Amile The Queen

Chapter Five

***Mandlenkosi Zulu***

He feels incomplete now that she’s not here, he can’t even fathom how life used to be without her here, breathing the same air as he is doing. He tried calling her several times after Jama let him know that they had arrived, but her line was busy. He’s not panicking that much, he just wants to talk to her, as if spending the whole morning and a quarter of the afternoon was not enough.
“Bafo.” Dumisani’s voice echoed and when he turned around, he was standing behind him.
“How did you get in?” Nkosi asked looking at him up and down.
“You are busy daydreaming, that’s why you didn’t hear me come in. how are you?” he went to join him on the couch and took his beer from the table.
“Ngikahle ndoda.” He said taking out his phone to see if Amile had responded to his text.
For a modern man, living in the twenty-first century, he is quite backwards in life. he still sends SMS’ and doesn’t have WhatsApp. He doesn’t even have a single social media page. He’s just a lover of the finer things, that’s why he has an iPhone 13 pro max.
“Where is Jama?” Dumisani asked changing the channel.
“Why are you changing, I’m still watching.” He said staring at his phone, not even paying attention to his brother.
“Ihhe, wena bakushaye ngepenty.”  Dumisani chuckled.
“What do you mean?” he asked absent-mindedly.
“Haibo Mandlenkosi!?” Dumisani snatched his phone out of his hand and his eyes widened.
“Bring back my phone.” He tried to grab it, but Dumisani held it in the air.
They fight like little boys; they tease each other like kids. All in all, they have a solid relationship. He’s closer to him than all his brothers.
“Who is Amile?” he finally succeeded in getting his phone back.
“None of your business.” He continued typing his message.
“When did you meet her?” silence from Mandlenkosi.
“Forget about him, he won’t answer you, not while he’s like this.” Jama spoke coming into the lounge with a beer of his own.
“Ubani lentombazane mjitha?” he asked looking at Jama.
“Stop talking about my girl.” They both cracked up, he still wasn’t looking up. That’s one long ass message he is sending there.
“Relax Nkosi, she’s home safe, I waited until she entered the building.” Jama reassured.
“She’s not answering my calls.” He finally looked up.
“She’s probably busy. Relax, have a beer. You just spent the whole morning with her.”
He sighed and switched off his phone, stood up to go fetch beer for him and his brother. He’s got the jitters of a new relationship, that’s why he’s like this.
“Ingcosi mfethu leyana.” He walked into Jama saying that. he got touched.
“Don’t speak about Amile.” He warned.
“She’s the same age as your sister. How does that make you feel? It’s just okay for you to pursue a child.”
“Baba married MaJili when she was fifteen. Age is just a number, if my brother here loves this girl then he mustn’t be stopped by her age.” Jama visibly agreed, but it’s his opinion, the Zulu’s seem to agree with one another.
“Thank you bafo.” His phone rings and he beams as soon as her name pops up on the screen.
He got off the couch and went upstairs, leaving the two in stiches. He’s whipped for real.
“MaGumede wami omuhle.”
“Ndabezitha, I’m sorry for not answering your calls, I was on a call with my friends and then I had to clean the house. Mom is not speaking to me.” his heart sank.
“Is it because of me?” he asked feeling sad.
“No, it’s not because of you. Don’t worry about it, she’ll be okay, by tonight she will be talking again. How are you there?” she asked in her sweet voice and he melted like ice.
“I’m not okay.” She giggled.
“Why, what’s wrong Ndabezitha?”
“I miss my baby girl, my sweet plum, intombi yami emhlophe.” The sound of her giggle soothed his aching heart.
“She misses you too, she misses your hugs, your scent and your soft kisses.” She has no idea what her words are doing to him.
“Can I see you tomorrow?” he asked in a begging tone.
“Yoh, I don’t know Ndabezitha. I’ll make a plan. I have school tomorrow remember.” She said softly. That is just the nature of her tone, she’s soft.
“Yeah I remember Nkosazane. I’d do anything to see you, anything.” She giggled.
“I’ll do my best okay.” She reassured. “My mom just came back from the shops, can I call you back later?”
“Yeah, sure. Go make sure she speaks to you again. I don’t want her to hate me before she even meets me.” she chuckled.
“Okay Ndabezitha. And please download WhatsApp, I don’t have SMS’.” He laughed.
“I don’t use social media MaGumede.”
“Iseyinde indlela lapha kuwe nkosiyami.” They laughed.
“It’s okay, I’ll call you later Nkosazane.”
“Goodbye.” She said softly.
“Goodbye MaGumede.”
The call cut and he went to his banking app. He sent her R500 airtime and loaded SMS’s. now she has no excuse not to answer her.



***Amile Gumede***

After that call with Nkosi, I dumped my phone on the bed and went to the kitchen where mom was.
“Are you going to cook, or must I?” I asked helping her unpack the grocery.
“No, I’ll cook. Go help Siviwe take a bath.” She said coldly.
“Mama, I apologized for coming late, what else must I say for you to forgive me and stop being mad at me.” she turned and looked at me.
“Tell me the truth. Since when do we hide things from each other? You’ve told me about everything in your life. why are you not being honest now?” I sighed.
“So you know what you are doing is wrong, that’s why you won’t tell me.”
“What do you want to know?” I asked.
“Whatever you aren’t telling me.” this is harder than I thought it would be.
“I was courted by someone in the public eyes mama. He’s older than me, but I like him, and he likes me too.” Her eyes widened.
“Who is he?” I shook my head.
“I can’t tell you.” Worry lines etched on her face.
“You have to tell me Amile because if you don’t then who will? How am I going to protect you, who’s going to advise you. No, you have to tell me everything. Sit down and tell me how it happened.” I know my mother, she’s not going to shout or scold me for whatever happened between Nkosi and I today, she’s not that type of parent. She just expects me to be open with her.
I sat down on the kitchen stool and took a deep breath.
“His name is Mandlenkosi.” I said lowly.
“What is he famous for.” Now the hard part.
“He’s Prince Mandlenkosi kaMhlabawesizwe Zulu of Zululand. We met back at Views, but I didn’t know who he was. I only found out today.” You can’t miss the look of utter shock painted on my mother’s face. Her face is turning red like a tomato.
“Start again.” She’s in disbelief. Just like I was.
“He’s the second son of late King Mhlabewesizwe.”
“I don’t understand Amile, you aren’t giving me a full story. Give me the full story.” She leaned against the counter.
“Yesterday, at dinner, I needed the toilet and I ran into him, thinking he was a bouncer at the club and I asked him to show me the toilet. He escorted me and when I was done, walked me back to my table. He found out it was my birthday and asked to take me out to breakfast this morning as a birthday present. I didn’t take him seriously because I obviously thought he was a bouncer. I gave him an incomplete number and thought I would never see him again. When we were about to leave Views, and wanted to settle the bill, the manager came up to me and told me that he had done so already. I was shocked and I wanted to go and find him, but Yonela advised me against it and we left. When we got to the hotel, I received a text from him telling me he couldn’t wait to see me again and I panicked, not knowing what to do. Then he called me early in the morning to confirm if I was coming for breakfast and I couldn’t decline, I said yes. When he came, he came in a Mercedes GLE and took me to his apartment in Durban North.” My mother’s facial expressions are scaring me.
“I made breakfast for the both of us, and when I called and told you I was going to go shopping, he offered to really take me shopping. We went to Gateway and bought me all the things I came back with.” She shook her head in dismay
“And in all of this, when did you know he was the prince?” she asked.
“I had speculations after I told Nambitha because he didn’t introduce himself to me as Mandlenkosi, he introduced himself as Nkosi, Nkosi Zulu. I googled and looked all over social media for a Nkosi Zulu, and all the people that came up were not him. when I searched for Mandlenkosi Zulu, there was not a single picture of him anywhere and I made up my mind that he was not the prince, I mean I would’ve know if he was. Princes don’t go to Views on a Saturday where he stands a chance of being spotted and splashed all over the newspapers and social media. So earlier, when I was at the mall, I mentioned I was stuck in traffic, that was because there were royal cars blocking the road. One of the royal escorts threatened my Uber driver when he kept honking at them, and then that’s where I saw him for the first time, he introduced himself as a royal escort, escorting the prince of Zululand. Then we ran into him again at Views, but I didn’t look that much into it.”
“And Nambitha, didn’t she see this bouncer guy of yours?” she asked.
“No, she didn’t. that’s why I didn’t find out on the spot who he is. I dismissed the idea of him being the prince. But today, when we were coming out of Forever New, he came right up to us, and it wasn’t hard to connect the dots, all he had to do was tell me who he was.”
“And did he?”
“He did, and then he told me he loves me.” she exhaled loudly.
“I’m finding it hard to believe you mntanami.” She said blatantly.
“Why would I lie about something as serious as this mama. I can even show you the messages.”
“History is repeating itself.” She said lowly.
“What do you mean?”
“Your grandmother, she was almost the queen mother to King Mhlabawesizwe, but she met my father and she fell in love with him, and left the king.” What!?
“Yes, they went to school together. Mom didn’t love him though, but he kept pestering her about it, but it never happened.” I sighed.
“Ma I like him.” I said lowly.
“Because he’s the prince?”
“No, I liked him before I knew he was the prince. I liked him for him. he’s a lovely human being mama. I almost ran for the hills when I learnt he was the prince because that changes a lot of dynamics, having a relationship with a person like that could never be easy, but he begged me to give him a chance.”
“And did you?”
“I did.” She saw the tears in my eyes and came to give me a hug.
“And what about Siya? This man is older than you, yes he does all these things for you, but at the end of the day, you can’t give him all he needs. I say this from experience. I had you when I was your age, to your father, a man that was almost 10 years older than me, and yes, I loved him, a lot, but that only ended in tears and shame.” The story of my mother and father, is a story I wish not to talk about.
“I don’t know mama. Siya broke up with me, but he apologized, now I don’t know what to do. I like Nkosi, a lot, something I have never felt before, even with Siya.”
“All this in less than twenty-four hours.” I chuckled through the tears and she brushed my back.
“I’m not going to stop you from following your heart my baby. All I want you to do is be careful, because at the end of the day, boys will be boys, I can’t keep you away from them, doing that will only ruin you. I’ll do my job as a parent and warn you about them, and all I can do is hope that you listen and make the correct choices and be there for you when the going gets tough. I want to be the parent my mom wasn’t for me. the parent I wish I had when I was growing up.” I wouldn’t trade this woman for anything else in the world.
“I love you mama and thank you. I promise I will be careful, and I will make wise choices. The last thing I want is to be pregnant and alone. Not that Nkosi would do that.”
“Never put your whole trust in a boy, leave room for disappointment. Another thing, don’t string Siya along, if you don’t want him anymore, be honest with him, but don’t let the prince be the reason you do it, because you will regret it.” I nodded.
“Okay.”
“Okay, now show me what he brought you. I can’t believe I’m letting you date an old man.” I laughed.
“He’s only twenty-eight.” Her eyes widened.
“That’s eleven years older than you. Hhayi Amile. Be careful my baby, don’t let him touch my kraal.” I nodded.
“I promise I won’t.” one thing about me, I keep the promises I make, especially the ones I make to my mother.
I feel like a heavy load has been removed from my shoulders, at least now I have someone to openly talk about Nkosi about, and who better than my best friend, my darling mother. 
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Mom may give me the green light to continue being with Nkosi, but I still respect her in the sense that I won’t be bombarding her all the time about his presence. I told her that he asked to see me after school and as skeptical as she was, she said it’s okay. The only reason why she agreed is because we are done with term two exams and we are waiting for holidays, so she’s being less hard.
School was unnecessarily long today, maybe it’s because I couldn’t wait for the day to end and go out with Nkosi. We agreed to lunch, but I know he doesn’t like public spaces, so we might be going to his apartment. I went to my locker, collected my physics books, and made it out the school as quickly as I could. I heard Yoni shouting my name and when I turned around, she was standing with her other friends from school.
“Come here.” I showed her my watch to signal to her that I was rushing, and she sighed and left them and rushed to me.
“What is your problem? Since when do we leave each other, I waited for you by the lockers.”
“I’m so sorry. I really need to get going. I’m going to see Nkosi.” She raised her eyebrow.
“Really now?”
“Yes, my Uber is almost here.” I say showing her my screen.
“You have to be joking. Manje you are ditching everything for this boy, what about Siya.”
“This is not about Siya Yonela. It’s not like I broke up with him. I might have forgiven him, but I didn’t agree to getting back together. Technically, I’m single and I can see whoever I want to see.”
I could hear the loud pipes of a car coming a mile away and looked up. I saw the Golf 7 approaching. I shook my head in dismay, who other than Jama.
“Look, I need to go babes. I’ll see you tomorrow.” I kissed her cheek and left he standing there.
I wanted to find out what Jama is doing here.
“Get in the car.” He said rolling down the window.
“I’ve already called an Uber…”
“And I got here first. Get in.” I rolled my eyes and hopped in at the back. When I got comfortable, I cancelled the Uber.
“Unjani namhlanje Nkosazane kaZulu.” He asked scanning me before taking off in high speed.
“I’m good, I just would like to make it to Zulu alive please.” He laughed and slowed down.
“Bekumnandi esikoleni?” he asked turning down the radio slightly.
I feel like his niece that he’s picked up from school, not that I would have such an ugly uncle. My family genes are very beautiful.
“School was school Jama.” He chuckled.
“Wenza grade bani kombe? Grade eight?” I rolled my eyes.
“I don’t think Nkosi would appreciate you teasing me.”
“I’m asking for real, I don’t know. Tell me MaGumede.” I shook my head.
“Matric.” I said lowly.
“Hawu, akufani nje. You are almost done.” He said in a mocking tone. I foresee a very colorful teasing relationship between him and I.
“So what do you want to study when you get to University?”
“Physiotherapy.” He gave a proud look.
“Oh so you are the double science girl. Yazi Mandlenkosi was a physics and math whizz in school. He’s so good with numbers.”
“Really?” I’m utterly surprised.
“Oh yes. Among all his brothers, he’s the only one who did science. In those times, science was only for the selected few. Thina, the dumb kids, we did commerce with math and accounting.” In those days? He reminds me every chance he gets that I’m a child.
“Aibo accounting is a hard subject.” I said to him.
“I know, the only reason I passed was because of Nkosi. He didn’t even do the subject, but he was better at it then I was.” I laughed at him. Nkosi doesn’t strike me as the smart type.
“Maybe I should ask him to tutor me for my trials.” I said.
“You should, he will get you straight A’s.”
We were already entering Durban North. I was supposed to go home first, change, then meet up with him, but Jama hijacked me, now I’m going to see Nkosi wearing school uniform. When we parked at the basement, he was already standing there waiting for us. I laughed.
“He’s been going on about you the whole day, he even wanted to fetch you himself.” Aw shame, my big baby.
I didn’t wait for Jama to open the door for me, I got out and rushed to him. He met me halfway and engulfed me in a tight hug. I felt complete.
“Sthandwa senhliziyo yami.” He whispered in my ear, and I felt the butterflies. It’s absurd to miss someone you’ve only just met. Someone explain to me why I am so attached to him.
“Kade sengikukhumbule MaGumede.” He held me tightly in his embrace and he took in my scent. I felt complete.
“I missed you too Ndabezitha.” My feelings for him are starting to scare me, and I can’t stop myself. I’m falling for him, hard, fast!
“Let’s go inside.” I didn’t even realize that Jama had long gone taken my things inside. I stopped him looked into his eyes and smiled.
“Hi.” He smiled back.
“Hi.” That moment right there was wholesome and the thought of having to leave him again later paralyzed me.
We went up to the apartment and as always, it was cold. Jama was in the lounge watching soccer and there was a lady cooking in the kitchen. I guess that’s his chef. He led me to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. I was sitting on the bed, and he was leaning against the door. He smirked.
“Awusukume ngikubone.” I frowned and stood up.
“You with such a long skirt.” He sneered.
“You called me here to tease me kanti.”
“Chabo MaGumede, ngikubizele isidlo sasemini.” That’s the zulu man in him coming out to play. Do I like him? Very much so, he arouses me.
“Zulu.” I called out to him, and he looked impressed with me.
“Yebo ntokazi.” Blushing!
“When are you going to kiss me?” he smirked, and pride danced on his face.
“Do you want me to kiss you?” I nodded and put on an innocent face.
He moved closer and caressed my face. I closed my eyes thinking he was going to do it, but instead, his thumb brushed my lips.
“If I kiss you, I won’t be able to control my body, and all the things it will want to do to yours.” His breath was fanning my face and he was making me wet. I licked my lips.
“Touch me Nkosi, kiss me.” I said with my breath hitching. He chuckled before putting his hands on my bum and tightly gripping on it.
Swiftly, in one move, he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He pinned me against the wall and teased my lips with his. I tried to reach in, to lock his with mine but he pulled them away. I felt his shaft growing under my skirt and my eyes widened, causing him to chuckle.
“See what I mean.” He whispered against my lips. I nodded fast before trying to get in a breath.
He let me down and I looked down to see his hard on through his sweatpants. Was I not also soaking wet down there? What in the name of love do you call this? I’ve never felt anything like this before.