It is undoubtedly heartwrenching for any child, even the big ones to witness their mothers' fall apart in tears. Muzi tried all he could to comfort the aching heart of the woman who birthed him and it bore no fruit.
When she finally calmed down, she asked be excused so she could take a nap. She then stuffed herself in between the sheets on her late husband's side of the bed, lazily, like bacon one would remember to add to sandwich only after adding everything else. Muzi stood up after a couple of dead brain seconds. He the pulled and fixed the comforter(if there's a pun here, excuse it) so it covers her well.
He had Manqoba on his mind when he went out of the room so that's who he was looking for. He asked around and nobody attested to having seen him. He takes out his phone from his pocket to call him but it throws him straight to voicemail with no detours. Knowing his brother, he figures he should call Joe.
"JJ?"
"Yeah man?"
"Is he there?"
"He was by the bar area when I left. I'm not sure if he still is but he didn't look like anybody who was about to leave anytime soon", Joe states and Muzi thanks him, prior to driving himself there.
...
He gets to Joe's place and finds it almost empty. It wasn't as packed as it usually is. People prefer staying indoors with their heaters and onesies under such a brutal weather. The sudden cold front was no surprise. Each time anybody dies in the Khumalo household, the weather makes no mistake in getting this point across. When it's a king, everybody knows not to leave their laundry outside at night. It rains cat, mice and dogs. It is that kind of weather that creates a dark and grey foggy atmosphere. One that drivers with faulty wiper blades don't like.
He placed his hand on his shoulder when he arrived and Manqoba did not raise his head from the counter. Muzi placed himself on the bar stool and the bartender asked what he could get him.
"Just a glass of water thanks", he replied. He'd had too much to drink for the day, according to him.
"Ufunani la Muzi"(What are you doing here?)
"You disappeared from the cemetery only to come here and drown yourself in alcohol?"
"I don't need a lecture from you", Manqoba dismissed him with his forehead still resting on his lower arms on the counter. The water arrived and Muzi fixed the glass on the coaster.
"Okay", Muzi said in defeat and just sat there.
"I am not ready to take over bro", Manqoba finally confessed.
"You'll never be", Muzi calmly said and took a sip on his water. Both their potent, yet very distinguished scents fought in the air, causing confusion to any pair of nostrils that passed by.
"Maybe I don't want to be. Why did they choose me? You'd do a better job than I would", he continues to vent.
"And why is that?"
"I am not made for such a huge task. My portion is IT and crime. Phelela lapho"(Ends there). Muzi takes a deep breath out. They were both hurting from the passing of their father but Manqoba was also stressing over it. His life was about to change and he was no where near ready for that. No where near 'around the corner' for it.
"I see you haven't been only drinking in this bar but you've been smoking something as well. You've know about this your whole life. Why is it only coming as a surprise now? Uyangidida manje mina"(Your actions are baffling to me), Muzi says and raises his hand to wave at the lady who was greeting him. She was no stranger. An old classmate. So old that it took him a while before he could put her face to her name. Manqoba was sinking in silence.
"Let's go home", Muzi adds.
"I didn't ask you if it was a good idea for me to come here why would you think I'd need your opinion to leave?", Manqoba let out. Muzi shook his head and stood up with the car keys, both his and Manqoba's.
...
"Manqoba hasn't been inaugurated as chief kodwa already uzenzela umathanda emzini wam?!", Evelyn yells at Enhle who had moved a couple of vases around and changed the direction of the dinner table.
"It's not like that. I just thought..."
"There's no platform for you to think. This is my house. Stop being wayward and focus on how you're going to support your husband on this journey", Evelyn screams as she pushes the table back to it's original position, in her long pyjamas and unfastened brown gown. The loose belt was even sweeping the floor. Enhle did not think of what she did as a big deal hence she rolled her eyes at what she perceived as Evelyn being nothing short of dramatic. Most of the family members had left.
Muzi walked in on this altercation and pinched his nose bridge in irritation.
"Now what the hell is going on?", he couldn't hide the level of his annoyance.
"Ask this 2 minute noodle queen over here!, Evelyn snapped before she could march back to her room in her messy hair and puffy, red eyes.
"Enhle kwenzakalan?"(What's going on?)
"I moved a couple things around and..."
"Why would you do that?", Muzi asked in a husk.
"I just thought they would look better that way"
"Look, I don't want to get involved in female squabbles but to avoid trouble, just leave everything as it", he said and dropped himself on the couch.
"Okay then. Where is my husband?"
"I have no idea", Muzi shamelessly lied, which wouldn't be the first time he did in a scenario like this.
...
"Enter!", an emotional Thando yells from her bed when Muzi was knocking on her closed door.
"Baby girl", he lowly said and approached her for a sitdown hug. She fell apart even further.
"I'm sorry", he whispered with his hand on her overly oily hair. She had overdosed on the hair food.
"I just... I just wish his death wasn't so unexpected and quick", she lets out in cuts and breaks. Her tears were suffocating her.
"What do you mean?", he asked in a voice full of comfort and concern.
"I don't know. I wish he fell sick for a while instead of being fine and dying from a heart attack the next day. That way, I would've somehow acclimatized myself to the idea of him being possibly gone or something", she confessed and he pulled a deep breath out.
"I think that's a bit... selfish don't you think?", he cautiously says.
"It's kinda the same as a person who dies from suicide. Most times, we always expect people to keep alive or die according to our rules, not for theirs but for our sakes and our own selfish reasons", he explains and she shuts her eyes when it begins to make sense to her. She nods and tightens the hug around her brother, who then kisses her round but cold forehead.
...
After Thando managed to slip and fall into deep sleep, Muzi tucked her in and walked outside to find his wife. When he finally did, she was washing tripe and cow intestines in a bowl by herself.
"Look at you being a wife", he said with a smile and she laughed.
"Hey baby", she greeted and he got to her to steal a kiss. She then angled her face up so he could kiss her properly.
"Hm awusanuki awusanuki yilo mogodu"(You smell terrible because of this tripe), he teased and she laughed harder. He enjoys every second of her effortless giggles. Especially if he is the reason for them.
"Kodwa usangithanda"(but you still love me), she teases back with her tongue out.
"That'll never change. You look beautiful mama", he says and brushes the part of her weave that was flowing out of the brown and silk LV doek around her head.
"Thank you daddy", she shows her gratitude with a huge smile on her face but her hands continued with the work.
"Aren't you cold out here?", his concern pushed him to ask.
"Ngiyaqeda manje"(I'm almost done).
"Did you bring the spinach as I asked?", she asked with her eyes on the bowl.
"Ah ngikhohliwe mina"(I forgot)
"Ha-ana Muzi...", she slightly stomped her feet from the backless chair she was seated on. He laughed.
"I'm kidding. I'm kidding", he quickly said before she could throw her toys around any further.
"Mciim yaz wena", she said and shook her head.
"It's in the kitchen. How could I forget when I'm the one who asked for it?", he said and went down to wrap his hands around her waist.
"Kodwa uyangiphazamisa yaz"(You're interrupting me), she giggled throughout the wet neck kisses she was receiving.
"Am I?", he whispered as he nibbled on her soft neck. They rub noses lovingly before he could let out an exhausted breath out when they pulled apart. He wasn't quite himself. With good reason.
...
They went back inside the house with Muzi carrying the bowls and the knife. He could've easily had the tripe at the back but she offered to make it from scratch just how he likes- hoping to cheer him up. He added that she makes the 'gravy'-spinach she always makes and she agreed. He even got a business idea when she introduced that type of spinach to him and said he's going to find ways to get it into supermarkets since it's not available as yet. The twins came down running on the stairs and she yelled "Hey! Hey! This is still a funeral! What's with the noise?"
"No it's not", Mxo cheekily said.
"Excuse you?", Muzi said and he kept quiet. It didn't take long for them to be at it again.
"Boikanyo! Kopano! Fuseg man!", she sternly yelled. She had had enough of the deliquent rascals for one day. Muzi raised a face they both know too well and it worked. They bent their lips and took the walk of shame back upstairs. Betso complained about how crazy they drive her sometimes and apologized for swearing because she knows how much he hates it. He pulled her for a hug and she stood on her toes.
"It's okay. Sometimes you just need to keep quiet and look the other way. Their lucky packet energy quickly dies down when they don't get a verbal reaction", he suggests and places a kiss on her frustrated forehead.
UNEDITED.
