It’s been three weeks and we are almost towards the end of October and Hector has been settling in very well and that comes with a fact that Zimele had purchased a new house in the exclusive Houghton estate and it’s a five bedroom house that was specifically selected by Harriet and Zimele, who surprised Hector on the second day of his return from Limpopo.
Zimele sleeps in one room, whilst Hector and Harriet both sleep in separate rooms with their children, the remaining two rooms are for visitors and by visitors, I mean Prince and Nathi.
Zimele and his brothers, are still quiet and this is making Hector very angry, that he wishes that he could burn up, I mean how is he supposed to be called Mr Dlamini or Mr KaDikana, when his husband and his brothers are still silently dragging their feet in the dust, over this issue that is of great importance.
“You look distant... are you okay Ma,” Zimele says as he looks at Hector, with a concerned eye, whilst carrying his daughter and let’s not talk about how close they have become, Buhle is slowly stealing Zimele away from Hector, Harriet and Zithulele.
“I am not distant... I just have a lot of things on my mind and it’s a lot... I want to send both Morena and Prince to a boarding school in the Northern Cape, so it’s just stressing me and not forgetting our daughter,” he says with a smile as he slowly moves to the baby cot and tries to fix it.
“So you are telling me, that it's only that, that has your mind distanced... you have to be joking me,” he says slowly placing the baby in the baby cot, that Hector has fixed.
“Yes... and also including the fact that you and your brothers, don’t want me to be a part of this family... that’s why you don’t want to go to Nqamakwe,” he says as he places a pink blanket on her and slowly gives her kiss on her head.
He turns to look at Zimele and he is very quiet, like dead quiet.
“My brothers and I... have decided that we will be going there... in a week’s time, and you are most definitely coming with us,” he says making Hector shocked.
“And then, why am I being involved in this trip to Nqamakwe... they said you guys not me... and besides I don’t want to enter where am I not needed,” he says trying to bring himself out of whatever plan, that these 'dimpled’ men are trying to put him in.
“No... Hector... you are coming with us and that’s non negotiable... I can’t go to a place that is connected to me and my brothers including you and my daughter, without you... the centre of it all,” he says and immediately Hector, knows that this, this serious, he never calls him by name unless it’s a serious matter or angry.
“Even Harriet and...” he says.
“Everyone that has a child with us or is connected to us, through marriage of tradition and law... will be coming.... that means that only you and Harriet including the boys will be coming except Ziyanda and the rest,” he says.
“Why not Ziyanda... I understand everyone but why not her... she’s been with this family for years, way before,” he says.
“Well, she's not coming and that's because she is traveling to a place, where I and you... don’t know,” he says and slowly moves to place his hand on Hector’s waist, as he pulls him forward.
He has Started Again.
“But still... she must come... in fact all the women of this family... must come and I know that you don’t want but I plead with you to, speak to your brothers and let them come... even if they won’t go through with it but at least, it’s the thought that counts,” he says as he places his head on Zimele’s chest and slowly he breathes out heavily.
“Okay... I will speak to my brothers but you owe me... you owe me something and it’s very important that you fulfill it... because it’s your duty as my ‘husband/wife’ to fulfil it... I want your ‘chocolate’,” he says as Hector smiles, looking the other side, trying not to pay attention to the handsome face in front of him.
“But not in front of the child, we could wake her up and God knows that, I don’t have the strength to put her again to sleep... you Dlamini KaDikana people love attention,” he says with a smile.
“I know that we love attention but we can’t help it, attention loves and cares for us... and besides she will know that her father is about to eat his ‘meal’ and no disturbance is allowed,” he says with a charming smile, showing those dimples that run deeper than sink hole.
“You are absolutely not serious, are you.... anyways it's fine... you can enjoy your meal then,” Hector says with a smile and slowly Zimele carries to the bed and from there, it’s depends on how strong the bed will be.
I think I have come to terms with the fact that Zimele always tries to get what he wants but I haven’t forgotten about Aunt Harriet, who is looking at Zithulele in her arms.
“I love how It’s only been a month but you have grown to accept me as your mother and not that... Intersex of a man... just imagine what was going to happen to you... when you are asked to present your mother and you present a man... I am just happy that I was there you and so you should know, my boy, this is for the betterment of this family and your life,” she says as she slowly places the baby in the cot and then hears sounds coming from the corridor and that’s when she knows that Hector is getting the 'white juice' that is meant for her and slowly she looks at her baby in the cot and then gives him a kiss on the head.
“I am your mother now and I will protect you, and our little secret,” and with that she moves to switch off the light and then goes to the bed.
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It’s 1:00am on the dot, when Hector wakes up and finds the light on and it amazes him, because he knows that he switched off the lights after he had completed his 'little exercise' with Zimele, and speaking of him, well he is already putting on his shoes 👟 as he looks completely dressed.
“And where do you think, you’re going at this time,” he says as he slowly brushes his eyes that have been ‘shined’ upon by the light.
“Go back to sleep and don’t open the door for anyone,” Zimele says as he leaves the room, with his face harden.
Hector quickly puts on his night gown and also puts on a pants and quickly follows him behind.
“What’s going on, please tell me,” he says and that’s when he turns around and comes face to face with Hector.
“Don’t you listen 👂, or are you deaf... I said to bed!! and don’t open for anyone,” he says with a loud voice, making Hector to take a step back in fear.
He leaves the house and closes the door behind him, and from there as Hector stands in the living room, he hears the electric gate open and Zimele’s car going out, and from there he can only hear the engine, as Zimele drives on high speed.
Meanwhile during the entire ordeal and the shouting that Hector got from Zimele, Aunt Harriet was standing at the door, eavesdropping and oh my gosh, I love the smile on her face.
It’s in the morning and Hector is sleeping on the sofa as he dozed off there, whilst waiting for his husband to show up.
He finds himself covered with a blanket and it’s weird because he didn’t sleep covering himself, and that’s when he hears Angelina’s voice coming from the corridor and slowly he sees her walking towards him with a cup of coffee ☕.
She places it, on the table with a smile and then takes her leave, making her way back to the kitchen, where he hears more familiar voices coming from and yes you guessed it right, he hears Lerato and Harriet both talking in the kitchen.
He also hears Prince and Nathi's voices coming from his room, it seems like their playing with Buhle, who is only a month old.
He slowly stands up and fixes his gown, and makes his way to the Kitchen.
“And what are all of you guys doing here, shouldn't you guys be attending to your 'men',” he says as he places the cup on the breakfast bar.
“Well... I for one was dropped off by Mukuna in the early hours, and our sister in Christ over there was dropped off by... you know who,” Lerato says as she slowly drinks her coffee.
“And where is Ziyanda,” he asks.
“Well as you can see, she’s not around,” Angelina says as she eats the scones that she just finished baking.
“That’s strange... Let me call her... Where’s my phone,” he says as he looks around.
“I don’t think calling will be the best idea, I bet you that whatever has taken Baba Kathuthu and the brothers revolves around her,” Harriet says as she slowly moves to her room and then comes back with her phone, she stands with one hand on her hip as she checks through her phone.
“Ah... They is it and it reads as follows... ‘I believe that my time on this earth has come to an end... I had done evil and committed evil... I deserved every punishment that I got and that’s because he never wanted anyone to pay his revenge on his behalf or cut my life short but that’s all about to change, the brothers are coming and I believe that today is my last day on earth, I want to be joined with my child', the end,” she stops reading and raises her head to meet with Hector’s face.
“She wrote that she is meeting with her child, what child,” Hector asks trying to clear the outstanding confusion in his head.
“Well, Nkosi beats her up and during the time at the lodge... I noticed it and had her taken to the hospital with Harriet... and right in front of us... the doctor told her, that she sustained injuries that led to the miscarriage and the lose of her baby,” says Lerato.
Hector looks around, as he gets blank stares from the women in the kitchen with him, and slowly breathes in and out.
“Get the kids and yourselves ready... we are going to Nkosi’s house before those men kill Ziyanda,” Hector says and as he is about to leave the kitchen, he gets stopped by Angelina who tells him that.
“I believe that will be a problem, we have been assigned to two guards and I know for a fact they won’t allow anyone in or anyone out of this premises,” she says.
“Then those bastards will wish that they were never born... go prepare yourselves,” and with that he disappears into his room as the rest of his newly formed team gets prepared.
Meanwhile at Nkosi’s house 🏠, one can hear the voices of Ziyanda and she is crying as they beat her up to death by Nkosi and Mukuna, oh Jehovah I don’t want to see the outcome of this beating.
All of the other brothers are seated in the room and they’re pretending like they can’t hear any voice that is coming from the room, where poor Ziyanda is crying.
It turns out that Nkosi had revealed everything to them, about what she done to him, by killing his fiancé and killing Hector’s younger brother, and also working with the Hlophes’ who nearly placed them out of business.
As soon as Lerato packs the car in front of Nkosi’s house that is surrounded by two other vehicles, they all try to come out but immediately get stopped by Harriet.
“Listen if we all go inside then they wont hesitate to do to us, what they’re doing to Ziyanda but if Ma can go inside, then they won’t be problem because they can’t hit him,” she says.
“Fine... I will go but you guys be safe... don’t open the doors for anyone,” and with that he immediately exits the car, leaving everyone behind along with his daughter in the arms of Angelina.
He let's out a heavy breathe as he opens the door and finds all of them along with Zimele, who is drinking whisky on high pace and that’s when, without talking to any of them, he makes his way to where Ziyanda’s voice is coming from.
Nganono and the others try to stop him but he quickly turns around and they see tears in his eyes, something that they never want to see.
“Don’t you dare touch me, Nonsense,” he says as he follows Ziyanda voice and quickly opens the door, and screams out loud when he sees Ziyanda on the floor with blood everywhere.
So many questions immediately move around Hector’s head as he asks himself a dozen, if not a million questions that how can they sit in the living room and let someone get beaten to this point, what’s up with this family and brutality, do they love violence that much.
He walks inside with anger and immediately slaps Nkosi, and looks him straight in the eye with tears streaming down his face as he looks at Ziyanda’s battered body on the floor.
“Are you a fool, how can you beat a woman like this and you are there... Mukuna you are there... helping someone to kill someone!!”, they all just stand there and say nothing, making Hector to chase them out of the room.
He even follows them to the living room and kicks all of them out, and as they leave, they find all of their partners looking at them, as they lean on the car that brought them.
Mabutho’s children look at him with the most disgusted look ever, and they’re don’t know what happened but the mere fact that it had their mother angry, they’re also angry.
They enter in the vehicles that had brought them and that’s when Hector calls Lerato to come and help her carry Ziyanda out of the room and straight to the hospital.
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Later on, as they all seated in the waiting area and Hector can see that they’re some unnecessary idiots that are looking at him suspiciously, and this is getting on his nerves but then he knows better and that’s to remain quiet.
Questions move around his head that could such a family truly exist, these are the types of families that feature on those Psychopath shows that available on DStv and etv, I mean can someone beat a fellow human being to this extent, most especially someone that you claim to love, man this family loves standing in violence, it’s as if they is no other way of fighting or solving things, except through violence.
The doctor comes to them and he seems extremely worried, I mean won’t you be worried, when someone comes to you with a patient that was nearly killed.
“According to what I was told by you guys, you said that this young woman that was brought to this hospital by you and our colleague here (he says pointing to Angelina)... was mugged but where is the police report,” he says as he looks at Hector, who basically lied to him about everything, because he knew that this might blow another proportion for him with the media that is obsessed with the life of him and his family.
“Can we go to your office and talk Doctor,” he says as he follows the Doctor, who is leading the way to his office, they both take their seats.
“So what is that... that you wish to discuss with me,” he says.
“Well Doctor... I won’t take up much of your time but I believe you need this,” he looks at his laps and brings out a brown envelope and places it, right on the table.
“What’s this,” he says as he looks at the brown fat envelope.
“I think that you should open it, Doctor,” and with that the Doctor opens it and finds money, and it’s a lot.
“What’s the meaning of this,” he says as he looks at the money.
“The meaning of that, is the Reserve Bank of South Africa and they is more where that came from, if you are willing to keep your mouth shut and mind your business, whilst attending to my sister, what happened to her is none of your concern, the only thing that you should do, is take care of my patient, do we have a deal, Doctor,” Hector says with a smile.
“Yes we do have a deal,” and with that Hector quickly leaves the office and upon his arrival outside, he let’s out a deep breathe as this is the first time that he has had to pay bribe to save his own ‘sons’ from their own doom with the media and prison.
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It’s already around 4pm and Hector stayed at the hospital, and told all of them to go home without him but not to tell them of where Ziyanda’s whereabouts are, and speaking of Ziyanda, she has an oxygen mask on and she looks pale and weak but at least better than the way she was at the home.
One can also see the bruises on her face and her arms, and I must say this and I want everyone to hear from me, Love is a very tricky feeling that can make or break someone, Love is a two way street and if you are feeling like you are giving way more than what you are supposed to be giving, then leave the person alone, don’t use love portions or whatever it is, to make them love you because you will end up like Ziyanda, broken in all ramifications.
Hector is seated on the chair beside her and looks at the way she slowly raises her hand and removes the mask, clearing her throat, with Hector already standing beside her.
“I’m sorry... Ma... God knows that I am sorry and he knows that I have paid for my punishment,” she says as she looks at him.
“They is no need to be sorry... you are safe now and I know for a fact that no one will touch you,” she says.
“You don’t understand, I have killed many people... I am responsible for the death of your brother... Thato,” she says with tears already gearing up in her eyes.
Hector immediately freezes in one spot as tears slowly go down his face and as he falls into the chair, where he was seating before he stood up, questions move about in his head, that could he have possibly destroyed his marriage by saving someone that killed his younger Brother.
“I want to know what happened and how it happened, and what led you to kill my younger brother with POISONOUS GAS,” he says as he looks at Ziyanda who is lying on the bed with tears in her eyes.
Meanwhile Zimele arrives home and finds Harriet herself with Zithulele on her back and as for Buhle, she’s in the bedroom, as before Angelina could leave for her place, she left her fast asleep in her baby cot and the boys also sleeping in Hector’s room, she went straight to her own apartment, she doesn’t want to see Nganono.
He walks in and goes straight to the kitchen, and watches as Harriet is cooking with Zithulele on her back, and I know it’s too soon but I would be lying if I say that my mother never carried me on her back or any of my siblings when we were still months old, we were always in her arms, not her back.
“What are you cooking... MaKathuthu,” he asks.
She remains silent and doesn’t answer or look his way for that matter.
“So you have decided to join Ma and partake in his drama of not talking to me, despite the fact that I have been calling his number,” he says slowly raising his voice.
Slowly Harriet looks at him and let’s out a chuckle, that quickly changes the expression on his face, from anger to confusion.
“Sometimes you amaze me, in fact, in all honesty, I have never been more confused in my life as to who is the head of this family... and I am not talking about Mabutho... I am talking about you... and us... our family” she says.
“MaKathuthu... I don’t understand, what you are trying to say,” he asks.
“He disrespected you and according to what I had, he even slapped your own elder brother, and you couldn’t even reprimand him but if it was me, you would be raining curses on me and threatening to send me to my father’s house but since it’s him, you let him do as he pleases,” she says as she moves the pot of soup 🍲 and places the one with meat.
“It was a moment of anger, he was angry,” he says trying to defend Hector.
“Angry... are you seriously believing yourself... Zimele you are a man and the head of this family... we are nothing but your spouses and we deserve to be led by you, and not the other way... He will destroy this family and everyone in it, if you allow him to do as he pleases,” she says and with that she moves to turn to the sink, washing the small plates., leaving Zimele will anger clearly written on his face.
© All Rights Reserved By George Osumba
2022