Zenande Okhethiweyo

Insert 29

There are three men and one woman excluding my mom. There is a chair next to my mom,I guess that's my seat since the visitors are occupying all the sofas.

"Dio Mio!"(Oh my God!).The woman gasps.
She stands up and covers her mouth with both her hands. Everybody turns to look at me and they all have shock and surprise written all over their faces and I can see a bit of relief in their eyes,now I wonder who they really are because they are not in any way related to the Zulus. The young man looks at me and smiles with glassy eyes,he looks like me you would swear we are cut from the same cloth and the fact that I'm looking at the mirror behind him is making matters worse. He has short and straight brown hair,where else I have long and curly brown hair. He has a straight and brown eyes,just like me. The only difference is that I'm biracial and he is monoracial. Could this be my father's family? I open my mouth to say something but nothing comes out. I realize that I'm still standing by the door,maybe I should make a run for it but that would be selfish of me by the looks of it my mom needs me right now. With that made up in my head,I gather all my strength and put one foot in front of the other and take a seat beside my mother who is a crying mess right now. I look at her with that Are You Okay  look,she nods and smiles through her tears.

"Karina" the older man says softly.
I abruptly turn my head to look at my mom,how does this man know my name? Mama must see the look on my face she laughs softly shaking her head. I guess she must have told them. The man has an accent I think he must be Spanish or something like that. I look at him.
"I'm Flavio Rosso and this is my brother Leonardo." He says pointing to the man beside him.
I look at the man and he seems like he was crying his eyes are red but his face is unreadable. He is bald,has a straight nose and brown eyes. He looks like the older version of the young man.
I nod my head in acknowledgement of what he just said.
"Over there that's my wife Charia and my nephew Diego."
I nod my head again.
All these people have brown eyes except the woman she has blue eyes and blonde hair. She looks like she is in her late 50s.
"Okay nice to meet you all,as you all know I'm Zenande Karina Nododile. Since we are done with the introductions how can we help you?" I ask looking at Flavio.

My mom slaps my thigh and everybody else laughs. How nice at least some of us are able to laugh
"I didn't raise you like that Zenande!" She says sternly.
At least she ditched the tears. I apologize to everyone and look down to my hands.
"I'm sure you are wondering why these people are here" my mom says.
Obviously! I inwardly roll my eyes,like she also wouldn't be curious.
I nod my head looking at her.
"I never really got the chance to tell you about your paternal side" she says looking down at the coffee table.
Not that she never got the chance,she never wanted to talk about it,she always got angry whenever I brought it up so I learnt to never ask.
"Are they from father's side mama?" I ask.
She just nods her head without saying anything.
This is unbelievable! I never thought I would ever meet any of them,I had already made peace with that.
"I'm your uncle" Flavio says with a smile.
"I'm your brother and this is your aunt." Diego says pointing to Charia.
I pop my eyes out. Did he just say brother?
"I have a brother?" The question comes out as a whisper instead.
I guess he heard me because he gives me a genuine smile and nods his head indicating a yes. He has a warm smile,that makes me feel like I don't need to worry about anything. I like him already. They all have this dark aura but underneath all of that he seems like somebody I could quickly get used to.
I smile back at him and involuntarily tears fall.
"Is our father still alive?" I ask with a cracking voice.
I would have really loved to meet him,I have a lot of questions only he can answer. Diego nods with twinkling eyes. As I'm about to ask where he is.
"I'm your father." A deep voice says.
I turn to it and it's Leonardo. He is my father? I mean yes it's possible he looks like Diego meaning I also look like him but how because he smells of money,you can tell that they are all loaded from the Armani suits they are wearing.

My head goes blank,it's like my mom brain just got frozen. I sit there with my mouth wide open,looking at this man who claims to be my dad.
"I met Adriano... I mean Leonardo 22 years ago,I was his maid." Mama says.
Farrah Gawd no! Is my thinking true? Did this man take advantage of her? Am I a product of rape?
I shake my head multiple times and the flood gates open up. It can't be true! I'm just thinking a lot right?
My mom sits closer to me and pulls me into her arms.
"Did he rape you?" I ask sobbing.
"No no no... He would never do such. We were in a relationship."
I pull out of her embrace and sit up straight looking her straight in the eye.
"You cheated on Nolunwabo's dad?" I ask.
Then it means I deserve Nolu's fury then,I did break her parents up,I'm the proof of mama's affair no man can ever stay after that.
"It happened when me and him were separated. He had started drinking and not paying any attention to me or Nolunwabo,he no longer supported us financially and I wasn't working. So I took Nolu to my mother and went to Gqebherha,to look for work so I can be able to support her. I lived with my aunt for a couple of months without finding anything and that was heavy on me honestly,here I was with a 5 year old daughter that needed me but I was failing her. Then one day when I was walking home because I had no money to take a taxi,this man right there stopped and asked to take me home since it was dark." She says smiling looking Leonardo.
I turn my head to look at him and he is looking at me. I wonder what's on his mind.

"As I drove her home she told me about how she has been job hunting for months without any luck,you could tell how she desperately needed a job from how she spoke about her daughter back home. As a parent myself I felt sorry for her,having a little girl and no means of financial support would also give me sleepless nights. I offered her her a job to help around the house since I had just moved to South Africa and I was living alone." Leonardo says looking all serious. This man is scary! He must be a principal I'm sure.

"I accepted the offer right then and there. I ended up living there to save transport money so I can send more money home. We had a great working relationship and we also became friends. He told me about how rough his divorce was,his child and a lot of other things and I also did the same. One day one thing led to another and that's how our relationship started. It was all good Adriano is a wonderful man. One day Noganta came to the house  and asked me to go back with him for a weekend because he wanted to pay damages for Nolu and since my family didn't like him one bit he asked me to go talk to them so that they don't turn his family away. Since I couldn't deny him the right to his child I agreed. I planned on telling Adri...- I mean Leonardo but he never came back for the entire two days,so on Friday after I knocked off I came back home to sort everything out." She says then drinks her water.

"Work was really hectic those few days because I was starting a new business in a foreign country I had a lot to do. I was always at the office day in and day out. On that very Friday I got a call from my mother telling me that my ex wife tried killing herself and my son. After that phone call I went to the house and Joyce wasn't there. I asked the security guards where she went and they told me that she went back home,I tried calling her but her phone was off. So I went back to Italy without hearing from her or telling her. That's the last time I ever saw her." Leonardo says looking down to the floor.
He must be hurt but his demeanour won't let him show it.

"I spoke to my parents and let them know that the Noganta family was coming to pay damages the following weekend. My parents really despised him so my insisted that I take a week off from work and prepare everything myself. I tried contacting Leonardo to let him know but I never succeeded. I did as I was told and when the weekend came neither Noganta or his family ever showed up. I went to our house and the devil wasn't there,he had moved and sold me the house." She says taking a sip of water.

She really seems hurt,I guess she loved Leonardo but life just got in the way of their love.

UNEDITED!!!!