Amile The Queen

Chapter Fifty-Eight

***Amile Gumede***

There are swarms of cars parking in the yard, some are screeching their tyre’s and exhausting their engines. I’m guessing the prince’s arrival has been announced. This isn’t as rosy as I am putting it, this is someone that has risen from the dead.
I know as a wife I should’ve been out there in the kitchen slaving off making drinks and snacks for everyone coming in because MaMzobe just came back from the hospital, but I’m locked up in my room. I’ve only met the in-laws once, and that was on my wedding day. I’m scared of them.
I’m even more afraid of the ghost man and his side kick. She’s very creepy with those beads all over her body, and the goat skins on her arms. I’m afraid to even breathe in front of them.
I still need to puck up the courage to tell someone about the dreams. Someone here in the palace that I can trust. I don’t even know who that is. I need to call my mother.
I roll out of bed and go take my phone. I dial her number.
“My baby.” She sounds so down.
“Hello mama. Merry Christmas.” It’s not so merry for me.
“Merry Christmas baby. It’s not the same without you.” I sighed.
“I know mama, it’s a mess here, nothing is going well.” I wouldn’t be feeling like this if I was at home with my family. The energy here is so tense. It’s been tense since last night in that throne room.
“What’s going on?”
“The man that I kept having dreams about, he’s back.” The line went dead.
“Who is he? Do you know who he is now.”
“Prince Langalethu.” She drew in a sharp breath.
I feel exactly the same.
“So, what does this mean?”  I wish I had an answer.
“I haven’t told anyone.” One, two, three…
“Amile how do you expect them to help you get to the bottom of the problem if you don’t tell them. Maybe if you had told Zwelibanzi sooner all of this would be clearer to you, manje awuzwa nawe.”  I sighed.
I was expecting that lashing out. My mother is always irrational, but I understand where she is coming from. I’ve been bothering her about this and shes been pushing me to get help, because only I can help myself by talking to someone, I know can help me, so me keeping quiet frustrates her. It’s just not as easy as she makes it sound, I’ve been told that dreams are very delicate, and I haven’t exactly figured out who and who not to trust here, even Bayede himself. He could’ve been behind his brother murder too.
“It’s not as easy as you make it sound mama.” Malandela didn’t say anything about it.
"Yini enzima la?” 
“He’s here. He told me he has the same dreams of me.”
“So did you tell him about yours?” I drew in a breath.
“I’m scared mama.” She exhaled.
“I don’t know what to say anymore. You are complicating this for yourself. Awufunde ukukhuluma, this thing of yours of keeping quiet is not going to take you. Your life is just going to be stagnant.” 
She’s right, my life does feel stagnant. In fact, it feels like I’m moving backwards.
I hear a loud gut-wrenching cry from outside and I jerk up from my chair. It’s a woman’s voice, there is commotion.
“Mama there is something happening outside, let me go see what it is.”
“Tell your husband about the dreams.” 
“I will.” I said that to get her off my back.
Bayede is dealing with too much for me to burden him with more. I’m supposed to be his calm within the storm, not adding my own hail and stones.
I threw my phone on the bed without dropping the call. My mind is no longer on the call, but on what is happening outside. I stumble out the door only to met with MaMzobe dragging her body down the passage too. She’s looking at me.
“What’s going on?” she asked in a hoarse voice. Seems like she just woke up from a deep sleep.
“I don’t know ma. Let me go find out.” My feet carried me through the passage up the stairs to the lounge where almost 8 pairs of eyes turned to look at me.
They seemed to look behind me and I’m guessing MaMzobe is appearing behind me because prince Langalethu’s facial expression changed.
“She’s the witch here!?” Balungile charged towards both of us.
One of the princes held her back and she kicked and screamed to be let go. Is she talking about me or MaMzobe?
“This woman needs to leave the Zulu premises bhuti, she tried to kill our brother. Our ancestors turned their backs on us because of her.” The husband’s eyes are bloodied.
I can’t stand to look at the pain on his face. He stood up.
“Mgabadeli, take her away.” Wait, I missed a whole lot of things, I’m confused.
Bayede walks out the room and leaves a thick atmosphere. Who is being taken away and why?
“Sisi please follow me.” He’s talking to MaMzobe who is standing behind me.
What did she do? I am certain that she was not behind Langalethu’s death.
“I don’t want to manhandle you in your state.” She’s moving back with tears running down her face, now I’m crying too.
I don’t know why I’m so emotional because I don’t know what she did, and where she’s being taken away. All I know is she is a good woman, a mother and a wonderful wife.
I look in Langalethu’s direction and he’s wearing cold expression. His eyes soften when they meet with mine and I fail to maintain eye contact. I look away and follow behind Bayede as MaMzobe is being dragged out by Mgabadeli.
“Bayede!?” I shout running up the stairs, tears are clouding my vision.
There is commotion happening behind me, I don’t even want to look back. My mind is currently focused on making sure the husband is in the right state of mind. He clearly isn’t, he would never let his wife be treated like an animal at his command. And what about Mgabadeli?
I banged on the door for him to open for me, but I only heard something smashing against the wall. I hope he doesn’t hurt himself in there.
“Leave him alone.” It’s one of the other Zulu wives, I’m not sure who she’s married to though.
“I can’t leave him alone, what if he hurts himself.” It feels like my eyes are bleeding, they hurt so bad.
I touch my cheeks to check if its still just tears running down my face before I lean against the door of his bedroom and just try to listen to what could be happening on the other side. She’s trying to get me to stand up and leave my husband alone but I’m not going to do that.
“I’ll take over from her MaSithole.” His voice spoke.
We both got a startle; I saw her body jerking up before she hastily turned around and left. She’s a city makoti, she’s wearing a 6-inch ombre weave under her doek.
What startled me was hearing his voice and recognizing it so quickly when I’m only used to hearing it in my dreams. What is he taking over?
“Sukuma phansi, uzongenwa amakhaza.” What am I? Three?
He held out his hand for me to hold. I grabbed it and stood up. I straightened my dress and attempted to walk away. I don’t want to be too close to him.
“I’m sorry you had to witness that.”
I don’t know which it is he is apologizing for, but he doesn’t know the agony he has put us through, me alone, and the rest of this family; before I came, and even more now that he’s back.
I just nodded and removed my braids from my face. I need to take these out, they’ve run its course. He knocked on his brother’s door.
“Bafo, let me in, we need to talk.” I think he’s done enough talking for today.
I’m intrigued in what he has to say, but I also want to make sure my husband is okay. That’s me coming to terms with the relationship I have with him, I can finally acknowledge him as mine.
The hinges of the door creaked as he carefully pulled it open. He didn’t appear, he just left it open. The one that has risen from the dead signals me to go in first and I fold my arms across my chest before taking gentle footsteps into the bedroom.
It’s a mess in here, the bed is unmade, I’m guessing this is where MaMzobe was sleeping, there is a porcelain vase smashed on the floor, the pieces look very sharp. He’s sitting on the ottoman; his eyes are red-rimmed and he’s looking at himself in the mirror.
“Bayede.” I went to kneel in front of him and lowered my eyes to stare at his feet.
He touched my shoulder and tightened it before his hand started trembling. I lifted my eyes to look at him and he shook his head.
“Don’t say that.” I held onto his trembling hands and tried to calm him down.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper.
I’m sorry for all the things he’s going through, I’m sorry that he has to suffer when he has been nothing but a good man to everyone.
He covers my hand with his and I feel a warmth spreading across my body. The bond we’ve created these past few months is beautiful, and he has grown on me more than any other human has ever grown on me. I certainly am not in love with him, but I love him, and that won’t change.
“Don’t leave me too.” He whispered.
Words got stuck in my throat when I tried to reply. I knew what I had to say, in fact, I knew what I wanted to say, my voice just couldn’t come out.
He placed a gentle kiss on my hand and closed his eyes.
“Don’t leave me.” He said it again.
I don’t know what is making it so hard for me to reassure him that I won’t leave when I know deep down in my heart that I don’t want to, I don’t dream to ever leave him.

***Langalethu Zulu***

He wanted to talk to Zwelibanzi about MaGumede too, he didn’t want to tell him in front of the rest of the family, but she was adamant on staying, that is why he let her in first and just stood at the door to give them space.
This makes it harder to break the news to him, they clearly have a strong bond and having to be the one to want to break it up because he has selfish ancestors is wrong. There has to be another way.
He paces around one spot for a few seconds contemplating what to do before he takes off and storms down the stairs. He finds Thulisile still seated in the same spot, drawing patterns on the mat, humming lowly. She does that a lot, especially when she’s alone. It’s how she communicates with the spirits.
“MaMfusi.”
“Wena weNdlovu.” She praises.
She gets on her knees and claps twice for him. He does the same and bows a little for her.
“What do you see, is anything going to work out?” he asked with pain is his voice?
“Khuluma noBanzi.” He sinks his fingers into his hair and roughly pulls it.
“I’m here just ruining his life, he was crying in there, now I have to take his wife too?”
“That’s the thing, he took your wife, not the other way around. It’s not your fault that the one for him was a witch.” His heart sinks
“I need to perform the ceremony and officiate your wedding before I go home shlobo. You need to act fast before the palace crumbles.” Wedding?
“A wedding?”
“Yes. For MaNdlela and Ndabezitha, before you can marry her.”
He knew that the first duty he had when he came back was to marry MaNdlela and his father, but he didn’t know that they needed an actual wedding.
“UMaNdlela uphila kuMaGumede, yingakho uZwelibanzi mengabe emubona, amuthande.” He buried his head in his hands and drew in a deep breath.
He’s thinking about all the pain and heartache he’s going to cause for his brother, it pains him too. How can ancestors just favour him only when both of them were raised to be kings?
“Where did they go?” he asked.
He’s referring to the rest of his family.
“Outside.” She replied.
He excused himself and walked out. He stood on the porch and overlooked the land as he as his brother’s cars driving out. They didn’t breathe a single word, they just sat there gawking at him like he was a ghost, now they are leaving.
Ntombizodwa collapsed at the door before she even spoke, and she was rushed home by her other sisters, leaving just loudmouth Balungile. She’s still the same girl he knew her as, lazy and talkative. That’s why she’s unmarried, no one wants a loud woman.
His mothers didn’t come, he’s glad they didn’t, otherwise they all would’ve died on the spot. He sticks his hands in his pockets and admires the fresh afternoon breeze. The land looks healthy, the infrastructure is not as bad as it was when they were growing up, but it could be better. Zweli has done a good job-he thinks to himself.
“It all belongs to you.” He turns around and see nothing.
He looks up and sees the clouds gathering up in the sky and it quickly turns pitch black.
“Sithuli sika Ndaba.” The voice again.
He descends the stairs, and the rain starts pouring down on him. He’s soaked in seconds, that’s how heavy it is. He’s back home, this is his official welcome. Maybe now he can begin thinking about talking to his brother. At least he’s gotten rid of one of the many thorns, Nontuthuzelo deserves to rot in jail, for breaking his heart and failing to kill him. He wouldn’t be here if she wasn’t incompetent.
He lifts his hands in the air and lets out a deep throat howl that almost threatens to shake the whole of Zulu land.