Zenande Okhethiweyo

Insert 28

I don't know how or when I fell asleep but the first thing I hear is mama.
"Andiyazi intombi elala ide ibethwe yilanga eyimpundu!" She shouts while opening the curtains and windows.
"Ayibo mama I was jetlagged bethuna."
"Sundiqhela Zenande ktheni ndithetha nawe uthetha? If you feel like you are a grown woman then go and build your own house. There can never be two bulls in one kraal soze!"
Eh! This woman so early in the morning though? What did I even do? I just keep quiet and look at her,she can't be serious.
"Uthulele ntoni? Awusakwazi ukthetha ngoku?"
Eh! Ndavelelwa ksasa. I get up from the bed,grab my toiletries and leave her in there. One thing I have learnt in my years of living is to just let her be because when you answer it turns into another one sided argument. I love my mom but living with her is hell that's why I chose to move far from here,I might as well go back to Pretoria next week,Radio Mama is too much.

When I walk in to my room I find it all squeaky clean and the bed is made. My mom really loves a clean place,I guess that's why I'm also a neat freak. My mom walks in as I lotion my body,with a towel wrapped around.
"Unxibe something decent we have visitors coming." I nod.
"Mama yintoni lento ubufuna ukundixelela?" She looks down,she seems exhausted.
She looks back at me and tears fall from her eyes. My mom never cries something must be really wrong. I quickly get up from my chair and go sit beside her on the bed. I pull her into my arms and give her a hug.
"Mama kwenzeka ntoni? Uright?" She shakes her head like she is having a battle with her inner self,the head shake is not for me but for herself. She looks at me and As she was about to say something.
"Nguwe ingxaki apha awuboni?" Nolu voices her 2 cents leaning on the door frame.
This one knows how to get on my nerves.
"Yeah right like you are the solution." I say rolling my eyes.
"Hhayi Nolunwabo khawuziphathe. You are getting on my last nerve!" My mom says looking at my sister like she is about to strangle the sense back into her head.
"You always take her side why? Is it because she is light skinned? Because she finished Matric,she is about to get married and she doesn't have a bastard child?" Nolu asks my mom.
How great! She always does this,gets on mama's bad side and when she gets reprimanded for it,she compares herself to me.
"It's never about sides or who did what or who is going to do what. I love you both equally you are both my children. I carried you for nine and I brought you into this world,I raised you both hoping and praying that you become better than me in life. I put myself second from the day that you were born Nolunwabo,i make sure that you are never in need of anything even to this day no matter how grown up you are. But you never see that Nolunwabo,you always blame Nande for that excuse of a man who decided to walk out freely on us when you were just a little girl,you blame her for everything that goes wrong in your life even if you are the one who does,you even blamed her for ukumitha kwakho even nguwe wavula leyo milenze. Then you sit there and wonder why things aren't going your way it's because awunqweneli omnye umntu okuhle. Ukhohlakele mtaka Noganta!" She says with tears in her eyes.
"At least you know who my father is mxm. Not lonto yakho wayilanda emakhishini." She says turning to leave.
"UPHUME APHA KWAM WENA MFAZI OMDALA!" Mama shouts but Nolunwabo has already left,probably going to get herself drunk with some man's money and paying for it by being a one night stand.
This is how I grew up. If I got higher marks than her she would say mama chooses me over her,when I passed Matric she said it's because mama only supports me and when she heard I'm about to get married she said I love men,I even drove her father away.
Mama gets up and tells me to get dressed then walks out. Sometimes I think that maybe my father raped her that's why she never talks about him,I mean mama is a domestic worker so that is possible. There are very cruel men out there that take advantage of vulnerable women,my heart breaks at that thought.
I wear a knee length polka dotted dress and my gladiator sandals. I moisturize my shoulder length curly hair and comb it. Combing my afro always makes me cringe if it's not moisturized properly. I decide to leave it lose,I love my hair no lie. This is my crown. I grab my phone and go to the,I'm hungry.

"Uphi Asemahle?" I ask my mom,who is cleaning the cupboards.
"Utatakhe umthethe."
"Oh okay andisalambe" I say checking what's in the cupboards.
"Sundiqhela Nande awuboni ndiyazivasa eziCupboards? Andithanga ungatyi man phezolo nxn."
Yoh! I walk out of the kitchen.
"Hhambo thenga isonka ndibeke imali kwiRoomdivider!" She yells from the kitchen.

I take the money and walk to the shop,it's a bit far so I keep myself busy with texting my girls,Buhle tells us that Muzi also a Zulu and there I was thinking that they are friends. Ayi! Assumptions will kill us.

I buy bread and a lollipop,yes mama is going to shout all day because of a mere one rand but I'm hungry so I will stick it out. As I head back home I bump into Vuyelwa,my former best friend. We were best friends from primary school,we did everything together and then she decided to open her legs for Ayabulela knowing very well that he is with me. Luckily Aya left for London so I was only left with Vuyelwa and her betrayal. I never got close to anybody,I didn't want friends until I met Rea when I was doing my first year. The part that hurt the most is that she never even apologized or told me why she did it.
"Zenande!" She says looking like she is seeing a ghost.
"Vuyelwa" I say with no emotion whatsoever.
"How have you been it's been long" she says.
"Bye Vuyelwa" The nerve that she has is not sold in any South African butchery honestly. I leave her there with her mouth open.

Along the way I bump into neighbours that are surprised to see me,they stop me to ask  questions about my life. They want to sip tea over my name,I don't give them anything tangible. They act like I have been gone for 30 years not a year honestly.

When I get to my house there is a white Mercedes-Benz G63 parked in the yard next to a black Jeep Wrangler,I let out a whistle. Now this right here is beauty I say to myself,these must be really important people right here. I walk in to the house and I start feeling uneasy. I walk to the kitchen and I find my mom setting juice,scones and glasses on a tray then she tells me to follow her. She looks really nervous. Are the Zulus here? Zano would have warned me,I know him. I drink water and slowly breathe in and out to cone my nerves.
"Hey baby you didn't send some special visitors and forget to tell me right?" I quickly hit send. He is probably in a meeting right now. As I walk to the lounge I feel my stomach turn and my heart beats like a drum. I think I'm shaking also,I must it must be hunger but I really don't think I can stomach food right now.

UNEDITED!!!!