Melokuhle's brain eventually got tired of regurgitating everything that Busi had told him, trying to find answers to the many questions that flooded his fuzzed up mind. He passed out on the bed. It frustrated Manqoba that he couldn't hear him sobbing anymore. He was completely silent.
"Makhosonke?!", he yelled out from behind the locked door. Melo's volatile state made it very possible for him to pull any stupid stunt. Manqoba backed away from the door and counted to 3 and clenched his teeth before charging to the door to break it open. It did and he fell into the room. Melo raised his head and squinted his eyes to see what bomb had dropped into his bedroom. Manqoba exhaled with relief.
"What's going on?", Melo asked in a rough and dried voice.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep. And stop locking the door"
"How do I lock it when...", he took a deep breath. "Can I please be alone? Please", he said and MQ nodded before walking out. He pulled out his phone and dialled Muzikayise's number.
"Bafo?", Muzi answered.
"Mfa' ka baba"-Manqoba
"You don't sound too good. Trouble in paradise?"
"Kubi"(It's bad), Manqoba said before settling on the chair in his office.
"What's wrong?"
"It's... Makhosonke lost his girlfriend"
"You called me because a young couple had a fight?"
"Ushonile uBusisiwe MK", he informed. Muzakayise went quiet.
"What happened?"
"Suicide. He's not taking it well"
"I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning. Let me call him now", Muzi said and they cut the call.
Melo pulled his phone and called the warder that usually puts him in contact with his mother. Something in him just felt like he needed to hear her voice. The warden answered but told him that she was off duty. She promised to call him back the next day so could speak to Gugu. He shoved the phone under his pillow, allowing himself to get lost in space.
...
Bongiwe sat on top of her bed in her father's house, holding on to the family photo album, paging through as tears dropped down. Gertrude peeped through before she could walk in. The straightback on her head surely housed a couple of wild animals apart from the dandruff that was evident on her head. The hairpiece was ridden hard and put away wet. She did not bother covering up like almost every woman in the yard. Bongiwe raised her face once and dropped her eyes back to the photo of her sitting on her father's shoulders and pointing at something far away, as a little girl. Her aunt settled down next to her on the edge of the bed.
"Ubekuthanda ubab' wakho yazi"(Your father loved you), she remarked. Bongiwe wiped her tears with the back of her hand and nodded.
"Mabongi...?", Gertrude carefully poked at her attention. Bongiwe knew that she was about to start with her snide and malignant comments.
"What aunty?"
"Ungazifeza izifiso zakhe nom' eseshonile uyakwazi loko?"(You can still grant him his wishes even when he's dead), she said. That was her 'on your marks' into the tired and over discussed conversation.
"Can we not do this?"
"Ngiyasho nje mina. Uyaguga phela ntombi. Iskhathi ngeke silinde wena"(I'm just saying. You're getting old. Time is never going to wait on you)- Gertrude
"You don't have to worry about that"
"Ayabola amaqa---"
"I FROZE THEM DAMMIT!", Bongiwe snapped.
"Udemet unyoko"(Dammit is your mother), Gertrude jabbed at Bongiwe. Bongiwe exhaled and dropped her chest.
"I'm sorry"- Bongiwe
"Uthi uwafake njan amaqanda efridgin?"(Explain to me how you put them in the fridge)
"It's complicated"
"What if somebody eats them?"
"They're not... aunty I will have kids when I want them. At any point in my life"
"Mnk. So'bona ngawe Ntombizodwa", aunty said and stood up listlessly. When she closed the door, she called her Kenyan witch doctor to set up an appointment for that very same night. When she secured a spot,
"Sifun' iyngane thina lay'khaya. Oopotshozatshoza. Nxaiy"(We want grandkids here. Cute little things), she said to herself when she felt fed up with Bongiwe's stalling.
...
Violet stood up after dinner complaining about being heavily doped by sleep. She also informed that she had to take her pills for hypertension before leaving for her room. Muzi was taking a call in the balcony
"Goodnight grandma!", Lwandile and Mxolisi said at the same time. She kissed both of them on the lips at their obvious disgust. They hate it and she knows it but does it anyway. The two saw it fit to run back to their rooms before she could kiss them some more. They love their grandmother. It's her lack of qualms they would do without.
"Where is MY kiss?", Betso teased as she drank her juice.
"He-eh wena o monamonana le pipi you no longer qualify"(You suck dxck) , Violet said before picking up her phone to leave Betso choking on her drink, coughing like a negligent TB patient. She finally caught her breath and wiped her teary eyes. Muzi came back and noticed the mess she was.
"Are you okay mommy?", he enquired before settling down next to her.
"I am fine", she roughly said and took more sips.
"O-kay", Muzi said doubtfully. "I'm sorry about that call. I couldn't miss it"
"It's okay Khumalo"
"Where's everyone?"
"They went to bed"-Betso
Muzi took a deep breath.
"You look like you're carrying mountains on both shoulders. What's going on?"
"Melokuhle's girlfriend committed suicide", he informed. Betso popped her eyes.
"When? My poor baby..."
"Eish... manje angazi. I wanna finish up some paperwork then drive there so I can arrive early in the morning"
"I'm coming with you"
"No baby you stay. Stay with the kids. It's one thing that Melo's schoolwork and progress are on the line I wouldn't want to interrupt these two as well"
"So you want to hide it from them?"
"No I'm gonna tell them. What I won't allow is for them to come with"
"I can't imagine what he must be going through. He's so young to be losing two people at once"
"Ungasho uphinde. I know I was hard on him for impregnating her but I'm proud of how he was willing to step up. Now this...Was she that freaked out about having a baby?"
"I don't think it was the only thing that pushed her to it. Suicide victims usually have a lot of things piling up. The pregnancy might've have pushed her beyond her threshold"
"Yoh...", Muzi exclaimed before he could fall back on his chair.
