IT MAY BE early in the morning but God knows fully well that, she must have her morning tea but is it, strong and black enough, for her cold-hearted soul that, I am sure will never see heaven.
She arrives at the entrance of the kitchen and finds Mukuna, who has already made two mugs of hot tea, – can you imagine and the aroma smells so beautiful.
“And then, what are you doing here... Mukuna... shouldn’t you be at your house, with your pregnant wife,” she says, with her hands on the hip.
I have always admired the beauty that this particular woman carries, like how can she be so evil and yet so beautiful.
In fact she makes evil, look so good.
Mukuna doesn’t answer but he continues to do that, which is expected of him.
“Am I not talking to someone,” she finally enters into the kitchen, with one hand on her hip.
This woman is asking stupid questions, I mean... does someone need an invitation to visit his brother’s place and stay at his place.
It’s called ‘Brotherly love’.
But then again... that black outfit sings a lot of songs.... DEADLY songs.
“Here is your cup of tea... strong and black,” he says.
She’s surprised but still takes it, and smells the aroma.
It’s really strong and looks black.
Mukuna takes his cup and moves to the first dinning room and she follows him behind.
As they both take their seats, Mukuna looks at her, with an examining eye, as she slowly drinks her tea.
“Do you know, the meaning of the black bead in your wrist and it’s purpose,” he says to her and slowly Harriet looks at it, but she only takes ten seconds and takes her eyes away from it.
“I don’t know, Mukuna... why don’t you tell me, as your good sister-in-law,” she says with her attitude.
Yoh, this dark skinned woman has attitude for days.
But I want to drink that tea 🍵, she makes it, look beautiful and sexy, with the way, she’s drinking it.
“Well, according to the family history and what I was told... the black bead defines stability... the person that is given the bead, must be prepared to be a stable point of the family, in fact for me... I have always seen the one with the black bead to be very important, because it’s like a neck and the head always needs the neck to support it... it’s more like balance... you are the stable point of Hector ,” he says.
But I know MaKhanyile doesn’t care, about those words... she wants to finish the over delicious tea.
He makes it, like those women from emakhaya and the only thing, missing here, is scones from grandma’s lunchbox.
“Look, I am not up for this discussion... if you are looking for Hector, then you will find him in his room... and I am pretty sure that he is sleeping now, so please go look for him and leave, me alone... please,” she says and slowly she places the mug on the table and moves to stand but before she can even move an inch.
She begins to feel a bit dizzy, like she’s about to collapse and as she turns around to meet with Mukuna who is now standing on his two feet.
The DARK AFRICAN BUTTERNUT is smiling.
“What have you done to me... what have you,” she stops midway in her sentence as she’s already on the floor.
Unconscious.
Mukuna moves to her body and smiles, as he takes out his phone and makes a phone call to Mabutho.
“I have done it... I am bringing her in,” he says, with that smile of accomplishment.
Mabutho thanks him and cuts the phone call, and for me... it looks like their in the hospital.
It’s him and Nkosi, and they’re looking at SJ, who is heavily sedated.
“Do you really think that he will survive, after all... it was your call to bring him to a hospital, particularly this one, when that your favourite girlfriend works,” he says.
You should see Mabutho’s face, Tjo, the dimpled mam was caught off guard with his brother, who can’t keep his mouth shut.
Well, they’re not dating and that’s because they’re not boyfriend and girlfriend but what is that English word – yes, they’re fuck buddies. She’s a married woman, after all and he is a divorced man, according to what I know.
So they PRACTICALLY use each to service, their engines.
For me their relationship is like Dineo and Bab’Dlamini, I wonder where is she now.
“Stop it, Nkosi,” he says in an authoritative voice and immediately Nkosi stops with his jokes.
But still I am laughing, like how can Nkosi always try to create jokes in serious situations.
“Look, she will create a report for the police and say that he was brought in, by some men... who found him on the roadside, and the police, will try their best to investigate since he is a son of a wealthy man, who is also missing but I assure you they won’t find a thing... because as we speak, his house is being turned upside down and every little thing that screams our name, will be permanently deleted,” he says, pushing his hands, deep into his pocket.
“I hear you Bafo and you have spoken well, using your Hollywood tactics... I mean you have practically given a way for us, to hide and protect our sins but what about him...,” he says pointing to SJ, who is sleeping on that hospital bead, with a disfigured face.
Mabutho only chuckles as he sees through the window, a middle aged woman, and I am sure that this is the favourite girlfriend, that koko was talking about.
Nkosi looks at the person that his brother is looking at and how she removes an injection from her white coat and injects it, into the tube.
You should see Nkosi, he has removed the hat... he was wearing and he is now bald, like a new-born’s bum.
But the beard, is there now.
In fact it has grown.
But anyways, back to the lady, who has completed her work and slowly she exits the room, and as she passes them, she wicks her left eye to Mabutho.
And you should see his smile, he has fireworks in those dimples, that could make any sane person, break into pieces.
“Okay, I am not going to mind that show of affection but what did she just do,” – Nkosi.
“Three... Two... One... and boom,” – Mabutho.
He points with an index finger to SJ’s body, in that hospital bed.
He is now shaking and I am not happy, because even the machines are busy beeping.
Immediately all the nurses/doctors run in, including that very same woman, who just gave him, an injection.
For me, it’s how nobody has even minded them or given them attention.
These men are super famous but these ladies and gents, are so focused on their job.
I bet you this is a PRIVATE hospital and not a government one.
After a few fights and silence, Mabutho looks at the way, one of the nurses covers him with the white sheet and the woman gives out the time of death.
He smiles.
Tjo, big brother with them ‘dimples’.
“You see, Nkosi... we were never weak... we were just sleeping lions that wanted rest and unfortunately some people poke their dirty fingers and awaken the beast in us... let’s go... we are done here,” he says.
And with that he takes his leave.
Yeah neh, after God... fear your elder brothers and sisters... in fact fear anything that came out of the womb, before you.
-----------------------
He wakes up around 12pm with a heavy headache and it’s so heavy that one would swear and say that this is a hangover.
He LOOKS at his bedside and it looks like Zimele didn’t sleep in the same room with him, so he decides to go and check for him, in his room but still he is not there, and what’s even more weird.
Harriet’s room is opened.
Something that never happens.
He peeks inside to see whether Zimele slept there but he can’t see him or even the owner of the room.
It’s a bit surprising that she is not here since they’re all slept in this house and it was only the two of them.
Something else catches his eye and that’s Harriet’s phone on the bed, and her laptop opened.
She couldn’t have left those things opened, because according to what Hector knows, about her... is that she never lives the house 🏠 without her phone or laptop, and even when she leaves these things behind, her door is always locked.
Out of curiosity, Hector begins to look through her laptop, because as he tried the phone... it turns out that it needs a password to gain access, so the only thing that he will do is to check through her laptop.
He checks through the ‘many’ entire files that he finds on the desktop but still nothing dangerous pops out.
It’s business proposals, pictures of Zithulele and some pictures of her father, and so fort, and so fort.
But something else surprises, him... they is another user on this very same laptop but it needs a password to gain access.
He begins to type, every single thing that he knows that Harriet could have set as a password, including Zithulele’s name but unfortunately it’s saying access denied.
Out of words, he tries the last name and it immediately gives him, access... and the name is Buhle.
It’s shocking but he doesn’t mind that now, he scrolls through the many pictures and files, searching for something.
He opens up a certain file and oh my God, it’s a video... in fact it’s many videos, all squashed up in a file.
He plays the videos and it’s not good, some of them... have Zimele and his ‘mistresses’ pleasing each other, in a sexual way... others have the other brothers, with their women, and they seem to be enjoying themselves.
Sexually.
All of these things, seem to happen at their offices in Sandton.
He stops playing them, before he throws up, I mean it’s disgusting and why the heck would she, keep such videos.
Finally he comes to the second last video.
And it’s Harriet, she’s making a phone call, behind the main house 🏠... he fast forwards it but stops, when he sees that Buhle is in the mud and Harriet is pouring water on her, using a bucket.
He gasps for breathe, as if one... being choked and slowly tears start to stream.
He wants to burn up with anger but he will watch.
He sees Angelina and how she is shouting at Harriet, whilst trying to take Buhle out of the mud.
He can’t believe his eyes, like why would she even do that.
The video continues playing until it reaches to the part, when Harriet gets to the point of hitting the stone on Angelina’s head and her falling to the ground, with blood oozing out of her head.
He holds his mouth in shock with tears but nothing was preparing him for the part, where he saw Harriet hitting the stone, across Buhle’s beautiful blind face.
That one, that part... he immediately closes the laptop and shivers with cold.
It’s as if, someone has poured cold water, that came out from the fridge and went straight on his body.
What will he do now and who will he tell?
--------------------
I always knew that Mr Mashila, Angelina’s father wasn’t going to let sleeping dogs lie and now his face is splashed across the famous newspapers in the country, and they’re selling like hot cakes.
He says that he warned his beloved daughter of the danger that she was getting herself into, but she never listened.
He further said that he told her that, she was a woman that was meant to marry someone, of the same morals as her, and not one... who dines and sleeps with guns, for companion.
He also blames Nganono for his daughter’s death, saying that he told him to leave his daughter but he never listened.
And what’s worse, he called them satanic for having gays in their family and believing in ancestors.
But he didn’t see that satanic or ancestors, when he was asking his daughter for money to help renovate the ‘house of the lord’... bazaluwane with hypocrisy.
“I always knew that, your father-in-law was going to cause unnecessary drama for us,” – Mukuna
He is sitting next to Nganono, who quickly looks at the newspaper, that Mukuna was reading.
I can’t see Harriet, I wonder... where is she.
But all I know is that, she is here and she is awaiting for her demise.
Nganono looks at the picture of his father-in-law and wife... it’s a picture of the day, she graduated.
She used to tell him that, that was the most happiest day of her life.
“Look here, let the man mourn in peace... if he feels like, that’s the only way for him, to be able to heal and move on... then so be it... it’s a small price to pay for our sanity and besides, it’s not like... we don’t get worse publicity than that... everybody in this country, in this continent... always has something to say about us,” he says as he folds his arms and continues to drink his whiskey that he was drinking earlier.
Leaving Mukuna to read his newspaper.
As Mabutho and Nkosi enter into that haunted mansion, with Nkosi walking behind his brother and having his hands at back.
They see Zimele pulling Harriet by her long braids and he is dragging her, down the stairs.
Two steps before they can reach the floor of the haunted house, Zimele pushes her to the floor, skipping those two steps and one can see MaKhanyile bleeding through her nose.
There’s BLOOD all over her face and as she lies on the floor.
Zimele grabs her by the hair and brings her face to meet with him.
“You killed my child... you killed my only daughter!!, I am going to kill you TODAY and nothing will happen to me,” and with that last word.
A SLAP is given to her dark skinned face but the problem is that we can’t see the five fingers.
And you know why, haibo... you want me to say it... anyways I will say it... it’s because she’s dark, like load-shedding.
Mabutho and Nkosi are just quiet, and they watch her scream loud, knowing fully well that, no one will hear her.
After all, they’re in the middle of nowhere.
“What I have done, I didn’t kill anyone,” she says and my dear God, you can practically see blood in her teeth.
I hate it, when these men resort to violence to solve issues 😣😔, I mean can’t they take her to the police and hand over the evidence.
But also the police has failed dismally, I mean they failed to do their investigation properly and then closed the case, due to the lack of no evidence.
I mean couldn’t they see the brutality in how Angelina and Buhle were killed.
“You ask a very stupid question, but I will answer it,” – Mabutho .
He smiles as he slowly squats down, and looks at her messed up, face.
“Your boyfriend or rather your UK boyfriend, named SJ Van Rooyen... told us,, everything and when I say everything... I mean everything, and before I forget... my condolences... your boyfriend is dead,” he says with a smile.
Immediately everything begins to flow into her head, I mean she just woke up about 20 Minutes ago and she wasn’t planning to see Zimele and his brothers, along with his criminal cousin finding out, about the secret that she wanted to cover.
And what’s worse, he is dead... SJ is dead.
“He is lying!!... that man is lying and yes, I accept that I slept with him but I never even a single day, took part in something that could result in Buhle and Angelina’s death,” she says.
“You are a big liar, in fact all the lies that started with Eve in the Bible and then went to Delilah and ended at Jezebel... has been reincarnated by you... Satan,” – Nkosi.
He says spitting on the floor because even for me, those lies are disgusting and dangerous.
“I am serious, what could have made me, kill them... and besides,” she says, dragging herself to sit on the stairs.
The strength that this woman has, amazes me.
She is a true definition of Satan.
“And besides, you don’t have anything that will implicate me, in this... if you don’t understand what I mean by that, I mean that... they is no way on this earth, that you have evidence to back... your useless accusation... I mean the police won’t even handcuff me ” she says.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, about the police part... we don’t need the police to sentence you to death and then the following day, have you body found in a ditch somewhere,” – Mabutho.
She’s scared now and I would be, just imagine... being told that you will be found in a ditch somewhere by these scary Nguni men.
“You... you wouldn’t do that,” she says, trembling with fear.
“Like he said,” – Nganono
He comes walking slowly and standing in front of her.
“We wouldn’t be too sure about that,” and immediately he gives her a punch that leads to a blackout.
-----------------
Look here, some MEN carry hidden demons that their don’t want to unleash and I am not justifying abuse but I know fully well that... when you meet with people like this, please run for the hill.
You are not a rehabilitation centre, put your sanity first and run for the hills, nothing comes good in life, without suffering but that shouldn’t mean, that you should kill yourself for a man with baggage, if not loads.
The clear evidence is Hector and I can see the questions running around his small head, as he holds onto that laptop and phone.
He looks distant and in pain, like how did he find himself in this mess, called a love story.
I mean he knows that LOVING someone is not easy, but that shouldn’t mean that... loving someone, should cost your sanity.
“Mr Dlamini-KaDikana, the detective will see you shortly,” she says.
It’s a young woman and he looks like, she is the same age with him.
Reality kicks in, what has he done with his life and if he were to die now, he will be leaving no legacy behind.
Not even a business of his own or something.
Everything has always been about ‘building something' with Zimele and his family, they is nothing about him.
He loved so deep and did what those women told him... ‘Learn to build an empire with your man’... so he built one with his man and his brothers but it will always be their own and not his.
If he dies, he will always be remembered as the builder but not the owner.
“Sir, you can come in... now,” the woman says.
Sorry, I forgot to mention... he is at the police station.
And it looks like, he is about to die with fear.
Because he is practically shaking with fear.
--------------------
They LOOK all sandy but I am not looking forward to hearing the reason why they look all ‘sanded’ up but I can see a spade and... a dead body.
Nganono moves to his computer and deactivates, all cameras around the premises.
I am sure that, they don’t want a repeat of things that took place.
I am sure you are looking for Harriet, well she’s there on the floor.
Totally unconscious, and I don’t even know why this is happening... couldn’t she remember what Zithulele told her... ‘her secret wasn’t going to be revealed by him (Zithulele) but by someone else.
So he knew that, his ‘mother’ was going to get snitched on, by a man that she opens her thighs for.
Occasionally.
“I don’t want to kill her,” – Zimele.
Nganono and all his brothers are shocked, because next to Harriet... is Sebastian’s body – yes, they had to exhume him.
They had to find a way to remove his body from the soil.
They will either burn it or have it, thrown into the middle of absolutely nowhere.
“Why, I want her dead... and her body must never be buried in Nqamakwe... we don’t want someone like her, associating herself with our ancestors and contaminating the land,” – Nganono.
He is super livid.
“I want to know the reason why... I want to know why would she do, such a horrible thing, against me... I have never done anything wrong, against her... in all honesty... nothing can justify what she did,” – Zimele.
He is crying.
Last born disease.
“Look, we are going to kill her and replace her body, with that of Sebastian... take her upstairs,” – Mabutho.
Sometimes these men scare me, like seriously... aren’t they scared of blood or even using that word ‘Kill’.
They truly became like their father, it’s like whatever situation that arises, it unleashes the beast in them.
They don’t want peace, they want TROUBLE.
Just like their over dramatic ancestors.
Zimele’s phone is ringing and he knows the person.
“Zimele speaking, hello,” he says.
“Hi, Zimele... I am seriously sorry for disturbing you but I have guest here and he has very important evidence that could give us a breakthrough in your daughter’s and sister-in-law's death,” he says.
“And, who is this person with the evidence and what’s inside,” he asks.
The phone is already on loudspeaker and everyone can hear him, I don’t know about Harriet, and the dead man.
“They is so much evidence but it’s all in a laptop, I have searched through it, and came across certain... nasty videos of you and your brothers, but rest assured nothing will be leaked and then I saw a video of the person killing your daughter,” silence in the room.
Everyone is quiet.
“Who is it,” he asks
The man keeps quiet for a while, before clearing his throat.
“It’s your wife, Harriet Dlamini KaDikana,” he says and immediately all eyes, turn to Harriet.
She’s unconscious and has nowhere to run.
I bet you, when she wakes up... she will find herself in a graveyard.
“Lastly, we saw a video of you... and your brothers burying someone,” he says.
Immediately all of them, are scared.
Fear is slowing dance, itself... down their spines.
“Look here, my brother.... I want you to do, your best and delete that video and wait, who brought such things to you,” he asks.
“It’s your husband, Hector Dlamini KaDikana,” he says.
Immediately all of them, look at each other.
“Does he know about that particular video,” he asks.
“Yes, he does... he was there, when I was playing the videos... it was actually the last video... after the one of Harriet killing your daughter and sister-in-law,” the man answers and slowly Zimele, cuts the call.
“What are we going to do, now... he knows... he will leave me for good now,” Zimele sits down the floor with his hands on his head.
A VERY COLD air passes through them, it’s as if... someone took them and threw them into the fridge.
What’s going to happen now?
©All Rights Reserved By George Osumba.
2023