TWO MONTHS LATER…
[KULANI]
I am in the kitchen laughing my heart out with mhan’ Maria as she collects the dirt she was sweeping off the floor using a dustpan.
The joke is that there was once a man who promised her marriage but arrived with a mad goat on the day the betrothal had to be made true. The mad part is what got me, so much that I almost choked on my juice.
‘I am telling you’
‘Haa. How did you know the goat was mad?’ I ask, still laughing.
‘It kept wanting to lick its back and running into the walls – head first’
I cackle. There is absolutely no way. What always kills me about her is that it’s never what she says, it’s how she says it. She’s hilarious and she will leave you in stitches while she has a serious face on. She throws the trash in the bin and washes her hands.
‘On a serious note now, there’s something I want to talk to you about and I am not sure how you’ll take it’
Oh-kay?
She asks that we take a seat by the kitchen counter and I put my glass in the sink first.
‘Remember that girl I took in? Your husband’s ex?’
I nod. Not more problems, please. I’d faint.
‘She… she disappeared’
‘What do you mean?’ I ask.
‘I took the child home at the time when she was still in hospital and my niece took care of her. When Kgahli got out of the hospital, she asked me to give her a chance to go find a job and that she’ll come back’
I keep nodding as she speaks. Do not tell me that the girl left her child behind?
‘Ever since then, I have been trying to reach her with no luck. At first, the phone would just ring. Then she began dropping my calls. Now it’s always off’
‘Yohh…’
‘I don’t know what to do. I’m already feeding a lot of mouths so I cannot take the child in forever. My sin was to try to help a stranger and now she’s spitting in my face’
‘I have no idea what to say. Honestly…’
‘Can’t you take her in?’
‘I don’t think my husband will agree. The paternity test proved that she isn’t his. If it was up to me, trust me when I say I’d take her in within the blink of an eye. However, I doubt that he will want to raise his ex girlfriend’s child’
‘Xikwembu…’ – she sighs – ‘What am I going to do? I don’t know any of her family members and I don’t want to anger Prince Kurhula. I’d lose my job. Can I take her to social workers maybe?’
I feel my heart get sore. How could Kgahli just up and leave her baby here?
‘No. I think we can try to find her family first. Let me see what I can do first. If all else fails, then that will be the last resort. I was already on my way to him anyway’
I get up and grab his lunch. Mhan’ Maria’s stress is written all over her face, seeping into her wrinkles. I grab the car keys and drive out.
They’ve changed the receptionist. The first one didn’t ask a lot of questions when I arrived. She tells me I can go in after calling Kurhula to let him know that I want to see him. I stand by the elevator while waiting for it to open. When I look back, I find her staring at me. She immediately looks away when I catch her. I wonder what she’s thinking.
I arrive at Kurhula’s office and he immediately closes his laptop when he sees me.
‘The ever so gorgeous Mrs Me’
I smile as I close the door.
‘Hey baby’
He stands up and meets me halfway. The intention was to just peck his lips but he’s now deepening the kiss. I could never complain.
‘This bump looks good on you’ he mentions for the second time this week. I am only showing now and it keeps growing day by day as if I’m being pumped like a bicycle wheel.
‘Speaking of bumps and babies, we need to talk’
He directs me to the couch and opens the Tupperware I brought for him. I made sure with the meat because Kurhula eats a lot of meat. A meal without that type of protein to him is not worth it.
I don’t even know where to start.
‘I’m listening baby…’ he says before digging a spoon into the rice.
‘I’m curious. Would you be open to adoption?’
His chewing slows down and he clears his throat.
‘Can I ask where that is coming from?’
‘Please answer me first’
‘I’ve never thought about it but I don’t think so. No’
My heart sinks. On my way here, I had a thought. What if it was meant to happen this way? What if I’m the one who is supposed to raise that child since I won’t be able to have any more? But also, what if Kgahli comes back when I’m already attached to the little girl? I’ve held her in my arms before and she was just so adorable.
‘Where is this coming from?’ he asks again. He feeds me some pumpkin and coleslaw.
‘Kgahli has ran away’
‘Months later and we are still speaking about her? I thought she was long gone’
I drop my eyes. He closes his food and puts it on the floor. We’re about to fight.
‘NwaKhalanga, what is going on?’
‘I need you to promise me that you won’t hold mhan Maria accountable for anything. She was just trying to help and it backfired’ I brush his beard, trying to pacify him in advance.
He says nothing. He is just looking at me with a frown on his face. Yup, we are definitely going to fight about this.
‘The baby is still here and she has no idea what to do with it’
‘Let me guess. This is the same baby you want to adopt? The baby that almost cost me you the night before our wedding? The same baby I warned you to never get attached to?’
I go silent.
‘You asked me what I would do if we found out that it is mine. I told you that I would do right by her. We did the damn tests and you still want to drag her into our life?’
I am still quiet. I don’t want to add fuel to the fire. I actually do not know what to say but I’m not surprised. I knew he wasn’t going to agree. I was taking a big fat chance here.
‘I want nothing that will tie me to that woman’
‘The baby is innoc—’
‘I am done talking about this, Kuli!’
Once he gets like this, there’s no getting through to him. I’ll try again when he’s a lot calmer. I let him go back to his food.
‘What time are we leaving for the funeral tomorrow?’ I ask. Larona left about two weeks ago when she received the news of her mother’s heart attack. She arrived when it was too late. I was on the phone with her last night and she didn’t sound too good.
‘We’re leaving at eight and you are not going there’
‘I have to go, baby. The baby and I are going to be fine. I know what to do to protect myself from all the negative energy’
‘I cannot risk that’
‘I have a strong urge to go. The kind I cannot ignore. I will be okay. Just as long as I won’t see the casket or go to the cemetery. I just need to show up and I’ll leave. I’ll book somewhere’
He turns his face towards me.
‘Why are you so stubborn?’
I laugh with zero intention.
‘I’m not. Please baby…’
He eventually agrees, though with a heavy heart. Now I need to go find an outfit because most of my dresses don’t fit the way I’d love them to. I have gained weight and I’m not happy with this fact.
