you. Why are we even still speaking to

this monster?” Okay that must have cut deep because he looked like he was about

to cry and walked away. Andiswa turned to Cleo and asked “did you have to be that

cruel?” Cleo nodded and said “he needs to know that we don’t like him and we will

not pretend for shit to like him. In fact if our legal system wasn’t so messed up we

would be having his ass arrested right now, I mean we at the right place after

all.” It’s actually funny when you think about it because She Rocks was the victim

yet she was the one behind bars I know the reasons for her being behind bars were

different but the person who needed to be in jail the most was walking around scot

free. A few minutes later two white guys came out with She Rocks walking in

between them.

We all ran out to her we were so happy, none of us paid any attention to the two

white guys she was with. We just hugged her and were so happy to see her out of
holding cells. She thanked the two guys and they went to a parked car that was

nearby and both got in at the backseat and the car drove off, they must be rich if they

even have their own driver I thought. We told her that John was somewhere around

looking for her, she took out her phone to call him and Cleo grabbed it from her and

said “you will do no such, that man is dangerous and you should stay away from

him.” She Rocks rolled her eyes and we went inside the car and I drove us back to

Andiswa’ s house. On the way Cleo asked She Rocks “Did you have weed with

you? Is that why you got arrested?” She Rocks laughed and told Cleo to not be

ridiculous she hasn’t smoked weed since varsity days, she said it was a case of

mistaken identity they thought she was someone else, that lie sounded so much like

something that my husband and his goons would make her say, I knew she was

lying but I wasn’t about to ask her for the truth in front of everyone and ever since I

had gone missing and She Rocks stayed at my place I suspected that she knew so

much more about my husband’s dealings than she was willing to say.

I loved my husband but I was beginning to see his evil ways start to affect everyone

that came into contact with me and him, at times it gets exciting and fun but living

like this for the rest of my life was not it, imagine being a seventy year old granny

and running around dodging bullets. It was time I re-evaluated my life and having my

friend arrested for his shit was one thing that sort of turned the light bulb on for me,

or as Oprah would say it was my aha moment.

When we got to Andiswa’s place I called Mthobisi to tell him to She Rocks was out

he said he knew I asked him when was he coming back he said he was on his way

back I and I told him to please come and fetch his car from Andiswa’s place, I doubt

if any of the girls would be comfortable with driving with me let alone my car after the

drama I put them through. He said he would drop by when he arrived in

Johannesburg. We opened some wine and drank some drank some more, this was

a celebration drinking we even made a toast to She Rocks freedom, the way we

were acting you would have sworn she was jailed for 27 years in Robben Island,

trust woman to exaggerate everything. As the drinks were pumping I started

becoming chatty which is never good. “You guys know how much I love Mthobisi; I

love him with everything that is in me but sometimes, sometimes eish.” Cleo said “I

know exactly how you feel, it’s like you always have to leave a space in your heart

for disappointment when it comes to men but after years of being together you let

your guard down and start turning against your own beliefs for him.” I continued

“And it’s not like he asks you to go against everything you believe in for him, you feel

like you owe him that much after all the years of nonsense he’s put up with you and

you feel like you trust him with your life, but I don’t know guys, I just don’t know

anymore.” She Rocks interrupted “you two have what most of us would give our

right arm for, well maybe not you Cleo.” Then she burst out laughing. Andiswa told

her to shut up she’s drunk. Then she remembered her pills, “oh shit, I need to start

taking the ARV’s the pharmacists said I should make sure I drink them at the same

time every day, so it will be eight o’clock every night.” She sent the alarm on her

phone and we all did the same so we could remind her every day to take her

medication. Andiswa asked her to call John again just to make sure that he’s not HIV

positive because once she starts taking the medication there is no going back you

can’t stop half way; she will have to finish the course. She called him and put him on

speaker “listen John, even if you are HIV positive I will still be with you, I will not

leave you because of your status just be honest with me. Are you or are you not HIV

positive.” John answered “I am negative, I swear, I didn’t know you would take it so

seriously I was joking with you and your friends call me a monster, they hate me, did
they tell you I came looking for you at the police station today? I really love you and I

now realise that I made a stupid joke, it’s just that you always act so tough I didn’t

think you were going to freak out like that. I’m sorry I was wrong.” She Rocks asked

“then why the fuck did you not want to do the test when I asked you to?” the alcohol

levels on her where high. John said something about those rapid tests not being

accurate. She Rocks screamed “you are a liar, that’s why you didn’t want to the

tests you know what the results will be and don’t ever tell me that you love me rather

tell me that you hate me because you are not capable of loving anyone but

yourself.” Before the guy could answer she dropped the call and cut him and said

“I’m feeling very confused about this, my heart wants to believe that he’s not positive

but my head is in doubt.” Cleo said “go with your head girl, always go with your head,

the heart will get you in shit.” To be honest I was also starting to believe John, I

mean if he was HIV positive he wouldn’t have told her and would he still be calling

her and looking for her in police stations? It just didn’t add up maybe he really did

have a bad sense of humour because one thing we all knew was he loved She

Rocks. “Okay guys, I don’t know if I should drink these ARV’s or not. I will be sick

for days after drinking these and for all I know he could be negative.” Cleo quickly

interjected “and for all you know he could be positive, I would rather you be sick for

the first few days of you taking the ARV’s than you sick forever.” I was sitting on the

fence on this one, I honestly didn’t know what to tell her. Andiswa said “let’s

vote. All those in favour of She Rocks taking the ARV’s say i.” All three of us said i,

Cleo’s speech had really gotten to us.” She grabbed the pills and drank them.

Mthobisi arrive a few hours later, he said we needed to go, I was a bit tipsy from all

the drinking, I just hoped that I don’t get stopped by police but Mthobisi said as soon

as we get to the Freeway we should be okay there are hardly ever any cops around
Alberton. We drove and there were no cops around luckily for me, I was driving my

car and he was driving his and I was following behind him. He kept calling to ask if I

was okay. Eventually we arrived home, I was tired as hell and all I wanted to do was

sleep, as we were entering the driveway the gate was wide opened and so was the

garage door, my heart started beating fast, my mom and Victor are hectic about

safety they lock everything, the garage was empty, neither Victor nor my mom’s car

was there. Mthobisi reversed his car out and I knew something was wrong; I also

reversed out so he doesn’t bump me. I didn’t know what to do next, he drove past

the house, I followed, panic seating in heavily, I was even sweating, I followed

behind him he parked at the next street got out his car went to the boot pulled out a

gun and ran towards my parent’s street. I got out the car and screamed “what the

hell is going on?” he ran past me and shouted “I don’t know but it doesn’t look

good. Stay inside the car, I will be back for you.”

“oh God, please not my parent’s please, please father God, please let them be

okay.” I said this line over and over again, my hands and my entire body was

sweating but I was scared to open the windows and my car was off and lights off so I

couldn’t turn on the aircon. While sitting there scared out of my mind my phone rang

I almost jumped out of my skin from shock it was Priscilla my father’s girlfriend with

my voice shaking I whispered “Hello” I don’t know why I was whispering but fear will

make you do things that don’t make sense. “Hi, I’m just calling to apologize for not

letting you know that your dad was discharged from hospital, I just got so excited that

I completely forgot about you guys it was wrong of me and I’m sorry.”

I again whispered “it’s fine, don’t worry about it.” I was trying to get her off the phone

but she just kept talking “well, it’s just that Naledi said you were pretty pissed off

about the whole thing, I mean…” I cut her off “Listen, it’s fine honestly, don’t worry
about it. I have to go. Bye.” I hung up. She called back immediately and I dropped

the call, what was wrong with this girl, I had a crisis in my hands. She didn’t call

back after that; thank goodness she probably got the picture. I didn’t know if I should

call my mom or Victor but thought what if they are hiding under the bed in their room

next thing the phone rings and if there were robbers in the house they find them

because of the phone. So many things were going through my mind, oh my God

Neo, what if he started crying while they were hiding and they find them; just the

thought of my baby being harmed brought shivers through my spine. I now wanted

to run to the house and go see what the hell was going on but previous experience

had thought me to not play hero.

I decided to wait till my husband comes back, oh lawd what if they get him and kill

him and he doesn’t come back for me, that just made me want to run to the house, I

opened the door and started running towards my street next thing I heard gun shots,

I ran back to the car so fast that if anyone was watching they would think they were

watching something on fast forward. I went to the back sit and laid on the floor, I

was so scared I wanted to puke. This stress was seriously not good for anyone, I

laid there only God knows for how long I was too scared to even look up or look at

the time I laid with my face facing down and my eyes closed, until I heard a knock on

my window, I jumped up and screamed “yhooooo” I thought whoever was in the

house had found me and was there to kill me. I decided to continue to keep my eyes

closed and shouted “please don’t hurt me, my eyes are closed I didn’t see you, I

won’t tell anyone.” It was some Afrikaans old lady who stayed on that street she I

heard her Afrikaans voice “meisie is jy okay?” I opened my eyes, opened the door

and pulled her inside “what the hell is wrong with you? Did you not hear the gun

shots? Do you want to die?” I must have shocked her by pulling her in the car, the
old lady looked at me and still asked what I was doing laying at the back seat of the

car, she asked if I was drunk, well in her defence she is a bit deaf and I did smell of

alcohol.

I looked at her and realised she wasn’t wearing her hearing aid, people in the

suburbs don’t come out when they hear gun shots, they hide under their beds and

only once they hear the police sirens do they start coming out. I had to shout the

next sentence to the old lady to make sure she hears me “we need to stay in the car,

there are some dangerous people outside shooting guns.” I made a sign of a gun

with my hand I don’t know how much of that she heard but she looked at my hand

and after seeing the gun sign she ran out the car faster than a 20 year

old. Everybody knows a gun sign you show them that and they don’t wait around to

see the next sign, if I were in her shoes I would have done the same thing, but

leaving me there all by myself was just mean. I locked my car doors again and within

a few minutes I heard sirens, “thank you Lord.” I opened the door and slowly walked

to my house, thank goodness the street lights were on and there was no load-

shedding it would have been dreadful if I had to walk in the dark, when I turned the

corner I saw Police cars, it must have been 3 of them and an ambulance. I had

never seen cops in our area, the crime is very minimum so for soo many blue lights

to be parked in one street is a corncern, my heart was beating so hard, my knees felt

weak I didn’t know what to expect when I get to the house, I could see a few of our

neighbours starting to gather around, typical suburbs people, you can scream for

help all you like no one will come out only once the police arrive will they come out to

find out what had happened, they ain’t about dying for curiosity.

As I got closer one of our white neighbours who is the biggest gossip, he is worse

than any woman I know, his wife even left him because he couldn’t keep his mouth
shut about anything and on top of that the man ate like there was no tomorrow and

never gained weight and instead just kept eating, I know this because the wife used

to complain to my mom about him all the time, and when she left him he put up

banners outside his house written “Kom terug huis toe Marietjie. Ek is life vir

jou.” Which meant “come back home Marietjie. I love you.” the shitty part about that

was that his wife’s car’s number plates were personalised so each time people who

had seen the huge-ass banners outside his house they would scream at her “gaan

huis toe Marietjie.” Meaning “go home Marietjie.” She eventually sold the car and

moved to Durban. Any way there he was running to me huffing and puffing, funny

thing is after his wife left he gained soo much weight, I guess it’s all the junk food he

was eating. “Wat gaan aan by jou huis?” meaning “what’s going on at your house?” I

speak fluent Afrikaans but it’s honestly not one of my favourite languages I just like

knowing it because I can hear when white people gossip about black people since

they automatically assume that if you are black you only know English and trust me it

happens a lot, I walked faster and whispered “ek weet nie.”

He continued walking and puffing next to me trying to keep up. As I was getting

closer to the house I was now become extremely scared wondering what the hell

had happened and where the hell was my husband who was supposed to come

back and get me. When I got to the gate tears just started streaming down my face,

Johan was still next to me the police who was standing at the gate said “sorry ma’am

but no one is allowed inside.” I opened my mouth but before I could say anything

Johan said “she stays here. What happened in there, we heard gun shots. Is anyone

hurt?” The police officer ignored him and said I needed to speak to the officer who is

in charge. My stomach was turning and making all sorts of noises I just wanted to be

in my bed and have my family safe. I was shaking so hard that the police man
suggested that I sit on the floor before I faint, even he could see that I was on the

verge of a breakdown. Johan said he would run to his house and get me some

water.

Most white people know how to keep their boundaries, they were standing across

the street just watching the whole thing I was actually grateful for that because if it

was blacks they would have been breathing on my face asking me questions to

things I had no answers to. Johan came back and gave me bottled water, I drank

half of it without stopping. I saw the people that were standing across the road

pointing at our house, I turned to look back and I saw paramedics coming out with a

stretcher, I ran toward my house, the police man who was at the gate tried stopping

me but try stopping a crazy woman and see what happens, I pushed him to the side

and ran to the paramedics, I had to see who was in that stretcher, when I got there

my heart almost stopped it was Mthobisi he was covered in blood I screamed….

“Ma’am please move back.” I could hear one of the paramedics saying to me but it

was like I was hearing him from far, all I could do was screaming, I was screaming

because I refused to believe that the man in that stretcher was my husband, I knew

what my eyes were seeing but my brain refused to believe it. “What the hell

happened to him? Why isn’t he moving? Mthobisi, Honey, please say something.” I

said with tearing filling up my eyes, the police officer who had been standing by the

gate was now by my side. “Ma’am please you have to let the paramedics do their

job.” They put him in an ambulance and I stood there frozenin time it was as if

everything was happening in slow motion, I heard people asking me questions but I

could not answer them because they sounded like they were speaking in a tin and

their voices would just fade off. I could feel myself become weak and dizzy, I knew

the signs by now and the last thing I needed was to faint, I sat down immediately and
started counting to 10 and breathing in and out while doing it, I was not about to fail

my husband I needed to be strong for him. In the midst of all the drama that was

going on there was still one nagging question, where the hell were my parents? I

stood up and tried to regain my strength and screamed “where are my parent’s?”

I swear people thought that I must have lost my mind because the blank stares I got

were enough to make me think that I belonged in a mental institution. I ran to the

nearest police man and aksed “where are my parent’s? They were inside the house

before the shooting started happening.” He looked at me and asked if I was sure

because they couldn’t find anyone else in the house which made me panic even

more I thought what if they had been kidnapped. “what about my son? He’s only two

years old he can’t be far, please look for him.” Again the stupid lazy cop told me

there was no one else in the house except for my husband “what about the people

who did this to him?” he said they must have ran off before they got there. “maybe

they also ran off with my parent s then.” I said now getting annoyed. “Ma’am like I

said before there was no one else when we got here. Have you tried calling your

parents?” I had not called my parents because I thought that they were hiding from

the intruders and didn’t want the phone ringing and exposing their hide-out, but what

he was saying at the moment was a good idea, I got my phone out the pocket and

called my mom, while crossing my fingers that it’s on, it rang a couple of times with

no answer, I decided to call Victor who said they were with his son who had an

accident “oh thank God. I don’t mean thank God that Mali had an accident, I’m just

happy that you are with him and not here.” I don’t think Victor actually understood

what I was saying because he just continued and told me that Mali’s accident was

not serious, he was fine, he didn’t even get hospitalized. I told him there was some

sort of break-in at our place and Mthobisi had been shot. “Is everybody else
okay? You mom? Neo?” I started sweating again when Victor said he was with his

son I assumed that my mom and Neo were with him too. “Aren’t they with you?” I

asked in a shaky voice. “No, when I got the call about Mali your mom was bathing

Neo and I wanted to rush here so I left without them and Neo’s nanny had gone

home she will be back tomorrow.”

Now I was shaking “Oh God, oh God.” I told the police that my mom was left in the

house by my dad and I think she’s been taken, Victor was still holding on the

phone. I told them her car is not at the garage and maybe they took her car

too. They wanted her car registration numbers I quickly asked Victor who gave it to

me, they said they will put out an alert for her car. Victor said he was on his way

home, I could hear him running to the car, he sounded like he wanted to cry, if a

grown man his age was terrified of the outcome imagine how I felt. I hung up and

tried my mother’s number again, it was still ringing without an answer. The cops

asked if my mom’s car had tracker, I didn’t know, I called Victor who said it didn’t, I

completely understood, they lived in one of the safest suburbs and had never had

any break-ins or hijacking prior to this.

My husband was in hospital and I couldn’t be with him as I had to try and find my

mom and son first. I had to be strong for my husband my mom and most importantly

for Neo. In hard and difficult times like these everybody needs their mother and my

husband was no exception I decided to put my feelings aside and call the person

whom if I was at a train station and I happen to bump into her and a train was

coming, well I’m sure you can imagine the rest. I called my mother in law, She was

her usual, mean bitchy self. “What do you want Lesedi?” she said without even

greeting. “I need your help, I think Fundani has taken Neo and my mother.” I could

imagine the smile on her face after hearing that I needed her help. “What makes you
think that?” I explained how we got home and found the gates and garage opened

and how we now can’t find my mom and Neo and deliberately left out the part of her

son being shot. “I’m sorry Lesedi but I cannot help you. Good Luck.” You know

when someone says something while they are smiling, that was her at that

moment. As she was about to hang up I said “wait, the real reason why I called was

to let you know that Mthobisi had been shot, and it doesn’t look so good.” I said

crying. “Why in the blood hell did you not say so in the first place?” She asked

sounding extremely angry, now witch knew how I felt but I wasn’t done “I’m sorry I

have to go.” “Which hospital….” Before she could finish her sentence I hung up, I

know it was childish but it actually felt good.

She immediately called back, I let it ring, she called again and I only answered the

third time she called “What is wrong with you Lesedi, you tell me my son has been

shot then you just hung up, stop being so cruel and heartless…” I let her huff and

puff for as long as she like I even put the phone away from my ear because my

eardrums were close to bursting from her screams. I think she must have realised

that I was not listening because I heard her scream my name “yes.” I said calmly I

wasn’t sure if she had asked me a question or not but yes just sounded like the right

thing to say. “Lesedi, where the hell is my son?” She asked sounding like she’s

grinding her teeth, I actually didn’t know where her son was, all I knew was an

ambualance had taken him, I told her I would ask the police officers and get back to

her she told me she would wait on the line while I asked the police officers where her

son had been taken. I went to one of the officers and asked if they knew which

hospital my husband had been taken to, he said Clinton hospital, I think my mother-

in law heard because she was already passing the information to another person

and then hung up without even saying goodbye, how rude!

The police wanted to take a statement but I had nothing to say because I knew

nothing, I wanted to call my real father but with him and his weak heart I could just

be sending him to his grave so I decided to stay calm until I knew exactly what it is

that was happening. All I could imagine was Fundani holding my mom and son

hostage. Then it hit me, Fundani was my son’s father he had used my domestic

worker to try and get information about us, he wanted Neo. The bastard had

probably been waiting for the right time to take my son and the day when he came to

our place Neo was not there, he must have somehow found out where my parent ‘s

stay and that my son stays with them he must have taken my son, that was the only

reasonable explanation. Oh God, how did I marry into this family of lunatics?

But what about my mother? Why would he take her? All these unanswered

questions running through my head were driving me up the wall. I tried staying calm,

someone once told me that a person’s character is tested in the stressful situation, if

this was a character test I was failing dismally. Victor arrived, the way my mind was

so all over the place I only noticed that he had arrived when he called my name and

was standing behind me “what happened?” he asked I just threw myself in his arms

and tears started coming out like floods I couldn’t even speak, Victor just let me cry

and did not say anything. Mali his son, my step brother was standing behind him

after I let go off Victor he gave me a hug and “hey Sis, everything is going to be okay

don’t worry.”

I don’t know where other people who find you in a crisis get guts from to tell you that

everything is going to be okay. I mean I haven’t seen him in months and he comes

and just decides that everything is going to be okay, who is he? God? “Thanks Mali.

Are you okay? I heard about your accident.” I said trying to divert the attention away

from me. He down played the whole accident thing and said it was no big deal, they
wanted to know what happened, I tried explaining and tried holding the tears back

which was not easy. The police called Victor to the side and said they needed to ask

him som e questions. I wanted to go to Mthobisi but I couldn’t leave without knowing

that my mom and son were okay, this is the one time where I wished I could split

myself in half and be at two places at the same damn time. “Listen Mali, now that

you guys are here I’m gonna go to the hospital to be with Mthobisi, please, please let

me know of any develpments, I’m going to have my phone with me at all times,

please don’t leave Victor, he needs you, we all need you.” My step brother always

has things to do and can never stay in one place for too long, he agreed that he

would stick around for some time and will call me if there is any changes.

I arrived in hospital in less than 15 minutes and the fact that it was at night and there

were not a lot of cars around helped a lot. I went to the receptionist and told them I

was looking for Mthobisi I was told that he’s in theatre and was directed to where the

theatre was. I saw Mthobisi’s mother with Tsepang, if looks could kill we would both

be dead, Tshepang gave me a hug and told me that the operation was over and that

he had now been taken to Intensive Care Unit (ICU). I asked how the operation

went he said they don’t know it was too soon to tell. I wanted to ask where he had

been shot but decided that my heart would not be able to take it, what if they told me

he was hit in the heart or spine I would just break. He said they were told that they

couldn’t see Mthobisi as yet, so once again it was a waiting game, we sat in the

waiting area with my mother in law not saying anything and every once and again

glaring at me. I decided to be busy with my phone just to avoid my monster in

law’s ugly stares. I sent a group whatsap to the girls and told them what had

happened, She Rocks immediately called and asked if I was okay, I told her I was

fine, and asked what she was doing up so late at night she said she couldn’t sleep
she was feeling extremely nauseas and thinks it’s because of the ARV’s, she asked

if she should come to the hospital I told her it was very late and not safe to drive that

time of the night, she promised to come and see me the following day, I thanked her

for the call. My mother in law was giving me dirty looks while I was on the phone,

that woman has serious issues, I sat there and ignored her completely. I kept

wanting to call Mthobisi to ask him where he was then I would remember that he was

laying in hospital fighting for his life. A nurse came and said “Are you the family of

Mthobis Jumbe?” I jumped up and said “yes, I’m his wife.” Monster also jumped up

and said “I’m his mother.” She looked at both of us and said “okay, the operation was

a success, we were able to remove three bullets out of him.” “Three bullets?” I

exclaimed, my mother in law turned and looked at me and said “Lesedi please, this

is not the time to be dramatic, let the nurse finish talking and stop acting.” Yhooo,

there is putting in your place and there is throwing in your place that woman threw

me in my place shem, I was too embarrassed to even respond. The nurse said we

could go and see him but for a few minutes then go home, we not allowed to

because he is still critical. When we go to his room he was connected to machines,

in his mouth, hands everywhere, I could not stand to see my strong brave husband

looking like that I ran out and didn’t care of what my mother in law will say or

think. Tshepang came to check on me, he asked if I was okay, I told him I could not

stand to see his brother like that, he told me he understood and I should take my

time I can see him whenever I was ready. As much as I couldn’t stomach seeing my

husband like that I needed him to know that I was there praying for him to come back

to life so after five minutes of trying to calm myself down I went back to his room his

mom was sitting next to him crying, I had never seen my mother in law cry, in fact I

didn’t even think that she could cry. I went across from her and held Mthobisi hand
“Hey Honey, it’s me, you are going to be fine, just know that we are all here for you

and we all love you.” Mthobisi’s mom just nooded through her tears she couldn’t

even speak. I honestly didn’t know what to say. A few minutes later the nurse told

us that we have to go, we went out, I didn’t know where to go and I had not received

any calls from my step-brother or step-dad and earlier on the police wouldn’t allow

me in the house so I didn’t know if I was allowed to go sleep there or not so

basically, I was motherless, husbandless, childless and homeless. I called Victor

and his phone just kept on ringing with no answer, I called Mali and he said there

was a situation and he would call me back. Don’t you just hate it when people do

that, if you can tell me there is a situation then surely you can tell me what the

situation is instead of making me wait? Tshepang asked if I was okay because they

were about to leave, I told them to go I was fine and they could go, my mother in law

could not wait to get out of my sight, well the feeling was mutual. They left, I couldn’t

leave the hospital not because I wanted to stay but because I literally had nowhere

to go. I sat there waiting then I decided to call my sister I was taking chances that

woman doesn’t sleep she dies and resurrect the next morning both she and her

husband are the same. Before they moved to Winchester Hills they were staying in

Vosloorus, they once got robbed while sleeping, they removed them from their bed

and took the bed and everything in the house when they woke up the next morning,

house was empty and they were sleeping on the floor that’s how much those two

sleep. As I expected her phone rang with no answer, sometimes I wondered what is

the point of having a sister if she is never there in times of needs, she didn’t even

know our mother was missing. I tried Lwazi my sister’s husband he was also not

answering, just my blood luck. At around 2am She Rocks called to ask how I was

doing I told her that I had nowhere to go, she shouted at me and said “Lee, don’t be
silly, come to my place you know you are always welcome here. Should I come pick

you up?” I told her I would be fine and she shouldn’t worry. I drove to her place and

when I got there I couldn’t even sleep I kept going through the day’s event and none

of it made sense, the fact that my husband was lying in hospital was the most

frustrating of them all, I was helpless I didn’t know what to do, I just wanted

everything to be back to normal, I was soo sick of my dramatic life. I decide to pray

“Father God, if you bring my husband back to me I promise I will be a good wife, I

will get him out of this thug/mafia life, I will make sure we both live a straight and

narrow life with no curves, no more drama, no more corruption, I promise God,

please bring my mother and my son back please dear Lord and I will be a good

faithful wife. Amen” I know I always bargain with God when the ish hits the fan but

that’s how I prayed and I really hoped that God was listening and would bring

everyone back to me. Funny enough after the prayer I feel asleep and had good

dream of my entire family in a park happy and playing with Neo, even my mother in

law was there and we were getting along fine, I was woken up by a call and it was

Mali, the same step brother who had promised to call me hours ago. I sat up in bed

and asked “where the hell have you been? Why didn’t you call me back like you said

you would?” “Hey Sis, sorry man things just got crazy. Are you okay?” the hell was

wrong with this guy asking me if I was okay, of course I was okay, “Mali ofcourse I’m

not okay Mali, my husband is laying in hospital fighting for his life, my mother and

son are missing and only God knows where they are. Have you heard

anything?” Mali sounded like a deflated ballon and said “No Sis, nothing

concrete. Where are you?” I told him I was at She Rocks place in the north, he said

he would call me as soon as there was anything to report and Victor was with him at

his place, thank God Victor was safe and had a place to go to.
Around 8 in the morning I got up and checked my phone, no messages from

Mthobisi or missed calls from my mom, I was really hoping that by now something

would have come up. She Rocks made me breakfast, I could not eat, I could not

stomach anything, I pretended to eat and when she said she was going to shower I

went to the dustbin and threw away the breakfast. I showered and borrowed some

of She Rocks clothes as my clothes from the previous day had blood stains and

drove to the hospital. The nurse told me that Mthobisi was not doing well at all, he

had gone into a comma, tears just started flowing down my face I asked if I could

see him she said the doctor was busy with him and I wouldn’t be able to see him. I

sat at the waiting room crying my eyes out. My phone rang it was the police “We

have found your mother’s car deserted…….” And that’s all I heard everything else

was just a blur, I asked him to repeat what he had just said he said they had found

my mother’s car deserted in the middle of nowhere “what about my mother and son?

Are they okay?” the officer responded by saying “No ma’am we have not found your

mom or kid but your step-dad has been taken into custody.” I almost dropped the

phone “I’m sorry what?” He repeated that Victor had been arrested with implications

to my mother’s disappearance. I hung up the phone and once again screamed.

Screaming in a hospital is never a good idea, I got the weirdest looks from the

people that were around and uncomfortable looks as if I had just gotten bad news

about someone that was in hospital, one white old lady came to me and hugged me

and told me to cry it all out, I didn’t want her stupid hug or to cry it all out I wanted my

mom and son, one of the ladies I had seen at the hospital visiting a person in a room

next to my husband’s room came and asked if it something had happened to my

husband I was crying so hard I couldn’t even answerher I just kept crying the white

old lady just assumed that my husband must have died and said “he’s in a better
place now with no pain.” That just pissed me off I pulled away from her hug and went

outside to get away from all the stares and to get some fresh air. I called Mali and

his phone rang with no answer, I needed answers fast. The two people that I could

depend on in the world were missing in action, I decided to call sleeping beauty aka

my sister, “damn Lee, so early in the morning, couldn’t you wait till we had

breakfast.” She said that without even saying hello. “Your mother has gone missing,

she’s been kidnaped or something I don’t know Naledi, while you too busy worrying

about bacon and eggs our mother is fighting for her life somewhere.” I said crying,

and there was silence, I didn’t know if she had fainted or was still there but I

continued “there was a break-in or something at home, Mthobisi got shot, our mom

and my son are missing and Victor has been arrested.” My sister can be a bit slow

sometimes, I swear deep down in my heart I knew she was going to ask me to

repeat what I had just said but she surprised me and said “where are you now?” I

told her I was in hospital she calmly said she was on the way. I didn’t want to go

back inside after the scene I had caused I decided to go wait for my sister in the car

because it was getting a bit chilly outside, I received a lot of WhatsApp messages

from the girls telling me to stay strong and that they are praying for Mthobisi’s

recovery and for my mom and Neo’s safe return, I wanted to switch off the phone

and just sleep and maybe after I wake up this would all have been a terrible dream,

but I couldn’t switch off my phone, I was expecting soo many calls. I didn’t want to

go to the police station, I didn’t want to hear any more bad news, I had heard enough

bad news to last me a life time, I was going to sit with my husband until he recovered

I needed my mother, I needed her more than ever.

A few minutes later my sister called she told me she was inside the hospital, I

directed her to where I had parked and told her I couldn’t go back inside as I had
caused a scene earlier, “such a drama queen.” She mumbled before hanging up,

she probably thought that I wouldn’t hear that, I didn’t care what she thought of me,

anyone in my situation would have reacted the same way. She found me sitting in

the car and first question was “why didn’t you leave a voicemail when you called last

night? She is my mother too you know.” Was she seriously picking a fight at this

moment in our life when I could be loosing my husband, son and a mother all at

once. “I’m sorry.” I said choosing to take the higher moral ground, okay I didn’t have

a choice I didn’t have the strength to moer her and besides we were in a public

place. She smiled and said “it’s okay, next time send an sms or voicemail if you

know I’m sleeping.” My sister and I both love apologies especially if we feel that

we’ve been wronged, our mom thought us about forgiveness at a very young age

and in order to get that you need to apologise first. “Okay, tell me everything that

happened.” How I wish I knew exactly what had happened, I had half the story but I

told her everything that I knew and everything that had happened she listened

attentively and asked if I thought it was Fundani, I told her “Yes, with everything that

is in me, I know he is connected to this, it smells like him.” she asked if I had a plan

and I told her I didn’t I just couldn’t think, I felt like I was paralyzed, my brain wasn’t

functioning right. “Lesedi, you need to snap out of that depression mode, think like

Mthobisi, if you were Mthobisi and you were in this situation what would you

do? Your husband has connections everywhere, use those damn connections to

find our mother, your son and this bloody Fundani, there is no time for self-pity

parties.” Damn she was right, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself and not

focusing on the bigger picture, I know for a fact that if you put your mind on

something there is no chance in hell that you will not succeed, I needed to work on a

plan fast, for now I needed to put my emotions on the side, when I went missing
Mthobisi didn’t sit at home and cry day and night he worked on finding me, I was

going to do the same, but I didn’t know exactly what he did but there was one person

who was there throughout the whole ordeal, I dialled her number “Hey Lee, how are

things going that side?” “Hey Rock Star, can you come to Clinton hospital please, I

need you.” I asked, “Sure, should I bring you anything?” I told her that I didn’t need

anything; my sister said she would go to the police station to find out what is going

on with the Victor situation, the saying that two heads work better than one is so true,

had I been alone I would have still been acting like a Nigerian woman who has just

found her husband in bed with her best friend.

She Rocks arrived looking like death, she said the medication to prevent her from

contracting the HIV virus was making her extremely sick, I felt bad for calling her to

come to me, I would have gone to her if I knew things were so bad. She asked that

we go inside because she was feeling nauseous and might need to run to the

bathroom at any moment, true to her word in less than five minutes that we were

inside the hospital she was running to the bathroom. The nurse who had earlier told

me that the doctor was busy with my husband came and told me that I could go and

see him, I decided to wait for She Rocks to come out from the bathroom first, while I

was waiting Mthobisi’ s mom called and asked where I was, I told her I was at the

hospital, she seemed surprised I don’t know where she thought I would be, that

woman really believes that I do not love her son, she asked how he was doing I told

her I didn’t know the doctors were still busy with him, I decided not to mention the

fact that he had slipped into a comma, she was hurting enough and as much as I

didn’t like her I believed that no parent should have to go through what she was

going through, she asked me to please tell him that she loves him when I see him, I

said I would and told her I would call her back and let her know how he was
doing. We were actually being civil towards each other which is something that

hardly ever happens but tragedy will always mellow people down. She Rocks cmae

back while I was still talking to my mother-in, I wrapped up the call and told She

Rocks we can go and see Mthobisi. We went to his room and he was hooked to all

sorts of pipes and machines and had bandages everywhere. “I’m starting to hate

hospital, this just reminds me of the time you were in hospital Lee.” I smiled and told

her “I survived and I have faith that he will survive too, we need to speak to him as if

he’s awake, when I was in hospital and you guys would speak to me I could hear

you.”

I started “Hey Honey, I’m here with She Rocks, uhhmmm…” I actually ran out of

things to say, I didn’t know what else to say. She Rocks being the Rock Star that

she is took over without blinking an eyelid, “Hey brother-in law, I just have to tell you,

this hospital dress code doesn’t suit you at all, I mean your complexion is all wrong

for it.” I smiled and whispered a thank you to her, she nodded and continues “By the

way, I’ve been following Mayweather on twitter and he retweeted one of my tweets to

him, I think you were right I am definitely going to be a Mrs. Mayweather plus we

both do boxing so it’s a perfect combination.” I told him that his mom sends her love

and she would come by later. I must say it was very hard for me talking to my

husband and not receiving any response, She Rocks just kept talking and telling him

all the good things that were happening, she never mentioned anything negative not

even things about John, she was so sweet, having her there really made things easy

for me because whenever I couldn’t speak she would just take over and tell him

jokes and silly stories.

While we were busy sitting and talking to Mthobisi my phone rang, it was my sister, I

didn’t want Mthobisi hearing all the drama that was going on it could kill him so I
decided to go and take the call outside and left him with She Rocks. Ohh when I say

my sister I don’t mean Naledi, I mean my step sister Linda, we hardly ever talk, she

only calls when there is an emergency and her dad being in jail definitely qualified

this as an emergency call or so I thought.

“Hi Linda.” I answered trying to sound happy to hear from her “Hello Lesedi, I’m

going to get straight to the point.” This is the thing about me and her no

pleasantries, she calls tells me what she wants and the call ends, we’ve never been

close both Naledi and I tried when her dad married my mom but she made it pretty

clear that she was not interested in having a relationship with us because she felt

like we had somehow stolen her father from her, which was fine with me, one sister

was more than enough. She continued “Naledi told me about how you and Mthobisi

got her husband in line when he was misbehaving. Well, I need you guys to do the

same thing to Rodney, he’s having an affair with a girl by the name of Nelisa, young

enough to be his daughter, worst of all she stays in our apartment in Millpark, maybe

you guys can deal with them both.” WTF was this? Was this woman listening to

herself? What were we the bloody husband straightener’s? First of all it’s not an

apartment it’s a flat, how she loves sounding and acting all fancy. “Linda, does that

big head of yours work?” I asked sounding irritated “Lesedi I know we are not close

and all but you must see this child she is so beautiful, you and Mthobisi are my only

hope, please help me, we are family and family needs to be there for each

other.” What bullshit was this, I was soo angry I had no words for her I just dropped

the phone.

I was soo annoyed by my step sister’s call that I couldn’t go back inside and see my

husband with those negative and angry vibes that I had, I decided to calm myself
down a bit before going back, I went to the hospital cafeteria to get myself some

energy drink and got She Rocks some water as I was walking back to my husband’s

room Linda called again, the stupid woman doesn’t give up “Listen Linda, you need

to sort your problems with Rodney by your damn self. How in God’s name are you

going to be defeated by a small child, and why the hell did you allow her to stay in

your place, but now that she stays in your place you know exactly where she is so

why the hell don’t you just go there and beat the crap out of her, sometimes actions

speak much louder than words so act and stop being such a baby. Grow some balls

dammit” Tjeeerrrr she was pathetic, honestly. She thanked me and hung up, stupid

woman didn’t even ask about her dad, did she even know, oh well, it wasn’t my place

to tell her, my big mouth sister Naledi will tell her, if she could tell her about what

mthobisi did to Lwazi then she could definitely tell her about her father being in jail. I

hate dealing with other people’s problems especially when I have my own mountain

to climb, people’s problems are tiring and draining after that call I was drained and

just wanted to sleep, that’s how I deal with problems I sleep but there was no time to

sleep, I gulped my energy drink down before She Rocks could preach to me about

how bad they are for my health and went inside and handed her the water. She said

the nurse had come to tell her that we need to finish up because it was not yet

visiting hours they had done us a favour. I kissed my husband on the cheek and told

him that I loved him and we left. I hadn’t spoken to my real sister to find out about

the whole Victor thing and not the fake one that only calls me when she needs

something so I decided to call her “Hey Lee, I’m still at the police station, can I call

you back in 10?” She didn’t even wait for me to answer she just hanged up. We

decided to go to a nearby restaurant and grab some early lunch as we were both

hungry, I couldn’t eat, my stomach was in a knot just thinking of all the drama that
was going on in my life. While we were sitting down after our food had come and I

was just playing with it, I asked She Rocks “when I went missing there were things

that Mthobisi did to find me, you were staying at our place, please friend I need you

to tell me every little thing that you might have seen or heard anything, I need to find

my mom and son and I know Fundani has them.” I said pleading with her. She

Rocks looked away trying to remember then said “a lot of shit went down when you

had disappeared; there was a German guy who scared the crap out of me.” I looked

at her and said “okay go on” She looked at me and said “it was nothing concrete

that he said he just gave me instructions on what to say to the cops and what not to

say.” I nodded hoping she would continue but she didn’t “what about where I was

found?” I asked “Well, that’s another thing we didn’t find you where I said you were,

we went to a house in some area that I don’t even know actually.” I jumped up

excited and hugged her “Oh my God, do you realise that could be where my mom is

being kept. We need to go there now.” She looked at me with fear in her eyes “Lee I

love you like a sister but that’s one place I am never going back to, I wet my pants

from fear when I was there. I’m sorry mara angiyi lapho mina.” I had to find a way to

convince her I was not going to give up that easily, she finally said “besides it was

dark, I had to switch off the lights while driving there and I swear to God I don’t know

where there place is nor do I remember how we went there, I doubt Fundani would

be stupid enough to keep your mom in the same place that he kept you in.” She was

right about that. Her eyes popped out “there is another option though. Your maid,

she was dating him, we find her, we find him.” I told her no one knew where she is

she had just disappeared into thin air. “When I was staying at your house she used

to talk a lot about her boyfriend she said he had a house, shit I can’t remember

where, that girl talked too much I would sometimes zone out while she’s talking.” I
looked at her with pleading eyes, “please try and remember, please.” She smiled

and said “She said he was renting a place for both of them, well mainly for her

because he had another house somewhere with his wife but she suspected that it

was his house and just didn’t want to tell her. He was renting the house

in Mauritius.”

“Say what? You telling me she is in Mauritius now? How on earth are we going to

find her there?” I asked starting to loose hope. “No, no, no, that’s what I also thought

when she told me but it’s actually a name of the street, but for the life of me I can’t

remember the area where this Mauritius street is. She showed me the house on

google maps but I honestly cannot remember the area, I was not interested when

she told me and showed me.” Another stumbling block, I asked if it was not Cosmo

City because Mthobisi once told me that the whole areas streets are named after

countries. “Yes, that’s what she said, it’s Cosmo, I even thought of Cosmopolitan the

cocktail when she mentioned it.” she said , “okay, eat up fast we going there

now. Do you think you will recognise the house if you see it?” I asked feeling

anxious “I don’t know.”

As soon as she was done eating I paid the bill and we drove to Cosmo City in the

North. The main road in the area is South Africa Road, and just like my husband

had said the streets were really named after countries, there is Sierra Leon Street,

Angola Street, Niger Crescent you name any country and it’s there, we had got to

some shopping complex that had Shoprite and decided to park She Rocks car there

and drive around with my car. We drove to Mauritius street thanks to the GPS, the

street had really nice looking houses, you wouldn’t think this was a location, we

drove around and the street was actually longer than we had thought and We

stopped at about 5 houses that She Rocks thought looked like the one she saw on
the picture to be honest most of the houses looked the same, we drove up and down

about 7 times when I spotted Fundani driving out of a house, my heart almost

stopped I whispered to She Rocks as if he could hear us “that’s him, I’m going to

follow him.” She too was shit scared her voice wouldn’t even come out she just

nodded, I kept a distance and followed behind him, he drove out of Cosmo and into

some area that had squatter camps luckily it was still during the day and we could

see where we were going, She Rocks asked Siri on her iphone where we were and it

said we were in Honeydew. We followed behind him trying very hard not to loose

him there where a lot of taxis around who kept trying to cut me off but I still managed

to stay behind him. We got to a stop sign her turned left and a taxi came speeding in

front of me and just stopped right in front of me, people got off I couldn’t go around

the taxi as there were cars, I impatiently waited, She Rocks kept on hitting the

hooter, I told her it was useless taxi drivers just ruled the roads and if you hoot they

take even longer to move. Eventually the last person got out and he drove off, which

gave me a chance to go through by the time I had turned left there was no sign of

Fundani we had lost him, we both looked around and there was a lot of cars and a

shisanyama with loud music and a lot of drunk people around, I was so annoyed, as

I was driving slowly trying to see if I could spot Fundani anywhere there was a knock

on my window, She Rocks jumped so high she almost hit the roof, I laughed and

opened the window slightly the guy said “please park over there ma’am you are

blocking the traffic.” I parked where I was told to park on the side of the road She

Rocks looked at me and said “now what?” I rested my head on the starring wheel

trying to think of another plan and that’s when we heard another knock on the

window this time it was the one and only Fundani, the window was still lightly
opened “Lesedi Jumbe, what the fuck do you think you are doing following me

around like that?”

She Rocks quickly answered “We here for the meat it is a shisanyama after all. Don’t

flatter yourself.” He ignored her and said “I’m going to ask once only and you better

answer me before I break this car window and pull you out with your hair.” Listen,

you can do or say anything but never threaten a black girl with her hair these damn

weaves are expensive and very painful when pulled out, just the mention of being

dragged with my expensive weave gave me a headache and shivers, I quickly

opened the car door hitting him in the process I don’t think he was expecting me to

get out of the car, he screamed “ouch” I mumbled a sorry, She Rocks whispered

“what are you doing? Stay in the car Lee.” It was too late I was already one foot out

and she had no choice but to follow. We stood outside with him glaring at me with

his ugly piercing eyes okay not ugly but scary “I know you have my mother and son

and I want them back.” I saw confusion on his face, damn this guy looked exactly

like Mfundo it was as if I was looking at Mfundo and that was just super creepy.

“Do you mean your mother in law?” he asked still confused “No Fundani, my own

mother.” He laughed and said “is this supposed to be some kind of a joke, what

would I want with your mother, the only bitch I want is your mother in law and I want

to kill her with my bare hands, she is a witch and deserves to die.” The look on his

eyes said he was genuinely telling the truth. I didn’t mention my son being missing

too I didn’t know what reaction I would get about that and I knew if he didn’t know

where my mom was then he definitely didn’t know where Neo was. Now I felt

foolish for chasing him around like that when he had nothing to do with my mother’s

disappearance, and this meant I was now back at square one and as much as I

didn’t want to believe that Victor had something to do with this now he was becoming
my only suspect, I have watched enough crime channels to know that husband’s kill

their wives’ for insurance money all the time. Could Victor have had my mom killed

for money, the world we live in has us questioning the people that are supposed to

be our partners, soul-mates and confidants?

I was not done with Fundani “what about my husband?” He looked at me with his

eyes wide opened “Is he missing too?” For a second I could have sworn that I saw a

bit of caring in his eyes but that was for a second then he was back to his usual cold

self “No, he was shot and is in hospital in a coma.” She Rocks answered

annoyed. He looked at me and said “is that true? When did this happen? Your

husband is stupid, I have tried warning him to stay away from…” he quickly stopped

himself “From what?” both She Rocks and I asked “The Germans.” He said then

quickly asked which hospital he was in “Why so you could go finish him off?” I asked

angrily. He looked away and said “Mthobisi is my blood I would never shoot him and

live him alive that would just be cruel, if I had anything to do with this he would be

dead as we speak.” That just sent chills down my spine; he said that without blinking

like this was a normal everyday thing, how did I get associated with such people in

my life? She Rocks said we should leave because we were not getting anywhere

with him, as I was about to go in the car I turned and looked him in the eyes and told

him “Tell your girlfriend to bring my furniture back.” He smiled and said it was

already back at our house. She Rocks and I drove back to the Shoprite Shopping

complex to collect her car, I asked if she could come with me to the house in

Midrand to see if everything was really back like he said we drove in a convoy to

Midrand.

We got to the estate and I opened the door and all the furniture was back in the

house, it was not in it’s rightful place but it was back, everything that had gone
missing was there, what game were these two playing I wondered. She Rocks said

we need to call a locksmith urgently to change the locks of the house, she googled

one and called while I went upstairs to go check and make sure all was still well up

there. I came back and told her everything looked fine, she said locksmith was on

his way he will call when at the gate and I can send him the code. Within 20 minutes

the locksmith was calling saying he is at the gate, I sent him the code and directed

him to our place, he came and changed all the locks in the house even the ones to

the bathrooms that’s how paranoid I was, I paid him his money via ewallet and he

left. After he was gone She Rocks and I sat there planning on the net step of action I

asked “Do you think Mthobisi could have pissed off the Russians and they did

this?” she shook her head and said she didn’t know, this was the thing about a man

who had soo many dealings and secrets, now he was lying in a hospital bed with all

his secrets, dammit this was frustrating. My sister called she said “Victor has been

released; the stupid police arrested him because he was tired of answering their

questions and they felt that he had something to hide.” The police can be so arrogant

and stupid, imagine the hours they wasted, I was soo bloody annoyed. As soon as

she got off the phone Linda phoned “Why the hell didn’t you tell me that my father

had been arrested?” Was this woman serious? I didn’t have the time or strength for

her nonsense I hung up the phone and luckily this time she didn’t call back.

I still needed to shout at Naledi for telling Linda about what Mthobisi did to her

husband why the hell couldn’t she keep her mouth shut, I couldn’t say it in front of

She Rocks I had to wait till I saw her face to face and make her apologise like she

made me apologise for not sending a text message. Now all the people I had

suspected were cleared it had to be the Germans and one thing I have heard about

those people is you don’t mess with them. Mthobisi once told me that when
Germans want you they come for you and only you, there was a guy who owned a

shop and he had somehow pissed off the German he never told me how the guy

pissed off the German but he said they made sure that his shop was empty and

made sure all the employees had knocked off and no customers were around and

the guy was hardly ever alone in the shop but they were patient and they waited for

months for him to be alone and it had to be done at his shop to send a clear

message, there one very unfortunate day when he was alone they bombed up the

place with the guy inside. So knowing what I knew about the Germans if it was them

they would have made sure that he died so this didn’t feel like their doing. As we

were sitting at my house wrecking our brains trying to figure out who could be behind

this I got a call from a landline number “Is this Lesedi Jumbe?” the voice asked I said

yes she told me she was calling from the hospital and they needed me to come there

urgently, my heart almost stopped, I didn’t ask why I just said I was on the way, I told

She Rocks who said we should hold hands and say a prayer even she could feel

something was not right, I told her we will pray on the way to the hospital, I just felt

that it was too late for prayers, whatever happened had already happened and there

was no reversing it.

I told She Rocks that I wouldn’t be able to drive and suggested we used one car, we

used her car and she drove so slow I could see she was shaking fearing what we

would hear when we get to the hospital. I didn’t know if I should call Mthobisi’ s mom

to meet us at the hospital or just first hear what they have to tell me and then call her

after, I decided to call her after I got the news at the hospital, that woman can be a

pain when she wants to be. When we arrived at the hospital I asked She Rocks to

say a short prayer and the way she was soo scared she couldn’t even pray all she

said “Father God please let Mthobisi be okay. Amen” Shortest prayer in the history
of She Rock’s prayers, I wanted to ask is that all but decided to let it go, we walked

out of the car and went inside the hospital, I could feel my knees getting weaker by

the second, we went straight to his room without asking any questions and when we

got there his bed was empty and all made up, my heart just dropped I sat down at

the chair next to his bed and tears just rolled down, She Rocks was also crying she

said she would go and find a nurse my phone rang before she could go I answered it

was a police man “we think we might have found your mother’s body.” I was sure I

had not heard this man correctly “I’m sorry my what.” He continued “Your mother’s

body has been found, we need you to…..” before he could even finish that sentence

I fainted.

In my drunken status maybe drunken is a wrong term to use, in my half-dead status I

could hear She Rocks frantically trying to get help, poor girl didn’t know what to do

with me not that I blamed her, if I was her I would also not know what to do, this

whole situation was a mess. My mother dead, my husband dead all in one day, had

God really deserted me? The gods had turned their backs on me, this had to be

some sort of punishment, I was being punished for killing two people because now

two people had also been taken away from me it had to be karma, I’ve heard she

was a bitch but this, no this was beyond being a bitch, it had to be witchcraft yeah

that’s what it had to be, someone was out there with dolls of me and my family and

she just kept killing my doll family just to get back at me, for some reason there was

only one person I could think of that would make a perfect witch I could even imagine

her with a doll pulling my arm and stabbing me in the stomach with a needle,

Ngwako, Mfundo’s wife it had to be her, that witch needed to be burnt at the stake.

“Lee please get up.” I slowly opened my eyes, She Rocks was standing there with

two nurses. “What the hell happened here?” one of the nurses asked I remembered
the call about my mother and said “my mother, my mother, she, she is….” Then fell

again the funny part is this time I was fully conscious it’s just that my kneesWe

walked the hospital halls slowly following the directions that we had been given at

reception; I swear I looked in every ward just to make sure we didn’t miss her. When

we got to the room that we were told she was in fear and doubt hit me at the same

time, what were we going to do if this was not my mother, what if this was some

imposter who had heard of our misfortune and was just looking to cash in, remember

Mgqumeni the Kwazulu-Natal Maskadi singer who died and someone else came and

claimed to be him, he fooled everyone, people all over South Africa came to witness

this miracle, even his wives were convinced that it’s him until they did the DNA tests

and his lies were exposed, thinking of that story made me want to laugh because

Mthobisi and I followed it like our lives depended on it and we would keep updating

each other on any new information that we heard, this was during the simple times in

our lives, before the struggles. Another thought came to my head, what kind of a

friend would I be if I left my friend to face danger all by herself, if she were in my

shoes she would never leave me there she would come fight for me, mara Cleo

leyena waphapha, why couldn’t she just call the police like a normal suburban wife,

why was she acting all ghetto with thugs, they were probably going to take that knife

and cut her up in pieces with it. I went back to the kitchen to go look for something

that could help me fight them off even though every fibre of my being was saying run

to your car and drive home. All I could find where plastic cricket bats that belonged to

her kids, shit man, I grabbed a pan and followed behind her, nshe looked at me and

whispered “are you planning on frying something?” I signalled for her to just go and

shut up, she move to her bedroom door and opened it with so much force, what I

saw in there will forever be engravers d in my memory, it was Cleo’s husband with
their ex-nanny she was on top ridding him like there is no tomorrow, I stood there in

so much shock that even the pan that was in my hands fell on the floor. Finding out

that your partner is cheating has to be one of the worst things that could ever happen

to a person but catching them red handed on the act is some traumatic shit that

would need years and years of therapy to get over. As soon as the door opened the

girl jump off Cleo’s husband and stupid girl instead of running for the door she

started looking for her clothes, and was still putting on her panties when Cleo went

for her with soo much force she stabbed her in the stomach I was still standing there

with my mouth wide opened, Cleo had just literally stabbed the girl in a stomach, I

couldn’t move, her husband was also trying to get dressed but when he saw that

Cleo had just stabbed the girl he was like “baby it’s not what you think I promise”

Hebana was this man denying what had just happened when we had seen the whole

thing happen right in front of us, this denying code that men have has got to have a

limit if you were caught in the act just apologize and don’t deny because the denying

pisses woman off even more. Cleo tried pulling the knife out of the girl but it seemed

like it was stuck, she looked at me and said “come help me pull this shit out” I

couldn’t move I was frozen, she yanked it out and it came out and the girl screamed

from the pain, her husband came from behind her and tried holding her back, she

fought him off and turned around and swung the knife at him, he moved back and

she missed, she tried again and again he moved back and she missed then he

grabbed her arm that had the knife and twisted it behind her, this gave the girl the

opportunity to run, she ran past me as I was standing by the door, I didn’t even try

stopping her, she was bleeding and was holding her clothes and ran out. Cleo

screamed at me, “hit her in the head with your pan.” I was still frozen I couldn’t even

see where the pan was. I whisper “I can’t” Vusi was still twisting her arm the knife fell
and as soon the knife fell he let go of her hand as soon as he let go of her hand she

jumped the bed, Jesus the power that anger gives people is amazing, she landed

next to me at the door and pushed me to the side then ran downstairs, Vusi was

busy getting dressed, I followed Cleo downstairs she was soo fast she literally

jumped four stairs at a time, I was right behind her but slower. The stupid girl was in

the kitchen getting dressed, what is it with this getting dressed nonsense, why the

hell not run for your life, you will get dressed when you are outside and safe but I

guess she feared being seeing by the neighbour’s and since she did stay in the area

people knew her and the stigma of being seeing running out of a married man’s

house naked is not one that you want and once people see that they just know

exactly what is going on. As she was busy getting dressed she had managed to put

her jeans on and was now putting on her bra Cleo shouted “you still here bitch?” she

looked at Cleo and you could see the fear in her eyes, as Cleo went for her the girl

grabbed the bottle of wine that we had put on the table and were planning on

drinking it. Cleo didn’t seem to care that she had a bottle of wine in her hand or

maybe she didn’t think she would do anything with it Cleo went for her, everything

was just happening so fast, as Cleo went for her she hit her on the face with the

bottle of wine and it broke in Cleo’s face, I freaked out “oh my God Cleo, are you

okay, I said moving close to her, all she did was wipe the wine and blood with her

hand like this was no big deal. Cleo then grabbed another knife and this time went

for the girl’s face she went stabbed her on her left cheek and while the girl was still in

shock of that she went for one of her breast, Jesus Cleo was planning on butchering

the girl right there and then. Cleo’s face was now dripping of blood and red wine I

didn’t know what was what anymore but I knew this had gone too far I needed to

step in and stop this nonsense. I screamed “Cleo, stop this now, look at you, you are
bleeding.” Cleo was not done she was not going to let a bit of blood stop her, Vusi

finally came downstairs fully dressed I don’t think he realised the mess that he had

created until he laid eyes on his girlfriend and saw what she looked like , he grabbed

Cleo and twisted her arm again the knife fell and his girlfriend got an opportunity to

run outside, I was grateful to Vusi coming downstairs because Cleo would have

killed that girl. I knew people got angry when they were cheated on some would even

go as far as burning their partners with hot water or beating the shit out of them both

but this, this was another level of crazy. Cleo shouted at me “Lee, grab another knife

and let me kill this bastard.” Vusi looked at me, let go of his wife and ran, he knew if I

had to choose between him and my friend I would definitely choose my friend. As he

was running out he grabbed Cleo’s keys that were on the table and locked us inside.

I took Cleo to the bathroom and helped her washed her face, the damage done by

the wine bottle wasn’t too bad, the girl had hit her above the eye and the wound was

not deep, we cleaned it with Dettol and I put her kids band aid on the wound. Then

we had to figure a way to get out of the house, Cleo said there was no way in hell

she would be sleeping in that house, she packed a few of her clothes and I told her

she could come stay at my place. We tried windows but they had burglar proof I

suddenly realised that maybe Vusi didn’t lock us up because he was afraid we would

go after him, he locked the door so he could go and get the police to come and

arrest our stupid asses. How did I manage to get myself in these stupid,

unnecessary situations, it’s like disaster always waited for me to be around then

would struck. Why couldn’t this have happened while Cleo was alone, it had to wait

for me to be there, now I would also go to jail because I was a bloody accomplice

and this was not evenWe followed my mother in law outside, she had come with a

Toyota Fortuna, I didn’t even ask who it belonged to, with my in laws you are safe
when you don’t know, there was a white man at the front seat and a black man

driving. My husband was sitting at the back the white guy recognised She Rocks he

greeted her, well not greet like the normal people kind of greet, he nodded his head

at her and She Rocks mumbled “Hi”, weird but those are my husband’s people and

since she had stayed in our place during my absence I figured she knew a lot of my

husband’s people. I hugged Mthobisi then the girls and I started faffing over him

asking him if where he was hurting and where the pain was etc. This seemed to

irritate my husband a bit but he was trying very hard not to show it. Cleo asked “so

where is your wheelchair?” He gave her a stern look and said “Come stand in front of

me so I can slap you.” We all laughed and at that moment I knew my husband was

back and I felt a bit safe. She Rocks stood on his left whileMthobisi said “She? There

is a She that you killed. Who are you because you are not the woman that I married?

What happened to the sweet innocent Lesedi who doesn’t go around killing people?”

I had no response I had no come back, he was right; I was an evil monster who

watched while her friend butchered another human being in front of her. Mthobisi

was still going on telling me crap on the phone I decided to hang-up, truth hurts and

sometimes not hearing it is much better. I went back to the office, I couldn’t work my

mind was all over the place, I could not focus on a single thing. My mom called. I

was so happy to hear from her, I asked her how she was doing, how she was

feeling, all these questions at once; I wasn’t even giving her a chance to answer.

“Baby girl, can you come and see me when you knock off, bring Zandile and

Cleopatra with you.” My mom only calls m baby girl when something is seriously not

right, I asked if everything was okay and she said “why wouldn’t it be?” She was

acting very weird I agreed, I called the girls and told them about the conversation

with my mom, they said it was probably no big deal maybe she missed spending
time with us and anyway Mthobisi wanted to see Neo and they were planning on

going there, we agreed to meet at my mom’s place and they were going to come

with Mthobisi. I then whispered, “Cleo, I think you killed that girl, but we will talk

about it later.” Cleo shouted “in that case we should celebrate.” They agree that we

will discuss it in more details later, I went back to work but at that stage the nerves,

stress, worry, panic anything negative had me by the balls in other words I was shit

scared, each time the work landline rang I would start sweating thinking it’s reception

calling to tell me the police are downstairs to arrest me, Cindy kept asking if I was

okay, and I would just nod, how do you even start explaining to someone like her

what you have done and how at any minute the police could come and arrest you

and how you have soo many skeletons and I mean real skeletons all over

Johannesburg. Around four Cindy suggested that we call it a day, to say I was

relieved would be an understatement, I wanted to run out of there and never come

back, but I walked like a lady, smiled and waved goodbye to people, acted like all

was well in the world even though I was dying inside, but woman do this all the time

it’s just one of those things that God gave us, an ability to pretend. I finally arrived at

the parking, jumped into my car and headed straight to Alberton to my mom’s house.

When I arrived at my mother’s house the girls and Mthobisi were already there. I sat

with my mom chatting about how she was doing, she said she was well but just

didn’t feel safe anymore in the house so Victor had installed cameras and an alarm

system, I smiled and said he was such a sweet and loving husband. Mthobisi hardly

spoke to me, I didn’t get what his problem was if anyone should be understanding

about this whole situation it’s him, but he was there acting all high and mighty, I

decided to ignore him back, he had more shit to hide than me and should be grateful

that I mind my own business I don’t go looking into his.

After an hour of sitting and chatting with everyone and with my mom not saying why

she wanted us there and neither of us wanted to ask her why she had called us there

we all just assumed that she had missed us and wanted to see us, there was a

knock at the door, my mom went to go open the door, it was Cleo’s mom, I expected

to see Vusi behind her or Vusi mom or Vusi’s uncles, black couples love family

meeting after they had fucked up, but she was alone. We were all surprised, we all

stood up and hugged her. Cleo was irritated to the core she and her mom do not

have the best relationships; they only speak when there is problems or emergencies.

We all sat down, and my mom said that she had called us there because Cleo’s

mom had been trying to get hold of Cleo and all of us, she has something she would

like to discuss with all of us. I wondered how Vusi cheating on Cleo affected the rest

of us, why didn’t she just speak to her daughter in private without the rest of us

hearing their dirty laundry, not that we didn’t know any of it but sometime privacy is

needed just for control.

Cleo’s mom spoke “it’s good to see all of you my children again.” she tried smiling

but couldn’t instead she started crying. Cleo snapped at her, “oh mother stop being

so dramatic, Vusi and I will sort this out in our own way, I don’t need you interfering.”

Her mom stopped crying and looked at Cleo and asked “Are you and Vusi having

problems, oh Cleopatra what have you done to that poor man? I told you to stop

treating him like a child.” Cleo was not going to take that laying down she asked “ooh

wow mom, you don’t even know what the problem is and already you blaming me,

the bastard cheated on me and you want to blame me for it?” Cleo and her mom

know how to go off at each other and once they start trust me it takes a very, very,

very long time for them to stop. She Rocks whispered to me “wake me up when this

fighting is over, I’m falling asleep.” I looked at her and told her to stay the hell up if
she knew what was good for her. She stood up, trying to calm the situation and

asked “would anybody like some tea or coffee.” Cleo’s mom answered “no my dear,

please sit down, I needed all three of you here, to tell you, well to also ask you

something.” She Rocks sat down, Mthobisi asked if he should leave and my mom

said he should stay he was part of the family, he stayed we all listened as Cleo’s

mom spoke “remember our house, the one we used to stay in a few streets away

from here?” We all nodded, Cleo and I became friends because we stayed in the

same area she stayed a few streets away from my parents’ house. When we were in

tertiary Cleo’s mom sold that house and they bought another house in Randburg.

She continued “Well, I got a call from the police, the new owners of the house

wanted to use the space at the back yard to make a pool, they hired a company to

do that for them, as they were digging they found a skeleton, bones of a person.”

She paused and tears just rolled down her face, she continued “for years and years I

thought my husband had left me, one day we woke up and he was gone without a

trace, I knew he couldn’t have just left me that man did love me.” she was again

crying. Shit, shit, shit, I swear my heart stopped beating, all our jaws were literally

dropped to the floor. She Rocks stood up and signalled that she wanted to throw up

and ran to the bathroom, the rest of us sat there in silence. I couldn’t even look at

Cleo, my mom was comforting Cleo’s mom, when She Rocks came back Cleo’s

mom continued this time she was calm “When Leo disappeared the three of you

started acting strangely, there was always whispering and each time I would enter a

room you would stop talking, Cleo you hated him and at first I thought it was because

you thought he was trying to replace your real dad but it was more than that, there is

something more, the police asked me if I suspected anyone and…” she paused “I

need you girls to tell me what happened to my husband, how did he end up dead in
my backyard? All these years…” At that stage I was shaking like a leaf. Never in our

wildest dream did we think that this day would come where we were faced by our

parents like some teenagers and asked to confess our crimes. We were all silent for

a good five minutes. “You don’t have to tell me anything, I won’t force it out of you,

but the police will, I have named the three of you as the suspects, the police are

investigating you.” Ohhh shit, that is why Mthobisi’s connection said I was under

investigation for murder, Jesus Christ what had Cleo’s crazy mother done. She had

just opened a can of worms, she had just unleashed a bomb that was about to blow

up in all of our faces but most of all it was about to blow her face I didn’t know what

the other two girls were thinking but all I knew was if she knew our reasons for doing

what we did, God help us all…..

“I have never been married, I don’t have kids and I would love to get married and

have kids one day, you sending me to jail is just going to hinder all that from

happening, please Ma, I don’t want to go to jail, please don’t send us to jail.” That

was She Rocks being unnecessary dramatic, both Cleo and I looked at her in

amazement, I didn’t know if she was being serious or just trying to stall for time for us

to come up with a story. Cleo’s mom felt like now she had us exactly where she

wanted us, she looked at all three of us one by one and said “All I’m asking for my

childrenThe police officer looked at my husband, Mthobisi stared back at him with his

eyes blazing and said to him “un-cuff her and don’t throw her in, let her go inside the

damn van properly.” Hebana, there I was thinking that he was doing something to

stop them from sending me to jail meanwhile the guy was worried about me hurting

myself and falling all over the place because I would have no balance inside the van

while it’s moving.

Being taken away from the people you love against your free will to punish or get
something from another person will never ever be right. I knew how devastated my

husband was when Fundani had taken me and for him to go and do that to another

family was beyond disgusting. How on earth can you put another person through the

same hell that you went through, he more than anyone should have known better, I

expected better than that from him. Mthobisi looked at me sternly and said “if you

know what’s good for you will go back to the car.” I defiantly said “the only place I’m

going back to is my prison cell.” By this time the girls had seen that something was

going on and ran to where we were, Cleo shouted “Lesedi, have you lost your mind?

You want to go back to that hell hole.” Before I could even explain both Cleo and

She Rocks grabbed me by both arms and pulled me to the car. Herry handed the car

keys to She Rocks and we went to the car they open and pushed me inside. Cleo

had decided that we shouldn’t tell her mom the reasons behind our killing her

stepdad, who did Mthobisi think he was trying to make me go against my friend’s

wishes? I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, no, this would break our friendship to the point of no

repair, I was not ready to lose my friend. “Mthobisi, you don’t understand, Cleo’s

mom is one of those people who hear their own things, you can tell her one thing

and she completely hears the opposite or something that you never even said, I

cannot do that to Cleo, I’m sorry Honey.” Mthobisi was not letting this one go, “Do

you remember when I was stuck underground a t the mine, there were people’s

husband’s that died there, I went to Hillbrow to their wives to go explain what had

happened to their husband’s because they needed to hear it from someone who was

there it was not going to bring their husband’s back but it gave them closure,

Cleo’s mom was crying so hard, it was like she had just now lost her husband and

daughter all over again, we were all in tears, relieving that day’s event was so

traumatic and depressing. Cleo’s mom asked us through her tears “why didn’t you
come to me? Why didn’t you tell me?” Cleo shook her head in disbelief and said “I

wanted to tell, but then I found Tina’s dairy and realised that she had told you but

you didn’t believe her, how on earth were you going to believe me if you didn’t

believe her, she was only thirteen years old, it went on for two damn years right

under your nose and you did nothing about it mother, nothing.” She said crying her

mom went to her and tried to hug her, she pushed her away and told She Rocks that

they should leave and they left, Cleo’s mom left Mthobisi and I sitting there, maybe

she went to go wash her face I didn’t know or care I said to Mthobisi we should also

leave, we left, he drove us home, each time Mthobisi tried speaking to me I lifted my

hand up showing him that I was not in the mood to talk, he had just made us open up

old wounds which we had tried to bury for so many years, I now honestly felt shitty, I

could not even begin to imagine how Cleo was feeling at that moment.

When we got home I still didn’t want to talk to Mthobisi I just went up to the bedroom

jumped into bed with my clothes and slept. The next morning when I got up, I was in

his t-shirt, he had obviously changed me, he was not in bed though, I showered got

dressed then went downstairs and I found him in the kitchen making breakfast I told

him I wasn’t hungry and left. I got to the office and started working my ass off, I didn’t

want to think about anything I just wanted to focus on work, it was a very good

distraction. Around 12 I got a call from reception being told that I had a delivery, I

went downstairs to go collect, the mean receptionist was the one who had called

there was a bunch of roses and chocolates, I read the card on the flowers it read “I’m

sorry for making you relieve that traumatic event in your life. Your loving husband”

The receptionist looked at me and said “those are gorgeous flowers ma’am.” I

smiled and handed them to her and said “you can have them.” There is nothing that I

hate more than flowers especially when I’m angry, I took the chocolates walked back
to the office and gave them to Cindy who was very happy to get free expensive

chocolate. At around one I got another call from reception was told I have a visitor, I

walked down and found my husband at reception, he said he had brought me a

home-cooked lunch, I told him I was not hungry, he begged me to try and eat

because I had not had breakfast. We went upstairs to the canteen and sat there, we

had nothing to say to each other, I just stared at the food “Honey, I’m sorry for

making you go speak to Cleo’s mom about what you girls went through all those

years, I had no idea it was soo hectic, I’m really sorry please stop giving me the

silent treatment.” I told him it was fine, but my fine stood for, frustrated, insecured,

nervous and emotional. I had a few spoons of the food it was really delicious but I

had no appetite. After an hour he kissed me goodbye and left. I went back to work

and again threw myself on work to not think, by 18:00 I was still at work which was

very unusual for me because I never work after work hours, at around 18:15 my

husband called to ask if I was okay because by this time I was usually already home

I told him I was still at the office and had a lot of work to catch up on but would be

home soon, this was true but I could catch up the following day I just didn’t feel like

going home. I decided to pack up then drove home, Mthobisi had again cooked this

house-husband thing was actually starting to feel nice, I told him I was going to get

used to coming home to a home-cooked meal, he smiled and said I earned enough

to support the both of us so maybe he should retire, for the first time I found myself

laughing, we sat down and had diner, he again apologized and asked why had I

never told him about it, I told him it was too painful to just think about how much

more did he think talking about it would feel, he said he understood, he asked if I had

spoken to Cleo I told him that she had disowned me and told me that our friendship

was over. He laughed and said Cleo would never stay mad at me. Mthobisi then
looked at me and said “Honey I don’t want us to have secrets, is there anything and I

mean anything it doesn’t matter how small or big it is, is there anything else that I do

not know about?” Shit, there were so many things where do I even start, the affair

with Mfundo was the one thing that came to my mind but under no circumstances

was I going to tell him that I told him that he now knew everything about me, he

smiled and said he was glad to hear that. We went to bed early that evening, I

couldn’t sleep I was tossing and turning eventually I decided to go downstairs and

watch some tv, I somehow managed to fall asleep on the couch. In the early hours of

the morning I felt my husband carry me to bed but I figured with his stiches he must

have been in too much pain to carry me upstairs because I woke up in the spare

room downstairs with him next to me, I got up and went to go shower, I was

somewhat relieved that it was finally Friday and the following day I didn’t have to go

to work. I left Mthobisi still sleeping and drove to work. The day went fast before I

knew it was time to go home, I called Cleo before I knocked off and she didn’t

answer, she was probably still angry, I knew she was at She Rocks house but I

decided against calling She Rocks, I decided to give her space and time to cool off,

we fight as friends but the not speaking to each other was new to me so I felt very

isolated and lonely I honestly missed my friends. On the drive home Mthobisi called

and said he was going out with his friends, if this was before the drama with Cleo’s

mom I would have been very happy because I would have just gone out with my

friends but now I didn’t have any friends to go out with. I got home, watched Tv,

opened a bottle of wine and entertained myself by channel hoping, I was bored out

of my mind. I called my mom who said she was on a date night with Victor and would

call me when she got home, I called my sister she was also out with her husband, it

seemed like I was the only one at home, I called Jessica and she said she was in
Port Elizabeth visiting her grandparents, I scrolled through my phone book looking

who I could go out with, eventually I gave up and went to bed.

The next morning I woke up with Mthobisi in bed next to me, he reeked of alcohol, I

didn’t even know what time he got home, I brushed my teeth, washed my face then

went downstairs to make him a greasy breakfast because I knew he would have a

major hang-over when he got up. While I was cooking my sister called and said we

should do lunch but I should come pick her up because her car is giving her

problems and Lwazi her husband has gone to work, I agreed. Mthobisi finally woke

up and came down, had breakfast thanked me, I was wrong he didn’t have a

hangover, after his meal he went to shower and told me he was going to see some

people because he had been out of action for some time so people needed to know

he was back, I didn’t know what that meant nor did I care. I told him I would be

having lunch with my sister, he told me to call him when I got to where we were

having lunch to let him know that I was safe, I agreed.

I arrived at my sister’s place, she was not ready, I had called her to tell her I was

leaving Midrand, the drive to my sister’s house is about forty minutes she had just

come out of the shower when I arrived, I was a bit annoyed but it gave me some time

to play with my niece and nephew. After 45 minutes she was done, I asked her

where we were going she said we should do Soweto. I looked at her and said

“Soweto? A snob like you? Jessica has been to Soweto more times than you and

she is white, in fact she could give you a tour of Soweto.” She rolled her eyes and

said “Whatever Lee, let’s just go.” I asked her where in Soweto did she want to go

she confidently replied “Maponya Mall.” I snapped at her “you have got to be shitting

me Naledi, you want to go to a bloody mall, we might as well go to Rosebank or

Sandton then.” She told me that she just really wanted to go to Maponya, she had
only been there once or twice and always in a hurry, I gave in and said okay. I drove

us to Maponya Mall in Soweto as we entered the gate I jokingly said “Wooo, there is

Lwazi’s car.” She looked at the car and said “And vele it is his car.” I laughed and

said “Your husband is not the only person that drives a BMW Doll and look it’s a

chick driving that car.” She looked at me and said “I swear that’s my husband’s car.”

She took out her phone and called him “Babes, what’s your car number plates?” she

signalled for me to follow the car to the parking lot, I followed the car he must have

asked why she was randomly asking him about the car number plates because she

said “I’ve just received a letter with a R1 000 fine and I think it’s wrong number plates

that are here so they have sent us someone else’s fine.” Lwazi being the greedy

man who never wants to pay gave her the number plates. She thanked him and said

she will call him back. I looked at her and said “And?” She shook her head and I

could see tears building up in her eyes and said “that’s his car Lee.” I popped my

eyes wide opened “Oh shit Naledi, do you think his car has been clowned, I’ve heard

about that car clowning shit, they steal a car and use the same number plates as you

and you end up paying fines to roads that you’ve never even travel on, or even

worse they rob a bank using your car number plates and you go to jail for shit you

didn’t do.” She looked at me and shook her head “Don’t be stupid Lee, that’s Lwazi’s

car I know that dent at the back because I reversed into a pole by mistake. Stop

behind her she is parking.” I was still confused but I did as I was told as soon as she

parked my sister got out of the car I followed behind her. “Sorry Sisi, what are you

doing with my husband’s car?” She asked the lady as she was coming out of the car

“ohh shit, she’s pregnant” I exclaimed when she stepped out of the car. She looked

at both of us confused and said “I’m sorry but you must have me confused with

someone else because this is my boyfriend’s car.” She said taking out her phone to
call the boyfriend, she put him on speaker the stupid, foolish bastard called Lwazi

answered the phone and said “Hey babes, are you okay?” she told him there were

two crazy woman in front of her one of them was claiming that the car belonged to

her husband, before she could finish explaining Naledi shouted “Ye wena Lwazi your

shit, who is this bitch?” Lwazi “Oh shit, run baby run, that woman is crazy.” I don’t

know what Lwazi was thinking telling the girl to run she was heavily pregnant, my

sister took the phone dropped it and handed it back to her and told her to give her

the car keys, the girl didn’t want to hand over the car keys, she pulled them from her

and at that moment the girl lost her balanced and fell flat on her stomach, if she were

not pregnant, I would have laughed but she started screaming I didn’t know if she

was screaming because she was in pain or if she was giving birth. Then I heard

someone scream “Those two are robbing a pregnant woman” the next thing I knew

over thirty people were at the scene watching our next move “shit Naledi, we are

going to get a beat down from these people, this is the hood.” I whispered to my

sister. Mob justice, they beat you up first and ask questions later.

We both knew there was no way out of this situation, we were about to get a proper

kasi (ghetto) beat-down, I looked around nervously for an escape route and realised

we were surrounded there was nowhere to run, I turn to look at my sister and saw

she was dripping sweat all over her face, mind you it was a bloody cold day.

“Wait mom, wait, all these years you knew? And you never said anything?” Victor

had now put his book down and was concentrating on what going on. “Yes Lesedi I

knew. What did you want me to say? Confront you girls about it so you could deny

it? After ….. I can’t even say it, you had nightmares I would be awaken by your
screams in the middle of the night, it went on for weeks.” I looked at her and said

“people have nightmares all the time mom, it doesn’t mean anything.” I said

sounding defensive. My mom

I am a very impatient person and impatient people tend to be curious as well. My

lack of patience had me walk into that house and that lead to curiosity which lead to

my almost being killed. When I saw Harry pull his gun out survival instincts kicked in

I threw myself on the floor, the fool didn’t even check to see who he was shooting at

he just fired, what kind of a person does that? They had no respect for human life at

all and after I had seen what they did to that baby I knew I was not dealing with

people I was dealing with monsters. So there I was on the floor, praying to God that

these two murderers do not come for me and finish me off. My ears were still ringing

from the sound of the gun shoot, within seconds my husband was next to me “what

the fuck are you doing here? Didn’t I tell you to stay in the bloody car?” He was

shouting at me, he was angry at me, where the hell did he get off being angry at me

after what him and his friend did to that family. He was standing in front of me, didn’t

bother to try and get me up he just said “get up and let’s go before the police get

here, thanks to you the neighbours must have heard the gun shot and called the

police.” While saying all that he was shouting at me, Harry came and helped me up

and said with his deep Russian accent “Yes thanks to your wife that fool gave me the

code, a bullet always does the trick. Let’s get out of you’re the police are on the

way.” We walked to our cars, I wanted to run to the car I mean wouldn’t you run to

the car after hearing the police were coming, Harry told me to slow down if I run we

will look suspicious so we walked slowly to our cars, he even told me to stop looking

so scared and smile, what the fuck was wrong with this man. Instead of smiling tears

just flooded my eyes and he smiled and waved, I looked around and there was no
one around, Mthobisi was waving and smiling too, these two fools were really getting

on my nerves. We finally got to the car the car and that felt like the longest walk of

my life, as soon as I sat inside I just broke down and cried, Mthobisi just drove in

silence didn’t say a word. He stopped at the garage got me water and disprins I took

the water and told him I don’t have a headache so I don’t need the pills, he said I will

have it later, I took the pills and put them in my bag, by the time we got home I was

still crying, I went straight to the bedroom, we were still not talking to each other.

When I got to bed I cried some more, I cried myself to sleep. You know that feeling

you get when someone is looking at you while you sleeping, I got that feeling and I

opened my eyes and there was my husband next to me in bed staring at me, if this

was any other day I would have found that romantic but at that moment that was the

creepiest thing ever, I jumped and almost fell of the bed, my head felt heavy I had

the most terrible headache ever, I went to my bag and got the pill he got me earlier

and drank them, he knew all that crying would give me a headache. He told me to

come back to bed, for the first time in my life I was actually petrified of my husband, I

didn’t want to disobey him so I slowly got back to bed, he was still staring at me I

asked if I had something on my face, he shook his head then said “What you saw

today, you can never ever tell it to anyone Lesedi, I need you to forget about it,

pretend it was just a bad dream.” I looked at him in disbelief and asked “Is that what

you do? Do bad things to people then pretend it was just a bad dream? Is that how

you live with yourself?” I was furious; he looked at me and told me I was obviously

still angry he will speak to me once I had calmed down. He went downstairs and left

me there, I looked for my phone in my bag I wanted some time out, I wanted to get

away from Mthobisi, I couldn’t find my phone, I knew for a fact that I had left the

phone in my bag then it hit me, my crazy husband had it, he didn’t want me talking to
anyone because he probably thought I would rat on him. I decided I was not going to

ask him about it. The headache had calmed down a bit so I went downstairs and he

asked me to cook, seriously after the shit that happened he had an appetite for food,

this person sitting in front of me was not my husband I didn’t know who he was but I

knew I had to get away from him fast. I cooked the most horrendous food ever, if I

had poison I would have thrown it in that food that’s how angry I was, the rice was

half cooked, it was hard with lots of salt I just boiled the chicken it still had blood in it

when I dished up I didn’t care I was just too angry at him and I wanted to punish him

I know this was small punishment but it felt good, he ate the food and finished

everything then thanked me for it. I of course didn’t eat. When he was done eating

he said “I’m sorry for what you saw today, I never ever wanted you to see that, I

mean how was I supposed to know that you were going to come inside that house

when I asked you to stay in the car if only you would just listen Lesedi then things

would be soo much easier between us.” I stared at him in total amazement, this man

was shifting the blame to me like this was all my fault. I forced a smile and said “you

go on about wanting a baby when you….” I couldn’t continue I just started crying

again, a baby is innocent, the baby knows nothing about the parent’s dealing, I don’t

care what Piet did or didn’t do but his baby did not deserve to be punished for his

father’s sins. I managed to speak through my tears and said “that baby did nothing

against you or Harry, he didn’t deserve what you did.” Mthobisi looked at me and

said “We were not going to hurt that baby Lee, we were just trying to scare the guy a

little bit, what kind of monsters do you think we are, we would never hurt a child,

come on. And if you knew what Piet was you wouldn’t be defending him like this.” I

told him I didn’t care what he was but no person deserves to be treated like that. “Oh

cut the innocent act Lesedi, so it’s okay for you to kill and justify it and when I don’t
even kill I just threaten you act like I killed Jesus.” This is the thing about men; they

will use the shit you share with them when you are vulnerable against you. “Wow,

that’s very low, that’s very low Mthobisi.” I said feeling defeated. He stood up and

said we should stop fighting and rather get drunk, he went to the kitchen and came

back with a bottle of wine and whiskey he poured me a glass of wine while he had

whiskey, we drank in silence after the second glass I started talking, telling him how

disappointed I was in him and how I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to have a baby

because his enemies will do the same to our kids, he told me no one will touch his

family, he was very confident. I must have drank about 3 bottles of wine all by

myself, I eventually blacked out, he couldn’t carry me upstairs so he took me to the

guest bedroom downstairs.

The next morning I woke up with the worst babalaaz by the time I got up it was 09:30

on a Monday, I had not set my alarm because my husband had hidden my phone, I

was late for work so I decided to call in sick and nurse my hangover. I woke Mthobisi

up and told him to give me my phone I needed to call in sick at work, he said “good

idea, you can ask Nothabo to write you a doctor’s note.” He said handing me the

phone; dammit me not going to work meant we were definitely going to see Nothabo.

I called Cindy and told her I was not feeling too good and won’t be coming in, she

said not to worry; she will tell Andile if she asks. I decided to sleep some more

Mthobisi got up and said he was going to make us breakfast, he made some

delicious breakfast I could smell it in the room I decide to go shower instead while he

prepared breakfast when I was done he had already eaten, I jumped on the food, I

was starving and babalaaz was killing me lucky for me he knew so he made lots of

greasy and spicy food I ate, he had not taken my phone back so when he went

upstairs to shower I quickly called She Rocks, “Listen Rock Star I can’t talk much
that Nigerian friend of yours, can he organise me a passport and id with a different

name but with my picture on it and a birth certificate for Neo?” She Rocks protested

“Just because he’s Nigerian it doesn’t mean he is into those kinds of things Lee, why

must you box people. Besides what do you need that shit for? Are you planning on

skipping the country with Neo?” She asked shocked. “Yes, I need to get as far away

from Mthobisi as possible and I know for a fact that he won’t let me go, the only way I

will leave him is in a body bag, please Rock Star, please do this for me.” I could hear

she wanted to cry “You know when you were kidnaped and I found out all those

things about him, I knew this day would come but I just didn’t expect it to come so

soon. Okay fine so how are we going to do this Lee?” She asked “I have a plan that

I’m working on, but please get me those documents asap and if you can’t get hold of

me on my phone just come to the house and call Mthobisi when you at the gate he

will be forced to send you the code to get in when you tell him you at the gate.” She

agreed, I hung up and deleted the call from call history and put the phone back in the

bedroom. I ate my breakfast when he came downstairs I was ready for us to go.

We drove to Nathabo’s place, I was not really looking forward to seeing that woman

but I didn’t have a choice. Mthobisi took the bag that Harry had given him the

previous day from the boot and brought it with us, he knocked and Nothabo came to

open the door, the look on her face when she saw him, she went pale she almost

fainted, that’s when I knew my husband had somehow threaten them, how many

people was he planning on making enemies with? We went inside; Sizwe was also

there he was a nervous wreck in front of Mthobisi. We made small talk and I lied

about why I had accompanied Mthobisi some story about him not remembering

where they stayed and I had to direct him and said he hated using gps. Then

Nothabo’s husband and my husband went to another room to talk. I stayed with her
and we again made small uncomfortable talk, I so badly wanted to tell her what was

going on but in fear of judgement I kept my mouth shut and besides who knew how

long it would take before my husband and Sizwe finished talking, they could come

out, hear me and I could get her life in danger, but by the look of things their lives

were already in danger. I asked about her daughter and she lied and said she was

visiting her grandparents I could see she was lying because she started twiddling her

hands, I wondered if my husband had not kidnaped their child, I could not ask that

obviously. Finally they come out of the room and that painful awkwardness between

myself and Nothabo could be finally over. When we got to the car my husband called

the police, he drove to the corner of the street and said we will wait there for the

police to arrive. We waited and a few minutes later the police arrived at Nothabo and

Sizwe’s house and he drove away with a smile on his face. I didn’t even want to

know what that was about.

He said he had another thing that he needed to do and asked if I wanted to go with

him, I said “no thanks please drop me home.” After what I saw yesterday I was better

off not knowing what he did in his spare time, he said “I’m actually going to pick up

some documents at work, so I can work from home and stay with you.” We drove to

his work he went inside while I stayed in the car he left his phone inside the car, I

knew his password, I called She Rocks and said “If I just disappear with Neo my

husband has connections everywhere he will find me in a matter of days, the only

way to do this is to die.” She Rocks exclaimed “Oh my gosh Lee, please don’t tell me

you are planning on killing yourself.” I laughed and told her not to be ridiculous “I

need you girls to help me fake my own death, that’s the only way I will ever be free

from this man.”

Within minutes Mthobisi was back in the car luckily I had managed to delete the call

from the call history on his phone and put the phone back where I found it. He was

happy, smiling, something was up and I was too scared to ask, knowing it could

upset me even further . We drove home, I sat and watched a bit of TV while he

worked or pretended to work for all I know he could have been sitting behind his

laptop pretending to be working while on Facebook or twitter or worse watching porn.

Around lunch time Mthobisi’s phone rang he looked at it then looked at me I asked

him who it was “Cleo” he said, I stood up and grabbed the phone from him and

answered. “We at the gate, send us the code.” I told Mthobisi Cleo was at the gate

and I needed to send her the code to enter he looked at me with no emotion on his

face for a second I was sure he was going to say no, but he just nodded his head,

We all just cried, the planning just paused for a few minutes, my phone ringing shook

us back to reality, it was Mthobisi “Hey Honey” I said trying to not sound like I was

crying but who was I fooling my husband could hear me sniffing a mile away “What’s

wrong? Why you crying?” he asked sounding concerned. I sniffled and said “the girls

and I are busy cooking and none of them wanted to cut the onion so I had to be the

unlucky one who has to cut them, you know how they always makes me cry.” He

laughed and told me to go stand outside to get some air on my eyes and I should be

fine, I laughed and said I will, he said he was just checking up on me, “I love you

sooo sooo much Mthobisi, don’t ever forget that.” I don’t know where that came from

but I think the realisation that I was leaving my husband was start to sink in and

when people die the ones left behind always wonder if the person that died loved

them or if they told the deceased enough that they loved them, when “I die”

The shit my husband got me into at time was the reason why I needed to get out of

his life urgently; this had now turned into a matter of life and death, because of him I
had put my friends lives in danger Cleo shouted at Andiswa “what are you waiting

for? Go and hurry back.” Andiswa was shaking like a leaf she ran out to go find She

Rocks I started begging this lunatic to let my friends go and let me help him pack he

wasn’t listening to a word I was saying he just told me to shut up a few minutes later

She Rocks and Andiswa arrived She Rocks apologised for running away and

begged him not to blow our heads off, he laughed and said he was never going to do

that where is our sense of humour. We packed the money in bags, we were actually

just stuffing it inside the bags I had never seen soo much money in my entire life we

packed in silence, when we were done he stood on top of the bed and moved a

piece of the ceiling just like my husband had done in our previous place and threw

those bags in there, then told us to take him to Bedford view, I was in no mood to

argue and we had all become sober by now. We drove him to Bedford view he hit

the intercom and the gate was opened, we went in and some white old guy came to

us and told us to go with him inside, he took the guy to the other room while we

waited at the dining room. “What fuckery is this Lee? Guns? Soo much money? Who

are these people and where the hell did all that money come from?” I shook my head

and said I didn’t know and this is what I was telling them about my husband and at

least now they were seeing it for themselves. Cleo said “No offence to you Lee but I

would have left a long time ago.” Trust Cleo to say that, when the going gets tough

she gets going, that’s not how marriage is supposed to be, you only leave when you

have exhausted all options and God knew I had exhausted all my option, my next

destination was a coffin if I did not leave this man.

The two guys came back and the rude one had a bandage on, he looked at us and

smiled and said “you girls saved my life.” Cleo put on a fake smile and said “Well you

can thank us by giving us one of those bags we helped you pack.” The guy looked
and her and said “udakiwe” meaning you are drunk. He started feeling his pockets

then went “shit, shit, shit.” The white guy asked what was wrong. He just ran back to

the room they were a few minutes later he came back and said “I think I may have

dropped my wallet at the crime scene.” We all turned to look to each other I then said

“what was in your wallet?” He looked down and said “my licence, bank card, the

usual shit that stays in the wallet.” The white guy smacked him in the head and

asked him why he had taken his wallet with him, did he think he was going to the

movies, the white guy was extremely pissed off, he told him he needs to go back and

get his wallet, he protested and said his leg was injured and he can’t drive white man

told him that was his problem, he will either go get his wallet or the police will find his

body hanged in his house there was no way they were going to let him expose them,

Jesus these people were ruthless. We left the house with She Rocks driving, the guy

who told us his name was Tebogo said he had a family and if he didn’t get his wallet

the Russians were seriously going to kill his family then him. We all felt sorry for him,

give woman a sob story even if you were rude at first all the rudeness will be

forgotten and all they will be doing is sympathising with you. We all felt sorry for him;

“please ladies please take me to City Deep.” We all looked at him and said “Hell no.”

City Deep has hostels and if you are found there committing a crime by the zulu men

who stay in the hostels your ass gets beaten to a pulp by the time they are done with

you even the cops don’t want to arrest they feel sorry for you. He waved his gun and

said “This being nice shit doesn’t work, you are going to take me to City Deep right

now or dead bodies are going to start rolling out of this car.” She Rocks changed her

direction and took the freeway we headed to City Deep, he told us to go to the

garage, we parked at the garage while he sat at the back, the was one of those cash

in transit cars surrounded by police and they had that police tape all around he told
us to go and look for the wallet and said he couldn’t come out because someone

might recognise him.

As we were about to get out he said “oh by the way, leave your cellphones with me,

just in case you try to get smart.” We handed him our cellphones and walked out,

there was a lot of people standing around watching you would swear it wasn’t at

night, Cleo asked one of the petrol attendants what had happened he explained that

the cash in transit guys had come to collect money and the next thing some guys

came and offloaded all the money that was in the car to their car, the guy said the

way these guys were soo smooth you could see that this was their regular thing. He

said when they were leaving a police van came so the guys thought the police had

come for them meanwhile they had just stopped at the garage to buy and the

robbers started shooting at the police and the police fired back and one of the

robbers was killed and one was shot in the leg and the others ran off, he said the

robbers came with three different cars. We all listened attentively while also trying to

look around for a wallet but there was no sign of it, obviously with soo many people

around there was no way in hell we were going to find it, it was either the police had

picked it up or one of the people there had picked it up, regardless of who had it we

could not exactly scream out loud that we were looking for a wallet that our friend

who was robbing the cash in transit guys had dropped. We walked back to the car

and told Tebogo that his wallet was not there he screamed “you are useless to me.”

Guy really needed to work on his attitude that was no way to speak to people who

were trying to help you. He handed us back our phones and told me that Mthobisi

had called me. He took out his phone and called some people to ask where they

were they said they were in Mondeor he told them he was on his way and hung up,

we all looked at him wondering who the hell was going to take him there, we didn’t
have to wait for long to find because he then said to us “road trip to Mondeor ladies,”

I wanted to tell him to go to hell but I couldn’t, the bastard had a gun. She Rocks

drove to Mondeor when we got there he asked she rocks “how good is your driving?”

She said average, which we all knew was a lie because she did advance driving and

could do hand brake turns and shit. He continued “well today you will not drive like

an average driver, you will drive like a possessed woman.” We all didn’t respond to

this.

My phone rang it was Mthobisi he asked where I was I told him I was with his friend

Tebogo, he sounded irritated and said “why don’t you go home? You were only

supposed to take him to…” Tebogo grabbed the phone of my hands and said “no

more calls we need to focus.” In Mondeor we again waited at the garage, and then a

call came in on his phone we could only hear him say “yes, I see it, we following it.”

He then pointed to She Rocks to drive, she started driving he told her to follow a

truck that was in front of us, she followed it to Naturena then the truck stopped in

front of a house there Tebogo got out and within seconds there were more than

three cars standing in front of the truck Tebogo had his gun pointed at the driver and

took him to the back to open, two of the cars were double-cabs and they moved

them to the back of the truck we couldn’t see what was happening at the back of the

truck as we had parked in front of the truck but whatever was going on we knew it

was not good. “What do you think they are doing?” Andiswa asked I shook my head I

didn’t even want to speak, the area we were in was so quiet it felt like if I opened my

mouth the people around that neighbourhood would wake up or even worse we

would interrupt Tebogo and his crew with our voices. We were all shit scared so we

just sat there in silence waiting for these fools to finish whatever the hell they were

doing. Twelve minutes later Tebogo jumped in the car and told She Rocks to drive,
as we were leaving we heard a screeching sound of tyres, a Bantam Bakkie marked

with the same name that was on the truck stopped in front of us and two guys

opened their windows and pointed their guns at us, Cleo, myself and Andiswa

started screaming She Rocks didn’t ask any questions she reversed the car soo fast

then drove past the guys they made a U-turn and followed us Andiswa was praying

so loudly all Cleo and I were doing was screaming, the guys in the Bantam Bakkie

where now shooting at our car, we kept ducking trying to avoid bullets, Andiswa was

on the floor at the back –seat praying. She Rocks said “shit there is only two exists

out of this place what if they have people waiting for us at both exist?”

I didn’t know Naturena that well the only time I had been there was when a colleague

had a farewell party at her place in Naturena and we ended up going to Tinties which

is a shisa-nyama for drinks and when I went to Sun City Prison to go see my

husband when he was arrested. We all looked at Tebogo for guidance; the guy said

“choose whichever you feel is best follow your gut.” She Rocks said she would take

the Southgate exit and like she had thought after we passed Sun City there was

another Bantam with the same name as the truck. “Shit we are fucked.” Cleo said,

She Rocks pulled up the handbrake while the car was on high speed and the car

started spinning, we all screamed Tebogo included, she managed to get it to face

back to where we were coming from then turned into one of the streets there we

went back to the houses the bakkies were still behind us, they again started

shooting, Tebogo told She Rocks to drive in zig-zags, she said that’s stupid because

a bullet is faster than a car, next thing I felt a sharp pain on my back I put my hand

on my chest and when I removed it and looked at my hand it was full of blood “Oh

my God, oh my God, oh my God, I’ve been shot.” Cleo who was sitting next to me

looked at me and said “Oh God they shot her in the heart. We need to get her to a
hospital now. She Rocks please stop the car we will apologise to these guys and tell

them our friend needs to go to the hospital.” Everyone starting arguing and their

voices were fading away little by little, I felt this sense of warmth and peace and the

pain was gone, everything went silent and I felt so much peace and warmth.

Today is the saddest and ugliest day of my life, today is the day I get to say goodbye

to one of my best friend Lesedi Hlatshwayo Jumbe, it’s been nine days since she left

us and today we all get to officially say goodbye. My name is Zandile also known as

She Rocks. I write this with a heavy heart as I am not ready to say goodbye to my

friend. We have been at Lesedi’s home for the past nine days, her sister Naledi is

beyond shattered, her mom has been trying to put a brave face for everyone around

her, but with each smile she tries to put on her face I see her heart breaking. “Tell

me again how it happened. I know we’ve been through this a hundred times before

but I just need to hear it again.” that was Mthobisi, my best friend’s husband asking

me for the millionth time to tell him how Lesedi had died. I looked at him and the only

thing I could see in his eyes was pain and sadness, this man really loved my friend, I

couldn’t help but wonder if he would move on and get another woman, of course he

would in time, what man wouldn’t, they all have needs it doesn’t matter how much

they love you, the minute you leave you can rest assured that someone else will

replace you. “We are going to be late for church service, we need to get going”

We followed the hearse to the grave yard, I so wanted to turn the car around and just

skip this part but I knew Andiswa and Cleo would never forgive me if I did that even

though every fibre of my being and every cell in my body said don’t go there. It was

another slow drive and eventually we arrived, she was being buried in some

cemetery in Alberton, thank goodness white people don’t do funerals on weekends

but rather during the week so it was very empty we were the only funeral there and
to think the number of times we had gone to funerals in Soweto and had to go to

Avalon cemetery we would always and I mean always end up at a wrong funeral and

we would only realise that this is not the funeral we had come to when people would

start crying and fainting and you realise this is not the family of the deceased but a

different family and we would have to walk around looking for the right funeral

passing lots and lots of burials going on and by the time you find the one you were

meant to attend you will find them packing up and getting ready to go.

Andiswa came inside to find us, she found me standing there with both guys, I

quickly told her “you won’t believe this, Mthobisi and John know each other.”

Andiswa who was now tipsy laughed and said “wow, what a small world. Are you in

the same business?” She asked with that naughty grin of hers. Mthobisi smiled and

said “sometimes.” Andiswa said it was getting late and we needed to get to my place

so we could do that video skype with Emily she had already sent Cleo three more

texts reminding her not to forget. I said my goodbyes to the family. Naledi had

passed out from all the wine and was snoring in her room. We drove to the North to

my place in Andiswa’ s car, the guys said they would go to Muzi’s house for drinks

Mthobisi didn’t join them even though he was invited he said he had people to take

care of and I couldn’t help but wonder if Tebogo the guy who got us shot was not

one of the people that Mthobisi was going to take care of. While driving to my place I

told Cleo about Mthobisi and John she told me to get out of that relationship

immediately because she was not about to lose another friend. Andiswa said “friend

that relationship of yours with John seems to be cursed, first it was the HIV scare,

now this? Maybe there is something big that the two of you are meant to achieve.” I

smiled and looked at her through the review mirror and asked “do you really think so

Andz?” Cleo laughed and said “or maybe the two of you are meant to kill each other,
I say get out Rock Star while you still have a chance. Look at all the measures that

Lee had to go through with Mthobisi, do you want to suffer like that?” Andiswa “guys

I still can’t believe that we have just come from Lee’s funeral.” She shook her head

and said “I hope she found the peace that she was looking for.” I said then told

everyone that we needed to stop talking about this it was sending me into

depression mode again. When we got to my place the first thing I did was fetch my

laptop so we could do this thing with Emily. “Does anyone have something that they

wold like to brag about? Rocks Star any new heels that you bought recently so we

can show them to Emily before she shows us the ocean that she bought.” Cleo

asked, you got to love Cleo and her crazy comments she makes us laugh. We were

an hour earlier so we decided to open another bottle of wine and tequila and play the

“My life sucks game.” How this game works is you pour shots of tequila for each

person and keep one shot in the middle and each person must say the reason why

their life sucks whoever’s life sucks the most that person will have two shots instead

of one, their shot and the one that’s in the centre of the table.

Andiswa started “my life sucks because my husband cheated on me with our nanny I

forgave him but I am struggling to trust him now.” We lifted our shots and drank up

and put a piece of lemon on our mouths after. Andiswa was next “my life sucks

because my best friend is gone and I have fallen out of love with Muzi who is the

best thing that has ever happened to me.” both Cleo and I screamed “what?” she

signalled for us to drink up which we did, I quickly asked “Ohhh my God Andiswa,

this is big, when did you fall out of love with Muzi? The man is a doctor, how do you

even fall out of love with a person?” She stood up and said “this is a no judgement

table remember? I don’t know how it happened, I just don’t feel him, I can’t stand him

touching me, I avoid spending time with him, when he gets called in for emergencies
in the beginning I used to hate those but now I’m happy when that happens. I think

I’m just too independent and I love my space and being on my own.” Cleo said

“okay, it’s life these things happen, dump his doctor ass and stop wasting his

time. It’s your turn Miss.” She said pointing at me. “My life sucks because just when

I thought things were going my way….” Theo’s phone rang it was Emily she told her

that she was ready. We logged in on Skype and made the call “Hey Emy” we all said

as soon as we saw her face. “Hey chikitas, how you doing?” Cleo responded “not so

good we were just playing my life sucks and I was wining until you rudely interrupted

us.” Emily laughed and said “I want to hear the whole story, and the truth this time.

What exactly happened with Lee?” I explained the story of how we were driving one

of Mthobisi’s criminal friends and how we ended up in Naturena getting shot. Emily

stopped me there “okay, I’ve heard this before I want to hear what happened after

Lee got shot.” Cleo took over, “I told Rock star to stop the car but she wouldn’t so I

stuck my arm out the window I don’t know why, I think to ask for forgiveness or to

show that we were not fighting with them, but well they shot at my arm, look at it

now.” She said bringing her arm in a sling close to the laptop camera. Emily laughed

and asked us to continue Andiswa took over “Lee had been badly shot, she kept

going in and out of consciousness to be honest with you I don’t know where she was

shot I was on the floor the whole time praying, I heard Cleo say she got shot in the

heart but with Cleo you can never trust.”

Cleo pinched Andiswa and she laughed, I continued where Andiswa left off “Anyway

someone must have called the police or they were patrolling the area and I thank

God for that because , they stop the security guards that were shooting at us and we

asked them to escort us to the hospital, there was a private hospital 10 minutes

away from where we were and that’s where we rushed Lesedi to, we sat and waited
outside the theatre while the doctors operated on her trying to remove the bullets

before they do any more damage. One of the nurses told us to go and get Cleo’s

hand checked we took her and while she was being checked we waiting in the

waiting room, Cleo was done in less than an hour they said the bullet just grazed her

arm it’s no big deal but she was all drugged up, she fell asleep and so did the rest of

us in those couches at the sitting room.” We woke up the next morning and when we

got up we were told that Lesedi had passed away.” Emily said “I am so sorry you had

to go through that guys, it must have been so traumatic for you.” Cleo said “you have

no idea.” Emily continued “a few months ago Lee spoke to me about wanting to

leave her husband I didn’t take her to heart until a day before the shooting I had

called her to tell her on her phone and couldn’t get hold of her so I called Mthobisi

and he said he would ask her to call me when he got home which she did, I told her I

was coming to Joburg and she told me about this crazy plan that she had of wanting

to disappear and asked for my help, at first I thought she was joking but I realised the

girl was dead serious, no pun intended. Anyway she had this crazy plan.” Andiswa

interrupted “Yes we know about it, we were helping her with the plan.” Emily

continued “you guys don’t understand what I am trying to say.” Cleo said “Oh my

God Emily are you going to make Lee’s death about you too.

Everything just has to be about you, so what if she told you about her ridiculous

plans to fake her own death, they were crazy plans and we were willing to go

through with them because we loved Lee. Now can we stop discussing her and talk

about how we are going to get you to move back to Joburg.” Emily’s face was getting

irritable which is something that is hard to achieve the girl was always chirpy about

everything, one of those life loving people that are really annoying “okay guys, since

you don’t want to listen I have no choice but to show this to you, I thought I would
ease you into it but you leave me no choice.” Cleo laughed and said “wait, wait, wait,

don’t show us, let me guess, you bought a new house? Is that why I didn’t recognise

those curtains? Is that what you want to show us Emz?” She snapped “No Cleo, that

is not what I want to show you.” After all the wines and tequila at this point we were a

little drunk but I don’t think Emily realised that to her we were just an annoying bunch

of people, I smiled and said “your house got repossessed so you down-graded and

you no longer have a car, you use public transport now.” She laughed and said “you

guys can be so childish at times. Here goes nothing. She pushed something in front

of the camera, we were all just laughing amongst ourselves at this point at our stupid

jokes and no one was paying attention to what Emily was doing on the laptop

screen. She shouted “here you go.” We couldn’t see clearly but I now realised that

what she was pushing was actually a person, “did you find a man?” I jokingly asked,

she shook her head and fixed the screen on her side the voice on the chair said “Hey

friends.” The glass I was holding dropped on the floor, we all went close to the

screen to take a closer look Andiswa said “It can’t be, we,we, buried you, we…..”

then fainted….

“Is that a wheelchair she’s on? Is she paralyzed?” Cleo asked. “Can somebody

attend to Andiswa? That fall looked nasty from our side, she might have hit her

head.” said Emily. “Forget about Andiswa and just tell us how you managed to get

Lee there? Jesus, are you in Durban? Lee, what the fuck happened?” asked She

Rocks. I was not getting a chance to say a word because they all just kept talking

and asking question but I was not given a chance to respond, but I guess shock will

do that to a person. I decided to wait for them to finish talking and maybe they will

then realise they have not given me a chance to speak. Eventually Andiswa came to
and Cleo picked her up she then said “okay, I am completely lost what the hell

happened to me?”

“Ohhh, okay.” Said She Rocks feeling very disappointed, she looked on the screen

and shrugged her shoulders, to say I was not hurt or disappointed to hear that my

husband wanted to get rid of anything and everything that could possible remind him

of me at our house would be a lie, I actually felt like crying but I had made my bed it

was time I laid on it, as far as I was concerned Mthobisi and his mom never existed.

After hearing that I was now ready and even more determined to get out of the

country and start a new life with no past. I was now a new person with no past just a

future that was soo bright just thinking about it made me want to wear sun glasses.

She Rocks and Mthobisi’s mom said their goodbyes and hung up, the last part of the

conversation I could not hear it as my mind was

Some people might think what I did was wrong but hey I had no money and life on

the run has never been easy or cheap. “So what are you going to do with your

money?” Emily asked me with a silly grin on her face, “I’m going to buy a small cute

beach house in Mozambique, every morning I will take a stroll to the beach feel the

wind on my face and just enjoy breathing in the fresh air and every evening I will sit

at the beach and watch the sun go down, it is going to be such a beautiful and free

life. What are you going to do with your money?” I asked her, “I actually haven’t

thought about it, maybe I’m going to invest it and when the time is ready and you

have settled in I will charter a flight and the girls and I can fly to Mozambique and

visit you in your beach house and throw the meanest party ever, hire Mozambique

strippers and have a ball.” I was laughing so hard at the striper’s part I almost feel of

my chair. We spent the rest of the morning just joking around and teasing each

other. Later on during the day I decided to call She Rocks to find out how long it
would take for my documents to arrive, she said it will be at Emily’s house the next

day. After the call to She Rocks I asked Emily to go and buy me a bus ticket, she

asked why don’t I fly instead of taking a bus, I told her I didn’t want to take any

chances with airports especially since I would be carrying so much money, I could

end up losing all of it, you know how luggage just disappears in airports, I was

paranoid as it was I didn’t need any more pressure. She understood and said she

would go and also get me a couple of clothes as well. I took a nap while she went to

go get me a ticket for the follow day; I was so excited to be finally leaving that place.

I was woken up by Emily she got me the bus ticket and a couple of clothes, wigs,

hats and sunglasses, she had my disguises all covered up. I didn’t care much about

the clothes I was more excited about the tickets more than the clothes and the wigs.

We tried the different wigs on and just played around and were being silly, these

were one of the things I was going to miss about South Africa I had the most

wonderful friends in the world and now I was about to leave all that behind and start

over, new life, new friends, I would probably not make any friends it’s hard to make

friends especially when you are a girl. Emily said we should skype the girls and show

them my wigs. We sms’d She Rocks that we wanted to Skype she said she wasn’t at

home we should rather Facetime and she wasn’t with Cleo and Andiswa. We did and

she laughed at my wigs and said I look totally different with them on and no one will

recognise me when wearing them. We had a great laugh she said I should send

them pictures I told her that wasn’t a good idea I didn’t want any picture’s of me

surfacing after my death, she understood, I told her that I got tickets and I would be

leaving the country the following day, she asked what time was my bus leaving I had

not even checked the time I just got too excited, Emily told her it was in the evening
and I told her that my documents better arrive the following or there would be

problems, she laughed and said I should relax my documents will be there.

I told her to pass the message to Cleo and Andiswa and not via sms’s I didn’t want

any evidence, Emily said I was paranoid, I told her I was being extra careful. In my

life I had learnt that you can never take anything for granted and any small mistake

can be found and used against you, lessons from a thug family. After the long call to

She Rocks Emily and I decided to cook super, my last super at her house, in fact it

was my last supper in South Africa, I could not have been more happier. We cooked

super then ate, we made plans for the following day, Emily was going to take me to

the bus stop in the evening to go and catch my bus to my new home the excitement

that was in me I could not contain it. Emily looked at me and said “this is the happiest

I have seen you in a long, long time.” I smiled and said “I’m free Emily, I am finally

free, it is the best feeling in the world. I don’t know how to explain it or describe it, I

am soo soo happy, you don’t understand.” She told me she was very happy for me

and is glad that I have found the peace I was looking for. We ate and had wine then I

packed my few clothes that Emily had bought for me, I didn’t want to arrive at the

bus station looking like I didn’t have any luggage while everyone else came with

huge-ass bags and me coming there with just one bag full of money looking super

suspicious.

The next day I was the first one to get up, I went to Emily’s room to wake her up,

that’s how excited I was, I felt like a school child going on a school trip for the first

time, I was even bouncing up and down on Emily’s bed, she asked me to give her

five minutes of sleep, while she was still sleeping I went to go make breakfast for

both of us, twenty minutes later Emily rolled out of bed and came to the kitchen she

said she thinks she is coming down with a flu because she was feeling very tired I
told her to have some breakfast she will feel better. We had breakfast then had a

bath I was really, really getting anxious about the courier service, what was taking

them so long, whenever I would say that to Emily she would tell me to relax they will

get there. I asked if we should call She Rocks and tell her they hadn’t arrived she

reminded me that She Rocks doesn’t work at the courier service and she won’t know

their exact delivery times I should relax and my bus was only leaving a couple of

hours later so I had nothing to stress about. I tried to relax but I just couldn’t, I was

seriously panicking and the waiting was driving me insane. I took Emily’s phone as I

was about to call She Rocks to tell her I was waiting and there was no sign of

anyone from the courier company, there was a knock at the door, I started jumping

up and down with excitement, the delivery guy was finally here, I went to the door,

peeped through the glass whole in Emily’s door, I asked who he was and he said he

was from the courier service, I quickly opened the door, he gave me my parcel, I told

Emily to sign for it since it was under her name.

She quickly signed, we thanked the guy and he left. I went to go sit down and said

“thank you Jesus” then opened the envelope, I could hear the angels singing

“hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah” I laughed and Emily asked what was wrong I said

“can you hear the Angels singing, I am out of here Emz, I am finally getting out of

this hellish life, I’m free, I’m free.” She laughed and looked at the documents inside;

there was my new passport, my new South African id, Neo’s birth certificate. The

way the documents looked you would have sworn they were not fake, if I could I

would kiss She Rocks that’s how happy I was. Emily said we still have a couple of

hours so we should celebrate she wanted to open champagne, I told her I didn’t want

to be under the influence while on the trip, I needed to be one hundred percent

sober, I could not afford to make any mistakes, when you drunk you start blabbing, I
could say the wrong things to wrong people and find myself in very tight situations, I

swear I was extra paranoid. While we were still sitting there all excited and happy

admiring my new documents there was a knock at the door.

We both looked at each other and wondered if maybe the delivery guy had maybe

forgotten something, I told Emily to go help him, we were both convinced that it was

the delivery guy, as Emily was about to turn the key and open I whispered “hey,

check the glass hole first.” She rolled her eyes and said “okay Miss Paranoid….” She

didn’t finish her sentence she looked through the small glass at the door then ran

back to where I was sitting and whispered “shit, shit, shit, let’s go to my room now.” I

laughed because she was making her crazy jokes again trying to scare me since she

was saying I was paranoid. I stopped laughing when I saw the look on her face she

had fear, scared, horrified written all over her face, “who the fuck is at the door

Emily?” I asked starting to freak out a little bit “you scaring me Em.” I said walking

slowly to the door. She grabbed me by the arm and before I could stop her or say

anything “Emily, please open up it’s me Mthobisi, I know you are in there I bumped

into the courier guy on my way in.” my heart almost came out of my mouth, I didn’t

even go to the door to look if it really was him I ran to Emily’s room she was right

behind me. To say we were both petrified is an understatement, we were both

shaking like there was an earthquake in the whole of Kwazulu-Natal. When I had

managed to calm down I said to Emily, “he knows you are here, you have to go open

the door.” Emily shook her head and said “I can’t Lee, I’m sorry I can’t” I begged her

“please Em, please go, if you don’t open the door he might just break it.” She slowly

walked back to the living room and opened the door “Hi Mthobisi, I thought you were

only going to be this side in a couple of weeks, this is a nice surprise.” She said

doing her usual babbling “Hi Emily, I hope I’m not interrupting, I just had to get away
from Joburg all the pity looks that I keep getting from people are very depressing,

sorry to come unannounced” Emily must have frozen because there was complete

silence for a good minute eventually I heard her say “come in please, take a seat.”

And that’s when I remembered I had left my passports in the living room and if he

came inside he was definitely going to see them. I was screwed!!!!!

I was hoping and praying that he would decline the offer to enter the house and say

he was in a hurry to go somewhere but my ancestors had turned against me, they

were probably angry at me for faking my own death and decided to turn their back on

me in my hour of need. Mthobisi came in and started making small talk with Emily

asking about her work and life in Durban I could hear Emily’s voice shaking I wanted

to whisper “play it cool Emy, he doesn’t know anything” days like these I wish I had

powers to speak to people’s minds, I would tell Emily exactly what to say, I could just

imagine her sweating like she had just finished running a marathon while talking to

Mthobisi and he on the other side was his usual cool unreadable self. “So when last

did you see my wife?”

My conscious would not let me leave without checking if he was still alive or dead, I

hate this thing called curiosity, I walked back to him and felt his pulse on the neck

and he was still alive, “ahh thank God” I whispered, grabbed his phone and called an

ambulance I didn’t even know the unit number I was in so I had to go to the door to

check it, they said they would be sending an ambulance shortly I grabbed my bags

and ran out of there before anyone arrived. I walked past security who just looked at

me didn’t even ask who I was which was good for me. I wanted to call a cab to take

me to a bus station but I didn’t have a phone, I decided to put on one of my wigs and
a cap and sunglasses just in case Mthobisi leaves Emily’s place and sees me

walking down the road, I laughed at the thought of what I had just done to get away

from my husband. The road was very quiet, but that’s the normality in the suburbs,

the wind

The way that Roger stood up, I swear I thought he was going to run, I mean who

wouldn’t run after hearing that, I didn’t blame him. “I’m sorry I think I might have

heard you wrong, you want to, you want to….” he couldn’t even say it “Yes Roger,

you heard right, so do you think you can help me or not. I’ve been running away from

my husband for weeks, I just can’t anymore, I’m tired of playing victim, I want to

attack back.” He looked at me with sympathy in his eyes and asked “is he abusing

you?” I nodded, hell yeah this was abuse, it might not have been physical but this

feel somewhere under the definition of abuse. He hugged me again and said “there

is no friend that you are waiting for is there?” I shook my head and said “no, I have

nowhere to go, I don’t know anybody in this city.” He told me not to worry he was

going to protect me, white people love playing heroes shem, if this were a black man

he would have ran very fast, black man don’t like interfering in other men’s business,

they are more like you got yourself in you will get yourself out and walk away very

fast without even looking back. I thanked him, he told me he was here on holiday

with his friends and they were staying at some beach house and I could stay with

them there until we figured out what to do and my husband wouldn’t think of looking

for me there. It sounded like a good idea but the last thing I needed was a bunch of

drunk people asking me twenty million questions about my life, I had to be by myself

and I could not afford to get any more people in my mess, I had already put my

friend’s lives at risk as it was, I needed to handle my shit by myself. I thanked Roger

for his generous offer and told him I could not accept, I needed to be alone and didn’t
feel like company as I had a lot to think about, he was so sweet and said he

understood, he suggested I stay at the Waterfront Spa Hotel, I told him that was a

no-no because I had previously stayed there with my husband and that would be the

first place he will look for me, he knew how sentimental I was. Roger offered to drive

me around Durban to look for a hotel, we walked to his car, this man was too damn

fine, he had a body of a man that lived on the beach, six pack, blue eyes, dark hair, I

couldn’t help but keep staring at him, “so are you a model or something?” I asked

while we were walking, he laughed and shook his head and said “I get asked that

question all the time.”

I mean he was wearing shorts that go up to your knees and had a shirt that was

unbuttoned showing off his perfect body, I was literally drooling I am even ashamed

to say but the guy was just hot, he’s the type that will make you blush just by looking

at him before he could even open his mouth, the funny thing was I felt really

comfortable around him, like I could trust him. He took out the keys from his shorts

and a yellow Ferrari’s light that was parked in front of us flicked “Wait, what? That’s

your car?” I exclaimed “Yes” he said going to the passenger’s seat to open the door

for me, I had never been to a Ferrari and the only time Mthobisi ever opened the

door for me was when his car was still new and I had been eating chips and my

hands were dirty so he didn’t want me messing his new car, I went inside and I was

like “Wow!! even the chairs in this car feel different, oh my gosh, your car is

absolutely gorgeous, I so wouldn’t mind dying in a car like this, but I hear even if you

have an accident in this you don’t die, you don’t even come out with a starch.” He

looked and drove off and said “you are such a funny person.” I asked him if there

was any Formula one hotel around he shook his head and said he didn’t know, trust

a rich person not to know the cheapest hotel in South Africa. We drove around and
he kept taking me to fancy expensive hotel and before we even got out the car I

would tell him it’s too fancy and probably had cameras in every floor and all my

husband needed to do was bribe security and I would be found. We finally settled on

a City lodge hotel. I choose the ground floor unit, in case I needed to run again I was

not about to jump from the eighth floor, can’t afford to kill myself and die for the

second time I was not Jesus I was not going to rise from the dead.

We went to my room, I needed to shower it had been a long day, Roger said he

would wait at reception while I showered and we will go and have diner afterwards. I

put my money bag in the safe then showered and changed and went to go meet

Roger at the reception area, he told me I looked beautiful in my black dress, I had

planned to wear that on my first diner night in Mozambique but due to unforeseen

circumstances, that’s my husband who is never forseen, those plans had to change.

We drove in his Ferrari again to some fancy restaurant, thank goodness I had

dressed decently everybody in that place looked elegant, he ordered some wine for

us, and then we had starters, white people and hundred small food with different

names, I did not realise how hungry I had been I could not wait for the main course

which was a disappointing small piece of steak and some three small carrots and

three slices of green pepper, the black person in me wanted pap, this is why I could

never date a white man we were too damn different. While having diner we had very

interesting conversations, he told me about his life, he was married before and was

now divorced, had two kids with his ex-wife a boy and a girl, to white people divorce

is not a big deal you can be married ten times and no one will judge you, I could not

imagine myself being a divorcee, to most black people that is like admitting that you

have failed, I know of a married couple who hated each other but would not get

divorced because they are too worried about what people would say, so they stayed
in the same house and slept in different bedrooms. I asked Roger if he had a

girlfriend I don’t know why I asked that but he said “yes” I loved his honesty he said

him and the girlfriend were taking a break because she didn’t know what she wanted

she wanted to move to Australia and he didn’t want to move with her because he

would never be able to see his kids as often if he stayed overseas, she was not

understanding of his situation and blah blah blah, damn the man could talk, we finally

had desert then he drove me to my hotel, by then I was bushed all I wanted was my

bed, he gave me a hug took my numbers and I took his and he left. I went inside my

room and first thing I did was check if my money was still in the safe and it was, I

changed into a t-shirt and shorts and threw myself on the bed, I was too exhausted

for words. I got an sms from Roger “Got home safe, thanks for a great evening.” I

replied “It was such a pleasure meeting you, thank you for being my hero.” He

replied “I wish I could come and sleep outside your door just to make sure that you

are safe.” Good Lord the man knew all the right things to say, I sent a smiley face

and a good night Roger. He replied “Good night Lee, can we do breakfast

tomorrow?” before I could reply he called and said he was tired of these back and

forth text messages I laughed and said “okay but we can only talk for five minutes I

want to sleep.” He agreed but the conversation was still going on half an hour later,

Roger was just such a cool, chilled person I had never connected with a stranger like

that so quickly, forty five minutes later we said our goodbyes and I immediately fell

asleep.

The following morning I was woken up by the sounds outside the passage, I tiptoed

to go hear who it was but it was just people staying in the hotel walking pass. I

quickly went and showered when I came back I checked my phone and I had an sms

from Roger, “please let me know when you are up so I can come pick you up for
breakfast.” I replied “I’m up, can we have breakfast in my hotel?” he replied and said

he was going jogging in the beach and I could join him if I wanted to. Hell no, walking

in the beach is hard enough with all that sand as it is now imagine running there, I

said “maybe next time, besides I have already showered.” He said he would join me

for breakfast after his jog, no wonder he had a body like that the man took care of

himself. Well this was a blessing in disguise I could go have breakfast now since I

did not eat enough food the previous night, and besides Roger would probably want

yoghurts instead of real food, I suddenly realised how I would not want to be his

girlfriend, I would starve to death. I decided to call She Rocks to find out how much

Mthobisi knew and what exactly he knew, her phone was off, this was very strange,

she never switches off her phone even when she goes to meetings she would rather

put it on silence than keep it off, I thought maybe it was the network and tried again

shit it was really off, I started panicking and thinking what if she really did move to

Brazil but that was not possible she would need Visa’s and stuff to go there, she

wouldn’t just leave and then another thought crept in my mind what if Mthobisi and

his people had taken her and were keeping her hostage somewhere torturing her

and demanding my whereabouts, I wanted to call Emily but was too scared I kept

thinking what if Mthobisi had her with him and was taking her everywhere hoping that

I would call her so he could track me down, I was losing my mind with all these crazy

thoughts, I decided fuck it I was not going to wait for Roger, I was going to go and

indulge on some breakfast and just have yoghurt with Roger when he arrived so it

didn’t look like I ate a lot, that’s how us women roll, we show you what you want to

see in the beginning of the relationship and few months down the line we reveal our

true colours. I got dressed in jeans and sneakers then went to go have breakfast,

there was few people in the room which made me feel comfortable at least I was not
going to be the only one in there,safety in numbers, I got myself toasted bread, eggs,

bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms and coffe and went and sat at my table and ate, I was

enjoying every bit I had not realised how hungry I was, half way through my

breakfast the gentlemen who was sitting at the corner stood up, he had been reading

the newspaper whatever he was reading must have been very interesting because

he had not put that paper down not once but I wasn’t paying much attention to him,

there was a couple sitting behind me that was fighting over money, I deliberately sat

next to their table so I could hear their conversation, it was entertaining, it was a

coloured couple and the girl was complaining that the guy was spending the money

recklessly buying alcohol for people that they had just meet.

I kept giggling to myself each time the guy would try and defend himself because his

defence was weak he kept saying one day they will also be bought booze by

strangers and she should stop being so negative. A few minutes later the guy who

was busy with the newspaper sat right next to me and said “Hello wifey.” I literally

jumped off my chair and feel to the ground, everybody turned to look at me Mthobisi

said “she’s fine guys she was just surprised to see me, I came to surprise my wife.”

People said “ahhhh, how sweet.” And went back to their food, I wanted to scream

“help, he’s not my husband” but he calmly said “now, now Lesedi, don’t cause a

scene or do something stupid, you’ve caused me enough shame and

embarrassment.” I looked at him and gave him a confused look and said “I have no

idea who you are.” He looked at me straight in the eye and said “what?” I replied “I

don’t know who you are, I know your voice because I have heard it before but I don’t

know your face, I don’t know who you are.” His shook his head and said “are you

telling me that you have amnesia? Do you know your name?” I smiled and said “yes,

I am Melisa.” He laughed for a good five minutes at this point I didn’t know if he
bought my amnesia story or not I just sat there like an idiot waiting for him to finish

laughing and when he was done he said “cut the bullshit Lesedi, you know exactly

who I am. Do you know how I know that you don’t have amnesia my beautiful wife?

Well, that’s because if you had amnesia after your so-called death you would not

have gone back to Tebogo’ s house to go steal his money. Imagine my shock when

after we had buried you I went to Tebogo’s house to kill him for getting you killed

only to get the shock of my life when he played me his cctv footage of you and your

dear friend Emily walking in his house and then walking out carrying two bags stuffed

with money, this was good Lesedi it was really good, you had me fooled, fuck you

had all of us fooled, but your games end right here today. I am going to finish what

you started, getting rid of you should be very easy since everybody already thinks

you are dead.” I felt my pants getting wet, I had just peed myself in public, I knew I

was not going to get out of this alive, my time was up. I had messed with the wrong

men.

Mthobisi told me to get up, I defiantly sat there and acted like I didn’t hear him, it’s

not like he could shot me in public, “so what happened to the money?” he asked me,

“what money?” I asked playing dumb and stalling for time, I honestly didn’t know

what my next step or move was going to be in this all I knew was I needed time so

stalling was my best option, he looked at me and said “nc, nc, nc, see what greed

will do to you wifey, you had already gotten away with murder, pun intended, but you

just had to go back for the money.” He said and then started laughing. The man was

really chaffed with himself, annoyed does not even begin to describe the way I felt at

that moment. “Joburg is a long drive, let’s go and get your things in your room.”

I have heard of crazy ideas but this was ludicrous, I looked at him and waited for him

to laugh or even say he was joking but nothing, he had his serious face on, I burst
out laughing thinking he would join me and then tell me that he was joking and

nothing the man just continued driving. I mean where have you ever heard the

person that you are running from planning to run away with you? Mthobisi was more

crazier than I thought. “And where the hell are you going to say you are to your mom,

and everybody else?” I can tell them I’m taking some time out, or we can fake my

death too. Who did your id’s and passports because they look legit, we can use your

connection to make me one too.” He kept talking about this crazy idea and the more

he talked the crazier it sounded.

I stood up and walked around the room and said “wait, wait, wait, they forced her to

smuggle drugs? Oh my God, this is some scary shit. I cannot even begin to imagine

how torn and petrified your mom must have been.” He continued “She pleaded with

them, begged them and told them that she was even willing to smuggle the drugs

herself as long as they brought her daughter back, we couldn’t go to the police

because we knew we were being watched every move we made they knew about it

and what could the police do to people like that anyway, they are under resourced as

it is. They obviously didn’t agree to her plea bargain and told us if she was busy

flying in and out of the country with drugs how was she going to make the rest of the

money. We of course knew that there was no way we were going to make this

money with my mother’s teacher’s salary, so my mother told me that my dad used to

sell illegal firearms which brought in a lot of money, she didn’t know where he got

them from but it seemed like they were coming from Natal, so we needed to find that

connection then still get buyers, it was such an impossible mission but I was willing

to try it just to save my sister. While I was still working on finding my father’s gun

supplier the Chinese sent us a video of our sister being operated, they opened up

her stomach then put the drugs inside her stomach and told us in 48 hours if we
didn’t have the money she would be flying out of South Africa with those drugs in her

body. Do you know how scared I was for her, she could get arrested and in some

foreign countries they still have the death penalty, we didn’t know which country she

would be going to so there was no way of calling the police of that country to alert

them and on the other hand alerting them could seem like a tip of and also get her

arrested I mean they were not going to believe that she was forced into this, they

were going to assume that she did it willingly, besides everybody who gets caught

with drugs always says they got framed so that story the cops no longer believe.

I finally managed to get some contact of my dad’s in all my digging, they agreed to

meet with me, when I meet with them I got the shock of my life because it was white

people, I told them the whole story of what had happened and they said they would

give me the seven million as long as after they have paid I work with them, I

explained that I was studying and I couldn’t real work at the time because the varsity

work load was not easy, they told me they were patient people and would wait for me

to finish with Varsity, they will just need me to do odd jobs for them for now, just here

and there.” I was kind of getting an idea now of where this was going “Were these

the Russians?” I asked “Yes, the following day which was actually the day of the

deadline, we called the Chinese and told them we had their money, I will never forget

that day, I was so happy and excited that I was finally going to see my sister and she

was coming back home, the Russians came with us, I felt so powerful, like I had

achieved the impossible, we drove to some place in Bruma, my mom and I and we

had this entourage of Russians, it felt good to be in control for once, we got there

and they wanted the money and as we were about to give it to them, I mean my

mom and I were amateurs in this we didn’t know how it’s done, the Russian told

them to first show us our sister, they pointed to a car that was a bit far from us and
we could see she was in that car, we handed the money and they said we could go

and get my sister I walked to the car with one of the Russians and as we got close

the guy I was walking with shouted something in Russian and the next thing I knew

bullets were flying all over the place, I didn’t know what the fuck was going on the

guy pushed me to the ground and told me to stay down, I was shitting myself I had

never seen bullets fly like that all around me.” I interrupted “why did the Russian

shout and did you ever find out what he was saying?” Mthobisi shook his head and I

could see his eyes had tears but he was trying very hard to hold them back “He was

saying it’s a trap, she’s dead and that’s why the other Russian guys started shooting

but at the time I had no idea why the shooting was happening or who started it, the

Chinese managed to run off with about four million, they had no idea that we were

coming with Russians so they were just going to take our money and give us my

dead sister, we later found out that the drugs they had put in my sisters stomach the

plastic had somehow burst and all those drugs filled up her stomach so she died of

drugs overdose of shit that she didn’t even use”, he said standing up and walking

towards the window, this was a lot to take in, now all the pieces were starting to fall

into place, those bastards are the ones that made him so ruthless. “Can you imagine

burying your dad this month and the following month burying your sister? The word

had spread all around our neighbourhood that she had gone missing, when we found

her the story was just too hard to swallow or to tell, so we just told people that she

was involved in a car accident and that is why we struggled finding her because she

had no id with her when the accident happened so nobody knew who she was. The

day we buried her I made a promise to her in at her grave that I would find the

people that did this to her and I was going to make them pay.
From there on I was just angry, controlled by anger, the Russians took me under

their wing, showed me the ropes and I continued studying, when I started working on

mines as an engineer this is when they coached me on how to smuggle gold, get

people who were coming from outside the country to work for me because I had

accesses to mines all over it was easy for me to get them in. There would be times

when the police would do sting operations and send undercover cops to come and

investigate the mines, because I was an engineer I would be told of what is

happening and I would pull my guys out, things went well for some time and I

managed to settle our debt, my mom had also become involved in the life and she

was pulling her own shit on her side and the Russians respected her. We had to live

as normal of a life as possible we didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves, so we

made sure we didn’t flash or start living a high rollers life.” He was still standing by

the window looking outside, I was still sitting on the couch listening to this “so when

you meet me and we got married why didn’t you confide in me then? Why didn’t you

tell me all this then?” I asked “Because I wanted to protect you from all of this, I

never wanted you to find out, the day shit got messy was when that mine I was

working on collapsed, I was not worried about my life, I was more worried about my

guys lives and I know you may think I’m heartless but the people that work for me to

me feel like family and I do everything in my power to protect them, I felt like I had

failed when some of them died.” I went and stood in front of him this time the tears

came down on his face and he used the back of his hand to wipe them off. “I’m sorry

that you and your family had to go through all that and thank you for telling me.

So are you now going to be able to quit this life?” He shook his head and said “I don’t

know Lesedi, this life is all that I have known for so long, yes I want to change for

you to make you happy but that change will have to come gradually, it will be difficult
to just quit and I also have to explain to everyone why I am quitting and the scary

part is some might not like that decision and may decide to come after you. Which is

why I think you should stay dead.” He said looking at me in the eyes. “We need to

plan this carefully, I don’t want any comebacks, I have grown big in the underworld

and I have a lot of information that I know some might worry that I will use that

information to bring them down. Obviously in this kind of life nobody trusts anybody

so if a guy just comes and says he wants to quit everyone starts questioning his

motives. I know if I quit and something goes wrong in their heads automatically the

first person that will come to mind is me. So are you willing to live a life like that? Are

you willing to always be chased after because they think you are hiding something or

have done something against them?” He looked past me the question he had asked

me he was not expecting me to answer it, he wanted me to think about it.

“Lesedi I love you but you being with me may mean putting you in a lot of danger. I

watched you while you were sleeping and I had enough time to think things through,

you were right by running that was self-preservation and I respect and admire that, I

don’t think many people would have been brave enough to do what you did. I think

the best option is for you to disappear, I will go back to Joburg sort my shit out then

come back for you, staying dead is the best possible option right now, that way no

one can come after you.”

I shook my head and said “I think somewhere I kind of forgot my wedding vows, I

said before God and everybody else that was at our wedding that I was in this for

better or for worse and most importantly till death do us part. Now that I know that

you didn’t start living this life because you were bored or because you were being

greedy I understand and feel your pain and staying dead will be the worst option for

me right now. I am going to stand by you, and no we are not going to quit, I think
now more than ever we have to find those bitches that killed your sister and make

them pay.” Mthobisi looked at me and said “Did you just say we? Does this mean

you want in? Lesedi this life is addictive and dangerous I want you to be hundred

percent sure because once you are in it is very hard to come out. And the people

that killed my sister they are all dead, I made sure of it”

I smiled and said “I’m in, let’s go home.” I said getting my bags already, Mthobisi said

we could go home the following morning , we discussed where he would say he

found me and agreed on using the story I had told him when he found me at the

hotel of not remembering who I was, we agreed that we would tell everyone that

there was a mix-up with medical aids and I was sent to a public hospital and a

patient who had an operation before me our files got mixed up and she died and they

thought it was me since she had my file. I woke up in a public hospital with no

memory of who I was and a few days later got discharged they didn’t care where I

went all they cared about was getting me off the bed so they could give it to

someone else who was sick. I wondered around with nowhere to go and lived on the

streets until some person who recognised me picked me up and called my husband

and that’s how he found me. He looked at me and smiled and said “I thought you

well.” I laughed and said “the student will always be better than the teacher.” He

laughed and said it’s a good plan and there will be no mention of Durban and my

friend’s involvement in all of this. By now we were both hungry he said he would go

and grab us take-aways. I was looking for my phone in my bag when I saw the letter

from Roger, I quickly opened it before Mthobisi came back it read

Dear Lesedi,
I can help you, I work for the Moscow Police I am here in South Africa working

undercover, we have been following you for some time now, we know you faked your

own death, we know about your husband and his dealings with the Russian. We are

investigating them for crimes they committed in Russia and we are trying to get them

extradited and we believe you can be of great help to us. This is my private number

that you can get hold of me on at any time.

Regards

Roger.

I smiled and thought this could be our way of getting rid of the Russians and being

freeing from the life of crime, now the big question was do I work with police alone

and keep all this from my husband or do I tell him and have him stop me? I decided I

was going to keep this to myself I was going to get all the information they needed

and help them send them back to their country so they could answer for their sins

and leave us in peace. Loyalty for what?

Mthobisi came back with our food, my phone was hidden very far away and I was not

about to tell him about the text message from Roger. We ate outside our balcony

over-looking Durban it was such a beautiful view. I told Mthobisi I needed to call

Emily and just check on her since I had not spoken to her ever since the day he

showed up at her place, he gave me his phone to use. I called her and she didn’t

pick up I must have called seven times with no response from her then I

remembered that I was using Mthobisi’ s phone and that must have scared the crap

out of her. I told him I would use my small ugly phone, I had to go to my bag and dig

for it as I had made sure to put it underneath everything else.

Mthobisi and Victor heard my screams and they came running to see what was

going on. I was shaking like a leaf, my mom was still kneeling next to him. “what

happened?” Mthobisi asked looking at me “I killed him, I killed him, I killed him, I

killed him.” I kept saying that without even realising that I was repeating the same

thing over and over again. Mthobisi pulled me up and held me by my shoulders and

told me to look him in the eyes, I couldn’t, I kept looking on the floor he shouted

“Lesedi, look at me, don’t look at him okay, focus on me Honey.”

I was shaking I tried to look away from the body lying on the floor but it was so hard

“Come on baby, look at me, look at me.” I turned and looked at him, “I need you to

count with me.” The fuck is wrong with Mthobisi, there was a dead body and he was

telling me to count to ten, he started “1, 2,….”

I think only after the words came out of his mouth and when he saw my mouth wide

opened did he realise that he shouldn’t have said that. “He’s harmless Honey, don’t

worry about it, he’s a man of God, a big church goer, prays a lot” I knew he was now

lying trying to cover the truth. HM came back and was on the phone I heard him say

“stand still, stop moving around” if somebody like him said that to me I would have

shat myself by now, I didn’t matter if he was saying it over the phone for all I knew he

could be watching me through a window with a rifle that has a telescope and can see

my every move , I would be under the bed hiding if I was the person at the other end

of the phone. “You keep moving around and you lose the network when you do that I

can’t hear some of the things you saying” he said , woow, I was relieved to hear that

it was for network purposes and not for any dodgy business he spoke to the person

for a few minutes then got upset and told the person to give the phone to another

person and then I heard him say “If I ever hear any complaints about you again, I will

send you to your maker faster than you can say it’s my property.” Then he hung up
and smiled at me and introduced himself, I have no idea what he said his name was

I was just still in shock over the last sentence of his call. Mthobisi was now busy

talking with the other two guys and not paying much attention to HM. HM said “MT,

your idea of opening a church at that section in Hillbrow worked, the cops have left

us alone, thank you my brother. God is goodo.” Mthobisi nodded and said we should

go. We left and drove to my mom’s place, my sister’s car was there and so were my

friend’s cars, I looked at Mthobisi and asked “did you invite them here?” He shook

his head, it must have been my mom’s doing. I walked in to a bunch of people,

friends, family, everybody was just happy to see me alive, my mom told me that she

had called everyone to come and see me, she didn’t want me having to explain to

each person so every person that was at my “funeral” was there at my revival,

whatever the hell you call what was happening. My friends who knew hugged me

and were the only ones with dry eyes everyone else was crying including my sister. I

was happy to be back home and as much as we were celebrating my return we also

had to mourn my father’s death, which was the saddest part about all this. My mom

called me to the side and told me that my father’s death was not my fault and

Mthobisi told her how I was blaming myself for his death, she told me he was very

sick and had gotten worse after I had died. I thanked her for saying that even though

deep down I knew the truth, the lie still felt good to hear. I mingled a bit with my

family, it was my mother’s side of the family that was there my father’s side said they

had no time to celebrate or even welcome me back because they had a funeral to

arrange, I didn’t blame them though. Victor was his loving, supportive husband to my

mom, my mom was hurting, I mean who wouldn’t, that was the father of her kids,

Victor was very understanding and patient with her, I loved my step dad. My sister

and I decided we would go later to our dad’s parent’s house in Spruitview because
that is where the funeral was going to be held. In all this time Andiswa was avoiding

me like a plague I didn’t get it, she would speak to me in a group but each time I

would try to chat to her privately she would come up with excuses like having to pick

a call with her phone on her hand not even ringing, I figured maybe she was still in

shock or whatever Andiswa was a bit overly dramatic about things, I asked She

Rocks if she had noticed anything different or strange about Andiswa she said she

had been acting very odd lately, they had thought that it was that time of the month

and had just left her to be.

Myself, Mthobisi, my sister and her husband and my friends we all decided that we

would go together to my dad’s family to pay our respects. We drove in a convoy to

the house in Spruitview, I hadn’t been there in years, there was a lot of people

coming in and out of the house, location people once they hear there is death in the

family they will just keep coming for tea and cookies until the day of the funeral when

they come for food and alcohol at the after-tears. We got dirty looks from the family,

these people had no chill even death couldn’t soften their black evil heart. “What do

you want?” One of our evil aunts asked my sister and I. Naledi told her that we were

there to pay our respects to our father “you can go in but not your sister, she will

bring us bad luck.” She said pointing at me “I am going in, bad luck yama-simba” I

said angry now, how dare she. “Yewana ntombazana, you were dead and as soon

as your father dies you come back to life, you and your mother are witches, worst of

all your father dies at your mother’s house.” I was going for her, I was going to rip

that old weave that had blankets and probably was a home to spiders, of her head,

nobody speaks about my mother in my presence like that, Mthobisi held me back

and told me we should just go sit in the car and let Naledi and my friends go in. I was

not happy but the last thing I wanted was to cause a scene in front of all those
people and end up disrespecting my father’s memory, so I agreed and Mthobisi and I

went to go sit in the car while Naledi, Lwazi and my friends went inside, this was

bullshit, I was sitting in the car fuming, “Does this mean I won’t be allowed to the

funeral too?” I asked Mthobisi, poor man didn’t have the answers, I don’t even know

how I expected him to know that. An hour later they all come out crying, I don’t even

know why Mthobisi and I waited we should have just left but we were there so I

asked how it went inside they said it was sad, death is always sad. Andiswa said it

reminded her of my death, which brought everyone into an awkward silence. “Did

they say when the funeral will be?” I asked breaking the silence, Cleo answered

“Yes, it’s in three days time. Can we do lunch tomorrow to catch up?” That’s Cloe for

you, she never just sticks to one conversation, we all agreed to lunch then drove our

separate ways, Mthobisi and I went home. “Can you believe that woman’s nerve

calling my mother a witch?” I said walking into the house, Mthobisi was in his own

world I just continued talking, yapping about my father’s family and how I didn’t

understand them and their hatred. I must have spoken for two hours straight with

Mthobisi just adding an “hmmmmm, okay” here and there, it’s true what they say

woman can talk. Mthobisi made diner and we ate and went to bed, the following

morning he told me I was still talking about my father’s family even in my sleep,that

made me laugh.

In the morning Mthobisi said he had to go to work and run a few errands and I could

go with him if I wanted, I told him I was meeting my friends for lunch and would ask

Cleo to come and pick me up since I was a bit scared to drive ever since the whole

shooting saga. He told me not to stay out too late and if I feel scared or there is any

form of threat or danger I should call him, I agreed and he left, a few hours later Cleo

came to pick me up and we drove to News Café for lunch. She Rocks was already
there “this thing of you always being early is really annoying” said Cleo to She

Rocks, I laughed and said “Cleo you should really learn from She Rocks you picked

me half an hour late.” She Rocks said with a smile “people who show up late show

that they don’t respect the person they are meeting and they think that they are

better than them.” Cleo rolled her eyes and said “and where did you steall that quote

from?” we all laughed, Andiswa arrived, Cleo said to her “Andiswa did you know that

you being late is a sign of disrespect to us?” Andiswa apologised for being late and

looked very nervous once again, we ordered drinks and started chatting about what

has been happening since I had been gone. Andiswa finally broke “There is

something I need to tell you guys, you might hate me for it but I will feel better after

telling you.” She Rocks said “Geez Andz, you scaring us now, what’s up?” Andiswa

continued “well, the shooting that we went through brought back a lot of bad

memories, you know about Mfundo..” Cleo interrupted her “Ohh come on Andiswa,

Mfundo of all people. I thought we had moved on from that.” Andiswa protested “You

might have moved on Cleo because you are used to shit like that but I’m not. I had

nightmares for months after we killed Mfundo, then when I finally thought that I was

okay, then Lesedi had to take us to some shady guy who go us shot at and Lesedi

“dying” and that just brought back a whole lot of memories and I started having

nightmares again about Mfundo and I would wake my man up in the middle of the

night with my loud screams.” Cleo again interrupted “please don’t tell me you told

your boyfriend?” at that point we were all cringing and holding our breathes “I had to

Cleo, it was an everyday thing, there was no ways I could hide it, but that is not the

worst part.” “Jesus there is more?” I said fearing the worst “He convinced me to go to

the police and said that is the only way I could clear my conscious.” Isn’t that what

church and prayer is for though, to clear your conscious? I thought . All three of us at
the same time said “please tell us you didn’t?” She shook her head and started

crying “I did, he took me to the police station and I told them everything. I am so

sorry. I thought with Lesedi dead there was no ways we could go to jail because

she’s the one that pulled the trigger and when we found out that she was alive but

was not coming back to Joburg and had changed her name it still made no

difference so I didn’t see the point of telling you guys but now, now that you are back

it changes everything.”

Oh God, why didn’t I stay dead? My best friend was sending me to prison. Love

them all but trust no one.

I knew this day would one day come but I didn’t expect one day to be so soon…

“Andiswa if this is you trying to be funny I just want to tell you now that you are not

achieving that, instead you are annoying the crap out of the rest of us.” Cleo shouted

but even she knew that Andiswa was not joking she was as serious as a heart-

attack. “Okay guys, let’s be calm about this, we can sort this out. Andiswa what

exactly did you tell the police?” asked She Rocks trying to calm everyone down. “I

told them everything, I’m sorry.” Said Andiswa cringing. I put my hands in the head if

we were not in a public place I swear I would have screamed my lungs out but I had

to behave like a lady. “Why the fuck would you do that? Do you know how much shit

you’ve put all of us in?” Cleo screamed at her, Andiswa said how she wanted to clear

her conscious and how sorry she was for going behind their back but she felt like she

was losing her mind.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while but I didn’t want to be the first one to say it, I

mean its always me who suggests these crazy stunts, I am so glad you prayed and
got the answers, you need to pray more often, I will work on a plan of action and get

back to you. Lets talk tomorrow I need to catch some sleep now. I love you Lee.

Good night. She hung up, I was left dumb-struck, how did that coverstaion just turn

to a plan to commit murder, I tried calling her back but by then she had switched of

her phone off. I tried calling She Rock she answered on the second ring, “don’t you

sleep?” I asked “I just got off the phone with Andiswa, you will not believe the shit

she told me.” She Rocks said “I just got off the phone with Cleo she completely

misunderstood me, I said we should make Andiswa disappear and she thought I

meant as in kill her, now she’s planning her death.” I quickly explained “Well Andiswa

is convinced that we will try and kill her or have her

“Can you at least give me a chance to get my phone and call my husband?” They

looked at each other and pushed me out of the house and one of them said “no

cellphones are allowed in prison.” That’s when it hit me, Andiswa had really screwed

me over and I was going straight to jail. They walked me out of the house and closed

the door then walked me to their car with my hands hand-cuffed behind me and the

most embarrassing thing happened, Zanele our neighbour who is married to the

white old man was jogging past our house, you know how when you see criminals on

the news covering their faces with jackets, t-shirts, plastic bags anything that they

can lay their hands on just not to be seen by people watching the news, I always

thought that they were crazy but at that moment I knew exactly how they felt, heck if

I had a jersey to cover myself with I would have covered my face just to avoid this

embarrassment. She obviously saw me being escorted by Police she stopped

running and looked at us, I was praying inside that she would just continue running

and act like she didn’t see anything and just mind her own business, this was more

than embarrassing.
There was no way in hell I was going to sit there and wait for Mthobisi to come back

from upstairs, God was giving me an opportunity to run and maybe by the time I

come back he would have calm down or I would have a better cover up story. As I

was about to open the door to run out I heard him clear his throat then say “where do

you think you are going?” shit, there was no way out of this. I smiled nervously and

said “I think I left my phone at Zanele’s place, I was just dashing out to go and get it.”

he looked at my hand that was holding the key and pointed at it “were you planning

on driving there?” I laughed and said “of course not, I just noticed that your car is

parked on the grass so I wanted to move it so I could turn on the sprinklers, why

must you question everything I do? I feel like you don’t trust me anymore. Did you

think I was planning on faking my death again, it’s like everything I do you put under

a microscope, I’m tired of living like a prisoner in my own home.” A guilty person will

always blab on about nonsense that is not even related to the matter at hand.

Mthobisi was just staring at me I was not giving him a chance to speak, I wanted to

give him so much to think about and just confuse the whole situation.

I sat there staring at the gun that my husband had just handed to me. What kind of

people were we? People that go around carrying guns and taking care of people.

“Put that thing away, you don’t want us getting stopped by police and finding that on

you.” Mthobisi said “Is this thing even registered?” I asked wondering how many

people had the same gun I was carrying killed “Who would you like it to be registered

under Honey? Should I put it under your name?” he asked trying to be sarcastic. I

ignored his stupid comment. My phone rang it was my sister “Hey we are headed

home. Are you guys going to come back?” I whispered to Mthobisi and asked if we

were going back and he shook his head I told her no, she should say goodbye to the

family for us, not that they will care that we are gone anyway. “Can you come by
later, there is something I want to show you.” I told her it will depend on how long we

take on whatever Mthobisi wanted us to do, she begged me, this didn’t sound like my

sister she’s usually the forceful type I asked if she was okay and she said why

wouldn’t she be okay, “well for one you don’t beg, two you only use that tone when

you are freaked out about something. Did your dad’s family say something to you

that freaked you out?” That was the only thing I could think of she told me not to be

silly, everything was fine. I told her I would go to her house later. “Something is not

right with Naledi.” I told Mthobisi as soon as I got off the phone, he asked what was

wrong I told him I didn’t know it was just one of those siblings instincts, it’s hard to

explain but when something is not okay you can feel it with your family without even

being told.

We arrived in some house in Bedfordview, most of my husband’s dealings happen in

Bedfordview, as we got there I got a call from Andiswa, I looked at my phone then

looked at Mthobis he looked at me and asked who it was I showed him, he looked at

me confused “Why aren’t you answering?” I looked at him even more confused, were

we not about to pop that girls ass, what would I be doing talking to her? “Do you

want some privacy? You will find me inside.” He said leaving me there with my

mouth open. “Hi Andiswa, what can I do for you.” She cleared her throat “Hey man, I

heard you just buried your father. Why didn’t you tell me it was his funeral today? We

always do everything together Lee, why are you cutting me out. Obviously She

Rocks and Cleo were there. Is this how things are going to be between us now? I

made a mistake, get over it, you’ve wronged me so many times and I have forgiven

you, why is it so hard to do the same.” I laughed, I wasn’t laughing because I was

happy, I was laughing because I was so angry at her and yet every time someone

wanted to hurt her I was the one protecting her. “I don’t see what’s funny in what I
have just said Lee.” I couldn’t stop laughing I just continued laughing, it was that

laugh that you use instead of crying, because I knew if I cried I was going to hurt that

Andiswa thing, I laughed until she got tired of me and hung up, after she did I went

out of the car, I must have walked around the car more than five times trying to calm

myself, nothing hurts more than being stabbed in the back by someone you love and

trust. If it were anyone else I wouldn’t have cared but Andiswa was one of the few

people that I trusted with my life, which was a big mistake. I followed my husband

inside the house, I found him standing at the pool area with his friends, associates,

his people whatever you want to call them with Mthobisi it’s hard to categorise the

people he mixes with. “Oh Honey, you done with the call, come stand here next to

me. Did you bring your gun?” He asked as if this was the most natural thing on earth,

none of the people he was with even flinched when he asked that, this was obviously

a norm with them. I nodded, not even sure what was happening because we were

obviously not about to kill Andiswa, I wondered who. Could it be Fundani? He was

the only other person who was a pain in my ass and having him taken care of would

make the world a better place, I smiled just thinking about shooting his ass. I was

snapped back into reality when one of the guys said “He’s here, get ready.” Next

thing I knew everybody got their guns out, I froze Mthobisi signalled that I should

take my gun out as well, I did and a guy appeared “what’s this?” He said with his

deep Nigerian accent when he saw everyone pointing at him “I trusted you HM and

you went and busted my wife to the cops because I wouldn’t give you that shit.”

Mthobisi said. What the hell was happening, my mind was now buzzing, “the fuck MT

man?” HM said trying to get close to him, one of the Russians said with his deep

Russian accent, “don’t even think about coming close or I will blow your brains out.”

What did HM have to do with me being arrested, I was standing there trying to add
everything together but nothing added up. “Wait, wait, wait, how did HM get me

arrested? Why would he even get me arrested he doesn’t know me from a bar of

soap, I’ve only meet the man once in my life.” I said trying to reason with everyone “I

told HM about the mess you and your friends made with Mfundo he helped me clean

it up, then now recently he wanted something which I couldn’t give to him, and

started threatening me, then you get arrested, coincidence? I think not.” HM stood

there dumb-founded “that’s not my style MT and you know it, I…. I….. oh Jesus help

me here” HM really was a religious man, he was stuttering and couldn’t find the

words. “Lately you’ve been trigger happy, I warned to slow down H but you wouldn’t

listen, you always know better than the rest of us. MT turn your wife around.” That’s

what the deep accent Russian guy said. After that everything happened so quickly,

Mthobisi turned me around so fast and I was facing him, confused as to what the hell

I was being turned around for then I heard a big loud bang and I knew why, the

Russian man had shot HM. I turned back to find see him lying on his back, I rushed

to him screaming “Noooooooooooooo!” I knelt next to him, his was covered in blood I

couldn’t even see his face, blood was just gushing out, I started feeling sick, my

stomach turned at the sight of all that blood, Mthobisi and the other people were

talking, I couldn’t hear them all I could see was the dead person with a lot of blood in

front of me then I blacked out.

When I came to we were in the car, I tried to speak but words wouldn’t come out,

and I was out again. I came to again, I opened my eyes and saw Mthobisi in the bed

next to me, I looked around and asked him where we were, he said we were in our

house in one of the spare bedrooms, when I asked why we were not sleeping in our

room he told me I had been throwing up, I messed the blankets and the carpet so

badly that it needs proper cleaning and he couldn’t do that as he needed to take care
of me. I wondered why I had thrown up that much then I remembered HM, “Oh My

God, how long have I been out for? Your friend killed HM, he didn’t do anything

wrong Mthobisi.” He wouldn’t listen to me he told me to calm down, everything was

fine and HM was not dead, I knew that was a lie, he was trying to make me feel

better, I saw the blood there is no way in hell anyone would have survived that. I

again started trying to explain but Mthobisi wouldn’t give me a chance, he told me I

had been like this for a days, I would go to sleep then wake up and get all hysterical

and he even had a doctor come to have a look at me and he gave me sedatives to

calm me down. “I’m sorry Honey, I thought you were ready for this but I was wrong.”

That made me feel so useless and stupid as I was the one who said I would be in

this with him now I was acting like a mad woman. I guess his lifestyle was just not for

me, you get suspected of being a traitor and you get killed, I would never be able to

live like that. Something hit me, my sister had called after the funeral wanting to see

me, I had been in and out of consciousness for a days which means I had missed 24

hours days. “Where’s my phone?” I asked Mthobisi he said he didn’t know I jumped

out of bed, and started feeling a bit woozy, Mthobisi looked at me and said “don’t

stand too fast, you haven’t had food in a while, you need to get your strength up first”

I ignored him and went downstairs to go look for my bag, it was laying on the floor, I

threw everything on the couch, found my phone it was obviously dead, these weak

batteries are annoying. Mthobisi came downstairs and said he was going to make

me something to eat, I asked him for his phone, he handed it to me, I called Naledi

and her phone was off. “Did she call you?” I frantically asked Mthobisi while I was

waiting for the phone to ring, damn it went straight to voicemail. “Who?” Mthobisi

asked “my sister, kanti who are we talking about here?” I asked him getting annoyed.

He said she didn’t. I went to the kitchen and grabbed some water for some reason I
was very thirsty, I don’t know if it was worry over my sister or dehydration, I downed

a glass full of water in one go, then asked Mthobisi to make me a sandwhich while I

went to go shower and left my phone charging in the kitchen. When I was done

showering, he was done making me food, I told him I would eat on the way, he

asked on the way to where I told him to my sister. He didn’t see why I was making a

big fuss about my sister, but I just could feel that something was wrong.

We arrived in Winchester Hills at my sister’s place, we rang the bell at the gate for

about five minutes and there was no response, luckily I had keys to her house for

emergencies so I opened the gate, then we drove in, there were no cars in the

driveway, Mthobisi said to me “you see, you were freaking out for nothing, they not

even here.” I ignored him got out the car and knocked at the front door, there was no

response, I didn’t have the front door keys, I only had the back kitchen door keys, I

went to the kitchen, the door was not locked but closed. I pushed it open and I went

inside, I turned back to look at Mthobis and asked “aren’t you coming in with me?” he

shook his head and said “No, I don’t break into people’s houses.” He was being

impossible, I ignored him and went in, I called out my sister’s name there was no

answer, I called out her kids names still no response, I went upstairs in their rooms,

and there was no one around as I was passing the steam room, yes my sister has a

steam room in her house, I thought I saw a figure but I wasn’t sure, I went close and

there was blood on the glass door of the steam room and lying inside was my sister,

I screamed “Naledi, Naledi” I tried opening the door but it wouldn’t open, it was

locked , I tried kicking it and it wouldn’t break, I ran outside and called Mthobisi and

told him of what I saw he ran past me and went upstairs I ran behind him “Fuck she

looks dead.” He said to himself not realizing I was right behind him. I screamed

“Noooooo, not my sister!!!”

“Mthobisi, open the door, we need to get her out.” I said panicking, “It’s locked.” I

moved things around looking for the key and as I was about to scream “break it

down.” Mthobisi was doing exactly that, luckily it was a glass door so with one kick

from Mthobisi it cracked the second time he punched it and the glass broke into

pieces, we both rushed inside the steam room it was boiling hot in there we went in

and after a few seconds I ran out I was not prepared for the heat I felt in there

Mthobisi quickly grabbed Naledi and put her out of the steam room. She was boiling

hot, her gown was full of blood, I didn’t understand where the blood was coming from

“Oh God Mthobisi I can’t feel her pulse” I said with tears flowing down my face.

Mthobisi told me to get a towel and cold water, I did and he threw her with cold water

bucket, I was standing there pacing up and down crying “Help me carry her

downstairs.

How did I end up in this situation? How did I end up in my death bed? Let me take

you to the beginning of where everything started and then maybe you would

understand why I was not in this situation. Everything started beautifully, it might not

have been love at first sight but there was attraction at first sight. I meet a man who

was good looking, charming, understanding, someone I could talk to about anything,

he would call me every single day and we would speak on the phone for hours to no

end and when we were together we would not sleep we would talk until the early

hours of the morning, he loved me like I had never been loved before, he showed me

kindness and I knew that this man was going to be my husband, everything about

him was just perfect. The first thing that came to my mind when I saw him for the first

time was “this guy will make beautiful babies” and boy was I right. He gave me two

most precious and most beautiful babies that I would not trade them for anything in

the world. He was stable, no, stable is not the word, he was wealthy; he came from a
good home with money, not just money lots of money and he was also making

money, I would get taken to Durban for lunch and then back in Joburg by evening,

he showed me the good life, my family was not poor but the things he could do we

could never be able to afford, on my 21st birthday he flew me to Paris for a weekend,

I mean what boyfriend does that, he was not even a sugar daddy, he was eight years

older than me,

Mthobisi had to hold me after hearing that my sister might not make it, he

automatically assumed that I would faint not that I blame him, I fainted quite a lot but

I had been through so much that I think my body was now used to the shocks and

horrors that it wouldn’t easily drop. I told him I was fine, he suggested that we go

outside to get some fresh air. As we were walking out Lwazi followed us “How is

she?” he said tearing up, I hugged him and told him she was looking good and we

were positive this of course was a lie but how do you tell a man that his wife is about

to die. He went to his car and said he needed to call his parents to let them know of

what had happened. “Something is not right with Lwazi, I just can’t put my finger to

it.” Mthobisi said as soon as he left “Nothing is ever right with him Honey, you should

know this by now.” I said jokingly but Mthobisi was still looking at Lwazi’s direction

and I could see he was deep in thought. I had no time to worry or think about Lwazi,

he was the least of my problems, my sister was my main concern, what the hell were

we going to tell her kids.

My aunts, uncles and other family members from my mother’s side of the family

arrived, my mom or Victor had obviously called them.

When I say we froze I mean we stopped moving, we stopped talking, we stopped

breathing we literally stopped everything, at that moment it felt like time had just
frozen, usually when one of us freezes the others are able to take over and cover up

but on that particular unfaithful day none of us could come up with an excuse let

alone a word, there were sounds coming out from our mouths but those sounds were

just some funny sounds that did not make any sense. “what the hell is going on here

Lesedi?” He said starring at me, I looked around like Lesedi was not my name, then

pointed at me and said “you asking me?” he nodded and said “The last time I

checked you were the only Lesedi in the room.” I cleared my throat and said “we

were just arguing about some tv series and we always take it so personal like it’s

happening to us.” that didn’t make send at all but I didn’t care I had to say something

because the man was becoming super suspicious. “You lot are unbelievable,

standing here fighting over shit while your sister is fighting for her life.” He said

clearly annoyed at the stupid explanation that I had just given him and walked out.

She Rocks looked at me and shrugged her shoulders “You should follow him, he

seems upset” Andiswa said to me, I ignored her, who the hell did she think she was

giving me advice. My aunts came and said it was their turn now to see my sister, so

we had to leave the room, we walked out,

“Get up and get dressed we are going to the hospital to finish Lwazi off, he is weak

and pathetic.” I said to Mthobisi, he looked at me and laughed, “we are no serial

killers that go around killing people that do not agree with what we say or do, we are

not going to kill Lwazi, we don’t even know what happened, can we first get our facts

straight then take it from there.” He said calmly, his phone rang again it was still

Lwazi’s mom, he grabbed the phone from my hand and answered he apologized for

my outburst and said we were not going anywhere near Lwazi and that I had said all

those things because I was stressed and frustrated about my sister, I could hear him

going yes, uhhhh and ohhh and then bye. “What did that witch say?” I asked him.
“Same old nothing new. Let’s get back to what we were doing we will deal with the

world tomorrow, I want to focus on you and only you.” How does this man shift his

mind from one thing to another like that? I wondered, he tried kissing me but I was

not there at all my mind was still on my stupid brother in-law and his selfish

behaviour.

I knew his mother would definitely move him from the hospital he was in. People who

commit suicide are the most selfish people in the world, do they even understand the

damage the leave behind for other people to face and worse of all some insurance

companies do not pay out if they find out the person committed suicide imagine

having to struggle to even bury them and having to borrow money around so you

could bury them and getting into unnecessary debt because of someone else’s

selfishness who decided to take the easy way out. Mthobisi realised that I was no

longer in the mood and fell asleep, I don’t know when I sleep but I eventually did.

The following morning I didn’t feel like doing anything I didn’t want to go to the

hospital or even walk out the house, I wanted to stay in my pyjamas and sit in the

couch all day, when I told Mthobisi this he said it’s a sign of depression and maybe I

should go back to therapy I said I would think about it, this was my way of saying it’s

never going to happen.

I told him I had just had enough of everything I just wanted to be at home not see

anyone or talk to anyone, I think everything that had been happening was finally

hitting me hard and I just had no strength anymore. Mthobisi made us breakfast, I

had a few bites then told him I wanted to go back to bed and sleep, I was honestly

not ready to face the world and it’s problems,my world was just full of problems

everywhere I went there was a challenge to be faced and on that particular day I

didn’t feel like dealing with any problems, my life my rules. I went back to bed and
slept when I finally did wake up it was after two I went downstairs, Mthobisi was not

around, he left a note saying if I wanted to go out he left me his car to use, I

showered and decided to get over the pity party because life was still going on

whether I choose to participate in it or not. I decided to go and see my sister in

hospital, after the shooting with the girls, I hated driving I always felt like I was being

followed, I kept looking around and if I felt a car was following me I would just make

sudden turns without indicating and if they didn’t follow then I would breathe a sigh of

relief, I kept looking at all my mirrors, I know they say Joburg is not safe but I was

super paranoid, there was a point where I thought some car was following me, then I

went to a garage the car also went to the garage, I parked and went to the car to go

confront the person driving it I knocked at her window she opened only to find a

young lady with a child, I felt so stupid, I lied and said I was lost she said she didn’t

stay around the area and was also getting lost and had come to the garage to ask for

directions, I went inside the garage bought very cold water and drank half the water

in one gulp, I drove out of the garage and headed to the hospital, when I arrived I

called Mthobisi and his phone just rang with no answer, I left him a voicemail telling

him I had gone to the hospital to see my sister.

When I got to her room there was a person next to her bed, it was Lwazi, he was in

hospital gown, I figured his mom must have had him transferred to the same hospital

as my sister, he was whispering something to her, I couldn’t hear what the hell he

was saying, I snuck behind him trying to hear what he was saying but he was

speaking so softly only him and his devil could hear what he was saying, I really

didn’t like the guy. I cleared my throat and he jumped up almost falling of his seat.

“What are you doing here?” he said when he saw me “Same thing you are doing only

difference is I’m not praying to the devil like you were doing. How could you be so
selfish.” I asked starring him in the eye. He avoided my eyes and looked down “I

don’t know what got into me I just could not handle loosing Naledi, I love her so

much and yesterday I just felt like my world had just come to an end I couldn’t handle

it anymore.” He said looking pathetic “So you thought killing yourself would make

things easy for everyone, what about your kids, who the hell was supposed to break

the news to them that their father felt that they didn’t deserve parents in their lives?”

as I was about to continue my sister started shaking her whole body was shaking like

she was having some sort of a seizure, “see what you’ve done, go and call a doctor.”

I ran out and grabbed the first nurse I could find and told her what was happening,

she came in and told Lwazi and I to get out. “You call me selfish after what you just

did there I think you are the selfish one if she never wakes from this comma I will

blame you, you know people in a comma hear everything it’s just that they can’t

respond.” I was so angry I couldn’t even get the words out of my mouth I just showed

Lwazi the middle finger then went outside, I called my mom and told her about my

sister I obviously didn’t tell her that I had been attacking her husband when it

happened, she said she would come through as soon as she got off work, they were

extremely busy. I sat in the car trying to calm myself down, I was seriously pissed off,

a few minutes later I was still not calm but I needed to go and check on my sister so I

went back inside the hospital. One of the nurses was talking to Lwazi, he fell down

on his knees and I stopped on my tracks thinking they had just told him she is dead, I

slowly walked up to them preparing myself for the worst. The first thing I said when I

got to them was “what happened?” Lwazi stood up and hugged me and said “she is

up, my beautiful wife is alive.” I was jumping up and down with joy. The nurse said

the doctor was just busy examining her and we should be able to see her shortly

Lwazi asked that he be the first one to see her, I had no problem with that, he was
her husband after all.

He went to go see her, I waited in the waiting area for him to come back, while

waiting I decided to call my mother and share with her the good news, she was so

happy and relieved then I called Mthobisi who was also very happy but said he

couldn’t speak for long then I called Victor after telling him that Naledi was up he

asked where Lwazi was, the obsession that he had with Lwazi was starting to disturb

me, I told him he was in the same hospital and told him about Lwazi trying to commit

suicide and that he was in the same hospital and was currently with Naledi in her

room. Without any hesitation he said “go to your sister’s room right now Lesedi and

make sure you don’t leave her for a second with that man. Don’t ask questions or

argue, go, now.” I stood up and did as my step dad had said he was an elder after all

so I had to follow his instructions. When I got to the room Lwazi was talking to Naledi

“I am begging you please, just do as I say.” I walked in and said “do what?” Lwazi

was again startled by me and said he was just begging her to get better, my sister

had tears in her eyes which she tried wiping off when she saw me, I went to her and

hugged her, “Welcome back Sis” she smiled and held my hand and said “I love you”

I was so touched I started crying she’s just got out of a comma and her first words to

me were she loves me. “I love you too Sis, please don’t ever scare us like that.” I

said to her smiling. “Let’s not talk about negative things let’s just be happy that she is

alive.” Lwazi said cutting me off acting like he didn’t want us to speak about what

happened. Naledi said she had a terrible headache and asked if I could get her

some water, I asked Lwazi to go and get the water and said I just wanted to look at

her all day I was just following Victor’s orders Lwazi hesitated then squeezed my

sister’s hand then winked as if he was passing on a message to her as soon as he

left Naledi said “how are my babies? I miss them so much.” I smiled and said they
are fine but we can’t bring them to the hospital we would have to wait until she got

out from the hospital she said she understood and wouldn’t want them to see her in

hospital. Within minutes Lwazi was back with the water I could see he had been

running he was huffing and puffing, it was as if he didn’t want my sister alone with

me, when he came in the first thing he asked was “what are you guys talking about?”

Naledi told him we were just talking about the kids, “what else did I miss?” he said

looking at us suspicious, the man was acting very doggy but I decided to ignore it. A

nurse came in with a bunch of flowers and said they were just delivered, my sister

unlike me loves flowers, she started gushing over them saying how beautiful they

were Lwazi asked who they were from and before she could even answer he

grabbed the card and read it out loud “Please get better soon and come back to us,

you are highly missed.

Your colleagues.” I looked at him and asked whom did he think had sent my sister

flowers, he looked away and said no one in particular he was just curious, he was

now annoying me, who goes around reading other people’s cards. One of the nurses

came and said we needed to come back during visiting hours they had done us a

favour by allowing us to see her as it was not yet visiting hours, Lwazi said he was

going to his room to get himself discharged I went back outside to go get my wallet in

the car so I could buy myself some food as I was starting to get hungry as I

approached the parking lot I saw Victor he was talking to some guy, Victor’s back

was turned on my direction so he couldn’t see me as I got close I saw Victor hand

the guy something that looked like paper, when I got close I realised that I knew the

man, it was the Nigerian guy whom Mthobisi and I had gone to his mother’s awake,

(the Nigerians memorial service, that’s what they call it), a couple of months ago, he

recognised me and greeted me Victor was surprised that we knew each other then
Victor said the guy was looking for some place called Calvary School so he was just

giving him directions and wrote him a map on how to get there. I nodded and asked

Booye how he was doing and he told me he was not fine he had hit a pothole and his

tyre had burst and he had to change it, Victor said he was going inside while I stayed

and chatted to Boogy I asked him why he wanted the school he said his son was

starting school next year and he wanted him to go to a Christian school, there was a

Christian school close to the hospital so it kind of made sense why he would end up

there. “How big was a pothole that you had to change your tyre?” he laughed and

said it was not as big as the potholes in Nigeria, he started telling me about how

every six months in Nigeria you have to change your tyres because of the bad roads

and how you have to have spare airtime that you keep to call your mechanic

because sometimes it’s not just the tyres that get damaged the car bearings also get

damaged, he told me how once he was driving from his village to Lagos which is four

hours away and he hit a pothole he had to call his mechanic to come and pick him

up then had to sleep at his mechanics house because they had to buy new parts and

all shops were close, he bent down to show me how badly he had hit the car and

what parts needed to be bought as he bent down something fell of his pocket I

picked it up to give it to him and when I picked it up I saw that it was Lwazi’s picture,

I picked it up then gave it to him and he shook his head and said it wasn’t his, then

said he had to go, got in his car and left, I realised that is the same paper that Victor

had given him.

What the hell was going on here? If there was one person who would have answers

it would be my husband, I quickly called Mthobisi and told him what had just

happened. “There are guys outside the hospital waiting to take Lwazi out, it’s going

to be made to look like an accident, if you think Lwazi is innocent and had nothing to
do with your sister being in hospital then this is your chance to save him.” Mthobisi

said calmly “How do I save him?” I asked anxiously because it looked like everything

had been put in motion,too many people had died and I didn’t want to add Lwazi on

the list “You are a very resourceful woman if you want to save him you will think of

something, I have to go now. I love you.” he said and hung up. I ran inside the

hospital I was going to save Lwazi come hell or high waters, he didn’t deserve to die,

he had nothing to do with any of this.

When I got inside the hospital the first person I wanted to see was Lwazi, I didn’t

know what I would say when I got him but his safety was my main concern, I wanted

to make sure he was safe, it’s funny how things had changed, a couple of months

ago I would have thrown Lwazi to the wolves and watched them eat him but I

believed in second chances, everyone deserves them. At that moment I was running

around like a crazy person looking for Lwazi worst part I didn’t even know where his

ward was. I saw Victor coming to my direction and that was the last person I wanted

to see so I turned right at the corner in front of me just to avoid him, I was not ready

to face him after what I had just seen at the parking lot. I walked around the hospital

looking for Lwazi with no luck, I decided to call him, and his phone was off. I went

back to my sister’s room hoping he would be somewhere around her room lurking

around and there was nothing. I went back to the parking lot trying to think of what

to do next “Fuck it I’m calling her.” I said taking out my phone, Lwazi’ s mom took her

time answering the phone as I was about to drop the phone she picked up “What can

I do for you?” She said sounding irritated.

I didn’t see that one coming; my sister was full of surprises in her death-bed. How did

she pull that off? To get a court order that quickly and for a judge to grant you had to

have serious connections and I knew my sister she didn’t have a lot of people she
could call friends or rely on, this smelled like my husband it had his fingerprints all

over it. I went inside the house got the kids took their bags put them in my car and

we left. With the kids in the car I obviously could not go to the hospital to go and see

my sister to find out how in God’s name did she pull that miracle, I went to my mom’s

house to go and fetch Neo then took the kids out for lunch at Spur and they played

outside before the food arrived which gave me a chance to call my husband whose

phone was now off, I sent him an sms telling him how irritating this thing of him not

getting back to me was. I called my sister and she said the doctors were busy with

her and she couldn’t talk and would call me back when they were done. Our food

was served I went outside to go and get the kids to come and eat Kuhle and Sihle

were playing at the slides, I told them their food was ready I asked where Neo was

and they said he was just here a few seconds ago, I looked around the kiddies play

area and Neo was nowhere to be seen, panic set in. Why the hell didn’t I go watch

them play?

Can I not just have one outing with no drama. How does a person who had gone to a

baby-shower end up at the back of a police Van, I swear my life is stupid, the most

simplest things had to somehow turn out to be complicated, my life was just not

normal. On the way to the police station the ladies were still very angry at what Spha

had done to Dimpho, the fact that we were at the back of a police van didn’t seem to

bother most of them, they were venting about how Spha deserved that beat-down

and Cleo was hailed a hero for giving him the first punch because it gave everyone

else the courage to follow suit and beat the crap out of him, I had different views on

the whole thing, Cleo should have minded her own business and Spha stupid friends

should have been the ones that beat him up for beating a woman but the way some

men are such cowards they will turn a blind eye on abuse even when it happens in
front of their faces and that is exactly what Spha’s friends were, cowards. In all the

commotion Dimpho had not said a single word, I really felt bad for her. “What

happened to the chick that Spha was with?” I asked realizing I had not even seen

her face, Buhle the pregnant lady who was also in the van with us said “Didn’t you

see her run out of the car after the dragon punch from Cleo?” everyone was

laughing, saying that the way she ran out of the place they just saw the dust behind

him.We arrived at the police station, we were in two vans, all squashed up, they took

us to Mondeor police station, the cops who had arrested us explained to the others

that we were beating up some guy and that is why they arrested us, they said they

were charging us with assault and public disturbance, there was over twenty of us

there so we had to wait while the police were busy with other things, only God knows

what it is that they were doing, it seemed like lots of paperwork, cops love

paperwork, that gave me a chance to quickly sms my husband I wrote “I have been

arrested, I am at Mondeor police station, please come bail me out.” he replied and

reminded me that he was baby-sitting and I had told him not to expose the kids to

any of his funny business, shit he was still angry about that, I had apologized, he

was obviously not over it and was punishing me for it, Mthobisi could be such a baby

when he wanted to. I hoped and prayed that he would not leave me there because I

had pissed him off. A few minutes later the police were done with their paperwork

and told us that they were booking us in, we needed to take of any shoe laces from

our shoes, belts and hand over all our cellphones, they had to fill out each person’s

details just getting information from one person took over fifteen minutes an hour

went by and they had only done five people. After two hours I was still waiting and

that’s when my sexy, handsome husband arrived, I had never been so happy to see

him like I was at that moment. He didn’t even look at me he went straight to the
offices then a few minutes later came out with what I assumed was station

commander and he was smiling he called one of the police that were booking us in

ad told spoke to him while Mthobisi walked past me and out there door. Wait, was he

leaving me behind? I wondered what the hell was going on the police who was

booking us said “this is taking too long and they have other work to do so we are free

to go “what just happened?” Cleo asked me “Mthobis happened.” Replied She

Rocks, we all stood up and rushed out towards the exit door, the ones that had

partners at the baby-shower called them to come and pick them up from the police

station, the only people who were already outside when we came out were my

husband and Buhle’s husband, he was worried sick about the baby, he wanted to

take Buhle to the hospital to go and have the baby-checked to see if everything was

fine Buhle told him to stop being paranoid. Mthobisi gave my friends and I a lift back

to Retvlei I asked him where the kids were and he said he dropped them at my

mom’s place before coming there. “I guess the baby-shower is over now?” Mthobisi

asked “Yep, thanks to Cleo.” Said She Rocks, he dropped us at Retvlei and told me

he would see me at home later and since the baby-shower was over I could take

over looking after the kids he has to rush somewhere I was a bit annoyed but he had

just saved our butt’s from being in holding cells for the entire weekend so I said it

was cool, I would look after the kids. She Rocks and Cleo said they would come with

me to my mom they haven’t seen my sister’s kids in ages and missed them.

We convoyed to my mom’s place to my surprise my sister was there I was so happy,

she said she got discharged that morning, I was up and down with excitement, the

kids were happy to see their favourite aunts She Rocks and Cleo. After telling Naledi

what had happened at the baby-shower she said “Mom should have named you

Drama, it follows you everywhere.” I asked her what she planned on doing she said
she was working on divorcing Lwazi and she didn’t want a cent from him, I looked at

her shocked and reminded her how expensive the cost of living had just gotten she

smiled and said “I would rather be poor and happy than be miserable and rich.” She

really had received a wake up call with Lwazi locking her up in that steam room. She

said she now has these migraine that make her feel like she is going to faint and the

doctor’s say she might have them for the rest of her life all thanks to that fool Lwazi.

“Lee if I go back to that man next time I might not be so lucky, next time he might just

end up really killing me.” Her mind was made-up and I was truly happy for her,

sometimes it takes something as big as a near death experience for abused woman

to finally decided that they are leaving and never coming back and that the man they

are with is not going to change even though he had promised it a million times. We

stayed with my sister for hours just talking, the girls suggested we cook diner well

She Rocks did all we did was chopped, that girl can cook. Victor and my mom were

just happy to have company of adults not just kids. We ate and I took some food for

Mthobisi I was not going to get home and still slave over the stove for a man who

might only come home in the early hours of the morning. My sister said I should

leave the kids with her she missed them and wanted to spend time with them, I

agreed and only took Neo with me as I also missed spending time with him. By the

time we arrived home he had fallen asleep I removed him from his car seat and

carried him to his bed, he looked so precious, I just loved that young man with all my

heart.

The house was a mess, Mthobisi had obviously let the kids do as they please, I had

to clean everywhere, they had spilled juice all over the floors and left stains on the

carpets I had to scrub the carpets and clean the whole house by the time I was done

I was exhausted, I took a shower when I got out the shower I found Mthobisi in the
bedroom he was removing his clothes which were full of blood “what the hell

happened to you?” I asked not really expecting an answer knowing how my husband

always avoids giving straight answers. “I was at a club with some buddies of mine

when some dude started disrespecting one of us, so as a prank we took him to the

back of the club in the dark corner and pointed a gun at him and then shoved him in

a dustbin and it was all just a joke, after a while we let him out, he came back later

with his friends and waited for one of us to go to the toilet, TJ went to the toilet and

after some time we realised that he had been gone for long so one of the guys went

to go check on him and found him in one of the bathroom stalls bleeding, he’d been

stabbed several time by that fool and his friends. We rushed him to the hospital but

by the time we got there it was too late, he didn’t make it.” he said looking away I

could see tears in his eyes, I went to him and hugged him and told him how sorry I

was “Fuck we were just joking around, I mean if we wanted to hurt the guy we would

have but I think his ego was bruised but to still kill a person over a joke is just so

insane.” He said sounding very angry. “Is there anything I can do to help.” He shook

his head and said he had it under control, “when I was driving TJ to the hospital I

could have sworn we were being followed but I was too distracted by him bleeding

and being in pain that I couldn’t really pay too much attention to what was going on

outside. I’m sure the bastards wanted to make sure he was dead. They are going to

pay for this.” He said pulling away from my hug, he went in the shower. I dressed

and waited for him in bed I was soo tired from the cleaning of the house that I

actually feel asleep while waiting for him. He woke me up when he was done with

the shower and was getting into bed and asked where the kids were I told him that

my sister was out of the hospital and wanted to spend some time with her kids but
Neo was in his room sleeping. We cuddles that night and fell asleep in each other’s

arms, Mthobisi kept waking up from nightmares which would also wake me up.

While we were still sleeping at times I am a light sleeper especially when my son is

around, I always want to hear him when he wakes up and cries. I heard footsteps

outside our room and thought Neo must have woken up, I was so lazy to get out of

bed I switched on the bad lamp and as I was about to get up our bedroom opened,

Neo is too short to reach the door handle so he usually just bangs the door instead. I

looked up and because the light was on me the person who had just entered could

see that I was up and I couldn’t see his face all I heard was the cocking of the gun as

he moved to my husband’s side of the bed and put his index finger in his lips

indicating for me to shut up. A thought came to my head, what if there was more

than one gunman in our house, Neo was alone in his room, the thought of anyone

hurting my son got me to jump up and ran out the door and all I heard were two gun

shots being fired.

A gunshot will either make you drop you to the floor chances are you either dead or

wounded or just fainted, freeze in your step that’s when you are terrified and your

legs just freeze and are unable to move, or run for it and that no one has yet figured

out if it’s a smart or stupid idea because many have ran and saved their lives while

many more have also ran and lost their lives, so this one is debatable, I of course

froze, for some reason I didn’t think he would really shot. After the loud sound of

gun shots my ears went deaf for a few minutes I could not hear anything, you know

that feeling you get when water goes into your ear and your ears feel uncomfortable

and you struggle to hear, that is exactly what happened to me. I tried to make sense
of what was happening. Did the gunman just shoot at me? I checked myself still

facing the door to see if I had blood coming out from anywhere and there wasn’t any,

then panic set in, if he didn’t shoot me that means…. “Oh shit, Mthobisi” I said

turning around to look at my husband.

I obviously could not blow them to death with a hair-dryer I was seriously screwed, I

looked under the bed, and there was nothing no weapon, nothing not even a shoe,

not that it would have helped much but a high heel would have been better than a

hair-dryer but I had to use what I had. Maybe it was time we kept knives in each

room of the house, for moments like these or even guns under the bed, I was

definitely going to suggest that to Mthobisi if I survived this ordeal, but how would we

explain knives in the rooms to guests, that could become awkward and who would

want to sleep in a room that has random knives in it, I know I wouldn’t be

comfortable in such a room. I decided my only option was to hide, I could not jump

out the window because the window had burglar proof so I thought of going under

the bed but the bed was too low I would never be able to fit under that so I thought of

the wardrobe, there were blanket and sheets in the wardrobe so I decided to hide

myself with those put the blankets on top of me. I sat there for a couple of minutes

and I heard the footsteps moving upstairs, how stupid could I be, while I was busy

hiding upstairs the fools were probably taking my son who was alone in his room, I

removed the blankets of me, grabbed the hair-dryer and ran upstairs, when it comes

to my son’s well-being he is number one I put him first there was no way in hell I

would let him get hurt, they could do whatever they wanted to me just not my son, I

ran upstairs and headed straight to Neo’s room.

It was not the face that looked familiar but the way the guy walked I knew that walk

from somewhere I just could not place it, security guy did not know how to zoom in,

he said he needed to call a technician for instructions on how to zoom in, the only

thing he knew was to rewind, fast-forward and stop, this was seriously annoying I

told him to rewind then, he did and again I knew the walk but I just could not place

the person. He called the technician who told him what to do to zoom in and well the

two guys were wearing caps and each time they got close to the camera they would

look down so it was impossible to see their face, the security guard said they were

professionals it’s people who knew where the cameras were, as if that was going to

help me. The head of security guy got his phone out and started making a call “are

you calling the technician again?” I asked “No, I’m calling the police.” He said calmly

I grabbed the phone out of his hand and dropped it which caught him by surprise, to

be honest I surprised myself too. “Listen my husband is a policeman he will be very

upset if I call the police without informing him first, please let me be the one to tell

him before he hears about it from his colleagues.” I said sounding so innocent and

convincing, someone said the devil must be a woman and sometimes I think that

person was right, woman can be so cool, calm and loving while behind your back

they are planning your death, I am talking from experience here. He told me to call

my husband because by law he had to report this because a crime had been

committed in the place that he was looking after and if he didn’t call the police he

would be in big trouble. I told him I needed some privacy to call my husband, I was

just stalling for time, I knew his phone was off. I went outside and called Mthobisi

again, this time his phone rang and he answered “Honey this is really not a good

time.” He said as soon as he picked up “Your car has been stolen” I quickly said

before he hung up, “No one would dare still my car at Victor’s home.” He said
confidently “I went to the mall to do a bit of shopping and that’s where it happened” I

said cringing. “Shit Lesedi, why couldn’t you just stay in the house and shops online

like most people do.” Well because I did not want to wait for a week for my things to

be delivered I wanted them right there and then I thought but I could not give him

that response, I simply said “it was a spur of the moment thing I didn’t plan it, I

needed a new phone the other one was giving me problems.” I lied, “the reason why

I’m calling is because security wants to call the police and I thought you might have a

problem with that.” He said it was a good thing and security should call the police

and I should wait there until they arrived and make a statement the insurance will

need all that, I had not thought about that. I went back to the security and told him to

call the police my husband was busy with other cases, he said he already did and

they were on the way, within ten minutes the police had arrived, I gave my statement

told them everything that happened and the wrote everything down and gave me

some number to call to get a case number. They asked if I had a lift to get home

which I had not thought of in all the drama that was going on, they offered to drive

me home, I accepted, beggars can’t be choosers.

They drove me home when I arrived my sister was outside, she looked at me in utter

shock getting out of the police car, luckily it was not a police van it was BMW but

marked police in blue, I thanked them and walked inside the yard “Jesus Chris

Lesedi, what have you done now?” she asked still with shock in her face, “Nothing, I

went to the mall and Mthobisi’ s car got stolen.” I said while we were walking inside I

found my mom and Victor sitting on the couch and before I could even say Hello to

them Naledi said “Lesedi just got dropped off by cops she was hijacked, Mthobisi’ s

car is gone.” You know in life we all have those people that you would tell a story to

and they take the same story you had just told to them and tell it to another person
and change the story completely that even you the person who told had just told

them the story you don’t even recognise it, in my life that was my sister she had a

way of twisting things and making them more dramatic than they really were, she

was a spice adder to the story. I looked at her in disbelief and said “you do know I

am standing right next to you and there is no need to dramatize the whole thing.”

She smiled and said it sounds better if I say I was hijacked. I rolled my eyes showing

her that I was giving up on her. My mom asked me what had happened, I explained

the whole story all over again, Victor simply said “these things happen all the time

you need to be extra vigilant my child.” I smiled and told him I will be, my mom on the

other side was grateful that I had not been hijacked and shot and my body dumped

in the middle of nowhere. Mthobisi arrived soon after he said he had come to check

up on me if I was okay after that terrible ordeal, I rolled my eyes and said “I’ve been

through worse but thank you for coming to check up on me” Mthobisi said he would

sleep over just to make sure that I was okay and I don’t have any nightmares, I

thanked him with a kiss and my sister reminded us that they were still in the same

room as us, to which we all laughed. My sister had cooked dinner so we all ate and

after super I washed the dishes while my mom went to bed she said she was tired

Mthobisi and Victor went outside to the pool area to go chill there as it was a hot

evening, my sister sat with me in the kitchen and watched me wash the dishes she

wouldn’t help because she said she cooked, this reminded me of when we were

growing up and we would argue about whose turn it was to cook or clean.

After I was done doing the dishes and my sister and kids had gone to bed, I went to

go find my husband, he was having a deep conversation with Victor, I could not hear

what they were saying but they both looked so serious from where I was standing, I

got closer to try and hear without them seeing that I was there “You know what you
need to do and you better do it fast for your own sake and that of your family’s.” I

heard Victor say to Mthobisi. “Mr. V, you know these people better than I do, all I

need is for you to have a word with them on my behalf, they listen to you, hell they

respect you.” I was hiding behind some small trees and out of nowhere a lizard

moved in front of me I screamed so loud that both Victor and Mthobisi jumped out of

their chairs and pulled out guns, what the hell? When did Victor get a gun and the

way he jumped and held that gun you could see it was not something new to him.

They both quickly put their guns away when they saw it was just me and no one else

around “Sorry, that lizard scared the crap out of me.” I said feeling guilty for spying

on them and hoping and praying that they did not realise that I had been standing

there for long. “That’s okay my love, let’s go to bed. Thanks for the talk Mr. V”

Mthobisi said. When we got to our room I asked him what he and Victor were talking

about “men stuff, I don’t ask what you and your friends or sister talk about now do I?”

He said throwing me in bed and kissing me, fair enough I didn’t ask any further

questions because I would not be getting a answers from this man anyway. That

night we made love but in silence we did not want our mom complaining about the

noise. The following morning we were woken up by Neo for breakfast, when we got

to the table my mom started her lecture of how Naledi and I needed to go back to

work and stop lazing around all day, Mthobisi said he didn’t mind me being the

housewife and my mom gave him one death look he had to quickly take back what

he had just said and say he was joking. I wanted to laugh but I couldn’t because

everyone on the table was serious. After breakfast my parents went to work and

Mthobisi said he needed an hour sleep so he went back to bed while Naledi and I

cleared up. Two hours later Mthobisi was up and he said he had a plan which of

course he did not want to share with me, not that I cared, I was used to him being
secretive, and it didn’t bother me anymore. He left and said he was going to work, I

decided it was time I got my job back so I called my old boss Andile, “Hi Andile, its

Lesedi.” I said trying to be nice “Wow, it took you this long to call me?

I figured you didn’t want your job back so I gave it to someone else.” I chocked and

started coughing from the shock of being told that I no longer had a job “listen call

me back when your cough stops I’m very busy, I can’t sit here listening to you cough

all day.” She said and hung up. How rude was this bitch, I was soo angry, I didn’t call

her back, she could take her job and shove it up her ass, nxa. I sat and watched tv,

while Naledi washed the kids she said she would be taking them out for ice-cream I

was in no mood to go out, Andile had just ruined my entire day, I decide that I was

going to apply for a job somewhere else, I didn’t need her and her stupid job. I had

friends who knew people, they would get me a job. My sister the nanny and the kids

all went out for ice-cream to which I declined because I was in such a foul mood I

figured I would spoil everyone else’s fun, so they left and I decided to go and sit by

the pool just to relax. I sat on one of the chair by the pool and lay there with my sun

glasses on and a big hat to cover my face from the sun, I was wearing shorts and a

bikini bra, not that I wanted to swim I wanted the sun because for some reason I was

feeling very cold, the sun felt so nice and warm against my skin that I must have

fallen asleep, I was woken by someone who was standing in front of me, he removed

my sunglasses, I looked up at him then jumped up on my feet “What the fuck do you

want?” I said trying to act brave “Sit down Lee.” He said, not asking but

commanding, I obeyed and sat down. “I have given you and that stupid husband of

yours enough time to do the right thing and you haven’t so I am here to collect what’s

mine.” I looked at him and gave him the confused look and said “What are you
talking about Fundani.” He smiled and said “I am here for my son, I want him and I

am taking him!” I fell to the ground…

By falling to the ground I don’t mean I fainted, I mean I feel more like kneeling in front

of Fundani, I wanted to ask him for forgiveness, favour, beg anything, you know what

they say about disparate times they call for disparate measures, I was desperate and

if at that moment Fundani had unzipped his pants, trust you me I would not have

asked twice I would have bent down sucking his magic stick like it’s never been

blown before. He looked at me with disgust in his eyes and said “get up you crazy

bitch and go get me my son.” I sat there motionless what could I say, I could not give

my son to that monster, I loved him more than life itself. “Fundani I don’t know what it

is that you want from us, now you want to kidnap my son just like you kidnapped me,

please I am begging you he is too young, please don’t get him involved in your fights

with Mthobisi he is just a small child please I beg of you.” When all else fails act like

you know nothing, sometimes acting dumb helps. He looked at me and shook his

head and said “Are you done with your pathetic performance?”

“I’m sorry what? There was a lady with three kids that got shot?” I asked with my

knees starting to feel wobbly now as if they were about to give in. The one who was

standing outside the gate said “stop spreading false information wena, ma’am I’m

sorry but we are not sure of what is going on inside who has been shot and who

hasn’t but all we know is that the mall has been shut down, no one is allowed to go in

or out.” I looked at them with annoyance and irritation “and how long is this shut

down expected to go on for?” They said they were not sure “does anybody know

anything in this place?” I asked irritated and annoyed before they could answer my

phone rang it was She Rocks “there is soo many people here, I can’t even see you,
which side are you?” I directed her to where I was standing she came and I told her

what the police had said, she was as annoyed as I was and said the only person

who had connections to MEC’s and high people was Andiswa and for Naledi and the

kid’s sake we have to put our pride aside and call her, I honestly didn’t feel like

speaking to Andiswa but in all honesty the girl was connected to all the right people I

asked She Rocks to call her and she immediately called her and told her the whole

story while I walked around trying to have a look inside the mall which I must add it

was mission impossible, I could not see anything, there was a helicopter that was

hovering above everyone that was there,

I opened my eyes wide because what I was seeing could not be real, this had to be

some kind of an illusion. This could not be my beautiful angel, I refused to believe it. I

rubbed my eyes, shook my head trying to wake myself from this horrible nightmare.

This could not be happening to me, not my son, no. There was commotion going on

people were talking but I had somehow zoned out of all that was being said and

done around me. I knelt down, and picked up Neo, there was no sign of life in him

but I still held him and screamed so loud that everyone stopped talking and looked at

me, tears were dripping down my face. Then I put Neo in my chest and started

speaking in his ear “Please come back to mommy, wake up for mommy my angel,

please baby wake up. Mommy loves you soo much please my angel wake up please

baby.” I begged my dead son to come back to life for some time, everyone just stood

back and watched. I looked at Mthobisi who was kneeling next to me with tears

pouring down his face “Daddy’s here too my angel, we both want you to wake up

and we will go and have a picnic and play all day long, please wake up for mommy

and daddy please my angel.

The relationship that my husband and I had was seriously not normal, most people in

situations like this would be discussing funerals and arrangements but us being the

couple that we were we were discussing revenge. They say bitter people talk

revenge well, I have beyond bitter. Sometimes when something bad happens there

needs to be a silver lining to keep you going, something that makes you wake up in

the morning, it’s like when you work for a shitty horrible boss that you hate with all

your heart but every morning you still wake up and go to work because there is a

silver lining, there is that promise that at the end of the month you will receive money

in terms of salary it’s the same with me my silver lining was revenge, I knew in the

end of it all I would get to see the bastards that robbed me of my son’s life and I

would get to end their miserable lives. We sat in my room talking about how useless

and how they were the scams of the earth the bastards that killed our son and what

we were going to do when we found them. There was a knock at our door while we

were still talking it was Victor he said we needed to discuss funeral arrangements, he

looked at me and said “baby girl you are going to need to change from the pyjamas,

we have visitors” I had forgotten that I was still wearing my pyjamas I told him I

would, I took out a long flowy dress and put a shawl over my shoulders and wore a

scarf on my head since I had not brought any doeks with me and told Mthobisi I was

ready.

I looked at Mthobisi feeling defeated and said “I don’t have the strength to fight him

Mthobisi, I am tired, I am physically and mentally tired, I can’t deal with this, not now”

I said throwing myself on top of the bed. Why couldn’t Fundani just drop down and

die? That entire family deserved to be wiped out, Fundani needed to follow his

brother. “I am taking care of it, don’t worry about that fool Honey, the funeral is going

to go on tomorrow as planned we not going to let our son stay in that mortuary a day
longer.” I did not doubt my husband’s capabilities but over the past couple of months

I have learnt that Fundani could be very resourceful when he wanted to be and when

that man wanted something he would go through great lengths to get it. “What are

we going to do Mthobisi, you know that man is psychotic, he might just show up at

the funeral and take Neo before we even bury him.” I said feeling really nervous

about the whole thing. “That would never happen not even over my dead body

because I would rise from the dead and show him his home hell” I smiled, sometime

the things my husband said when he was angry made it impossible for me to keep a

serious face.

“Do we have a plan?” I asked him, he smiled and said “don’t we always?” and that’s

when I felt a bit of relief, I packed mine and his clothes and told him he would have to

go home to get us clothes to wear at the funeral. “I have a few suits at my mother’s

place I will wear one of those. Please ask your friends to buy you something to wear;

I don’t want you near a mall.” I looked at him and knew exactly how he felt I did not

want to ever go to a mall again either, it suddenly felt like malls were the most

dangerous places to be in especially now that the festive season was approaching. “I

can’t put my friend’s lives in danger; I will just go home to get some clothes on the

way to Daveyton.” He agreed and asked if I could get a lift with one of my friend’s to

Daveyton since we only had one car and the other had been stolen and he needed

to use the other car to go sort out a few things for the funeral tomorrow, I agreed

knowing the girls won’t have a problem with that. I packed some clothes then went to

the girls who sarcastically thanked me for leaving them to alone to my mother’s

lecturer on how to behave like an adult 101, my friend just have this way of making

me laugh even when I don’t want to laugh. I told them the plan to go and get funeral

clothes at my house, She Rocks said she will take me and Cleo needed to go and
pick up her kids from school so she couldn’t come to Daveyton, Andiswa also had to

go, she had some meeting that she couldn’t cancel, Cleo said to her “I hope it’s not a

meeting with the Hawks to discuss our arrest.” She Rocks told her to stop it, and

Andiswa just gave her a dirty look. I told my mom and Victor I was leaving and they

said Mthobisi’s mom had already left I guess to get my mattress ready. She Rocks

and I took the scones that they had baked and we drove to mine and Mthobisi’s

place in Midrand while Cleo and Andiswa also went their separate ways. “Talk to me

about anything except what is going on at the moment” I said to She Rocks breaking

the silence on the way to our place “Okay, so I had John investigated you know to

find out if he has any thug dealings.” I looked at her and said “I’m lost, whose John

again and why would he have thug dealings” she looked at me in disbelief, honestly I

know this was selfish of me but I had too much going on to remember everything that

was happening in each and every one of my friend’s life. “John? John Black, the guy

who took us to the drag race with cars spinning and all” Now I felt really bad “I was

kidding of course I remember him, he was really cool. Is this because Mthobisi said

they grew up together? Come on now Rock Star not everybody that Mthobisi knows

is a thug, remember Nkululeko? He’s not a thug he’s just a stupid player, Mthobisi

has a lot of friends that are not doing what his doing.” I said trying to defend my

husband She Rocks rolled her eyes and said “I know that, I was just a bit paranoid,

Lee your husband showed me flames when you were kidnapped, I peed my pants

from fear and I consider myself a very tough person but that day I realised I was a

mouse.” I smiled and said “How did this conversation turn from John Black to my

husband?” she giggled and said “okay fine, back to John Black, so the private

investigator that I hired found out that John was legit, he had no thug involvement

and everything that he told me he was he is.” I shook my head and said “you have
too much money to blow if you can afford to hire PI’s to tell you what you already

know.” She continued “Anyway, now that I know that he is genuine I don’t know how

to get him back, Lee I had been playing hard to get for so long with him that he

ended up giving up on me.” now it was my turn to roll my eyes “this is what happens

with us woman, we find a good man we treat him bad and when we lose him we

suddenly want him back and by then it’s too late. Imagine how confused the guy

must be, the one minute you are hot the next you are cold. Are you going to tell him

that you had his ass googled?” She laughed and said of course she won’t. We

arrived at our house and as we walked in I remembered that the last time I was in

that house I was with my son and now he would never get to walk with me upstairs

or play with me by the pool area, tears just came out, She Rocks held my hand and

told me it’s okay I could cry all I want, we walked upstairs to our bedroom, it still had

the smell of the chemicals that Mthobisi had used to clean the blood, “Jesus, what is

that smell? It smells like my car after Mthobisi got it cleaned out. .. Oh my God that

was to remove blood. What went down in this room? You know what don’t answer

that, I don’t want to know” she said leaving the room, I shook my head and got one

of our suitcases out and packed a few outfits for myself and got Mthobisi two suits

just in case he doesn’t like the ones at his mom’s house. When I was done we drove

to my mother in law’s house in Daveyton.

We arrived in Daveyton, my husband’s mom had organised so many things, there

was already a tent outside their house set up and there were people around, you

could feel that location funeral vibe. We were greeted by a lot of people that I had

never seen in my life before but they knew who I was and what had happened, that’s

the thing about staying in the location you pass the news to one neighbour who is

nosey and before the sun sets the entire location will know what had happened and I
suspected that is what Mthobisi’s mom had done, well in her case it back-fired

because the news ended up reaching the wrong ears but the way I saw it Fundani

was watching us, he knew everything that was going on in our lives which was a bit

creepy, but anyway some people like to watch. One of Mthobi’s sister’s escorted us

to the room where I would be sitting it was Mthobi’s bedroom and they had removed

everything in there and just left a mattress, she gave me a blanket to cover myself

with, I begged She Rocks to stay with me, she agreed. People started coming in and

putting money on the plate that Mthobisi’s sister had put on the floor “what am I

supposed to do?” I whispered to Mthobisi’s sister, I had never been in such a

situation before so I honestly didn’t know what to say after a person would tell me

who they are and where they come from and how they know the family and how they

have heard the sad news, she whispered back to me “you need to give them details

of how your son died.” I looked at her with my eyes wide opened and cut the

whispering “I’m sorry what? Am I expected to repeat to every single person that

comes in here how my son died?” the ladies who were in the room to give their

condolences nodded their heads, that shit is just cruel I thought, here is a person

who has just lost a loved one and you are expected to re-leave that moment over

and over again, how cruel can people be? “It’s actually very therapeutic, because the

more you talk about it, the more you free yourself from it.” one of the ladies who was

there to pass their condolences said, I was extremely sceptical about all this but I

decided to be a good sister-in-law I relayed the story that my sister had told me

about how he died to the first group of people, they listened and gave advice on how

I should not blame myself or my sister on what had happened, it felt easier telling the

story to the next group and each group and as the day progressed I felt I could

actually talk about it without crying anymore, this really was therapeutic, we black
people are smarter than we give ourselves credit, who needs doctor Phil when you

have Kasi people who come in numbers to listen to your story and give great free

advice, by the end of the day I had received so many great advice from so many

different people, I was truly grateful. The scones that my friends had baked were

finished but luckily Mthobisi’s family had organised many more. Outside there were

old ladies chopping and preparing for the funeral for the following day, I was now

exhausted, talking to so many different people and listening to their stories was not

easy it had drained me I just wanted to sleep but ever since I had arrived I had not

seen Mthobisi or his mother, his brother Tsepang and his wife Koketso were there

but they were too busy doing only God knows what. I had only spoken to them for a

few minutes and then they disappeared. She Rocks said it was getting late and it

was a long drive back for her, I thanked her for staying with me and we agreed on

seeing each other the following day at the funeral. I told Mthobis’s sister I wanted to

sleep she said I have to sleep in that room with the mattress, this was now getting

annoying, how do I sleep in just a mattress with no base? Mthobisi called and said

he was on his way and I told him I was about to sleep “Don’t sleep I have something

I want to show you first.” I agreed and told him to hurry I will wait, a few minutes later

he arrived and said “let’s go” I followed him as we were passing the kitchen we

bumped into his sister “where do you think you are going? You not allowed to leave

the house.” Mthobisi jokingly said to her “Tina please stop acting like gogo.” She

laughed and we left, we got in the car and Mthobisi drove off “where are you taking

me?” I asked curious, he just smiled and didn’t say anything.

We arrived at some dodgy looking place that looked like a warehouse, “we’ve

arrived” he said beaming, “okay” I said opening the door, not sure if I should be

excited or nervous. Mthobisi lead me through a long passage then a flight of stairs
then we went through a few doors until we reached one where he knocked and a

voice behind said “code” Mthobisi said a few numbers which I do not remember

because I was just anxious to see what the hell was behind that door. The guy

opened the door and we walked in and there were three guys tied to chairs and I

could barely see their faces, they were beaten up so badly that even their mothers

would not have been able to recognise them. I looked at Mthobisi and asked “Are

these the fuckers that killed our boy?” He nodded and handed me the gun and said “I

told you, your wish is my command, you can blow their head off right now, the choice

is yours.” This was the crossroad in my life if I pulled that trigger there was no turning

back but on the same breath I was being given an opportunity that many people

could only dream about, I could kill the bastards that killed my son, but what was that

going to do? Was killing these people going to bring my son back? No it wasn’t. Was

it going to make me feel better? I don’t know. Would I be able to leave with myself

after I had done it? I also didn’t know. I grabbed the gun from Mthobisi and….

I wanted to pull the trigger, I wanted these fools dead but at the back of my mind I

could not shake off the fact that I knew killing haunts you, and it’s something that

haunts you for a very, very long time if not for the rest of your miserable life, because

trust me you will be miserable. Now that I had the gun in my hands I didn’t know if I

should shot or just walk-away, Mthobisi and his friends had obviously done a good

number on them I mean their faces were barely recognisable which meant they had

beat the shit out of them but was that enough? Was that not enough punishment?

Yes I was very angry that they had robbed me of a son and experiences that I will

never ever have in this lifetime but I was not God, I did not have the powers to

decide who leaves and who dies. Everyone in the room was looking at me waiting to

see what my move was going to be, I was faced with two choices and yes I know I
always complain that in my life most of the times I do not get given choices,

situations arise and I have to follow my husband’s lead and this time, for once in my

life I had a choice to choose to do good or evil and at that moment evil smelled and

tasted so good I was tempted I looked at the gun lifted it and said “I think I’m going to

leave them in God’s hands, I will let him deal with them” I said handing the gun to

Mthobisi. I don’t know where his mother had come from because I had not seen her

not that I was paying much attention to what was going on around me but out of

nowhere she appeared grabbed the gun from my hands and pulled the trigger and

shot one of the three guys in the leg, the gun shot sound was so loud that for a few

seconds all I could hear was a ringing sound and everything around the room was a

blur.

This was supposed to be my son’s night vigil and now there were gun shots, I did not

want the drama not on this day. “I’m coming with you” I said to Mthobisi not asking

him but telling him, he turned to look at me and before he could say anything I

signalled for him to go to which surprisingly he did without arguing with me, I guess

he was as eager as I was to find out what the hell was going, I was hoping and

praying that the Pastor had not said something offensive while preaching and pissed

Mthobisi’s mom off and she ended up shooting him. I had all these different

scenarios that were playing in my head but they all involved Mthobisi’s mom

shooting someone.

We got to the tent and it was empty people were gone, we went in out in the street

and there was a commotion going on and lots of people around, Mthobisi put his gun

pack in his pants when he saw that there were lot of people around, he asked what

was going on and we were told some taxi drivers were fighting and stared shooting

at each other, “Oh thank goodness” I said out loud without meaning to. Some lady
looked at me funny and shook her head and walked away, I was not happy that taxi

drivers were fighting I was just relieved that for once it had nothing to do with me or

my family. I know it’s selfish but bad thing followed me everywhere so the minute

something bad happens and it doesn’t concern me, I celebrate because that is very

unusual. Mthobisi told me we should go back inside. We found Koketso my sister in

law in the kitchen stuffing her face, “really? This time of the night you are eating?”

Wait, what? Fundani was dead? Did I just hear right, I tried getting up but head felt

heavy, my eyes felt heavy, my arms felt heavy, my entire body felt heavy and within

seconds I had passed out again. when I woke up again it was night time, my sister

was in the room. “Hey sleepy head” she said when I came to “Hey egg head” I said

jokingly we both smiled neither of us could even laugh that’s how sad we were

“Please don’t ask how I’m feeling because I still don’t know.” I said to her, she

nodded and said I was out for a while “What did you expect with my mother in law it’s

go big or go home so she probably made the doctor give me the strongest

sedatives.” My sister looked at me confused and said “what doctor?” I explained to

her the whole thing about my mother in law and her doctor she said it was a good

idea because I looked spaced out the whole time throughout the funeral, I totally

agreed with her. “Let’s talk about you, how are the kids?” I said changing the subject,

she said Victor’s friend was really good with them and they were getting better from

the shock and trauma but he suggested that maybe the funeral might be too much

for them to handle so she left them at home with the nanny. “And your psychotic

husband who deserves to stay in a mental institution for the rest of his life?” I said

smiling “He deserves worse than that, he deserves to be chocked to death in his

sleep. Oh shit, I’m sorry there I go speaking about death.” I rolled my eyes and said

“relax, I’m not going to break down each time I hear the word death. Speaking of
which I think the Pastor from church this morning killed Fundani.” My sister burst out

laughing, I looked at her with annoyance and told her that it was not funny I had

heard him talking about getting his body out of his church but I couldn’t remember

everything. “Are you sure you were not dreaming?” She asked with a serious face

“No, I heard this, I promise.” She smiled and said “well, if Fundani is dead then it’s

minus one problem in your life. So if he was killed by the pastor does that means he

goes to heaven?” I rolled my eyes and told her to stop being stupid. “I need to get

myself a new car asap, mine is giving me hell, do you know how hard it is to sell

property without a reliable car?” I shook my head then she went on and on about her

car until Mthobisi came to check in on me. “How you feeling my love?” I smiled and

said I was fine I asked him if the pastor had come to my room while I was sleeping,

he said no and that the pastor left immediately after eating and that was before I

even went to the bedroom, I knew what I heard, Mthobisi was probably trying to

cover up. My sister said she would be leaving as it was already late, I thanked her for

the support, we hugged and she left. Mthobisi walked her out while I changed into

sweat pants and freshened up. Mthobisi came back a few minutes late with a plate of

food “you haven’t eaten all day today, you need to eat something” he said, I had no

appetite, I looked at the food and it looked really good, so just not to disappoint my

husband I pretended to be eating, he saw right through me and took the spoon from

me and started feeding me, that reminded me of days when he would feed Neo

when he didn’t want to eat and would say the spoon is an aeroplane, he smiled and

said “I’m having the same memory about aeroplane spoon with our boy” I smiled and

opened my mouth and let him feed me. “Thank you.” I said when I had eaten half the

plate without realising that I had; he smiled and said “that’s what husband’s are for to

force-feed their wives.” I smiled and said “Thank you for being my pillar of strength
through this hard time, thank you for always being there for me, thank you for being

strong for me when I couldn’t be strong for myself. I appreciate you and I am grateful

to have you in my life.” He smiled and said “I should feed you all the time if I’m going

to keep on getting such compliments, heck if I had known that’s all it takes I could

have saved a lot of money on marriage counselling.” I smiled and asked which

counselling because he never paid attention to anything that was being said and

never did any of them homework’s we were given or took anything we were told

seriously, he smiled and said “oh but I did, that’s why I am such a good husband

now.” We both laughed. His mom came and said “I see you doing much better my

child.” I smiled and said “I am, thanks Ma.” After what I saw her do the previous day

there was no way in hell I would ever be rude to her again, I was going to be the

nicest daughter in law any mother in law has ever had. She smiled back at me and

said she is glad that her doctor could help. She told me that my friends were great

help and I should thank them for her the next time I see them, she then left Mthobisi

and I. After his mom left Mthobisi said “I am glad that you and my mom are getting

along so well lately.” I just smiled and thought you would too if you saw what I saw.

We stayed up that night talking about Neo sharing the great memories that we had

with him. I think we only went to sleep around 04 am. The following morning we got

up at 10:15 I was a bit embarrassed to be the makoti of the house and then to wake

up so late but everyone understood that I was still in mourning a few of Mthoibisi’s

aunts even suggested that I go back to sleep. Mthobisi’s family is not cultural or

traditional they just go with the flow there are no set rules of you can do this or you

can’t do this, you do whatever feels right for you, which is something that I really

liked because with some families there are traditions that you have to follow after the
funeral, you even have to dress up differently or cut your hair with this family there

was none of that.

People were cleaning the house, there was still lots of food left. How much money

did these people spend on food I wondered? I was given breakfast which I couldn’t

eat and Mthobisi couldn’t feed me in front of people I swear his uncles would say I

had bewitched him. I had a few spoons of porridge then left it, I didn’t have anything

to do as everything was taken care of, I went back to my room and looked for the

phone I had lots of messages and missed calls I went through all of them and

thanked everyone who had sent me messages and beautiful quotes and bible

verses. Mthobisi’s mom had left a bible on my bed and left a note that read “It will

bring you calmness during the storm. Love Flo” I smiled and thought this woman was

really something else, I expected her to give me a gun not a bible but I appreciated

the gesture nonetheless. I read a few verses then put it back down and fell asleep. I

woke up before lunch time, I had absolutely nothing to do all I had to do was sit and

think. Mthobisi came to check up on me and brought lunch, I told him I was bored out

of my mind and just wanted us to go back to our own home, he agreed and said he

would run it past his mom and uncles which he did and they said we could leave

whenever we wanted we didn’t have to stay I was so happy so we decided that the

following day we would be going back to our home but then I remembered “Mthobisi

what about those guys who tried to kill you? The guy who came to our home in the

middle of the night?” I reminded Mthobisi who seemed to have forgotten all about

that. “Don’t worry about those fools, they’ve been taken care of” I smiled and said

okay, I was just excited to be going home to my own space where I didn’t have to

answer to anybody about anything. I have huge respect for a woman who stay in the

same house as their husband’s mother’s because with me sooner or later one of us
would either go missing and random body parts would just show up at random

places those would be my body parts but no one would be able to recognise them

after Mthobisi’s mom had burnt them with acid. Or they would find a body under the

swimming pool the day they decide they no longer want a swimming pool and it

would have been a pool that was built by me to cover my mother in law’s body after I

had gotten tired of her criticism, her interference and her lack of chill, that is what

would happen in my life I would either end up dead being killed by my mother in law

or I would end up killing her. That night I slept peacefully know the following day I

would be going home.

The following day the people had become less we had breakfast then headed to

Midrand, I told Mthobisi we should go pass the shop to buy a few groceries since our

fridge was practically empty since we were hardly there. I was going to cook my man

diner that evening, I bought all the right ingredients for the meal I wanted to spoil him

with. we went home and Mthobisi asked if I was going to be okay on my own for a

couple of hours, I told him not to be silly there was no need to worry about me and

check on me every five minute gap that he got. He left ,this gave me an opportunity

to start planning my meal that I was going to cook for him.

While I was beginning to cook my cellphone rang, it was Naledi she probably wanted

to come over, that was the beauty about my sister’s job she sold houses so she

could go anywhere and say she was trying to get clients. “I’m making this amazing

diner for Mthobisi if you could come and help I would really appreciate it.” I said

before she could even say hello. “Hi, am I speaking to Lesedi?” the person on the

end of the phone said it was a male voice. “Yes you are, who the hell are you and

what the hell are you doing with my sister’s phone?” I said getting angry thinking it’s

probably some nyaope boy who stole her phone to buy drugs. “My name is
Dumisani, I am a paramedic” I cleared my throat a bit confused “Congrats on being a

paramedic Dumisani, that still doesn’t answer my question. What the hell are you

doing with my sister’s phone?” Dumisani was not loosing patience like I was “Ma’am

I need to ask you a few questions. Do you have any high blood pressure, heart

problems, anxiety attacks…..?” he gave me a long list of illness to choose from, okay

this is getting weird by the second I thought but I decided to play along in case it was

one of my sister’s or friend’s stupid pranks. “No Sir, none of those.” I said with a

smile on my face waiting for them to jump and say something stupid like “gotcha”

Dumisani continued “So Naledi is your sister right ma’am” I smiled and said “well as

far as I know yes unless if my mom has been lying to us all our lives.” Dumisani still

with his calm voice “Okay ma’am I need you to please sit down.” I told him I was

already sitting. “We are in R59 and your sister has been in an accident, we found the

phone in her car and your number was on the list of the numbers that were last

dialled” my heart rate started going up “okay, accident. Can I speak to her please?” I

asked realizing that R59 is the route she usually takes to and from work and so

many things just came to my head, she had told me the previous day that her car

was giving her problems.

“I’m sorry ma’am but your sister didn’t make it in the crash, she died on the scene of

the accident….”

Noooooooooooooooo!!!

I knew my friends or my sister would not play such an ugly and distasteful prank on

me, not after the hell that I have just gone through burying my son, they just

wouldn’t, but this could also not be really, I could not and would not survive another
death, no, not this time. I swallowed my spit and said “Dumisani or whatever the hell

your name is, if this is some kind of a joke that you are playing on me, I will find you

and when I do you will be very sorry for playing such an evil, heartless prank on me.

I have just buried my only child yesterday and now you are going to come and tell

me this crap.” There was silence on the other end for a couple of seconds then he

said “I’m sorry ma’am I know this is a lot to take in at this stage, but I am not playing

any prank or anything like that on you.” My mind was all over the place I could not

think straight, “I need to call my husband; he will know what to do.” I said to

Dumisani the paramedic “I understand but first please take our details, you will need

to come and identify the body as well as collect some of her belongings.” He gave

me his details and said the police were also there and want to talk to me. I told him

to give them my number because at that moment I could not handle this by myself, I

needed to call someone, anyone to come and help me, he understood.

I don’t know how long I was out for but when I came to I found my friends’ and the

police hovering over me, I opened my eyes and asked “what happened?” Cleo

shrugged her shoulders and said “you fainted, so typical of you.” I lifted my hand so

they could pull me up, “shit I think I hit my head it’s pounding like hell” I said touching

my head, it felt heavy like a morning after a night of heavy drinking. She Rocks lifted

three fingers and asked how many fingers she was holding up “Put those fingers

down, there is police amongst us; she might get arrested for being drunk.” Cleo said

to She Rocks I snapped at her and said I wasn’t drunk but thinking about the whisky

I had earlier the was a possibility of being tipsy, I told them I needed to sit down for a

second, I noticed that there was now one police man with us.

The other came back from wherever he had gone and said to me “Ma’am I’m afraid

there has been a bit of a confusion.” I looked at him confused myself and asked what
he meant, “Your sister is alive, you fainted because you heard and saw your

sister…” I didn’t even let him finish his sentence I was shaking so hard but I needed

to see her “where is she?” I asked anxious, she walked out of one of the offices “Oh

my God Naledi

How do you tell your sister that your husband has just killed her husband? Most of all

how do you tell your sister that she is the reason that your husband killed her

husband? Just telling a person that someone has died is a process, you prepare and

even though you know the end results will be tears, you still need to plan your words

properly and easy them into the pain. I was not prepared so instead I said, “Mthobisi,

you are breaking I can’t hear you, can you move around.” Mthobisi said he could

hear me clearly and I kept saying I couldn’t hear and he said he would call me back.

“No, no, it’s fine I will call you back, the network must be terrible where you are” I

said, trying to think of a way to spin the story for my sister but there wasn’t any better

way to put it.

I still don’t get why people don’t just say so and so is dead because at the end, that

is exactly what they are going to hear. But I guess it’s just good manners.

I know most people would think that I am an ungrateful brat. What kind of a woman

refuses a free holiday with her friends, that her husband has booked and paid for

and all she has to do is just show up. Only I could do that because as much as I love

holidays like any other person, I also knew my husband very well. There was more to

the story than he was saying, yes I had messed up on a higher grade but something

was going on here and my gut told me that it was bigger than he let it on. Else why

did he just blow up at me like that?

I decided to be a good wife and go after my husband, well mostly because I hated

being left standing like an idiot after he had attacked me like that and not even given

me a chance to defend myself.

“Ohhh hell to the flippen no, I am not going back to Joburg! We are here on holiday,

we are here to enjoy ourselves and Mthobisi will be mad at us if we go back to

Joburg, after all the trouble he went through.” Cleo said. Shem my friend loves free

holidays she was not going to let this one go just like that. “That’s very noble of you

Rock Star but I know how stubborn my husband can be, he has a plan and the last

thing I want is to interrupt his plans. He is aalready blaming me for everything that is

going wrong in our lives so I am going to stay put and let him handle this one

himself.” I said giving She Rocks a heartfelt ‘thank you’ smile . “I couldn’t agree

more” said Andiswa. It was agreed that we would stay in Cape Town and let Mthobisi

handle his shit, for once I was going to be an obedient wife and obey my husband’s

wishes.

We stopped at the garage to buy snacks for the mini-road trip, I decided to stop

worrying about my husband, he is a big boy after all and was more than capable of

taking care of himself. My sister said she got an sms from Lwazi’s mom telling her

that Lwazi has indeed booked himself into rehab, this shit was really serious I

thought. “What’s he addicted to, lies and bullshit?” She Rocks asked “Don’t go there

it’s a very sensitive topic, my head almost got bitten off for that” Cleo said. You can

never have more three females in one room or in one car for that matter and have all

of them get along, it’s impossible. There will always be the two who can’t stand each

other but will tolerate each other for the sake of others and this is why all-female

bands never work. There will always be that one female who thinks she is better than

the others and doesn’t need the rest, and will break out and release a solo album
and the rest that were dependant on her will be on their own, exposed for their

inability to sing. “I’m going to play some music, where is your aux cable Rock Star?”

She handed me her bag and her phone and said I should play music from her

phone. We played music and sang along to old school music, each time someone

sang off key we would laugh at them. It was mostly Naledi who was badly off so we

spent most of the time laughing at her.

There were beautiful views and we made a couple of stops where we would stop to

take pictures, we were proper tourists. When we saw a shopping complex we decide

to do food shopping as we didn’t have any food and didn’t know if the house had any

food. By what Mthobisi said it seemed like the house was hardly ever used, only

used during holidays so obviously whatever food was in the house was probably

expired by now. The last thing we wanted was stomach aches and diarrhoea while

we were on holiday. We bought meat and fish and veggies to make salads and since

we were all ladies we didn’t have to worry about cooking pap. I don’t know what it is

about pap but most black men love pap. I know of a guy whose wife made him

salads and meat and no pap because she said pap was causing the guy to be fat,

the guy was so angry he called the lady’s family and told them to come get their

daughter because she was becoming a coconut just because he moved her to the

suburbs. He insisted that they both grew up on pap and didn’t see the big deal about

pap now that they were older. That marriage ended in divorce all because of pap.

We also hit the bottle store and bought lots and lots of alcohol, there was no kind

that we left out. We were planning on getting hammered.

After a long drive stopping here and there, we finally arrived at the place. Mthobisi

had given us a number to call and said it’s the neighbour’s and they have the key to

the house. We called the number and some white man said he would be there
shortly to drop off the keys. The thing about these beach houses is your neighbour’s

house is not a few feet away from your gate, it is a long walking distance; the guy

had to drive to the place to give us the keys. He was an old man with grey hair and

he asked if it was just us girls who would be staying there. We all gave him different

answers at the same time, some said ‘yes’ and others said ‘no’, it must have been

very confusing for him because he turned and thanked us and instead of walking

towards the gate to leave he walked towards the house. We all stood there watching

him with neither one of us saying anything until he got to the door and mumbled

“wrong house”. We all turned and looked at She Rocks because we knew at any

moment she would burst out laughing, when she realised that we were all watching

her she put on a straight face which I could see was very difficult for her. The old

man said “enjoy your stay, call if you need anything” as he stepped out of the gate.

As soon as he closed the door to his car She Rocks burst out laughing she was

laughing so hard she had tears coming out of her eyes. Cleo, Andiswa and myself

could not control ourselves when it came to She Rocks’s laughter, it was so

contagious that you would also just find yourself laughing uncontrollably. My sister

was a bit annoyed by us, “You guys are stupid, I honestly don’t see what’s funny”

she said, as she walked to the door to go and open with the keys the old man had

given us. She tried a few but none of them opened. “Shit, I think he gave us wrong

keys, probably his house keys. Bloody old people” my sister said, we laughed even

more. I grabbed the keys from her laughing and tried three and the fourth one

opened. “You the old person” I said to my sister laughing at her”.

The house was magnificent, we went from room to room it had two big, beautiful

kitchens, two sitting areas, a lounge, a bathroom downstairs, then upstairs’ were five

bedrooms and they were all en-suite, there was a passage upstairs where you could
walk outside onto the roof and on the roof was the biggest and most gorgeous

swimming pool I had ever seen. There were pool beds around it where you could sit

and relax and when you’re standing at the pool you could see further down in the

beach. The house itself was right across from the beach. “If I stayed in a house like

this I would never stress about anything, these people have made it in life guys, they

are done.” Cleo said admiring the view of the beach, I couldn’t agree with her more;

this was the life that I wouldn’t mind living. We all stood there in awe of this gorgeous

house and thought these were the luckiest people to have such a beautiful house.

We stood there for about fifteen minutes, the place was really beautiful.

We went back downstairs and went to the car to go fetch our bags and we all choose

rooms. The best room was the one that had sliding doors that lead to the pool area

and we all wanted that room, so we decided to do a draw as we were all fighting over

that room. As luck would have it, Andiswa won the draw. She then said she is giving

me the room because when Mthobisi comes it would be a nice room for us. It was

very kind and thoughtful of her and there was no way I was going to decline her offer

so I accepted. We put our bags in the rooms then decided to go hit the beach. We

went to the beach and played in the water like young kids, we were having the time

of our lives, we were care-free and it felt good to be out and about not worrying

about anything. After the fun at the beach when the sun was setting, we went back to

the house and decided we would have a fish braai. We put fish on the foil and made

a braai fire on the braai stand, we also made salads. Two would go shower while the

other three stayed behind to make sure that the fish didn’t burn.

When I went to my room I checked my phone and saw I had seven missed calls from

Mthobisi, I immediately called back with my heart beating s0 hard thinking something

had happened to him. The first thing he said when he answered was “where have
you been? I have been trying to get hold of you and you all are not answering your

phones I even called the landline and no answer which means you were not at the

house.” I tried to digest what he was saying, “what are you talking about?” I asked

getting annoyed I told him of how I had tried to get hold of him when I had landed in

Cape Town and his phone kept ringing and also got dropped and then switched off

while I was calling him, he told me that he had a very busy day and couldn’t attend to

my call at the time. I didn’t even want to ask what he was busy with I just reminded

him that I was on holiday and not in prison and he didn’t say I was coming to

Hermanus to be a security guard and stay in the house and not go anywhere. “A few

hours in Cape Town and my wife is already giving me lip.” I wanted to say “whatever”

and hang up the phone but knowing my husband he would be on the first flight to

Cape Town to make me apologize, so instead I calmed myself down and told him

that I was sorry I had missed his calls and asked what the emergency was, he told

me there wasn’t any emergency he was just calling to check up on me to see if we

had arrived safely, he could have just texted all of that instead of making it seem like

the house was on fire or something bad had happened. We spoke for a while, I told

him what we had gotten up to since we arrived and promised to give him a call

before I go to sleep. I then showered, washing the salty water and the beach sand

off me. When we were all finally done showering, we dished up and went to sit

outside to have our dinner at the poolside area with the beach as our view. Damn,

this was the life! She Rocks and Andiswa decided to swim at the pool after diner to

cool down, the rest of us were too tired to even think of doing anything else. All I

wanted was a bed and after washing the dishes, Cleo, my sister and myself went

straight to our rooms and left She Rocks and Andiswa swimming.
I passed out and was woken up by what sounded like foot steeps outside my room,

at first I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or what the hell was happening. I tried listening

harder and there were definitely footsteps outside my door and I had the room with

the sliding door with no burglar proof, all they needed to do was break the glass door

and they would be inside my room. I got out of bed and luckily I had left the door

open so I didn’t make noise opening it and tip-toed to the next room where Cleo was.

Her door was closed I tried opening it but it was locked, shit! I moved on to the next

room my sister was sleeping in, her door was not locked or closed so I got in and

shook her. I saw that she was about to scream so I put my hand on her mouth and

signalled for her to keep quiet. “I think we are being robbed.” She popped her eyes

out and said signalled for me to remove my hand off her mouth, as soon as I

removed my hand away from her mouth there was a huge banging and shouting in

every door and every window in the house, “Police, open up! we are giving you two

minutes to open and if you don’t open we will break our way in.” I remembered how I

had heard on the news that police now shoot to kill and I didn’t want to be part of that

statistic so I jumped up and said I was coming to open. By now all the girls were

awake so we all walked downstairs confused as to what the hell the police wanted

from us, especially in Western Cape since we were not known in these parts of town.

As I was about to open the door Cleo shouted “show us something that proves that

you are police.” We could hear them laughing from outside and they flashed

something through the peeping hole, I don’t know if it was the real police identity or

what and by the looks of things neither one of us knew what the real police identity

looked like. so we all just assumed that it was real and agreed that I should open

before we get shot at. I opened the door and about twenty guys came flooding into

the place. One of them came to my sister and I and said “between the two of you
which one is Lesedi Jumbe” My sister and I look so much alike people think we are

twins she lifted her hand and said it was her. He took out a phone and dialled and

put the phone on speaker. “hello” it was Mthobisi’s voice on the other end, the guy

said “We have your wife and her friends. Did you think Hermanus was too far from

us, you just made things easier for us, we are going to show you something, switch

your phone to FaceTime. He said turning his phone around so it could capture what

was going on when I turned to look to where he was pointing the phone, there was a

guy who was carrying an axe and he had a lighter and was burning the sharp side of

the axe with the lighter the same way Mthobisi’s mom had done it. “That my friend is

for your wife, are you going to watch while we chop her in pieces.” We all screamed

our lungs out when we heard that.

The guy who had been talking to Mthobisi, I assumed he must have been the group

leader, shouted “Shut the hell up!!!” which made us all go silent but fear was written

all over our faces. “Listen guys, we have money, cellphones, gadgets anything just

take it, please don’t hurt us, please.” She Rocks said trying to plead with them, I

knew these bastards came here with a plan and were on a mission. It didn’t matter

what any of us said, I was going to get cut into pieces so I was not going to spend

my last few minutes on earth begging for my life. The guy who was speaking a lot

went back on the video and said to Mthobisi “which limb would you like us to get rid

of first? Most guys secretly wish to cut their wives tongues out, woman nag too much

at least that would shut her up. But we not talking tongues here we talking, leg, arm,

head you choose” my heart started beating fast as soon as I heard him say head.

“What do you mean he’s dead? Did he tell you where my friends are before he

died?” I asked, I know I was being selfish the man had just died and all I wanted to

know was the well-being of my friends and sister. He stared at me with a blank face,
then walked outside, I could see his eyes were filling up with tears which is why he

walked out, he probably didn’t want me to see him crying. A few minutes later I heard

him shouting, I ran outside, two more of his guys arrived the one was carrying the

other who was struggling to walk “who the fuck shot him?”, he asked the one who

was carrying, “I don’t know man, all I saw were shots coming from out of nowhere

shooting at us.” “Fuck, do you think it could be that bastard Mthobisi Oh crap, could

this be the work of my husband? I wondered.

They took the guy who was shot inside and left me standing outside, I think they no

longer cared whether I ran or not. I didn’t know what to do, I had a choice to make

and it was a scary one, do I run and end up getting caught by those bullets that were

flying everywhere, or do I stay here with these fools who might also end up killing

me. All my choices seem to end up with me dead, I honestly didn’t know what to do.

The fact of the matter is I was with criminals and maybe the car we were travelling in,

the same car I was driving was a stolen car. This could give the cops an excuse to

say they chased us and we didn’t stop or we shot at them when they tried stopping

us and they shot back. I had all these thoughts and angles on how I would look

guilty, I would look like I was working with them and with my husband being who he

is, it would not be hard for the police to sell me as a criminal’s wife, which would

automatically make me his partner in crime.

I stood there with the pee dripping down my legs, the old cop came close to me and I

realized the only way out of this situation is to beg for my life and negotiate, “Please

Sir, don’t shot me, I don’t even know those men, they forced me to drive, please

don’t shoot me I won’t tell anyone that you shot them.” He looked at me and smiled,

how do you smile after shooting two people, the old man must have been out of his
mind, he looked like the type that had killed a lot of black people during apartheid, he

was going to enjoy killing me I could just see it in his eyes.

Did the old man just say where we were was the safest option after we had just been

almost killed? I was with Andiswa on this one, I wanted to go home. “Rock Star lend

me your phone.” She handed me her phone, I dialled Mthobisi’s number and as soon

as he answered I said, “we want to come back home.” There was a pause for a

second then he said “you guys can’t come home, not yet anyway.” I was getting tired

of him going around in circles and not telling me the whole story. “Why the hell not?

We are all scared and just cannot stay in this place after what happened last night.” I

said angry. He said he could get us another place, I told him it was not about where

we were staying, our hearts were no longer in this holiday thing, we just wanted to go

home and forget about everything. “Well you can’t come home because things are

worse this side.” he said and as I was about to complain some more just to drill the

point into his head, he said he had to go and hung up. I don’t know what the hell was

wrong with my husband but he was completely getting on my nerves.

The girls were looking at me waiting for an answer, “he says we can’t leave.” I told

them. Cleo said “He’s right, let’s just stay here and have fun” everyone agreed, the

cleaners came out with lots of black bags and the old man followed behind them,

“okay ladies the place is as you found it, sparkling clean.” The girls looked at each

other and Andiswa said “what do you mean?” I had forgotten that they didn’t know

that the two guys had come back, bled all over the place and died there.

While She Rocks and I were packing my sister walked in and asked what we were

doing, I told her I was leaving for Joburg and that Mthobisi had been arrested. “And

since you are not a judge or a lawyer what are you going to do? Break him out?” She
said sarcastically, laughing. On any given day I would have found that hilarious but I

faked a laugh and said “very funny Naledi, you should have been a comedian.” I then

quickly changed the subject, this topic was making me uncomfortable. Andiswa

walked in “Hey Gals, nilale grand?” she said looking and sounding very happy which

was very unlike her especially of late,, the girl was always in a bad mood and upset

about something and not to mention the fact that I still didn’t trust her fully. “Well, you

are in a good mood today, there is only one thing that can put such a smile on a

woman’s face” said She Rocks obviously as surprised as we were about her mood.

My sister laughed and said “a dildo” and we all burst out laughing. She looked at us

with annoyance and said “you are disgusting, I’m going to go sit outside by the pool

and soak up some sun. Whose making brunch?” we all echoed “make your own” she

rolled her eyes and walked out.

My phone rang again, it was still my mother in law. I hesitated but decided to

answer and she screamed “Lesedi are you going to open the damn door or not?”.

She was obviously getting angry now. There was no escaping her, she was at our

door and the only way to get rid of her was to go and speak to her and try to reason

with her even though reasoning and my mother-in-law do not belong in the same

sentence. “I was just looking for the keys, I’m coming to open” I said, obviously lying.

I then went downstairs with the girls behind me. Our security guys where the ones

who had been knocking, I had completely and totally forgotten about them. “There is

someone here to see you.” one of them said as soon as I opened the door. I smiled

and behind them was our white old man who had saved our lives, he asked me to

step outside. I could see the look of relief on my friend’s faces when they realized it

wasn’t my mother in law standing outside. I stepped outside to go speak to him, he

handed me an envelope and said my id and my flight ticket were in that envelope. I
thanked him and didn’t even ask any questions as everything seemed obvious and

besides I had a feeling he was not going to give me any answers. He left and I put

the envelope inside my pants and hid it with the t-shirt I was in no mood to answer

a hundred and one questions from my friends. I went back inside. They asked what

the old man had wanted and I told them he wanted to see if we were happy with the

security and if we needed anything.

The tears were close since my mother in law had chased me away and denied me

food. I was overly emotional for some reason because on any given day that would

not have affected me as much as it did that day, but for some reason I was so hurt

by what she did. Maybe it was because my husband was not around to protect me

from his mother not that he ever did much anyway but I felt like I was fighting a bully

by myself. So there I was standing with my hands up, with my eyes closed to block

tears from running down my face and just waiting for the cold metal handcuffs to

click on my wrists and I waited and waited and waited and when I realized something

wasn’t happening I opened my eyes to see all the police running past me with their

guns pointed out, wait a minute I thought, they are not here for me? I got a little

excited that I was not busted and that the police were not here for me and curiosity

got the better of me I had to follow them to see where they were going, and lo and

behold, they were standing at my mother in law’s table. The police were there for her

ass and the smile on my face, I wanted to start dancing, and karma is such a bitch. I

looked at her and she was smiling too, why was she happy I wondered, from where I

was standing I couldn’t hear the conversation but I saw her get up and one of the

policemen put handcuffs on her, when that happened I ran back to the lift. It was

taking long to come so I decided to hit the stairs, I didn’t want people pointing at me

saying I was sitting with her earlier. I ran up the stairs to my room, my room was on
the eight floor so you can imagine all the huffing and puffing I was doing as I was

running up carrying a heavy bag, when I got to my room I locked the door and got a

towel to wipe the sweat off, I looked out the window to see if I could see the police

cars from my room, unfortunately my room window was facing the back of the

building and there was nothing that I could see. I didn’t know what this meant for my

plans, my mother in law being arrested. Do I continue with everything as planned or

do I drop everything, I honestly didn’t know.

I opened the bag and there were clothes, wigs, glasses and the infamous pap in a

see-through lunch box. I looked all around it and it just looked like normal pap, I

couldn’t even see that there was a weapon hidden in it. I quickly changed into one of

the outfits in the bag it was black pants with a black jacket, I wore my own top, a

white top. I choose a long wig and decided against sunglasses, they would look kind

of suspicious in court. I ordered room service, there was no way in hell I was going to

survive court on an empty stomach. While I was waiting for the food to arrive I went

through the bag to see what other contents were in the bag, there was also a note

which I must have missed because I was just looking through the clothes, to me that

was the most important part – the clothes. The note had instruction on how I was to

do things, I read through it and when I was done I received a call that my driver had

arrived. I had not even eaten yet! He was going to have to wait, I was not going to

leave my breakfast behind. Luckily it arrived shortly and I quickly stuffed my face

then went downstairs to the driver. When I arrived downstairs there was

Champagne, one of Mthobisi’s friend’s. I greeted him with a hug and he said it was

good to see me again, that he had hoped it was under different circumstances but

there was heat around all of them, and he kept looking around like he was expecting

someone or was trying to hide from someone. I asked him how he was going to drive
me to court looking so nervous, he will cause accidents on the road. He told me he

was not taking me to court, I would be driving myself because he can’t get anywhere

near law enforcement people. I laughed thinking he was being a little too

melodramatic but when I looked at his face and saw how scared he really was, I

realized the seriousness of the situation. He took me to where he had parked and

gave me the keys to and pointed to a blue Gold R32 and said that would be my car

for the day, I smiled looking at the car, that thing was a machine. “It’s very fast has

turbo, don’t drive to fast we don’t want you attracting attention to yourself.” I nodded

thinking “who is he kidding I could never do 60km/hr on that machine, that on it’s

own would be a crime”. He told me he can’t stay for long and left.

I got inside the car and the onboard navigator was on with directions to court all I had

to do was follow the instructions, everything had been well thought out which was a

good thing because I would have probably gotten lost going to court. I tried to drive

under the speed limit as per instructions given to me but it was very hard the car had

a mind of it’s own, I loved it. I arrived in court and on the instructions given to me by

my mother-in-law Mthobisi would be in court 12. I asked security where that was and

I was given directions. When I got there I asked one of the policeman there what

time Mthobisi would be appearing in court. He came with a book and showed me the

registry for the day, Mthobisi’s case was first and I had missed it and he had been

denied bail and would be sent to Sun City Prison later in the day. I asked him if he

knew what time he said he didn’t. I played the concerned sister I told him he was my

brother and that our mother was very worried about him because he had not eaten

since yesterday and she had even cooked him his favourite meal and could he

please take it to him. He smiled and asked if I was not married, I laughed flirtatiously

and said I was too young and sexy to be married. My charms were working on him,
he asked for my number I laughed and said of course he could have my numbers. I

asked for his so I could buzz his phone and he saves mine, he gave me his

numbers. I called his phone and he saved my numbers. He asked for my name and I

gave him my fake name Nozipho. He told me he was not allowed to take food down

to the prisoners I batted my eyes and said “even for your future brother-in-law you

can’t do a little favour” I said with a huge smile on my face, he was smitten I could

see it in his eyes. If he was a cartoon he would have had hearts in his eyes, he

smiled and said he would do me the favour only because I was so pretty. I thanked

him and handed him the lunch box, he left and went down the stairs, I figured that’s

where the prisoners were kept. After a few minutes I dialled his number – the one

he’d just given me, he answered and I let him go “hello, hello” about five times then I

said sorry my phone must have pocket-dialled him. He said it was okay his phone

did the same thing too sometimes and told me he had just given the food to my

brother. “Perfect timing” I thought, I asked if I could speak to my brother and I heard

him tell Mthobisi his sister Nozipho wanted to speak to him. I was holding my breath

hoping and praying that Mthobisi does not say I don’t know who that is. He answered

and said “Hi Sis, thank you soo much for the food, I was starving.” My husband is

such a smooth operator, I quickly told him that I was in court but I didn’t know what

time they would be leaving and which police car he would be in, “don’t worry I will

give you a signal, you can go sit at the parking lot, it shouldn’t be long.”

I knew he was speaking in riddles so the police officer would not be able to make

sense of what he was talking about but at that moment I was more confused that the

policeman. He handed the phone to the policeman and he said he was on his way

up and I owed him a cool drink for the call. I waited for him to come back and when

he did I thanked him and gave him R200 even though I knew he deserved more than
because he had unknowingly helped my husband escape prison. I went to the car

and waited for the police car to take the prisoners out, I waited and waited and

waited and there was nothing for hours and hours. I was getting bored and tired and

didn’t know what to do with myself I kept thinking about my mother-in-law and her

police ordeal earlier on and wondered if she was okay and realized at that age I

didn’t want to be running around being chased by police, she really should consider

retiring, not that I was going to tell her that; that was her son’s duty not mine. My

phone rang it was a number I didn’t know I answered “Honey the next van that is

going to come out I will be in it, follow it. I’m using one of the guys phones but don’t

call me back just follow the van and we will take it from there” I agreed and within a

few minutes a police van came out of the court’s gates and as I was about to follow

behind it two marked police BMW’s got in front of me, one car went in front of the

van and the other drove behind the van. “What the fuck” I thought, how on earth was

I going to get my husband out with two police escorts back and front, shit this was

going to be more difficult than I thought. Nonetheless I still drove very far behind

from there. I let two cars overtake me so I don’t look suspicious and since I had not

attended his court session I did not see the need to change my clothes,all I did was

put on big black sunglasses and a hat and thank goodness it was hot otherwise I

would have looked ridiculous. We got to the free way and I still let other cars drive in

front of me and as we got to the M1, the one BMW that was driving behind took the

Durban off-ramp and only the one in front of the police car was left. Now we were

getting somewhere I thought this gave me an opportunity to get close to the van.

My heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to pop out of my mouth, as I got

closer I saw that they had cut the back door of the van and were close to finishing.

How did they do that without the police noticing, it’s true when people say where
there is a will there is a way, nothing is impossible, people just limit themselves. We

were now off the freeway and approaching Southgate Mall, that’s when the door was

removed and when the police van stopped at the robots, about 6 guys came out of

the van running and went to the cars that were waiting at the robots, some pulled the

people out, Mthobisi came to my car and told me to move to the passenger side and

he jumped inside. Everything was happening so fast, people from the other cars

were screaming because their cars were being taken by force, the police in the van

realized what was happening when they heard the screams and the ones who were

in the BMW had already passed the robots. The police came out and had guns out

but it was difficult for them to shoot because they could shoot at the wrong people.

Mthobisi reversed the car and opened the windows and told me to start screaming, I

started screaming to which the police thought that like everyone else I was being

hijacked, they started shooting in the air as warnings Mthobisi and all the other guys

reversed into cars that were behind them hitting them. The cars behind had no

choice but to reverse which gave them a gap to speed off with the cars and next

thing we knew there were police helicopters and other police cars chasing us…

We’ve been chased by thugs before with guns, chased by people that we didn’t

know, chased by my husband’s frenemies chased by police and this has all been

on the ground, by a four wheeled vehicle. Being chased by police who were air-

borne was all a new thing for us, as scary as it was it was also a bit exciting.

Technically I was not even there I was still in Cape Town so I could not be linked to

this escape unless we got caught. “Can you drive a little faster they catching up” I

said, thinking of what would happen to me if I got caught. My husband gave me one

quick look then put his eyes back on the road as if I had said nothing at all. Honestly

he can be a bit dramatic at times, he got into the freeway and said “this is where I am
going to have to leave you” I looked at him with a bit of confusion in my eyes “leave

me? You gonna leave me in a bloody freeway? Not even airport or garage?” He

turned at me and for a second I thought I saw anger in his eyes “Garages have

cameras and don’t even start with me with airports, I will be made the second I drive

in.” So that meant I was going to be stranded on a freeway, how stupid was I going

to look from driving a fancy sports car to walking, this was a bit embarrassing I

thought. Mthobisi must have seen the look of disappointment in my face because he

quickly said “come on Honey, what do you take me for? I will never leave you

stranded.” He said with a smile on his face. All this was happening with the police

chasing behind us and my husband was driving on the N3 freeway like he owned the

damn road, cutting cars and changing lanes without any warnings.

We are all in a state of panic, all going back and forth to the car then following the

blood trail then again back at the car, we all had different theories of what could have

happened to her. I took out my phone and called Andiswa’s phone, it was ringing “It’s

ringing inside the car she left it when she walked out of the car.” Cleo said holding

out Andiswa’s phone, I really had no idea what to do next, I had literally just landed

in Cape Town and in less than an hour I had a friend who was missing because of a

disagreement we had and blood on the side of the road where we had left her. “I

think we should call the police.” Naledi said, “And say what to them Naledi?” I said,

feeling guilty. The thought of police scared the crap out of me, it felt like every

policeman knew what I had done and would be coming for me, so calling them felt

like I would be handing myself over. “No guys, no police please, not after I told you

what I did in Joburg.” My sister rolled her eyes and said the police don’t know that I

was involved and calling them would actually help to prove that I was in Cape Town

we can say we went shopping and have been shopping the whole day and Andiswa
had been drinking a lot of water so she wanted to get out of the car and pee in the

middle of nowhere since there were no garages in sight, and as she got out to pee

we decided to play a joke on her and left her there and when we came back she was

nowhere to be seen, I have to admit my sister’s story sounded reasonable so we

agreed that we would stick to that story there would be no mentions of any fights or

disagreement because once we say that then the police will look at us as the

suspects.

It was getting dark and we were all tired and hungry so we decided to head home, I

was feeling nauseas and dizzy for some reason but I figured it must be because of

the hunger and tiredness. As soon as we got back home we all went straight to the

kitchen. The previous night the ladies had braai’d meat so there was still a lot left

over, we attacked that meat and salads and when we were done eating the first thing

I did was run to the bathroom and I threw up, the girls followed behind me as I ran to

see what was wrong. She Rocks held my weave back as I threw up in the toilet, after

I was done throwing out I rinsed out my mouth on the basin and asked them what

they put in the meat. They all looked at me and said the ingredients that we bought

when we first arrived in Hermanus. “You must have caught some bug on the flight or

in Joburg, look at how pale you look.” Said She Rocks examining my face. The last

thing I needed was to be sick with some stomach bug, not when there was still so

much to do. I told them that it was probably a 24-hour bug and I just needed to sleep

for a bit and I would probably wake up feeling fine. I went to my room with She

Rocks while my sister and Cleo went to go make me some concoction to make me

feel better, it was something that Cleo had learnt from her grandmother, it tasted

nasty. Whenever anyone of us would have a stomach ache Cleo would make that

poison but it always worked and she never wanted to tell us what was in it. She said
will sell it one day and make millions out of it and if she told us we would steal it from

her. I drank Cleo’s nasty concoction. The girls said they would go downstairs and try

to come up with a plan of action for tomorrow while waiting for our guards to come

back. I was wishing, hoping and praying that the guards would come back with

Andiswa.

I fell asleep and woke up in the middle of the night hot and sweating, luckily my room

had an air conditioner so I put it on and the air felt so good that I immediately went

back to sleep. As I was getting into a beautiful sleep and dozing off peacefully, I was

interrupted by my phone. It was my husband, “Hey Honey are you sleeping?” was

the first thing he said. “Baby it is after twelve midnight and that is what normal people

are doing at this time of the morning, does it sound like I’m in a club to you?” I said

annoyed that he had interrupted my sleep. “Why are so snappy, stop stressing about

Andiswa my people will find her I promise.” I apologized for taking my frustrations out

on him and he said he understood, we talked for a bit and he told me that he was

doing everything in his powers to make sure that he never goes to court. I asked if

we were now going to live on the run and become fugitives he told me to stop being

melodramatic, we were going to be fine and he will fix everything like he always

does. I smiled and told him I believed him and I knew he would get us out of that

mess soon. He talked about a lot of things. I ended up falling asleep while he was

talking I was very tired after the day I had. I realized that I had fallen asleep when the

phone started ringing again, I answered it was still Mthobisi, he must have been

lonely wherever he was for him to be calling me this much. “Did you fall asleep while

I was talking to you.” I decided to come clean “Honey I don’t feel so good, I feel weak

and I threw up earlier on, the girls think I could have a 24-hour bug that I caught

when I was in Joburg or on the flight”. He told me to get some rest and not to stress,
that maybe it was stress that was making me sick, I agreed that I would stop

stressing, it was easier said than done. As soon as he hung I lay in bed and couldn’t

sleep, the same me who was falling asleep while my husband was talking now I was

wide awake counting sheep. I decided to call Mthobisi back, “I’ve realized something,

your voice calms me and makes me sleep I’ve been tossing and turning for the past

half an hour and couldn’t sleep, you took me out of my sleep I need you to send me

back to my sleep.” My husband laughed so hard I wanted to hang up and I told him

as much and he apologized and said it was sweet of me to be calmed by his voice,

so he said he will tell me a story and hopefully that will make me sleep and he

started telling this story and in minutes I was out.

I don’t know when he hung up because the next morning when I woke up the phone

was on the floor. I was just grateful to have slept. I went to the bathroom and washed

my face, She Rocks walked into my room and said “don’t freak out but the police are

here to ask you about Mthobisi, put your game face on.” I looked at her and told her

“I don’t have a game face.” She smiled and said just act, I put on my gown and we

went downstairs there were two policeman standing next to the couches I didn’t

know why they wouldn’t just sit, so automatically because they were standing I also

stood and shook their hands as they introduced themselves to me. “We’ve been sent

by the Joburg police to come and ask you a few questions.” One of them said “How

did the Joburg police know I was here?” I asked wondering if there were police

following me around, one of them replied and said that when I opened the case for a

missing person I gave my name and my Id and when they entered my Id on the

system it sent red flags because I was wanted in Joburg so they were here to

question me about that. I was suddenly feeling very hot and a bit funny “Ma’am your

husband escaped from the police custody yesterday and the police are trying to find
him…” before he could finish his sentence I hit the floor and fainted the girls rushed

to get me up and I could hear them telling the police that they had brought me

shocking news and had stressed me and should wait outside, they lifted me to the

couch and brought me some cold water which I drank up immediately “Damn girl, I

said act but that was some Hollywood shit, where did you learn to faint like that, it

was too believable.” She Rocks said looking at me with a huge grin on her face, I

wanted to smack that grin of her face but I smiled back and said that wasn’t faked

and I just felt hot and dizzy but I was feeling better now I told them to bring the cops

back in, the sooner we finish this the better. Cleo called them back inside they asked

if I was okay I told them it was the shock of what they had just told me I didn’t even

know that my husband was under police custody I had been speaking to his brother

who said he forgot his phone at his place and I hadn’t spoken to my husband in three

days. They couldn’t tell me why he had been arrested when I asked they said they

didn’t know they were just sent to come and question me, they asked if they could

look around the house just to make sure he wasn’t around we all said they should go

ahead, they check and came back with nothing then asked why we had bouncers.

She Rocks asked if they didn’t know her because she was a celebrity in her country

Zimbabwe and was here on holiday with her South African friends and needed

protection because she heard there was too much crime in the country, they seemed

to buy her story, She Rocks could imitate most accents and when she spoke with her

Zimbabwean accent you would swear that she was from there. The police thanked

us and left.

At that moment I was so glad that I had actually been honest with the girls because

imagine the shock it would have been of them finding out that Mthobisi had escaped

and one of them slipping up and saying that I had gone to Joburg, sometimes
honesty really is the best policy. “Are you going to warn Mthobisi and tell him that the

police are after his ass?” Cleo asked I shook my head and said he knows besides

from now on the police were going to watch my every move and I needed to be

careful. I can’t be in contact with Mthobisi, I have to wait for him to call me which is

the safest option. “How you feeling Lee? Are you still having the dizzy spells?” my

sister asked looking very concerned. I lied and said I was feeling okay, the last thing

I wanted was people faffing over me, we already had so much to worry about. It was

Cleo’s turn to make breakfast and she started frying something. The smell from the

kitchen wafted to where I was sitting I wanted to throw up, I shouted “Cleo, what the

hell are you cooking it smells horrible” they all turned and looked at me and She

Rocks said “it’s pork bangers” I asked her to check the expiry date and Cleo said

they were still fine, I couldn’t stand the smell so I went to my room to shower. When I

was done everyone had already started eating, I had dry toast with butter and coffee

and that settled my stomach a bit and I had no more crazy episodes.

The girls told me that the guards didn’t come back with any solutions to our missing

friend’s whereabout, we were all over and going crazy now especially since it had

already been twenty-four hours since she had gone missing. Andiswa’s mom was

my big concern, how do you break the news to your friend’s mom that you lost her

daughter? My other concern was Andiswa’s boyfriend who knew that we had killed

Mfundo, he was going to put one and one together and get eleven which would end

up getting us in a lot of shit. He will think because Andiswa had gone to the police

before, we had probably killed her. “Shit guys do you remember the threat Andiswa

made that if she dies there are letters that would go to the police naming us as the

main suspects and exposing everything we have done and you Lee and Mthobisi?”

asked Cleo. That, I had completely forgotten. “We have to find that bitch alive, I can’t
go to jail” I said. I started to panic at the thought of what was in the letters that

Andiswa wrote. While we were still speaking my phone rang the person on the end

of the phone identified themselves as a police officer and said “we have some news

about your friend, a person fitting her description of your friend was dropped off at

the entrance of a hospital” she said. “Oh thank God.” I quickly whispered to my

friends what the police lady had said and told them I’ll put the phone on speaker.

She Rocks asked, “How is she doing? Is she okay?” there was silence for a few

minutes then the officer said “I’m sorry ma’am but she was pronounced dead on

arrival. We need you to come and identify the body.” We all started wailing, we had

lost a friend but most of all we were going straight to jail for her death even though

we had nothing to do with it so we were crying for both those reasons. Why was life

so unfair? We were in double shit!!

We all cried so loudly that the guards outside thought something was happening to

us, they came rushing into the house, guns drawn out and onc we say saw the guns

we all went quiet and lifted our hands up in surrender. I don’t know why we did that

but it was as if some automatic button had been switched on because we all reacted

the same way. “What’s going on? What’s with all the screaming?” one of the guards

asked, we told them about the bad news we had just received on the phone, they

were speechless. They all mumbled something and went outside. This was a terrible

disaster, Andiswa’s death was going to cost us a whole lot more than just loosing a

friend, it was going to cost us our lives. We were crying for her life that was gone but

also for our lives that we were about to lose. “I’ve got an idea, why don’t we go to the

mortuary and say the body is not Andiswa’s even if it is.” Cleo said, we all looked at

her in disbelief and my sister asked, “and who will bury her then?” Cleo who seemed
to have the answers to everything responded, “the state will bury her. No body, no

jail for us.”

If there is one thing I hate it’s fainting, there is so much time that in unaccounted for,

precious valuable time that you will never ever get back and for some reason I am

one of those people who faint easily. I tried opening my eyes and all I could see was

white all around me, I must have died and gone to heaven for the first time in my life

I found myself whispering “please God let me be dead, please God let me be dead,

please God let me be dead.” I don’t know where that came from but I guess the

world’s problems had gotten too big for me and I was ready for the after-life I was

ready to face new challenges anything would have been better than what I was

facing. I tried remembering the last thing that happened to me and I couldn’t

remember, then someone came in and said “she’s awake.” And it was definitely not

God, so much for whishing that I was dead it was a nurse, she sat me up and asked

if I remembered what happened I said no. “You’ve been out for two days.” She said

“Two days, what the hell did you people give me?” I exclaimed, she explained that

they had not given me anything but my friends had been there every single day and

that they were arranging for me to be transferred to a hospital in Johannesburg so I

could be close to my family. “What happened? Was I in an accident?” I asked still

confused she shook her head and said I shouldn’t rush things it will come to me, I

didn’t want it coming to me I wanted her to tell me how I got there, what about my

friends were they also in the accident?

I don’t think there is a greater embarrassment that being arrested at the airport in

front of hundreds of people. Yes they might be strangers but the fact of the matter is

once you get arrested in the airport the first thing that people think, is that you are

getting arrested for drug possession or even worse for being a terrorist. The moment
the handcuffs clicked on my hands all I did was freeze I could not think clearly, all I

thought was that my life was over and I was going straight to jail. That snake who

had the audacity to call herself my friend was the reason for my downfall and the

worst part is she was dead, there was nothing I could do to get back at her for what

she had done to me. Nothing worse than being punished by someone who is six-feet

under, it’s like being punished by your ancestors and there is jack shit you can do

about it, except maybe slaughter a cow or a sheep, but the problem with Andiswa is

she wasn’t even an ancestor yet, so how do I appease a person who has not even

been buried yet? A few people were already taking pictures and videos, how I hate

these smartphones, they record everything and ruin so many people’s lives in the

process. Whoever came up with the idea should be found and shot! Just kidding, I

was already in so much trouble the last thing I should be thinking is shooting or

killing any other person.

It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are but there are some forms of torture

that will make you confess sins that you did when you were a child. For some people

it could be a couple of slaps for some it could be the threat of being thrown off

the 10th floor of a building, for some it could be the threat of being burnt alive. For

me it was water. I think even if they had sprinkled my face with a water gun it would

have been game over for me, I would have started blabbing. “Okay speak, or else

you going back in that water.” Physical abuser cop said with his hand at the back of

my head, my mouth went dry even though I had just had my face put in a dish full of

water. “Uhmmmm Mthobisi did call me.” Emotional abuser looked at me with anger

in his eyes and scream “we know that you stupid woman, we want to know where

the hell he is?” I cleared my throat and said “I think he is staying with his friend

Kagiso or some name like that, I can take you to his place”, just wanting to get as far
away from that room and the water as possible. Emotional abuse cop gave me a

notebook and a pen and told me to write down the address and they were going to

send the uniform cops to go check the house. Shit, talk about a plan back-firing, I

was not going anywhere. I took the pen and said I didn’t remember the streets name,

they suggested I write down a map of how we usually got to the place, I wrote a long

confusing map that even I didn’t understand. When I was done they both looked at it

and started laughing then abusive cop came behind me and without a word put my

head back in the water.

When I woke up I was in a strange place there were lights all around me, at first I

was a bit confused about what was happening then it all came back to me.

I wondered what in God’s name they were going to do to me next. I closed my eyes,

not wanting to see what was going to happen to me next. What they had done was

beat me up until I passed out so my plan was to pretend to still be out until I felt I had

a better lie or had a plan, I must have kept my eyes shut for over ten minutes and

each time I tried moving my body was in all sorts of pains. I was not curious to see

how badly they had hit me this time, at least it wasn’t water I told myself. After a few

minutes I heard a familiar voice say “look her eyes are moving” shit I was busted,

you know if you are awake your eyes move unlike when you are sleeping, when you

are asleep, your eyes are still and do not move. I had no choice but to open my eyes

and put on a fake smile, when I tried smiling my face was not moving it felt tight like

someone had cement it together, okay this was not normal, I opened my eyes and it

felt like they were only half opened it felt like I was squinting my eyes. “Hello from the

other side” She Rocks was singing, I could hear her but my sight was blurry “How did

you get here?” I asked, my face my mouth everything ached when I spoke. “I don’t
understand the question. Do you know where you are?” I shook my head then said

“please tell me we are in Mozambique, please.” Before she could answer someone

came in and said “she’s awake” it was a male voice that I couldn’t recognize and

because my vision was a bit damaged I couldn’t really see who it was.

“We will need to do a few checks please go and wait outside.” the voice I didn’t

recognize instructed my friend. In my head I thought it was those police officers with

everything in me I screamed “noooo, don’t leave me with him, he’s going to kill me.” I

was hysterical She Rocks tried explaining that it was a doctor who was taking care of

me but I wanted to hear none of that, I kept telling her that he’s going to kill me and

she shouldn’t leave me, “the doctor” realized I was not going to give up this fight. It

didn’t matter that I was in excruciating pain and that every time I moved any part of

my body including my mouth the pain I was feeling was worse than the pain of

natural birth, so he told her she should stay with. Everywhere he touched while he

was busy examining me, I told him it hurt, he said he would give me some strong

sedatives to numb the pain. Grating my teeth, I asked if the sedatives would make

me sleep he said yes so I told him then I didn’t need them, the last thing I wanted

was for the two men to come back for me while I was under medication and finish

me off. She Rocks assured me that I was safe there and had nothing to worry about

but I still wouldn’t hear of it. Wince my eyes were swollen and I couldn’t see clearly, I

think they gave me the sedative through the drip because a few minutes later I was

dozing in and out of consciousness and the pain became less and less, in fact I

could not feel anything. When I woke up, Cleo was there this time and She Rocks

nowhere around. “Are you guys taking turns watching me?” I asked as soon as I

realized that the blurry reflection I was seeing was Cleo, she laughed and said

“barely alive but you still cracking jokes, it must be nice.” I went silent for a few
seconds then asked “What do you mean by barely alive? How did you guys find

me?” she came close and said I should get better first and she will tell me

everything.

All I wanted to know was if I was in hospital did that mean my prayers have been

answered and those two bastards are dead, but each time I mentioned these two

men Cleo was as confused as hell and the pain medication was wearing off so each

word that came out was causing me a lot of pain so I had to choose my words and

speak only important issues. I told Cleo I was in pains, “I don’t blame you, I don’t

know what you were thinking jumping out of a police moving van, you are no cat

woman sisters” I asked her what she meant by jumping out of a police moving van,

then it all made sense those bastards were trying to get themselves in the clear by

saying I got hurt while I was trying to escape from them. Oh wow, it was a good story

that they had come up with but I was not going to let them get away with it, I was so

angry. Cleo didn’t understand why I was getting worked up so she went to go call the

doctor. Sitting in bed was not helping my cause, I needed to get out of bed find those

two bastards and make them pay for what they did to me. While Cleo was gone I

tried standing up, just lifting my head proved to be one hell of a mission, everything

ached, when my head was finally up it started pounding like hell and I felt dizzy.

Luckily Cleo and the doctor came and told me to lie down again and not try standing

or moving to fast, Cleo said I was going to need physio but before she could even

finish her sentence I screamed “Nooo, noo, please, nooo, I can’t be paralazyed.”

Tears were now flowing down my face at the thought of being paralayzed by those

fools and the way the tears were going in the wounds in my face which stung so

badly, everything I did was just painful. The pain was too much, I was done, I could

not take it anymore. Then I remembered I was pregnant “oh my God, my baby, what
about my baby?” and I started loosing my mind going crazy I no longer cared about

the pain I was again hysterical the doctor said they needed to calm me down then

put a syringe directly into me this time not waiting for the drip. He probably realized

that shit was going to take too long. In seconds I was out like a light, I had

nightmares of being chased by those the two evil policeman. For days it was the

same thing I would come to, I would get fed because my hands were bandaged I

literally could not do anything for myself. After being fed by a nurse I would

immediately fall asleep, every now and again She Rocks or Cleo would be there and

each time I asked them a question I would somehow hear an answer I wasn’t

expecting and start going hysterical and the doctor would immediately inject me and

I would go back to sleep.

One particular day I decided to be calm and not overreact so on this day Cleo was

there, my mouth was getting better and the pains were less but they still would not

allow me to use a mirror, I was not allowed to look at my face and the rest of my

body was covered in bandages so I could not see that either, it was a bit frustrating I

wanted to see the damage that had been done but I realized that they were

denying me access to a mirror to protect me, I wondered how ugly I looked. “So

what’s today’s date?” I asked Cleo, this was an innocent question but the answer I

got had me hysterical again, “It’s the 7th” Cleo calmly said “December?” I asked “No

stupid, we in 2016, it’s January” I was hysterical again, I had missed Christmas and

the thirty first of December celebration, “Chill at least you still have Easter to look

forward to.” I love Christmas and the whole family gathering that happen around

those times, to now be told that I had missed all that was devastating. So basically

every small thing that I would hear I would just flip and the doctor would have to calm

me down. She Rocks and Cleo still wouldn’t tell me where we were but I had a
sneaky suspicion that we were in Mozambique because my nurse would speak a

language which I knew was not one of the eleven official languages when she would

speak on the phone. I had not seen or heard about Mthobisi and the girls refused to

talk about him and Andiswa, basically a lot of things were off limits, but I kept

noticing a few things. The swelling in my eyes had gone down so I could now see

properly, the bandages had also come off my face and I could speak without much

pain, I had apparently broken a jaw which is why it was a struggle for me to speak. I

also realized that the place we were in was not a hospital but a house because I had

the same doctor attend to me and the same nurse and my room felt like a home and

not a hospital room. In a week I was doing much better and I had calmed down way

more than before and I could hear news without overreacting and becoming

hysterical over everything. The nurse could sit me up without my head pounding

from pain.

One day when Cleo and She Rocks were not around I asked the nurse to walk me

outside, she hesitated then said I should speak to the doctor, this woman was crazy,

why would I need to speak to the doctor for a walk outside, on that particular day the

doctor wasn’t around so I sat in my bed as always and slept the following day the

doctor was there, I asked if I could speak to him and I told him “Listen I’m sure my

husband has given you strict instructions to not let me out of the house, but I just

need a bit of fresh air and don’t tell me about opening the window I need to walk

outside.” The doctor looked at me and said “You’ve healed well in the past couple of

weeks and you are recovering so well and you have made really progress but I feel

that it’s time I shared a few things about your health.” He paused, there is nothing

that annoys me like a person who pauses pause mid-sentence then continues as if

nothing happened, I wanted to say “go on” but words wouldn’t come out of my
mouth, I knew he was about to tell me something horrible. “I am so sorry you have

lost the baby.” Shit, lost another baby? How many babies was I going to lose? At that

moment my heart broke in million pieces I wanted to die and follow my babies, tears

just started coming down my face uncontrollably. “I’m sorry but there is something

else that I need to tell you, if you want me to tell you some other time I can do that.”

He said looking at me with empathy in his eyes “No doctor please go ahead and tell

me everything I can take it.” I said trying to convince myself “when you fell out of the

police van there was a lot of damage done to your body, I am sorry to have to tell

you this but you are paralyzed.” This time I screamed out loud, what the hell had I

gotten myself into? Never being able to walk again was the price I was paying for

love.

“I’m sorry, I’m what?” I asked the doctor perplexed, I had just found out I had lost my

unborn baby, a child that I will never get to know and now I was being told about

another loss, the loss of my legs. “I’m sorry ma’am your husband…” I didn’t even

give him a chance to finish, I asked him to leave I needed to be alone I needed to

process the whole thing in my head by myself with myself and no one else, I didn’t

want the doctor explaining what was broken and how it was impossible for that to

heal and how I would never be able to walk again. I didn’t need that negativity in my

life, I was already living in hell I didn’t want to be reminded or told how bad things

were and how worse they were about to get. Doctors are the best people to kill

people’s hopes and dreams, they can tell you that you have three months to live and

because they went to school and studied for donkey years we are so quick to believe

everything that they say, forgetting that they are not the ones that gave you life so

how do they then decided or determine how long you are going to live? I knew of this

white man I had worked with a few years ago, because white people love going to
doctors and doing all sorts of tests, this man a strong and fit man who worked out

daily went to have those crazy tests done. A few weeks later he was called back to

the doctor’s office and told that the results came out looking bad and he has three

months to leave live. They’d found some cancer and it was too late for any

treatment, the second he left the doctor’s office he was already feeling sick, in three

weeks he had lost nine kilos and in a month he couldn’t even walk a month before

his so called death the doctor went to go see him at his home to apologize they had

mixed up the blood samples and there was nothing wrong with him.

“Okay start with what happened to Andiswa’s body.” I said trying to calm my nerves,

I didn’t want to hear about Mthobisi being dead first, I needed to calm myself down,

prepare myself mentally. As they were about to speak the car door opened and the

driver came out and asked if they wanted to go anywhere else as he wanted to go do

some errands. They told him they were done for the day and would be in the house

for the rest of the day, he thanked them and left.

“When we left Cape Town and arrived in Joburg, you got arrested and when we went

up to the garage where the cops said we would find you. You were nowhere to be

found, when we tired calling your phone there was no answer. We drove on the

freeway hoping to see the police van but there was no sign of it. We tried Mthobisi’s

number but it was off, we didn’t know what else to do. We waited and waited and

there was nothing. The following morning we received a call from a hospital saying

you had been admitted there, we went and found you in a coma. We were told you

had tried to jump out of a police van that was moving at 120km/h, you looked horrible

with bruises everywhere, your face, your body, everything was scarred.” She Rocks

explained. I explained to them how the police had taken me to some police station
and how they didn’t even sign me in and how they interrogated me about Mthobisi’s

whereabouts and how they beat me up saying I was lying and how they put me in

water trying to get me to speak and how they beat me up until I was unconscious.

I had not prepared myself for this, I did not even think that Mthobisi was going to call,

to be honest I was enjoying the stress-free life without him, as much as I missed him

but Mozambique was peaceful without him around. That man was the reason for all

the things going wrong in my life, he was a curse in my life, in the beginning I thought

he was a blessing but sometimes we need to be careful of these things, what you

think is a blessing could actually be a curse. My heart sank, I didn’t know how to

respond to this “Mthobisi what are you talking about?” I said trying to think of a good

way to deliver the lie. “I’ve been hearing things about you and Mfundo, you know

how much I hated that man Lesedi if you did anything with him I need you to tell me

now.” He said calm as a cucumber but I could hear the underlying anger. “I don’t

know what you heard and frankly I don’t care. Nothing happened between me and

Mfundo I told you before that he wanted me and I didn’t so if you are going to go

looking for things that are not there while I am fighting for my life, then go right ahead

and believe what you want to believe. I have just lost a baby and just found out that I

am paralyzed and you are worried about a dead man, wow.” See ladies if you want

to win a fight with a man you have to throw in a bit of emotional blackmail and me I

was full of those, he went silent for a few seconds then said “I’m sorry Honey it’s just

that when you’re on the run you go crazy, you have too much time on your hands

and you start thinking of things that happened in the past, I’m sorry.” I told him it was

fine I wanted to talk about other things I didn’t want the topic of that big headed fool

Mfundo to ever come up again.

“How are you feeling?” he asked I told him the pains were not as bad as before, I

could eat on my own and do most things by myself. He told me he missed me and

couldn’t wait to see me again and promised that he was fixing things and soon we

would be able to go back home. “I am leaving this life Honey, I’m doing it for us, I

have enough money I don’t need to live like this. I now realize how much shit I have

put you through and you don’t deserve it, no one does, I want us to live a normal

boring life like other people be able to have conversations with our friends without

editing a few details because they might judge us. I just want us to be happy, build a

family have lots of kids running around the house.” He said choking, I could hear he

was trying to hold back the tears, I smiled and told him I was glad to hear that and I

wanted the same thing. We spoke about home, he said his mom had been released

from jail due to some technicality. I knew that meant they had paid someone. I told

him about the brutality that I had suffered at the hands of the police he told me that

he had already taken care of them, he heard about it from his informant at the police

and let’s just say right now they are looking down on us wishing they had never laid

their dirty hands on his wife and he made sure that they suffered. I didn’t want to

know any further details, I was just glad to hear that they had been properly dealt

with. Who was I becoming though, how could I be happy about such things, I had

two voices in my head the good one and the evil one and the evil one just kept

coming up with good arguments and kept winning, I needed to push that evil voice

out of my head and start listening to the good one. It is so hard to be a good person

especially when bad things just keep happening to you. I believe that circumstances

changed me, I was a good person once upon a time. After the conversation with

Mthobisi I was in high spirits I felt a whole lot better, I didn’t go back to the same

room that I had been sleeping in, I was taken to a different one. It was bigger and
better than the first one, the doctor came to see me and I asked him when I could

start physio he said I needed a few weeks before I could start, right now I needed to

heal properly. I didn’t have few weeks, I asked him to arrange for a session for the

following day, he was hesitant but I guess he remembered that we were paying him

and not the other way round and he agreed. He gave me some medication and left,

the girls came to say goodnight and I feel asleep.

The following morning I was woken up by She Rocks she said my physio was here,

damn the doctor didn’t waste time, it was a female, she had just come to assess me

to see what exercises she could to give me in order for me to not hurt myself, she did

a few tests to see which muscles were weak and which were strong and took notes

and then said she would be back the following day. I thanked her and as soon as

she left I went back to sleep. I badly wanted to go out and do something fun but I felt

that in a wheelchair I would attract so many eyes and people would look at me with

pity in their eyes, there is nothing that I hate more than strangers feeling sorry for me

staring at me making me feel uncomfortable. The girls came in my room and as if

they had read my mind they asked if we could go to some restaurant that sells the

most amazing biss prawns. I told them they could go without me, I was not ready to

appear in public, they understood and told me they would stay with me. Now I felt

bad because they were missing out on an amazing holiday in Mozambique busy

playing my nannies, but the more I tried to convince them that I was fine the more

they insisted that they were staying, eventually I gave in. The nurse came and gave

me a bath, I felt so useless I could not even wash myself this was so embarrassing.

She could sense that I was a bit embarrassed “don’t worry madam, this is my job I

am used to this.” That got me to relax a bit. After the bath she dressed me and

plaited my messed up her and told me I looked pretty. I didn’t feel pretty at all, but I
smiled and thanked her for trying to make me feel good about myself. When she was

done she took me to the dining room to have breakfast, at least I could eat by

myself. I joined the girls and we had breakfast and after breakfast we went outside to

sit by the pool, this time the girls had wine, and we played music. I didn’t want to

drink, the last thing I wanted was to get drunk then fall of my wheelchair. I watched

them drink I was having fun without the alcohol, the drunker they got they crazier

they got, I wished I could be on the same level as them but I was under medication

and I didn’t want to jeopardize any chances of me walking again. I didn’t want to

mess things up for myself, maybe the medication I was in could not be mixed with

alcohol. The doctor had left for the day and I told the nurse she could leave early so

there was no way I could find out if any of the medication I was on should not be

mixed with alcohol.

So I let them drink alone and I just kept laughing at how silly they were being. We

joked around and were having a really good time, it wasn’t even lunch yet and the

girls were already drunk. At lunch time the maid brought prawns and salads, I was so

happy, she said the driver bought them at the restaurant that the girls had wanted us

to go to, she heard us when we were talking and asked him to bring them for us. I

was so happy I asked her to give me a hug and thanked her, the girls in their drunk

status also hugged her and we all laughed. The prawns were amazing, I wished I

could eat them everyday. After the meal the girls were sober, they didn’t want to

drink anymore so they said they would go and take a nap. I had no choice but to also

go and take a nap even though I didn’t feel like it. We went to my room since I had

the biggest bed and their rooms were upstairs and I wouldn’t be able to go up the

stairs. While we were napping Cleo’s phone rang she answered in her sleepy voice

then passed it to me, I answered it was Mthobisi he sounded stressed I asked him
what was wrong “Honey, I have some bad news.” I took a deep breath and said

“Please don’t tell me something happened to my parent’s please.” He told me that

his enemies had found out about my whereabouts and he was going to get us out of

there as soon as possible. “What enemies, Mthobisi come on, I can’t run I’m

paralyzed remember?” I said shouting at him. “Honey, calm down, my men will get

you, you will be in safe hands, pack a few things okay and just get ready.” He said

and hung up. I quickly woke the girls and told them they needed to pack and we

needed to go, someone was coming to get us, they got up and wanted painkillers

because they had headaches, that’s what you get for drinking. They rushed upstairs

and a few minutes later were back in my room the maid helped me pack a few things

and then we heard a knock at the door and they pushed me towards the door and

the there were three guys outside they had guns Cleo and She Rocks handed them

our bags and told them we were ready they gave us weird looks but led us to a

Quantum that was parked outside, Cleo told them to help me off the wheelchair to

which they did and put me inside the Quantam while She Rocks folded the

wheelchair and put it at the back of the Quantam then jumped in and told the guys

we were ready to go, I told them to hurry and they looked at us weirdly. As soon as

the car took off a text message came in on Cleo’s phone she showed it to me, it was

from Mthobisi it read “My guys are 20 minutes away, they will be in a black

limousine.” Cleo and I looked at each other, She Rocks looked at us and asked what

was going on Cleo whispered “we have just handed ourselves to Mthobisi’s

enemies.” We were fucked!

This was a very scary situation that we had managed to get ourselves in, I tried very

hard to stay calm but all I wanted to do was scream blue murder, but I composed

myself and acted cool, I didn’t want our abductors knowing that we knew who they
were. Cleo was looking outside I could see in her face she was panicking, she was

probably planning an escape route with the way she was so focused on the road.

She Rocks on the other hand was all chatty with our abductors, she had not seen the

message from Mthobisi so she had no clue that we were in a wrong car with wrong

people and only God knew where they were taking us. We must have driven for

about thirty minutes but it felt like forever, my stomach was in a knot and making all

sorts of sounds from fear, I was even sweating. She Rocks turned around and

looked at me and realized that something was not right with me, “are you okay? She

asked out loud, I wanted to whisper shhhh but I just shook my head and she

continued asking questions “what’s wrong? Is it the heat?” she asked looking very

concerned, I just nodded, how do I tell her that the guys that she’s been happily

chatting to with no care in the world, like they were old friends are guys sent to take

us to hell. “I need to pee” said Cleo out of nowhere, She Rocks turned to look at her

then looked at me and whispered “What’s going on?” she could see in our faces that

something was not right.

I was not frantically crying, I didn’t know what to do, I tried getting up from my seat

but I couldn’t, I hated not being able to walk now I was useless to my friends when

they needed me the most, all I could do was cry, Cleo was fighting this guy with

everything that is in her, I truly wished I had a gun at that moment, these dogs

deserved to be shot in the heads. I could see my wheelchair at the back of the car

but I could not reach it, with everything in me with pain and all I pushed my upper

body and tried reaching for the wheelchair it was a huge struggle but eventually I

reached it, the guy had now managed to remove Cleo’s pants and panties and Cleo

was fighting for him not to put his dirty thing on her, he was no longer paying

attention to me he was focusing on having his way with my friend, the wheelchair
was heavy and with everything that is in me I threw it to the guy who was on top of

Cleo, it hit him in the head which was what I had aimed for, he collapsed on top of

Cleo and there was no movement, Cleo quickly pushed him on the floor of the car

and got dressed, her panties were torn so she couldn’t wear them again.

I was beginning to feel like it didn’t matter where in the world I was bad luck was

following me, I swear I was beginning to think that there were some witches out there

planning my downfall, it could not be one person, there had to be an organization of

witches like the three witches of Macbeth plotting and planning ways to make my life

miserable, this could not be the works of one person it had to be a few people, at the

rate things were going I was ready to put my pride on the side and go to them and

apologize for whatever wrong I had done to them and ask that we start things on a

clean slate but the thing is we hurt people every single day of our lives without even

In all the years that my mom had known Mthobisi she had always been his biggest

fan, in her eyes he could do no wrong so for her to be screaming and shouting like

this was a surprise to all of us. My sister asked mom why she was shouting and she

said she blames Mthobisi for what had happened to me. “Ma, you don’t even know

what happened to me, each time I trying telling you, you shut me up, you won’t even

give me a chance to tell you and now you want to blame my husband for it? He is

nothing like Lwazi, he didn’t beat me up if that’s what you think, he would rather die

than lay a finger on me. In fact you should be thanking him if it wasn’t for him you

would be burying me right now.” I know I had no right to speak to my mother like that

and if I was not in a wheelchair I would have received a hot slap on my face that

would burn until the following year but thank goodness for small mercies because I

could see the anger in her eyes, her look on

Okay I know I was being dramatic but I have learnt the power of prayer in all the

craziness that I had been through and I am proud to say God came through for me

big time, I think if it wasn’t for my here and there small prayers I would be dead by

now. “Let’s not worry about getting pregnant now Honey, we first have to make sure

you get the best medical care, speaking of which I found you a home nurse, it’s an

old lady she will also help with the house chores. Old lady sounded good to me the

last thing I wanted was a young nurse bending over every chance she got in front of

my husband,

I don’t trust young help, it’s dangerous I’ve heard to many heart-breaking stories to

even play with the idea in my mind and judging by my husband’s choice of nurse I

must have said it to him way too many times that it finally got through his head. After

lunch I took my medication which made me drowsy so I told him I wanted to nap, he

again carried me to the guest bedroom so I could sleep, I told him he could just

wheel me in the chair there was really no need for him to keep on carrying me back

and forth he told me he didn’t mind. I slept like a baby I felt so peaceful and I

dreamnt beautiful dreams where I was running in a beautiful garden with lots of

pretty flowers I was laughing and smelling all the flowers around me, I only dream

such dreams when I am at peace, Neo was in the dream and I was chasing him

around, we were both happy and he told me that he loved me and as I was about to

tell him that I love him too I was woken up by a noise in the house, there was voices

coming from somewhere in the house I couldn’t exactly pin-point where and with my

current leg situation I could not get up to go and investigate so I laid there trying to

make out what they were saying. When I eventually realized I was not able to hear

anything just muffled sound I called out to Mthobisi a few times before I got a

response, he came rushing and asked if I was okay, I asked him who he was talking
to and I didn’t have to wait for long to get the answer his mom was right behind him

and so was his brother Thabang and his wife Koketso. They all just stood there and

stared at me and Koketso asked “Can she speak?” what a stupid question I decided

to let her think that I could not speak and started making weird noises “is she dying?”

Koketso asked, I wanted to laugh but this was too good an opportunity to pass so I

started rolling my eyes and shaking a bit to make it seem like I was having a stroke,

“Call an ambulance she’s going to die.” Both Mthobisi and I burst out laughing, we

laughed so hard we couldn’t stop, Mthobisi’s mom got annoyed and left the room.

Koketso was standing there all upset “the two of you are very cruel even in difficult

times you make stupid jokes, I was seriously worried about you Lesedi but I take my

worry back, you don’t deserve it.” She was upset and I just couldn’t stop laughing I

wanted to apologize but I was laughing so hard words wouldn’t come out. “Tshepang

let’s leave these fools” she said grabbing Tshepang by his arm. Mthobisi and I were

still laughing “you are such a clown” he said when we managed to calm ourselves. I

laughed and told him he also just stood there and didn’t say anything. I decided I

was not going to be rude, I asked Mthobisi to take me to the sitting room so I could

apologize to Koketso, he wanted to carry me and I told him he can’t do that when we

were amongst people so he put me on the wheel chair and drove me to the sitting

room where they were drinking juice and had biscuits, damn my husband was

organized where did those come from, I usually offer people water, juice for what?

And buscuits? I never offer such luxuries especially to his mother.

“We came to check on how you were doing Lesedi my child, the last time we saw

each other it was not under good circumstances but I want you to know that we have

put all that behind us, I am back and so is your husband and all is well in the world

again.” I guess she didn’t want to mention the fact that she got arrested in front of
Koketso, since she was the idiot of the family. I smiled and said I was glad to see her

alive and healthy, she frowned at the alive part and asked if I wanted to see her

dead, that had come out wrong but knowing that witch she was not going to leave it

“I meant it’s good to see you looking so well” I said with an irritated smile, they had

hardly been there ten minutes and I already wanted them gone, how does a person

manage to make you uncomfortable in your own house? Mthobisi’s mom was one of

a kind. “Maybe this will stop you guys from being such outlaws” Koketso said looking

at me and maybe this wheelchair down your throat will shut you up, I wanted to say

but had to keep that thought and imagination to myself. “So how did your mom take

it?” Tshepang asked “Not so well hey, she flipped” I said thinking back to how crazy

my mom reacted to me being in a wheelchair. “So are there any chances of you ever

walking again?” Mthobisi’s mother asked I shook my head and said I didn’t know.

“We will do everything in our powers to make sure that you get the best doctors, we

will even take you overseas if we have to.” Mthobisi mom was being awfully nice, I

wondered why. “But you know people in wheelchairs get grant from the government

so you might consider staying there for sometime.” Only my stupid sister in law could

come up with that logic. “No thanks I will pass on the grant.” She shook her head and

mumbled something about me thinking I was better even though I was in a

wheelchair. I don’t get why people once you have so sort of sickness the first thing

they suggest is you will get grant so you don’t have to worry about money as if

money is going to give you your health back, how are you even going to enjoy that

money when you are sick. I remember when we were in high school Emily was

diagnosed with Juvenaile athristis and the doctors told her it attacks teenagers under

the age of sixteen and one in a thousand people get it so she was the unlucky one,

the kids in our school who would go visit her in hospital kept telling her how rich she
was going to be because people with athristis get grant from the government that

would just upset Emily even further because all she could think of was that she is not

going to live to see her twenty-first birthday and no money in the world could buy her

time. Luckily for her it turned out she was miss-diagnosed and she just had an

infection that was attacking her limbs which doctors mistook for athristis this is one of

the reasons why I do not always take an option of one doctor, I learnt from an early

age that they are human too and make mistakes. Mthobisi’s family stayed till late,

Koketso offered to cook supper since I couldn’t so I offered to sit with her in the

kitchen “so how are you going to satisfy your husband?” she said looking at me with

that look at you now look. I smiled and said “my hands and my mouth still work” she

laughed and said I am disgusting, I apologized to her about the prank I had pulled on

her, she said it was okay she knew how stupid Mthobisi and I can get and she at

times wished Tshepang could loosen up but he was too uptight I looked at her and

said she was speaking to the wrong person I was no expert in relationships. “So

what happened to that guy you used to work with? The one who once came to your

place at night when Mthobisi wasn’t there and said his wife was cheating on him.

What was his name again? Errrr, Mfundo right?” of all the things she could have

remembered she had to remember that particular fool, I shifted in my wheelchair

uncomfortable trying to make sure no one else heard her. I whispered “He died” and

I wanted it to end there but the stupid woman wouldn’t not stop asking questions

“shame what happened? I bet it was that cheating wife of his she probably poisoned

him?” I swear Mfundo was haunting me, why couldn’t I just get a break from hearing

or being asked about him. “No car accident, horrible, horrible death. Are you still

friends with that chick who does braids maybe she could come and do my hair, it’s a

mess.” I said quickly trying to change the topic, she said the lady was bad news
because she was using muthi she would come to people’s houses do your hair and

put her muthi to make you fall asleep and while you were sleeping she would be

busy seducing your husband. That was the most redundant thing I had ever heard, I

told her that I will just make sure my husband is not home when she comes and she

side-eyed me and said “that muthi calls your husband from wherever he is, he will

come home running, now I have heard it all. Koketso knew how to bad mouth a

person shame, she could have masters in it. “I know of someone else who is

amazing but she is always fully booked it might take moths for you to get an

appointment, she’s soo good her diary is filled till September.” So why in God’s name

was she telling me about someone who was unavailable, this is why it was

impossible to have a decent conversation with her, her mind was just full of dust,

nothing she said made sense. Nonetheless she cooked a very good meal and we all

had a pleasant time. Mthobisi and his mom went outside to go sit by the pool it was a

bit too chilly so I choose to stay in the house with Koketso and Tshepang. Mthobisi’s

phone rang and I answered it, it was some guy I told him to hold on while I wheeled

myself towards the pool area, Koketso and Tshepang were having an argument

about something stupid so I didn’t want to disturb them by asking one of them to take

the phone to Mthobisi, so I pushed myself to the sliding door as I got there Mthobisi

and his mom were in a deep conversation “Son, you have to do this, this is our last

job then we can call it quits otherwise all of this, all of it would have been for

nothing.” I heard Mthobisi’s mom say. “I can’t Ma, this will pull me right back in, I

have already promised Lesedi all of this was behind us I can’t go behind her back

and start another war.” Mthobisi said “Forget about that crippled wife of yours, this is

business don’t mix it with emotions. You will do this or that cripple dies.”
I knew this woman hated me but not to this extent where she would want to have me

killed, I have just come back from one hell I was not ready for another and the whole

night she was acting all nice to me meanwhile she was planning my death. This is

why they say don’t trust everyone that smiles with you. I had now come to accept

that she would never love me or care about me and I was okay with that, but for her

to force my husband to do some job and threaten to kill me if he refused? That was

another level of evil. Some women do not deserve to be called mothers and my

mother-in law was the leader of those women.

I pushed myself back to the sitting room before Mthobisi or his mom noticed that I

was there I didn’t want them to know that I had heard the conversation, I left them

there still talking. I told the guy who was on the phone looking for Mthobisi to call

back after an hour because Mthobisi had gone out. I went back to Koketso and

Tshepang who were still arguing, I swear I felt like I had nowhere to go in my own

house, these people had taken over. I decided to gatecrash their little arguing party, I

wheeled myself inside the sitting room and just sat there in my chair looking at them

both. Koketso looked at me with a very confused expression and asked if I was okay,

I smiled and said, “I’m just going to sit here and get some arguing skills, you are very

good at it, I could learn a thing or two from you.”

This was bad, I could not even trust my own husband, my heart was beating so hard.

I must have been sweating because Mthobisi asked me if I was okay I pretended

and put on a fake smile and said I was fine. “I know you don’t like surprises but you

are going to like this” he said very sure of himself. My heart was beating so fast deep

down I knew Mthobisi would not hurt me but his mother is a different story, that

woman was pure evil I don’t even know how Tsepang was not influenced by her. My

husband on the other hand, was her puppet. Koketso didn’t realize that she had the
good brother and I was stuck with the mafia one whom deep down I knew would

never come out of this criminal life. This was not the kind of life that you just retire

from, there was always the one last job after one last job, the last jobs never end.

Mthobisi put me on the wheelchair and took me to the dining room and went to open

the door, in walked a white lady who looked tough like a man, she had muscles

everywhere and the only reason I could tell she was a lady was because of the long

hair and earrings. Mthobisi welcomed her in and introduced her as Esther, we shook

hands and he told me she was my physiotherapist. She spoke with a deep Afrikaans

accent and told me that the doctor in Mozambique had sent her my x-rays and when

I was thrown out of the police van I had unfortunately landed on my back and with

my bad luck I landed on a nail so the was a nail very close to my spine that the

doctors had to remove and this is why I was now in a wheelchair.

I did not understand what this man was saying. Dying? This was Mthobisi we were

talking about, he id not allowed to die, who the hell authorized that? No husband of

mine was allowed to die and leave me alone on this earth, I was supposed to die

before him not the other way round. Who was going to look after me, take care of

me, love me, be my comforter, my best friend. I needed him, but at that moment he

needed me more than I could ever imagine. First of all he had just taken a bullet for

me, a bullet that was about to end his life, if that is not love then I don’t know what

love is. “Honey, listen to me, I am going to sit in this wheelchair and let those men

come in and shoot me, I am going to die with you then.” He looked up at me and

shook his head and I could see he was struggling to even smile “Lesedi this is no

time for jokes, just keep that gun pointed at the door and as soon as the door opens,

shoot.” I stared at him with tears dripping down my face “Mthobisi I can’t, I can’t do

this without you, please don’t die, please don’t leave me.” He collapsed to the floor I
wanted to drop down on the floor and just lay there with him but I couldn’t, I would

never be able to get back on the wheelchair on my own. The damn wheelchair was

such an inconvenience, if there was no wheelchair I could have jumped out of the

window I thought. Why the hell didn’t I think of the window sooner, “Mthobisi,

Mthobisi, baby please wake up.” I said bumping him with my wheelchair, I must have

called out to him and bumping him with my wheelchair for almost five minutes

before, he lifted his head and I could see he was in great pain. “Honey, we need to

get you out through the window, give me your hand.”

I know I was acting very ungrateful, this guy had practically saved my life and here I

was pointing a gun at him but I had no choice my husband was my main priority, I

needed to save him. “Wow, are you serious right now?” he asked calm as a

cucumber “Listen, whatever your name is, thank you for saving my life but my

husband is dying and waiting for him to die and dumping his body is not an option.” I

suddenly realized that I didn’t know this man’s name. “Well, the least you can do is

know my name before you blow my brain out, I’m Steven.” He continued telling me

that he was not scared of guns and he’s been shot way to many times to be scared

of one, he told me I could shot him and kill him but in the end I must remember I

don’t know how to drive and we are very far from town so I could kill him then wait for

some good Samaritan to stop and help and it could be hours before that happens

and by the time someone will eventually stop Mthobisi will be dead. Shit, he was

right I didn’t want to admit it but he was absolutely right, I was screwed, I didn’t know

what else to do I was running out of ideas and my husband was dying right in front of

my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it, as we were driving I heard sirens,

it was an ambulance I could see it from far. “Stop that ambulance it’s coming for

Mthobisi I asked a friend of mine to call it.”

For some weird reason I was not scared, I was not panicky, I was just ready to die,

its funny how so many people had tried and failed to kill me but there I was ready to

kill myself. I had always thought that people who commit suicide are the most selfish

people in the face of the universe but never judge because until you are in that

situation you have no idea what goes through a person’s mind, in a situation where

you don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel and each corner you try turning in all

you are faced with is darkness and you see putting an end to your life as the only

way out. My mom had always told my sister and I that people who commit suicide go

to hell and not heaven, at that moment I could not be bothered about where I was

going after I died all I knew was I was going to be with Mthobisi my husband, the

love of my life and Neo my son that’s all that was in my head.

My whole body was now covered in water and I could feel myself slowly slipping into

unconsciousness it was a beautiful feeling I was not fighting it I was ready to leave

this earth with its problems, pain, heartbreak and hurt then suddenly I felt something

pull me out and was waking me from this beautiful sleep I was entering into “Lesedi,

oh my God, Lesedi, please don’t do this to me” I could hear a voice saying that but

sounding very far away. I could feel someone pumping my stomach and I threw up

water, I was still a bit out of it but could hear what was going on around me and the

next thing I felt cold water all over me and I was back to reality “What’s going on?” I

asked disappointed that I was not in hell or heaven I was still in my mother’s

bathroom with my sister and mother standing over me, they had removed me from

the bathtub and laid me on the floor and pumped the water out of my stomach and

threw cold water on me to wake me, why couldn’t they have just stayed away for a

few minutes then my plan would have been accomplished, “you slipped and drowned
in the bath, we almost lost you” my sister said with tears running down her face. “I’m

sorry” I said while coughing out the water that was in my lungs.

“What do you mean have him?” I asked with my voice shaking “Ma’am I’m sorry but I

can’t discuss this over the phone. Can you come to see us?” Who the hell was us “Is

he….. is he d….?” I could not even finish the sentence I just broke down and cried

my mom took the phone and talk to the lady while I cried like a baby. Poor Priscilla

again came downstairs she must have thought we were a crazy family, the first time

it was my mom now it was me, she came and sat next to me and asked if I was

okay, I told her I just received a call and my husband had been in an accident and I

didn’t know if he was alive or dead she hugged me and told me she was sorry, I

could see the sadness in her face, I don’t know if that was from genuine concern

about my husband or a worry about where he salary was going to come from, not

that I blame her if the person who hired you dies on your first day of work you

definitely be stressed out not about him dying but about your salary, money makes

the world go round. My mom was struggling to hear the lady on the phone due to my

loud cries so she went outside while Priscilla and I sat there comforting each other I

wished I could walk outside so I could hear the conversation but since my legs were

not working I had to sit there and wait it out which felt like eternity eventually she

came back she said the hospital says Mthobisi had been shot, Priscilla exclaimed in

shock.

Out of nowhere I started sweating, why couldn’t my life be just simple for once with

no complications, I had no way out of this one, he paramedic was going to expose

me and knowing the police I was probably going to be sent to jail. Just then my mom

and Priscilla entered and asked what was going on the short police asked “who are

you asking the people of the law what is going on?” Do you see what I mean about
short men, why get defensive and rude instead of answering a simple question. I told

my mom we needed to go wait outside as Mthobisi was being interview by the police

on what had happened to him, Mthobisi said we didn’t have to go, I gave him the

look that said we are going and he changed his mind and said we could go, my mom

left his clothes on his bed and pushed me outside the ward, I first popped my head

out to sit where the paramedic was, he was sitting on the chair I guess waiting to be

called in, I told my mom to push me the opposite direction and she asked why I told

her I wanted to go to the bathroom, my mom being my mom said there were other

bathroom on the other side of the hospital and we should go use those, no we were

arguing about the toilets. Eventually I had to whisper to her and told her I didn’t want

to pass the paramedic because he was going to recognize me, my mom said a big

“ohhhhhhhhh okay” that everyone turned to look at us including the paramedics, eish

mara old people can be problematic, why did she have to be that loud? I quickly

looked away before he could recognize my face and my mom also started pushing

me the opposite direction of where the paramedic guy was sitting, we found

ourselves outside the hospital, I told my mom I would wait in the car while she and

Priscilla go back to wait for Mthobisi inside to finish with the police I didn’t want any

mistakes so I was not going to go anywhere near the police.

After an hour and a couple of minutes they were back the son had burnt me nice and

proper while sitting in the car, they were so happy and chirpy, I was tired and bored, I

wanted to leave the place immediately. I asked Mthobisi how it went and he said it

went well and that he had even reported his car missing, I told him St’vovo had it, he

said it didn’t matter where it was the Police were never going to find it, I didn’t

question this I just kept my mouth shut. My mom had bought him a tracksuit, he

looked like he was about to go for a run, I kept teasing him about that. We eventually
got home and by the time we did it was already getting late the sun was going down.

We walked in and the second we got inside the house, Mthobisi went for the whisky

and Priscilla put her foot down and said the medication he was given is not to be

taken with alcohol, my husband was not too happy about that, but he obeyed and

said he wanted to rest, I was also tired I told him I would join him, we went to the

guest bedroom downstairs and took a nap for an hour after an hour Priscilla came

and woke us up and told us diner was ready. We went to the dinning room and the

woman had cooked up a storm I wondered why she was not fat if she ate and

cooked so much food everyday, I thanked her and my husband and I started digging

in we were starving. After dinner we were so full we couldn’t even walk, well for me

that’s an everyday thing but for Mthobisi, my mom and Priscilla it was so funny to

watch we all from from the dinner table to the couch and all just laid there like we our

stomach’s were about to burst. Priscilla stood up and asked who was ready for

desert was this woman trying to kill us with food, my mom told her to sit down no one

was going to eat dessert. We sat in the couch chatting about this and that and my

phone rang, it was She Rocks, I had completely forgotten to call her back, she had

played a big role in saving Mthobisi’s life she said she was in our hood I told her to

come over. As soon as she arrived Priscila gave her food, She Rocks loved it and

afterwards everyone went to sleep including Mthobisi who said the medication was

making him weak and tired, he went to bed while I stayed with She Rocks catching

up, she wanted to know what the drama was all about the previous day when I had

told her to call the ambulance I thanked her for the ambualne and I told her that she

save Mthobisi’s life if it weren’t for her he woulnd’t have made it to the hospital on

time and he could have died, she smiled and said that’s what friends are there for, to

support each other and help each other in time of need and then said “speaking of
helping each other in time of need how far are you with my gun” shoooo the way she

was talking you would think she was just talking about buying an ice-cream. “Rock

Star, I told you those things are dangerous, I’ve got a pepper spray and a tasser I

can give you to use as protection” she laughed and said “Lesedi, I am a nervous

wreck I have not slept since the day we got back from Mozambique, I keep hearing

movement in my house at night, I am paranoid when I’m on the road I feel like I’m

being watched and I’m being followed. What’s a pepper spray going to do to a

person with a gun?” she was right that spray was nothing against the gun. I lied and

told her I was working on getting it and I should have it soon. “Please Lesedi, you are

my only hope.” She sounded really desperate, we chatted about work and how

things have been at work she said all was well at work except for the new CEO the

old one who liked and this new one was cutting down things and people, he was

even cutting down jobs, she was worried she could be next to get retrenched as they

put it, that was one thing I didn’t like the constant worry of being fired for making

small mistakes, it sucks working for someone else, you make them richer while you

making peanuts. I told She Rocks to sleep over since it wa too late to drive

especially since she had the fears of being followed, she slept upstairs with my mom

while I went to go and join my husband who was passed out.

The following morning we were woken up at seven o’clock by Priscilla she said

breakfast was ready, this woman it seemed like all she did was cook, she was going

to make me fat, she had the whole English breakfast made, She Rocks and Mthobisi

were happy to feast once again, I don’t know how I felt, after breakfast she took me

for a bath and my mom and She Rocks left for work. After I was done with the bath

Esther was already there ready to start another physio session, we went at it for

three hours she left I took another bath and sat with Mthobisi outside the pool area,
the bullet had hit him in the chest so he’s chest was bandaged and was constantly

shirtless, I teased him and told him to stop walking around the house half-naked she

was going to scare Nurse Priscilla to which he would laugh. A few hours later

Priscilla made us lunch which as not as big as breakfast then later diner, for a week

we did the same thing my mom and Victor would once in a while pop in to check on

us and Victor and Mthobisi would have intense conversations on those days but I

never asked what they were about I was just happy that we had a stable life, even

though it felt like a routine I didn’t care it was still drama-free. After a week I was

ready to get off the wheel-chair and I was on crutches, Esther was pushing me really

hard she was not there to play. I could move around the house in crutches even

though I got tired quickly but it was great progress the following week Esther made

me walk around the complex with my crutches and after that it was easier to do

anywhere.

On the second week Mthobisi said he needed to go run some errands, he was now

getting better, I had once again reminded him of getting She Rocks a gun but he had

flat out refused and said we should go for shooting lessons first, I was not ready to

shot and things that were standing still, not that I was ready to shoot at moving

things either but I was just not interested in going to a shooting range, but when I told

She Rocks about it she was very interested and so was Cleo so I had no choice but

to go with them. We decided that we would go when I could stand on my own as it

was not going to be comfortable with me in crutches. The second week when after

my husband had come back from the hospital his mom showed up out of nowhere,

she had not called once ever since the whole thing and now suddenly she was

popping up unannounced Mthobisi had gone out to run errands so it was just me and

Priscilla in the house and I had just finished doing physio and was dead tired. She
came in and looked at me from top to bottom and then asked where her son was I

said he was out. “You look terrible” she said staring at my crutches and asked if they

were mine I simply nodded, she nodded at say “so you no longer a cripple, I thought

you were never gonna walk again” she said it sounding like she was disappointed

that I was making progress. Priscilla came in and they gave each other looks like

they knew each other. “Priscilla this is my mother in law Florence, Ma this is Priscilla

my nurse.” Priscilla extended her hand to Florence while my mother in law just gave

her dirty looks then said “mxim” I swear my mother in law is a physcopath, how do

you become so rude to someone you’ve just meet. Priscilla left and went upstairs to

clean while I sat with Florence downstairs not knowing what to say. “So how come

you never came to see us all this time?” She looked at me and asked how come we

never visited her and we always expect her to visit us, this woman was unbelievable.

I decided to just shut my mouth because this was a waste of time. So we sat in

silence for about twenty minutes until Mthobisi arrived when he arrived I was so

relived at least I didn’t have to sit with his mom. “Honey I’m home” he shouted from

the door, he knew how much that irritated me because I knew he was home so I felt

there was no need to announce it but he would always say when they do it in movies

it sounds romantic so he also wanted to be romantic. As soon as he came to the

sitting room and saw his mom in the couch his face changed. “What the fuck are you

doing here?” I had never heard him speak to his mom like that. I wanted to ask him

what had gotten into him speaking to his mother like that but before I could say

anything he grabbed her and she shouted “what are you doing?” he didn’t even give

her a chance he grabbed her and pushed her to the door, that was really

unnecessary I didn’t like Florence but she didn’t deserve to be treated to be like that.

I grabbed my crutches and I followed them to the door “Mthobisi what the hell has
gotten into you?” I asked him right behind them “This thing that calls herself my

mother tried to get me killed. From this moment on I have no mother, stay away from

me Florence or I swear I will make your life a living hell. I never want to see you ever

again.” He said shutting the door behind her. She screamed from behind the door

“You are going to regret this Mthobisi, you think you can treat me like garbage and

get away with you. Wait and see, you are going to pay for this.”

I didn’t if I should be happy or sad, happy that my husband had finally gotten rid of

his witch mom or sad that she had threaten us…

This was good, this was very good we were finally rid of the crazy witch out of our

lives and I didn’t even have to lift a finger she did it all by herself. I wanted to dance

and shout and just let it all out but Mthobisi was not in a celebration mood he was

truly hurt by his mom’s actions. I moved closer to him and hugged him and told him

everything was going to be alright, what could I do or say in this situation it was really

awkward. He said he was fine but I could see he wasn’t, he then went upstairs and

left me there. I went back to the sitting room and just sat there confused by the whole

situation.

Yes, I did not want to go on a holiday but I knew Mthobi’s mother was coming for us,

she was not one to make empty threats and after that call with Thabang I was more

scared of her than my own drama that woman had no heart, she would probably kill

me just to punish Mthobisi, she hated me with passion and probably blamed me for

their fight with Mthobisi, every negative thing that happened in the world according to

her little mind was my fault, I can’t say the feeling wasn’t mutual because I could not

stand her either there were days when I fantasazied about her funeral, most wives

don’t get along with their mother in law but I don’t think their level of not

understanding and hating each other can be as bad as mine and Florence’s, we had
tried fixing the bridge between us but that one could not be fixed. Mthobisi looked at

me and laughed and said I have jokes he said he was not ready, I told him it’s called

a holiday for a reason there is no need to be ready, you just show up. He pulled the

blankets over his head and covered himself up and went back to sleep, this time I

was not going to give up that easy, I went to the

Mthobisi looked at me and shook his head, I didn’t know if that meant a yes or a no

but that’s all he did and just kept driving, by the time we reached the fourth corner

there were four cars following us, I kept looking at the mirror and all I saw were cars

behind us, I was shaking so hard if the car was standing still the alarm would have

gone off thinking it was being broken into. Mthobisi smiled looked at me and said

“Honey stop vibrating, I got this” I could not believe how calm he was about the

whole situation, these were the same people that had almost killed the both of us

and he was relaxed like we were driving to a park to have a picnic. Mthobisi just

continued driving no scrap that he wasn’t driving he was cruising like he had no

worry in the world. Have you ever been a nervous wreck and all panicky and the

person next to you seems all calm and chilled with no care in the world, while you

are about to pass out from fear, well that was the situation I was in. Mthobisi pulled in

at the garage and parked the car where customers who are going to buy park their

cars, the four cars followed behind us and two parked on our left, one next to us and

one behind us closing us in. Now what I thought, I was too scared to even speak,

Mthobisi opened the door of the car my heart was close to my mouth at this point.

“Please don’t go out, these people are going to kill us” he laughed and said they

won’t it’s broad daylight we in a garage with cameras all around and there is too

many witnesses, Jesus how did this man think of these things so quickly. As soon as

our car door opened all for cars doors also opened and in each car there were two
people and they all come out, so basically we needed eight men to kill us. Mthobisi

walked out of the car there was not even a small hint of fear in his face, I don’t know

how he did that, manage to stay cool under so much pressure. I was sweating

buckets and buckets of water from fear of what these people were going to do to us.

He stepped out, motioned for all of the guys to follow him which they all did, they

went to the back of the garage, I didn’t know if I should sit in the car, run out and try

and get help, call the police, I had so many things running through my head but I

knew if I ran inside the garage and asked for help all I would be dong would be

endangering the lives of the people that worked there and even the customers, I

could not afford to get more people mixed up in our mess, so the garage option was

definitely out. The Police, oh gosh there was a difficult situation, if I called them and

told them we were being followed by thugs they would ask how I knew that they were

thugs, the thug’s names, cellphone numbers and address, just anything to make life

difficult and to annoy you to a point where you end up hanging up the phone, I was

definetly not going to put myself through those stress levels, my blood pressure was

already high the police were going to make it explode so I decided to remain in the

car, I kept looking out the window to check if Mthobisi was coming back yet and my

ears were on another level of high, I kept trying to listen for gun shots and any loud

noise that I would hear I would almost jump out of my skin.

After thirty-seven minutes Mthobisi came back, yes I was checking the time I knew

exactly when he left and when he came back he never came back directly to our car,

he went to the car that was parked behind us and reversed it and parked it on the

empty parking space, and came back to our car, got in and drove off without saying

a single word. I waited in anticipation to hear what had happened with the guys that

were following us and he just drove and then when he finally spoke “I forgot to ask if
you wanted some biltong or juice from the garage.” Like I really cared about that, I

shook my head and told him that I was fine, I decided being modest was not my

thing, so I asked him “what happened between you and those guys. What did you

say? What did they say?” Before he could reply his phone rang and he spoke on the

phone for a long, long, time I wanted to grab his phone and throw it out the window,

but I didn’t want to upset my husband.

By the time he was done on the phone we were already in Pretoria, he was all smiles

after the call and started telling me about this new contract he was going to get and

how much money we were going to make from this deal and blah blah blah, he was

really excited about the whole thing and I couldn’t give a rat’s ass, but I once again

had to play the good wife and smile and pretend I was happy and told him how

happy and proud I was for him. There were no signs of the car that had followed us

before, I wondered what had happened. When he was done telling me about the

story of the contract I asked him again about the cars that were following us “I told

you not to stress about that, we talked men to men and we understood each other.”

He said not even giving it a second thought I asked what they wanted and he said

they wanted to have a meeting with him and they did so now all is in order. “So if I

ask you right now to drive back to Midrand to that garage we were in we won’t find

those guys dead behind the garage?” I asked suspicious, with my husband anyting

was possible. He laughed so hard and then said I had a very wild imagination, he

never confirmed or denied what I had just said. “Why did you have to reverse the

guy’s car who was parked behind us, whre was he?” mthobisi calmly said the guy

had a runny tummy and couldn’t even attend the full meeting he kept running to the

bathroom, my husband said all of this with a straight face, I didn’t know if he was

joking or telling the truth.

At least we were no longer being followed that was one thing I was happy about. I

could at least now breath and not worry about being killed. Mthobisi put on a Jazz cd

he loved playing jazz when we were driving long distance and jazz always and I

mean always puts me to sleep it’s like a beautiful lullaby, it relaxes me it’s so calm,

after a few minutes of listening to his music I was out like a light, I guess that was the

plan, I asked too many questions and the man knew how to shut me up.

I was woken up by Mthobisi telling me we had arrived, I looked around and he came

to open the door and carry me out of the carry, I told him I was find to walk with my

crutches, we went in to check in, Mthobisi had apparently made the reservations

already, so we checked in and went to our room. He had arranged for rose petals to

be placed in a heart shape and some spread all over the bed, I looked at him and

smile and there were chocolates on the dressing table next to the bed and a card

that red “To the most beautiful woman in the world, thank you for being always there

for you, I will always love you and I am happy and proud to call you my wife.

Mthobisi” I had tears on my face but for a first time in a very long time these were

happy tears. So maybe this holiday was not going to be so bad after all.

It was afternoon when we arrived and Mthobisi was tired from all the driving so he

went to go take a shower while I remained in the bedroom eating the chocolates

which were absolutely delicious. After the shower he wanted to take a nap and said I

should wake him up when it’s time for dinner, as soon as he fell asleep I joined him

and by the time we got up it was already dinner time, I wanted to shower but he told

me we will miss diner because I take two hours showering and two extra hours

dressing he was exaggerating no normal person takes that long. I insisted and told

him that I would be extra quick and besides after dinner I didn’t want to have to take

a shower I wanted us to get in bed and get busy, after hearing getting busy he agree
and told me to hurry in the shower and that he was timing me. I quickly showered

and couldn’t stay in the show as long as I wanted because my legs were still not

strong enough to stand for long. I changed into a flowy long floral dress and Mthobisi

smiled and I knew he approved of the dress he said he couldn’t take his eyes of me

and I was turning him on so he wanted one quick round, I couldn’t resist so we

ripped each other’s clothes off and had crazy passionate sex and when we were

done we quickly got dresses, I laughed and told him that it felt like we were cheating

partners stealing the moment. We quickly got dressed and went to the outside area

where we were told dinner would be served, when we got there everything was

finished they were washing the plates. We asked if they didn’t have any leftovers and

we were told that whatever was left behind gets taken to charity and the bakkie that

collects the food had just left.

We decided to go and find places that were selling food because we were starving,

we had not eaten since morning. We went to the car and Mthobisi put on his GPS

and we headed for the nearest garage, it was soo dark and there didn’t seem be

street lights working, but the way we were so hungry neither of us minded having a

garage pie. After a few minutes of driving Mthobisi said “I think there is something

wrong with this car.” I asked what he meant and as he was about to explain a truck

was coming our way, “Honey do you see how fast that truck is going?” I asked

thinking maybe the driver might have fallen asleep, Mthobisi said the breaks of our

car were not working and I could see fear in his eyes, the car was moving at a very

high speed he had his foot full on the break pedal but the car was still going very

fast, the truck was also coming at a very high speed and we didn’t know which

direction the swerve the car too because the truck was just all over the road, it was

as if it’s driven by a drunk person or someone who was sleeping. Now picture a car
and a truck both moving at high speed, approaching each other. “Please God, don’t

let us die, please.” That was my quick prayer before the collision.

I have been shot at, thrown out of a moving car, beaten senseless I have stared

death in the face so many times in my life and like an Eagle I have risen above it all,

but never in my wildest dreams did I think I would get killed by a fast moving truck,

never had I thought that our car brakes would fail. This was a new car mind you so

there was no way the brakes could be worn out, this was insane and at that moment

I realized that there could only be one person who did this, Mthobisi’s mom wanted

us dead and this would be the best possible way to do it, tamper with our breaks,

which had us exactly where she wanted us and the worst part was this would all just

look like an accident and she could pretend to be heartbroken at our funeral while

celebrating on the inside.

I closed my eyes and waited for the impact of the collision, I was waiting for a loud

band and it was settled in my mind and heart that I was going to meet my maker in a

matter of seconds. I waited and waited, the car was still moving but the ride was now

bumpy as if we were in a gravel road, I was still waiting for the impact when it

happened! It wasn’t as loud as I expected it to be, it was also not as hard as I

thought it would be, I expected to be flying out of the window even though I was

wearing a seat belt but none of what I expected happened. Eventually I decided to

open my eyes, the car had stopped moving but there was no sign of the truck

instead there was a big tree in front of us. We sat inside the car in silence for about

two minutes, the smoke was coming out from the front of the car, we didn’t care I

think we were just shocked at what had just almost happened. I had seen my life
flash right in front of my eyes, I kept pinching myself just making sure that I was

really alive because this was just too hard to believe.

There are guys that are hot-headed, those are guys with hot tempers; you piss them

off and they come after you with everything they have. Those guys that are

controlled by emotions, guy that get angry now, act now and regret later. My

husband was not one of those guys he planned his things well, he would strategize

and look at different angles before approaching a situation. That is how he dealt with

business and life but when it came to things that concern me he was extremely hot-

headed, you would swear someone had poured hot Indian chillies in his head, he

would not hear of anything about me. His love for me at times scared me, this is why

I had worked so hard to make sure that he never found out about my affair with

Mfundo.

So back on our game drive, the lions were coming our direction and Mthobisi was

strangling this man and people were screaming and others were trying to pull him

off. I was the only one sitting silently in the chair, I did not want to get killed by lions,

they were going to go for the ones that were causing a racket and I did not want to

be part of that group. If lions could read I would have carried a placard saying “I don’t

know those fools”. I kept whispering Mthobisi’s name telling him to come and sit his

ass down, not that he was able to hear me through all that noise and chaos that was

happening in that bakkie. Even if he could hear me I doubt he would have listened to

me. Mthobisi was like a possessed man, he wouldn’t let go of the man’s throat and

eventually the game ranger realized that there was no stopping this fight. He told the

driver to start the car, which he did and we were taken back to the gate and Mthobisi

and I were thrown out of the car and we were told we were not allowed back for the
entire year and would not be getting a refund for our money, then they went back

inside and left us at the gate.

Mthobisi was still laying on the floor next to the bed and was taking unnecessary

long to get up, but the fake cops were not bothered about what he was doing on the

floor they were busy discussing were they were going to bury our bodies after they

had killed us and I was standing there pretending not to understand what they were

saying. Mthobisi finally stood up and he stood up so fast that I didn’t even realize he

was carrying one of my crutched all I saw was him hitting the white fake cop so hard

in the head with it, it broke into two pieces and the man looked dizzy like he was

about to fall but Mthobisi didn’t stop, he punched in the head and as the black guy

was about to get close he grabbed the other half of the stick and put it in the white

guys neck and told the black guy to get close and he will stick that wooden broken

crutch in his friend’s neck. “Honey, go to

Reading that my mind started racing, it meant Mthobisi had been taken out of his

freewill, this was really scaring me now. My heart was pounding so hard thinking how

on earth I was going to fight to get him back, he was the strong one, I could not do

anything without him, it was over for me I knew right there and then, fighting was not

my thing, I wanted to pay them off to let my husband go, I decided right there and

then that I was going to pay them off, this was the only solution to my problem, I was

not going to fight, I was going to use all the money that we had to pay whoever had

my husband to let him go, I had been through enough battles to last me a lifetime, I

grabbed my phone and pressed the call button to call the number that had sent the

sms it rang and rang with no answer, I dropped and decided to use Mthobisi’s phone

to call his phone was off I figured his phone battery must have died , a few seconds
later an sms came through my phone it was a missed call from the number that had

sent the sms which meant the

My first insticts were to go all ghetto on this woman and show her who I really was

and beat the crap out of her but I was not raised like that and besides I had not

completely recovered so the last thing I wanted was to give myself more injuries and

she was Xhosa after all and Xhosa woman can bleksem (beat the crap out of a

person) and I didn’t want to start a battle I could not win. “Sorry friend, I forgot that

we had visitors today, I usually use this room to cool off after a sex-session, so I just

walked in out of habit.” She said looking really sincere, I didn’t know if she was telling

the truth or lying so I just nodded and said goodnight, went inside the room, locked it

behind me and looked at Mthobisi who was still fast asleep, I checked if there were

any signs of her hair on him of her perfume and there was nothing, I didn’t trust that

girl, I woke Mthobisi up after I had thoroughly checked him to make sure the woman

didn’t take advantage of my husband in his sleep, but what could she have done, I

was only gone for a few minutes. He asked what story did I want to tell him now and

I told him we were leaving and all he said “go ahead Honey, I’m not hungry I will eat

later.”

The fool thought I was waking him up for breakfast, I gave up and decided we will

leave the following morning and we still needed them to open the gates for us to

leave so leave at that time would not be viable. After that whole episode I could not

sleep I kept replaying the whole thing in my head and I was not getting any answers.

Were they having a threesome in that bedroom with the chef, how distgusting?

Couldn’t they wait for us to leave before doing their dirty things I was so disgusted, I

could not believe the nonsense that was going on in this house.

I must have eventually fallen asleep in the early hours of the morning because when
I woke up Mthobisi was not in the bed with me and the first thing I thought was that

witch Zukie had taken him. I jumped out of bed and grabbed my crutch and went to

go look for my husband I found him chatting to Obvious who was still dressed in

yestarday’s clothes which I found very weird, didn’t the man have other clothes I

wondered, he kept yawning and I asked if he didn’t sleep well and he said he never

slept there was some crisis in his office and he had to go and try and sort it out, I

wanted to ask about the noises I heard and that’s when Zukie walked in and said

“My shwam-shwam you look exhausted, let me take you to bed, I will relax with you.

You guys can go ahead and have breakfast without us, the chef has already

prepared it.” She said looking and sounding like the perfect wife, this woman could

kill you with her smile on her face, I did not trust her at all. They walked to the

bedroom with Obvious and Mthobisi said he was hungry and we should go and have

breakfast, the food was delicious just like from the previous night, the chef knew his

thing in the kitchen and bedroom. When we were done eating the maid came and

collected our plates and Mthobisi and I went and showered and I asked if we could

leave, he asked to where I said “home” he asked what about God’s window we had

promised Zukie we would go there, I wanted nothing to do with that woman so I told

Mthobisi that I was needed at She Rock’s work the following day, he asked what for

and I had to explain the whole job thing again to him because he did not remember

me telling him the previous night.

I went and knocked at the main bedroom, Zukie opened and I told her we were

unfortunately leaving as I had work the following day. She put her hands on her neck

and stepped out of the room and walked with me outside and said “I would really

appreciate it if you didn’t mention what you saw last night to anyone especially your

husband.” I smiled and said “I didn’t see anything last night” she smiled and hugged
me and whispered “thank you, I need friends like you in my life.” Hell to the no, she

was not going to have me as a friend, I did not trust her at all. She told the maid to

open for us while she attended to her husband. Mthobisi came and told her to tell

Obvious we had left and that he was going to call him. We then made our way to

Joburg, I was so happy to be leaving that house, I never ever wanted to set foot on

that place ever again.

After a couple of hours we arrived home, I was happy to be back, I didn’t care about

the drama that had taken place before we left and Mthobisi said he would go speak

to his mother just for the sake of peace, I was happy with that. Priscilla was surprised

that we were back so soon I think she was enjoying being a house-owner while we

were away. Mthobisi left and said he was going to run a few errands and I was left

with Prisciall. “You lied to me” was the first thing I said to her when my husband left,

she shook her head and said everything she told me was the truth she just didn’t tell

me everything. “I don’t care anymore, as long as you do your job then we will get

along just fine, what you did in your past or what you do in your spare-time does not

corncern me.” She thanked me, I was done meddling in other people’s business I

was going to concentrate on myself. I had so many plans, even planning of opening

my own accounting firm, I would obviously start small and She Rocks had actually

opened big doors for me, the company she worked in was big and if I did excellent

work I could get recommended to their clients, I had all these plans and was looking

forward to the following day. Priscilla made dinner and we ate without Mthobisi I was

too excited to worry about his whereabouts after super I went to bed, I wanted an

early night’s rest so I could be fresh on my first day as an independent contractor,

just the thought was exciting. I spoke to She Rocks on the phone before I slept and

she was excited that we would be working together and she was even going to come
and pick me up in the morning.

Mthobisi must have arrived hours after I fell asleep I saw him in bed the next

morning, I got ready for work and was so excited it felt like first day of school, I

couldn’t even eat, She Rocks arrived thirty minutes early which was a norm with her

she was always on time and I was ready to her surprise, I kissed Mthobisi goodbye

while he was still in bed and he woke up and asked where I was going, I rolled my

eyes and said “I refund to repeat this work thing to you everyday” he smiled and said

he was joking and wished me luck and told me how sexy I looked, I laughed and

went to She Rocks who was waiting for me in the sitting room and we left. We

arrived at her offices and she took me straight to the CEO’s office, I was not here to

play, I was not dealing with CFO’s but people bigger than that. The CEO was a white

male in his late forties, he was very friendly and welcoming and he explained how

they needed another person to look at their books because they didn’t not trust their

in house accountant, they suspected that she could be cooking books and needed

evidence before they could act, he didn’t mention She Rocks story of seeing an

sms’s on her phone but I figured that and many other things must have contributed

to her being investigated. The CEO whose name was Spencer Olander told me in

the course of the day I will meet the accountant as she comes in late but I was not to

tell anyone why I was there, they would just tell the staff that I was one of the

auditors. I agreed and he called his PA to show me to my office, I was given my own

office because I needed privacy and I was told if I needed help the CEO’s PA would

also be my assistant while I was there and would help me with whatever I needed. In

my office there were already files and I started working, a couple of hours later, the

CEO came with the Accountant her name was Valery and she was a very friendly

blond lady she said if I needed anything I should ask her, she believed that I was an
Auditor, little did she know I was there to get her ass fired. At 12:00 She Rocks

showed up with lunch in my office which gave me a bit of a break and we chatted

about my trip to Mpumalanga I told her about Obvious and his crazy wife Zukie and

all she did was laugh.

After lunch she went back to her work and I continued with mine, then Spencer

showed up after one with lunch, I thanked him and told him I had just finished having

lunch, he asked if he could stay in my office and have lunch, he was the CEO of the

company I couldn’t exactly kick him out of my office so I said it was fine. We had

basically finished talking about work in the morning so there wasn’t really anything to

say to each other so we had a bit of awkward moments not knowing what to say to

each other. Then he started talking about She Rocks I guess this was to break the

ice “Zandile is such a lovely, honest lady, you know she’s the one who alerted us

about Valery’s long fingers.” I smiled and nodded, he wasn’t telling me anything new

so I didn’t know what to say to that then we went back to the awkward silence, he ate

his lunch and when he was done he thanked me for lunch like I had bought him

lucnch then left, white people are weird I thought. After work She Rocks took me

home, at home things were good, Mthobisi and I were happy if there was drama

happening it was happening in the background and I didn’t know about it, I think this

is how I had not known about Mthobisi’s criminal activities for all those years

because once I have a work project I give it my all, I focus on it and forget about

anything and everything that is around me. The whole week was the same She

Rocks would pick me up in the mornings, bring lunch at 12 and the CEO would come

at one, eat his lunch and as days went by it was not so awkward anymore, we talked

and he was very sweet at some point I thought he was flirting with me but I then told

myself I was imagining things. On the weekends I had physio and I was doing really
well. Week two I could drive myself to work and I told She Rocks not to worry about

picking me up and dropping me off and she also had meetings that were out of the

office so she couldn’t do lunch with me, I understood and besides I had Spencer

come in my office everyday for lunch so I decide to just eat lunch with him and we

had become great buddies we talked about the economy, politics, current affairs he

was just a very interesting person to have around. In my second week I would work

till late because I felt the work was too much and the only way I was going to be able

to reach my deadline was if I put in extra hours, Mthbobisi was understanding and

supportive, he knew I was trying to build a business and was very proud of me.

One Thursday Spencer didn’t show up for our one o’clock lunch I wasn’t really

bothered I figured he must have lots of work to do. I was going to work till late as per

usual, I would always be the last one to leave the building but it wasn’t a problem

because there was security at the gate and outside the building so safety was not a

corncern for me, while I was deeply focused on the books, the door opened and

Spencer walked “I thought I was the only one left in this building besides security of

course.” I said surprised to see him in the office that late, he said he had back to

back meeting and couldn’t do our lunch, this lunch thing had become such a tradition

that he even felt the need to come and apologize when it didn’t happen, I thought, I

told him I understood and he came behind my chair and started massaging my

shoulders, I won’t lie that felt good and he said my shoulders had knots I was over-

working myself I needed to take a break, I told him I would be leaving shortly. His

right hand moved from my shoulder to my boob, I caught his hand and removed it

and told him to please stop, I told him the massage was good but I was not

comfortable with what he was doing, I stood up and as I stood up from my chair he

pushed me to the desk with my stomach on the table and my back on him and I
could feel his menhood in my butt. “Spencer please, stop whatever it is you are

doing.” He leaned down and I could feel his breath in my neck and whispered “you

know you want me as much as I want you, stop resisting it.” I told him that he

misunderstood me I did not want him I was happily married and he said so was he

but there was a chemistry between us and he knew I could feel it to I tried pushing

him away but he was too strong for me, he had me pinned down to the desk and

within seconds he was lifting up my skirt next thing I felt my panties being torn I tried

screaming and he put his hand in my mouth, then put his horrible penis inside me

and started rummaging me, I felt so powerless I didn’t want what this man was doing

to him but I was not strong enough to fight me. I just wanted him to stop I could hear

the disgusting sounds he was making while penetrating me, his smell every thing

was soo clear and that memory will stick with me for the rest of my life. When he was

done taking what he wanted from me, he pulled his pants up and left and said

“Thanks for lunch” then left me still in the same position on the desk as soon as the

door closed I broke down uncontrollable, tears were just flowing down my face.

To say I was shattered would be an under-statement, I was crying so hard I was

shaking, I tried calming myself down and sat on the floor but all I did was sit there

shaking and crying. I wanted to stand up and leave the place but my body would not

move, I must have sat there crying for a good hour I was brought back to my senses

by my phone ringing it was Priscilla she wanted to know if I would be home for diner

the last thing I could think about was food, I lied and said I was still busy with work,

she asked if I was okay, I guess she must have picked up on the sound of my voice

that something was not right, I tried very hard to hide the fact that I was crying even

though tears were pouring down my face as I was speaking to her, I again lied and

said I was coming down with flu, she told me she would leave some vitamin B tablets
on the kitchen table for me in case I came home while she was sleeping, I thanked

her and as soon as I hung up I broke down into tears again, I stayed for another

hour. After some time when I felt I was a little better I got up went to the ladies and

washed my face with cold water and walked back to my office and while walking in

the corridors I couldn’t help wondering if Spencer was still around and the

Everyone in the room stopped what they were doing and turned to look at me, even

the few ladies who had been chatting with me in the kitchen came out to see what

had happened the sound of glass shattering on the floor was still ringing in my ears

and for some reason that sound was the only thing I could hear, I could see the

people coming around me and their lips moving but I couldn’t hear what the hell they

were saying and I somehow felt strange and my knees became weak and the next

thing I knew it was a black-out.

When I finally came to I was in the guest bedroom with Priscilla and some of the

ladies that had been chatting to me, they started faffing over me as soon as they saw

that I was up. I asked Priscilla what happened and she said I fainted I asked her why

and she shrugged her shoulders, I remembered the pills and told her that I had taken

some flu medication without eating and they told me it causes drowsiness, I could

hear the sigh of relief’s from everyone in the room, bloody snobs. I remembered why

I had froze I had seen that bastard

By handled I knew exactly what she meant and now the big question was “how are

we going to handle him?” I asked and Cleo said we will come up with a plan, he is a

man after all and we know his weakness is sex, I laughed and said that is the

weakness of the ninety percent of the human population, we both laughed this was

the first time that I had laughed since the whole rape thing happened, Cleo was one
of those people who knew how to make me feel better without even trying. We

chilled for hours just talking and catching up. She Rocks called me and asked if I

was okay because she had popped in my office the previous day and Spencer told

her I wasn’t feeling well, wow I thought the bastard was even making up stories ot

cover for me, what was this man’s problem. Since it was a Saturday she wanted to

know if I had any plans or if we could hang out, I told her I was very busy and would

not be able to hang out with her but I would call her once I get some free time and I

hung up. “How long are you going to avoid her? You do know it’s not her fault that

the pig attacked you? She was just looking out for you, trying to get you a job.” I

nodded and told her I just wouldn’t know what to say to She Rocks at the moment I

did not blame her for what happened but I also didn’t want to tell her so I just needed

some time to put things into place in my head then I will see her. Priscilla made us

lunch and we ate and chatted over lunch discussing how we were going to get

Spencer and make him pay for what he did to me. Cleo suggested I go back to work

and then try to lure him the same way we did Mfundo, I told her there was no way in

hell I was going back to that place and at least with Mfundo I had wanted to sleep

with him he didn’t force himself on me now this one, had taken me by force and just

seeing his face made my blood boil and my stomach turn so how do I then try and

pretend to be nice to someone that I could not stand, someone that disgusted me

like he did. I told Cleo there has to be another plan that did not include me speaking

to him. I told her we will think of something we had the entire weekend to come up

with a plan. Mthobisi called and told me that one of the guys who had come to our

braai the previous day was having a braai and wanted to know if I wanted to come, I

told him I was still tired from the previous night’s braai and was really not looking

forward to another crowd of people, he said he understood and would also not go
and would rather come home to spend time with me, I was happy to hear that. Cleo

asked “what if it’s Spencer who is having a braai call Mthobisi back and ask if it’s

him, this could be a great opportunity for us to find out where he stays and how to

get to him.” I shook my head and said if I suddenly call Mthobisi back and tell him

that I will look highly suspicious just a second ago I didn’t want to go and now I have

suddenly changed my mind, I told her besides if it was him I’m sure Mthobisi would

have mentioned it.

After a couple of hours of chilling with Cleo she decided to leave and I waited for

Mthobisi to come home, he took longer to arrive. Priscilla and I decided against

cooking as there was still meat that was left from the braai so we were going to eat

that for supper. Hours later when I was already in bed Mthobisi arrived and he

smelled of alcohol I didn’t even bother asking where he had been because it was

obvious he had gone to the braai, I just pretended to be asleep while I heard him

knock a few thing while trying to move in silence it’s funny how drunk people think

that they are being silent while they are really loud and knocking everything that is

not even on their way and making so much noise and waking everyone with their

noise, that was what my husband was doing and I chose to act like I wasn’t hearing

any of that noise when he was done, he jumped in bed and within seconds he was

snoring, I don’t know how he does that, I had been in bed for hours and was

struggling to fall asleep, him just a few seconds and he was gone fast asleep.

The following morning he was up before me I guess this is because I struggled to fall

asleep and only slept in the early hours of the morning. When I finally woke up he

was there reading the Sunday Newspaper outside the pool area, he looked up and

when he saw me he said “it’s such a beautiful day, do you want to go out and have a

picnic in a park somewhere.” We had not had a picnic since Neo died and just the
thought of a picnic made me think of my precious baby. I smiled and said yes we

should, I said I would go and shower and get ready and I left him there reading his

paper. I showered got dressed and within an hour I was ready which was record

breaking for me. I went to go find Mthobisi to tell him I was ready to go and he looked

at me and said I looked beautiful and he hated doing this to me but an urgent call

had just come and he needed to go and take care of something. I smiled trying very

hard to hide the hurt and told him it was fine and we could do the picnic some other

time. “No Honey don’t cancel it, call your friends and do it with them” he said with a

smile on his face, I nodded even though in my head I knew I was not going to do

such. After he left I sat at home doing absolutely nothing which is the worst thing you

can do for yourself when you are going through so much I needed to be around

people because when I was alone all I did was think, think why Spencer did what he

did to me. Did I send him some sort of signals that suggested that I wanted him? I

once read somewhere that we are always sending out signals to the people around

us without even realizing it. I started think that maybe I said something or did

something that made him read the situation the way he did but for the life of me I

could not remember or think of anything that I did that suggested that I was

interested in him. I could not even think of anytime that I was ever flirty or suggestive

with him, maybe he mis-understood our lunches together and saw them as

something that they were not. I was wrecking my brains trying to think of what I did

wrong. I also could not get over the mysterious accidents of his wives, how

dangerous was this man. I mean he was doing business with my husband and my

husband is not exactly one of the most safest people in this universe. Sitting there

with all these thoughts was not helping one bit, I was just driving myself insane. I

decided that I was going to ask Mthobisi about Spencer and how well he knew him
but when because the man was hardly at home. We had this beautiful home which

we hardly ever spent time in, I believe Priscilla spent more time in the house than

Mthobisi and I. I had also been working hard and coming home late trying to grow

my business so I was not turn on Mthobisi for doing the same thing I completely

understood, I just missed him, it was so funny we stayed in the same house but

hardly saw each other. I badly wanted to tell Mthobisi about what Spencer did to me

but if what Spencer had said about us being broke and Mthobisi goes and beats the

crap out of him and he decides to cancel his contract with Mthobisi then I would be

killing my husband’s dream, I decided screw that I didn’t care if we were broke and

were in a verge of bankruptcy I was going to tell my husband but there was that little

voice in my head telling me that once a man knows his woman has been touched by

another man he never looks at her the same way, whenever he will look at me he will

always have that vision of another man having sex with me, I’ve read too many men

magazine to know that men do not forgive that easily, yes all that was facts but I was

still going to tell my husband, I did nothing wrong and I shouldn’t be the one leaving

with the shame and guilt Spencer should, I was done punishing myself for something

that I did not ask for.

That evening I fell asleep a few minutes after I got in bed which made me happy I

was tired of tossing and turning in bed not being able to sleep, I don’t know what

time Mthobisi had arrived in the house but he woke me up asking for a charger

saying he misplaced his, I told him to look for it in my bag and I went back to sleep, a

few minutes later I was dragged out of bed by a very angry Mthobisi, he told me to

pack my shit and leave his house, I laughed thinking he was making some kind of a

joke and I walked back to bed, he grabbed me by the leg and pull me off the bed and

told me again to get out of his house, by the look on his face the man was serious.
“Mthobisi, I honestly do not know what has gotten into you, but can you just leave me

to rest.” He was now shouting telling me I was not going back to bed, “I found the

ARV’s in your bag, you are sick, shit Lesedi did you infect me with AIDS? And you

are trying to save your ass, you taking ARV’s behind my back. What about me? You

hoping that I die before finding out that you are killing me. What kind of an evil

person are you? I want you out of my house I don’t want to hear your lousy excuse

because there is not a good enough reason why you would do that to any person, I

would not do this shit to my worst enemy.” He said opening the wardrobe and

throwing me with my clothes. I was still standing there in shock and when he saw

that I was not moving he picked me up and went to the door opened it and threw me

outside and a few clothes that he had with him and shouted “stay out and never

come back, I never want to see you again.” And closed the door behind him and left

me out in the cold with nothing but a night dress and a few clothes laying all over the

floor and some being blown by the wind.

I must have sat there for more than fifteen minutes not sure of what just happened I

was trying to make sense of it all, I also didn’t know what the hell to do. I gathered

the few clothes that had not been blown away by the wind it was a track top and a

two t-shirts, I wished that I had some jeans but those were the only clothes that were

left I took the track top and put it on and went to the door and started knocking

“Mthobisi, open this damn door” I said shouting from the outside, there was no

response from the inside I knocked and knocked wondering where the hell Priscilla

was when I needed her but I figured my husband must have told her to stay out of

this and obviously in a fight between my husband and myself she was definetly going

to choose him. I didn’t have a phone so I couldn’t call anyone. Mthobisi please open
up, I will explain everything and it’s not what you think, I didn’t do anything wrong

here, I’m the victim here, please honey please open up for me.” I said pleading with

him but it seemed like my please were falling on deaf ears or he was not even close

to the door, for all I knew I could be talking to myself. I realized that Mthobisi was not

going to open for me and I needed to make peace with that and just find a way to get

someone to pick me up,

My mom walked in before I could give Victor the details, she saw me crying and

asked Victor “why is our daughter crying?” my mom never referred to me or my sister

as her kids when speaking to Victor she always said our kids even though Victor

wasn’t our real dad it didn’t matter how angry she was at him she never made the

mistake of making him feel like an outsider and I admired that about her. Both Victor

and I went silent, I find it so hard to tell my mom bad news I always feel that because

she carried me for nine months she feels the pain when I’m hurting and I never want

her to be hurt just like she doesn’t want me to be hurting. “I was raped” my mom

started wailing like a crazy woman she cried so hard that my heart broke, no parent

ever wants to hear this from their daughter. Victor had to make her sugar water to try

and calm her down. She wanted to sleep after hearing that she couldn’t even bear

hearing the details of how it happened and I understood that would have killed her,

she went to her bedroom to sleep. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told her.” I said to Victor

and he said I did good by telling her she was going to find out sooner or later and it

was better that she heard it from me. Victor still wanted the details, I told him who

Spencer was and how it had happened and how I had tried to tell Mthobisi only to

find out that Spencer is one of the guys boosting Mthobisi’s business and how he

came to our house for a braai and threatened me, I could see Victor getting angry by

the second as I was busy telling the story.

Mthobisi looked at me in disbelief, yes I was hurting and no woman should ever have

to go what I went through but burning a person alive was cruelty on another level.

“Please don’t tell me you are going to say you’ve forgiven him and go all church on

me because even the Bible says an eye for an eye” I have no idea which Bible my

husband reads but sometimes him and Cleo when they want to win an argument

they make up things and say they in the Bible but I believe most people do that

because they know not a lot of people know everything that is in that big book, I am

yet to meet a person who knows the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, most people

just know their favorite scriptures, things that relate to them. “I don’t know what I

want okay, it’s still all too fresh in my head for me to think straight I have not had time

to process everything that has happened it feels like I am outside just watching

everything happen, like it’s not me that all this is happening to, it feels like I’m

watching someone else’s life.” I said and for the first time I was able to say exactly

how I felt, Mthobisi said “It’s called an out of body experience most women who’ve

been uhhhmm you know, go through it.” He couldn’t even say raped that’s how hard

and intense this was for him and it broke my heart. That’s when I realized that this

was not only affecting me but everyone I cared about and who cared about me was

also affected by this.

It was like everywhere I went I heard that name, was it not enough that each time I

closed my eyes his ugly face was there haunting me, he was in my dreams or maybe

I should say nightmares every single night with no fail. I didn’t want to hear whatever

She Rocks had to say about that evil man, it was probably more evil things, my

phone rang again, it was still She Rocks she was very persistent I decided to answer

before Hailey came back in the room and asks me why I’m not answering my phone,

people can be very nosey “Sorry friend, there is network problems in this place” I
said lying through my teeth. She asked in which place and I told her a home and she

asked why I hadn’t come to work I told her I wasn’t feeling well, she said she would

come by later to bring me meds I didn’t see that one coming and I had no excuse to

give her not to come to see me, I couldn’t think of a lie on the spot so I just agreed,

not that she asked she was telling me that she was coming over all I had to do was

be there when she gets there. “Ohhh by the way I wnted to tell you about Spence.” I

cut her off and asked if she could me about that later I told her I had a pounding

heachace. She said she would see me later then and hung up, Hailey must have

heard me or she was eavesdropping because she asked if I wanted some Asprin for

my headache and I told her I just needed cold water and it goes away after drinking

water, she got me

Mthobisi was so happy was hugging me and the doctor he didn’t know what to do

with himself this was the first time in a very long time seeing my husband that happy

ad seeing him so happy just melted my heart I did not want to take that moment

away from him, I wanted him to stay happy we’ve been through so much, I decided I

would just enjoy the moment and be happy with him. The doctor asked if I had a

gyneo and I told him I did and he said I needed to go see one just to get the right

treatments and to make sure all was in order with the baby and to get accurate dates

of how far along I was, I nodded and thanked him and we left. Mthobisi was so

excited he couldn’t contain himself he was telling strangers in the waiting room that

we were pregnant, people were congragulating us and getting excited with us even

though we were all strangers, it’s amazing how good news will bring everyone

together. When we got to the parking lot, Mthobisi opened the door for me, those

sort of things are not a norm for us, they only happen when he is happy, I don’t know

how white people always remember to open doors for their partners, I think Mthobisi
got discouraged because by the time he got to my side of the door I had most of the

times already opened it and was walking towards the house, that’s how black I am,

aint nobody got time for waiting for doors to be opened. We drove home, he was

talking all the way home

When I came to the girls were standing above me including Priscilla at first I didn’t

know where I was, when I opened my eyes I could see the sun setting behind them

and it looked like such a beautiful picture for some reason I froze in that moment I

was fascinated by how beautiful nature was and I was reminded of the song “all

things bright and beautiful all creatures great and small” that song we used to sing in

Primary school just kept playing in my head it was a soundtrack to this beautiful

picture that I was seeing in front of me. “Lee are you okay?” Cleo was asking and I

nodded but I had a smile on my face “Why is smiling?” Priscilla asked She Rocks

said “she’s happy for me because I’m pregnant.” Priscilla explained to them that I

was also pregnant and maybe I got to excited and fainted, now the girls were excited

hugging me and forgot that I had fainted. Cleo whispered in my ear while she was

hugging me and congratulating her “it’s your call whatever you decide I will follow, I

had no idea she was seeing that bastard, I would have stopped it” she said with her

back turned to She Rocks and Priscilla who were chatting away about pregnancies

and Priscilla was giving She Rocks tips and advice on what to do. I knew that Cleo

meant if I decided to tell She Rocks about Spencer she would back me up and if I

decided against telling her now after finding out that he was the father of the baby

that she was carrying she was okay with that too

“Honey, what the hell are you talking about? Who in God’s name did you kill?” I

asked rather surprised by my husband’s confession. He didn’t answer he just went to

the bathroom and left me there with a confused look on my face. My curiosity had
reached the highest level that it could got to. I honestly wanted to know what my

husband was up to and I especially wanted to know what he was up to but knowing

my husband I knew he would not tell me anything. He just walked past me and he

said needed to clean himself up, I still wanted to hear more but he was not there all

he wanted was to clean himself up so I let him go to the bathroom, change and while

he was still cleaning himself up I passed out.

The following morning when I woke up my husband was nowhere to be seen I tried

calling his phone but it was off, I went to the kitchen to find Priscilla and was hoping

she had made her special breakfast, it was funny how I had become so used to her

breakfast when I got to the kitchen she was

On the way to She Rocks place I informed her that I was almost there and she sent

me the code to punch in at the gate and I used it when we entered the gates. I

thanked my driver and I walked in, there were already a few people and I thought I

was early but when it comes to parties with free booze trust people to show up,

prices of booze and everything else have gone up so no one turns down an invite

with free food and booze people will do anything to save, including attending parties

of people you don’t like. I found She Rocks in the kitchen with the caterers giving

them last minute orders. “Is this a party or a wedding?” I asked teasing, she laughed

and gave me a hug and told me she just wanted the evening to go perfectly with no

glitches, She Rocks is a perfectionist and when she does something she makes sure

she gives it her all and I could see this party meant a lot to her. “Lets go to my room

so you can help me get dressed.” She said holding my hand and leading me to her

room. We went to her room she was all excited like we were going to a matric dance,

her dress was laid out on top of the bed and it looked amazing. She did her make-up
while we chatted about the people that were coming to the party she told me how

some people even asked to be invited, I asked how long had she been planning this

party and she said it’s been weeks but I had been avoiding her so she couldn’t tell

me about it.

“Speaking of which Lee, how could you drop Spencer like that? He told me what

happened?” At this rate my heart was beating faster than a pounding headache, “He

did?”

“I need you to stay calm and tell me where you are and I will come and get you. I will

call an ambulance and paramedics will help you, don’t be scared, you are going to

be fine.” I said panicking but trying my level best to sound calm. “It’s too late for

paramedics.” She said with her voice down and my heart just broke for her, tears

started flowing down my face “okay babe that’s fine, everything is going to be fine,

just tell me where you are and I will be on my way to get you.” She said she would

send me her location on whatsapp. “I think we need to tell people that the party is

over, we need to go get She Rocks and take her to the hospital.” Jessica said she

would tell the caterers to let the people know and tell them to help themselves to

food because there would be no point in letting all that food go to waste, we all

agreed. Cleo said we should bring She Rocks a change of clothes, we went to her

bedroom and got a trackpant and top then rushed out we use Jessica’s car and

drove to the location that she sent us. Weirdly enough it was a house in Constantia

Kloof, which is not too far from where She Rocks stays. “Shame, do you think maybe

someone helped her and brought her to their house?” Jessica asked and both Cleo

and myself shrugged our shoulders and walked towards the house, the gate was

opened so we walked in “I hope they don’t have dogs” Cleo said we went to the front
door and Jessica didn’t knock she banged the door if I was the person inside I would

think it was the police “damn girl, no need to break down their door, they saved our

girl’s life, they not kidnappers chill.” Cleo said pulling Jessica’s hand off the door.

She Rocks came running to the door we could see her through the window, her

dress was covered in blood “Are you okay? What happened?” Jessica asked “Why

did you bring them? I thought you were coming alone.” She Rocks said to me looking

surprised to see Cleo and Jessica, I was confused because it’s not like I had brought

men, these were women and they knew women things. “We need to take you to the

hospital so they can clean you up and stuff” Cleo said ignoring She Rocks comment

about them being there. She asked what Cleo was talking about, Jessica ignored her

and said we needed to thank the house owners for taking care of her, she said

walking to the kitchen “Don’t go there” She Rocks said to her, it was too late Jessica

was already in the kitchen while Cleo and I kept asking She Rocks what had

happened and how she ended up at that house, the next thing we heard was a

scream coming from the kitchen then a big loud bang sound. We all looked at each

other Cleo and I ran to the door while She Rocks ran to the kitchen, it was one

confusing mess, we didn’t know what was going on in the kitchen and Jessica was a

big girl she can take care of herself, no one sent her to the kitchen those where my

thoughts and judging by Cleo was also headed for the door those were her thoughts

too.

When we got outside Cleo asked me “Where’s Zandile?” the way I was so scared I

couldn’t even speak I just pointed inside. We stood outside for about three minutes

trying to calm ourselves down and understand what the hell was going on. She

Rocks came outside and shouted at me and Cleo “Can you two stop standing there

and come help me before she wakes up.” Cleo and I both looked at each other even
more confused but we nonetheless followed She Rocks inside the house she lead us

to the kitchen at this stage my heart was close to jumping out of my mouth and

running out of that house and leaving me there, not that I would have blamed it for

doing that. In the kitchen there laid Spencer in a pool of blood it was safe to say he

was dead “Ohhhhh my God, you killed him?” Cleo asked She Rocks who just started

crying and said no, she loved him and why would she kill him. “Your hands are full of

blood, your dress, his blood is all over you. What the hell happened?” She Rocks

was trying so hard to keep it together, she told us she didn’t know she found him

dead and her hands and dress were full of blood because she was trying to revive

him when she got there, Cleo asked her why she didn’t call the police and she said

because the way she looked if we as her friends doubted her, what more of the

police, she was right. “We need to clean this up.” Cleo said, “it’s not like he was a

saint anyway. Let me get this straight, you did not have a miscarriage?” Cleo asked

She Rocks who shook her head and said no. “We need to get rid of the body and

clean up the blood or any trace of us being here.” I said as I was still thinking of ways

to get rid of the body Jessica woke up “what’s going on what happened?” She said

trying to stand up, Cleo grabbed a pan and hit her in the head and she passed out

“what the fuck Cleo? Why did you do that?” I asked her angry that she had just hit

Jessica in the head for no apparent reason. “I don’t want another Andiswa situation

on our hands and Jessica is weak, see how she fainted at the sight of a dead body.”

She was right, we had to quickly clean up before Jessica woke up. “Cleo ran upstairs

and came back with the bedding, we rolled him up in it and she rocks and I raided

the cupboards looking for black bags and I found them after searching about twelve

drawers and we wrapped him with the black bangs on top of the bed covers we had

used and then all three of us carried him to She Rocks car. I was hoping and praying
that Jessica was still passed out when we got back inside the house and she was.

“Is she still alive? We can’t afford to have another body. Spencer was heavy, my

back hurts.” Cleo checked for her pulse and said she was alive.

We grabbed pots since we couldn’t find any buckets and dish clothes and

dishwasher and bleach and started cleaning the kitchen any trace of blood we

removed, we were is such a rush and thank goodness he had died in a tiles because

if it was a carpet this was going to take us forever to finish. While we were busy

cleaning, there was a knock on the door, we literally all froze, none of us knew what

to do. “Our cars are outside they know someone is here, go and open Zandile, and

tell them you are the maid and the bass is not here, put on the apron to cover the

blood” She did but there was just too much blood on her dress so Cleo said she

would go and pretend to be the maid, she didn’t need the apron as she didn’t have

blood on her dress but then again the dress she was wearing didn’t look anything

close to that of someone who is a helper, unless if she was going to say her madam

gave it to her. She wore the apron and went to the door while She Rocks and I sat

stood in the kitchen with our hearts pounding so loud I was sure the person at the

door would be able to hear our heartbeat. Cleo came back and said “It’s the real

maid of the house at the door, anyone have R200?” we shook our heads and she

said “Spencer the cheapskate didn’t pay his helper the full pay he said she should

come back for the rest today and now he’s dead, selfish bastard.” Cleo said angry.

She Rocks suggested she checks Jessica’s bag for some cash “It’s not enough that

you guys almost killed the poor girl now you want to rob her.” I said annoyed, She

Rocks said she would replace it. Cleo grabbed the bag and found R400 and went to

the door and gave her the money then come back to us. “Who did you say you were

to her?” I asked Cleo and she said she told her she was a messieurs’ both She
Rocks and I looked at her and shook our head and we went back to cleaning up.

Jessica started waking up again while we were still busy and I saw Cleo going to

grab the pan again I yanked it off her and told her to stop before she kills her. I told

She Rocks to quickly go and change and Cleo and I quickly finished cleaning up,

Jessica kept asking what’s going on and Cleo and I told her she fell and hurt her

head but while we talking to her we still busy wiping cupboards anywhere where

there was any trace of blood.

“My head hurts, really bad, I feel like I have a horrible hangover. Did we drink? Did I

drink? I can’t drink, I shouldn’t drink.” She kept reaping herself. She Rocks came

back and she had changed. “I’m soo sorry about the baby.” Jessica said to She

Rocks who was about to say something but Cleo jumped in and said she was also

sorry, Jessica was confused and under the impression that She Rocks lost the baby

as long as she was not mentioning a dead body then we were okay. “We done here,

let’s go” Cleo said and we all agreed to meet back at She Rocks house, we didn’t

need Jessica there but she was still a bit out of it so I wasn’t going to let her drive, I

offered to drive her car while She Rocks and Cleo drove together and we followed

each other, the distance from the house to She Rocks house is about twenty minutes

but as luck would have it there was a roadblock, my heart was pounding so fast

scared that they might want to search the car but it rarely happens that the traffic

cops search a woman’s car unless if they are suspicious. Cleo was driving She

Rocks car in front of me and when the traffic cop didn’t stop them I wanted to stop

the car and jump out and start dancing they let them go without asking them to stop,

I was so happy I had a huge grin on my face, I didn’t even realize that I was being

stopped until Jessica told me to slow down because the traffic cop was hailing me

down. I slowed down and stopped, you know the feeling you get when you know you
don’t have anything to hide and you have everything in order, that was me at that

moment, I had not been drinking I was sober like a judge and I knew Jessica’s car

was in order. I rolled down my window and said “Good evening Sir” with a big smile

on my face, to the cop’s annoyance, he ignored me and put a flash on my face then

Jessica’s and then went to the front of the car to check the car disk as he walked

away Jessica screamed “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Lee, there was a dead body in

the house.” He window was opened and the traffic cop heard her and he moved to

where he was standing and he said to her “what did you say ma’am?” and Jessica

repeated herself. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me and never let me

out!!!!!

You know that feeling you get in your stomach when you are scared out of your

mind, your stomach starts growling and you start to sweat and your stomach growls

even louder and it’s not the hunger kind of growl it’s the growl that makes you feel

like you need to get your ass in the toilet as a matter of life and death and by death I

mean death of the people who are around you because they will be the ones dying

of the horrible smell that will come out if you don’t get to the toilet immediately. That

was me at that moment, I looked at Jessica who was now starring into space, and in

my mind I just thought the stupid bitch is thinking of more shit to say, how I wished I

had gone in the other car. “Our friend was filled with blood, I think she killed that

man” she continued, I was right, stupid woman was coming up with more stories.

The police officer said “Ladies, I need you to both step out of the car with your hands

up” I could not believe this was happening, why me? I didn’t even do anything wrong

this time, I had just gone to

I have had enough, I was tired of men treating me like they could take what they

want from me whenever they wanted I was tired of being a victim, I was now taking

control of my life and circumstances that surrounded me, I was going to be damned

if I let another men hurt me, I didn’t know what the fact man wanted but it didn’t look

like he came with good intentions and I was not going to stick around to find out. The

car was flying that’s how fast I was moving and for a fat man the way he jumped out

of the way really surprised me which lead me to believe that he was used to these

kind of things. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, are you out of your mind, you

could have killed that man.” Jessica exclaimed I honestly wanted to get rid of Jessica

as soon as possible, she was cramping my style. I drove in silence I didn’t even

respond to her questions. “Where are we going?” she asked “I’m taking you home” I

said annoyed “what about your Uber?” She was making a valid point but there was

no way I was going to wait for it there after what had just happened.

I canceled Uber and drove to Fourways, “Let’s go to Billy the bum”

The banging went on for sometimes, I could not move, I have just heard that Jessica

had died and that was the only thing that was ringing in my head, deep down I knew

this was somehow connected to that bastard Spencer, his people probably thought

we had killed him and were now after us. I quickly grabbed the phone and shouted to

my husband, “there is someone at the door, I think they are here to kill me, this is

exactly the same thing that happened to Jessica. Please don’t hang up, stay with

me” Mthobisi said he needed to hang up and call help, I felt like he was abandoning

me, but he was right he needed to call for help even if it might come late, like it did

with Jessica. “Press the panic button Honey, security will be there in no time, don’t

stress or panic, you are going to be fine. You are not going to die, not on my watch.”
He said and hung up, how could he be so confident, the knocking had stopped but I

could now hear footsteps around the bedroom window.

“I don’t know why you had to interfere Lesedi and your friends, his body was

supposed to be discovered by the maid, but you and your friends as usual had to go

and mess that up.” He said sounding extremely annoyed, I could not believe the

nerve of this man. “Well if you had bothered to tell me the plan in the first place then I

wouldn’t have had his body removed, but no you had to let me believe that we were

in the forgiveness path, what were all those months of therapy for then tell me?” I

said shouting at him he calmly said “those bloody expensive sessions were for you

to heal, the was no way I was going to heal knowing another man touched my home

and that same man is still walking around the same earth as me, hell would have

frozen over before that happened, I should have taken care of him ages ago.” He

said still angry. “I cannot deal with this right now Mthobisi I have just lost one of my

closest friends, this is the last thing that I need.” I said getting seriously angry with

my husband who was just so… I have no words for him. “That’s fine, you don’t need

to deal with me, just tell me where the body is and I will get rid of it.”

I had no choice but to run t my friend’s it was what they would have done, I won’t lie I

was scared out of my mind, I didn’t know what the hell I was going to do when I got

to the car and what these men would do to all of us. I had another thought, i needed

to stop thinking about other people, I was pregnant and carrying a life and the last

thing I needed was to put my child’s life in danger I didn’t want to have another

miscarriage and the stress that I had been going through lately was just too much. It

was too late though to change my mind because I was already at the door of She

Rocks car. I tried opening the driver’s door it was stuck it wouldn’t budge, She Rocks
head was on the starring wheel I couldn’t see her face she was facing down, I

banged on the window and no response.

“No, no, no, please God, she can’t go through that” Cleo shouted from her bed, I

knew exactly what meant, this was going to destroy She Rocks. “I’m afraid I have

more bad news” someone once told me that bad things happen in threes and to

break that chain you need to break a matches, it was too late for us to break a match

because all three had just happened at once, the car accident, the loss of the baby

and we were about to hear the third one “your friend is in a comma and it’s not

looking good.” I couldn’t even breath after he said the last part, I just started wailing

and so did Cleo. “Ladies I’m really sorry to have to be the one to tell you this” and he

was gone leaving us to our tears, but what could he do. I went to go find Mthobisi

and told him what had happened, while I was still talking to Mthobisi a nurse came

and told me that there was police looking for me, what now I thought. I followed her

and the police were in Cleo’s room. They said it was standard procedure when

someone got shot for the hospital to call them to come and investigate.

This situation was starting to scare the crap out of me. She Rocks could not die, I

was not ready to lose another friend, I had just lost Jessica and that was enough

loss, I would not be able to handle another and her brother’s ohh my gosh just

thinking about them and how much they relied on her broke my heart in pieces.

Mthobisi was still looking at me he must have said something but I was deep in

thought so I told him I would get ready without asking what he had said. I quickly got

ready and in less than ten minutes we were on our way to the hospital. On the road I

said Mthobisi was driving like a maniac, he was as worried as I was even though he

was trying very hard not to show it, I knew he feared that the worst could have

happened just like I did. I received a text message it was from Cleo
I stood there frozen looking at Mthobisi’s facial expression trying to read it but as

usual I couldn’t, he was looking straight at me as he held the phone in his ear

listening to what was being said. I decided to go back to the kitchen to warm my food

because the only way I was going to find out what was going on in that conversation

was if Mthobisi decided to tell me, I was not going to get the rest of it by looking at

him, that was just a waste of our time. I sat at the kitchen table and tried to eat, I

really needed my baby to be healthy and strong and I was the main source of that

happening so if it meant shoving food down my throat when I didn’t feel like it I was

definitely going to do it just for him or her.

That was the only good thing in my life at that moment, I

The ungrateful SOB, after everything that I had done, everything I had been through

for him, this is what I get as a thank you, a plate full of you know what. I know a lot of

people when their partner cheats the first thing they say is after everything I have

done for him this is how he or she does to me, I now understood what those people

meant.

How could? Cheating okay, I might have understood and in time learnt to forgive but

adding women with children in the picture was just going to destroy my life. I could

just imagine myself after Mthobisi dies which by the way I was feeling could be

sooner than he thinks, sometimes men forget how easy it would be to get rid of

them, think about it, you want to piss off the same person who cooks your food for

you, you don’t know what she might put in that food, so next time you want to cheat

on your woman keep that in mind because with each spoon that you take you put in
your mouth you could be bringing yourself a step closer to your death without even

knowing out, while your

You know when you are fighting and arguing and you put conditions in place and the

other person’s agrees, throwing you completely off the curve, that was me at that

moment, I had prepared this long speech in my head about all the things I was going

to tell him but now he had just agreed just like that, no negotiations, no saying we will

swop phones tomorrow or putting up a fight about it. I was so taken aback that it took

me a few seconds to realize that his hand was reaching out to me handing me his

cellphone. I took it then gave him mine and he smiled and said there was no need for

him to take mine he trusted me, I told him I would need to direct his calls somewhere

so he agreed to taking my phone just so he could be able to receive urgent calls on

my phone. This was ridiculous but in order for me to trust him it needed to be done.

We sat again in silence and this time I was really hoping he would keep his mouth

shut but no luck, he started talking again telling me how much he loved me and how

he would do everything in his powers to make me safe and happy, I actually believed

him, I mean if he really was cheating why would he give me his phone that easily.

You know how people normally say they have bad luck, those are people who have

had a few accidents happen in their lives, a few bad things that make them believe

that they are covered in bad luck. I wished to be those people because I didn’t have

just have bad luck, it felt like the devil was my neighbor and was watching my every

move and was closing in on every turn I made. I didn’t need a sangoma to come and

remove my bad luck and some invisible dark cloud that might have been following

me everywhere , no, no, no, I was beyond that stage, I had reached a stage where I

needed an exorcists, this was not normal, the devil must have moved out from being

my neighbor to staying in my body, it’s the only way I could explain the bad luck that
was following me and at that moment I believed that an exorcists was what I needed

to come and remove this devil off me. “I can’t believe you denied us, you are like

Judas in the Bible denying Jesus to let him be crucified” Cleo was yelling at my

sister.

“I’m sorry you must have misunderstood me, by not answering my questions you are

disrespecting me and respect is something I pride myself in, I give a lot of respect

and expect the same back, so I am going to leave the room and let you ladies

discuss your answer and when I come back I have better have the truth and the

location of my son’s body” he said walking out.

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, he obviously has us confused with other

people right, we don’t have this white man’s son? Jesus does he think we stole his

son from the hospital, this is absurd.” My sister said rumbling on and on Cleo told her

to shut up and suggested that we tell the truth it’s the only thing that will set us free

from all this, if we lie we could end up dead and the truth could save our lives, we

didn’t do anything wrong, we didn’t kill Spencer we found him dead, the father could

use his resources trying to find the right killer instead of tormenting us. “What? Who

the hell is Spencer?

I don’t know how long the lights in my head went out for but I was convinced that I

had died and gone to heaven. Imagine my surprise when I woke up and I was in an

ambulance still alive, I was a bit disappointed I felt like I had overstayed my welcome

on planet earth it was time to depart this earth and go see what awaits on the other

side, but planet earth just didn’t seem to be ready to let me go. It felt like I was in one

of those relationships where you break up with a person but they refuse to accept

the break up and keep treating you like you are still a couple even though you’ve
broken up with him or her and made it clear that you no longer want them in your life,

that was my relationship with planet earth.

I tried to sit up but a paramedic guy who was next to me told me not to move to fast.

“What happened to me? Did I get shot?” I asked fearing the worst as I just

remembered that not so long ago we were locked up in some room. “No ma’am you

were not.” I took a sigh of relief but as I turned to look next to me there was my sister

with her eyes closed “oh my God, oh my God, what happened to my

“Mom, you scaring me. What’s going on? Is it Victor? Is he okay? Is everything

okay?” I asked my mom feeling anxious. As my mom was about to answer my sister

walked in “Mom? Are the kids okay?” Mom told us to both calm down everything was

fine she was just worried about us because Cleo’s mom had called her and told her

that Cleo got shot and she was with us but Cleo won’t give her details of what had

happened so she wanted us to tell her what the hell was going on. Shit, we were not

prepared for this, we did not come up with a story to tell her, both Naledi and I were

staring at each other, for once I wished we could speak with our eyes. “Well, I’m

waiting, how did Cleo get shot? What the hell were you doing? Where were you?”

My mom was now raising her voice I swear if we were kids she was going to remove

her shoe and start beating the crap out of us. “We got hijacked and we tried to run

and that’s how Cleo got shot.” Naledi said surprising the shit out of me. My mom

went all soft and started asking if we were okay and checking us to see if we were

okay, we told her we were fine. “Why didn’t you call me and tell me all this?” mom

asked, I told her we didn’t want to worry her. “I don’t understand why these bad

things keep happening to my children, oh Lord please spare my children from all this

pain.”
I was so angry at Mthobisi, the man was a thug, a murderer, a thief, a con, any bad

name you can think of he was that and I was stupid enough to fall for his con. How

could I be so stupid? I went to the front door and Priscilla asked where I was going

wearing a towel, I had been so angry I didn’t even realize that I was not dressed, I

ignored Priscilla and went upstairs and got into my sweatpants and as I was about to

walk out the bedroom door Mthobisi walked in. “What are you on about? Me trying to

poison you? What the fuck would I do that for Lesedi?” He was standing there

staring at me waiting for me to give him an answer when he should be the one that

gives me answers. “Get out of my way” I said trying to push him aside. “This

pregnancy is driving you insane, I have never seen you this paranoid before, first I

was cheating, now I’m trying to poison you. Do you realize how crazy you sound

right now?”

When people are trying to shift the blame away from themselves they will always tell

you how crazy you are to make you doubt yourself, well I was not about to fall into

that trap. “Then let me be crazy, get out of my way” I said again pushing him to the

side with no success the man was bloody heavy, it felt like he ate rocks from lunch.

“Look at me, look at me” he said getting agitated with me “don’t you ever, ever

compare me to Fundani ever again. Do you understand?” I saw anger in his eyes

and the vein in his head was popping out and I knew by comparing him to that fool I

had crossed the line, but I needed to say something to hurt him because I was

feeling very hurt, this is how we woman are when we are angry and hurt we want to

hurt you back with something heavier and bigger and I had just put a knife through

my husband’s heart by comparing him to his worst enemy. “I’m sorry” I said softly, I

had to calm myself down, it’s funny how the roles had quickly changed and he was

suddenly the angry one and I had to be the calm one. I explained to him that the
other day I saw Priscilla put pills in my tea and Mthobisi laughed and took me

downstairs and called Priscilla he asked her to show me the pills she had put in my

tea she went to the kitchen and we followed behind her, she removed a box in one of

the drawers and when I checked the box it was some herbal pills that calms and

relaxed the body it had natural ingredients. “My wife here thought that we were trying

to poison her” Priscilla apologized and said she should have told me, she said she

uses the same for herself and that lately I have been stressed so she was just trying

to help.

I thanked her and told her next time she should ask me before putting any

medication in my food or drink, she agreed that she won’t put anything without my

consent. After Priscilla left Mthobisi looked at me and asked “Are you happy now?” I

nodded and my phone rang, he answered and he said “our food is here” I had told

him earlier I was in the mood for Mexican food so he had ordered Taco’s and

Nachos, it was a feast, all three of us ate, I was happy to be fulfilling my cravings,

and the food tasted too damn good, it’s amazing how you appreciate food when you

are pregnant, good food tastes good and ugly food tastes bad, there is no in-

between. I ate so much and was so full that I swear my stomach felt like it was

growing while I was looking at it, or maybe my baby was stretching after that meal.

Priscilla said I shouldn’t go to bed immediately after eating to avoid heartburn, I

listened to her and watched a bit of TV and she said she was not pregnant so she

could sleep with a full tummy and she went to sleep and left Mthobisi and I watching

TV. Mthobisi kept dozing off and I didn’t even know how long I was supposed to stay

up for, you see my problem with these myths, people just make them up as they go. I

woke Mthobisi up and I told him “screw this heartburn theory, we going to sleep” it

must have been fifteen minutes after Priscilla went to sleep, well she didn’t give me a
time frame so I was sure that I was good to go. As soon as we hit the bed my

husband was out like a light snoring like a lion. I on the hand could not sleep, I guess

I had slept way too much during the day, I tried everything but I just couldn’t fall

asleep, I even thought of going to get Priscilla’s calming medication but then decided

against it. When I did finally fall asleep it was after 2 am, dammit my body was

adapting to the early morning sleeping pattern, that’s the last thing I needed and I

had read that the baby also gets used to your sleeping time so I needed to get back

to my sleeping times as soon as possible the last thing I needed was a baby that

would be at till the early hours of the morning wanting to play or even worse crying

all night.

When I was falling asleep Mthobisi was waking up “where you going?” I asked

surprised at the time he was waking up in. I have a call with people from a different

country, different time zones so I needed to catch them now while they still fresh” he

said jumping out of bed. I have learnt to not question my husband because the more

you question the more confused you get by the answers so I showed him the sharp

sign and went back to sleep. I was up by ten in the morning at least I didn’t wake up

in the afternoon like the previous day.

Mthobisi was nowhere to be seen as usual, I figured he must have gone out so I

made myself some breakfast and Priscilla joined me so I made for both of us and

she was really grateful, I asked her if she’d seen my husband and she said he’d

gone jogging, I knew the only time my husband jogged was when he was stressed,

whatever it is that was bothering him I hope it was nothing serious, the last thing I

needed was more drama in my life. When he came back I asked him to borrow me

my phone, my phone had suddenly become his, I know I lost his phone but the right

thing to do would be to give me my phone back. I called Cleo whom I had not spoken
to since the day we left her at the hospital, she said she was fine, I asked if we would

be going to visit She Rocks she said we needed to get some sort of disguise when

we go see her, we can’t afford to being seeing by Spencer’s dad or his people again.

I agreed and told her I was going to speak to Mthobisi about this.

I waited for Mthobisi to come out of the shower and when he did the first thing I

asked him was. “Are the bastards that took us and kept us in that house in jail?” I

asked Mthobisi and he nodded and said some are in jail while others died on the day

we were rescued. I asked him about Spencer’s father and he said he wasn’t there

when the cops raided the place and there was nothing implicating him to the crime

so he was home free. “So in other words we are not free, we can’t go anywhere

because he might just show up and only God knows what he might actually do this

time.” Mthobisi said that is why he was always with me, making sure that I am safe

he was not going to leave my side until he was certain that I was safe and that him

and his people were working on a plan and I shouldn’t worry because they were

going to sort this matter out very quickly. I believed him, I asked him why the

previous day had he said he doesn’t want Spencer’s dad to know that him and I were

connected. “Spencer’s father and I know each other and if he finds out that you are

my wife he is going to put two and two together and realize that you guys couldn’t

have killed Spencer and that I did and trust me Lesedi the last thing I want is to make

an enemy of that men, he’s got an army behind him” I have no idea what he meant

by the army but his explanation made a bit of sense. So I asked him what we were

going to do with the current situation and he said “we wait”.

That entire week we spent at home, I kept calling the hospital to check on She Rocks

and everyday I was told there were no changes both Cleo and I couldn’t visit her and

risk the chance of being kidnapped again. My sister called daily as well checking up
on me and she kept saying locking myself up in the house is not healthy and maybe I

should go tell the police everything. Ohhh the police were in touch with us after the

whole rescue thing they wanted us to give statements and we all told them the same

thing we didn’t know why those guys had taken us nor did we know anything and

they never told us what they wanted, the police though kept pestering with stupid

questions and I guess my sister was feeling the pressure which is why she was

saying we should confess to everything and I kept telling her there is nothing to

confess to. On the second week after the incident the police kind of forgot about us

and moved on to other cases which was a relief for all of us, neither one of us

enjoyed the random visits from the police to ask if there is anything else you

remember about the case and the answer was always no. After they stopped coming

Mthobisi and I could at least relax, but I still didn’t want to go out. Thank God for

Priscilla, she did all the grocery shopping for me and whatever was needed she

would go and buy. Mthobisi on the other hand he had also drastically decreased on

going out when he did it would be for an hour or two and after he would be back, this

was the most we had seen of each other ever since we got married it’s sad how busy

couples get that the only time that they see each other is at night, that is still for

normal couples Mthobisi and I would see each other in the morning in other times.

The third week everything had gone completely quiet and there was no cops visiting

or my sister nagging to come clean with the cops I was still in contact with the

hospital though every day and I felt so guilty for not being able to go to the hospital to

see my friend but I had to make sure I was safe first. Priscilla had bought me a wig

and I had a big hat and sunglasses and she was going to come with me to the

hospital, we were going to wait for Mthobisi to leave then we were going to drive to

the hospital, Priscilla’s friend was friends with one of the nurses so she organized us
a parking in the basement, the plan was to park in the staff parking in the basement

take the lift up then go and see She Rocks for those few minutes then be out of there

without a lot of people seeing us. As soon as Mthobisi left we put our plan into action

I got dressed in this long black dressed and I put on the wig and sunglasses and a

hat, Priscilla said the nurses in hospital were used to people dressing up like this

especially celebrates who didn’t want to be seen so I won’t be the first, this was a bit

exciting but I was a little scared too. We were ready to go and as I opened the front

door to step out someone pushed me back inside the house and in walked three

guys and behind them was Spencer’s father. I turned around to look at Priscilla who

was opening her bag, I thought she was taking out the keys and in seconds she had

a gun out and the guys that were with Spencer’s father were quick to react one of

them pulled out a gun and I screamed “Priscillaaaaa” but it was too late a shot had

been fired and Priscilla was on the floor lying in a pool of

blood….000000000000000000

Chapter 271

For a few minutes it felt like everything was happening in slow motion from the guy

pulling out a gun to Priscilla falling, I stood there like a statue frozen, I didn’t know

whether to run to Priscilla to see if she was okay or to run outside and save my life.

The caring side of me took over, or maybe I should say the crazy side took over

because I didn’t choose any of the above options instead I went charging at the guy

who had shot Priscilla and slapped him in the face so hard that we were both

confused, I was confused by my stupidity of attacking a man who had just shot

someone in front of me and I guess he was confused by the bitch slap that just

happened. I then started yelling at him “what the hell is wrong with you? Why did you
shot her? You’ve killed her” I said looking at Priscilla and seeing all the blood that

was coming out of her, I started punching and kicking the guy, the other guys who

were with him came and held me back to try and stop me the more they did they did

that I started kicking at the guy but more like the air because they were now carrying

me and taking me to the other room. The guy who had shot Priscilla was shouting

back at me “she was going to kill us if I didn’t shot” the two guys dropped me in the

floor in the kitchen and left, I stood up and followed behind them. Spencer’s father

was on the floor, “she’s still alive, call an ambulance and when the police ask tell

them it was a house break-in that went wrong. I am a friend of your husband’s he will

explain further just don’t do any sketches I don’t want to see my face or any of my

boys on the news tomorrow night. Let’s go guys” he said and the guys followed

behind him, he didn’t recognize me, he didn’t realize I was the same girl he had held

hostage. It’s true what they say to white people we all look the same and this time I

didn’t take it as an offence I was actually glad. I ran to Priscilla and she had a pulse I

quickly called the ambulance using her phone then I called Mthobisi who answered

immediately and asked what was wrong, I quickly told him Priscilla got shot and he

said he was on hi way. My husband must have been close to home or maybe he was

driving at 220 because he reached the house before the ambulance did. I also

informed security to let the ambualance in as soon as it arrived. The ambulance

arrived and Priscilla was rushed to the hospital, Mthobisi said I should stay in the

house, lock all doors and activate the alarm system and he was going to follow the

ambulance just to make sure Priscilla was safe. I agreed and as soon as he left, I

made sure everything was shut, all the windows, and all the curtains drawn and all

the door from bedroom to bathroom everything was completely shut, then I went to

our bedroom removed the big hat and the wig, the sunglasses and the heavy make-
up and jumped in bed still fully clothed I covered myself in blankets, this was me

hiding from the big, bad wolf. I kept thinking of what would have happened if they

had shot me, oh my Gosh I could have lost the baby, I immediately touched my

stomach just to reassure myself that he was still there and at that moment he started

kicking, I had such mixed emotions, I was happy that my baby was kicking and also

sad that his or her nanny had just been shot and might not survive. The was a funny

sound in the house, for a few seconds I thought it was the alarm system and was

convinced that someone had broken into the house, but it turned out it was Priscilla’s

phone, with all the commotion that had happened when the ambulance arrived I

forgot to place it in her handbag. I looked for the phone and found where Priscilla

had been shot and I answered it was Mthobisi, he said Priscilla was in a critical

condition, the doctors were worried about her not making it and they had just taken

her to the theatre. “Oh God, is she going to make it?” I asked shaking like a leaf,

Mthobisi went silent for a few seconds then said “I don’t know Honey all we can do

now is pray for her” you know when heathens say pray for someone then things

must be really bad. I went back to my safe place but this time instead of getting

inside the bed I knelt down and started praying for Priscilla and She Rocks to

recovery, I must have prayed for a good thirty minutes that by the time I was done

praying I had tears running down my face I didn’t even realize that I had been so

focused on my prayer. I jumped back to bed and passed out.

By the time I woke up it was already dark outside and Mthobisi had not come back

from the hospital. I started cooking, realizing that Priscilla could be out of action for

some time and won’t be able to cook for weeks after she comes back from the

hospital. I was really start to feel guilty, she got shot because she was trying to help

me to sneak to hospital and now all thanks to me she was in hospital fighting for her
life, I had bad luck shame, I knew it and the people around me were always affected

by it, you know how they say show me your friends and I will tell you who you are,

that was so true in my life, whoever I became friends with ended up in shit. She

Rocks was now in hospital in a comma, my helper Priscilla was in hospital fighting

for her life and all these people had one thing in common, they were associated with

me, it was time I cut all ties with people and just be a loner so no one gets hurts. Our

fridge and cupboards had everything you could need for any meal, Priscilla was

really doing an amazing job and I sometimes didn’t appreciate her, but now standing

in that kitchen and been able to cook a feast I was truly impressed by her. I cooked

so much food, I think it was my stress reliever because I didn’t want to think of what

Priscilla was going through it hurt too much to realize that I was a source of

someone’s pain. I needed to talk to someone the thoughts in my head were driving

me up the wall and all I kept seeing was Priscila in a pool of blood. There was only

one person I could think of and lean on it was my mother but she had a tendency of

judging but nonetheless I needed someone to talk to I called her with Priscilla’s

phone Priscilla had save her number as Lesedi’s ma, how sweet of her. My mom

answered immediately “Hi Priscilla” she said sounding all friendly I wondered if they

were calling each other and what they would be talking about in those calls. “Hey

mom, it’s me not Priscilla” I said feeling sad that I was going to have to break the

news to her, she asked where Priscilla was I told her that we had a break in and

Priscilla got shot, to say she was surprise would be an understatement her phone

literally dropped I heard it fall and she picked it up and apologized and ask me to

repeat what I had just said, I was afraid she might drop her phone again and this

time it might break so I just explained that some guys came in and tried to rob us,

they thought I was alone and Priscilla surprised them so they shot her. My mom
asked if I was okay, I told her I was fine she said maybe it was time we sold that

house and moved somewhere safer, I agreed with her even though I knew this was

the safest place in South Africa and the only way these people were entering the

premises was through bribery and threats if someone offers a security guard R5000

to enter the complex while the security guard earns R2000, obviously most of them

will take that money, I don’t blame them if I was in their shoes I would jump at that

opportunity, but obviously I couldn’t tell my mother that she was already worried

about our safety. She asked which hospital she was in I told her they took her to

Waterfall hospital and she said she was going to visit her in the morning she asked if

she should come and pick me up so we could go together, I told her no I would go

later during the day I didn’t want to run into Spencer’s dad’s cronies while with my

mother and put her life in danger. After I was done talking to my mom I went back to

cooking and by eight everything was done, I had even made desert, that’s how I got

this cooking thing on lockdown, Priscilla was going to be proud, I actually wished she

would get discharged from the hospital the same day so she could eat my food, I

was going to spoil her while she recovered it’s not like I had anything better to do, I

was going to look after her and nurse her back to health. Priscilla’s phone rang it was

Mthobisi he sounded drained and said he was on his way home and was coming

with the police they wanted to ask me a few questions about the shooting, I told him

it was fine I would see him when he gets home, I asked how Priscilla was and he

hung up, I figured he must not have heard me, I didn’t want to bother him by calling

back so I let it go.

After about forty five minutes Mthobisi arrived, there were two police man with him. I

ran to him and hugged him and he told me to sit down because the police needed to

speak to me about the shooting. We all sat in the couch and one policeman was
writing down my statement he asked me what had happened I told them some

people broke in the house and they thought I was alone and were asking me where

the safe is and I told them we didn’t have one and then Priscilla came from the other

room and I guess she surprised them because they thought I was alone and they

shot her, he asked if I would be able to identify them if I saw them again I said no

because their faces were covered in balaclavas, they asked if there were any distinct

marks on them that I could remember, I shook my head and said no, everything had

happened so fast. Thank goodness Mthobisi had taken Priscilla’s gun and hidden it

before the paramedics arrived if I had been by myself the police where going to find

the gun where it was when Priscilla had been shot. “Ma’am you need to focus please

and try to remember everything this is a serious case, we don’t take murder lightly.” I

stood up with tears now flowing down my face “Mthobisi, what does he mean

murder? Priscilla is still alive isn’t she?” he shook his head.

Mthobisi stood up and held me in his arms and whispered “I am so sorry honey, she

didn’t make it, the doctors did

everything they could but…” I started wailing, I could not believe it, she was gone

just like that, my child was never going to have an opportunity to meet this great

amazing woman and I blamed myself for it. Mthobisi asked if they could give us a

minute, we went to the guest bedroom and he told me how sorry he was about

Priscilla and said she was in a safer place now and I shouldn’t blame myself for what

happened. He handed me my phone back and said he had bought himself a new

one and had a sim swop done. I left the phone in the guest bedroom and we went

back to the police who were still sitting down going through my statement, I told them

I was okay and ready to answer their questions and they started from the beginning
asking the same questions that they had asked me a few minutes ago, I tried to hide

my irritation and answered their questions as best as I possible could, still sticking to

the lie of hiding Spencer’s dad and his cronies, it was for the best, I had seen what

that man is capable of and he was bigger than the police or maybe the police were

moonlighting for him so I didn’t want to end up in a body bag like Priscilla and

wherever she was I hope and pray that she understood my dilemma. After the police

were done questioning me they left and I could breathe a sigh of relief.

I dished up the food Mthobisi and I had cooked but neither one of us could eat.

Mthobisi said he was going to clean the blood of the floor luckily it was in the tiles so

we didn’t have to cut out the carpet. I couldn’t clean the blood on my own I just could

not bring myself to doing it. The police didn’t even take a picture of the blood or

where she was shot, what you see on TV is not exactly how it’s done in real life, the

police didn’t even bother taking fingerprints, they just wrote the statement of what I

had told them and left, not that I was complaining the last thing I wanted was to be

put in a corner with a million questions especially since my whole story was a lie.

Mthobisi had chemical that smelled like a cleaning factory but he said they removed

all traces of blood and I was happy with that.

After he was done cleaning out the blood he thanked me for a great meal even

though he only had a few spoons of the food and me he needed to go to his study

and make calls to Priscilla’s family to inform them about her death, I felt so sorry for

him because I knew that was not going to be an easy thing to do and I figured it was

not such a good time to tell him that I had made desert. He asked “Lesedi exactly

what happened here after I left?” I told him everything about Spencer’s father coming

to our house, with his cronies all I could hear Mthobisi was “shit, shit, shit” he told me

that they were supposed to meet but at the last minute Spencer’s dad changed the
venue of the meeting and said he would let him know, so he obviously had changed

the venue to our house, his concern was why did he. I told him that I don’t think he

recognized me because I was wearing a wig, a hat and big sunglasses he asked

where I was going dressed like that I explained that I needed to see She Rocks and

have been feeling guilty that I had not seen her all this time, he said he went to go

check on her while he was waiting for Priscilla to come out of theatre and that the

nurses told him that they hadn’t been any changes. I thanked him for checking up on

her but I don’t think he could hear me, his mind was on Spencer’s dad and his

reason for coming to our house. “Do you think he suspects something?” I asked now

getting more worried. He shook his head and said it’s hard to know because that

man is hard to read, I told him I knew exactly what he meant because he was exactly

the same, and he smiled and said he was going upstairs to the study to start making

those calls. I went to the other room to get my phone and I went through it. Cleo had

sent me a couple of messages which Mthobisi had not even bothered to read, she

was telling me about how her mom keeps praying for her every single day before

she goes to bed for protection and every morning when she wakes up to that God for

keeping her safe and protecting her, and her mom’s prayers were not five minute

prayers they could last up to thirty minutes I laughed Cleo is one person who knew

how to put a smile on my face without even trying. I decided to call her, she was

happy to hear from me and said it was prayer time her mom was ready to pray for

her protection before she goes to sleep, I told her she should appreciate her

mother’s prayers they could be the only thing that is keeping her safe. She asked

how I was doing, she was bored out of her mind, sometimes I missed being bored, I

told her about Priscilla and that she got shot and now she was dead, I didn’t want to

get into details, she said she would come to my place first thing the following
morning, I needed her and she was going to be there for me, I knew this was just an

excuse to get out of her mother’s house but nonetheless her presence would be

highly appreciated. I remembered that I still needed to inform my mother that Priscilla

was no more. After speaking to Cleo I had to make that dreadful call to my mother

this time I was using my phone and she quickly answered and you can call it

motherly instincts or whatever but before I could even say it she knew it, she said

“Priscilla is gone isn’t she?” I just choked and didn’t know what to say she told me it

was okay and she was going to come the following day to help us with all the

arrangements I thanked her and went upstairs to go tell Mthobisi he was still

speaking to on the phone I waited for him to finish and when he was done he told me

that Priscilla’s family said they would be coming the following day and they are

demanding answers, eish death is not an easy thing to accept, people always want

answers that they cannot get, but answers won’t bring back the person they lost,

sometimes answers lead to more questions. I told him my mom and Cleo were also

coming the following day. We decided to sleep because we had a long day ahead of

us with all these people coming to the house the following day.

The following day Mthobisi woke me up at six I didn’t want to wake up but I didn’t

have a choice these people could arrive at any time, I guess when a loved one dies

sleep is the last thing that is on your mind, I could not imagine what Priscilla’s family

was going through. We woke up and I quickly cleaned the house then I showered

and got dressed and luckily Priscilla had bought a box of biscuits so I was going to

server her people with those biscuits, it was so ironic she bought food for her own

funeral, not funeral exactly but you get what I mean. My mom was first to arrive, she

hugged both Mthobisi and I and she had a bucket of scones that she had baked the

previous night she said she couldn’t sleep so she bakes, my mom was just too
amazing. Cleo arrived a few minutes later wearing a dress and a doek, she looked

like a makoti, my mom reminded me that I also needed to wear a long dress and a

doek, so Cleo and I went to my room so I could change into something more

acceptable, I was wearing jeans and takkies by the way, I had forgotten about our

tradition, I blame it on the stress. We prepared hot water in an urn because we didn’t

know how many people were coming and we took out a lot of cups and saucers. At

about 10 in the morning Mthobisi received a call from security that there was three

Quantams saying they coming to our place, Mthobisi told them not to let them in, we

were not expecting so many people, he said he was going to the gate to see what

the three quantams were about. We were all convinced that there must have been

some kind of a mistake. After a few minutes Mthobisi came back to the house and

when I looked through the window the three Quantam taxis were outside and there

were people in church uniforms coming out of those Quantams. Mthobisi came

inside running and said “they brought church people, they saying they are here to

collect her soul” I was so confused but before I could even ask any questions they

were already entering the house singing church songs and there was someone who

was beating the drum, I was convinced that the neighbors were wondering what the

hell was going on in our house. They started singing and we just stood there and

after a few minutes the Pastor raised his hand and the song came to an end and he

introduced himself and said Priscilla was a member of their church and the family

had asked them to come and collect her soul since our house was the place where

she was shot, all we could do was nod, he asked where she had been shot and

Mthobisi showed them the spot and they asked us to leave the room as this matter

could only be done by the members of their church, we couldn’t argue with that, we

were the only ones in the room without the uniform so we stood out, we walked out
and went to the kitchen and prepared them tea and scones. In the kitchen we could

hear them singing and my mom said we should wait for them to finish they will come

and call us when they are done. We waited and waited and waited and then after

hours and hours someone finally came to say they were done. We served them tea

and scones and there were soo many people it felt like this serving of tea was never

ending, I had never made tea for so many people. They ate their scones and drank

their tea and when they were done, one lady who said she was Priscilla’s sister said

she needed me to help her pack her clothes, we went to her bedroom and Cleo and

my mother came to help and we packed all her clothes in one my suitcases and we

gave it to her she asked if she didn’t have any other clothes in other room I told her

no. She then called two other ladies, one was an old lady whom I was told was

Priscilla’s mother and another a younger whom I was told was her aunt.

The aunt had a big mouth she was the one who was doing the most talking “You

people have a big, fancy house, in an expensive area, you must be rich. Do you

know that Priscilla was supporting us? Who’s going to feed our family now that she is

gone?” I looked at her confused, was this woman implying that we continue paying

them even though Priscilla was no more? I told her that Priscilla had policies and that

I made sure she joined them and I was paying for them every month and now that

she was gone they were going to pay out and they were going to receive money

from her policies. The big mouthed aunt went off at me and said “so we get R50 000

which will end in less than three months while you continue to live your fancy life,

after killing our child, we are not going to accept that, you people are going to take of

us now that she is gone, you killed her now you are going to pay for it.” She said

demanding. I have seen madness before but this…..

I have seen people with guts before, people who had verbal diarrhea but this aunt

was on another level of crazy. “Do you honestly believe that this is what Priscilla

would have wanted? To be disgraced like this on the day that

you come to collect her soul, her body is not even cold yet and you are already trying

to get rich through her death.” I said raising my voice unintentionally I was irritated to

the core, I had tried so hard to compose myself but this woman had just pushed me

too far. My mom tried to calm me down but I was not about to be disrespected in my

own home. “Did you hear what she said? She said we killed her. Right there is a

deformation of character.

I didn’t know if I should walk inside the room or continue standing by the door or

close the door and walk away but

what I heard my mom say broke my heart into a million pieces. How could she?

Victor has been my dad for as long as I could remember and now she was trying to

break our family, leave Victor, what had gotten into my mother? I decide screw it, I

barged in “You want to leave Victor? You want a divorce?” I asked with tears flowing

down my face.

Mthobisi walked in before Victor could ask any questions and asked what the

celebrations were all about and what he

missed, my mom did not miss the opportunity to show off her new ring, to which

Mthobisi smiled but this was his mischievous smile and that is when I knew he had

something to do with this, he told my mom that the ring was gorgeous and that Victor

had great taste my mom smiled and kissed Victor, Mthobisi and I both closed each

other’s eyes like my sister’s kids would do when they see people kissing on tv and
we all laughed. That morning we had a great breakfast, my mom and I were

discussing venues and décor and people to invite to her vows renewal thing. She

told me we needed to plan it exactly like a wedding because that is exactly what it is

a wedding. The stress and pressure of a wedding, it’s nice to go through it once and

feel special on that day but it’s definitely not something I would want to do it again, I

would smack Mthobisi in the head if he ever even suggested this renewal madness.

My mom on the other hand was over the moon, the woman I was speaking to

yesterday who wanted to be free had completely vanished, we woman are strange

creatures I tell you. After breakfast Mthobisi and Victor said they are going out and

as they were leaving I followed behind them and asked to speak to Mthobisi “Are we

safe alone from Spencer’s father?” I asked a bit worried. “We are on our way to go

and speak to him. You are safe there are Victor’s guys that are patrolling the house.”

I nodded and went back inside to my mother and she was still going on about this

thing of hers. I told her I was tired and didn’t sleep the previous night so I was going

to back to bed, I didn’t want to ask her why she had changed her mind, obviously

that big rock had done the trick and this renewal talk was getting me tired I really

needed to take a nap.

I went back to the bedroom and I threw myself on the bed and as I was falling asleep

my sister called “How’s Victor?” that was the first thing she asked she said she

wanted to call him but didn’t know what to say to him, I told he was fine and our

mother was now singing a different tune, I filled her in on the latest developments to

which she was excited and she said she also wanted to help organize, I told her she

could take over from me because I basically had no idea what I was doing, she

gladly accepted I was relieved. She asked when was I planning on going to see She

Rocks I told her not anytime soon, things were really intense on my side and I
needed to keep a very low profile and not be seen in my regular places. “You sound

like a wife of a mafia” and that is exactly what I was if truth be told. I tried sleeping

again and was interrupted by another call it was Cleo “Guess what? I just got a call

from She Rocks brother, she is out of the comma” I jumped out of bed and asked

when did that happen and how it happened she said she didn’t have all the answers

but her mom was going to the hospital to see She Rocks and Cleo’s mom would call

Cleo and let her speak to her. “Will you conference call me when your mom calls

please?” I asked Cleo and she said that is why she called. After the call from Cleo I

could not go back to sleep I was just too excited, I went and took a shower and got

dresses and I waited for the call, tried by all means to avoid my mother I didn’t want

her telling me about the renewals again. So I sat in my room and waited for the call

and when it finally came I was more than ready I didn’t even give the phone a

chance to ring I answered immediately and to my disappointment Cleo told me that

her mom told her that She Rocks was out of the comma but she kept going in and

out of consciousness so she would not be able to speak to us and I asked her what

the doctors were saying and she said they were positive that she is going to recover

fully in time, I wanted to know in what time and after how long but I couldn’t ask Cleo

that I knew she was as clueless as I was. She said her mom was going back to the

hospital the following day and she would keep me updated.

I decided to go back to my mom, she asked why I looked so down and I told her

about She Rocks and she said she was going to go with Cleo’s mom to see She

Rocks the following day so they can pray for her, it was now time for the parents to

take over, this was bigger than Cleo and I and I was really grateful for my mom to be

stepping in like that I didn’t want to go to hospital and put She Rocks life in danger

with all those psychotic people that are following me around. Too many lives had
already been lost and now She Rocks was fighting for hers, the thought of losing her

scared me to the core, I honestly didn’t know what I would do if she died. My day

was spoilt after not being able to speak to She Rocks and I had not slept so I needed

to get my midday nap while my mom prepared lunch. I went to bed and had the most

beautiful dream, I dreamnt that I was in this beautiful island with a beautiful beach

and I was just sitting in this beach playing with sand with my daughter was there she

was soo beautiful, she looked just like Mthobisi I was so happy in the dream because

she didn’t look anything like Spencer, I kept thanking God, when I woke up I had a

big smile on my face and when I felt my tummy the baby was still inside, and I still

didn’t know who the father was, the smile quickly turned into a frown. I called

Mthobisi who quickly answered asking me if everything was okay, I told him all was

well and he said they got held up and would take longer to come back that he

thought I told him not to worry my mom and I were safe. I could smell the food from

the bedroom and it made me so hungry Cleo was right my mom’s cooking kicked

ass. My sister called as I was about to go and indulge on some of my mother’s food.

She wanted to talk to me about her boss, she said he was a bitch, not because he

slept around but because he was an idiot, he didn’t want to give her a promotion and

had given it to another stupid girl who didn’t deserve it, she went on and on and on

about this boss, I was even yawning from the exhaustion of listening to that

conversation I think even my ears started to hurt. After that long conversation which

was basically one sided she asked what I think she should do. I reminded her that I

was pregnant and that I used emotions for everything so I was the last person she

should be asking for professional advice from she should speak to her lawyer if she

wanted to sue the company or to a Priest if she wanted to forgive her boss, the

choice was really up to her to make, I didn’t want to be responsible for the decision
she was going to take, she told me I was stupid and hung up. ohh well, that saved

me to another thirty minutes of hearing about how unfair her company is, she always

had someone to balme for her misfortunes. I was glad that conversation was over. I

went to the bathroom to go wash my face before going to join my mother for lunch

was I was washing my face I heard screams coming from the other side of the

house, I wasn’t sure if I heard right so I turned off the tap and I was right my mother

was being attacked….

I literally froze, I couldn’t move, all I could picture in my head was Priscilla being shot

in front of me, I knew I would not be able to handle seeing my own mother being shot

in front of me, it was hard enough with Priscilla now my mother. I stood there with no

heartbeat, at that moment it felt like my heart had stopped beating and my ears were

just buzzing, I could no longer hear any sound except a buzzing sound in my ears. I

shook my head and slapped myself in the face trying to get myself out of the trance,

when I finally managed to pull myself together I was now left with a decision to go

and try and help my mother and possibly get myself killed in the process or to hide in

the bathroom, hiding in the bathroom was not safe either, actually there was

nowhere safe I was soon realizing that.

“We tried to reason with him and tried to make peace but he is still bitter about his

son’s death, we’ve all lost people we care about but it doesn’t give us a right to go

around shooting and killing innocent lives. I’ve been feeling like shit for killing his son

and thought in time he will get over it but his anger just keeps building up, I’m done

playing Mr. Nice guy, he is going to shit bricks if he even dares to look in your

direction or that of anyone that I care about.” Mthobisi said showing no emotions

none whatsoever, that’s when I knew my husband was back, he went on about how
disrespectful Raymond is and how could he kill a person at our house and how that

just infuriated him even more. He said it didn’t matter how much they explained to

Raymond he was just not budging so Victor said they should leave and give him a

couple of days to reconsider and that’s when he threatened them telling them so now

they were going to deal with him nice and proper. I wondered what nice and proper

was in his definition but I didn’t want to know all I cared about was the fact that they

were going to handle him and soon I

I swear Cleo’s wailing and crying was blocking my brain from thinking, all I could

hear was her cries, I did the only rational thing that I could do in the situation, I hung

up the phone and started thinking what to do next. First of all, there were cronies

outside who were after my ass and for all I knew they could be inside going through

each and every ward looking for me. Secondly I was standing in my friend’s hospital

room and she was nowhere to be seen and for all I knew she could have been taken

by the same cronies who were trying to get to me and the worst case scenario which

I prayed to God wasn’t the case even though none of the scenarios looked good but

the one I wouldn’t be able to handle was my friend being dead. I was brought out of

my thoughts by my phone vibrating in my hand and I jumped and almost threw the

phone on the floor that’s how freak out I as. It was Cleo calling back, I was not ready

to listen to her crying like a Nigerian woman who just found out that the all night

prayer has been cancelled.

While She Rocks was crying Victor asked her brothers if she could move in with us

because they had jobs and would not be able to take care of her while at our place I

was always home so I was going to keep her company and my mom would make

sure that she eats and takes her medication until she recovers. This is why I didn’t
want to lose Victor as a step-father, he was the kindest, considerate and caring man

I had ever met this was his daughter’s friend and here he was caring for her like she

was family, he was better than some biological fathers. She Rocks brothers

accepted the offer I think the thought of looking after their sister who is so strong-

willed and has always been the one that looks after them scared them a bit. It was

agreed upon that we would come the following day to pick her up and they would

inform her and make sure everything of hers was packed, especially her medication.

We left and went back home on our way back Cleo called to let me know that she

was on the way to see She I told her what happened and how She Rocks broke

down after I told her that she had lost the baby. “You shouldn’t have told her.” She

said sounding very judgemental. “well maybe you should have come a few hours

earlier then you would have been the bearer of bad news yourself.” Cleo went on

about how we should have waited until she fully recovers before telling her, I told her

she was going to find out regardless but Cleo turned it into an argument, I ended up

dropping the phone on her, I was in no mood to argue about should have, could

have, Victor just looked at me and laughed and said “women” and shook his head,

he didn’t have to ask anything, he heard the whole thing.

Having She Rocks at my mom’s house turned out to be lots of fun, I had my best

friend with me every single day and we would spend our days talking and planning

for the future, Cleo came every single day after work to visit, she was really happy

that She Rocks was fine. Our lives were back to being normal there was no drama,

no car chases or random people pointing guns at us. We would take walks around

the neighbourhood freely, we could go to the mall do the normal life stuff that people

did every single day without being worried about being shot and killed, it really felt

amazing to be normal and I certainly didn’t want to go back to the crazy life that we
had before. One evening Mthobisi came back home really excited and said he had

good news to announce to the entire family, he told us he had won that contract that

he had been tirelessly working on, this was such great news, we were all very happy

for him. He had even bought champagne to celebrate the good news. I couldn’t drink

so I had orange juice instead, I was really proud of my husband he was a true

hustler, he didn’t believe in sitting and doing nothing when one door closed her

knocked on fifty others and out of those fifty, one of them has to open and he really

was an inspiration. After dinner we went to bed, I couldn’t even sleep comfortable

anymore due to my big stomach and my feet would swell up, I honestly could not

wait for the baby to come out if felt like I had been pregnant for way to long.

The following day Mthobisi took me and She Rocks to the site of where he was going

to be working, it was a shopping centre and his job was to extend it, he was really

excited about it, and he showed us the plan of how it was going to look when he was

done, I was really excited after seeing the plan because it looked like it was going to

look like something you see in a magazine. He had already hired the guys that would

do the construction work and everything was set to start the following day. We left

him to speak to his people who were around putting up signs around the mall that

state that it’s under construction. She Rocks and I decided to go to the movies, I

didn’t realize how empty movies are during the week and during the day, I guess

everyone else is either at work or school and us non-working people who had

nothing to do with ourselves were part of the five that was in the movie theatre, we

didn’t care we just wanted to be out of the house for a while and I love movie

popcorn, we watched an action movie and each time a person got kicked and

punched or feel of a building and didn’t die we would both turn to each other and say

“lies”, sometimes my friends and I just watched a movie to see how many lies were
in it and action movies I have come to a realization that they have most lies. After the

movie we went to some fancy looking restaurant to have lunch, Cle called as we

were about to order and said she was leaving work to go to a meeting but her

meeting had been cancelled I told her where we were and asked her to join us and

she said she was on her way. We waited on ordering until she arrived, it was funny

how the roles were now drastically reversed, not so long ago She Rocks and I used

to be the ones that work and Cleo used to be the unemployed one and now there we

were Cleo working and the two of us not.

As if Cleo was reading my mind she asked She Rocks when was she returning to

work seeing that she was now well and could even go to the movies, we all laughed

and She Rocks said she doesn’t see herself going to work anytime soon and she

was going to take things easy until she was ready and then would start looking for a

new job, she said she didn’t see herself going back to the same company. “In the

meantime while you are trying to find yourself who is going to pay for that million

dollars house of yours in the golf estate?” Cleo had a way of bringing people back to

reality, She Rocks smiled and said she had enough money saved up to last her for

two years without working both Cleo and I looked at her in amazement. She smiled

and said “Guys come on, I was dating the CEO obviously I wasn’t earning peanuts

and I was smart enough to save for rainy days because rainy days are here.” Damn

this girl was smart, I wish more girls could think like her instead of thinking about the

now, think about your future too. Cleo looked at her and said “Can you adopt me?”

we all burst out laughing, our food arrived and we ate and talked nonsense. Cleo told

us that she was now looking for love she was tired of being a divorce and had even

joined a dating site and so far she’d been on two dates with two amazing guys, she

said the site was strictly for divorced people and single parents so she didn’t have to
feel weird about the fact that she was divorced and had kids because so were the

people she was going on dates with.

She Rocks warned her to be careful because a person will pretend to be what you

like and only after some time will they show their true colours, she told her about the

gruesome cases she’d see on Crime Investigation channel on cyber dating and how

guys would stock these woman and how some were serial killers and I laughed and

said “Cleo is probably the the stalker and serial killer, I now feel sorry for the poor

guys” and both Cleo and I laughed but She Rocks was not amused she said these

things happen and Cleo better take it seriously and carry pepper spray with her. Cleo

said she knew what she was doing and She Rocks said “Famous last words before a

person gets killed, pass me your phone I need to download that tracking app on it so

I can always know where you are.” Cleo protested and said she was fine but She

Rocks wouldn’t hear of it she insisted until Cleo had no choice but to give it to her,

our tech guru was back, after she was done she handed her phone back and told her

to always make sure she had her phone with her. The lunch went on until six in the

evening, we always had a lot to talk about, you would swear She Rocks and I didn’t

stay in the same house and Cleo didn’t come to the house every day. I loved my

friends and I was happy we were all back together, Mthobisi called to check if we

were okay, he said he was home already, I told him we were fine we just forgot

about time, he told me to bring takeaways because my mom and Victor had a date

night and no one had cooked. We ordered extra food for takeaways, when we got

our food She Rocks and I drove home and Cleo also went home.

We got home and ate again and all Mthobisi could talk about was the shopping

centre that he was going to be working on, She Rocks and my sister were also

excited kept asking him questions like if the centre was going to close down while
they work on it and he said no it won’t it will still be business as usual. When we went

to bed Victor and my mom had still not arrived, Mthobisi said he was going to finish

some work in Victor’s study and I went to bed. The following day Mthobisi was up

early, he woke me up and told me to wish him good luck because today was the day

that he starts the work, he was going to be at the site before the workers got them

and would only leave after everyone had left, that’s how excited he was about this

project and I was really proud of him. I woke up and made him breakfast, everyone

was still asleep it was only five in the morning after all, when he was done showering

and dressing up I gave him his breakfast and he thanked me and said I am such a

supportive wife, he hurriedly at his breakfast I think he was eating because he didn’t

want to disappoint me. When he was done I walked him to the door and kissed him

goodbye and wished him luck. After he left I went back to bed and slept till ten and

the only reason I woke up was because She Rocks woke me up by She Rocks she

was bored sitting on her own, my mom, Victor and my sister had all gone to work

and the kids had gone to school so she had no one to play with. I woke up and

showered and we watched a bit of TV then made ourselves lunch, Cleo called to

said work was very busy and she was going to knock of late so she wasn’t going to

be able to make it to see us, we told her it was fine we understood the problems of

the working class, she laughed and called us idiots. In the late afternoon everyone

started arriving back home, we were one big family, She Rocks and I had prepared

super for everyone. My mom said we needed to wait for Mthobisi to arrive back

before eating so he can tell us about his first day at work, I was starving and I really

didn’t see the point in this waiting exercise, but everyone agreed to my mom’s idea

so I was out-voted. An hour later Mthobisi finally arrived and even the kids were

excited to see him, I think they were happy because they were finally going to eat.
We all sat down at the dining room table and my mom had this long prayer thanking

God for Mthobisi’s contract and how it was going to be a success and the prayer was

meant to bless the food but you know black parents. We ate and Mthobisi told us

about his day, everyone had shown up the da went well they did more than he had

thought they were going to, he was in high spirit.

The following morning he went to work early again and this time he told me not to

wake up and make him breakfast, he said me and the baby needed to rest, he was

so thoughtful I was really not a morning person but I was just sacrificing for my

husband. Later in the day She Rocks and I decided to surprise him with lunch at

work. We drove to the site where he was working, halfway there I stopped the car

and told She Rocks to drive because I had terrible cramps, so we swopped seats

and the movement of the car made the cramps worse so I told her to stop and we

waited for about fifteen minutes after that they were gone and she continued driving

and we arrived at Mthobisi’s work, there was a lot of cement and men dressed in

blue that we couldn’t see Mthobisi, we finally spotted him wearing a protective hat

talking to some guys a bit further down from us, we approached him and he was very

surprised to see us and said he needed to go up the scuffle holding to go check

something that one of the workers was telling him about. She Rocks said he was

going that high and he said he will be quick then come and enjoy lunch with us. We

watched him climb up and then one of the guys said the boss wasn’t wearing

protective gear to go up there and the other guy said he was only going to be up

there for a meeting there was no need. She Rocks and I started talking about what

we were going to cook for super then we decided to go and get the food that we for

Mthobisi from the car before he came back as we were walking to the car we heard

people shouting and as we turned back we heard a big thumping sound and I saw
Mthobisi laying on the floor, he had fallen from above here he was, both She Rocks

and I ran to him and I just saw his complexion change immediately we both kneeled

down and She Rocks put her hand on his neck and she shook her head and I could

see she had tears in her eyes, I put my hand in his neck and there was nothing, no

sign of life. The cramps came back heavy this time and I started screaming. My

husband was dead and my baby was coming…77

“He fell down from up there; he wasn’t wearing a harness” I heard someone shout

That to another person. “Somebody please call an ambulance” I said crying from

both the thought of losing my husband and the pain that was happening in my

tummy. The ambulance was for the both of us. She Rocks moved closer to Mthobisi

also felt his neck and shook her head and I knew exactly what the head shaking

meant, he was gone but unlike me she didn’t start screaming and wailing in panic,

she put two hands on his check and started pumping it, I wanted to ask what the hell

she was doing but she was too focused on what she was doing and everyone

around stood still, I swear for about seven minutes we were all holding our breaths in

anticipation of what was going to happen next, She Rocks was putting pressure in

his chest and at the same time praying. “Please father God don’t let him die, please

Dear Lord” she kept saying. I was shaking to a point where I felt like I was going to

pass out, I was so scared of the situation that I was in that I couldn’t even pray, it felt

like I was in this horrible nightmare I kept pinching myself so I could wake up from it

but nothing. After seven minutes of pressing Mthobisi’s chest we started hearing

some sounds from him, it sounded like he was breathing through his throat, the

sound sounded like a person who is snoring.

She Rocks held my hand tight I guess we were both nervous to see what was going

to happen next. On the inside I was praying so hard but words just wouldn’t come

out this prayer was too personal no one else was allowed to hear it, the prayer was

between me and God. She Rocks kept standing to try and go and see what was

happening but I wouldn’t let her, I would not say a word, I was just pull her and she

would end up in the same position she was sitting in.

After what felt like eternity the baby started crying, I could hear the sigh of relief from

everyone in the room. The nurse brought the baby to my chest and I held her in my

arms, it was a baby girl and she was black, my heart was beaming with excitement

and happiness. Both She Rocks and I had tears of joy, the nurse said they need to

clean the baby I told She Rocks to follow her and make sure that my baby is not

swopped with another, she smiled and said she would handle it. This was the

happiest day of my life and nothing was going to get me down.

I ran out of the bedroom like a possessed woman to go check on my baby, as I was

passing the passage my eyes caught sight of something that was laying on the floor

at first I could not believe my own eyes, right there on the passage was a body of my

best friend She Rocks covered in blood, my heart almost stopped, I kneeled down

and started calling her name, there was no response from her, I shook her and her

entire body moved, she was dead. I stood up fearing the worst and went to the

dining room, I found my mother’s body on the floor also covered in bloody, my heart

almost came out of my mouth, tears were flowing down my face I screamed “mama,

mama” there was also no response from her, I didn’t want to move to the next room

but I didn’t have to because when I turned to look away from my mother because my

heart could not handle seeing her like that, there laid Victor a few meters away from
my mother’s body, he was also dead. I felt faintly, my legs were weak but I could not

afford to lose focus, I needed to find my daughter.

My sister stepped in and said “Lesedi go and bath and we will look after the baby. No

one is fighting with you; I can see you want to turn this into a fight.” My sister was

right, I did need a bath, I left without responding and took a bath but didn’t seat in the

bath, the stitches were not letting me enjoy the bath, that must have been the

quickest bath of my life because I couldn’t soak myself in water like I usually do

when I bath. I went back to the girls after I had done bathing, I was actually in no

mood for company but these people were here to support me and the least I could

do was be kind and grateful to them for the support. As soon as I walked in the room

Cleo said I look much better, I smiled and told her to mind her own business. She

Rocks pointed to my breast and that my t-shirt was wet, oh gosh my boobs were

dripping milk, I was so disgusted, I took Dineo to the bedroom so I could feed her

then I changed my clothes again, we women have the hardest job in the world,

carrying a baby for nine months with limitations of what you can and cannot eat and

after that you still have to go through all this breastfeeding mess and looking after a

screaming baby. While I had put her down to change my t-shirt she had fallen

asleep, I didn’t want to leave her alone after the dream I had so I called the girls and

asked that we sit in the bedroom instead and they were confused because they said

we will wake the baby, I told them I didn’t want her sleeping during the day because

it meant she would keep me up all night that was also part of the truth, the way that

dream had depressed me I still couldn’t talk about it. “Don’t you guys think it would

have been amazing to have Jessica and Andiswa share this moment with us?” I

asked the ladies and everyone was in agreement except for Cleo of course. “If
Andiswa was here you would have given birth in prison” we all laughed and She

Rocks told her not to speak ill of the dead.

I swear I wanted to call my mother in law and tell her whatever she had done to my

daughter she must come and undo it but I knew that I knew that would be a futile

exercise because my mother in law would be angry and say I’m accusing her of

witchcraft and we would end up having a screaming match and my baby would still

not be okay. “Lesedi, she has a high temperature, we need to get her to the doctor.”

My mom said looking at me with a worried look. “What do you mean high

temperature, she’s been fine the whole day, laughing and

When we arrived home everyone was very surprised to see us back so soon, I had

forgotten to let everyone know that Dineo was discharged but it was a celebration.

My mom said her house was very cold and maybe that is why Dineo was sick so she

suggested that we move back to our own place in Midrand I can’t say I was sad, my

mom’s place was getting too small for us with so many people around. I loved having

everyone there but there was never a quiet moment there was always people

around, it felt like I was in Park Station that place is busy twenty-four hours. I

pretended to be sad to be leaving them, I asked She Rocks if she wanted to move in

with us and Mthobisi gave me a death stare and I pretended not to see him and

luckily turned my offer down and said she said she would feel like a third wheel and

Mthobisi and I needed to bond with the baby, I couldn’t have agreed with her more, I

was hoping she would decline my offer, and I only asked because it’s what nice

people do, I don’t know

It’s funny how the first person I wanted to protect was my baby, I didn’t care about
myself or Mthobisi, my number one priority was the baby, she had to be safe first

then the rest would follow. I wish I could put her in a bubble where no harm could

come to her, where she would always be safe and protected, motherhood was really

changing me. I didn’t even put a gown on I just left the room in a night dress, I didn’t

care about being cold I just wanted to keep my baby safe. Mthobisi was calling

behind me, he couldn’t shout out loud because he didn’t want to wake the baby, well

it was too late for that because I was going to wake her up.

As I got into Dineo’s room and was about to pick her up Mthobisi was next to me

asking “what are you doing?” I looked at him confused by his questions and he

asked it again this time also asking me why I had said I was coming to get the baby.

I told him because of his phone conversation about our house being surrounded by

gunmen, he looked at me with more confusion in his face then a light bulb went on in

his head “ohhh, that conversation? It was someone telling me what had happened.

There are no gunmen surrounding our house, open the curtains and look outside

and see for yourself” he said with a lot of confidence and self-assurance. I went to

the window and opened the curtain, still in disbelief I looked outside and just like he

had said there was no one outside, I took a sigh of relief and went to him and

hugged him and said “thank you, I was so worried about Dineo I didn’t know what I

was going to do with her.” He held my hand and led me back to our bedroom, I

couldn’t believe I had been so stupid, just hearing a few words and assuming the

worst, maybe his mom was right, I was a bit paranoid, I needed to calm myself down.

When we got to bed Mthobisi laid my head on his chest and kept playing with my

hair until I fell asleep. In the early hours of the morning I was woken up by Dineo’s

cries, at first I was a little confused as to what was going on, it took me a few

seconds to remember that I had a baby and that was the one that was crying and I
needed to attend to her, I got out of bed, honestly not loving that moment,Mthobisi

was snoring away, I went to her room and I feed her then changed her nappy and

put her back in bed and waited for her to fall asleep and then dragged myself to my

own bed after. Hardly thirty minutes later she was up again crying. I went to her

room, picked her up and took her to our room and told Mthobisi to wake up because

his daughter wanted to play, needless to say he was not impressed with me but this

was our child not mine alone, we both made her and we were both going to share

the responsibilities good and bad. “Play with her honey.” He said as he rolled himself

to face the opposite direction from me, I went to the other side of the bed where he

was facing and told him she was tired of playing with me and that she wanted her

daddy. He was irritated and trying very hard not to show it, but so was I, my sleep is

very important to me and any disruptions upset me. He took Dineo from me and

started playing with her and she started crying again and he looked at me and asked

what he was doing wrong. “You irritated, babies sense your mood, change your

attitude.” I said with a smile on my face. “Okay baby-whisperer” he said with a smile

on his face and we both laughed and as soon as we started laughing Dineo joined in

on the laughing she was such a happy baby, she had a way of just making my heart

melt. We all ended up in bed and we decided to let her sleep in our bed that night, it

was her first night at home she was still getting used to it, that was our excuse for

letting her sleep in our bed. The next morning Mthobisi was up first and woke me up

with breakfast, I know this was sweet and romantic but all I wanted was more sleep I

didn’t want food or care about it at the moment, the baby had kept me up most of the

night and I honestly missed sleeping a full straight eight hours sleep with no

interruptions, but I didn’t want to be rude to my husband so I got up, thanked him for

the breakfast went to the bathroom to brushed my teeth and wash my face. When I
got back to the room Dineo was up, I looked at Mthobisi and asked if he woke her up

and he shook his head but had a mischievous smile on his face, I knew he must

have woken her up but I had no strength to shout or argue with him. I quickly ate

because I knew soon I would have to feed her. “What do you feel like doing today?”

Mthobisi asked me a stupid question. The baby was only a few days I obviously

could not go out, I smiled and said “movies would be great.” He smiled and said he

was going to book us tickets online I shook my head in disbelief and asked “what are

we going to do with her?” I asked pointing at the baby, he said we will find a baby-

sitter to watch her while we go out. Hell to the no, I was not going to leave my baby

with a stranger but I think being a mother had somehow matured my ways of thinking

and reasoning because instead of shouting and throwing accusations of him being

inconsiderate I simple said “Honey, we have lots of movie’s in the house, why don’t

we stay in and watch movies here, we can bond as a family.” That immediately put a

smile on his face and he agreed. When we were done with breakfast I feed Dineo,

when I was done with that I bath her and then dressed her in one of her cute outfits

that my mom bought for her, she looked so pretty, I loved my baby very much she

had a piece of my heart. I asked Mthobisi to look after her while I quickly showered

when I was done she was asleep, her sleeping patterns were all over the place, she

slept and woke whenever she felt like it. That day I spent my morning watching TV,

while Mthobisi was busy with work in his study, every now and again she would

wake up, I would feed her, change her nappy and she would play with me or I would

call my husband to come and play with her which he absolutely loved. Lunch time I

let him play with her while I made us lunch and in the evening we watched a movie

all three of us and around eight we took a break and gave Dineo a bath, after her

bath we went back to watching movies and Dineo fell asleep midway through the
movie so we decided to rather all go to bed because letting her sleep only meant she

would wake up as soon as we went to bed, I swear our lives were revolving around

the baby not that I minded at all. The following weeks that followed that was our daily

routine, then Mthobisi had to go back to work and I was left with Dineo all by myself,

my friends and family would visit every now and again but when they left it would just

be me and my precious baby, there were days when I wish I could hide for a few

hours, the constant crying was getting to me, don’t get me wrong I loved her with all

my heart but I could not do a thing I had to watch her all the time, even taking a bath

was a luxury, I had to take quick showers in between her naps, when I mentioned

this to Mthobisi he suggested we get a nanny, I know he meant well by all this and

the first time when he mentioned it I was against it, but after a few weeks with the

baby I was soon realizing that this was no child play, I agreed to getting a nanny, I

needed help, it doesn’t help me acting like superwoman while I was struggling, my

mom was not going to move in with us to help me with the baby, she had her

husband and work to take care of and I totally understood that. Mthobisi suggested

that we hold interviews to make sure we get the best nanny for our daughter. I can’t

say this was something I was looking forward to, there are a lot of crazy people out

there claiming to be nannies only to come to your house steal your baby and all your

furniture, I know I am being dramatic but I have heard horrific stories about the so-

called “fake nannies” and I know they were putting a bad name against all the good

nannies that were out there looking for jobs. I decided to enlist the help of an agent

at least they would do all the background check and I would have someone to blame

should they mess me up. That evening I sent a mail to an agent and the following

morning I received a response with a list of names and their cv and references. I

went through all of them and told her which ones I was interested in. I choose four
people out of ten. The agent called and said she would set up the interviews. I was

actually getting excited about the idea of having someone help me with Dineo then I

would have time to do other things. That day when Mthobisi came back from work he

told me he had a surprise for me and he covered my hands with his hand and led me

outside when I got outside he removed his hands from my eyes and when I looked

he had bought me a white Land Rover, he said I was a mother now and could no

longer drive small cars I needed something big, a family car to be precise. I was so

happy I was jumping up and down, I wanted us to go and test drive it but we heard

Dineo crying so we had to run back inside to make sure she was okay. I cooked

dinner while Mthobisi bathe her. After we ate I feed my daughter and she fell asleep

while I was still feeding her, as soon as she fell asleep I put her in her bed in her

room which never worked because I knew after a couple of hours she would start

crying and I would have to move her to our bed, this was an everyday exercise, we

were trying our best to get her to sleep alone in her room but we were failing. While

she was sleeping Mthobisi put her car-seat in my new car and I asked to take it for a

spin around the complex we couldn’t both go, one of us had to stay behind and

watch the baby and the one obviously had to be him. I drove around the complex

and gosh the car drove like a dream, I loved it. I went back to the house and Mthobisi

said Dineo was still sleeping so we could have some adult quality time, I laughed

because I knew exactly what he meant by “adult quality time”. We started kissing

and as we were about to get serious she started crying so we had to stop and go

attend to her. Mthobisi went to go get her from the room while I went to our room to

prepare the bed because she was again going to sleep in our bed which had been

happening ever since we moved back in the house.

The following morning, I was the first one up even before Dineo, for some reason I
just could not sleep which was very rare for me, so I woke up and prepared breakfast

for my husband he was very happy to receive breakfast before work because I had

not done that since he had gone back to work. We ate breakfast and he left for work

and I told him I had a few interviews set up with the agency, he asked if they were

coming to the house, I told him I was going to their offices I didn’t want them coming

back to the house to rob us if they didn’t get the job, Mthobisi nodded and said “yes,

better be safe than sorry, you can’t trust just anybody these days.” We hugged and

kissed each other goodbye and he left for work.

I quickly showered before Dineo woke up and got myself ready, I didn’t want to look

like a lazy housewife so I tried to look formal, in all honesty I was slowly losing

myself I had a degree but here I was unemployed and with no plan of finding a job, I

didn’t even know if I should call myself a housewife or a businesswoman because I

did try to open my own business until that bastard Spencer ruined it for me, I hope

he was rotting in hell. While I was still undecided on what to wear Dineo woke up and

I had to feed her and get her ready to go meet her possible new nanny. When we

were done I put her at the back of the car and gave her favourite toy to keep her

busy. We drove to the agency’s offices, they were in a very big office park in Rivonia,

driving in that office park made me miss my days of being employed. I went to

reception and told them I was there for Lucy, they called her and she came to meet

us downstairs and took us to her office which was very nice and she told me that

most clients preferred to do interviews at their homes, I told her there were a lot of

chancers out there and I didn’t want to risk it, she smiled and said that was true. Half

an hour later the first person arrived, a very lovely lady who said she had nursing

experience and she played a bit with Dineo to show me her skills and she answered

all my questions and I was really at ease with her. Forty-five minutes later another
one came and she was also amazing with Dineo and I also liked her, after her was a

gay guy arrived, I had never meet a gay nanny before and he was also amazing and

I think I clicked more with him than I did with anyone else, the fourth person didn’t

show up. After the last interview didn’t show up I thanked Lucy and I told her I would

discuss with my husband and let her know who we will be selecting for the job, she

walked us out. I went to the parking and placed Dineo in her seat and buckled her

up. I drove out of the office park as I got to the gate there was a bit of chaos

happening and I wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, it took me a few seconds to

figure out that there was a truck that was being hijacked right at the gate of the office

park, I saw guys running out of the truck and the hijackers shooting at them, I froze, I

didn’t know what to do I was already out of the office park so I decided to turn back

and go back inside, but I was shaking so hard that I was struggling to start the car, I

had stopped paying attention to what was happening outside and focusing on the car

and wanting to run back inside that I had not realized that the was a person at my

window. The guy knocked and I switched on the car but it was on neutral so it wasn’t

moving, while I was still trying to put it on drive I just saw the window break into a

thousand pieces, I wasn’t sure if he had shot through the window or if he had

punched it. The guy opened my door and pulled me out, I tried fighting back and

shouting and telling him to leave me alone but he wouldn’t, he pulled me out of the

car and got inside it. I screamed “wait” while I opened the back seat to get my baby

out. I managed to open the door and as I was about to grab her, the car speed of

with my baby inside.

When we arrived home everyone was very surprised to see us back so soon, I had

forgotten to let everyone know that Dineo was discharged but it was a celebration.

My mom said her house was very cold and maybe that is why Dineo was sick so she
suggested that we move back to our own place in Midrand I can’t say I was sad, my

mom’s place was getting too small for us with so many people around. I loved having

everyone there but there was never a quiet moment there was always people

around, it felt like I was in Park Station that place is busy twenty-four hours. I

pretended to be sad to be leaving them, I asked She Rocks if she wanted to move in

with us and Mthobisi gave me a death stare and I pretended not to see him and

luckily turned my offer down and said she said she would feel like a third wheel and

Mthobisi and I needed to bond with the baby, I couldn’t have agreed with her more, I

was hoping she would decline my offer, and I only asked because it’s what nice

people do, I don’t know what I would have done if she had said she wants to move in

with us. We packed our things and Mthobisi said we should leave the court for when

we visit my mother’s place then we don’t have to worry about a bed for Dineo,

It’s funny how the first person I wanted to protect was my baby, I didn’t care about

myself or Mthobisi, my number one priority was the baby, she had to be safe first

then the rest would follow. I wish I could put her in a bubble where no harm could

come to her, where she would always be safe and protected, motherhood was really

changing me. I didn’t even put a gown on I just left the room in a night dress, I didn’t

care about being cold I just wanted to keep my baby safe. Mthobisi was calling

behind me, he couldn’t shout out loud because he didn’t want to wake the baby, well

it was too late for that because I was going to wake her up.

As I got into Dineo’s room and was about to pick her up Mthobisi was next to me

asking “what are you doing?” I looked at him confused by his

The last thing I saw of my car was the smoke coming from the wheels as my car

speed away with my baby inside and all I could do was scream “help, help, help” I

ran inside and as I was about to pass the boom gate a security guard came to me
and asked where I had been shot because he couldn’t see any blood, I couldn’t

speak all I was doing was crying and screaming and pointing at the direction where

the car had gone. “Ma’am please, I need you to calm down and tell me where you

have been shot, we need to apply pressure on the wound so you don’t bleed to

death” this man had obviously done his first aid class but that shit was not going to

help bring my baby back, I tried calming myself down but nothing seemed to

work. My phone was in the bloody car, my bag with my wallet, I couldn’t do

anything. This security guard was my only help available so I needed to relax myself

very quickly, I told him I was not shot but they took my car with my baby inside, while

I was still explaining to him we heard sirens, someone had called the police thank

goodness for that soul. I didn’t even finish telling the security guard everything

because my problem was beyond his paygrade, there was not much he could do to

help me, I ran to where the sound of sirens was coming from, the police were

arriving, as they were getting out of the car, no scrap that I opened the car door for

the police who was on the passenger seat, I think my anxiousness surprised the but

luckily it was a lady who was a passenger, I told her that the hijackers had stolen my

car and my baby was inside it. She told me to calm down and tell them everything

that happened, how I hate people who ask you to start a story from the beginning,

my baby could be at the boarder by now while I am busy narrating the bloody story

of how the car was stolen and what I was doing there, but it was either me telling

then everything that happened and them helping me find Dineo or being upset and

not getting the help I needed.

I ran through the story so fast there were instances where she would ask me to

speak slowly because she didn’t hear what I had just said. When I was done she

made a call and then asked me for the car number plates, the car was still new I
didn’t know the number plates off by heart, I had to call Mthbobisi so I asked the lady

cop to borrow me her phone to call my husband and she said I shouldn’t fininsh her

airtime, I knew Mthobisi was going to ask me a million questions so the best thing to

do was ask him the important question first of what my number plates were and tell

him to call me back so I could tell him what had happened, I didn’t exactly that , he

wanted to know why much he call me on that number and not on my number and

whose phone it was. “It’s the police’s phone, please honey call me back” he wouldn’t

stop with the questions. “Lesedi, have you been arrested. What the hell do these

cops want from us?” I quickly said no and he said “Oh God, please don’t tell me you

got into an accident” I hung up, I was not in the mood of this guessing game, I gave

the cop the piece of paper I had written the number plates on that Mthobisi had given

me. She went inside the car and use the car radio to report my car as stolen and a

possible child kidnaping. While she was still in the car with the door opened her

phone rang, I was still holding it, it was my husband. “What’s going on?” that was

the first thing he said. I told him what had happened and he asked where I was and I

told him and he said he was on his way.

In less than fifteen minutes Mthobisi was there, “Did you get a good look at

them? Would you be able to recognise them if you saw them again?” this was a

question that Mthobisi asked me as soon as he arrived, I shook my head and before

I could explain the lady police who had been comforting me asked “is your husband

a policeman?” I shook my head and said no, my answer was for both of them, but it

didn’t seem like neither of them were listening to me. There was so much going on

around us, the police were all over the place, there were ambulances too and I saw

some people dressed like doctors that are about to go in theatre and operate on a

person, they were dressed in blue and were wearing masks. Whatever those thugs
were trying to steal must have been major, there were so many people combing the

crime scene, I had never seen so many people in one crime scene and trust me I

have seen plenty but there was something different about this one, even the time of

response was just to quick for South African police and ambulances, someone had

mentioned that the police station was close but I have seen people who stay two

minutes away from the police station only getting response from the police after two

hours, but that was not my main concern, the only thing I cared about was finding my

baby. One of the people who were dressed like a doctor came to me and asked if I

had been hurt or if any of my blood was in the crime scene, I told her no. “Your

shoes they have blood, whose blood is that?” she asked starring at my beautiful

shoes that Mthobisi had bought for me in Paris. “I don’t know, I never even realized

that my shoes had blood.” I said looking at her wondering what the hell she was

thinking. “we’ve got more blood here, come bag it.” She said shouting and a guy

come with one of those transparent bags and handed it to her, she grabbed the bag

then stared at “What?” I asked a bit confused. “I need that blood in your shoes

please take them off” she said firmly, was this women crazy, there was glass

everywhere, how was I going to walk bare feet in public? I shook my head and said

“I am sorry but that is not going to happen, you can wipe the blood and collect all the

evidence you need but my shoes are not leaving my feet.” She called one of the

cops who had been with her and said to him “arrest her for obstruction of justice” to

say I was annoyed would be an understatement, Mthobisi stepped in and said that

won’t be necessary and he asked me to remove my shoes and let the police do their

job.

I couldn’t believe he was taking their side, but I obliged and handed my shoes over

with a sore heart. The police officer lady’s phone rang and I gave it to her and she
went away from us and while she was gone Mthobisi continued with his question and

asked if I would be able to recognize the people who took our baby, he had stopped

asking a lot of suspicious questions when the police lady asked if he was a cop, I

told him they were wearing balaclavas so I would not be able to recognise them. I

could see the disappointment in his face, the police lady came back and said

someone had spotted my car in Tembisa, they were following up on that lead and

the police in the Tembisa area were on the lookout for my car. Mthobisi had called

the tracker company and they couldn’t see where the car was, I swear sometimes

having a tracking company is useless especially when they can’t pick up the signal of

their own bloody tracking device, they said we should call again after thirty minutes

and maybe by then they would be able to pick up the signal, I found them to be a

waste of time. The ambulance was taking security guards that had been injured and

there were now people from the offices coming to see what had happened the police

told Mthobisi and I that we could go and they were going to call us if there were any

new developments and I told them we were not going anywhere, at the back of my

mind I strongly believed that those fools were going to come back and bring back my

baby, at that moment I didn’t care about the car all I cared about was finding my

baby, even they just brought back the car and brought my baby back to me I

wouldn’t care, in fact if they had come back I would I would ask for my baby and tell

them they could keep the car.

Another call come through the police in Tembisa had found our car, I almost jumped

up and down with excitement, I heard the police lady talking on the phone but then

more sirens sound came it was a fire truck and I couldn’t hear the conversation

because of the noise but I knew she was going to come back and tell us what had

happened. She came back and said I have some news about your car, I couldn’t
wait for her to tell us “Okay, where is our baby? Where can we pick her up?” I asked

with excitement in my voice, Mthobisi held my hand and told me to wait for the police

officer to tell us what is going on. “The police in Tembisa managed to located your

car but I have bad news” my heart just sank at hearing the word bad news, I was not

ready to hear whatever bad news shew was about to drop on us. “No please no, I

don’t want any bad news, that’s all I have been hearing, I just want some good news,

some positivity please, my heart won’t be able to take it, please don’t say what I think

you are going to say, please, please” I said sobbing, my excitement had quickly

turned into tears and I was sobbing like a child.

Mthobisi was trying hard to calm me down but I was hysterically crying and I could

see people looking and pointing at me I didn’t care about anyone or anything at that

moment.

Mthobisi asked the police office to continue and she said “They found your car

abandoned but there was no one inside it, not even the baby.” Both my husband and

I exclaimed “What?”

You know that saying that when it rains it doesn’t just rain it pours, in my situation it

wasn’t pouring it was a storm, forget a storm it was a tsunami. My world was

crumbling right in front of my eyes and there was not a thing I could do it to stop it,

everything was out of my control, beyond my control. “What do you mean the baby

wasn’t in the car? What kind of truck hijackers take a baby? Those people were not

here for me or my baby, they were here for that damn truck we just happened to be

at the wrong place at the wrong time. So why the fuck would they take my

daughter? I mean if they realized there was a child in the back they would have

dumped her with the car right? Why take her? She’s just a baby, she can’t even
speak.” I said rumbling on and on, Mthobosi put his arm around me and tried to calm

me down, I was still speaking and rumbling on, I was trying to figure the whole thing

out and it felt like if I spoke it out loud it then it would make more sense or someone

would solve this puzzle for me because it felt like it was a very complicated puzzle

that had missing parts, I could not put it together no matter how hard I tried. The

police had now gathered together and I was standing with my husband, I asked him

if this made sense to him and he shook his head and said he didn’t understand it

either, he said he needed to make a few calls because sitting around and waiting for

the police was not going to help us with anything, I told him to go ahead at this point I

didn’t care what he did, anything to help us bring back our baby was going to help us

get our baby back. The police lady came back and asked me if we had a picture of

the baby, I reminded her that all my belongings were in the car that had just been

stolen but I told her we had some in the house, Mthobisi came back while I was still

talking to the police lady and he luckily had some pictures of Dineo in his wallet and

in his car, I realized how much my husband loved our baby, her pictures were

everywhere in his car, he said he wanted to have them framed. We gave the police

officer all our details and they told us that they were going to contact us as soon as

there were any changes to the case, they were going back to the police station to file

the report, they told us were more than welcomed to go with them but Mthobisi said

our presence there would not make any difference, we needed to be proactive and

go and look for our baby, honestly I had no faith in the justice system, I knew

chances of them finding our baby were very slim. I somewhat didn’t want to leave

that place it felt like leaving that place would be abandoning my baby but I didn’t

have the energy to argue with Mthobisi because he wanted to leave, besides what

was I going to say we would stay and do at that place I had no proper argument to
stay as much as I wanted to stay but I had to listen to the head of the house. And so

we drove away with a heavy heart, I couldn’t help but shed tears. Mthobisi was not

so focused on me, he was busy on the phone trying to find our daughter. I thought

we were going home but nope I was wrong.

Mthobisi drove us straight to Tembisa al the way there he was on the phone, we

went to where the car had been found, it was surrounded by the police, I didn’t even

want to get out of the car Mthobisi came to the passenger side and opened my door

and said “let’s go” I got out and he held my hand and we walked to the car as we got

closer to the car my knees started to feel week and I didn’t want to get closer any

more but Mthobisi kept my hand intact in his hand and we walked to the car and he

spoke to the police officer who was standing next to the car, I couldn’t even hear

what they were saying to each other my ears were ringing just remembering what

had happened earlier when I was in the same car and how they had taken my baby,

but I got a feeling that my husband and the policeman knew each other. Mthobisi

pulled my hand and I realised that I missed whatever he had said because my mind

had just taken a mini trip, I followed him pretending to have heard whatever he had

said we went to the car with no police supervision, he opened the driver’s door while

I stood next to him, he told me to come closer so I block him from people’s view, I

didn’t ask questions I followed his instructions not sure exactly what we were

doing. He removed the cover of the starring wheel and wires were exposed and I

wondered if we were there to fix the damn car when we could be out finding our

baby. He put his hand a bit lower in the starring wheel and took out a small black

bag, he looked around then opened the bag and removed the contents that were in

the bag in his hand, diamonds, he smiled and said they were obviously not after the

diamonds. “Unfucken believable, you put fucken diamond’s in my car? What the
fuck is wrong with you? Is this all you care about? Our daughter is missing and all

you care about is this shit!” I said pointing at his diamonds. He told me that was not

true, we were there to get clues, he didn’t care about the diamonds, if he had to give

those diamonds in return of his daughter safely he would do it in a heartbeat, I

believed him. While we were still talking his phone rang and he spoke for a few

minutes and when he was done, he turned to me and said “we need to go, someone

has some information about our daughter.” We literally ran to the car, we jumped in

and he speed off, this was some good news, I didn’t ask any questions I just wanted

us to get to the person who had information, I was going to ask those

questions. Mthobisi was speeding and driving way over the limit and I wanted to tell

him to go even faster but I didn’t want us hitting some child and hurting them, I didn’t

want another parent going through the same thing that I was going through so I

choose to be the voice of reason and told Mthobisi to slow down there were too

many kids playing on the streets and he actually listened and slowed down. We

arrived at some house and we went and knocked at the door and some old lady

opened the door I wondered what would an old lady like her know about hijacking

she asked if we were there for her son and Mthobisi said yes we was, she pointed us

to the backroom when we go to the backroom there was no need to even knock

because the door was opened and there was a guy sitting on a bed smoking zol we

walked in and as soon as he saw Mthobisi he jumped up to his feet and said “yhooo,

yhooo, yhooooo, I’m sorry grootman, I had no idea you were the one coming” he

showed my husband so much respect that I was convinced that their paths had

come across each other before but I didn’t give a rat’s ass about that, I wanted to

know where my child was. “Sorry bhuti but please can you give me my child” I said

totally ignoring the fact that he was close to bowing down to Mthobisi. He looked at
me then at Mthobisi as if signalling something. Mthobisi pulled me to the side and

whispered that he knew the guy but he was not going to speak in front of me and

asked me to go sit in the car while he sorts this out. I asked if that meant he would

come back with our baby, I know I was asking a crazy question but I wanted my

baby back, Mthobisi told me that the guy just had information he didn’t have our

baby, he handed me the keys and I walked back to the car, I sat have sat there for

fifteen minutes when Mthobisi came back he got in the car and started driving, I

could see he was fuming, I decided to wait to see where we were going before

asking any questions. We arrived in Kempton Park and I could no longer hold

myself I didn’t care how angry his was this was my baby too I needed to know what

the hell was going on. “Is Dineo in this house?” I asked as we parked outside some

dodgy looking house, he shook his head and said no, I asked him what we were

doing there “we getting guns” and walked out of the car leaving me with my mouth

wide opened, wondering how did the finding our baby exercise turn into a shooting

session. After I had managed to calm myself down I got out of the car and ran after

him before I could say anything he looked at me and said “Lesedi please go back in

the car and stay there until I come back” I wanted to argue but he never gave me an

opportunity to, I went back to the car with my tail between my legs. After a few

minutes Mthobisi came back carrying a gym bag and went straight to the boot, I got

out of the car, he opened the boot and removed the spare wheel and put the bag

there and place the bag he was carrying in it’s place. “I’ve seen enough guns and

shootings today to last me a lifetime, I don’t want to be part of this, please take me

home, you can fight this battle on your own, I am not about this kind of life.” He

nodded and said he was thinking the same thing but was too scared to say because
he thought I was going to fight him, he told me to get in the car and he would drop

me home.

We arrived at our house and he hugged me and kissed me goodbye and told me the

next time he sees me he will have our baby with him, I honestly wanted to believe

him but something in my heart told me that the next time I see him and our baby

would be in a coffin. “Honey, we have tried our best to find Naledi, please let’s leave

it to the police now, give them a chance to do their job” he shook his head and said

we both know how the police didn’t have the same resources that he had and how

they had probably forgotten about our case already. He hugged me one me time

and I told him I loved him and he left and in my heart I knew this was the last time

seeing him.

After Mthobisi left I went inside the house and went to our bedroom and everything in

the room just reminded me of Dineo, her clothes were everywhere, I couldn’t look at

any part of the house without being reminded of my beautiful, precious daughter. I

couldn’t find anything to do and I needed to keep busy because I knew being busy

would help me not think, so I grabbed all our dirty clothes and decided to go old

school I was not going to wash them with the washing machine, I was going to wash

them by hand. I went to the bathroom and started washing the clothes, there was

quite a lot of clothes to wash and for those few minutes my mind was occupied by

something else, but in less than an hour I was done washing them and had to find

something else to do. I decided to clean the house, I removed all the curtains and

washed them and put up clean ones, I washed the bedding from all the rooms. It

was getting dark outside and Mthobisi was still not back and to make matters worse I

could not get hold of him because I had no phone and besides I figured wherever he

was, answering a phone would be the last thing in his mind. The house was
spotless every inch and corner was clean, now that the house was clean I had

nothing else to do. I decided to go and buy myself a cheap phone because sitting

around and not being able to contact my husband was driving me insane. I took my

old car and I was actually scared to drive thinking I would get hijacked again.

I decided to go to Mall of Africa as it was close to home and their shops close late. I

kept looking at the review mirror all the way there just to make sure I wasn’t being

followed. I ran to a cellphone store and decided to get an iPhone like the one I had

before then at least I would be able to get all my old contacts back. I got the phone

and went back to the car and drove home in paranoia looking in every mirror and not

stopping at any robots just yielding then driving off. When I got home I activated my

phone and when it was up and running the first thing I did was call my husband, his

phone rang with no answer, I figured he must have put it on silence so I sent him a

message to tell him I had done a sim swop and he should call me as soon as he got

the message. I decided to call the police to check if there were any new

developments and I was transferred from one person to another when eventually I

managed to speak to the right person as I was about to drop the phone. He

explained to me that they had my car in their possession and were going to dust it off

for finger prints and collect any evidence that might be in it, please note that this was

still going to be done, it had not yet been done, they had had my car in their

possession for hours, I asked why had they not done that earlier and he said they

was only one person who did finger prints and he had been busy with other cases

and had now knocked off so he would look at my car the following day. I now knew

what Mthobisi meant what he said the police didn’t have enough resources, I

thanked him and gave him my numbers and told him if there were any new

developments to please let me know, no matter how small or big then I hung up the
phone. After the call to the police I wanted to call She Rocks, I needed a friendly ear

but then I remembered that she was staying at my mother’s place and I didn’t want

my parents worrying about this and if Mthobisi came back with the baby then they

never have to find out about this. I decided to call Cleo instead the first thing she

said was “someone better be dead for you to be calling me this time of the night”

hearing her say that made me realize that two people could be dead and there was

no way of knowing this. I told her that I needed her and she was the only one I could

talk to and she got serious and asked what was going on, I made her promise to not

tell this to anyone and she promised that she won’t and I shared the whole story with

her and the first thing she said after I was done was “Lee, you need to go post on all

social media, put her pictures up make people aware that your daughter is missing,

people will share and soon enough the word will spread and whoever has her will

know that they are not safe because a someone who sees the post might see her

and recognise her from the social media pictures.” What Cleo was saying made a lot

of sense but I was not about to put my baby’s pictures everywhere. “Once the word

gets out that Mthobisi’s child is missing his enemies will come from all the corners of

the earth and would probably offer whoever has our child more money than we could

possible afford, I can’t take that chance of putting it on Social media, I just can’t

Cleo.” She said she understood, these were the disadvantages of being married to

the kind of man that I was married to, but this was my fate and I had accepted it but

now the only innocent person in all of this mess my baby was being affected by this

shitty life, as much as these people had not come for us and we had been at the

wrong place at a wrong time, we now could not share these news with the world

because the world was against us. Cleo asked where Mthobisi was and I told her

that he was out looking for our daughter she asked if she should come over and I
told her it was already late and we were leaving in a dangerous world I would not be

able to leave with myself if anything happened to her, I told her it would be best if

she came the following day instead and she agreed, but we spoke for hours she was

trying very hard to distract me from thinking about what was happening in my life and

I truly appreciated her efforts. After the call to Cleo I fell asleep and had a terrible

nightmare in my dream both Mthobisi and Dineo were dead, I woke up in a cold

sweat when I checked the time it was 06:45 and the first thing I did was check my

phone, there were no missed calls or messages from my husband, my heart sank. I

took a shower then decided to go to the police even if I camp at the police station the

entire day until they get some information or until they get tired of seeing my face

and start doing something.

While I was getting ready to go to the police station my sister called she said she

was checking up on me, she said the kids missed Dineo and wanted to come and

see her, I broke down in tears but tried very hard to not make any sounds so that my

sister doesn’t hear over the phone that I was crying. It was so hard to speak to my

sister and pretend to be okay while I was falling apart. She kept asking if I was okay

and I told her I was a bit fluish which is why I was sniffing a lot and she gave me a

list of medication the way my sister knows medication you would swear she studied

medicine at varsity, she knows what you need to take for stomach ache, ear aches,

pink eyes she knows everything. I thanked her and told her I would give them a call

to let them know when they could come and visit because we were currently visiting

Mthobisi’s mom and letting her get to know her grandchild, y sister said that was very

matured of me, I tried to get off the phone but she wouldn’t she kept talking and

talking, after about twenty minutes for being on the phone she eventually said
goodbye I was so relieved to finally get off the phone, I decide to call Mthobisi one

more time and this time his phone was off.

As I was getting inside the car my phone rang, I answer it was the police officer I had

spoken to the previous day I recognised his voice before he even introduced

himself. My heart was beating so fast and this man was speaking so damn slow. I

asked if he had any feedback. “Yes Mrs Jumbe I do.” Oh my gosh, he took a long

pause and if I was in front of him I would have slaped the feedback out of him. “I’m

afraid it’s not good news” he took another pause and I kept quiet waiting for his

stupid ass to tell me what the hell was going on. “Your husband and your baby…..”

then the phone went tuuuuuuuuuu, I didn’t know if it was network or what but how

did he know that my husband was looking for my baby, I knew something was

seriously wrong I was shaking so hard the phone kept falling while I was trying to call

the police officer back.

MOAYW The Return)

It has been months since that horrible, horrific, unimaginable, unforgettable event

took place, the day when my precious daughter was taken from me by some evil

people. I still had nightmares about it and I strongly believed that I will be haunted by

that day for the rest of my life. Soo much has happened since then, I have been to

hell and back and needed time to heal not that time has done much healing. Please

allow me to take you back to where we last ended.

I called the police man back immediately but it was of course the police station

landline, it rang a million times before someone could answer then I was put through

to this person then through that person and in that process of being sent from pillar
to post fear had changed to frustration and annoyance. I decided to drive to the

police station while holding to be transferred because I realized the phone business

was not working, I needed a face to face conversation with the stupid man who told

me he had bad news then hung up, who the hell does that to a person knowing very

well they are going through hell with worry. I wanted to get to the police station and

strangle him, the fact that he was a police officer meant nothing to me, he had just

messed with the wrong woman on a wrong day, this was the day I was going to take

out all my frustrations on him, now I understand why Xhosa people say “uzakunya”

when they are about to panel beat the shit out of you, that was me ready for war. As

I was parking someone finally gave me a straight answer over the phone, not the

answer I was looking for though, I was told the officer left the building, I knew the

woman was lying but I was about to burst them all on their lie, little did they know

that I was two minutes away from walking through their door. I dropped the phone

without even saying goodbye and I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough. I power-

walked to the door and within seconds I was inside, I demanded to see the officer

Ndzimandze who had called me and someone told me that he just left a few minutes

ago, I had just missed him, apparently, he was on his way to see a Mrs. Jumbe, I

told the lady I was Mrs Jumbe and suddenly she could no longer look at me. What

the hell was going on in that place. “What is he going to see me about?” I asked, the

Rambo in me fading away, she shrugged her shoulders and said she didn’t know, of

course she knew. I told her to call him and tell him I was at the police station waiting

for him and she tried to give me some lame excuse but I was not having any of that,

eventually she gave up and called him. “That Mrs Jumbe is here to see you” it was

as if they had been talking about me the way she spoke to him. I couldn’t hear what

he was saying all I heard was her saying “okay I will tell her” she hung up and told
me that he said I should go back home because he is following on a lead on won’t be

back anytime soon. I told her he called me and there was something that he was

trying to tell me earlier but his line was bad and…” before I could finish the police

lady cut me off and told me she doesn’t know what he wanted to tell me but I should

stay or go or do whatever I wanted but she is busy with her work and had no time to

talk to me, how rude I thought. I took that as a line of being told I should leave and I

walked out of there feeling more hopeless than when I fast walked in. I went to the

car and honestly didn’t want to go home to that empty home, everything in that

house reminded me of my baby, I didn’t want to go home, so I drove around not

knowing where is was going, I found myself in Witbank and that’s when I decided to

stop at a garage and get some water, I bought two bottles of water and then drove

back to Joburg all the way back I was praying to God that my husband and child be

back home. All the memories of losing Neo just came flooding back and I couldn’t

stop crying, the tears were flowing down my eyes to a point where I couldn’t even

see I decided to stop on the side of the road before I cause an accident and calmed

myself down. When I felt a bit better I drove again and for some reason the distance

felt longer than when I was driving not knowing where I was going, I guess at the

back of my head I was wishing that my husband would be home with our child and

the drive felt like it was taking me forever to get home and see my family.

When I got home I went through every room shouting “Mthobisi, honey, please tell

me you are home, Mthobisi” and there was no response, the house was empty all I

could hear was the echo of my voice. I spent that evening alone I didn’t want to go

home to my parents house in case Mthobisi came home with our baby and I wasn’t

aroundt, I didn’t want to take any chances and miss seeing my husband and our

beautiful daughter. I slept on the couch, on an empty stomach, food was the last
thing on my mind. I kept waking up every now and again thinking I was hearing

Naledi cry and I would run to her room to find it empty, then go back to the couch

because the bedroom was a reminder that my husband was not home, I could not

even bear to walk inside the bedroom.

The following morning, I got a call from the Ndzimandze officer who had given me a

calling and he was also the one who was in charge of this case. “We have done

everything in our powers to find your child and the fact that your husband has

decided to take matters into his own hands instead of letting the police do their job

makes things even worse” I looked at this man wondering what he would have done

if this was his child would he have sat with arms folded and not try to do something

to help to bring his child back, but I was so drained, I was mentally and physically

exhausted I had no strength to fight with him, I just wanted my family back. He was

not done, he continued, “you need to prepare yourself for the worst because in

situations like this, when a child has been missing for so long, we usually start

looking for a body, because the chances of your child still being alive are very slim

and we need to be honest with you and we need you to prepare yourself for the

worst…..” I stood up and lifted my hand indicating for him to stop talking and I told

him to stand up and follow me, he was a little confused but nonetheless he followed

me, when we got to the front door I opened the door and showed him out, the man

was still talking “I know this is very hard to take in but you need to consider these

possibilities…” I closed the door on his face and went back to the couch. I sat there

starring into the air for hours and felt paralyzed, I couldn’t move, I don’t know how

long I was on that couch for because when I eventually came to my senses I was in

a strange bed, a bed that I had never seen before, this was not my bed, I looked

around in the room and the room was small and I did not recognise anything about
this place, I had no idea where I was, how did I move from my house to this strange

room I wondered. I tried standing up but my arms were somehow stuck and that’s

when I realized that my hands were tied to the bed, I did the only thing that made

sense in that situation, I screamed my lungs out “Heeeeelp, please help me, I’m in

here.” A nurse walked in and shouted to someone who was at the passage, “she’s

up again, bring the syringe.” What did she mean I was up again? Most importantly

what syringe was she on about? I calmed myself and said “Sister wait, please don’t

inject me, please why am I in hospital? Is my husband and daughter here too?” I

asked hoping and praying that Mthobisi and Dineo were in the same hospital in the

waiting room waiting for me to come out. She shook her head and said “Ma’am you

ask me the same question every time you wake up and you always become violent

after hearing the answer which is why he have had to restrain you and tie your arms

on the bed.” I swore on the sun, ancestors and everything I could think of that I was

not going to be violent, I told her to please tell me what had happened to me and

how I go there and she smiled and said that is better than speaking about my

husband, I was thinking of another way of approaching my husband topic but at that

moment I had to make sure that I was not drugged because my body felt like I had

been sleeping for a very long time. “Your mom brought you here, you are in a mental

institution, you have been through a traumatic experience and you were not ready to

accept it or deal with it so your parents and friends brought you here because you

were in the verge of hurting yourself” I was still stuck on the mental institution part

“I’m sorry but did you say mental institution? As in mental institution as in

emahlanyeni (direct translation the mad house)?” I asked really concerned that a

person of my calibre could end up at a mad house. How and when did this happen? I
took a deep breath and said to the nurse who was looking at me like I was crazy

“How long have I been here for” she smiled and said “a few weeks.”

I screamed “A few weeks? What the hell do you mean a few week, I have to go, I

have to be with my husband and child they need me, I can’t stay here”

At that moment a male nurse walked in with a syringe I was screaming and moving

my arms around trying to break free when I felt a needle prick me and then I was out

like a light.

I don’t know what day it was or time all I know is I when I woke up my room was filled

with flowers, I hate flowers they remind me of funerals, the person who put up those

flowers in my room was very stupid and needed to be shot. I decided not to scream

this time, acting and behaving like a crazy person in a mental institution was not

helping my case I needed to act calm and collected and pretend to be fine, that was

the only way I would ever see the light of day.

I must have sat for over thirty minutes waiting for someone to come and check on

me, all I could hear were screams of my fellow crazy mates and they were driving

me up the wall, if my hands were loose I would have put a pillow in my ears, the loud

screams sounded like people were being murdered, I guess I wasn’t the only one

who did not understand why they were there. After almost an hour of waiting, my

door opened and someone came in. “ohhh, you are awake?” the nurse I had spoken

to previously said appearing from the door. “I promise I won’t go crazy like I did

yesterday.” I assured her, it’s funny how I kept mentioning crazy even though I tried

very hard not to mention that word, I made a mental note to wipe that word out of my

vocabulary. “It’s water under the bridge honey, that was days ago, I’ve even
forgotten about it. “Days ago? Oh, God how strong is that bloody injection. I could

have been here for years and not even know it, this place is hell. I want to go..” I

stopped mid-sentence because I could see the nurse was about to call for the

injection again. “I’m sorry, I’m just not used to being stuck in one place and not being

able to do anything for myself.” The nurse told me this was for my own good and

they took no joy in having me there, everyone wants you to get better if you start

fighting again I’m going to have to use medicine to calm you down. I told her there

will be no more tantrums coming from my side. While we were still talking someone

came in with food, I ate like I had not eaten in years, who knows maybe I had not

eaten in years, I shook my head trying to shake off the crazy thoughts.

The next few days, I behaved, asked few questions and made sure I threw no

tantrums. I was behaving so well that my arms were freed as a reward for good

behaviour but that meant that my door was locked because they thought I was going

to run away, the place felt like prison. The nurse came to see me and told me that

there was group therapy that afternoon as well as one on one sessions later with the

therapist. I told her I was fine, and would be sitting this one out, “Again?” she had

asked me the previous day and the day before that and each time I came up with an

excuse, the only reason why I didn’t want to go was because I knew I was going to

be asked questions and I had no answers and I honestly didn’t feel like sharing my

problems with strangers especially since I had half the story, I had no idea where my

family was or why I was put in a mental institution of all places, not even a public

hospital because that was much better that the place I was in. “This is not a request,

you are going to the group therapy session, otherwise how are you going to get

better if all you do is sit in the room?” I looked at her and asked “what is wrong with

me? You keep telling me that I am not well but I feel fine, in fact I have not felt this
good in months.” That was a bit of an exaggeration but I needed to convince her that

I was fine. “You are not fine, you tried to kill yourself, not once but a number of

times.” At that point I was extremely confuse, why would I want to take myself out of

life, why would I want to kill myself when life was such a beautiful thing and I had so

much to leave for. “Why would I do that? I love myself too much to try and hurt

myself.” A memory of a while ago came back to me where I was trying to drown

myself in my mother’s bathroom, this was after Neo my son died which brought me

to a realisation that my daughter must be dead if I had tried to kill myself, what else

could have caused me so much pain that I felt like ending my life. I didn’t want to ask

because I knew the answer would probably drive me back to crazy land. “Lesedi, we

have spoken about this a number of times, do you remember the talk we had about

your family?” ohhh shit, things were worse than I thought, I could not remember an

important conversation that I had with the nurse about my family, maybe I had really

lost my mind. “Okay I will go to the session” I said trying to get the nurse to get off

my case and to stop her from giving me dirty stares.

In the afternoon a different nurse came to get me to take me to the bloody group

sessions, I was really not looking forward to it but I needed to keep up the

appearance of looking and feeling better and showing up for these silly meetings

was going to work in my favour. I found a sit at the back little did I know that we were

going to be told to bring our chairs to the front and make a circle. After everyone had

settled down we were told to introduce ourselves, one of the people in the group said

“again? We all know each other anyway.” The group leader said we needed to do it

anyway. Everyone stood up one at a time and said their name, it felt like we were at

AA Meeting, I also stood up and introduced myself. After we were done, the group

leader asked who wanted to go first, and a lady who had been twitching her hands
the whole time put her hand up and said she wanted to go first. “I’m ready to share

my story. I have two kids and the father of my children is my own biological father,

you see my father raped me and my sister from the age of thirteen I am now twenty

one years old, I am currently pregnant with my third child.” She stopped and wiped

tears of her face and said “I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me, don’t feel sorry

for me.” The group leader said to her “Do you want to continue with your story

Melissa?” she nodded and said “I’m sure you are all wondering where my mother

was when all this was happening, she was there, I somehow think she knew but

choose to turn a blind eye, anyway one day my sister got fed up with all the shit my

father was doing to us and she snapped and told my mother that our father raped us

and the kids I had were his, I had taken my youngest to the park without telling

anyone, when my mother heard the story she took a gun and shot my sister, then my

father and then went to my room to look for me but unfortunately or fortunately I was

not there and my oldest child had managed to hide inside the wardrobe when my

mother couldn’t find me and my kids, I guess she couldn’t wait till we got home so

she took her own life too” there was not a single dry eye in the room myself included,

I knew I had problems but after hearing this lady’s story I knew my problems

compared to hers were a drop in the ocean, I wanted to stand up and hug her and

promise her that all will be well in the world, she just needed to be strong, but how

could I tell her that when I was stuck with my own stupid little problems that I could

not handle and was so weak and pathetic that I ended up in the looney bin, I felt so

weak and useless after hearing the hell that this lady went through and she was still

standing. I could not believe that at such a young age she had gone through so

much, life truly does give some people crap. Someone asked Mellisa where her kids

were now since she was in a mental institution, she said the social workers took her
children from her because she was not working and had no way to support them.

She said she moved in with her boyfriend who was very abuse and had beat her up

before to a point where he had broken her ribs. I just thought when is this poor girl

going to get a break in life, from one hell to another. Life was really not fair for her.

She said she now suffered from major depression and bipolar and that is why she

was there but fortunately for her because she was pregnant she could not be put on

the hard medication that the rest of us were put on. She said her wish was to stay

with all her kids and as soon as she got better she was going to do everything in her

powers to find her kids and stay with all of them. This woman had every single thing

in life against her yet she was determined to get life back on track, this lady was a

fighter and I wanted to be like her. The group leader thanked her for speaking and

said he was glad to see that she was making progress and was no longer talking

about how she wished she was home when her mom shot everyone in the house, he

asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak, about five people put up their

hands, these people really loved attention, he pointed at another young girl she

looked twenty-three but she said she was nineteen and had an eating disorder, she

was so skinny I didn’t understand what her problem was, she explained that she eats

a lot of food and then goes to the bathroom where no one can see her and vomit all

the food out. Someone blurted out “Why don’t you just not eat instead of wasting

food, there are kids in Somalia who are starving and you are throwing it up down the

drain, sies!!” The instructor reminded everyone that we were not there to judge but to

listen and support. The old looking young lady said she felt fat and ugly all the time

and would turn to food for comfort then after eating a lot of food she would realize

she was going to gain weight then run to the bathroom to vomit everything out. I

honestly did not understand this problem, I was silently judging her for being stupid, I
wanted to ask her why doesn’t she just go to the gym, but I didn’t want to get

reprimanded so I kept my mouth shut. She said she had reached a point where she

no longer could control herself and automatically after eating she would vomit,

nothing was staying in her stomach, I rolled my eyes and wondered what she

expected if she had been putting a finger down her throat for so long every time after

eating, she had basically trained her body to reject food, I honestly felt like this girl

had no problems in life, she was just looking for attention. My minded wondered off

while she was talking, because her story was stupid and upsetting me so I decided

the best thing to do was for me to not listen to her. I wondered about how In my head

I was planning my way out of that place, I was going to be so good and do

everything that they tell me to do and in no time they will think I’m fine and healthy

and let me go, this was almost like prison with good behaviour you get to go home.

While I was still in my head with my thoughts the instructor pointed at me and asked

if I was ready to share my story, I wasn’t ready but I had just made a promise to

myself to do everything they asked me, this was my way out of that place but what

the hell do I say.

I stood up and introduced myself again because I’m sure the crazy people had

forgotten my name “I’m Lesedi Jumbe and I am married to a mafia, he steals, kills

and destroys.” I don’t even know why I said that but like I said I didn’t know what else

to say, then I heard someone in the background say “There we go again with crazy

people’s made up stories” it was the same lady who had said the lady Who was

vomiting food was wasting money. “If that is true take us to the graves of the people

your husband has killed”

“Excuse me, you don’t know me from a bar of soap and you expect me to take you to

some graves to prove a point to you. You must have given birth to me, feed me and

then brought me to this place to expect me to do that bullshit you asking for, but let

me show you your mother’s grave.” I said jumping on top of her and beating the shit

out of her, the looney’s who were wondering around and were not at the group

session were cheering on while the instructor and some of the people who were in

the group session were trying to remove me from the negative psycho woman, but I

was not letting go I wanted to teach her a lesson, how dare she judge me when she

was supposed to be supportive, I was throwing punches on her at any part of the

body that I could get. Eventually I was removed from her and we were both taken to

our rooms, I was still fuming. When we got to my room they called the doctor and I

was injected as I expected to calm me down but for some reason this time I did not

sleep, I just felt numb and disorientated, I expected them to tie my arms on the bed

but they didn’t. I could at least move around the room and the first thing I did was

race to the door, it was locked, I don’t know what I was going to do if it was not

locked but I trusted my instinct’s I knew they would kick in as soon as I got out of that

door. The injection they gave me was really making me drowsy so I decided to retire

in bed.

When I woke up there were people in my rooms, doctors and nurses I assumed

because they were holding my file, talking and standing over me. I tried to be as

silent as possible, I heard one explaining to the other that I had tried to kill myself a

number of times because my child and husband were presumed dead, shit

presumed dead, did that mean my husband and child could be dead, no wonder I

was in a mental institution, who wouldn’t lose their mind after finding out that their
whole family could be dead. The person who was talking continued and said, “we

haven’t been allowing her any visitors because she gets hysterical during visits and

it’s also part of the reason we have to tie her hands. We have now cut down her

medication because she is showing a bit of improvement.” This was all news to me,

imagine being in a hospital and not know how the hell you got there and what the

hell is wrong with you. When they were done gossiping about me they left the room, I

noticed that they left the door opened, this was my chance to get out of that hell hole.

As I tried to move the bastards had tied me to the bed, I could not move, there was

no winning, I just could not win with this mental institution staff, I guess they had

seen it all, they knew all the tricks in the book.

The following day I was told I will be attending group sessions again and if I started

another fight they were going to take me back to my room immediately, I honestly

was not in the mood to see that psycho woman that I had fought with but this was

like prison, you didn’t really have much choice but to do as you were told. People

were in high spirits it seemed like no one even remembered the previous day’s fight,

I swear the medication in that place was making all of us even more crazier and

making us forget things. Psycho lady came and sat next to me this woman was

brave, she took her hand out of her pocket and shook my hand and introduced

herself, she said her name was Lizeka, I shook her hand and felt guilty about

yesterday because I had properly panel beat her face, she looked like she had been

hit by a train. “I’m sorry about yesterday, the medication in this place makes me

aggressive, that is not who I am.” She rolled her eyes and said she had already put

that behind and asked for a hug, she hugged me then whispered in my ear. “If you

ever touch me again, I will kill you and your entire family” the way she said that was

so eerie it sent chills down my spine. The group instructor told everyone to clap for
us and to see how important forgiveness was. We sat down and people wanted to

share their traumatic stories, I was still depressed by the story the Mellisa lady had

shared from the previous day’s and I didn’t want to hear any more hectic stories. I

tried to block everything out by thinking of Mthobisi and the good times we had and

wondered where on earth could he be, I wondered if our child was okay. I missed

them both so much and being away from them was tearing me apart. What was I

going to do if they were both dead, how was I going to live life without Mthobisi, he

had been my everything for so long. I now understood why some couples if the one

partner died the other would shortly follow, you build your life around this person and

you literally cannot imagine life without them. That was me, it hurt so much knowing

that he could be dead, I didn’t want it to be true, but everything was just pointing to

the direction of them being dead, for one I knew Mthobisi would never leave me in a

mental institution no matter what, if he was alive he would have come to find me and

get me out of there. Before I knew it the session was over, thank goodness it was

done. I was told since I behaved I could sit with the others in the lounge and eat

lunch there, I didn’t want to sit with crazy people so I told them I was going to my

room and will have my lunch there. I sat in my room and ate my ugly lunch and

thought that maybe I should take a nap, but I had been sleeping so much lately, I

decided to just chill, I was bored out of my mind. I heard commotion outside my

room, I wondered what the crazy people were up to now, since I was bored I thought

let me just go and see what they are doing and entertain myself. When I got to the

passage, it was one crazy scene. Lizeka the lady I had fought with the previous day

was with her follow crazy people and they were all wearing doctor’s, nurses and the

mental institution staff’s uniform and were getting everyone out of their rooms and

handing them uniforms to change into. “Lizeka what is going on?” I asked confused
not knowing if this was some sort of game they were playing. “We are getting out of

this place.” I laughed, I wasn’t laughing because I found what she said to be funny I

was laughing because the girl was really insane. I asked her where the staff, nurses

and doctors were and she said they locked them all up in one room, I laughed even

harder, I asked if she had the keys to get out and she said there was security at the

gate so it was going to be a bit tricky to get out of the place. Obviously, she had not

thought this plan through, I walked back to my room because obviously, this was a

crazy plan done by crazy people, I had no time for such carelessness. Lizeka Asked

if I wasn’t joining them and I told her that I would sit this one out. I went back to my

room and left the psycho people to do their thing. I sat there trying to mind my own

business but the more I thought of it the more I realised these crazy people’s stupid

plan could be my way out of that hell hole. I went out of my room running and said

“Lizeka I have a plan that can get us out of this place. Call the cops.” She looked at

me like I was crazy. “You don’t think being here is bad enough, now you want us to

take ourselves to jail, you really are mad, you really do deserve to be in this place.

You stay, we will go.” She said walking away from me, I followed her and tried

explaining my plan to her, it took about ten minutes for her to understand my plan

and she finally agreed to the plan.

We all went to the room where the staff, nurses and doctors were kept, not all the

patients were taken, the highly crazy ones were left in their rooms. Lizeka went

inside and took one of the doctor’s phone and come out with it. When she was out I

told everyone else to be silent so she could make the call, she called the police and

shouted “Please help us, I’m at St John’s Mental Institution, our patients are holding

the nurses and doctors hostage, please come. I have just started my shift and I saw

this, please come and help us, I’m hiding under the desk in my office, if they find me
they might kill me” she sounded so legit, I was sure the person at the end of the

phone believed her. She looked at me and asked “what no?” I told her we wait, after

fifteen minutes we heard sirens outside and I told her to open the room where we

had kept the doctors and nurses and she did, as the staff was coming out of the

room shouting at all of us for what we did, the police walked in. Lizeka and I were

wearing the doctor’s uniform and we both said here they are, these are the patients

that were holding us hostage, we said pointing at the real doctors and nurses, the

police started hand-cuffing them, Lizeka was in front telling the cops how she was

the one that called them and had managed to save all of us from the crazy patients. I

think it took the nurses and the doctors a few minutes to understand what was going

on, when they realized that they were being accused of being patients they tried

protesting and telling the police that they were not crazy and that they are the nurses

and doctors and staff, but obviously with us dressed in uniform and them in normal

clothing the police thought that they were really the crazy ones. I grabbed Lizeka by

the hand and we walked out of there and our fellow fake doctors and nurses followed

behind us and we left the police busy arresting the wrong people.

We swiftly made our way out of the building and into the parking lot, I looked at her

and thought we are screwed, how are we going to get out of this place, just when I

thought we were home free now this, these crazy idiots didn’t think this plan through,

I knew that it was just a matter of minutes before the real nurses and doctors come

rushing out through those doors. I don’t know why I was stupid enough to follow

these people they were in there for a reason, I was now starting to think that I was as

much of a crazy person as they were. Before I could tell Lizeka how stupid I thought

she was, she removed a set of key from her pocket and waved them in front of my

face, when I realized it was car keys I could have kissed her right there and then, I
jumped up and down with joy hugging her, she pressed the remote and I heard that

click-click sound to a car that was parked not too far from us and we both went to the

car running, while we were running to the car, I told her to give me the keys I was

going to drive, she refused and said she came with the idea and she would be the

one driving us.

I wasn’t bothered as long as she got us out of that place, we got inside the car, it was

a BMW Automatic, she looked at me and asked where first gear was, I told her to

come to the passenger side because I was not about to give her driving lessons, to

my surprise she listened. I drove we got to the security gate and that’s when I started

sweating but the security was busy chatting to his friend and didn’t bother checking

he just opened the boom gate, I was grateful for that and as I was driving off I looked

in the rear-view mirror and I saw our fellow crazy people running behind us and I

speed off because I knew the security would be alerted that something is not right.

As we were driving it dawned on me that I had no idea where we were or where we

were going, I asked my passenger and she said I shouldn’t worry she would direct

me, all I wanted was to get in the freeway then make my way home, I had no phone,

no GPS nothing I had Lizeka to whom I didn’t think was completely there in the head,

she definitely had a few screws missing.

We arrived at some house that she directed me to, she told me it was her aunt’s

house but her aunt had died and left the house to her sister and her sister was

overseas so the house was basically abandoned, I didn’t believe the story but I acted

along and she took me to the back she said she didn’t’ have the key so she broke

the bathroom window and jumped inside and left me standing there in disbelief that

we were actually breaking into some person’s house, while I was still surprised by

this she opened the back kitchen door and shouted for me to come in, the house
was dusty and I could see no one had stayed there for a while, Lizeka went straight

to the fridge saying she’s looking for beer, unlucky for her the fridge was empty.

I just wanted to sleep, I know in a situation like this I should have been upbeat and

excited but I think my body was so used to those drugs and that lazy life of a mental

institution that I was always tired and drugged up. She ransacked the house, only

God knows what she was looking for this time, I wasn’t bothered asking what the hell

she was looking for, I found a bedroom and told her to wake me up after an hour,

she asked why and I told her because I would be going home. “Going home? Are

you crazy? That is the first place where the police are going to look for us, at our

homes, stupid” she said looking at me annoyed, but she was right if I were to go

home I would be definitely be found and sent back to the crazy world kicking and

screaming. I could not think straight, I wanted to sleep, I swear they must have

given me something that weakens you at that place, there was no way a normal

person could be this tired from doing absolutely nothing. She told me she was also

feeling tired and she said they put meds in our food, that is why we were both so

sleepy, my mind wondered off to our fellow crazy people that were running to the

gate, they must have been caught by now, the running on foot, the plan was not so

smart for them. I got in the bed and immediately feel asleep, I didn’t dream at all, I

had a nice peaceful sleep, the bed was hard and uncomfortable but beggars can’t be

choosers, when I eventually woke up my body was painful, it felt like I had slept on

the floor.

I went to go find Lizeka to tell her how uncomfortable her dead aunt’s bed was, it

was probably what killed her. I looked for her in the lounge, kitchen I looked

everywhere she wasn’t there, where could this stupid woman be, I looked out the

window and the car was gone. “Ohhh crap, the stupid bitch probably figured out how
to drive an automatic” I said out loud running outside because I was suddenly not

sure if where I was looking is where I had parked the car earlier, I ran around the

house five times trying to make really sure that the car was really gone, I blame the

medication, it was still in my system, when I finally accepted that I had been played

by a crazy woman I slowly made my way inside the house wondering what in God’s

name was I going to do with myself. I had no money, no phone, no id and probably

wanted by police, I was a fugitive, I was on the run from cops, it all reminded me of

Mthobisi and before I could go down memory lane the door opened and my heart

almost leaped out of my mouth it was Lizeka, she was back, huffing and puffing, I

didn’t hear any car sounds so I immediately looked out the window and there was no

car. “Where is my car?” I said looking giving her the death look. “Your car? You

really are crazy aren’t you? You drive a stolen car for thirty minutes and suddenly it’s

yours. I’ve got news for you crazy friend, that car was hot, it was going to lead the

police straight to us, I had to get rid of it.” I swear this girl had more brain cells

working than I did, I did not for a second think of that but I guess spending months in

a mental institution being feed all kinds of medication will eventually fry your brain

cells and your body will become dependent on medication. I apologised for

misjudging her and asked where she had left the car and she said she left it on the

freeway facing the opposite direction from ours.

I asked her how she got home and she said she ran all the way, I must have been

sleeping for a long time for her to have gone and come back. “I’m going to take a

bath, you should get out of those hospital clothes” she said glaring at my clothes. I

told her I had no extra clothes since I had not planned an escape and didn’t know I

was going to be a free man who needs a bath and a change of clothes. She told me

to take anything from her aunt’s closet, her aunt had very good fashion sense and
she was sure I would love the clothes. She went to bath while I went to change my

clothes I couldn’t find anything nice, all her clothes were big and ugly, I don’t know

what Lizeka meant when she said her aunt had a great fashion sense. I eventually

settled for some ugly ass purple skirt that had pink and blue flowers and a peach top,

the whole outfit looked disturbing but once again, I was a beggar therefore I could

not be a chooser. I was hungry so I went to the kitchen and raided the fridge, yep it

was still empty, I checked the cupboard there was mealie-mealie in a bucket and rice

in another bucket. I grabbed the rice and place it in a pot and on the stove, I didn’t

care that we had no meat or anything else to eat that was another day’s stress not

that day, hunger will humble you shem.

After waiting for over forty minutes Lizeka finally came out of the bath, she said she

was resting in the bath and it felt good taking a bath knowing that there is no forced

activity after like group therapy or lunch with the fellow crazies, I laughed because I

knew exactly what she meant. I told her I had cooked and she got excited and told

me she was starving. We went to the kitchen and I dished up the rice and gave her

the milk, she asked where I had gotten the milk from I had found powder milk in the

cupboards and thought we could eat the rice with it, Lizeka and I were both happy,

we were grateful that we were going to go to bed that night on a full stomach even if

it was filled with a very unusual mixture of food, it was already dark outside when we

had out dinner. “How long do you think we can stay here for?” I asked her thinking

about the nice food at home and comparing it to the food I was eating, I was feeling

sorry for myself. Lizeka said maybe for a work or two, just until the heat on us died

down.

I wondered if our photos were going to be splashed in newspapers. Lizeka told me to

stop being stupid, we were not some kind of celebrities so our pictures were
definitely not going to make any headlines and if anything the hospital was going to

do everything in their powers to hide the fact that two of their patients had managed

to escape we were both sure that the others were caught and sent back to the

mental institution and were probably on higher dose of medication so they can never

try and escape again. Each time Lizeka spoke she made so much sense she was

really smart, I asked her what she did for a living and she was very vague about it

she just said “this and that” what the hell does that even mean. I decided to let it go

because I could sense that she was not comfortable with answering my questions so

I left it.

We chatted about family and she didn’t open up to me that much she just told me

she had a sister and brother, didn’t say much about her parents, I figured that her

parents must have been the ones that sent her to the mental people’s place which is

why she has so little to say about that, I didn’t understand how a smart girl like her

could be in a place like that but who was I to judge. “Where you serious when you

said your husband was a mafia?” she asked looking at me with an inquisitive look, I

laughed and told her that I just wanted to make them respect me and be scared of

me, she burst out laughing and said “I knew it, I knew it, I could tell from a mile away

that you grew up in money, spoilt, rich housewife who was there because she is

bored.” Wow that was very judgemental of her, I told her as much and she

apologized.

While we were still having this get to know each other chat we heard sirens, it wasn’t

one but a few of them. Lizeka stood up and peaked out of the curtain and said “I

think we’ve been found, shit, shit, shit, I can’t go back to that place again, I would

rather die, my aunt had a gun, I’m getting it and I am blowing my brains out before

they get to us and you should do the same.”

I looked at her in amazement, was this woman serious, she wanted us to commit

mass suicide, I could not believe this, she was already making her way to the

bedroom to go look for her aunt’s gun, I stood there confused, the siren sounds were

getting closer and Lizeka was getting ready to kill us both, I didn’t know if I should

run to the sound of where the sirens were coming from or try and stop Lizeka from

finding the gun and killing us both, she was crazy, she could snap and do anything

and in court plead insanity and not even go to jail, I mean she had just escaped from

a mental institution no court will send a crazy person to jail. I decided to run to the

sirens they were the safer options here.

As I opened the door to run out I heard her shout from behind “where are you

going?” I quickly moved inside the house and closed the door and told her that I was

checking how far the police were, she had the gun in her hand, I was sweating with

fear. She came close to me and opened the door and as she opened the door we

saw blue lights and red lights but wait, they were not stopping they were still

speeding off, the bloody sirens were not for us, this crazy woman almost killed us for

something that wasn’t even real, that is when I knew that I needed to get as far away

from her as possible and I needed to do it with the speed of lightening. She looked at

me and hugged me and started jumping up and down saying we were not going

back to the crazy prison, this was unbelievable, this was the same woman who a few

minutes ago wanted to blow our brains out in bid of running away from the cops.

I told her I was tired and we should go to bed, she asked if I wanted to share the bed

with her and I lied and told her that I was not really a good person to share a bed

with because I kicked and snored while sleeping, that was enough to put her off the

idea of playing room-mates she said we can sleep in different bedrooms, I was
happy with that plan because I knew that night was going to be my chance to escape

from her crazy ass. I slept in the same room that I had slept in earlier, which suited

me just fine, I didn’t even care that the bed was hard. As soon as I got to bed, I

decided that I was going to wait for an hour until Lizeka feel asleep then I would get

out of that place, I was going to walk until the sun comes out then try to get a lift, I

mean who could say no to a person that’s dressed like an old lady I mean my outfit

screamed old and sweet, I slept with my clothes this was to ensure that when time

came for me to run out of the house I would not have to change into clothes, I would

just run out of that house. I don’t know what happened but I passed out and by the

time I woke up the sun was already out, I was so angry with myself how could I sleep

so much, I decided to go and try my luck still maybe my crazy housemate was still

asleep.

I got out of bed and headed for the door and opened it slowly to make sure there

were no loud sudden noises, then I walked slowly on my toes, passed the bedroom

where she was sleeping the room was closed and I had no desires of checking if she

was still asleep, my aim was to get to the kitchen door and run out of there. When I

got to the kitchen there she was making breakfast, I smiled and greated her acting

like all is good in the world. “Where did you get the eggs from?” she said our

neighbours had chickens that were making cuckling sounds all morning and kept her

awake half the morning, so she decided to go and wring the chicken’s necks and so

she woke up and went to their yard and to her surprise the chicken had laid eggs, so

the eggs saved the chicken’s lives and are saving our lives because now we get to

have breakfast. She said since we didn’t have bread, it was useless to fry the eggs

so she was boiling them, I didn’t mind food was food to me either way. She asked

where I was going before she interrupted me and I told her I wanted to get some
fresh air because that was something that I was not used to in that mental institution,

she needed and told me she would come join me outside because the eggs were

going to take a while.

We went outside and we started chatting about this and that, what I noticed about

her was she was always searching information about me while giving very little to

none about herself, I wondered what her game plan was here because I could tell

that this chick had a plan, my brain was starting to function a little bit better, I guess

the drugs were wearing off, she told me I needed to drink lots of water when I told

her that at times I feel like I am getting overwhelmed by my own thought, she said

the drugs that they had put on us at that place made us feel like zombies, we felt

nothing, we couldn’t think and function like normal human beings, the thought of that

place pisses me off. “Who put you there and why?” I asked her knowing she was

going to avoid the question, she starred into space for a few minutes then turned to

look at me and said “my husband.” Shit, now I wanted to know more. “What? Your

own husband? Were you really loosing your mind? Couldn’t he have taken you to

psychologists instead? I asked, she shook her head and I could see tears building up

in her eyes. “My husband was having an affair with a friend of mine that we attended

church with, when I meet my husband I was a virgin, he was the first and only man

that I have ever slept with, I’ve never tasted any other you know, and I feel like I

have deprived myself of so much all in the name of love.

What is that? Does it even exist or is it something that is a figment of our

imagination, I mean have you ever meet someone who is truly happy and can tell

you that they are happy in their relationship, trust me it’s always one sided in

relationships, there is that one person who lives in the fantasy world and believes

that they are in love and does everything in their powers to make the other person
happy and there will always be that one who is not satisfied with the relationship but

is to much of a coward to tell the happy fool that he or she is not happy and ends up

playing along this happy couple nonsense game. The one who lives in the imaginary

world believes all is well and hunky dory while the one who is miserable is dying

inside, always wishing he had something or someone else, no matter how much the

other person bends over backwards the bastard is just never happy.” I looked at her

thinking this woman was really hurt. “I’m sorry for bring up old wounds” I said to her,

really feeling guilty for asking her about her husband, now I understood why she was

always so negative at the therapy sessions about other people’s problems. She

smiled and said it was okay, it was good to talk about it and she continued “Anyway

this affair had been going on for a year by the time I found out. We would have home

cells at our house and my husband would insist that people sleep over because it

was too late to drive home, some of these people stayed in our area so I didn’t get

why he would say it was too late to drive.

Most of them would turn down his offer because I mean it’s ridiculous if you think

about it but at that moment I was so blinded by my own imaginary world that I didn’t

see it, I didn’t realize that each time he offered this my friend would take him on his

offer, I also didn’t realize that each that that this particular friend was there I would

wake up with massive headaches the following day. I didn’t realize that every night

when she would sleep over, she and my husband would pour sleeping pills in my tea

to make me sleep while they had some good times. When I found out, it was too late

she was pregnant with my husband’s child. That was the day that my whole world fell

apart, you could say it’s the day I lost my mind.” She said pushing tears with the

back of her hand.” I wanted to hug her but then realized that was the mental

institution mentality, this nonsense of hugging people unnecessarily. She turned and
looked at me and told me that we should go back inside the eggs are probably done,

we went back ate and I as the frit one to shower. I came out and

This woman was seriously psychotic, and the more time I spent with her the more I

realized she belonged in that mental institution and running away with her was a big

mistake. “Whoa!!! I can’t help you kill anyone, besides isn’t she your friend?

Shouldn’t you be killing your husband instead?” I asked surprised by this woman

who was blaming another woman for her husband who couldn’t keep his pants

closed, she looked at me like I had just thrown her with the biggest insult in the

history of insults. “If I kill my husband then who is going to look after me?” Wow!!

This was the same woman whom the previous day had called me spoilt. I asked why

couldn’t she just go back to school study get a certificate or diploma and she again

looked as if I was crazy and said “I’ am too old for that, my time has expired” I

wondered how old she was but then remembered that the last time I asked her

questions I got a bucket of tears I was not ready for another so I didn’t bother asking.

I came up with a plan, “you know when I told you guys in the therapy session that my

husband was a mafia that was not a lie it was the truth, he has connections in every

corner of this earth and if we speak to him he will definitely help you kill your

husband’s mistress” she shook her head and said if my husband was that good why

did he send me to a mental institution. I explained that my child was kidnaped and he

was hardly ever at home, he was not there to support me and help me understand

the situation and that is how I lost my mind, this was half the truth of course, I didn’t

mention the fact that my husband was missing, she didn’t need to know that, I

needed to go home, I was going to deal with her issues when I was at my own

house, I missed my bed, I missed my lousy cooking, I missed the small everyday

things that we take for granted and being copped up in that place with that psycho
was not helping me one bit. I also explained that it wasn’t my husband who took me

to that place but my parents because they were worried that I would end up hurting

myself. She seemed to be a bit convinced by my story, she agreed that she was

going to come with me to my place, the joy that filled my heart knowing that I would

be going home. She took a shower and while she was showering I choose an outfit

from her aunt’s wardrobe, the clothes looked better on that particular day, maybe it

was because I knew I would be wearing my own clothes soon. I took a long blue skirt

and a white blouse I wanted to look beautiful, the skirt was big I found a safety pin

and used it on the waist to make the skirt smaller, I checked myself in the dusty

mirror and had to find a cloth to wipe the dust off so that I could be able to see

myself, I didn’t look bad at all. My crazy friend came out of the shower and choose

an outfit while I washed the dishes the least we could do was leave the house clean

after breaking the bathroom window.

“Okay I found some money in my aunt’s underwear’s drawer that’s where she always

kept her money,” Lizeka said appearing in front of me in the kitchen, that was gross

but money was money, no one knows where the money they holding in their hands

or keeping in their wallets has been so I was not about to judge. We didn’t have

handbags or anything with us, Lizeka took one of her aunt’s old handbags she said

just so we look a bit normal I just shook my head and we headed out. She at least

knew where to catch taxis we walked there and the was a taxi waiting to fill up, I told

Lizeka we should sit in the front row since all the other seats were only left with one

person to fill them up, she looked inside and then immediately said to me we should

wait for another taxi. This woman was crazy, I could see the people inside had been

there for some time and people were coming in dribs and drabs and now she

expected me to wait for this taxi to fill up and watch it drive off then wait four hours
for the next taxi to fill up, that was not going to happen I dragged her by the hand

and pulled her inside the taxi she had no choice but to follow me inside. I could see

she was annoyed but she kept her head down and tried very hard not to look at the

people at the back, she kept her head down, that was very random but it was none

of my business I was just excited about going home. While we were sitting in the taxi

waiting I heard people whispering and when I would turn to look back they would be

pointing at us, ohh God our pictures must have been in the newspapers, but black

people are no snitches they were not going to tell on us, besides airtime is too

expensive. The taxi finally filled up after almost half an hour of waiting and the driver

came and everyone started passing the money to the front. We had to pass the

change back to the people as Lizeka was handing change back to some old lady

who was sitting behind us she looked at her with disgust in her face and said “I will

not take money from a killer, keep it” Lizeka looked like she was about to cry after

hearing that. I grabbed the money from her hand and said “thanks we’ll take it” I then

continued facing the front and everyone in the taxi went silent even the whispers

stopped and suddenly it hit me, that old lady had just said Lizeka was a killer, not a

mental patient like someone would have said if our pictures were on the papers and

had seen them, I quickly turned around and face a lady and said “sorry what did you

call my friend?” I said pointing at Lizeka. The old lady didn’t waste any time before

answering she said “ohhh, she killed her aunt, everyone here knows it” my eyes

popped wide opened at this new information, were we staying at the aunt’s place

that she had killed, oh my gosh this woman was something else. Lizeka shouted

“short left driver. You old lady better stop talking shit that you know nothing about or I

will sue you for every last penny that you have” the driver stopped the taxi on the left

side of the road and Lizeka opened the door and everyone in the taxi including the
old lady started shouting and screaming at her and calling her all sorts of names, this

community really hated her. She grabbed my hand and we got out, I didn’t know

what to make of this but it made sense that she didn’t want to get in that taxi in the

first place.

We were now standing in middle of nowhere, Lizeka got us off the taxi before our

stop, we had to walk all the way to the main taxi rank where we would be catching

taxis to Johannesburg which was far from where we got off. All the way to the taxi

rant all Lizeka was doing was swearing and cursing at that old lady and everyone in

the taxi, I started wondering how safe was I with this crazy woman. I made sure I

walked behind her and kept a safe following distance, I didn’t want her sneaking up

on me and killing me like she did with her aunt and maybe there was even more

people that she had killed, I know I was a kettle calling the pot black but his was

different. I was in complete silence just following behind her. We finally arrived at the

taxi rank and I have never been so happy to see so many taxi drivers around, I felt

like hugging them but I knew I would probably get weird looks and inappropriate

comments from them, I was so relieved to have people around me and not be

around this killer of a woman. We went to the taxis that was going to Johannesburg

and got inside and it quickly filled up thank goodness, I was over sitting in taxis

waiting for people to fill it up, I was starting to feel like a taxi marshal, always

counting how many people are left before we can go. Lizeka and I were both silent

all the way to Joburg and on the way I was now not sure where to take her, when we

were at her aunt’s house before I discovered that she killed her aunt I was convinced

that I was going to take her to mine and Mthobisi’s place but now my mind had

completely changed since I knew what type of person she was, I did not want to be

alone with her, I could not afford to be alone with her, I didn’t know what she was
capable of to make matters worse she was not opened either. I didn’t want to take

her to my parent’s house and she ends up killing my parents, I was really in a tight

spot, I honestly didn’t know what to do with this woman, the distance to Joburg was

quite long, Lizeka fell asleep during the ride, I couldn’t sleep I was too stressed

thinking about what to do next. Her aunt’s bag that she took and had put the money

in was in between us and she was snoring away, not loud snores to be fair, I saw

this as a sign from God, I slowly unzipped the bag and removed R50 then closed it

again, I also had R10 change that the old lady didn’t want to take from Lizeka on our

first taxi ride. I had enough money to get me to either my mom’s house or my own

house, the taxi dropped us at MTN taxi rank, I don’t know what day it was but it must

have been during the week because the taxi rank was super buys just from outside I

could see people moving up and down. I loved Joburg and its busyness, I woke

Lizeka up and told her we had arrived, to be honest if I was not sitting at the window

and had to go pass her to get out of the taxi I would not have woken her up. She

woke up and looked and around and I told her to get out to which she did and she

asked where to from here, I told her we needed to take another taxi to get to Faraday

taxi rank and that was going to cost us about R3,50 I knew she didn’t have any coins

so I told her that those taxi drivers are very rude and want the exact amount, I told

her we needed to get change otherwise they will throw us out. We went to a street

vendor I choose one that was the busiest and knew it would take forever to serve us

and might not even have change. As we were waiting Lizeka opened the handbag

and as she was about to take money out, out of nowhere a young guy came running

and snatched the handbag away from her and ran with it, Lizeka jumped and ran

after him and I was so surprised by what had just happened, it wouldn’t have

happened better even if I planned it myself, God was on my side that day I could feel
it, I ran the opposite direction back to MTN Taxi rank, I quickly went to the Midrand

line and they needed one person to fill the taxi and I got in and the taxi immediately

took off, I was so happy I wanted to dance, the stupid taxi driver drove pass the

street vendor we had been trying to buy from and there was Lizeka back at the stand

with her aunt’s bag in hand, the girl was a fighter shem, how did she manage to get

the handbag back so quickly, she was looking around obviously looking for me, I slid

down the chair trying to hide from her, luckily for me she was looking the other way,

the taxi drove past her without her seeing me, what a relief. The taxi ride to home

was very quick, I had literally spent most of my day in taxis. When I arrived at the

estate the security guards recognised me and let me in, I walked to our house feeling

very nervous and anxious. We always kept a spare key under a rock at the back of

the house and I don’t think anyone ever used that spare key, I wasn’t even sure if it

was still there or if the rains had washed it away. I went straight to the back and lifted

every stone I could get and nothing, no key on any of them. I was now feeling

defeated, I didn’t know what to do next I just sat there out of plans and out of ideas.

After some time I started walking around then I decided to break the door open, I

was tired of being stuck outside of my own house, I first tried opening it and the door

opened, oh my gosh I could not believe this, I walked in and went to the kitchen and

opened the fridge, thank goodness there was some food, I grabbed some juice and

drank from the bottle, then I heard something fall upstairs, that is when I realized I

was not alone in the house, no wonder the back door was opened, I grabbed the

biggest knife in the kitchen….

Our house had been empty for so long so it was possible that someone might have

just decided to squat in it rent-free of course because when I was in the mad house

there was no one bringing me rent money for my house so whomever was there was
staying rent-free. People can be so disrespectful how do you move into someone

else’s house, with no lease agreement, no contract, nothing you just move in. I

grabbed the knife and stood on my toes and tiptoed to the dining room, the room

was filled with cigarette smell, I was immediately grossed out, how do you smoke

inside someone else’s house, at this point I was starting to get a little scared, I didn’t

know if I should call out and ask if anybody was there even though it was obvious

that there was someone there or if I should surprise the intruder with a knife but that

could turn our bad especially since the intruder could be stronger than me and end

up over-powering me and I end up with my own knife on my heart, that thought on

it’s own was terrifying so I did the coward thing and shouted “Hi, it’s the owner of the

house, I just want to talk please come downstairs” I got no response, I decided to

speak with more authority after all this was my house and I had more right to be

there than that idiot “if you don’t come down in two minutes, I am calling the police.

This is your last chance.” I had no phone so this was obviously me trying to scare the

guy, at the mention of police I heard the “okay, okay wait” the person said in a

hoarse voice, I had another thing to worry about, what if there was more than one

person in the house. “Are you coming down alone? And how many of you are here?”

I asked trying very hard to sound brave even though every fibre in my being was

shaking, I suddenly regretted running away from my psycho friend Lizeka, I would

have sent her upstairs to go count the people up there then kill them, okay maybe

not kill them just get them out of my property. I heard footsteps coming down the

stairs, I lifted the knife and pointed it straight towards the stairs. Something, I can’t

call it a person because it had no resemblance to a human being, it was all covered

up in what was supposed to be white bandages but had now turned black, I scream

and ran to the back kitchen door, I was not prepared to see what I saw, he must
have ran after and jumped me because suddenly I was on the floor and he was on

top of me but I was not going down without a fight I was kicking and screaming at

him and trying my hardest best to get him off me. Each time I kicked I would hear

him scream “ahhh, ahhhhh” so he must have been in pains or I was kicking the

injured parts, he was trying to speak to me but I was not hearing none of that I was

too loud and my voice over-powered his.

He eventually sat on my legs so I couldn’t kick anymore and I stopped screaming

and he grabbed both my arms and shouted on top of his voice “Woman please shut

the fuck up” for the first time I was still, not by choice of course, I couldn’t move my

legs were pinned down. There was something about that voice though, “Ohhh My

God, Mthobisi is that you?” I said with tears building up in my eyes. He shook his

head and looked away, it was him, why was he so filthy. “What the hell happened to

you? Were you smoking in the house?” I don’t know why I asked that question out of

all things that I could have asked but the cigarette smoke bothered me and when did

he take up smoking, he shook his head and said to me “where have you been? I

needed you.” This came as a shock to me, what did he mean? Didn’t someone tell

him? “We need to get you cleaned up okay” I said as he slowly got off me, he looked

disgusting, how could he let himself go like this. I asked why he was all bandaged up

and he said he was in an accident and would tell me about it . I wanted to ask about

our daughter but I was too scared of what the answer might be so I decided to wait

for him to tell me, when two seconds passed without him saying anything about her, I

could no longer hold myself. “Where is our daughter?” I asked with my voice shaking

I was praying on the inside, I was not ready to hear bad news, bad news could send

me back to the madhouse, he tried to smile through his pain and said “she’s safe

with my mother.” I jumped and hugged him and all I heard from him were “ouch,
ouchhhh” I quickly stepped back when I realised that I was hurting him, he said we

will go see her when he was feeling better because he didn’t want people to see him

like this. I wanted to take him upstairs but he was walking like an old man limping

and having to pause after a few steps this was not the strong, powerful man I once

knew, I was patient with him and told him to take his time. I took him to the guest

bedroom downstairs and we went to the bathroom, I cut off the bandages even

though he was protesting, I told him his wounds would get infected if he stayed with

those dirty bandages if he wasn’t already infected. Gosh it looked bad, no bad is still

a nice word, it looked horrific, at the sight of his injuries I almost puked. I went

upstairs to get him some Dettol and cleaning stuff and came downstairs and for the

first time in a long time I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know where to start cleaning

the wounds, I wanted to throw him in the bath and scrub him but that was not going

to work. I stood there looking at him absolutely clueless as to what to do, he was

staring right back at me and after realising that I was not moving “Are you going to

do something or are we going to stand like this the whole day?” he asked not looking

to happy with me and I didn’t blame him one bit.

I swear on days like these I really missed having Priscilla around, I must have said

something out loud because I saw his eyeballs almost popped out of his skull.

“Priscilla” he said looking at me with a confused face, I shook my head and told him I

was sorry, the medication they gave me in that place made me feel some type of

way. Again he was confused by my statement “What place? What medication did

your mom give you?” now I was confused, nigger thought I was at my mom’s place

while I was chilling in a psychiatric hospital, what was going on in this place. I

couldn’t talk about that now, I needed to clean him up and make sure he wasn’t

infected, I gave myself a pep talk in my head, I was a real mental patient I tell you , I
told myself that this is my husband and if the roles were reversed he would be doing

the same for me, I love him and he loves me and these are just wounds nothing

major. I slowly started cleaning him, it broke my heart to see him in so much pain

and he was trying very hard to hide the fact that each time I touched him it hurt.

When I was finally done cleaning him up he said he needed pain killers, I completely

understood and at that rate I needed some too but then I remembered that I was not

allowed to take pain killers because I had been close to being addicted to them. I

asked him if there were any painkillers in the house so I could go and get them for

him and he said he had finished them all. I told him I would go and buy some but I

didn’t have any money on me, I wondered where my wallet and bag and cell phone

were. He told me to get money in our bedroom upstairs in the drawer on his side of

the bed, I ran up and opened the drawer and there were a few hundred Rand notes

and an A4 envelope something inside told me to open the envelope as I about to

open it, Mthobisi called out my name, I quickly put the envelope down and rushed

downstairs. “I won’t be long” I said grabbing the car keys, he nodded then asked “Are

you going dressed like that?” he said pointing at my outfit, I had actually forgotten

that I was dressed like someone’s grandmother, I laughed and went back upstairs

and quickly changed to skinny jeans and a tight white t-shirt, my stomach was not

fully flat it needed a bit of work, but it was not bad for someone who not long ago had

given birth, I was a typical woman, we are never happy about our weight. I looked at

the drawer and decided to not allow the devil to use me for his evil works whatever

was in that envelope was none of my business if Mthobisi wanted me to know what

was in that envelope he would have told me.

I went downstairs and Mthobisi was still in the guest bedroom, he nodded and smiled

and said now I looked like his beautiful wife not that granny that was invading his
house, I had forgotten how funny my husband could be. I grabbed the car keys and

left the house, I drove to the shopping centre and it felt so good to be so free and

independent and be able to do things on my own without people watching over me

and telling me when and how to do it. I went to the pharmacy and asked for the

strongest painkillers, I took four packets of the painkillers and bandages and

ointments and wound cleaning products. I went to the counter and paid for the stuff

then left, on my way to the car I remembered that I needed to get a few things for the

house so I decided to just run in and out of Pick n Pay. As soon as I went inside I

saw one of the newspaper and the front page said “Mental Institution Patients burnt

he hospital down” my heart started beating fast, I knew this was my hospital, I

grabbed the paper and went to the counter, all the stuff I wanted to get for the house

suddenly disappeared out of my head, I couldn’t even remember why I was in the

store in the first place, I rushed to the counter at this stage I was shaking I paid and

literally ran to the car to read the newspaper. I was still shaking while reading it, I

scanned through the article and it basically said patients broke out of the mental

institution and before they left, they set some of the rooms on fire, and there were

patients and staff that had lost their lives but they couldn’t release the names

because the families haven’t been told. “Oh God what have we done?” I might have

not known about the fire but I was partially involved because I helped those fools

escape, I didn’t know that the fools had set some rooms on fire. The article also

mentioned that the police were looking for the patients that had managed to escape

and the public was reassured that these patients would be caught and sent back to

the mental institution, they probably thought we mad people were still roaming

around the streets close to the institution, shame if they only knew that some of us

are long gone, one thing I knew for sure they were going to come to my house, I
needed to get out of the house real soon. I decided to calm down a little a bit before

driving home, after a few minutes I was feeling a little bit better so I drove home.

After a few streets, I heard police sirens when I looked at the review mirror I realized

there were police behind me and they were stopping me.

I started sweating, I had just read a few minutes ago that I was wanted by police they

might not have mentioned my name but I knew I was definitely on the wanted list and

now police stopping me, this was not good, I didn’t know if I should stop or go, I

knew if I stopped I was going to be taken and sent back to that hell hole and I

couldn’t leave my husband, not when he needed me like this. I mounted up some

guts and stepped out of the car, I didn’t even bother waiting for them to come to me,

they were approaching my car. It was two male police officers, I said a little thank

you prayer that it wasn’t female cops, there is nothing more difficult to convince than

a female policewoman “I guess you know why we stopped you, good thing you are

handing yourself over and not making this situation difficult for all of us.” I looked at

him and pretended not to know what he was talking about. “You could have killed

someone with your recklessness” the second cop said “I swear it wasn’t me, it was

those crazy people, I left before them, I had nothing to do with that fire” I said close

to crying now. They both looked at each other and the other one asked “ukhuluma

ngani lo-Sisi?” direct translation what is this lady talking about, the other cop just

shrugged his shoulders and asked if I was okay because they were asking me about

the red robot that I had just skipped which constituted as reckless driving and I could

have knocked over a person and killed them or even worse there could have been

another coming and I could have collided with it, they were speaking to me as if I

was an idiot, then one of them asked if I even had a license because no person with
a license would drive like that, shit, I had no wallet and obviously that is where all my

personal belonging were. I smiled and apologised for the confusion, I told them I was

very stressed because I had left a sick child at home and the way I was so worried

about my son whose temperature was very high up I could not even concentrate on

the road I did not even realise that I had skipped a red robot that part was at least

true. They told me to get my license and I went to the car and one followed me to the

car while the other checked the car license disk. I opened the cabby holder and there

was a lady’s scarf and a make-up bag, now I know for a fact that Mthobisi’ s mom

does not use make-up and that scarf was too elegant to be his mother’s scarf and

that stuff definitely did not belong to me, I must have let my thoughts take over

because I heard the cop ask what was taking me so long, I quickly grabbed some of

the extra money that I had taken to go buy medicine for Mthobisi and gave it to the

cop it must have been over R300, the cop was salivating and said “this is a very

good drivers license, travel safe my sister” I got in the car and the other who was

checking my disk said to the one I had given money as I was driving off. “iyahlanya

le-one le, bamuloyile straight” direct translation this one is crazy, she’s been

bewitched, he couldn’t even wait for me to drive away before talking about me, I

didn’t care what they said about me, fact of the matter I was now free, I was a free

women and with freedom comes great responsibility I was soon going to learn that.

When I got back to the house I found Mthobisi in the bathroom downstairs, he was

standing by the sink, I grabbed a bottle of painkillers and stood with them next to the

toilet and I calmly said “these pills can make your pain go away and I will give them

to you under one condition, one condition only, you tell me which whore you brought

to our house and let her drive our car. If you don’t tell me I will throw these pills down

this toilet the choice is yours.” I said holding the bottle above the toilet. He looked at
me and tried to act like he didn’t know what I was talking about and I dropped three

pills in the toilet. “Lesedi, what the hell is wrong with you, I’m in pains and you want

to play silly little game, grow the fuck up man.” I dropped another three. “Okay, okay,

you’ve made your point…” I looked at him and told him the bottle was becoming

empty he needed to speak fast. “What makes you think there was another woman?”

he asked, I am not a fool Mthobisi, you can do all things but don’t treat me like an

idiot.” I said dropping two more pills in the toilet, he tried moving closer to me and I

said if he moves one more inch I’m going to throw the whole bottle in the toilet.

“There was a lady whom I gave a lift to she had some information about the

whereabouts of our baby and the only way for me to get our child was to be close to

her, I was doing that to save our baby’s life.” I dropped to the ground and I told him

he needed to tell me everything. “I will I promise, just stop throwing the pills in the

toilet.” He said moving closer to me, he said he was cold and would tell me after he

warmed up. I gave him the rest of the painkiller that were left I never told him there

was another box, I wanted him to suffer and be stressed just like I was stressed by

seeing another’s woman’s things in my husband’s car. I gave him the pills and put

the ointment in his body his back had bad bruises, arms were terrible it looked like

was burnt alive. After I had put the ointment I told him he needed to stay without the

bandage for a couple of hours and I would bandage him later before he goes to bed,

he agreed because he knew putting on the bandages was going to also be another

painful process. When I was done, he asked if I could make him something to eat

while he sits in the guest bedroom because it had the sun coming in directly from the

big windows. I agreed because I also knew it was not good to take medication on an

empty stomach. I quickly made him a toasted sandwich with ham, cheese and

tomatoes, the sandwich maker was taking too long, I was dying to find out how my
husband cheated on me in the name of our child. I made him coffee since he had

said he was cold and went back to the bedroom, I found him fast asleep. I decided

not to wake him up, it’s not like he was going anywhere, I was still going to be there

when he got up. I ate his food myself and went to the kitchen and poured myself

juice for some reason, I was no longer a big fan of coffee I guess after tasting the

poisonous coffee from the crazy place it was enough to put everyone off coffee for a

very long time.

I went upstairs to investigate check if there were any underwear’s laying around, one

thing I know about ladies is they love leaving evidence behind, some way to make

the next woman who comes to know that she was there and is something important

to the man. I really do not get the significance of leaving your stuff at a man’s house

when you know he’s not yours, unless if Mthobisi had promised this poor soul that I

hoped I never got to meet a life with him, then they were both screwed because I

was not going anywhere. The first place I went was the drawer where I had taken

money from and surprise, surprise the envelope was gone. I went through every

drawer and there was nothing unusual, I went through his wardrobe examining his

favourite clothes and trying to look for make -up in his shirts or lipstick and smelling

them to see if there were any women fragrancies on them, I believe that all women

were born with natural detective instincts, women can dig up things that you had no

idea anyone knew about them, a woman can compile a file with your history and tell

you what you had each day for breakfast, lunch and super for the past three years,

this is why most men who are being stocked by a woman end up marrying them

because the files those women stalker hold can destroy their lives so the saying

keep your enemies closer works in these situations. I might have been born with

detective instincts but I knew here I was dealing with a pro, as soon as I left the
house he probably limped around and destroyed all evidence, bloody hell maybe

even those cops were sent by him to keep me distracted for a few minutes while he

cleaned the place up. Men can drive us crazy on the seriousness, I mean here’s

what happens with most women especially the married one and the desperate not to

be single ones, they go all out and get all this evidence that proves that the man is

cheating and they come and lay everything in front of the man hoping he would

confess and apologise but what does the man do, he denies every single thing,

denies it so well that you start doubting yourself and the minute that you start

doubting yourself that is when he has you exactly where he wants you and he will

end up convincing you that he’s clean as a whistle and that people are jealous of

your relationship and once a lady hears that line of people being jealous of her

relationship she starts seeing jealousy from the friends who were helping her and

starts turning against the friends, I’ve seen women turn against their own families all

because a man said “they are jealous of our relationship” and she believes him, well

I was not going to be naïve I was going into this war with full force. I must have

looked in all the rooms upstairs searching for some sort of evidence and there was

nothing I was now starting to feel a little bit foolish. I must say there was a bit of relief

in not finding another woman’s clothes in my home, I don’t know how I would have

taken it. I gave up and just threw myself on top of the bed and faced the ceiling as I

was laying there looking up, I remembered in our old place in Fourways when cops

came to our house how Mthobisi had hidden a bad inside the ceiling, I needed to get

up there, I stood on top of the bed and couldn’t reach the ceiling, I needed a chair,

this was the only way I was going to be able to get up there, I went to Mthobisi’s

study and grabbed one of his office chairs, there was only one problem it had

wheels, I wheeled it out of the room and into our bedroom then I climbed on top of
the bed and pulled up the chair, it was not stable but this was going to be a quick job,

I climbed on top of the chair it was a bit wobbly but I was in a mission, I needed to

find out the truth. I tried pushing the ceiling to the side it wouldn’t’ move, I pushed

harder and still it wasn’t move I decided to use all my strength and with full force I

tried to push it forward I lost my balance and fell flat on my face and the heavy chair

rolled off the bed and fell on top of me.

Mthobisi must have heard the sound because I heard him shout my name, I

struggled to get the chair off me and after a few minutes of struggling I managed to

get it off. He again shouted asking if I was okay, I told him I was just cleaning the

house, it was the only answer I could think of at the time, “I hope you didn’t break

anything valuable.” He said and I thought I had just broken my back by being foolish

but I lied and shouted back that nothing was broken I had just dropped a book. I

stood up and that was hard, now I was in pains just like Mthobisi and to think I had

flushed almost the whole box of painkillers down the toilet I was really an idiot.

Mthobisi called my name again asking where his food was, he was worse than a

baby, why the hell couldn’t he just make his own damn food. My back was soar, that

stupid chair had hit me on the back. I couldn’t even walk properly that’s how much

pain I was in but how was I going to explain my funny walk to my husband he had

only been asleep for two hours and in that time I had managed to break my back. I

tried as hard as I could to walk fine even though on the inside I was crying. Walking

down the stairs was the worse I had to step with both feet on one stair at a time,

days like these I wished we had no huge a normal house, I finally made it to the last

stair when Mthobisi appeared from the bedroom, I guess my face must have given

me away because he said “You don’t look too good. Are you okay?” I put on a fake

smile and nodded and told him that I had eaten his food earlier cause I was worried it
will go cold so I was going to the kitchen to make him food, he stood there watching

me as I made my way to the kitchen I was in so much pain and I just wanted to put

my hand on my lower back to support it but I had to act like I was fine in front of

Mthobisi. The moment I got in the kitchen I could actually breath and I started

rubbing my lower back. I made the toast and while waiting for it I decided to sit down,

big mistake. When I wanted to stand up I couldn’t lift myself up I was in so much pain

a unintentional scream came out of my mouth and Mthobisi came rushing to check

on me. “I can’t get up from this chair” I said Mthobisi started laughing he must have

thought I was joking until he got close and saw the tears in my eyes. “Lesedi, what’s

wrong? Who hurt you?” trust my husband to always think it’s another person’s fault. I

looked at him with tears dripping down my face “I’m stupid, I climbed the bed and I

put one of the chairs from the study on top of the bed and climbed on top of the

chair.” He looked at me like I was crazy and asked if was he sleeping for that long

that I got so bored and did such a stupid and dangerous thing. I told him the truth, I

was tired of his stares like I had just lost my mind, he laughed at me for being silly for

even thinking that he would bring another woman into our home, he told me he

respected me too much to even think of doing that. “Then what are you doing with

make-up bags in your car?” I asked angry because this was all his fault I was in

pains because of him, because of the nonsense that I saw in his car. “Honey after

Dineo was kidnapped I promised myself that I was not going to loose another child

and I will do everything in my powers to find her, I made a few links here and there

and when the people who had our child found out who I was they traded her to

bigger players, my enemies who took full advantage of the situation. There was this

woman whom they used to breastfeed the baby, they actually paid her for her

services and I managed to get close to her without telling her that I was the father of
the child she was being paid to breastfeed. The thought of another woman breast-

feeding my child made me sick in the pit of my stomach, what if she had some

disease and ends up infecting my child. Mthobisi explained that he got close to her

and started taking her out on dates but the woman was not interested in sex

because she had just lost her husband and a baby in a tragic accident, so all she

wanted to do was talk he was basically her shoulder to lean on and she was left with

nothing which is why she could take a job of breastfeeding a stranger’s child and not

have a problem with it. I asked Mthobisi if she knew the child was kidnaped, Mthobisi

said after spending a lot of time with her and speaking to her he found out that she

was being lied to, the people that had our daughter had told her that the child’s

mother was in a comma she had gone into a comma after giving birth to the child

and the lady felt like she was helping the mother of the child and the child. I could not

believe my ears, these people steal my child then put me in a fake comma and this

woman taking payment for breastfeeding, the things people in Joburg will do for

money make priests blush. “So where is she now?” I asked Mthobisi waiting to hear

him say they have a date the following day or something stupid like that, I was ready

for it. “After getting to know each other well, I felt I should open up to her, I felt she

needed to know the truth about why I was there, so I told her and she got very angry

and she was meant to go feed our baby that afternoon, when she got there it was

only the new body guards that were there and she took our child and went home with

her telling the body guard she would bring the child in the evening after supper, I had

no idea she had done this and had gone to do other things she tried to get hold of

me, but the time I got to her house her house was set on fire.” My heart started

beating fast, I stared wondering if Mthobisi had lied to me earlier when he said our

child was safe, I wanted to tell him to stop telling me this story because I was not
ready to hear about the hell that my child went through. He said he was outside and

wasn’t sure if the lady, I shall call her Lady P because he never told me her name, so

he didn’t know if Lady P was inside the house or not and as he was standing outside

the house he heard cries of the baby and there was no doubt in his mind that was his

daughter and without thinking or any plan he ran inside the house. “There was fire

everywhere, I couldn’t see, I turned back and got out of the house and then went to

the tap outside and made my clothes and self wet throwing water with a bucket then

I ran back inside praying that Dineo doesn’t stop crying so I can follow the sound of

her voice, she was inside the wardrobe and there was fire all around her, I didn’t

care about the fire I just wanted to get to my baby, I grabbed her and at this stage

my pants were in fire burning I didn’t care I just needed to get my child out of there.” I

asked what about the lady where was she and he said she was there she had fallen

close to the bed he tried waking her up and she wouldn’t get up he figured that she

must have inhaled smoke, he tried to drag her out but the fire was getting out of

hand so he needed to make a decision so he decide to run outside and take Dineo

and put her in the car then come back for Lady X which was exactly what he did but

by the time he got back the roof had fallen closing the front door so he couldn’t get

inside the house, he tired the front door it had burglar gates he tried breaking it and

he couldn’t and at this time the fire fighters came and told him to move out of the way

and go stand outside he said he couldn’t wait there for too long because he was

worried that Dineo might have inhaled smoke and he needed to get her to a hospital

and was worried that those cronies who told her could also be around so he got in

the car and drove to the nearest hospital. Dineo was checked and he was told she

was fine so he decided to bring her home to me so I could see that our child was

alive, when he came home I was nowhere to be seen, he didn’t know what had
happened to me and decided to take Dineo to his mom and that is when his mom

told him that I was at my mom’s place and my mom had taken me to some retreat

because I was not dealing well with all the stress that was going on in my life. He

said he dropped Naledi with his mom’s helper and didn’t want his mother to see him

in that condition and just kept communicating with his mother on the phone, he had

not yet gone to see my parents because he also didn’t want my parents seeing him

like that. I asked how long was he in the house for and he said it’s been three day,

so all this was recent, I asked if he ever found out what happened to Lady P and he

said she died in that fire, I felt bad for her, that woman was my hero, I know I hated

her at first but that was before I knew the whole story, if it wasn’t for her we would

still not have our baby back. “I want to go see her” I said getting excited. “Who?”

Mthobisi asked, I told him I want to go and see our daughter, he told me I could go

but he wasn’t coming with me, I begged and begged until he agreed so while he ate I

bandaged him up, I was really excited about seeing my daughter again. When I was

done with Mthobisi he looked much better than when I first saw him, I asked him

where he go the first bandages and he said in the hospital when he took our

daughter to get checked. We went to the car and I drove, we arrived in Daveyton

when the sun was setting and it was starting to get dark. Mthbobisi was wearing

loose fitting track pants and a jacket and a cap we tried very hard to cover his

injuries. His mom wasn’t there luckily for us, the first thing I did was grab my

daughter and hug her very tight while tears were flowing down my face like an

opened tap, I could not believe that after all these months I was finally holding her in

my arms, she started crying I guess she didn’t remember me not that I blamed her

she had been with so many people but that was all going to change soon, I was

going to spend every minute of my life with her and I was going to spoil her and treat
her like a princess that she was she deserved it after going through the hell she went

through, I honestly never thought that I would see my daughter again.

A few minutes later Mthobisi’s mother arrived, my mood changed she was very

surprised to see me here. “Lesedi, when did you get out?” she asked giving me a

side eye, I ignored her question because I didn’t understand it. She said I was in a

retreat to Mthobisi so a person can leave the retreat whenever they want. The helper

looked at me and said “Ohh so you are Lesedi, there is so many of your documents

here laying around I didn’t know what to do with them.” Okay that was even more

confusing I never had any mail come to Mthobisi’ s mother’s house before I could

explain that to her she had already left the room she came back a few seconds later

carrying documents with my name on the, when I saw the name on top of the

documents my blood froze, it was the same mental institution’s name that I was in,

how the hell did those get here I wondered, I paged through the document’s, then I

saw something that got me so mad I was ready to kill my mother in-law. “You had

me committed to that mental institution citing that I was a danger to myself and

people around me and I shouldn’t be allowed visitors! You had me locked up with

mad people for months, while your son needed my help. What kind of a monster are

you?” I said throwing the documents at her.

To people who were walking pass the house it must have sounded like a sheeben, I

didn’t care, besides it was not my house if anyone was going to be judged for being

ratchet it was going to be my mother in law, it was her house after all. I was

screaming at Mthobisi’s mother for what she did and she was screaming at her

helper for bringing me the documents, her screaming at the poor woman just blew

my mind, she wasn’t even apologizing to me, I don’t even think the woman saw

anything wrong in what she did. “How do you sleep at night? You don’t deserve to be
called a mother, what kind of a mother does that to her own son’s wife?” I said

shouting at my mother in law, my words were falling on deaf ears, she was shouting

at her helper “How dare you bring those documents? They had nothing to do with

you, I should have known hiring a helper who is studying at night school is a huge

mistake, reading every single thing, even things that don’t involve them.

Your job here is to look after the baby and clean the house, you have no business

reading my documents.” I swear no one was listening to anyone, the only person

who did not say a word was my husband, he took our daughter and went out of the

room we were sitting in and left the three of us having our screaming match. The

best part about the helper, she was not taking Mthobisi’s mom shit laying down she

was firing back. “You told me education is important now you are insulting me for

being educated. What do you want from me? Do you want me to be illiterate? How

was I to know that those documents were yours when they had Lesedi’s name on

them, you should have told me.” Mthobisi walked back in the room with our daughter

and a bag and said “Honey, let’s go.” The room went silent for a few seconds, he

caught me off guard with his statement of leaving I still wanted to scream some more

at his mother. “Where are you taking my granddaughter?” Mthobisi’ s mom asked

him and he never even bothered replying he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the

door. I had no choice but to follow. “Take me with you, your mother will kill me if you

leave me with her” the nanny said in a pleading voice looking at both of us. Mthobisi

and I both looked at each other and I nodded he shrugged his shoulders and told her

to pack her bags she has five minutes to get ready, I don’t think I have ever seen a

person that excited to leave a place like that woman she ran out of the room leaving

us to face her evil master. “You taking everything from me now, even my helper.” My

mother in law said staring at me with fire in her eyes, that woman had a tendency of
blaming me for everything that goes wrong in her life, this time I was not going to feel

bad or intimidated by her, I had lost the small ounce of respect that I still had left for

her, I stared back at her with a huge smile on my face, she deserved to be alone and

miserable. Within five minutes the nanny was back carrying a small suitcase and she

said she was ready to go.

As we were walking out my mother in law noticed that Mthobisi was limping she

asked what happened to him walking towards us to check on him and he closed the

door on her face, I wanted to play that picture of him closing the door to his mother

over and over again in my head, it made my heart dance a little bit. We walked to the

car and I had to drive, Mthobisi’ s pains were getting worse so he asked the nanny to

hold our daughter whom for some reason after we left the house started crying I

guess she was now used to her grandmother, well that was about to change I was

going to do everything in my powers to make sure that evil woman never sees my

daughter again, yes I was going to be petty and deprive her of a relationship with her

grandchild but that woman didn’t deserve a relationship with my daughter, she hated

me and at some point I believed that she was going to turn my own child against me.

Her nanny managed to calm Dineo down, she was really good with her, Mthobisi on

the other hand was in so much pains it broke my heart. “Did you bring any of those

painkillers with you” Mthobisi asked me and I shook my head and told him we could

stop at a pharmacy and get him some, the nanny butted in and said “I’m sorry to just

jump in but you need to go to the hospital.” I turned and gave her a dirty look, for my

own selfish reasons I didn’t want Mthobisi to go to the hospital, I had just got my man

back and I didn’t want to be apart from him, I knew taking him to the hospital could

mean him being admitted and I didn’t want to be without him not even for one night, I

had been without him for so long and this woman bringing up hospital was really
unnecessary. “I’m sorry but I didn’t get your name” I said trying to maintain my cool,

she said her name was Mavis. I wanted to say Mavis stay out of this but my mama

brought up to respect my elders so I kept my mouth shut and instead went to Benoni

since it was on our way back and stopped at Rynfield shopping centre, I found a

pharmacy and left everyone in the car and ran inside the pharmacy, the way I was so

stressed I skipped the line and told the people who were in the line that I had an

emergency, it was three white people in the line and they said it was okay.

I ran to the counter and told the person behind the counter that my husband was in

the car and he was in terrible pains he had burnt wounds and she asked if he’s been

to the doctor I said yes but we forgot his pain killers at home in Midrand and that was

too far I needed some strong painkillers, luckily it was for one of those sympathetic

young white ladies, she rushed and told me to give him two of the painkillers and

they will numb the pain and will also make him drowsy. I thanked her and she told

me to go to another counter to pay, I rushed there and luckily there was no one in

that line, I grabbed a bottle of water and paid.

When I got back to the car Mthobisi was worse, I handed him two painkillers and the

water, he drank them without asking ant questions, after he drank them I decided

that we should wait in the parking lot and wait for the pills to kick-in, we waited and

waited but he was not getting any better so I decided to double the dosage, I gave

him another two, Mavis kept mumbling under her breath that we should take

Mthobisi to the hospital, I tried very hard to ignore her, I was praying on the inside

that the pills would make him feel better. He said I should start driving and that he

feels a little better, I started driving and on the way home he said “Honey, please

let’s just go to the hospital, this pain is unbearable” tears started filling my eyes I felt

like if he goes to a hospital I might never see him again, I swear that mental place
messed up my head, now I couldn’t trust any hospitals “I’m not going to die, I’m okay

I just need strong medication that pharmacies can’t give me without a prescription”,

Mthobisi said when he saw me wiping tears away from my eyes. I nodded and told

him I understood I just hated seeing him in so much pain which was also true, I

drove to the nearest hospital and we went in and we had to fill forms and a nurse

checked him and said his wounds didn’t look good and a doctor would see him

shortly. Mavis and Dineo waited in the car I didn’t want my daughter breathing all the

gems inside the hospital. A doctor came and said Mthobisi would have to be

admitted they needed to determined how bad his wounds were and see if he had an

infection, that’s when I started taking this whole thing seriously, no wonder he was in

so much pain, he could have some serious infection. They wheeled him in a bed and

took him to a hospital room, I followed right behind him, they put him in a drip which I

was told had very strong medication in it and I could see because my husband was

dosing off. I went with him to his room, he kept asking if I was okay, he was worried

about me but he was the one in hospital. I stayed with him until he finally slept

properly without waking up. I had to see the doctor to make sure that Mthobisi would

be okay, I found him and he said he was going to get second opinion from another

doctor but his wounds didn’t look so good and he wishes that Mthobisi could have

gone to the hospital sooner, he didn’t want to say anything earlier in front of him and

stress him but all the signs were there that he had an infection in his leg, and he was

worried about it spreading. I was in disbelief, I had taken this thing so lightly but I

guess because my husband has always been so strong, I never really thought his

illness could be serious, I mean he had been staying in the house with his pains.

I told the doctor to get second, third and fourth opinion, I told him he needs to do

everything in his powers to make sure that my husband gets better. He promised
that he would try his best, I had no faith in doctors but I didn’t want to express this

and hurt his feelings which could cause him not to work hard in making my husband

feel better. I thanked him and as much as I would have loved to have stayed in the

hospital with my husband much longer I couldn’t I had a baby to take care of, I hated

leaving Mthobisi there, I went back to his room and kissed him on the lips and told

him how much I loved him and how I was now going home to take care of our

daughter, I promised that I would be back and told him not to give up hope and that

he was going to get better and I was going to make sure that he gets better and

stays better, he was fast asleep and couldn’t hear a single word. I left and went back

to the car, I just wanted to hug my baby and I knew she was going to make me feel a

little better.

When I got to the car, I got the shock of my life, Mavis was not there and neither was

my daughter, the car was empty. Panic set in, the first thing that went to my head

was they have been kidnapped.

Where the hell could they be, I looked all over the parking area and nothing, they

were nowhere to be found, I didn’t have a phone so there was no way for me to call

Mavis I didn’t even have her numbers. It suddenly dawned on me, what if Mavis had

taken my daughter, I didn’t know anything about this woman, we had just taken her,

well not even taken we had literally just stole her from my mother in laws house and I

left her with my baby, I was so angry with myself I wanted to punch myself in the

face, how could I be so stupid and irresponsible?

With Mthobisi being in so much pain I could not think straight he was my only

concern at the time, besides I trusted that woman, I thought she could be trusted. I

looked everywhere for them, I even looked under the car, I went to the security at the

boom gates and asked if they had seeing a woman and a baby walking out of there
and the stupid security man asked me if I knew how many people went past that

gate in a day, did I expect him to make know everyone that goes in and out. I was

not in the mood for this security’s drama, I decided to walk back to the car and

gather my thoughts, I didn’t know if I should go back and tell Mtohbisi what had

transpired but the man was all drugged up he was not going to be able to hear or

help me, I needed my strong husband back to help me with this. I sat in the car

thinking of what to do next, I had just got my daughter back and now I had lost her

again, I was a bad mother, maybe this was God showing me that I didn’t deserve to

have a child in my life. A phone vibrated and when I looked it was Mthobisi’s phone

vibrating, it must have fallen on the floor when we went inside the hospital. I picked

up the phone from the floor and scrolled through his phone book, I found his

mother’s numbers and without thinking I dialled her number and she picked up after

the second ring. “Son, I knew you were going to come to your senses and apologize

for what that crazy woman did to me.” This woman was really insane, she was

blaming me for her own shit. “Florence, it’s Lesedi, Mthobisi is in hospital and Mavis

kidnapped Dineo, I need Mavi’s numbers” I called her by her first name there was no

time for respect, besides that woman didn’t respect me, if you want respect you have

to earn it. “What the hell did you do to my son? You should have stayed in that

mental institution with people like you. You’ve only been back for a couple of hours

but look at the damage you have already caused, I was right when I said you are a

danger to yourself and people around you, you should be ashamed of yourself” as

much as I hated hearing what she was saying to me she was hitting right in the

heart. “Florence this is not the time to be throwing blame around, I need you to just

tell what her bloody numbers are. I am going through hell right now and I don’t need

you to be attacking me like this” there was a silent pause and for a second I thought
she had hung up the phone. “Heloo?” I said trying to see if the stupid woman was

still on the phone all she said was “Go to hell” and then she hung up the phone. This

woman was a witch who needed to be burnt in front of the community with people

throwing stones at her while she’s burning. I knew calling her back would not serve

any purpose.

I decided to drive around looking for them, I knew chances of finding them were very

slim but sitting in the car was driving me insane. I drove out and had to go through

the boom gate with that stupid security guard. He asked if I had found my mother, I

gave him the middle finger because my voice was tired of talking from my mother in

law. I paid the parking fee and drove out of the hospital a few meters away I saw a

woman carrying a child walking towards the hospital as I got closer to them I realized

that this was Mavis, I almost ran them over. I stopped right in front of them and got

out of the car and grabbed my child away from Mavis and asked her “Where the hell

did you take my child to?” I asked her very angry. She looked at me confused and

said they just went for a walk because Dineo was getting reckless with sitting in the

car, I honestly misjudged the poor woman, all she was doing was trying to help.

There was a car behind us hooting for me to move my car because I had just parked

my car in the middle of the road, I gave Dineo to Mavis and told her to get in the car

and she came in and I drove to the house, all the way home Mavis apologized for

stressing me. Mthobisi’s mom called in Mthobisi’s phone and I ignored the call. She

called Mavis immediately after and I told her to also ignore the call, I was sick of that

woman and I wished to God that she was not related to me.

When we got to the house, I looked for the forms that the agent had given me for the

nanny to fill in when I was interviewing for a nanny to look after my child, I gave it to

Mavis and I asked her to fill in all her details including 3 references and I didn’t want
her to add Mthobisi’s mom as one of the references, she filled in the form and gave

me her id I took it to Mthobisi’s study to make copies, I wanted to be on the safe

side, I needed to be safe than sorry, I needed to know where she was from and if I

could I was going to finger print her to check if she had any criminal record, but I

decided to go easy on the paranoia. After I was done with all the paperwork I

showed Mavis around the house, then I gave Dineo a bath while she prepared

dinner, the only reason I let her make dinner was because Mthobisi was not there,

ladies never let another woman prepare food for your husband especially when you

are around and are just feeling lazy, I was not threatened or anything like that by

Mavis she was old enough to be my mother but for all I knew she could have a

daughter whose the same age as me that she wishes could find a man like mine and

that is where witchcraft starts when you start wishing for other people’s life and

people start using love potions and all other crazy things to try and steal your life and

happiness. Dineo loved her bath, she didn’t want to get out she cried when I got her

out of the bath, she was a little bit of a cry baby though. She fell asleep while I was

dressing her which made things easier for me because she stopped moving around

and I put her to bed and she looked so peaceful, my heart was filled with joy for

being able to put my daughter to bed, I had missed the small moments like putting

her to sleep and giving her a bath, the only person missing now from my perfect

family picture was my husband. I left Dineo in her room and went to go join Mavis in

the kitchen, I decided this was a perfect time to get to know her. She had seven

grandchildren and was staying with all of them, I asked if they were from one mother

and she said she had two daughter’s and one son but they were all gone now, they

all passed away and left her with the seven grandchildren. She said she struggled to
make ends meet until she meet Mthobisi’s mother whom she thought was a very

nice person until she saw what she did to me.

I asked her what she meant by that, she told me how after Mthobisi went missing

Mavis and my mother in law came to my house and they knocked at my door for a

long time and I wouldn’t open but they could see me through the window. She said

Mthobisi’s mom called some guys to come and break the door, and they found me

just sitting in the couch starring in the air and she told Mthobisi’s mom to call an

ambulance for me and get me to hospital because they didn’t know how long I had

been sitting there for and I could be dehydrated and she said Mthobisi’s mom went

outside and made a call but she didn’t know that she was calling a mental institution

she only realised that when guys dressed in white came instead of paramedics. She

told me that when we went to the house she gave me those papers on purpose she

wanted me to know that my mother in law was the one who took me to that place.

She said when Mthobisi came back and was calling his mom to find out where I was

Florence told him that my mom had taken me to a retreat to calm me down from the

stress of not knowing here my husband and child were missing. I could not believe

the lengths my mother in law was willing to go through to keep me away from her

son, we were married for crying out loud it’s not like I was some chick that was

passing by, I honestly did not know when she was going to get over her issues and

realise that I was not going anywhere. Mavis and I ate, her food was really terrible

but because I was hungry I ate and finished my whole plate, hunger will humble you.

I showed Mavis Priscilla’s old room and told her to use it, I of course didn’t tell her

that the previous person who used to stay in that room had been murdered in the

very same house we were in, it was too much information to give out on the first day

at the job. Before going to bed I went to pop in on my daughter’s room and she was
fast asleep, I picked her up and took her to my room, there was no way I was going

to let her sleep alone after I had almost lost her again, this child meant everything to

me. That night I could not sleep I was glad to have my daughter with me but at the

same time I was worried sick about my husband.

The following morning I woke up feeling very tired because I had only slept for about

two hours I was tossing and turning stressing about my husband’s condition, Dineo

didn’t make things easier too she kept waking up and crying it was as if she could

sense that I was stressing about something. I was the first one to get up and made

formula for Dineo because I did not want to breastfeed, I was worried about the

medication I had been given at that mental institution and didn’t want it affecting my

baby in anyway.

I woke Mavis up, I could tell that she loved sleeping but there was not time for

sleeping and now that I was a free woman and could do as I pleased I appreciated

freedom and was not going to waste my life away by sleeping when I could be out

there living, but living was going to have to wait because right now I needed to be

there for my husband. I told her I needed her to look after Dineo while I go to the

hospital, the way I was so paranoid I didn’t know if I should leave Mavis in the house

with Dineo or take them to the hospital with me, I was so conflicted. I decided to trust

Mavis I had all her details and what would she want to do with my child when she

had seven of her own to take care off. I waited for her to bath then have breakfast, I

wanted her to give my daughter her full attention and not leave her alone while she

goes to bath or while making breakfast, I know I was a paranoid mom but after the

hell I had been through I had no choice but to always be cautious. Before I left the

house I gave my daughter hundreds of kisses telling her how much I loved her and

how I would be back soon for her and how we were going to play and spend time
together when I got back, you would have sworn I was talking to an adult.

I drove to the hospital praying to God for a miracle, He didn’t bring me back to suffer

that was one thing I had was hopeful and really believing in it that I was back to be

happy, if I was meant to suffer I would have stayed in that place or even died in the

fire with some of the patience but because God had bigger plans for me, he brought

me back, he showed me the way, he lead me out of hell and brought me to the land

of the living, I was alive and healthy and so was my daughter and my husband was

soon going to walk out of that hospital and we were all going to live happily ever

after, I had to keep telling myself that and keep believing that all was going to be

well.

I arrived in hospital and I was told that Mthobisi’s doctor would be coming in at 10:00,

I got there at 07:40, you can just imagine what time I got up, I was in for a long wait. I

was also too early for visiting hours so I bribed one of the nurses to let me in, I really

needed to see my husband. When I arrived in his room he was up and very happy to

see me, I told him to move up in his hospital bed and got inside the bed and slept in

his bed, I tried not to touch his wounds I knew how much pain that would bring, he

said the doctor’s had not told him anything but he was already feeling better and

ready to go home, I told him we will only go home when a doctor approves him to go

home, this time we were going to do things by the books and no leaving he hospital

before he was good and proper, we cuddled in the hospital bed and I fell asleep in

his arms, I really needed some sleep and who knew that I would get a good dose of

sleep in a hospital bed, Mthobisi was also fast asleep, I realised this when the nurse

that I had paid to go and see my husband came in our room to wake us up, I was the

first one to get up then I woke Mthobisi up who was even snoring. The nurse told me

that the doctor had arrived, I thanked her and got out of bed. She smiled and asked if
we were newly-weds I shook my head and told her we had been married for some

time now, she smiled and said our love was still on fire, and we were her couple

goals, whatever that meant but if only she knew how much storms we had been

through she would really not wish to be us, sometimes I wished I was not me.

I went to the bathroom to fix my face, Mthobisi laughed at me when I came out and

asked if I was trying to impress the doctor by fixing myself up, I rolled my eyes and

walked towards his bed to plant a kiss on his lips, he asked why the doctor was not

coming to his room to discuss with his what was wrong and I told him they just want

me to sign some indemnity forms in case something happens to him while he’s in

hospital , like him falling then the hospital won’t be liable, he believed that story and

said all these institutions try to cover their asses all the times. As I was working out

leave the room he said “Honey don’t forget to mention to the doctor how good I’m

feeling, tell him I’m ready to go home to my beautiful wife and daughter” I smiled and

said I would.

After leaving Mthobisi’s room I needed to speak to a friendly voice, I needed some

motivation, I still had my husband’s phone so I decided to call my mother, I had

wanted to call her sooner but with so much that was going on I had not had a chance

to notify my family that I was back, she answered after a few rings, she was so

happy to hear my voice, she said Mthobisi’s’ mom had told her that Mthobisi and I

had gone on a couples retreat to work on our marriage, she said Mthobisi’s mom

kept promising so send her the contact details of the retreat we were in. I smiled and

said “Yes we were and the retreat did a great job, we are now so happy and in love

mom” I was lying but I didn’t feel like explaining to my mother what an evil witch my

mother in law was and how given an opportunity I would break every bone in her

body and then feed her to the pigs, not even lions because lions had more class than
she did, she belonged to pigs, that was her class and level. “Baby girl, you don’t

sound okay, talk to me” I smiled and told her that I was tired because we had just

come back from the retreat and it was in the bush somewhere in the Mpumalanga

and it was a long drive back. My mom told me how much she misses Dineo and I

told her I was going to bring her over on the weekend. I know I should have told her

what was going on but I didn’t want to stress my mother, this was my problem and I

was going to deal with it in my own way but talking to my mother had made me feel a

little stronger, I was now ready to face the doctor.

I got in the doctor’s office and he put Mthobisi’s file on the table and said, “I gave

your husband’s test to my colleague to get second opinion and we both came to the

same conclusion, we need to amputate your husband’s leg, the infection is already

starting to spread if we wait any longer, we could lose more than just one leg, we

have to do the operation today.” My heart almost popped out of my mouth.

“I’m sorry what? Today? No, no, no you can’t.” I said standing up ready to walk out

the room, he was crazy if he thought I was going to allow him to cut my husband’s

legs. The doctor stood up and started explaining to me how critical it was that

something be done sooner rather than later because later there could be more

complications, I was not hearing anything that he was saying all I knew was I was

not going to allow them to disable my husband not while I was still alive. “I will not

allow you to do that to my husband, give him antibiotics, Dettol, whatever the hell it is

that will stop the infection from spreading” I said walking out before he could even

respond. I didn’t know where I was going all I knew was I needed to get the hell out

of there, I needed to be very far away from this crazy doctor who had stupid ideas,

he was probably one of those doctors that passed with only fifty percent o only knew

half the work.

I went to the waiting room and just sat there, I could not face Mthobisi, not while I

knew what I knew. I found myself in the waiting area and I couldn’t go outside

because it was raining heavily, I hated the rain, I hated the doctor who wanted to

amputate my husband’s legs, I hated life and its unfairness. I sat on the chair next to

an old white lady, I laid my head on my hands trying to think very hard of what to do

next because I had just hit a wall and I didn’t know which way to turn. To other

people it must have looked like I was crying I only realized that when the old lady

sitting next to me tapped me on my shoulder and asked if I was okay, I quickly sat up

straight and told her that I was just tired. “You look troubled, they say it’s good to

share your problems with a stranger. This will be like therapy the only difference is

this one is free.” I smiled and asked her if she time because my problems needed

hours, she smiled and nodded and told me her husband is having a major operation

and that there was something wrong with his heart, they were struggling to find a

heart donor and he was at number three thousand five hundred and seventy-three

on the list of people waiting for hearts. Geez her story was even more depressing

than mine, I realized how selfish I was being by not letting the doctors operate on my

husband, yes he was going to have a missing limbs but there are fake legs that he

can use, here was a woman with a husband whose live hood dependant on

someone dying not just one person but over three thousand people had to die in

order for him to survive, that was proper messed up.

I was starring in the air and all these thoughts were running through my heard and I

realised that she was waiting for me to say something but I had lost myself in my

thoughts and problems. “My husband has very bad burn wounds, he got burnt while

trying to save our daughter and didn’t take care of the wounds, now he has some

sort of infection and this doctor says he needs to amputate his legs. My husband is a
very strong man and I am afraid that this will completely crash him” she looked at me

and gave me a warm smile. “my dear don’t take one doctor’s word, these people are

human and sometimes and I’m not saying he’s right or wrong about your husband

but sometimes they make mistakes, speak to God, get a second opinion and then

speak to your husband, the two of you need each other now more than ever, this can

either break you or build you up, the choice is yours and you seem like a woman with

a good head on top of her shoulders so I know that you will make the best decision.”

This white old lady was wise, old people have all the wisdom and understanding that

we lack. I looked at her and wondered how did she just give me answers to my

problems in less than five minutes, a nurse came to get her and said something was

happening to her husband was happening and she needed to come quick, I said a

small prayer on the inside praying that he wasn’t dying, she hurriedly left with the

nurse before I could even get her name.

I made my way to my husband’s ward, he smiled when he saw me and told me how

much he had missed me, I smiled back even though inside I was dying, I asked how

the pain was and he said it had moment where it was extremely painful, where even

coughing or sneezing would cause him to feel pain and he would ask the nurses for

medication and they would inject his drip with the strong stuff that would make him

feel high as a kite, I laughed at him and jokingly said he was such a druggie, we both

laughed and secretly I wished we could freeze in that moment, I didn’t want to be the

one that breaks the news to him. A nurse walked in as I was preparing myself to tell

my husband the bad news, I asked her to tell the doctor that I wanted to see him and

she said she would, she checked my husband’s drip and then left. After she left

Mthobisi asked what I wanted to see the doctor about, it was now or never. “My love

the doctor told me that you have some sort of infection on your legs and it’s
spreading so they, uhmmm, he needs to amputate your legs before the infection

spreads to other areas.” And I waited and waited for his response and all I got was

dead silence, I was now feeling confused I wasn’t sure if he had heard what I had

just said or if he was under the strong medication and could not understand the life

changes implication to this. When the doctor came in Mthobisi had still not said a

word, I was now worried that he could have a stroke from all the stress I had just

given him. The doctor asked if I wanted to speak outside and Mthobisi finally spoke

and said it’s his life he would also like to know what is going on. The doctor

explained the infection to him and where it was, he showed him x-rays of how bad

things were and how worse they were going to get if we didn’t act at that moment.

Mthobisi looked at me and asked what I thought and I said “I want us to get second,

third, fourth and fifth opinion, we can’t take one person’s word on this.” Mthobisi

nodded and said “You heard what the boss lady said, let’s get cracking on those

opinions, I’m going to call my people and you call yours.” Mthobisi said to the doctor.

I like the fact that he was taking this situation so lightly, I was freaking out, I wanted

to run up and down the hospital corridors screaming blue murder but I guess that

was the mental patient in me, I still blame that psycho places pills for my craziness.

After the doctor, had left Mthobisi asked me to give him his phone and I did, he told

me he was going to make some calls could I please get him water, I knew he wanted

to get me out of the room by asking me to get water, one reason, he didn’t want me

hearing the conversation he was about to have on the phone. I took the hint and left

and went to the waiting area because there was a pharmacy close by the waiting

area, as I passed the waiting area there sat the old lady in the same spot, she looked

sad this time, I walked up to her and told her that her advice had helped and I

thanked her, she just smiled then looked away.

I asked how things were going with her husband and she said things had taken the

toll for the worst, her husband was basically alive because of machines. I gave her a

hug and told her that everything was going to be okay she shouldn’t give up hope,

her husband could wake up and walk. She shook her head and said she had always

know that this day would come, she had just never thought it would be her husband

to go first she always thought that she would die before him. “Quit talking like that,

he’s not dead, miracles do happen, just believe.” She smiled and thanked me for

being so positive compared to how gloomy I had looked earlier on. I went and bought

water and also bought for the old lady when I came back she was no longer where

she was sitting I looked around for her and couldn’t find her, I figured she probably

went back to her husband, I decided to go back to mine too.

When I got back to the room Mthobisi was done with the calls he said he had

managed to get two doctors that were going to come in the afternoon to assess his

condition. One of the many things I loved about my husband was how he had no

time to sit around wallowing in self-pity, no he took charge and action of every

situation and we women love a man like that, not a man who is going to ask you to

come up with solutions to every problem, that defeats the purpose of having a man

around, very few guys get that a woman wants you to take charge, yes in some

situations she will take control but no man should let his woman be in control of

everything, a man is supposed to be the head which means the leader of the house,

I get this whole 50/50 thing that has been going on for some time but I was not about

that life, I wanted a man who took charge.

“Lesedi if all these doctors come to the same conclusion that I need to have my legs

cut, please don’t fight it, I have already accepted that there is a high chance that

tomorrow I might wake up with one legs and I am fine with it, legs don’t define who I
am, with one leg, one arm or none I will still be Mthobisi Jumbe no one can take that

away from me. I just need you to also accept it, I know it’s hard but nothing will

change, I will still be the same man you married and promised to love and cherish no

matter what.” I loved this man deeply his strength was amazing.

I know my husband means well but how was he not freaking out like I was? How was

he not scared like I was? How was he not losing his mind like I was? This was not an

everyday average thing that just happened to a person daily, this was not like buying

bread, this was his life, this was our life. What the hell did he mean nothing was

going to change, a lot was going to change.

I’m sorry I’m like those people who don’t believe in donating their organs after dying

because they believe that you need to go to heaven with everything or you might just

get sent back to go look for your body parts that are missing, I believe in going back

to the sender the way you were when you first came. “Mthobisi let’s just be positive

about this okay, let’s practise faith please, I believe that you are going to get out of

this pace still fully intact.” I said smiling he shook his head and said “You need to

accept that there is a possibility that I could walk out of here not fully intact. It does

not bother me at all because I did this to save my daughter’s life and I want her one

day to see just how much I love her and I know when we tell her how I lost my legs

she will be proud of me, be proud to have a father who is willing to sacrifice his life

for her.” He was right I was being a brat, not wanting to understand the situation. I

decided to change the topic because in my head I just could not imagine my

husband with no legs, never. We patiently waited for the afternoon to come so the

doctors could arrive. I was nervous as hell, Mthobisi was in so much pains at one

point but he didn’t want to tell the nurses because he said the medication was going
to knock him out and he knew if I stayed by myself with no one to talk to I was going

to start imagining all sorts of nonsense and start freaking out about this situation so

he needed to stay away to keep me sane, my husband knew me so well, he was

right, I overthink everything.

When I could no longer stomach seeing him in so much pain I told him it was fine I

was going to call my friends to come and keep me company, he told me to call them

while he was still up, I took his phone and called Cleo, she took forever to answer as

I was about to drop she answered, when she heard it was me on the phone she

started screaming, I could hear people in her background asking if she was okay,

she apologized and told me to hold on for a few seconds, I couldn’t hear what she

was saying to the people she was talking to but after a few seconds she was back on

the phone. “Ohhh my gosh Lesedi, I almost got my ass fired, I was in a meeting, I

excused myself after that big scream, I lied and told them I just found out my mom

had fainted at work, my boss was in that meeting he said I could go to her. Tell me

where the hell you are because I am on my way.” I really missed my friends, I told

her the hospital I was in and she said she was going to call She Rocks and they

would come see me in less than an hour’s time. All this time she was on speaker

Mthobisi smiled and said “Your friends really know how to cheer you up, look at the

smile on your face, okay you can call the nurse for the strong medication.” I went and

found a nurse and told her how much pains my husband was in and she said she

was going to bring him medication, a few minutes later the nurse came and injected

his drip and Mthobisi said it usually took a couple of minutes for him to feel the

difference but this time it was taking longer, after half an hour he was still in pains, I

went back to the same nurse and told her to double the dosage, she was reluctant

and said the doctor had told them to cut his dosage in half, now that stupid doctor
was getting on my nerves, I asked where he was and she said he had gone out to

other hospitals that he works in, I practically had to beg the nurse to give my

husband more medication and she eventually soften up and gave him more.

Forty-five minutes later Cleo arrived at that time Mthobisi was dosing off, she was

surprised to see him on the hospital bed and not me, she had bought me flowers and

chocolates, I rolled my eyes when she showed me the flowers but smiled when I saw

the chocolates. “Gosh you still hate flowers? I thought you would have changed and

upgraded.” I laughed and told her I could change in a lot of things but not my dislike

for flowers. I told her we should leave Mthobisi to rest and we went to the waiting

room, I was expecting to see my old white lady friend but she was not there. Cleo

said She Rocks was now working in some fancy company, the job kept her so busy

and she travelled a lot, all over the world, just two weeks ago she was in Italy and

had just arrived two days ago from Kenya. “Wow, she’s doing very well for herself” I

said feeling a bit envious while I was stuck in a mental institution people’s lives were

going on and flourishing and mine was standing still. Cleo explained that She Rocks

had been asked to be a guest speaker in some company in Bloemfontein and was

on the way back from there. She asked about me and where had I been because

they had searched everywhere for me and my mom had told them I had gone to

some couple’s retreat with Mthobisi and our daughter, she said my mom showed

them a text that I had sent her explaining that we would be away from sometime we

just needed to get away from everything and clear our heads and they thought that

made sense especially after everything I had been through, I told her it was all a lie

concocted by none other than Mthobisi’ s mother, Mthobisi and I were not together I

had only seen him for the first time in months the previous day. I told her how my

daughter was kidnapped and how Mthobisi tried by all means to find her and how
when he eventually did he got burnt and how now he has an infection on his legs

and could get amputated, Cleo was shocked by all this. “So where were you all this

time if you were not holidaying somewhere fancy. Don’t tell me Mthobisi’ s mom held

you hostage and made you do your makoti duties?” she asked laughing, I shook my

head and said “Even worse, she had me committed in a mental institution for months

Cleo, she told them I was a danger to myself and others, I was drugged day in and

day out every day when I woke up it felt like it was my first day there, the pills they

gave me f’d up my mind, I was so confused and miserable.” I said remembering how

much I hated that place. “Wow! That woman needs a strong sangoma to send her

lightning. Remember when she tried puling this stunt a few years back when you had

broken her car windows and slashed her car tyres, but come to think of it you are a

bit psycho my friend, just a little bit” she said putting her index finger and thumb

together to show the little bit signal.

I laughed and said “says the one who chased her husband with a knife around the

house and not to mention stabbed her husband’s mistress.” We both laughed and

Cleo said maybe we were both a bit crazy which is why we made such good friends.

I told her I needed to call home to check on my baby, I had Mthobisi’ s phone with

me and I called Mavis, she said all was well and Dineo was enjoying being home, I

knew she was just saying that to make me feel better, I doubt my daughter knew the

difference of where she was. Cleo and I chatted for hours it felt like I had never left, it

felt so good to be chatting to my friend this was something that previously I had

taken for granted, that this time I was so appreciative of it, being locked up will make

you see and appreciate the things that you don’t see as important because you do

them on regular basis but I have learnt that there is nothing more important than

family and friends I made a vow to appreciate them much more and show them love
and kindness.

A nurse came to find us and told us that the doctors were in Mthobisi’ s room and

wanted to see me, Cleo and I followed her back to Mthobisi’s room, my heart was

beating so hard, I was even worried that Cleo and the nurse could hear it. When we

arrived, there were five doctors surrounding my husband he was still sleeping. They

all greeted Cleo and I and shook our hands and each one introduced themselves.

Our main doctor explained that he had sent all of them the test results and the x-ray

so they were already clued up on what was going on and one of them who looked

familiar but I just couldn’t remember where I had seen him explained that he had

already examined his wounds. I looked at all of them and asked what the verdict

was, my husband’s legs were dependant on these men in white jackets and they

seemed so relax while I was panicking and losing my mind. They said they needed

to talk amongst themselves and each will share his findings and get back to me, they

left and went to the original doctor’s office to discuss my husband’s health.

As soon as they left I started crying “Did you see the way they all couldn’t look me in

the eyes? I’m telling you they’ve all come to the same conclusion I could just feel it in

the way they spoke” I said to Cleo who gave me a warm hug and told me everything

was going to be okay and that I should not come to my own conclusion until the

doctors have come back with the results. She Rocks burst into the room and joined

the hug and asked why I was crying, I think because she saw me crying she

automatically knew something was wrong. Cleo pointed at the bed and She Rocks

with a defeated breath said “Oh my God Mthobisi? He can’t die please tell me it’s

nothing serious.” Cleo explained to her what had happened to him because I just

could not bring myself to repeating that same story again. We must have been a bit

too loud because Mthobisi woke up and asked what was happening, my friends
hugged him, he saw me crying and asked if the doctors had already come and I told

him they went to discuss their findings and would be back.

A few minutes later the doctors were back and we all just froze waiting to hear my

husband’s fate.

Our original doctor who was now the group leader of these doctors was the first one

to speak, “We came to different conclusions and we will afford you the opportunity to

choose between the two conclusions and just remember whatever decision you go

with today you will have to live with it for the rest of your life” he said looking at

Mthobisi, at this point I was shaking so hard I wasn’t sure if my knees were going to

be able to carry me any longer, I held on the bed to try and balance myself. “Okay

out with it.” I said losing my patience with these doctors.

The doctor who whom I had previously thought looked familiar said “so you know

about the first option of amputating Mthobisi’s legs but three of us have found that

we can go a different route and not have his legs amputated, it’s risky but I think it’s

worth the try” I wanted to hug this man for being so positive, he was the first doctor

to give us hope. “Tell us what needs to be done and we will do it” She Rocks said.

“We will have to get him to surgery as soon as possible to remove the infected parts

and I believe that way we could save the rest of his legs, the infection has not spread

too far but with all that said there are chances that with this operation there could be

some bacteria that has already spread to other parts of the body undetected, I need

you all to understand that this will be highly risky and if we miss anything or anything

goes undetected it could mean possible death.” The group leader doctor took over

and said “On the other hand having his legs amputated will not have so many

complications, it will be a quicker operation and I have already spoken to my other

colleagues who specialise in prosthetics and would be very helpful in your transition”
I thanked all the doctors for their hard work and dedication and told them we will go

with the new option, Mthobisi agreed with me and I asked Mthobisi if he was

prepared to have an operation today and he said if it was going to decrease the pain

he was in then he was up for it.

We were given consent forms that stated that if anything happened to Mthobisi we

could not sue the doctor’s or the hospital and he is doing this operation fully aware of

the implications, Mthobisi signed it and as the doctors were leaving She Rocks

asked the one that I had kept saying looks familiar if they had meet before and he

said he wasn’t sure because he meets a lot of people in his line of work, which

actually made a lot of sense. The nurses came to get Mthobisi for his surgery

everything was happening so fast. I kissed him and told him how much I loved him

and told him I would be waiting for him when he comes out of his operation. I wanted

to be with my child but my husband needed me I had to be there for him and I

couldn’t risk bringing her to hospital with all the germs around and risk her getting

sick.

The girls and I decided to go and grab some food to eat, I had not eaten all day and

it was already afternoon and we had been told the operation would take a couple of

hours. Luckily the rain had stopped so we went to a small restaurant, everything in

the menu looked good but I had no appetite, so ordered a burger and chips while

Cleo ordered a huge ass steak and She Rocks ordered ribs, the girls were really

hungry, but when the food came all we all ate was a few chips, the stress was killing

us slowly, I could see they were trying to be strong for me but they were as scared

as I was. I was drained and exhausted and just wanted to go home with my husband

so we could be with our daughter and just have a happy normal life with no stress.

Cleo suggested we get some wine to calm our nerves, I hadn’t had alcohol in months
and I was afraid of what it might do to me, so I said I would pass but they were more

than welcomed to have some, they had one bottle amongst themselves but the wine

was not helping them with anything. After two hours, we decided to go back to the

hospital, I was just praying that all went well with my husband’s operation. When we

arrived at the hospital we went straight to his room, he was still not back. We sat on

his bed and I asked She Rocks about her job, she said it was amazing, she loved it

but it was so lonely, Cleo said she should find a man. I rolled my eyes and told Cleo

that a man is not an answer to every woman’s problem. Cleo said “but a man can

help with a lot of downstairs problem and I get the feeling that sister girl here is

suffering from salt” we all laughed and She Rock looked at Cleo and said “there are

toys for that problem silly” this time we all burst out laughing She Rocks continued

“only problem is after the toy has serviced you, it doesn’t cuddle with you and keep

you warm at night.” I laughed and said “There are blow up dolls you can cuddle with”

it was all laughter in the room. “I have missed you ladies so much with all your crazy

talks, I am so happy to be back.” Mthobisi’s phone rang, it was his mother, this

woman was a thorn in my ass. “What do you want?” I asked annoyed that she still

had the nerve to call, I knew at some point I was going to have to forgive her but that

was not going to be now I was not ready, I was still too hurt and I wished to God she

would understand that and leave us alone.

“I’m looking for you actually, the police are here looking for you. You didn’t tell me

you escaped from the mental institution. Where are you so I can send them your

way.” She said in a smug voice, how I wished I was close by so I could straggle her

and not let go until she took her last breath. “Listen here you miserable woman….”

Before I could finish the sentence Mthobisi was driven in still in the bed by the

hospital porters, I dropped the phone and rushed to his side. “How’s he doing? How
did the operation go?” I asked anxiously they told me the doctor was on his way to

explain and they transferred my husband to his bed and they left with their bed. He

was still unconscious, I guess the medication they gave him before the operation

knocked him out. A few minutes later the doctor that we had thought looked familiar

came he was on his own he explained that operation went well and they just needed

to monitor him for the next few days to make sure that there were no complications,

we were all so relieved our prayers had been answered. I thanked the doctor and he

left as soon as he left She Rocks said it bothered her that she couldn’t remember

where she knew the doctor from. We were all so happy that everything went well

with my husband’s operation. We decided to go sit at the hospital canteen so he

could rest without us making noise.

“Can you believe Mthobisi’s mother just called to tell me that the police are looking

for me because I had escaped the mental place.” I said very annoyed with my

mother in law I did not understand that woman, she was a mystery to me, each time I

thought I had figured her out she would just go out of her way to do something

completely out. “I would not be surprised if she’s the one that called the police and

told them you were at her house, that woman is petty, she’s probably very upset

about the fact that you took her helper.” Cleo said and she was right that was

absolutely something that my mother in law would do but I had no time to worry

about her, my husband was my first priority, she was going to make a plan on what

she does with her cops, at that moment I could not give a rats ass. “I think you

should open a case against her, get a restraining order and tell the police how she

kidnapped you, drugged you and probably bribed that place you were in to keep you

there and feed you drugs that mess up your brains.” She Rocks said, I told her I had

no proof of any of that and if I told that to any person they would think I am definitely
crazy and the police would probably send me back to the crazy people’s place. “Yep

police will not help with anything, they are useless as far as I’m concerned,

remember how they tortured you Lee after we arrived at the airport from Cape

Town? I get shivers just thinking about that, they will definitely not help you.”

Mthobisi’s mom had a way of just complicating my life, I knew it was just a matter of

time before she sent those police to my house and I could lose everything again, I

could go back to that hell, I needed to act and act fast before this woman ruined my

life again.

“I have a plan” She Rocks whispered, both Cleo and I asked her why she was

whispering and she looked at Cleo then me and said “Let’s get rid of that bitch, let’s

kill her.” I was never ready for this and one thing I knew from past experiences once

it comes out of one person’s mouth it was going to happen… to be honest I don’t

know how I felt about killing my mother in law.

My friends were serious, I hate my mother in law with every fibre in my being but

deep down I had always wished that she would change her feelings towards me and

accept me as her daughter just lime my parents took my husband as their son but

that was wishful thinking. If I was standing on the side of the road and there was a

truck moving at hundred and twenty kilometres and Mthobisi’s mother was standing

next to me, she would with no doubt in my mind and heart push me right in front of

that truck that was the kind of person that she was.

I was not like that, well that’s debatable but I would like to believe that I’m a good,

kind, loving person and killing my mother in law would go against all those good

things I believed about myself, besides she was connected in the underworld, friends

with the devil and everything so how do you kill someone like that without the whole

fleet of demons coming after you, hell she was the devil herself. I had lost myself in
my thoughts and had not realized that the girls were staring at me, “What?” I said

wondering if I had some spinach stuck in my teeth. “Are you going to give us an

answer or not?” She Rocks said looking at me with enquiring eyes, I had missed the

question but didn’t want them thinking I was day-dreaming while they were trying to

come up with solutions. “You didn’t hear the question, did you?” Cleo asked rolling

her eyes, I smiled and lied and said I did, they both looked at me with their shoulders

shrugged and at the same time said “and?” I laughed and said “and what?” Cleo

getting irritated said “Should we get rid of her or not?” I smiled and said “Let me think

about it, in the meantime come up with ideas of how to do it and how to get rid of the

body. Do not use your phones or your laptops or any of your personal gadgets to

research ways to kill a person or ways to get rid of the body” I said jokingly and we

all laughed. “Someone’s been watching too much Crime Investigation channel. Don’t

worry your pretty head Lee South Africa is ten years behind when it comes to such

technologies” Cleo blurted “We better pray they do not catch up, can you imagine

how many skeletons would pop up out of Lee’s family, she and Mthobisi combined

are worse than an army” we all laughed. The girls said it was time for them to leave I

decided to stay behind, my husband needed me, I was even contemplating sleeping

in hospital.

When I got back to Mthobisi’s room he was up. I asked how he was feeling and he

said he felt like death, he didn’t know the operation was going to be so draining. We

sat and chatted, he asked for his phone and asked me to go get him some water,

when I looked on the table next to his bed the water that he had previously asked me

to go and get for him was still there bottle not even touched it was still sealed. I

shook my head and walked out, something at the back of my mind told me to stand

around and listen to his conversation, curiosity was killing me. His bed had a curtain
opened all around it so I stood outside the curtain and listened, I could hear the

phone dialing and I stood there wondering what the big secret was, after a few

minutes I heard someone shout my name “Lesedi” I almost jumped out of my skin

with shock, it was Mthobisi I kept my mouth shut, he shouted again loud and again I

was still “dammit woman I can see your legs under the curtain” shit I was caught red-

handed, I sheepishly smiled and opened the curtain and said “oh sorry baby, I

dropped one of my earrings, I was just concentrating on finding it, I didn’t hear your

call my name” he tilted his head and looked at me then said “which one cause they

both on your ears” my lying skills had failed me dismally, they just turned from a

hundred to a zero without any notice to me. I laughed nervously, I hate being caught

in a lie and finding myself unable to defend myself. “I’m so silly, I heard something

drop and I automatically thought it was one of my earrings” I said feeling both my

ears to double check my stupidity, and if I could I would have kicked myself for not

removing one of the earrings on my ears, such an amateur mistake. Mthobisi looked

at me as if waiting for me to say something, and I looked back at him feeling very

silly. “The water?” he asked “ohh that, okay let me go and fetch you some” I said

feeling annoyed because now he knew I was standing there to listen to his

conversation and he’s still not letting me listen even though he knew what I wanted,

such an ass. I went to the canteen to go and get him tap water, I was too annoyed to

buy him bottled water, he didn’t deserve it. I took one of those paper cups and asked

one of the ladies who worked there to get me tap water they told me there were

water stands all around and I could fill my cup from there, I told them I needed

specifically tap water I couldn’t explain why but people are always so curious,

wanting to know why, I lied and said my husband just had an operation and

specifically asked for tap water, they felt sorry for me and got me my damn water. I
went back to my husband’s room if he wasn’t sleeping in a hospital bed and had not

just had an operation I would have thrown hi with that glass of water, but I decide to

be a sweet respectful wife and place the plastic glass next to his bed. He was done

on the phone, he looked pleased with himself. “I got a call from your brother when

you were gone” I rolled my eyes wanting to ask if he meant when he chased me

away, but I asked what Mali wanted and he said he my step brother who is Victor’s

son said there was something he needed to speak to the both of us about. I asked if

it was something serious, with my bad luck I didn’t want to take any chances, before

Mthobisi could even answer I had grabbed his phone and was getting ready to dial, I

dialed the last number assuming it was my stepbrother’s number. “What are you

doing?” Mthobisi asked the phone was in my ear and the other number was ringing.

“I’m calling my brother back” I said. “MT? Why you calling back so soon, give me a

chance to work my magic” a woman said as soon as she answered my phone.

Mthobis was trying to get my attention. “Whose she?” I said removing the phone off

my ear holding it with my left hand and pointing at it with my right hand. “My lawyer’s

secretary.” He said calm as a cucumber, I put the phone back in my ear and said “It’s

his wife” there was silence for a few seconds “ohhhh uhmmm I’m sorry, I didn’t

realize. Can I help you with something?” I wanted to say stop calling my husband but

I decided to play it cool and old her I pocket dialed her number by mistake and hung

up. I gave Mthobisi his phone back and told him to show me my brother’s number

which he did and I called him back, I was really starting to worry about what was

going on with my brother, he hardly ever called and when he did there was always

something wrong. The phone rang with no answer until it reached voicemail, I wasn’t

giving up I called again and this time he picked up, he sounded like he had been

running. “Mali, what’s wrong? Mthobisi called saying you want to speak to us both” I
heard a bit of hesitation and that’s when I started getting nervous. “Can you talk?” I

asked feeling like I had caught him at the wrong time. “Hey little sis, I’m good thanks

for checking up on me. Ohhh you want to catch up, yes definitely I can come and

give you some advice, okay little sis, take care, bye” the next thing I heard was the

phone being dropped in my ear, I swear Mali was an idiot, he had just had a

conversation with himself while I was on the phone with him, he didn’t bother

answering any of my questions. “Okay, that was weird.” I said looking at the phone.

“What happened?” Mthobisi asked I told him about my brother’s weird ramblings and

answering things that I didn’t say then hanging up. “He was probably with his wife

and I get the feeling that whatever he wants to speak to us about he doesn’t want

her to know” he said confidently “Rubbish, my brother doesn’t keep any secrets from

his wife” Mthobisi laughed so loud, I looked at him and asked what he knew that I

didn’t, he just shook his head and said nothing he said I knew as much as he did. It

was getting late and Mthobisi told me I should go home and I should also buy myself

a phone so he could be able to reach me, he gave me his card. I left him with his

phone, I was sad to be leaving my husband in hospital but I was happy that at home

I was not going to be alone, my daughter was going to be at home waiting for her, I

couldn’t wait to put her against my chest. I didn’t feel like going to the mall, I just

wanted to go to my daughter malls were always busy and I didn’t have energy for it

so I drove straight home.

When I got home Mavis had cooked dinner, he house was clean the baby had

already had a bath, everything was handled, this woman knew her story, I gave her a

huge because I was exhausted and I would not have been able to do anything all I

wanted was a nice long warm bath. I wanted to hold Dineo but she said I should take

a shower first because I had spent my entire day in hospital so I probably had germs
all over me, that made sense especially when I had not agreed to letting my

daughter go to the hospital because I was worried about the germs. I quickly went

upstairs and took a shower then came downstairs in a gown and started playing with

her she was such a happy child and I was tickling her then Mavis said something

that got me a bit shaken. “There was a lady here earlier who came with security

looking for you.” Mavis said to me, I was still focusing on my baby when I asked “Did

she give you her name?” I assumed it must have been Cleo or She Rocks. “She said

her name was Lizeka, she left her numbers, she said can you call her urgently”

It was as if my ears were ringing, I could see Mavis was talking but the was just a

loud ringing sound in my ears covering everything she was saying, all li heard was

Lizeka had been at my house, that crazy killing bitch had set her dirty feet at my

house? Who did she think she was coming to my house? Yes I admit if it wasn’t for

her I probably would still be stuck in that hell hole of a mental institution and yes I did

dump her in the middle of Joburg when she needed my help in getting her husband

back but this is the Johannesburg jungle it was each man for himself, eat or get

eaten situation.

“Ma ka-Dineo uright?” Mavis asked tapping me on my shoulder snapping me out of

my thoughts, “I’m fine Mavis, can I borrow your phone please I need to call my

husband.” She did and I called Mthobisi who said he was in too much pains and the

nurses kept giving him little medication. I told him to scream his lungs out nurses

hate noise especially at night they will end up giving him enough medication to knock

him out for two days, he said he didn’t want something that would knock him out just

something to ease the pain. We spoke for a couple of minutes, he asked about his

daughter and Mavis, I told him all was well in the house, I didn’t mention anything
about Lizeka, it was enough that my husband was in hospital I didn’t want him

worrying about some psycho woman stalking his wife, I got myself into that I was

going to handle the situation I didn’t want my husband thinking after all the work he

did to save our daughter she was in any form of danger because if my husband

believe that even for a second he was going to leave the hospital regardless of what

the doctors say. After the call I told Mavis to take my baby to bed, I was exhausted

and just wanted to get some shut eye. I went to bed and threw myself on top of the

bed and passed out.

The following morning I was woken up by Mavis saying Mthobisi is on the phone, I

wondered what could be wrong so early in the morning. “Honey is everything okay?”

that was the first question I asked when I spoke to him on the phone. “All is well

Honey, when are you getting your own phone? “Ahhh Mthobisi you woke me up to

ask about a phone, come on man, a we talk about this when I wake up.” I said

feeling very annoyed with my husband. “Honey, I just want to talk, I’m not calling to

fight I promise.” I calmed myself down after all the man was in hospital fighting for his

life. “Okay, what’s wrong then?” I said trying to get him to talk quickly so I could

quickly go back to sleep. He told me that he appreciates all the support I’ve given

him and thinks that I should spend some time with our daughter and not worry about

visiting him, I told him I could do both and he said I was exhausting myself and

besides he needs me to go and see Mali because it sounded like he was in serious

trouble, my brother could wait, he was probably calling to borrow money, trust family

to call you only when they need something from you, the rest of the times it’s like you

don’t exist. I agreed with Mthobisi only because I wanted to get back to sleep. I had

such a horrible nightmare after that call, in the dream Lizeka had killed Mavis and

Dineo and when I was walking in he was finishing of my husband I was crying,
begging and pleading with her to let him go but she said it was payment for ditching

her after promising to help her, I continued an as she put the knife in Mthobisi’ s

heart I woke up. I woke up sweating and crying, what a horrific dream I had just had,

I check my watch next to my bed time was 12:15, Jesus did I really sleep that much,

I thought. I woke up took a shower and the house was spotless, I went to the kitchen

and quickly grabbed some bread and peanut butter, ate a sandwhich when Mavis

came to the bedroom she was complaining about the bed crumbs that I had left all

over the kitchen counter, that woman was a neat freak, I cleaned them out, she said

she had made breakfast for us but because it was ow lunch time she had thrown it

out, note to self speak to Mavis about wasting food.

I saw my baby for a few minutes then I went to find my passport in our bedroom so I

could go and do a sim-swop at least I knew where the passport was. I left the house

and went straight to the mall and bought myself an iPhone 7 hey my husband was

nagging me about it and since I wasn’t paying for it, why not go for the best. I got the

phone and fortunately I could still remember my iCloud login details so I quickly

switched the phone on and my contacts populated and my messages. I found Mali’s

numbers and I called him and I asked where he was to which he told me he was at

home, I told him I was coming over.” I hadn’t been to Mali’s house in some time but

my brother had a gorgeous place, not too big very neat and very white. He had white

couches, white tv stand, white fridge, white cushion, everything in the house was

white. Just by sitting down in that house you felt like you were making the house

dirty. “Hey little sis, where’s Mthobisi?” He asked looking behind me. “Don’t freak out

but he’s in hospital, he’s just had an operation, he’s fine, I haven’t really told anyone

in the family, I didn’t want to worry anyone.” He sat me down then said now he feels

bad about what he’s about to ask me. “How much do you need?” I said ready to hear
a ridiculous amount. He shook his head confused “No little sis, I don’t need money, I

need your help but my wife can’t know about this” I wondered if he wanted to maybe

do a surprise party for her, now I was curious. “It’s your turn not to freak out now. I

have a daughter whose thirteen, I only found out about her two years ago..” I was

shocked I won’t lie, I tried not to freak out since he had asked me not to. “Who is the

mother?” he told me it was some girl he had a one night stand with at some party he

hardly even remembers the night because we were teenagers and he had been

drunk. “Does Sue know?” he shook his head and said if his wife found out about it

she would definitely leave him, my brother’s wife was not a big fan of kids and if it

were up to her she would never ever have kids. Mali on the other hand adored kids, I

didn’t understand why they had not discussed the baby issue before marriage. “How

sure are you that this is your child? You know these women will give you another

man’s child and ruin your marriage in the process.” I said feeling really bad for my

brother I could not even begin to imagine what he was going through. He took out his

phone and showed me the picture of the child, she looked exactly like him. “Oh Gosh

Mali, this is your child” he nodded and said “She stays with her mother in Eastern

Cape but last week the mom called me to tell me that most schools in the Eastern

cape are closing down so my daughter is supposed to be starting high school but

there are no high schools around her area, it would take her a walk of 80 kilometres

to get to the nearest school and there are no buses or taxis that go to that school,

things in the rural areas are really bad Lesedi.” I nodded agreeing with him, I had

heard in the news about schools closing down in the Eastern Cape in the news.

“How long are you planning on keeping this human a secret from your wife?” I asked

wondering if he called me there to help him speak to his wife and revealing the

secret. “I don’t know I haven’t thought that far. Sue and I are really happy and I want
to keep it that way” Mali said, “Mali there is a human being out there a grown ass

one who is your child and you are concerned about your happiness what about

hers? Can you for one minute stop being selfish and think about that child for a

second.

So basically she has no school, you have to bring her to Joburg, you can’t let a child

not go to school because you and your wife are “happy” and you don’t want to screw

that up.” I said fuming. “Lesedi can you stop lecturing? I called you here for that, yes

I want to bring her to Joburg but she can’t stay here, not yet, I need your help little

sis please” I knew where this was going and I didn’t like it at all. “No, no, no, I can’t

keep your child, Mali I have my own problems do deal with, I have a small baby to

take care of the last thing I need in my life is a teenager.” I said not about to allow

more responsibilities in my lives. “Lesedi you are my only hope, Naledi can’t help her

kids are older and she has to drive them to different schools, I really need your help

here please you are my last hope, I can’t even ask my dad you know Victor he will

want to call a meeting with Sue’s family and tell them about this and I need to

prepare for this, please, please Lesedi.” I told him I needed to speak to Mthobisi first

and he said he had already spoken to Mthobisi and Mthobisi said he was okay with it

he just needed to speak to me, men will always have each other’s backs, I was

obviously left in a very tight situation, I was going to get back to him and say Mthobisi

didn’t agree but now that they have spoken I could not really say no. “Tell me

everything I need to know about her.” I said knowing I had already lost this battle.

“She’s an amazing child, she’s 13 turning 14 soon, she is friendly, honest comes

from a very good home and is very disciplined and has respect.” I nodded and told

him she sounds like a great child and I wouldn’t mind her staying with us but only for

a few months, I gave him three months max to get his act together and then get his
kid back, he promised to pay for her school fees, books, stationary and all her basic

needs, I was happy with that because I was not about to inherit a child and also incur

financial costs. “There’s just one small light problem, she’s already on her way from

Eastern Cape Traveling by bus and she arrives tonight.” Mali said looking nervous.

“What? I’m sorry but I need more time, you will just need to keep her here for a few

days, come up with a story to tell Sue” I said feeling shocked

Mali went white in the face; my brother was really shit scared of his wife. He started

pacing up and down with his palms sweeting. “Lesedi come on, you know how Sue

gets, she will not understand and look at this house it’s not conducive for a teenager,

Sue like to keep a clean house and teenagers are sloppy and messy.” I rolled my

eyes and told him to relax I was going to take her but he shouldn’t expect me to drive

to Park station to go pick her up the least he could do is pick her up and bring her to

my house, he agreed and said he had already found her a Private School in Midrand

not too far from our place. Mali had already decided in his head that we were going

to agree to his plan. I felt sorry for the child who was coming to Joburg thinking she

will be staying with his father and was going to get a shock of a life when she is

shipped of to an aunt who she probably never even knew existed. “Doe her mom

know she will be staying with me?” I asked and he shook his head and said she

didn’t but he was sure she wouldn’t mind she was a really sweet lady and was just

desperate for her child to get proper education he said she never asked him for

anything and the only reason why she called her two years ago was because the

child was gravely ill and she didn’t want the child dying without knowing who the

father is and also wanted me to know my child even though it might have been too

late. He said he lied to Sue and said he had a business trip and flew to Cape Town
and the moment he laid his eyes on his daughter he fell in love with her, her

appendix had burst and she was in a public hospital and he had to make sure that

she was taken care of he moved her to private hospital and best doctors looked after

her and after a few weeks in hospital she fully recovered and was sent home. He

bought her a phone so he could keep in touch with her and they speak on the phone

weekly. “How does the mom feel about that?” I asked wondering if that woman didn’t

want him back and maybe was now using the school thing as a ploy to get him back.

He said the mom didn’t really care about him, she has her own things going on, he

hardly spoke to her the only person he spoke to was his daughter. “What her name?”

I asked because we have child been calling her the child and it would be a bit

awkward calling her child the whole time. “Her name is Noluthando but she likes

being called Thandie” he said with a smile in his face, I could see the love my brother

had for his child, I said it’s a beautiful name and Dineo would love to have a big

sister around.

After leaving my brother’s house I went home to prepare her room, when I got home

the first thing I did was call Mthobisi. “So why didn’t you tell me about Mali’s child?” I

asked him and he told me that I needed to hear it from him and it wasn’t his place to

tell me, he asked me what did I tell him? I told him I was corned and since he had

already agreed and he said Mali is family and family needs to help each other, I

couldn’t disagree with that. After the call I told Mavis about our guest that was

coming to stay with us and I told her not to worry I was going to prepare one of the

spare rooms for her. I decided to give her one of the rooms upstairs because I knew

kids love upstairs rooms. I put in new line in the bed and washing basked and I

placed a few books that I knew she was never going to bother reading but it just

added class and style to the room.

Mavis prepared dinner and we waited for Mali to arrive with the child, she was meant

to arrive at Park Station at six. I wondered how life was going to be with a teenager

in the house, I remembered how much of a pain I was to my mom at her age, Gosh I

wish she could find good friends like I did. I received a call from my sister she said

she was close to the gate and needed a code to enter, this was a surprise, I quickly

sms’d the code and within a few minutes she was at the door with her kids, we

hugged for a few minutes because I had not seen her in such a long time and seeing

her kids again just brought tears to my eyes, I had such a sweet niece and nephew, I

held them tight and told them how much I had missed them. They played with my

daughter and she was so happy to see her cousins at that moment I knew my

daughter had people that would have her back when she grew older, people that she

was going to be able to share her problems with. My sister said she had to come and

to meet Maili’s daughter he had told her that she was arriving that night and would

be staying with me. “Please don’t spoil her too much” she said jokingly “hey I’m very

strict you know this” we both laughed knowing how I spoilet her kids and how she

always always complained about that to which I never listened, I always just wanted

kids to have everything that they want and more. “Wait until Dineo gets to four, you

will realise that kids want everything that is under the son and you can’t give her

everything.” I smiled and told her I would cross that bridge when I got to it. Mali final

arrived and his daughter was such a cute little thing, we welcomed her, I showed her

room she said it was big as her house back in Eastern Cape and she loved it, she

asked who she would be sharing it with, I told her it was all hers, she told me she

had never had her own room before she thanked me and gave me a hug, this child

was already melting my heart now I understood why my brother loved her.
We had diner and chatted and my sister’s kids loved Noluthando all the cousins were

getting along, we were bringing up the next generation and it felt amazing, only

people missing were my husband and Mali’s wife, I wished they were there to share

that moment with us, but I knew the time was going to come when they would all be

there. After dinner and chatting my sister and her kids had to go, kids had school the

following morning, Mali also had to leave and I told Thandie to also go to bed the

next morning was going to be her first day at her new school I didn’t want her tired at

school, she asked what she was going to wear and I told her to wear her old uniform

because we didn’t know what her size was so we were going to go and buy her

school uniform after school.

The following morning Mavis had prepared breakfast for her and a lunchbox and she

looked terrible in her uniform it was old and the colour had faded I told her to change

and just wear black jeans and a white top and at least she had those, after breakfast

I drove her to school, she was very nervous and kept asking if she could not go to

school the following day, I told her she was going to be great and she had nothing to

worry about. When we go to the school gate Mali was there, she was so happy to

see him she ran to him and hugged him. We took her to the office and Mali spoke to

the principal while I looked around at the pictures of previous student’s that had

attended that school, it was really a prestige school. The principal took Thandie to

her class and Mali and I left he gave me money for her uniform and thanked me

again for helping him with her. I went home rested for a few hours then at two drove

to school to pick her up and took her shopping for her new uniform, she said the kids

in that school were super rich and she felt like Cindarella because she was wearing

old worn out raggedy clothes and when she told them where she was from they all

looked down on her she said she didn’t even make one friend on her first day of
school but was hoping that having a uniform would not make her stand out like

wearing jeans did, make heart broke for her, teenagers can be very cruel, I told her

not to worry she had me and her father as her friends. I could see she was really not

taking this well, I really had no idea how to advise her. We got to the uniform shop

we bought her uniform, stationery and other small school stuff that she needed and

on the way home I bought us ice-cream to try and cheer her up. When we got home

Mavis wanted to know how her fist day of school was I told her not to ask. I called

Mthobisi and told him how awful our visitors first day at school was and how I

realized that I was really not good with teenagers he told me to not be to hard on

myself sometimes all kids needed was someone to listen to and I didn’t always have

to give advice, speaking to my husband made me feel a little bit better.

Day two of school Mali couldn’t meet us at the school gate like the first day but he

had called the night before to explain that he has a very important meeting to attend

to. She looked so pretty in her uniform, Mavis had cut it and sawn it so it didn’t sit on

her ankles like it did before we made sure it was three fingers above the knees like

her school book instructed. I hugged her and told her to have a good day as I left her

at the gate. From school I went to go see my husband in hospital he was recovering

so well which pleased the doctors but they needed to keep him for another week just

to be sure he was properly of the danger line. After the visit at the hospital I rushed

to go pick up Thandie from school, this time she was all cheerful and happy which

just made my day, for two weeks all I did was drop her at school then go and see

Mthobisi and pick her up again and back at home, I was starting to feel like this was

clock work, the doctors wanted to keep Mthobisi in hospital longer. The second

weekend at or place Thandie said one of her friends was having a sleep-over and

she has been invited and it was such a big deal for her, I called her father and he
was fine with it. The mother of the friend came to pick her up I was relieved to have

some peace and quiet she was a bit of a talk-machine, talked about school her new

friends, how different they were from the friends she had in Eastern Cape, she said

she belonged in this crew who started liking her after finding out that she stays at an

Estate, I didn’t get how small kids could be so materialistic but at the same time I

was glad she had made friends. The whole weekend she called to check-in and to let

me know she was safe and all was well, she was such a well-mannered child her

mom had done an amazing job raising her and I secretly wished Dineo could grow

up to be like that.

The following Monday Thandie was back at school and my clock work started,

Mthobisi was coming home the following day. I took her to school when I went to go

pick her up she was not as cheerful as she was when she came back from the

weekend sleep-over and for the first time she didn’t want to share what was

bothering her, I didn’t want to push her so I let it go. The following morning, she said

she was sick and couldn’t go to school, I let her sleep and got ready to go and pick

up Mthobisi as I was about to leave Ma vis came to me and said Thandie had been

crying all night, I couldn’t go check on her Mthobisi was waiting for me I asked Mavis

to give her some Panado’s because she was coming down with something and if it

gets serious to call Mali. I left Mthobisi was happy to be going home and so was I, he

was limping but he was no longer in pain which made me so happy.

When we go home Thandie was still in her room Mavis called her to come and meet

Mthobisi and when she came down I could see she had been crying her eyes were

red, I gave Mavis a look and she shrugged her shoulders. She told us she was still

not feeling well and Mthobisi told her she could go back to bed, I left Mthobisi playing

with Dineo while I went upstairs to check up on Thandie. When I got to her room she
was bowling her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she hesitated for some time

and after a while she showed me her phone. There was a naked picture of her and

the person who sent it said he wanted R10 000 or else he distributes the picture to

the whole school…

I looked at her then at the picture I was so confused, what the hell was this? She’s a

child for crying out loud. I knew I was not ready to be a guardian of a teenager, no

wonder parents who have teenage girls are always stressed. I needed to calm

myself down, I walked to the window, I needed fresh air I didn’t want to speak to her

while angry. I must have stood by the window for about ten minutes with Thandie just

sobbing sitting on her bed. I eventually calmed myself down and walked back to her

bed I had this whirlpool of questions going through my head but I had to be gentle,

she was still a child. “I need you to tell me everything, how all this started. Start from

the beginning and don’t leave anything out.” I said hugging her, she was crying so

hard she was even shaking. “Okay, okay I’m going to get you some sugar-water

okay?” I walked out of the room as I got out Mavis was standing outside the door

obviously she must have been listening to what we were talking about, I pretended

as if I didn’t see her she asked if everything was okay, I said yes and asked her to

make Thandie some sugar-water, she gave me a questioning look and I ignored her

look and went back inside.

Thandie was still sobbing, I sat next to her and told her that if she wants me to help

she needs to calm down and tell me exactly what happened. She shook her head

and said she didn’t know what happened, I was trying very hard not to loose my

patients with her, what the hell did she mean she didn’t know what happened. “Did

you send nudes to your boyfriend?” I asked feeling very uncomfortable about this
topic. She looked at me and asked what nudes are. “It’s naked pictures, like the one

on your phone baby” I said trying to be gentle with her. She looked at me with shock

and still crying and said “Aunt Lesedi, I would never do that, I don’t even have a

boyfriend” she said this with so much hurt in her voice and I believe her she was too

innocent to have done that. “So who is this person sending you messages?” I asked

a bit confused, maybe I was too old to understand the things of today. Mavis walked

in and handed me the water I thanked her and I could see she wanted to stay but I

gave her a go away look and she immediately left. “I don’t know who this person is or

how they got a naked picture of me, I swear aunty I don’t know how this happened, I

have been trying to remember where or how would anyone have a picture of me

naked and I can’t remember. I’m new in this town and school and if this person

sends this to everyone, my life is going to be ruined, I might as well move back to

Eastern Cape and just stay at home. My mom is going to kill me ohhh God, she will

die, this will kill her, she warned me about Joburg and I have not even been here for

a month and then this happens?”

I knew right there and then that this poor girl was a victim of some idiotic game that

someone was playing on her, maybe that wasn’t even her body, maybe just her face,

what photoshop can do is amazing. I told her not to worry and that I would deal with

whoever was behind this, no one messes with my family and get away with it.

“Please don’t tell my dad, or he will never let me stay with him” that just broke my

heart, I nodded and I asked her to give me her phone, she handed it to me and I

asked if she had a password and she said no. I went downstairs and I found my

husband passed out on the couch with our daughter on his chest also fast asleep. I

picked up my daughter and took her to her room and put her to bed then went to

wake my husband up, he was too heavy for me to even consider carrying him to the
bedroom so I woke him up, he was a bit disorientated, he thought he was still in

hospital and kept calling me nurse, I eventually managed to get him to the guest

bedroom downstairs, going upstairs was just not going to work it was too far. I put

him to bed and went back to go switch off the TV, but found Mavis cleaning up the

room and she gave me Mthobisi’s phone, I took it and wished her a good night sleep

and went upstairs to Thandie’s room to check up on her, she was asleep or

pretending to be sleeping so I went back downstairs and on my way to the room

Mavis asked me what was wrong with Thandie, I honestly didn’t know how to explain

it to her, it didn’t make sense to me and how do you tell an old person about nudes,

so I simply told her that she was having a hard time at school and adjusting to a new

town, she nodded and said “poor farm girl, I hope these hood rats don’t mess with

her head” I looked at her surprised at the fact that she knew the hood rat term and I

said “I honestly don’t know what to do Mavis. I hope my daughter doesn’t reach that

age, she must just stay a baby.”

Mavis smiled and said that was her wish too with her kids. I wished Mavis again a

good night and told her this time I was really going to sleep, when I got to the

bedroom Mthobisi was fast asleep, I tried waking him up but it was not working. I got

into bed and tried sleeping but all I could see was Thandie’s naked picture, there

was a phone ringing, I wasn’t sure if it was mine, Thandie or Mthobisi’s, luckily they

were all on top of the dressing table it was Mthobisi’s phone that was ringing, it was

a number that was mot saved on his phone, I answer and I could hear the person

hesitating, then she said “hi, sorry I am looking for uhhmm MT” I could recognise the

voice, it was the same woman who had called a few days before when I thought her

number was Mali’s and I accidentally called, since my husband was asleep and I

couldn’t sleep and had a lot on my plate why not add more stress to myself, no I did
not want to add more stress it just came out “what is your business with my husband,

you call him day and night. What is this?” I said feeling myself getting irate. I could

hear she was trying very hard to think of a political correct answer. “Don’t you dare

tell me to ask my husband because I am asking you.” She was silent foe a bit then

said “Please tell him I called” and with that she hung up, “bitch” I said looking at the

phone irritated.

I was walking up and down in the room not knowing what to do, my husband was

fast asleep even snoring, there was a point where I wanted to wake him up, I had so

much on my mind to be honest I was not bothered by this woman’s calls I trusted my

husband and knew he wouldn’t cheat on me, what was killing me was Thandie’s

naked pictures that were going to be distributed amongst students who will share

them with other friends and those friend’s will share with other people and before we

know it the whole world will see my niece naked, I wanted to save her from the

humiliation if that picture went viral, it was going to scar her for life. I called She

Rocks, as I was calling her number a message came through one of the phones, I

decided to check the message after the call as She Rocks had already answered the

phone. “Friend, why are you not in bed with your man whose just come out of

hospital cuddling? Do you know what time is it?” She Rocks said as soon as she

answered the phone, I didn’t answer any of her questions “I need your help” I said

explaining the whole Thandie situation to her, she listened attentively and when I

was done she said “what if this rural girl is playing you? What if both she and her

mother are in on this trying to scam cash out of you.” I had never thought of it that

way but this child was young, she was too innocent to be trying such shenanigans.

“You didn’t see the look on her face when she showed me those pictures besides

what kind of a mother would come up with something so evil and twisted, no Thandie
is innocent in all of this, I know it and I can feel it” I said assuring She Rocks that she

was wrong. “Okay, I know of a lawyer who can help us lets go to her offices first

thing tomorrow.” She said and I agreed. After speaking to She Rocks I felt a little bit

better, she was the only person I had shared this story with, I had not even told my

husband about it. I checked the phones to see which phone had received a message

between my nice and my husband it was Mthobisi’s phone, bank notification about

some debit order. I decided to get some shut eye I needed to be fresh and well

prepared for the lawyer. I joined my husband in bed and within minutes I was in

dream land.

The following day I was the first one up Mthobisi was still fast asleep, the medication

he was on was very strong the previous night I had a full-on conversation in front of

he didn’t hear a word didn’t even flinch whatever drugs he was on, I wanted some for

myself. When I got to the kitchen Thandie and Mavis were already seated and

having breakfast, Thandie was playing with her food poor child was probably so

stressed she couldn’t even eat. She was already dressed up in school uniform ad

ready for me to take her to school even though I knew deep down she probably jsut

wanted the earth to open up ad swallow her, I have had the same feeling a few times

in my life so I knew what she was going through. Mavis had made her lunch of

peanut butter sandwich and Thandie was so grateful for it, this child was not your

normal rude, disrespectful child she was sweet, kind, full of respect and just a loving

person. We went to the car and I told her we were not going to school, I could hear a

sigh of relief. “We are going to see a lawyer who is going to get us out of this mess.”

I said feeling very proud of myself and of course acting like this was all my intelligent

plan. “A lawyer Aunt Lesedi? A lawyer? Why don’t you just pay him the money that
he wants please pay him so we can forget about this and put it behind us” Thandie

said shocking me.

“Thandie if we pay this person they will be winning, we cannot allow this fool to win.”

I didn’t know how else to explain this to her, I wanted her to know that we will not be

paying anything to anyone. “We might pay him now and he goes silent for a few

months and once the money runs out who’s to say he won’t come back for more

money, we will end up paying him every week this is why we have to nib this in the

butt before it goes too far.” I said to her and she was a bit understanding. We arrive

at She Rocks lawyer friend in Rosebank, She Rocks was already there waiting for

us, I introduced her to Thandie and we went in the lift to go meet the lawyer.

We meet this white lady by the name of Samantha, she was very kind and listened to

our story she said there were a lot of these kind of cases going around especially

with young girls, this social media was destroying so many lives, she said some girls

were not as lucky as Thandie to get a warning they just got surprised by their naked

pictures popping up everywhere and she said it happened to girl as young as twelve

years old and she honestly didn’t think that teenagers were being educated enough

on dangers of social media. She asked Thandie if she did not send the picture

herself to the person who was threatening her because if she did then she was going

to be charged with porn distribution, Thandie said no, she would never do that. “She

went for a sleep-over at a friend’s house, is it possible that one of the girls could

have taken her picture while she was sleeping?” I asked looking at Thandie, she

shook her head and said something strange happened that weekend. Now all eyes

were on her and I was getting annoyed at her for not telling me this earlier, this could

have saved us this trip to the lawyer. “We were watching movies the Nozi received a

call from some guy friends of theirs they wanted to come over, her parents had gone
out, they came we watched movies and I don’t remember going to bed, the only

thing I remember is waking up in Nozi’s bed, I only had a t-shirt on and it wasn’t even

mine.”

Oh my gosh I wanted to say but I couldn’t say that to her, I didn’t want her thinking

this was worse than it actually looked even though that is exactly what I thought

“What about underwear, did you have that on?” She Rocks asked looking

concerned. Thandie nodded and said she doesn’t think she was raped she just didn’t

understand how she moved from the TV room to the bedroom. “What about those

boys? Were they still there when you woke up?” I asked Thandie and she said when

she asked Nozi she said they left an hour after they arrived, they left cause her

parents were on their way back and when she asked her how she got to bed all the

other girls said they were all tired so they must have all thrown themselves in bed

while sleepy because they were all tired and were all complaining of a headache but

Nozi’s mom gave them painkillers and said their eyes must be tired from watching

TV all night when Nozi told her about everyone having a headache. I asked her if

she was the only one who didn’t remember how she got to bed and she said almost

everyone in the sleep-over didn’t remember how they got to bed but Nozi told them

they all went to bed at the same time and everyone kind of just dropped it and forgot

about it.

“And the number that’s sending you naked pictures you don’t know it?” Samantha

the lawyer asked and Thandie shook her head. Sam told us that we will need to go

to the police station and open a case with the police and the moment she mentioned

dealing with police I knew this was going to be a waste of time, she said we will need

to get a subpoena that will be given to all cellular networks so if that number that has

been threatening her belongs to any of the networks the companies would have to
give us that person’s details so we can take them to court. For now all Samantha

could do was give the person a call and tell them that if they distribute Thandie’s

pictures they will be child with child pornography because Thandie was a minor to

which we all agree to but the number went straight to voicemail Samantha left a

voicemail explaining that she was Thandie’s lawyer and that if he dared sent those

pictures he would face years in prison for child pornography and that we were going

to find him.

We left the lawyer offices feeling a bit positive She Rocks suggested we all go out for

breakfast which I agreed to, we went to a restaurant had breakfast and chatted while

we were chatting a message came through on Thandie’s phone. “So you told your

lawyer about me, you will never find me and for that I’m upping the money I want

R20 000 or this picture circulates around the school” I showed She Rock and she

wanted to reply and swear at the creep but I told her not to, she called Samantha to

let her know that we have received another message but Samantha was not

available, she was in a meeting. We left the restaurant and Thandie and I went home

while She Rocks went to work. On the way home, I got a call from Mthobisi asking

where I was I because Mali was at home the school had called him about Thandie

and he was there to discuss this with us. My heart started beating fast, I was worried

thinking that creep had sent Thandie’s picture to the school and that the teachers

found out and that’s why they called Mali, I had failed my brother, I was hardly her

guardian for two weeks and then this happens, I didn’t tell Thandie that her dad was

waiting for us I don’t know why maybe because I was scared that she was going to

thin the same thing I was thinking, when we got home she was surprised to see him

and scared at the same time. “Papa what are you doing here?” she asked looking at

him nervously, he looked at me then at her then said “The school called, they said
you haven’t been at school in two days. What is going on with you? Lesedi where did

you find her?” we were both speechless, I was not ready for this, I was not ready for

Mali and his questions I had not even told my husband about this. “On our way to

school Thandie became worse, she was sick yesterday so she didn’t go to school,

today she was feeling a bit better but on the way to school she suddenly felt dizzy

and faintly so I took her to the doctor I was going to call you when I got back home

Mali.” I said really not sure where that lie came from so quickly even Thandie poor

girl was so surprised by my lie, but she caught on quick because she started

coughing and I wanted to laugh then she said she was going to go and lie down for a

bit.

Mali asked how much the doctor charged and what he said, I told him not to worry

about money all I wanted was for Thandie to be okay, I told him he said she’s

catching a flu but it’s nothing serious and Mali said it was probably due to the change

of weather her body was probably still adjusting to the Joburg temperature, he

thanked me for taking care of his daughter and said he has to rush back to work and

will call and check on her later.

After he left Mthobisi gave me an inquiring look “What’s going on?” he said staring

me in the faced, I smile and said “nothing I can’t handle” I said feeling confident that I

could handle this myself. “okay, just don’t come running to me when it’s too late for

me to fix it, okay?” he said playing with his daughter, I rolled my eyes thinking my

husband is so arrogant always thinking he’s the only one who can sort issues out.

“Okay, okay since you insist I need your help. There’s something you need to know,

let’s go to the bedroom I don’t want Mavis hearing this.” We went to the bedroom

and I told him the whole story and he laughed and said I wasted time with lawyers.

He told me to give him the number this guys was using his pople were going to find
this person, I gave him the number and Mthobisi said he was going to make a few

calls and find out who the phone belongs to so he can pay that scumbag a visit, I

looked at him and told him he just got out of the hospital he can’t be running around

beating people, I told him to send one of his people and he said he would but I had a

sneaky suspicion that he was going to do it himself. I went to go play with my

daughter, I felt like I was neglecting her since Thandie came into the picture. My

sister called to find out how Thandie was doing at school, I didn’t wat to tell her about

the whole dram a so I lied and said all was well. “Listen I need to tell you something

but please don’t be mad okay.” My sister said and I wondered what she had done

this time. “Naledi I can’t deal with bad news not now, I have had a rough couple of

days and the last thing I need to hear is bad news, if it’s bad rather not tell me.” She

said it was not too bad so I told her to go ahead and tell me. “It accidentally slipped

that you are looking after Mali’s child.” I asked who slipped it and to who and she lied

and said the kids were asking about when they were coming to visit Thandie again

and they asked this with both Victor and my mom around so my mom asked who

Thandie was and the kids said it’s Uncle Mali’s daughter and she was left to explain

the whole story. I knew she was lying my sister can’t keep a secret to save her life,

she must have blurted it out, it’s as if secrets start burning her chest and she has to

tell someone or else she will have a heart attack.

I asked what our parents said she said they were very angry that we had kept this a

secret from them and Victor wants to have a family meeting with all of us first then a

family meeting with Sue’s family to explain this embarrassing situation that Mali had

gotten us into. “Naledi, Naledi, why could you not just keep your mouth shut, Mali

had a plan he was going to handle this in his own way but you just had to go and

interfere, I am tired Naledi you have no idea what that child is going through and I
will not tell you because you have a big mouth, one thing I do know is I do not have

the strength to deal with angry mom and Victor and I am very angry at you for

opening your big mouth about nothing that has nothing to do with you.” I was so

annoyed I hung up. I called Mali to tell him about Victor knowing about his child and

he said Victor had already called him and demanded a family meeting so he had no

choice but to tell Sue about Thandie and Sue was so upset that she kicked him out,

he was on his way to our place he needed a place to stay for a few days. “Mali first

you give me your daughter to look after now you are coming to stay here too, my

house is not a bloody hotel” I said hanging up the phone.

Okay I was being unreasonable, Mali was family and he needed my help. I called

him back and apologised for being so rude to him, I told him there was enough room

for all of us in the house, I told him to come over and I could hear the relief in his

voice when I told him that he could come sleep at my place. After speaking to him I

went to our bedroom to find Mthobisi busy on his laptop, when he saw me he looked

up and said “you won’t believe who that number belongs to.” I suddenly remembered

the woman who called him at night I don’t know why only then did I remember I told

him to hold it and tell me about the woman that keeps calling him at first he

pretended not to know what I was talking about and when I reminded him of who she

was then his memory suddenly came back “Ohhh I work with her, she’s helping me

with my new project” that was all he said about the topic, nothing else, I had bigger

problems to worry about so I was not going to probe or dwell on this. “Listen Naledi

with her big mouth told Victor and mom about Thandie and Victor called Mali

demanding a family meeting with Sue’s family so Mali had no choice but to tell Sue

that he has a child with someone ese and now Sue has kicked him out, he has no

place to stay and he’s asked to stay with us.” Mthobisi said he was fine with it and at
least there would be another man in the house he was tired of being surrounded by

woman.

I asked him who the number belonged to and he said it was registered under a

company so there was no way of knowing who in the company the phone belongs to

unless if we contacted the company itself and even with that the company will not

want to give us the name of its employee, shit it felt like every turn we took we were

hitting a brick wall, it was really frustrating. “I will find a way around it, don’t stress

and we have to tell Mali I know you promised Thandie that you won’t tell him but he’s

going to be staying with us and if this were Dineo I would want to know what my

daughter is going through.” Mthobisi said making sense even though I was not in the

mood to hear it. “Okay, okay fine I will tell him.” I said knowing I was not going to win

this argument. Mthobisi feeling victorious continued “Frankly I think you guys need to

stop with all these secrets, look at how they are now blowing up in people’s face.” He

was right but I didn’t want to hear it, “Okay Mthobisi I get it, but these aren’t even my

secrets I’m just trying to help my family and keeping their secrets, I am caught in the

middle of all this.” While Mthobisi and I were still talking, my mom called and said

they were on their way and I should send them the code for the gate. I rolled my

eyes and said okay. I sent her the sms code and I also sent it to Mali. I asked Mavis

to prepare lunch for twenty people because at the rate things were going everyone

was coming to my house, Mavis laughed and said she was going to make lunch.

An hour later Mali arrived and I told him our parents were on their way and he said

he knew. Fifteen minutes later my parents and my sister arrived. We all sat down

and Victor was fuming he was really disappointed in Mali, I just sat there in silence

and Victor lashed out at all of us for trying to keep a child a secret, he wanted to

know how long were we planning on hiding this child and why we didn’t trust them
enough as our parents to tell them about this, this was a person and she needed to

know her family, her grandparents too and not just her aunts, he was still alive and

we were denying him an opportunity of getting to know his grandchild while he was

still on earth, that really hit me in the heart. I apologised to Victor and my mom for

not letting them know about Thandie, I didn’t know what else to say, Mali took all the

blame and said it was his fault he had begged us to keep this secret. My parents

said we were all equally to blame for it because we all conspired to keep this child a

secret, I had no idea this was going to blow up in our faces like this. Victor said they

had to meet Sue’s family and apologize and also Thandie’s family for Mali to pay

damages, this was becoming more complicated by the day but I totally got where

Victor was coming from. They wanted to meet Thandie so I went upstairs to get her

in her room I told her that he grandparents were here to meet her, the first thing she

asked was if they knew about the pictures and I shook my head and said no. We

walked downstairs and my mom couldn’t stop hugging her and kissing her and crying

all at the same time, so excited that she had a grown granddaughter.

Thandie was loved by so many people whom two weeks ago, had no idea that they

even existed. Mavis served lunch while my parents were gushing over their

granddaughter asking her all sorts of questions about where she comes from and

how her family is in Easter Cape, I was relieved that Sue was not there I don’t think

she would have been too happy with the attention her new found step daughter was

getting. After eating lunch Thandie went upstairs to go play with Mavis and Dineo.

Mali told our parents that Sue was extremely upset and was even threatening

divorce, he said he had never seen her that angry, my mom assured him that it was

just shock talking and Mali needs to give her space to calm down she will speak to

him when she’s calmed down. Victor arranged a meeting with Sue’s family for the
following evening and on the coming weekend they were going to Eastern Cape with

Mali to pay damages for Thandie, Victor does not waste any time, calls were made

and arrangements were made. I was still pissed off at my sister for her big mouth

and I kept ignoring her each time she tried to speak to me. The family left only in the

evening and by the time they left I was so exhausted all I wanted was the bed. I went

to bed and left Mthobisi and Mali talking.

The following morning Mali told me not to worry he was going to take Thandie to

school, I still had her phone and there weren’t any more threats I was convinced that

the call from the lawyer had scared him a bit but Mthobisi was not going to give up.

After they left Mthobisi asked when I was going to tell Mali what was going on with

Thandie and I told him I first needed to speak to Thandie about it. “You know Nozi’s

father works for the company that the phone number is registered to, I don’t want to

jump to any conclusions but I think we should pay them a visit or invite them over, to

thank them for the sleep-over” I agreed. Mali called asking me to pick up Thandie

from school because he was held up at work, I gladly agreed. When I arrived to pick

her up I asked her to show me Nozi the friend that she had slept over at her place,

she called her and the first thing I noticed was that the girls school skirt was way too

short that the school’s requirements. I greeted her and asked for her parent’s

numbers I told her I wanted to invite them all for dinner to thank them for the girl’s

sleep over, she happily gave me their numbers and we drove home I asked Thandie

if any of her friends were also getting threatening messages she shook her head and

said no one said anything but she also didn’t tell anyone because she was too

ashamed, so she doubts if anyone who was going through the same situation as her

was going to speak out. When we got home we compared the number’s that Nozi

had given us and they were not the same. I called Nozi’s parent’s and invited them
for dinner I knew Mali was going to Sue’s parents with our parent’s so I was not

going to have to explain myself. At 18:30 that evening Nozi’s parents arrived with

Nozi and their younger son who was seven years old. Nozi asked if she and Thandie

could go to a friend who stayed in the Estate, we all didn’t have a problem with it, I

mean it was just in the same complex where we stayed. Mthobisi and I were ready

for the parents, we welcomed them they were weird people I got bad vibes from the

father each time I stood up I felt like he was checking my butt, Mthobisi noticed this

too but we tried our best to hold ourselves back the mother was oblivious to all this, I

don’t know if she couldn’t see her husbands roving eye or if she chooses to ignore it.

The wife asked why Mthobisi was limping we just said he had been in an accident,

we both were not in the mood of explaining ourselves, this night was for us to study

them, not the other way round. When I spoke to her in the kitchen while I was

preparing desert she told me how hard things were getting for them financially she

had just been retrenched from work four months ago and they were struggling to

make ends meet and her husband was taking extra jobs just to make ends meet, this

was interesting, I asked her what kind of jobs was he doing and I don’t think she

knew she just said it was online stuff and I nodded. After the desert, they thanked us

for a nice meal and left, they said Noizi sent them a message saying she was going

to catch an Uber home.

After they left and we had just walked them out to their car Mthobisi made a call and

all he said was “they just left my house, get going” I didn’t know who he was talking

to until an hour later when someone came into the house to drop a parcel for

Mthobisi. He went to his study with the parcel. I cleared the kitchen I had given Mavis

a break on that night I had cooked everything, Mavis needed to rest too she worked

too hard. While I was washing the kitchen, I received a called from a hysterical Nozi
saying Thandie had been involved in a shooting, I asked what street were they in

and she said they were in a club. “Club? You said you were going around the corner.

How the hell did you end up in a club? Let me speak to Thandie.” I said angry with

this girl it was as if she was just always bringing distraction to poor Thandie’s life.

She said the paramedics were busy with Thandie, the phone fell off my hand, this

was not good, not good at all.

Mthobisi walked and to find my phone on the phone shattered, I guess he must have

heard the sound of something falling and came to inspect what was going. “Honey,

what’s wrong?” he asked looking at my obviously shocked and confused face, I

stared at him dumb-founded, I couldn’t find my voice, the words wouldn’t come out

of my mouth it felt like if I said then it would be come real. “Honey, you have to tell

me what is going on, I can’t help you if I don’t know what is wrong, talk to me” he

said holding both my hands and looking me in the eyes. I shook my head and said

in a hoarse voice, my voice was struggling to come out, even the words were painful

just saying them “Thandie has been shot” I said, he looked at me confused, he

joined my world in a matter of seconds and asked. “Here in the Estate? Why didn’t

we hear gun shots?” I shook my head and told him that Nozi had just called to tell

me they went to a club and that’s where all this happened. “Let’s go get her, I didn’t

realize how much of a handful having a teenager can be.” Mthobisi said grabbing his

car keys. I quickly told Mavis that we were going out, I didn’t give her any details

because I didn’t have any myself. We rushed to the club that Nozi had said they

were in, it wasn’t too far from our house, when we got there the place looked chaotic,

there were ambulances and police cars.

Mthobisi and I rushed to the front of the club and the police were all over the place,

we approached a policeman who was taking notes. “I’m, we are looking for Thandie,
she was shot, she’s injured.” I said just blurting out words, I wasn’t even sure of what

I was saying, words were just flowing out of my mouth, the policeman looked at me

and told us that he didn’t know everyone’s names that was there and he was doing

his job and if my daughter was hurt I should go to the hospital because he saw an

ambulance leave, he didn’t know which hospital the ambulance had gone to and he

was very disinterested in the whole situation, you would have sworn he didn’t want to

be at work and we were irritating him with our questions. Mthobisi pulled my arm

and we walked inside the club the club was empty, I guess everyone ran after the

shooting, who would sit there and wait and put their lives in danger. There was no

sign of Thandie or Nozi anywhere and when I tried calling the number Nozi had

called me with it went straight to voicemail. Outside the club, it was chaotic with

police and people and everyone just talking at the same time, no one was listening to

anyone, the whole scene was very confusing. Mthobisi went to a group of people

that had gathered with some police the people were explaining what had happened

and the police were asking questions and everyone was just answering at the same

time saying their own version of the story. “Can everybody just shut up. We will ask

each person individually, I’m tired of this circus. You go with him and you follow her,

you come with me” one of the police officers said taking charge of the situation which

was something that they should have done in the first place. We followed two girls

that were being interviewed by one of the cops, they must have been around

eighteen and nineteen years, we just assumed that since they were young maybe

Nozi and Thandie were with them or are friends with Nozi, we were desperate, the

one girl said she was in the bathroom when the whole thing happened and the other

was in so much shock she couldn’t even speak, she kept saying “I…. I … I” Mthobisi

pulled my hand and said we should go listen to another conversation because this
one was wasting our time. As we were moving to another group of people being

interview a police officer approached us and asked if we needed help. I told him we

were looking for our daughter and her friend had called us saying she had been shot

and the paramedics were with her and we couldn’t get any further details, I didn’t

mention the part of me dropping the phone on the floor. He told us the ambulance

went to Carstenhoff hospital and he doesn’t know who is hurt and but we could go to

that hospital. We rushed back to the car and drove straight to the hospital, on our

way there I received a call from Mali, I let the phone go to voicemail, what the hell

was I going to tell him when I myself didn’t know what was happening.

When we arrived in hospital it was so busy there were so many people around, I

grabbed the first nurse I could find, the reception was too busy for my liking. I asked

the nurse and she said there was a few people in who were there from there club

shooting. She pointed us to a ward where they were all being treated. When we got

there, we saw Nozi standing outside the ward crying, my knees feel week, I had to

hold on to Mthobisi tight to keep my balance. Why was she crying? Was it because

of Thandie? Before I could even ask those questions Mthobisi was on her asking

her why she took our little girl to a club and if anything was wrong with her or if she

was hurt in any way he was going to her and each and every one in that disgusting

family of hers. I composed myself and told Mthobisi she was just a child he shouldn’t

speak to her like that. Nozi on the other hand couldn’t be bothered by what Mthobisi

was saying she was still sobbing and just pointed us inside the ward when I asked

her where Nozi was. We walked in and saw Thandie on the bed and she had a drip

in her arm, the other arm had a bandage on it, she was asleep. I went to her

bedside and I immediately joined Nozi in the water works, and started crying. A

doctor came and asked if we were the parent’s and Mthobisi and I both nodded, we
didn’t have time to explain that we were her aunt and uncle and that her father could

not look after her because he was too shit scared of his wife, no that was just a too

long explanation and we needed to find out what was wrong with Thandie and he

said he needed to speak to us away from her and that’s when I knew we were going

to hear bad news. “What’s wrong?” I asked as soon as we got to the corner of the

room away from Thandie. “She was lucky the bullet just grazed her arm, but next

time she might not be this lucky, you need to look after your child, we have called

social workers and she will not be released into your care until the social worker has

interviewed the both of you to see if you are fit parents. What is a 13 year old doing

in a club? How do you let that as a parent happen?”

I could not believe this, I just kept shaking my head was speechless, I didn’t

understand what this man was saying, interview with social worker. “This is the

bullshit that happens in private hospitals, we didn’t ask for her to be brought here,

you should have taken her to a public hospital, then none of this shit with social

workers would have happen. It’s fine keep her here we’ll see who is going to pay

that ridiculous bill.” Mthobisi said, I don’t think the doctor expected to hear such

words from parents. He was to shocked to even utter any more words. He looked at

both of us and shook his head and walked away. We walked back to Thandie’s bed

and I looked and Mthobisi and I asked if he had a plan. He looked at me then went

to Nozi who was sitting sitting outside the room she had stopped crying and was on

her phone. “You can go home now. Did you guys fill in any forms for personal

details?” Mthobisi asked her, she shook her head and said she just gave them her

name and told them she was on medical aid and that’s why she was brought to this

hospital and anyone else who wasn’t on medical aid the paramedics had taken them

to a public hospital, they said they were going to get her details when she got up.
“Okay, get your Uber and go home, we will take care of Thandie.” Mthobisi told her,

she requested an Uber on her phone then told us it was five minutes away and said

she was going to wait at reception. As soon as she left Mthobisi pulled me back

inside Thandie’s ward, he told me to check the drip, I looked at him confused what

the hell was I supposed to look for in the drip, he saw my confusion and came to

where I was standing and looked at the drip then said he was removing it before I

could say anything he removed it and told me to hand him my jacket, I did and he

said he would be right back.

He came back after a few minutes with a wheelchair, he dressed Thandie with my

jacket and put her on the wheelchair. “Mthobisi what are you doing?” I asked unable

to believe that we were about to steal a child out of the hospital. “Do you want to go

to deal with a social worker, go to court and be charged with child neglect and all that

nonsense of being investigated. Do you know how much shit they will find if they

start investigating us?” I didn’t think of it that way, he was right, I was short

sighted. I helped him put Thandie in the wheelchair, he handed me car keys and

told me to go get the car and meet him at the ambulance entrance, I told him I didn’t

know where that was and he told me to follow the signs and told me to hurry. I

grabbed the car keys and on my way out I passed the evil doctor and he gave me a

dirty look, I ignored him and kept walking as soon as I got inside the car, I became

nervous, I started shaking, what if we get caught, that will be worse than being

investigated we could go to jail. I was not doing this, Mthobisi would have to forgive

me but I can’t, I was not going to do this. I was going to sit in that car in that parking

lot until he changed his mind and put Thandie back on the hospital bed and come

back to find me and when he comes back I was going to drive us straight home and
explain everything when we were home. Mali could go back and pick up Thandie

from the hospital, this was his problem after all.

After fifteen minutes of sitting in the car my phone rang, it was my husband I ignored

the call, he kept calling until I eventually could not take the ringing and picked up and

before I could even explain why I had delayed he said “Lesedi, get back here right

now.” And hung up I could hear he was grinding his teeth. I didn’t have a choice but

to do as my husband said, I drove to the back of the hospital following the

ambulance signs and there behind ambulance’s I found Mthobisi hiding carrying

Thandie she was no longer in the wheelchair as soon as I pulled up he laid her in the

backseat of the car and told me to go to the passenger seat, I did as I was told and

took the passenger seat and he took the wheel and he drove, there was silence in

the car until we got home.

Mthobisi carried Thandie inside the house and I followed behind him, Mavis must

have been asleep because the house was silent and I was grateful for that because I

didn’t have to explain to her what was going on. Mthobisi took Thandie to her room

and came back downstairs and told me to call Mali, he didn’t care that it as the

middle of the night he wanted us to discuss this situation that he had put us in, I

loved my brother I really did but this child was getting out of hand, she was like

prison soap, slipping of my hands no matter how hard I tried to keep her in check

and I was not ready to be screwed in the ass not for someone else’s offspring, I had

a small baby that I just got back to raise and worry about I had a few years to

mentally prepare myself before my daughter became a teenager. I called Mali and

he sounded stressed and I felt bad that I was about to add on his stress. “How did

things go with Sue’s parent’s?” I asked remembering that he and the parents had

gone to see his wife’s parents to discuss Thandie. “It didn’t go well Sis, Sue wants a
divorce and her parents are supporting her decision.” He said sounding super

depressed, “Oh my gosh Mali, I’m so sorry, I’m even more sorry that I have to tell

you this but Thandie was shot this evening, but she’s fine, we need you to come

over.” The phone went silent for a few seconds then after he had “Shot? Where?

Why? Who shot her? Is she okay? Are you okay? Is anyone hurt?” he had a million

questions in less than a minute, I told him we were all fine and I needed him to come

over so we could tell him everything, he said he was on his way.

Around 2 am Mali called to say he was close, I sent him the code to access to be

able to go through the gate in our complex. He arrived at the complex looking like

death, Mthobisi said there was no point in us discussing anything with him in his

state, he said we should talk in the morning, Mali wanted to check on Thandie, he

went to her room she was still sleeping, he slept in the guest room and we also went

to bed. When we got to the bedroom Mthobisi brought up the fact that I was

chickening out in getting Thandie out of the hospital, I lied and told him Doctor Evil

had stopped me to aske a few questions about Thandie and that’s why I took long to

get them. He was still in pain and I asked if he was going to share his painkillers

with Thandie since she didn’t have any, he said I shouldn’t worry there was a doctor

coming to see her in the morning. That gave me some relief because I was in no

mood to go to the pharmacy to get painkillers again, I was going to get labelled as

the painkillers addicted after the whole batch of pills that I bought the last time for my

husband. By the time we finally got some sleep it was 03:13 am, I was so tired and I

had the most beautiful dream I was sleeping in my bed at my mother’s house and I

didn’t have a single problem in the world, I was grown up but my mother did

everything for me, she cooked for me, all I had to do was eat, sleep, wake up bath,

watch TV and repeat it all again over and over again, I was in my element, I was
extremely happy but while watching TV in my dream at my mother’s house there was

a loud banging outside my parent’s house door, I was not used to people coming to

our house, interrupting my peace, I didn’t want to stand up, I didn’t want to leave my

TV show that I was watching and go and answer the door, I ignored it hoping that

whoever was at the door would eventually give up and go away but the knock just

kept going on and banging stronger and harder, the next thing I knew the couch I

was sitting on was shaking. Mthobisi was shaking me trying to wake me up, when I

opened my eyes to ask what was going on I heard the banging on the door. I stood

up still feeling sleepy and went to the door without asking Mthobisi any questions,

standing outside the bedroom door was Thandie, “what’s wrong baby girl?” I asked

looking at her concerned even though deep down I wanted to scream at her and tell

her to leave me to sleep. “I’m in so much pains Aunty, I can’t sleep” she looked

pale. What was I going to do with this child, I had no painkillers, I took her to the

kitchen and I gave her some of Dineo’s Panado syrup, I gave her two spoons, I

asked her to wait for ten minutes to see if it’s making any difference, and I was

dozing off while we were waiting for the Panado to kick in after ten minutes she said

it’s still not working she was still in pain. I went to my bedroom and found Mthobisi

and he was fast asleep, I took some of his painkillers, I tried looking for ones that are

not too strong but they were all very strong so I took one and broke it in half and

gave it to her and after ten minutes and she said shew as still in pain, I was now tired

of this and needed to sleep, I gave her two full ones and within five minutes she told

me she was feeling light and happy and the pain was no longer there. I walked her

up to her room and waited for her to fall asleep and within minutes she was out, I

walked back to my bedroom and my husband was still sleeping, time was now 05:18,

I threw myself next to him and passed out.

A few hours later around seven Thandie was at our bedroom door again asking if

she was going to school that day, I told her to go back to sleep without opening the

door, I was tired I had been up most of the night because of her, that girl needed

home schooling, to be isolated from these bad Joburg girls, that was what I was

going to do to my daughter she was not going to attend any of these crazy

schools. I needed more sleep and this waking up and going back to sleep was not

doing me any justice, but it was too late for me because Thandie’s knock had woken

Mthobisi up and he wanted us to get up, I had no choice but to drag myself out of

bed and brush my teeth and wash my face and go and prepare breakfast since we

had a visitor in the house, luckily when I got to the kitchen Mavis had prepared

breakfast, that woman is my hero. I went back to the bedroom and joined Mthobisi in

the shower, it wasn’t the romantic kind of shower it was more like saving water, I was

in and out of there in minutes.

After the shower, we went to the kitchen Mali was still not up, poor guy must have

been exhausted. Mthobisi got a call and he said it was his doctor friend coming to

see Thandie, he sent him the code in a few minutes the doctor was at our door, him

and Mthobisi went upstairs while they were upstairs Mali came to the kitchen he

asked what happened to his daughter and who shot her and why wasn’t she in

hospital, I told him a doctor was with her now and that it was not a serious injury that

she had I told him about how she and Nozi left the house saying they were going to

see a friend who stays in the Estate and the next thing we knew to our surprise we

received a call being told that they were involved in some shooting in a club. “What

was she doing in the club? Is she even allowed in there at her age?” I shook my

head and told him I didn’t know what the hell they were doing in there and I didn’t get

a chance to ask her last night because the hospital had given her a high dose of
painkillers. While we were talking Mthobisi walked downstairs with the doctor and

thanked him and walked him out. Mthobisi explained to us that the doctor had given

her some painkiller and staff to clean the wound, and he said in no time she should

be fine. While Mthobisi was explaining to us what had happened Thandie walked in

she was shocked to see her father sitting with us having breakfast and

chatting. “Dad, what are you doing here so early? Are you here to take me to

school?” Thandie asked Mali looking and sounding ever so innocent. Mali stood up

from his chair and I could see he was getting angry “What am I doing here? What the

hell were you doing in a club? Getting shot? At your age clubs? What the hell is

going on with you? You are here to get an education not to do this nonsense that

you are doing, I expected so much from you.” Mali said pissed as hell, Thandie was

young and didn’t realise how her actions were affecting the whole family, she burst

out crying apologizing to Mali for what she did, she said she had no intentions of

going to a club and when they left the house she was under the impression that they

were going to a friend of Nozi in the complex to just hang out and they did and when

they got to the house the friends were on the way to the club, they said a friend of

theirs whose a DJ was going to be playing in less than an hour and promised that

they were going to bring them back after an hour before the parents even noticed

that they were gone, she didn’t want to seem like a rural girl by saying no and she

had never been to a club before so she agreed and when they got there the DJ

friend played and they were with three guys so one of the guys asked her to go

outside with him because he wanted to get some fresh air and when they got outside

there was a fight between some guys and the guy she was with okay I will name the

guy G, so G said he knew the guys that were pushing each other around and he

went to try and stop the fight so G went and tried to break the fight and the guys
seem to be stopping so G left them and him and Thandie left them and Thandie was

cold so G said he had a jacket in the car, before G could open the car the guys who

were fighting started again so G ran back to them to try and stop the fight again and

for some reason Thandie followed behind him and this time G couldn’t stop them

because one of the guys grabbed G and G was falling on top of him and while they

were falling the other guy pulled out a gun and shot G in the chest, Thandie said she

didn’t know what got over her but she tried to grab the gun away from the guy who

was shooting and the guy shot G again and that’s when G feel on top of the other

guy, so on the first shot she was standing behind the G so she thinks that’s when the

bullet grazed her arm. “Oh my God” that’s all I could say.

All three of us, Mthobisi, Mali and myself went silent, we were speechless after

hearing what Thandie went through. The silence was broken by Mavis clearing her

throat she had been standing at the kitchen door the whole time, everyone turned to

look at her and she said “I was just coming to clear the plates.” She said walking in

and collecting the plates on the table, no one had eaten much food. We all didn’t

say anything until she finished clearing up then when she had taken the plates and

places them in the sink and left saying she was going to bath the baby. “Ohh my

God Thandie, going through so much trauma so young, I am so sorry.” I said

standing up to give her hug. I told Mali that she is going to need counselling, she

went through hell and needs our support, Mali was still upset he said if she had not

gone to the club none of this would have happened, I reminded him that we were

once teenagers and irresponsible and we made mistakes Thandie made a mistake,

she regrets it and has apologized for it and we need to move past it and find a way

forward. While we were still talking my phone rang it was a number I didn’t know it

was a policeman he said they needed to speak to my daughter about the shooting
that happened the previous night and said he said when they went back to the

hospital to take statements she was gone and her friend had given them my

numbers I handed the phone to Mali and told him it’s the police, he spoke to them

and said he would go to the police station with Thandie so she could answer their

questions. As soon as Mali was done on the phone he told Thandie to go change

from her pyjamas and get dressed because the police wanted to speak to her and

because she was a minor they needed a parent or guardian to be present while they

spoke to her. I have had enough police drama to last me a last time and was not

about to make a visit to the police station for anything, this was why I had handed the

phone over to Mali. When Thandie went upstairs to go and change Mali said that the

police told him that G had died in hospital in the early hours of the morning, this

broke my heart especially after Thandie told us that G was trying to break-up a

fight. Mali and Thandie left to go to the police station, I was mentally and physically

exhausted how does someone so young bring so much drama and chaos. I went to

bed and Mthobisi said he was meeting up with some guys in thirty minutes.

I slept the entire morning and was woken up by Mavis when she told me she things

something is wrong with Dineo because her temperature had been high for hours

and it’s not going down, I got out of bed to go check on her and Mavis was right she

was burning up, I asked her if she had given her the Panado and she said she didn’t

but it didn’t seem to be making a difference. “We have to rush her to hospital.” Mavis

said looking panicky, I agreed with her and Mavis grabbed her bag and packed

changing clothes, nappies and her milk, I grabbed the car keys and called my

husband to tell him we were going to the hospital and that he should meet us there

and luckily, he picked up his phone and said he would meet us there. We went to

Waterfall Hospital I didn’t want to go back to Casternhoff hospital and risk the
chances of seeing Thandie’s evil doctor again. We didn’t have to wait long for the

doctor to see Naledi and while the doctor was busy with her Mthobisi arrived and

asked what happened and I told him that her temperature was high and we were

worried about her so we decided to take her to the hospital. After a while the doctor

came and told us that he had given her some medication and needed her to stay a

couple of hours so they could monitor her temperature, we sat around doing nothing

waiting for Dineo’s temperature to drop, babies are complicated, after a couple of

hours her temperature had gone down and the doctor gave us some medication to

give to her and should help.

When we got there Mali and Thandie were back at the house, Thandie had keys to

the house and I had registered on the security biometrics and she could come in at

the boom gate using her finger prints. I asked him how it went and he said he

doesn’t want his daughter to be mixed up with that Nozi girl she was trouble, he

asked if I knew if those guys that they were with are white Afrikaner’s, he said he

said when they got to the police station the parents of the guy who was killed was

there very upset, they wanted Thandie to tell them where the guy who shot their son

stayed and for some reason they were saying Thandie knew who the shooter, I

asked him if that was true and he said Thandie swore that he didn’t know the guy

and luckily someone had taken a video of the whole thing and it was exactly as

Thandie has described, I was glad that she told the truth and stuck to her

story. Thandie was in her room the whole time while we were talking, Mthobisi told

him there was something else that he needed to tell him about Thandie. Mthobisi

told him about the nude pictures and the blackmail for R10 000 or else the picture

gets exposed. Mali was not ready for all this. “She hardly been here a month and

already getting into so much trouble. I think I made a mistake in bringing her to
Johannesbug, she’s not ready for this city it is going to swallow her up and spit her

out, I already have so much going on in my life I can’t afford any more drama.” Mali

said looking and sounding defeated. Mthobisi said he found who was sending the

threatening messages and if Mali wanted he could teach the person a lesson, both

Mali and I asked him at the same time “Who is it?” and he said it’s Nozi’s father. His

computer is filled with pictures of young naked girls and he suspects that he drugs

these girls and takes these pictures when they are passed out. “Oh my gosh, what

kind of sick bastard those that to kids?” Mali asked, I knew that man was a creep I

didn’t know how bad he was, I regretted having him in our house eating our food with

his filthy mouth. Mali was so shocked he had his head in his hands, I felt sorry for

my brother this parenting thing was all new to him and worse of all he wasn’t starting

it from the beginning he has to catch up with her and get to learn her and the way

she does things and teach her about peer pressure and all these things that girls go

through trying to fit in. Mali said his daughter has put us through hell and thanked us

for looking after her and he said he was taking her with him she was in her room

packing her stuff, I won’t lie I was extremely relieved to hear him say that, being a

parent to a teenager is no child’s play I take off my hat to any parent that is looking

after a teenager.

Mthobisi said we we didn’t mind looking after her until he sorted things out with Sue,

I gave my husband the most dirtiest look after I heard him say that, was he crazy, I

loved my brother but looking after his daughter was very challenging every day I was

hit by some sort of surprise, my life was too crazy as it was I didn’t need any more

craziness in it. Mali said he was going to deal with all his problems at once and

maybe these things were happening because he was running away from his

problems, Thandie was his child and he needed to deal with her not us, he said Sue
was still in shock she was going to get used to this, he was going to give her time but

he loved his wife and his daughter and was not willing to lose either one of them. I

was proud of my brother, it was high time he became a responsible man. Mthobisi

asked him what he wanted him to do with Nozi’s father and Mali said he just wants

all the pictures destroyed and will think of an appropriate punishment that a pervert

like him deserves. Thandie came downstairs with her bags and she thanked

Mthobisi and I for looking after her and thanked Mavis too for everything she did for

her, she hugged Dineo and told her that she was going to miss her and she and her

father left, the relief that went through my body after they left, I could now at least

breathe without worrying about her whereabouts and what danger she was getting

herself into. That night I sept like a baby, a very heavy weight had been lifted off my

shoulders.

The following morning, I woke up feeling fresh happy I was the first one up, even

before Mavis, I left Mthobisi in bed and went to go make everyone breakfast I was in

the kitchen singing and humming, feeling like a new person while making breakfast,

the world was a beautiful place again, I could hear the birds singing outside and I

wanted to join them. While I was still in my happy mood there were, footsteps

coming from outside the kitchen I just assumed that it was Mavis because she was

an early riser but to my surprise it was Lizeka the crazy woman I had meet in the

psychiatric hospital and she was holding Dineo. I almost dropped the pan that I had

just taken out of the cupboard to make eggs. “Wat the hell are you doing with my

baby? How the hell did you get inside my house?” she smiles and told me she was

here to collect what was owed to her I had promised to help her kill the woman who

stole her husband from her and it was now pay back time…..