Chapter 9
Hector Wakes Up In This Very Cold Room That Has No Absolute Colour And Come To Think Of It, Everything In This Place Is Just Two Colours, Black And White, Like Always.
He Looks Around But He Can’t See Zimele Anywhere, He Looks At The Weird Clock On The Right-hand Side Of The Bed And It’s Still 1:00 am, And That Means That He Has Not Yet Gone To Work.
He Moves To The Living Room, Only To Find Zimele Sleeping On The Sofa With No Blanket, He Then Quickly Moves To The Room To Bring Him A Blanket And Covers Him, After Removing His Shoes.
He Then Moves To The Kitchen, Which Looks Very Empty As If No One Lives In This Place, They Is No Enough Pots Or Plates, Even Cooking Utensils.
The Kitchen Is Purely Empty, Like Empty And That’s When He Decides That He Will Rather Go To The Bathroom To Fetch Some Cleaning Materials But Upon His Arrival, He Finds Nothing Except A Cleaning Liquid And A Packet Of Hand Washing Powder.
He Let’s Out A Heavy Sigh And Decides That It’s Best If He Improvises And That’s When He Takes The Cleaning Liquid And The Washing Powder, And Within An Instant, He Begins Cleaning The Whole Place And One Must Truly Say That Cleaning Is Not A Gender Thing But A Habit That Should Be Born In All Of Us.
He Cleans The Entire Place, Making The Place Look So Beautiful And Thanks To The Cleaning Liquid That Was Able To At Least Kill The Smell Of The Washing Powder, The Place Is Smiling Like Heaven On Earth.
He Completes The Cleaning And Moves To The Kitchen Cupboards And Finds Nothing Except Some Bread And Tin Beans, Along With A Bottle Of Undiluted Juice.
He Quickly Takes Everything And Begins Making Zimele Lunch, After Making Zimele’s Lunch, He Then Places It On The Counter And Moves To The Room And Goes Back To Bed, But Not Before Checking The Clock And Seeing That The Time Is 02:40am.
Zimele Wakes Up Ten Minutes Later (02:50) And When He Opens His Eyes, He Finds The Entire Place Squeaky Clean.
It’s As If He Is In A New House And When He Moves To The Kitchen, He Finds His Lunch Waiting For Him With A Bottle Of Juice Near It, And That’s When He Knows That It Was Hector That Had Cleaned The House And Prepared His Lunch Using His (Hector) Own Juice Bottle That He Usually Uses For Work, For Him.
He Then Moves To The Bedroom And Stops At The Door, When He Finds Hector, Sound Asleep And As He Looks At Him With An Adorable Smile, And Great Affection, One Can Not Run Away From The Fact That They Is A Sign Of Sadness Behind His Glare.
Now Certain Rules Have Always Governed The Dlamini Family And The Fact That They’re Also A Formidable Criminal Family, Those Rules Must Always Be Adhered To.
You See, The Dlaminis’ Boys Have Never Had It Well In Life, I Mean... Yes, Their Father Has Always Tried To Provide And Guide His Boys But Still They Was Something Missing In His Boys, Which Would Make One To Think That Maybe They Were Being Selfish Or Maybe They Were By Shaped The Very “Awful Experience” That They Faced When They Were Children.
They’re So Many Explanations, Like Many And For Each And Everyone Of These Young Men, They Was An Explanation, A Very Painful Explanation.
It’s In Mabutho’s House And Nganono Arrives With Zimele And They Enter In Their House Making Their Way To The Living Room.
They Make Themselves Comfortable As They Pour Some Whisky, It’s As If This Family Loves Whisky So Much And When They’re Elder Brother Comes In, They Immediately Greet Him With A Nod As They Sit Down In This Small Living Room That Looks Empty (Talk About Lack Of Warmth And Style In The Dlamini Home), Nganono Clears His Throat And Tells Him Them About The Mysterious Events That Took Place, Which Leaves Mabutho And Zimele Shocked, As They Did Not Know About It And When They Share Their Own Experience That Took Place With Hector, The Mood Quickly Changes As Nganono Tells Them That.
Nganono : But... Look Guys I Am Not Against This But If It Is Him, The One That Mum Promised Us And You (Points To Zimele).... Then It Won’t End Well..
Zimele : What Do You Mean By That?
Nganono : Isn’t He... The Son Of The Man That Ubaba Killed... (Immediately Zimele And Mabutho’s Facial Expression Changes) I Mean They Is No Way We Are Going To Break From This Free.... Or What Is It That Is Going To Happen When He Finds Out That Ubaba Killed His Father... Or Would The Great Bab’Dlamini Just Sit There And Watch You Marry Him Or Bring Him In.
Mabutho : (He Let’s Out A Sharp Sigh) But We Can Not Run Away From The Fact That... He Is Here... The One That We Were Promised... Okay... We Just Have To Protect Him... Most Importantly Guide Him Because This World... Our World Is Not Fair.
Nganono : (His Eyes Turn To Zimele) Okay... Are You Ready (Zimele Nods)... Fine But I Must Warn You... We Are Going To Have Thread Carefully.... Because If He Is The One.. Of Which You Two Have Believed So Easily.. Due To The Bead... Then A War Is Coming And It Isn’t Going To End Well...
Zimele : No Need To Be A Prophet Of Doom, I Know... When You See Him... You Will Know Exactly How We Felt, In Fact How I Felt When I Saw Him At The Taxi Rank.
Immediately Within An Instant, Mabutho’s Sons (Prince And Nathi) Come Running To Greet Their Uncles, And They Hug Nganono So Deeply With Great Affection But When They See Zimele, Their Eyes Go Down As They Move Slowly To Him.
When He Sees Them Like That, He Asks Them That.
Zimele : What Is The Problem My Boys?
Prince : (He Looks At Nathi And He Nods Back At Him, Signalling Him To Talk) Why Did You Not Come With Ma...
Zimele : (He Looks At His Brothers, Who Are Equally Shocked And Then Turns To The Boys) What Do You Mean Ma....
Nathi : Our Mother.... You Left Him In Your House (Immediately All Of Them, Except The Two Boys Are Stunned) Please Take Us To Him.
Mabutho Looks At The Way, His Boys Are Super Emotional And He Quickly Turns To Nganono, Who Is Relatively Shocked With How His Nephews Are Behaving.
Meanwhile Hector Arrives Home (At Zimele’s Place) But His Mind Is With His Siblings, Whom He Hasn’t Seen In Days And That Truly Bothers Him Because He Feels Distant To Them, Like He Is In Another Province From Them.
He Goes Into The Kitchen And That’s When He Finds R20000 On The Counter And A Small Note, Written As “Ma... I Left R20000 On The Counter, Please Use It To Buy For Me And You... Food I Don’t Want To Sleep On Bread With Juice Only, And One More Thing Use The Money To Make That Place, A Home... A Family Home... For The Both Of Us.. P.S. I Love You"
He Looks At The Weight Of The Money In His Hand As He Turns It Around And Swallows A Painful Spite As If He Is Someone With Tonsils.
On The Other Side, Dineo Mogale (The Police Commissioner) Is In Her Office And She Talking To Someone On The Phone.
She Smiles With A Seductive Smile, As She Tells The Person That.
Dineo Mogale : I Knew Those Boys Were Useless... Beyond Uselessness... I Tried To Warn Them But I Guess That Failure Was Inevitable On Their Side, Since They Were Working To Destroy One Another... Without The Other Fully Knowing.
Bab’Dlamini : I Knew It Too... I Mean Those Boys Along With That He-goat Of A Man Called Hlophe... Thought That They Were Going To Kill Me... Tell Me Who Kills A Lion.
Dineo : (She Smiles As She Plays With The Paper) No One Honey....
Bab’Dlamini : Very Good... Now When Are You Paying Me A Visit.... My Member Is Becoming A Problem Now... As I Speak It’s Dancing Down There.
Dineo Mogale : (She Blushes Hard) Don’t Worry... When I’m Done With The Formalities Of Those Two Idiots And Their Funerals, Which I Highly Doubt That I Will Attend... Me And My “Raw Fish” Are Yours Completely So, Without Any Hassle.
Bab’Dlamini Smiles As He Brushes Down His Hands Over His Pants With Excitement, When He Is About To Say His Goodbyes To Lover, He Immediately Hears Someone Screaming Outside, He Quickly Stands Up And Moves To The Window, Only For Him To See Ziyanda Screaming Her Head Off At The Gate, With Mukuna In His Heat Conductor Outfit (Black Suit) Trying To Stop Her.
Mukuna : You Are Not Welcomed Here... You Have To Go Back To Where You Are Coming From...
Ziyanda : Look Here, I Am Supposed To Be Here... It’s Within My Rights As The Girlfriend Of Nkosi Dlamini.
Mukuna : Well Nkosi Is Not Here... At The Moment... So It Would Do You Good To At Least Take Your Noisy Self Out Of This Place Before The Guards Throw You Out.
Ziyanda : (She Refuses To Leave, Making The Guards To Take Hold Of Her But As They Try To Throw Her Out, She Holds The Gate And Starts Screaming Like A Headless Chicken) They’re About To Kill Me... Somebody Help Me...!!! These African Fools Want To Send Me To My Early Grave.
Bab’Dlamini Steps Out And One Can See That He Is Not Happy With The Barbaric Behaviour That Ziyanda Is Displaying.
He Quickly Tells Them To Stop And To Allow Her In, She Enters Without Giving A Dam Nor The Sea Or The Ocean About What Mukuna And The Guards Think About Her Oscar Worthy Performance.
Hector Is Outside His Siblings School, Waiting For Them To Come Out As He Waits With Malume, Who Has Now Become His Personal Driver By Zimele’s Commands.
He Decides To Inquire A Little About Zimele’s Family, Asking Malume That.
Hector : Malume.. I Wanted To Know About Zimele’s Family... Like Where He Was Born And All Of Those Types Of Things... You Know.
Malume : Well Zimele Is The Last Born Of The Four Dlamini Boys Starting From Mabutho To Nkosi, And Then Nganono To Zimele.... It’s First Mabutho “The Eldest”... He Is More Obedient And Kind But He Is Very Strict... I Mean When The Boy Came To Johannesburg... He Was Always Serious But At Least Now... That He Has Kids... We Get To See That Strictness Go Down A Bit...
Hector : (He Smiles) Okay... What About Nkosi...
Malume : Nkosi Is The Troublemaker.... He Is The One Hell-bent On Giving Their Father Stress... He Is So Hot-Headed But It Comes With The Fact That Out Of The Four Boys... Nkosi Loved His Mother Beyond The Walls Of The Earth....I Believe That If He Finds A Woman Or A Person With His Mother’s Heart Or Beauty.... Because Apparently She Was Beautiful... He Will Heal And I’m Sure Of That.
Hector : (He Looks A Bit Concerned, It’s As If His Heart Just Broke Into Two) Okay... What About Nganono?
Malume : Well That One Is By Far.. My Best... He Is Their Brother’s Keeper... I Mean Ever Since They Were Young... He Has Always Been There For His Brothers And He May Appear Tough And Strong But His Inner Self Is By Far... The Strongest... Like I Prefer Him Any Day Over The Other Three... No Offense
Hector : (He Smiles) None Taken, But What About Zimele?
Malume : (He Smiles) I Should Be Asking You That Question.
Hector : (Looks Confused) Me... Why Me?
Malume : (He Smiles) You See, Unlike All Of His Other Three Brothers... Zimele Never Got To Fully Experience The Love That Comes With Being Loved.... I Remember That He Is By Far The Most Loyal Child Of Their Father And It’s Not Because He Loves His Father.... It’s Because He Is Scared.... The Fear Of Losing Someone Again... The Same Way He Lost His Mother, When He Was Only 5 Or 6 Years Old.
Hector : (He Nods In Agreement) Thanks Malume... But You Owe Me... You Have Never Told Me... That Why Did You Abandon Us On That Day...
Malume : (He Laughs Out Loud) Well It Was The Boss’s Order... Specifically Zimele... You Have Won His Heart Before He Even Won Your Own.
Hector’s Smiles As School Knocks Out And Hector’s Siblings Come Running To Him, When They See Him.
He Quickly Hugs Them Like A Mother That Hasn’t Seen His Children In Years, If Not Decades.
Thato Immediately Tells Him That He Is Hungry And Wants To Eat, And That Makes Hector Smile.
He Tells Them To Eat In The Car, Of Which They Do And That’s When They See Biscuits And Some McDonald’s (Now McDonald’s Was A Big Deal Back In The Day And Is Still A Big Deal Today), He Watches As His Siblings Eat The Food Like Nobody’s Business And As They Drop Them Off At A Distance, He Gives Kedibone Money And Tells Her That If They Need Anything, They Must Always Call Him Using The Public Phone.
He Says Goodbye To Them And As They Go, Tears Flow Down Like A Stream.
When His Siblings Arrive In The House, They Find No One In The House, Except The Usual Of Which Is The Beer Bottles That Surround The House.
They Quickly Move To Their Room And Lock Themselves Inside, Unaware Of The Eviction Notice That Was Pushed Under Their Door By The Caretaker.
On The Other Side, Bab’Dlamini Is With Ziyanda In His Study And He Looks At Her With Great Disgust, If Not Dirtiness Making Her Feel Uncomfortable.
He Clears Throat, After Gulping Down His Whisky And Tells Her That.
Bab’Dlamini : For Over Three Days, Your Supposed Boyfriend Was Missing And Now Is When You Are Coming To Ask About His Whereabouts?
Ziyanda : Look Baba...
Bab’Dlamini : Whoa...I Am Not Your Father... Okay... I Can’t Father Someone That Is Dating A Man Who Is Old Enough To Be Her Younger Brother.... (Ziyanda Opens Her Eyes In Shock) So You Think We Were Never Going To Know That You Are Nearly 5 Years Older Than Nkosi....You Should Be Disgusted By Calling Me Father.
Ziyanda : (She Looks Down In Shame, That Has Been Embroiled With Anger) With All Due Respect... I Didn’t Come Here For Insults... All I Wanted To Know, Was The Whereabouts Of My Boyfriend.
Bab’Dlamini : (He Chuckles) You Know, You Have No Absolute Right... Calling A Small Boy That Is Old Enough To Be Your Younger Sibling... “Boyfriend”.... If I Can Ask... Will You Eggs Be Able To Give The Dlaminis’ A Grandchild... Will You Be Able To Build A Home....
Ziyanda : (She Quickly Loses It And Snaps At Bab’Dlamini) Why Are You Insulting Me!!... Is This What Nkosi Has To Go Through... Huh... Your Weird... Painful Insults... I Am Not Nkosi... Okay... If You Are Able To Overlook Him And His Potentials And Yet Prefer A Gay Man Over Him... Countless Times... Then You Are Not A Good Father... You Question About My Relationship.. Nkosi Is My Mine...
Bab’Dlamini : (His Facial Expression Quickly Changes, As He Let’s A Sharp Sigh, Whilst Looking At Her With Stain Eyes) Well... If You Must Know No Woman Will Ever Marry Into This Family Without My Approval... Can’t You Ask Yourself, That Why.... Why Have You Been With Nkosi And He Has Never Spoken About Paying Your Dowry (Ziyanda’s Facial Expression Changes Into An Embarrassed One) Now Look Here... Young Girl... This Is My Home And Not That Cheap Township That You Escaped From In KZN (KwaZulu-Natal)... Display This Behaviour Once More Then Menopause Won’t Be The Only Thing That You Will Be Suffering From.... Do You Understand Me... (Ziyanda Nods Her Head In Agreement, Whilst Trying To Hide Her Face In Embarrassment), Now Get Out.
She Quickly Leaves The Study And Makes Her Way, Outside Whilst Wiping Away Her Tears, As Those Words Left A Hole In Her Heart.
Meanwhile Hector On The Other Hand, Has Re-Cleaned The Entire House And Furnished It, With The Small Things That He Bought From The Shops, Which Amounted To Almost R12 000.
This Two-Coloured Apartment Now Has Some Colour To It And One Can See That All Rooms In This Apartment Finally Have Some Warmth To It, And Along With Picture Frames That Have All Of Zimele’s Family Members Placed On The Wall, As To Where He Got The Idea, I Don’t Know.
He Let’s Out A Heavy Sigh As He Begins Cooking, And Something Tells Him To Cook, Some Cow Meat (Beef) With A Lot Of Pap (Stiff Porridge) And Some Spicy Soup.
As He Begins Cooking For Two With His Apron On, He Hears The Door Opening And Some Children Running Screaming Ma, At First He Thinks That It’s His Siblings But No, His Siblings Never Call Him, Ma Except For That One Time When Kedibone Defend Him Against His Monstrous Step Sister And Mother.
He Sees Two Beautiful Yet Handsome Boys That Look Exactly Like Zimele, Due To Their Smiles That Show Off Their Deep Dimples.
They Quickly Hug Him, With So Much Affection And Love.
He Looks At Them And Asks Them That.
Hector : Hello My Boys... Who Brought You Here?
Nathi : Ma’ (Hector Looks Surprised But Immediately Knows That They Came With Zimele Or At Least Some Related To Him, Because They Have A Cunning Resemblance And That’s Despite The Fact They’re Coloureds) It Was Uncle Zimele And Uncle Nganono That Brought Us... With Our Father...
Prince : Yes... Ma It’s True.... (He Immediately Starts Sniffing Around) Are You Cooking Pap Ma (Stiff Porridge).
Hector : Yes I Am Cooking.... You Want To Eat (They Quickly Nod) Good Now, Go To The Living Room And Watch The Cartoons... When I Am Done... I Will Call You... (They Both Turn To Leave But Stop At The Door Of The Kitchen, And That’s When Prince Turns Around, Followed By His Brother, Prompting Hector To Ask Them That) What’s The Problem... My Boys... You Don’t Like Cartoon..
Prince : We Do... But I Want To Watch Something Else...
Hector : What Do You Want To Watch?
Prince : I Want To A Science Channel... I Know The Number Of The Channel And It’s About To Start... But I Promise To Put For Nathi Some Cartoon.
Hector : (He Smiles) Fine... You Can Go Watch... And Enjoy..
They Both Nod In Agreement, And Quickly Run To The Living Room, Passing Zimele In The Corridor.
He Enters The Kitchen And Let’s Out A Whistle, That Quickly Alerts Hector, Who Was Busy With Frying The Cow Meat And As He Turns Around, He Finds Zimele Behind Him With A Smile On His Face.
Zimele : Now This Is The Sight That I Want To Come Back Too... After A Hard Day At Work.... I Want To Relax And Watch My Meal Prepare My Other Meal... Leaving Me With Two Options... Eat One And Devour The Other One
Hector : (He Blushes Whilst Trying To Hide His Face, Which Already Has A Smile On The Corner) Don’t Be Like That.
Zimele : Why Shouldn’t I Be.... I Mean... Look Everywhere, You Have Turned My Home Into A Paradise And Now I Won’t Be Subjected To Bread And That Awful Juice... I Don’t Even Know Why I Bought It.... And Also Thanks For Putting The Picture Frames As To How You Got The Idea, I Don’t Know... It’s Just One Frame Missing And That Is Your Own...
Hector : (He Smiles As He Moves To The Counter To Begin With The Soup) It’s Fine... And Don’t Worry I Will Just Need To Add A Few Pieces Of Chicken For The Boys That You Decided To Surprise Me With And Besides They Look Like You.
Zimele : Thank You For The Recognition Well.... (He Let’s A Sharp Sigh Through His Teeth) I Have May Have Brought Visitors For You And Spoiler Alert, They Eat Too Much... So You Better Cook More.
He Quickly Leaves Before Hector Can Say Anything And That’s When Hector Remembers What The Boys Told Him, That They Came With Their Father, Of Whom He Knows That It Mabutho And They Came With Uncle Nganono.
He Quickly Takes Out Another Beef Packet From The Freezer That Looks Relatively Old But Can Still Survive A Few Years And Begins Making More Meat.
As He Cooks, Zimele And His Brothers Are Discussing Something That Looks Very Important, On The Balcony, Nganono Then Asks To Be Excused As He Needs To Use The Toilet.
He Uses The Toilet, And When He Is Done, He Comes Out Of The Bathroom And Makes His Way To The Balcony, Where His Brothers Are Sitting.
On His Way, He Stops When He Hears Someone Singing A Familiar Song That He Used To Love, When He Was Still A Kid.
He Follows The Voice Of The Person Singing It And That’s When He Enters The Kitchen, And Finds Hector Singing It.
Hector Turns Around, Almost Being Startled To Death, Making Nganono To Apologize Immediately, And Also Introducing Himself And Asking Him Who Taught Him That Song.
Hector : (As He Stands With His Head Down) Nobody Taught Me The Song... I Just Loved Humming To It, When I Was Kid And When I Finally Knew The Song With The Words Of I Created... I Just Started Loving It More.
As Hector Talks, Nganono Can’t Stop Being Amazed And Now He Sees Why His Brothers Said That This Young Man Is Their Mother’s Replica.
It’s Around 6:40pm, Slowing Going To Seven And One Can See That They Is No Peace In The Masilo Household.
Phuti Paces Up And Down In The Living Room, With The Eviction Notice In Her Hand As She Faces Her Mother, Who Is Already Under The Influence.
Phuti : Ma.... Are You Even Hearing Me...(She Only Nods In Agreement) Ma... You Can’t Be Serious... Didn’t That Boy Give You Money To Pay Rent Or Didn’t You Remain With Money After The Accident... The Funeral Money Also?
MmeMoichela : He Did And I Did Remain With Money.
Phuti : So Then What Happened.... Why Are We Getting Eviction Notices... Huh.... Okay Where Is The Money That You Were Supposed To Pay?
MmeMoichela : I Drink It And I Also Spent Some During The Funeral... Trust Me...(She Burps) I Thought I Was Going To Replace The Money But Dololo... (She Burps Again) But No Man Wanted To Give Me Money.
Phuti : So What Are We Going To Do Now?... People Are Going To Laugh At Us... Most Especially Me... You Have To Do Something.
MmeMoichela : (She Stands Up And Faces Her Daughter) Me... Do Something... What About You... Why Don’t You Do Something Instead Of Sponging Off Your Mother At This Age.... You Are 26... You Should Be Feeding Me And Your Siblings.
Phuti : How Do You Except Me... To Feed You And Those Children Of Yours.... When I Don’t Even Have A Job.... I Am Your Responsibility Not The Other Way Round.
It’s Me... That You Should Be Looking After And Not Those Masilo Donkeys..
Out Of Anger, MmeMoichela Quickly Slaps Her And Immediately They Begin Exchanging Words Leading Into A Huge Argument Between Them.
As They Argue, Kedibone Is With Her Siblings In The Room And She Quickly Embraces Them In A Hug As Thato Cries Deeply In Her Arms.
Meanwhile Hector Is Done Cooking Already And Places The Food On The Table In A Traditional Style.
Like In The True African Way, He Brings The Water, Which Is Very Warm And Also A Towel And As They Dip Their Hands In The Water Whilst Commenting On The Smell Of The Food That Is Still In The Kitchen.
After Which, Plate By Plate, He Gives Them Food Exactly Like The Way He First Served Zimele His Own Food.
They’re All Astound But What Impresses Them Is The Kneeling Part, That Part Melts Mabutho’s Heart That He Immediately Smiles And Tells Zimele That.
Mabutho : You See, Here We Have Gotten Ourselves A Makoti (A Bride) And A Mother.
They All Quickly Fall Into Laughter But Before They Eat, Nganono Insists That They Should Pray And That Nathi Should Be One To Lead To The Prayer.
Nathi Looks At Hector And Asks Him That.
Nathi : Ma... (Hector Is Obviously Embarrassed But Just Nods In Agreement) I Want You To Led Us In Prayer
Hector : (He Looks At All Of Them And They All Seem Wiling To Hear, What He Is Going To Say) Dear Heavenly Father... Bless This Food And Bless The Pockets That Bought The Food, And Add More From Where It Came From.... Amina (Amen Means Amina In Swahili).
The Compliments That Follow Bring Joy To Hector’s Heart And By The Time They Leave Around 10:30pm, Nganono And Mabutho Collect Some Lunch Boxes From Him, Making Zimele Very Jealous And Angry, That They’re Making Hector Their Personal Slave.
Mabutho Then Moves To Collect His Children, Who Fail Asleep During The Discussion That Took Place When Zimele And His Brothers Were Enjoying The Meal.
He Tries To Carry Them But They Refuse To Come Out Of Hector’s Laps And Insist That They Want To Sleep Over.
That’s When Hector Asks Them If They Can Come And Collect Them Tomorrow.
Mabutho Agrees To Do That And Quickly Leaves With Nganono, Holding Their Lunch Boxes In Their Hands.
Hector Then Slowly Stands Up As Zimele Escorts His Elder Brothers Out Of The Apartment, He Moves To A Spare Room And Places Them On The Bed, Covering Them The Comfy Blanket That He Had Bought.
He Puts Them To Bed, After Singing To Their Favourite Song... Yes That Song That Nganono Loved.
He Quickly Moves To The Kitchen To Wash The Dishes, When Zimele Comes In Screaming Hector’s Name Like Someone Who Just Lost His Baby.
Hector Comes Out Of The Kitchen And Tells Him That.
Hector : You Are Making Unnecessary Noise, I Am Here In The Kitchen.... And Besides You Will Wake Up The Kids.
Zimele : (In A Low Yet Whispering Voice) Oh Sorry Ma... (He Goes Behind Hector, Following Him To The Kitchen) I Just Wanted To Say Thank You.. For The Food And Thank You For Bringing Us Together As A Family... You Were Even Able To... To Break That Cold Ice Amongst Us.. I Mean I Don’t Know When Last, Did We Meet And Have Something Intimate Like A Family Should Or Like Brothers Should... You Are Building Us Again... Ma... Recreating Our Broken Bonds...
Hector : (He Blushes) Well It’s The Least I Can Do And Thank You For Giving Me An Accommodation... You Are Really A Good...
Zimele : A Good Husband...
Hector : (He Smiles) No Problem... You Are A Good Husband And Before I Forget... I Have To Give You.. Your Change...
Zimele : (He Is Surprised) What Change?
Hector : (He Moves To The Room And Bring Something In The Envelope) There Is Your Change (Zimele Takes It And Opens The Envelope, Only To Find Money Inside) It’s Exactly R8000... Maybe With Some Few Rand’s On Top Of It.
Zimele : But You Should Have Spent All Of It... That’s What....
Hector : That’s What Other People Do Not Me... One Needs To Be Conservative About Money, Most Especially In Times Like This, Nobody Knows Tomorrow... If My Father Was Conservative About The Money... He Made Through The Sale Of His Family Land, We Were Going To Be Super Wealthy By Now... And Not... (He Sighs) Not Poor Or If He Was Alive Then I Wouldn’t Be Surviving Or Having To Stress You... (Zimele Looks Down In Guilty) So My Dear Friend... (Hector Turns To Him, With A Forced Smile) If You Want To Be Rich... Don’t Over Spend, Learn To Spend Within Your Limits, After All Don't Believe That Statement That Says A Person Must Spend In Order To Get More Money... (He Chuckles)... You Will Mop The Streets Of Johannesburg With Those Words... Trust Me.
Hector Turns Around To Complete “The Washing Of The Dishes” And Zimele Remains With The Money In His Hand.
Meanwhile Bab’Dlamini Is Walking In The Corridor And He Ends Up In The Room, That Used To Belong To Nkosi When He Was Young.
He Enters The Room And Finds Nkosi Sitting On The Bed, With A Bandage In His Head, Whilst Facing The Window.
Bab’Dlamini : The Doctor Said That You Will Be Fine But I Must Warn You That You Must Never Repeat This Same... Ugly Mistake... You Are A Broken Man... Who Has Decided Not To Fix His Future And Life... Well If You Want To Continue Being An Embarrassment, Then Be My Guest But If You Do This Again... Then They Will Be No....(Nkosi Cuts His Father)
Nkosi : (He Stands Up And Faces His Father) I Will Not Do It Again (Bab’Dlamini Immediately Nods) But I Must Warn You Too... The Dlaminis’ Wealth Is Built On A Lie... Stolen Wealth (BabDlamini’s Facial Expression Quickly Changes Into A Serious One) You Know That Those Taxis’ That You Parade Around As Ours, Belong To Jerry Masilo... That’s Why You Want That Document... You Are Afraid...
Bab’Dlamini : I Don’t What You Talking About?
Nkosi : Of Course... You Won’t Know What I’m Talking About... But I Will Tell You... I Am Willing To Change If You Are Willing To Compromise...
Bab’Dlamini : Compromise What...
Nkosi : (He Moves To His Father And Stands Tall Before Him, In A Sweet Yet Whispering Voice) I Want To Led The Family Business... Not Zimele.. Not Mabutho... Not Nganono... Me... I Want To Be The Boss.
Bab’Dlamini Looks At Nkosi With So Much Anger And One Can See The Hatred That Nkosi Has For His Father Right In His Small Eyes, And That’s When Nkosi Tells Him Again That..
Nkosi : So Are You Willing To Compromise... Baba Or... Will It Be The High Way?
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2022
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