ONYIYE THAT GIRL

LINDIWE NGOBESE

Mpilo really knows how to test her patience. 
"Mpilo!" Screaming her lungs out will not change the fact that he is still staring at himself in the mirror.
Qophelo comes out first with Nomaswazi behind him. Her daughter has really grown. She still goes to Sizwe's grave to visit him some time. Spend time with him and their daughter. Tell him all those crazy stories, and how much of a hectic day she had. 
She is indeed her father's copy. She knows how to open the old wounds that she thought she buried, but in an actual fact - the sore is still there. 
"Mama," Nomaswazi walks right past her with her doll captured right underneath her armpits. She visits her father's side of the family now and again. They just can't get enough of her.
Everyone is ready, beside Mpilo. She cannot miss her own graduation day!
Finally, the man of the hour is here. This cologne of this will surely suffocate everyone one day.
"You sure take time like a woman." 
Anathi tells him. Whoever gave birth to Mpilo should consider sending him a lunatic's hospital. She cannot stand this!
"I'm here now. We can also go." He picks both babies up and steps out of the house. 

He promised her that a house is what he will buy and indeed he did. Locking her house feels like a dream. Her mother is very proud of her. She got married traditionally two years ago and Onyiye was there throughout. Her baby kick harshly. She flinches holding her stomach. She's due anytime from any hour or minutes. She swears never to fall pregnant again!
"Are you okay?" Mpilo asks looking at her sour face. 
"Yea, in good. She kicked too hard." 
She's having another baby girl in the house. She really enjoyed this pregnancy but she swore that it will be her last. After giving birth she is definitely tying her tubes. 
She believes this day will not pass without her giving birth. She feels it. She prays that this baby holds on until the day is over.

She takes her phone and texts Onyiye advising her that  they are on there way.

STHEMBISO JIYANE

He has spent countless nights like this, lying awake, anticipating life, trying to escape imprisonment through his mind’s eye. He imagined the things he will do once his free. Flashes of him laughing with family and friends at a cookout or enjoying the company of a beautiful woman play out in his mind like a silent movie. He remembers the images, so different from these, that swam through his mind on his first night in prison.
Her scent still occupies his nostrils. Her picture has always been there with that ecstatic smile. Just a couple of hours away and he will be out of here. Sleeping seems to be taking forever. He looks at the watch and it seems like seconds are taking more than it should. Time is not moving at all!

***

He woke up this morning and his stomach was in knots - he was so nervous. Nothing felt real. It was like 'is this really all ending today?'
He was afraid and also sad to leave his friends there behind, but there was some relief too. He misses his Ndoni more than anything.
Suddenly, the door of his cell opens, and an officer says, "Mhlophe, are you ready?" As he rise from his bunk. He is thinking, Is he fucking serious? He has been ready since the day the jury foreman read “guilty” off a little index card at my trial. 
He grabs his letters and the family photo album. The Mhlophe nickname!

After the formalities of telling the processing officer his birth date, and other information that verifies his identity, he is allowed to put on the clothes that his friend sent a week earlier. This is the first time he has worn street clothes in five years. It feels weird. This jeans fits very tight. This could mean one thing…he has gained a bit!
He is being ushered outside…

The gates open making him to take a deep breath. That fresh air of freedom. He turns to look back at the brown bricks and shakes his head smiling. 
How does it feel to be out of prison? 
The feeling is unexplainable.
Khoza parked his car outside the gate. Still looks the same and he wonders how things are back home. 
"The man of the hour." 
They shoulder bump embracing each other. 
"Finally." He says. The only thing he needs now is be with the woman who owns his heart. 
"Ready?" 
"More than I can ever be." 
"It's her graduation day to day. And I just hope we arrive in time. That means I will be flying." A year ago he was transferred back to Westville prison because of his good behaviour. Now that he took the fall for the dilemma, he hopes and prays that it doesn't be a problem in the near future.
"As long as I don't get killed." He says hopping inside the car. 
He needs a warms shower.
"How is my business going?" 
"So far so good. Your woman has brains for a Fifty year old. That girl, well she's a woman now. I applaud her, she can think." 
He nods his head proudly. Seems like he did a good job in choosing her under load shedding. 
"That girl is my one and only girl." The pride in his voice. 
"I know. Your whole face says it all. What would you do if she moved on?" 
"Kill him." 
Definitely he would. But his heart is at ease knowing that she wouldn't dare and if she did they would have spilled the beans like the last time she tried dating but failed dismally. That relationship did not even last and hour. 
He chucks smiling looking out the window. Everything still looks that same to his eyes. Just the long trees that are all over the place.