I'm this chapter, there are many translated parts. I apologize for the inconvenience.
The day for the lobola negotiations had arrived. I woke up early this morning I had stomach cramps because of all the nerves I was having. I just wanted everything to go smoothly and accordingly today. Nothing could ruin this day. My two uncles were here and also Anga's father which was so ironic considering how his son was so against me marrying the king. Luckily Anga was still at the hospital recovering, so he wasn't going to have a chance to do anything stupid today. My mother's two friends from her church were here, Sis' Linda and Sis' Thoko. They were in the kitchen preparing food and chatting up a storm. I was currently in my bedroom. I had just finished taking a bath. There was still like 3 hours before our guests arrive. Couldn't believe that this day was finally here. And that in 5 months was going to be the wedding. My wedding. I seriously had to pinch myself every day because it was just so surreal to me. Unbelievable. I was going to have to start planning for the wedding. My mother and I had a lot of work cut out for us but even so, I was excited about all of it. I mean, this was a dream come true for me. Never had I thought or imagined that I would marry or be someone's wife. But knowing that the person I was going to marry was the king didn't scare me as much as it would've if I was going to marry somebody else. It could only be him and nobody else. It was only after the king had came into my life that I really started to believe in the whole thing about soulmates. To me, he was my soulmate. And I'm pretty sure that he saw me as that too. I was busy applying on lotion when the king video called me. I covered myself with my gown quickly and answered. When his face appeared I wasn't surprised to see his chest. The king was always half naked when he was at his place.
Kumkani: "My moon." He said in greeting.
Me: "Hi." I greeted him shyly. I don't know why, but I suddenly was.
Kumkani: "Just wanted to see your beautiful face, that's all." I smiled.
Me: "Oh."
Kumkani: "Now that I've seen it, I'll let you go." He was such a weirdo people! I laughed.
Me: "Seriously?"
Kumkani: "Yes."
Me: "You're unbelievable, you know that?" He just looked at me saying nothing... "chat with me for a bit." I wasn't ready to let him go.
Kumkani: "About what?" I shrugged.
Me: "About anything." He said nothing. I huffed... "say something."
Kumkani: "I love you." I smiled blushing ... "I miss your lips...and the feel of your body against me." Lendoda! Tingles travelled through whole of my body making me to shiver a bit.
Me: "A-Are y-you also going to come for the negotiations?" I asked him to distract myself from my body's reaction to what he just said. The corners of his mouth lifted. He was onto me. Damn.
Kumkani: "No beautiful. But I'll come afterwards." I nodded... "are you wearing anything under that gown you have on my moon?" He suddenly asked. Gosh!
Me: "N-N-No."
Kumkani: "Khaveze ibele little beauty." [Show me your boob.]
Me: "King!" I exclaimed holding my gown closely together. He burst out laughing.
Kumkani: "Just a sneak peek little beauty. Show me." His audacity bethuna!
Me: "I'm hanging up now." He laughed even more. This jerk!
Kumkani: "Beautiful, you said to chat with you a bit about anything and that's what I'm doing." He called this chatting? This bastard!
Me: "Bha-Bhabhayi. See you later." And I hung up and threw my phone over to my bed. My body was literally shaking. Don't know if it was shaking from fear or excitement. This wasn't the first time the king has teased me like this. During this past week he has been doing things that he normally doesn't do. Like squeeze or grab my ass when we're kissing or brush against my breasts, oh and necking. He wasn't being forceful about all the things he was doing or anything bethuna but still, I was thrown off all the time. Really don't know what has gotten into him. Could you guys tell me?
After getting a handle over my body's reaction to the king's teasing, I carried on with what I had been doing, and then I wore a simple traditional attire that my mother and I had gone to buy at the shops yesterday. I tried doing the doek on my head but failed, of course, so I went to the kitchen to ask my mother for help. When I got to the kitchen Sis' Linda and Sis' Thoko ululated before I could say anything. I smiled blushing. They were making me so shy. After they stopped, my mother helped me with the doek while getting all emotional. You would swear it was already my wedding day with how emotional she was. My mother guys. A real crybaby. After she finished, my mother's friends ululated again telling me how beautiful I was, saying that I looked like a Makoti already. Just imagine. I ended up helping them with the cooking they were doing even though I really sucked at it. Don't judge me bethuna. I never had to cook for myself before. Even when I lived with Tasha during those 3 years, I ate mostly instant noodles or bread on the days Tasha wouldn't be cooking. Thing is, I grew up with my mother being the one doing everything in the house for us. My father and I never had to lift a finger. Partly, it had been my mother's fault because she never let us. She would shoo us away every time we attempted to help her saying that we were getting in her way. She always wanted to do things her own way. So when I said helped, I meant doing the chopping of vegetables. I could make a pretty mean salad though. Don't laugh at me guys. I know it wasn't ideal for a person at my age to not know how to cook. But what to do? It was already the case. At least the king knew about me not being able to cook. I was lucky because he could cook and was good at it so we weren't going to have to eat instant food after we get married.
Sis' Thoko: "Hayi Fezeka yintoni le ndiyibona phandle?" She said coming in the kitchen in a rush. She had stepped out to go get something from her car. [Oh my word Fezeke, what did I just see outside?]
Mother: "Yintoni ngoku? Kwenzekani?" She asked a bit alarmed. [What now? What's going on?]
Sis' Thoko: "Yewethu imoto ezingakaya endizibone zimisa ngapha kwe yardi ngoku bendiphandle zingapha kokuqonda." She clapped her hands. [You wouldn't believe the amount of cars I saw parking outside the yard while I was out there.]
Mother: "Zimise zizephi?"
Sis' Thoko: "Haike nawe uske ube dom. Zize apha kaloku. They are like 15 of them." [You can be dense sometimes. They've come for here.]
Sis' Linda: "15?!!"
Sis' Thoko: "Ewe ntombi ndiphele ku 15 ukubala. I think there's more. Khanizojonga." They went to the window to see what Sis' Thoko was talking about. Both my mother and Sis' Linda gasped out loud... "yabona? Ndinixelele. Zikhona ke ezinye qa zisithele. Ndithi zifolile mntakabawo zenje nje." [Yes girl. I stopped at 15 to count. Come and see. You see? I told you guys. There are still more out there but you won't be able to see them because of the fence. They're parked in a line. One after another.]
Sis' Linda: "Could it be onozakuzaku bo mkhwenyana?" [Could it be the ambassadors of our son in law?]
Mother: "Hayi abangakayana, bayaphi? The food we're preparing won't be enough for that much people." [Why would so many of them come here?]
Sis' Thoko: "Heee! I wonder kwenzekani sana. Hayi zange ndayibona lena into. Ndiyaqala ngqa. And judging from their cars, they're not ordinary people." [I wonder what's happening. I've never seen a scene such as this before in my life.]
I decided to go and see what they were fretting about. Since our fence was one of those see through ones, you could see what was outside the yard clearly even though the sight was limited. And there I could see about 6 or 7 cars parked one behind the other in line formation. The ones visible were in different sizes and colors but they were all Mercedes Benz. What? All those cars were coming here? Could it be the king's uncles? It couldn't be right? And Sis' Thoko said they was about 15 of those cars parked outside.
Mother: "Hayi hayi khanimeni ndiyoqonda kuZolani ngalento iqhubeka phandle. This can't be right." She went out the kitchen. [Wait. Let me go and ask Zolani about the car situation that's happening outside.]
Sis' Linda: "Sendilinde nje ukuba bade baphume kweza moto ndizobabona." [I'm only just waiting for them to get out of the cars so I can see how they look like.]
Sis' Thoko: "Nam ntombi. I'm so curious. Jonga jonga omeza boFezeka..." She laughed pointing at some of our neighbors who had come out and were standing beside the road staring at the cars... "abasazithandi izinto." [Look look at Fezeka's neighbors. They like things.]
Sis' Linda: "You know how people are. I'm sure they're asking themselves what's going on." Sis' Thoko clapped her hands.
Sis' Thoko: " Hayi yintsomi sana." She chuckled... "so those are your in laws Preshy mntanam? Baqonde ukuba mabenze igrand entrance mntakabawo." Sis' Linda chuckled. [Oh my word. What I'm seeing is a myth. They wanted to make a grand entrance.]
Sis' Linda: "They're trying to show us what kind of family they are." My mother entered the kitchen looking a little panicky. She was even a little out of breath.
Sis' Thoko: "Uye wathini umyeni wakho Fezi?" [What did your husband say Fezi?]
Mother: "He said the father called saying that the son in law's uncles wanted to see Khazimle so that's why they all came." What?
Sis' Thoko: "No...wait. How many uncles does this boy have kanti?"
Mother: "Apparently he has about 20 uncles."
Sis' Linda: "What?!"
Sis' Thoko: "What?!" They both exclaimed at the same time.
Mother: "After they see Khazimle, three of them will stay and the others will leave."
Sis' Thoko: "Heee! Kengoku yintoni isidingo sokuba baze ngemoto ezingakayana ntombi? Bebengeno kukhwelisana mhlambi?" Sis' Linda laughed. [Then what was the need for each one of them to come with their own cars? Couldn't they give each other rides?]
Sis' Linda: "Hayi sisi awuboni ukuba litshamba lodwa eli?" Sis' Thoko laughed. [Don't you see that this is all a show off?]
Sis' Thoko: "And lilo sana." She clapped her hands... "hayi Preshy i-in laws zakho mntanam. Mnk!" She shook her head. [And they're showing off. Your in laws are something else Preshy my child.]
The way my heart was beating, I swear I was close to having a panic attack. They all came to see me? And there were 20 of them?! What?! Why hadn't the king told me that he had so many uncles? I mean, who has 20 uncles anyways? Oh my God! Oh my God!
Mother: "Ndiske ndaxakwa bethuna yazi. Andazi mandithini." She said wiping her forehead. She blew out a breath... "okay, let's prepare some drinks and snacks for them. uZolani uthe bazongena in 10 minutes apha endlini." [I'm so confused. I don't know what to do. Zolani said they'll enter the house in 10 minutes.]
Sis' Thoko: "Unazo iglass nezitya eziyi 20 mfazi?" She joked and they laughed like it was funny. [Do you have 20 glasses and plates?]
They began to take out glasses and plates cleaning them as I stood there like a rock.
Mother: "Khazie stop standing there and help with the snacks." I snapped out of it and did as I was told. But I was still shaken about the whole thing with the king's uncles.
They were all in the living now and boy were they loud. They were laughing up a storm as they talked and teased each other. My mother said to give them time to settle down before drinks and snacks could be served to them. My palms were sweaty and my legs were shaky. I was worried that I would trip and fall when the time came for me to go in there. Yeesh! Please God no. That would be so mortifying. My father entered the kitchen.
Father: "Come Preshy mntanam. They want to see you now." Oh my God! My father took my hand and led me to the living room. When we entered the room went quiet. Oh my gosh! They were so many of them and they were big and tall as hell. Not as big and tall as my soon to be father in law though, but still. Wow! They were a very intimidating bunch. I swallowed thickly my throat dry as all eyes were on me assessing me. Since there wasn't enough space for all of them to sit, almost all of them were standing. "So this is her." One of them finally said. "I must say that she's a beauty. Our boy chose very well." Another one added. "I now understand why he was in a hurry to rope and tie her in." Another one said. "I would've done the same thing." Said another. "But she seems to be scared of us." Another remarked. "Don't blame her. Some of you are ugly as fuck ingathi nitya abantu." Another muttered. [It's like you eat people.] "Sinethemba language." The king's father growled.
Sinethemba: "But it's the truth bafo. Look at how Lakhe, Lukhanyo and Bheki are scowling at the poor girl ." Some of them chuckled... "we're not at war gents. We came to see our daughter in law so smile big please." And all of them smiled. Oh my gosh! I don't know but to me they looked even more scary doing that. "Didn't work asshole. She looks even more frightened by us now." Another one said.
Sinethemba: "I tried." He shrugged... "bro do your magic." He said to the one next to him who looked like his photocopy. Oh my gosh! They were identical twins! "Have no magic bro. Kev, you do it madala." He said.
Kevin: "I just want to hear her speak." They nodded as some made agreeable sounds.
Father: "Introduce yourself to your in-laws my child." I swallowed and cleared my throat.
Me: "H-Hi." I greeted on a stutter. I even did the awkward small wave. That was so terrible Khazie. Do better. I cleared my throat... "my name is Khazimle Precious Tetani. Nice to meet you all and please accept this bow as a sign of respect from me to you." I said and then I bowed. Some of them chuckled. "She's nice. I like her." "Me too." "She's going to fit in well with our other daughter in laws." "Yeah just hope she has balls of steel because she's going to need it."
Zanoxolo: "Brian."
Brain: "My bad brother."
Kev: "But I trust our boy, he wouldn't choose a weakling." The king's father grunted unhappily.
Zanoxolo: "I apologize for their rude manner Mr. Tetani. It's just the way they speak." My father chuckled next to me.
Father: "You had warned me about them so it's no problem."
Zanoxolo: "Okay you've seen her, now leave." He ordered. Yeesh! "But I'm not ready to leave." "Me too." "I want to chat to Precious more." "Just leave."
Father: "You can stay for a while. I believe my wife has prepared drinks and snacks for you men to eat."They were all happy when my father said that. "You gents never change. Even at this age you act like a bunch of 5 year olds." Another one said. He looked to be more serious than the others. "Hayini niyambona uLakhe uzenza bramthutsu ngathi." They laughed. [You guys see how Lakhe is making himself appear better than all of us.]
Lakhe: "Kudala wali ntshontsho lesele kanene Phakamani." They laughed even more. [You've always been a frog's tadpole.] I couldn't help but to chuckle a little too. These men bethuna. "Our beauty finally cracked a smile. Even at our old age we still got the magic gents." Now they were all looking at me again smiling. Yikes!
Father: "Go tell your mother that they can bring in the drinks." He said to me and I left happy to escape the attention.....