NURSE THEMBENI
CHAPTER 30
THEMBENI
For a moment my brain refuses to understand what my eyes are seeing. I am still naked under Mehlo, my body pressed against his. The blanket is barely covering us.
Mehlo curses under his breath and yanks the blanket up over us in one quick motion. He pulls it tight around my shoulders and drags me closer to his chest.
What is she doing here? Why is she here?
“What the hell are you doing here?” Mehlo’s voice rises.
MaPhikela doesn’t look embarrassed. She doesn’t even look surprised. If anything, she looks like someone who expected exactly what she walked in on. Like this is her room and we are the ones who should feel ashamed. Her eyes move slowly across the bed, across the blanket, and across me.
“You were loud, I heard everything.”
Heat rushes up my neck so quickly my face burns. Oh God, she heard us. I feel my intenstines painfully turn. Mehlo’s arm tightens around me.
“Get out,” he orders
But MaPhikela has other plans, she steps further into the room.
“Ndabezitha, you weren’t supposed to sleep with her outside marriage. The ancestors won’t be pleased. The seer is here to make sure bad luck doesn’t follow you.”
She means me, she is calling me bad luck. I grew up hearing stories about this. Elders warning kings and princes about sleeping with a woman before the proper rituals are done. Apparently, it angers the ancestors and misfortune follows the man.
But no one ever says the woman herself is the curse, no one says she is the bad luck. Yet here she is, saying it in front of him. In front of the seer, making me feel like I’m something dirty. Something that needs to be cleaned off him.
I sit up quickly and clutch the blanket to my chest, holding it so tightly my fingers start to hurt.
“Excuse me?” I say.
MaPhikela doesn’t even look at me, not even once. She gestures toward the seer.
“Mahlalelangeni, make sure Ndabezitha steams, and purges. Use the strongest intelezi. We can’t risk it.” She’s telling the seer.
I can’t believe he’s nodding. Do they honestly think walking into a grown man’s bedroom while he’s naked with a woman is normal? Am I invisible to them?
He starts looking around the room for a plug, with his steaming bucket.
“Get the hell out of my room!”
Mehlo explodes, his voice is so loud it makes me jump. I have never heard him sound like that before.
“All of you!” He roars.
I scramble out of the bed without thinking, pulling the sheet with me, and wrapping it around my body as fast as I can. It tangles around my legs but I don’t care. My skin feels hot with shame. The seer is ahead of me with his bucket.
I have never heard Mehlo shout like that. I have never seen this kind of anger on him before. It scares me, there is something wild in it. Something powerful, almost like the anger of a king.
“Thembeni, where are you going?”
His voice stops me just as I reach the doorway. The seer is gone. I freeze and slowly turn around. Mehlo is sitting up in the bed now, the blanket is still covering his body. His eyes are locked on mine.
For a second I consider walking out anyway, but my feet move back toward him.
“MaPhikela get out. Now.” He orders the nanny.
She lifts her chin. Arrogant witch.
“You’re my son. There’s nothing I haven’t seen.”
My head is buzzing as I try to piece the puzzles together, I fail and only because I am in utter shock. Is this woman serious?
“Have you seen the size of this man? He is not a child, MaPhikela.” I say.
I wipe a tear I didn’t feel falling just as Mehlo yells for the guards.
The door opens immediately and two guards walk in, Mehlo doesn’t even look at them, his glare is stuck on her.
“Get this woman the fuck out of here.”
MaPhikela looks thrown off for a moment. Yeah, this is happening. Why is it shocking?
“I was only trying to help you, Ndabezitha. You know the curse of sleeping with her unmarried…”
“I said get out and do not ever show your face to me unless I say otherwise.” Mehlo commands.
The nanny’s crying, serves her right. I hate that the guards respect her, they point toward the door and she walks out without putting up a fight. I was looking forward to seeing her dragged out of here.
“Why are you crying?” Mehlo asks.
That’s when I realise tears are running down my face, I wipe them quickly but more keep coming.
“KaMajola?”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I was.”
But I know exactly why. Everything about what just happened hurts, the humiliation, the way she spoke about me and how she acted like I’m some kind of curse.
Mehlo walks closer to me.
“Talk to me.”
I shake my head at first, but the words come out anyway.
“I’m angry. She doesn’t respect me, Mehlo. She walked in here like she owns you.”
Now the tears are falling freely.
“Do you know how embarrassing that was? She called me bad luck and treated me like dirt.”
He pulls me into his arms before I can finish.
“I’m sorry,” he whispers, his hand moves slowly over my back.
“I’m so sorry, KaMajola.”
I hold onto him tighter.
“MaPhikela thinks she can control you, and she thinks I’m not worthy.”
He pulls back and holds my face in his hands, his thumbs wipe my tears.
“She’s wrong. You’re everything, KaMajola. You’re my queen, my heart and my future. MaPhikela has no say in that. I swear to you, Thembeni. She will never disrespect you in my presence again. I promise, you’re safe with me. Always.”
I nod and lean into him again. I know he’s trying, but his promises won’t make that woman bend.
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NGIYABONGA
Ngiyabonga woke up whistling today. That’s what happens when you decide to let things go and let God take the wheel. The God he prays to has been on his side since last night. He feels good this morning. Lighter than he’s felt in weeks, victorious is right there as well. Mpondo said yes, the old man cracked. Thembeni will be his son’s wife by sunset if he plays it right. The throne is still within reach, everything is falling into place.
It’s close to 6pm, they should be at the Majolas by now. But the delagetes haven’t arrived, only because they didn’t believe him when he said they are doing this again. The last negotiations didn’t go well, but today surely will be a success.
He walks through the house in his shiny royal blue robe, still whistling. MaNxumalo is already in the lounge, sipping tea, and looking at him over the rim of her cup. She’s convinced he’s lost his mind.
“Stop whistling in the house, it’s bad luck.”
Who does that, really?
Ngiyabonga laughs, it’s loud and dismissive.
“Nice try mama, but my mood remains untouched. Nothing can go wrong today. The ancestors are on my side. They have to be. I paid them enough in blood.”
MaNxumalo doesn’t smile. She never does when he talks like that. He doesn’t care, he heads to the kitchen. The maid has his tea ready. Strong. Black. No sugar. Just how he likes it, it defines everything he is. She pulls a chair for him and he sits, takes the cup, sips, and pulls out his phone. He scrolls through WhatsApp. There are no messages from Menzi. His last seen is one day ago.
That boy does not take life seriously and when Ngiyabonga thinks about it, Menzi has never contributed anything in this world. He clicks his tongue, and dials again. The phone rings this time, yoh, finally.
Menzi answers on the fourth ring.
“Lalela wena, mbungulu. Mpondo agreed to accept the bride price. I want you home in the next hour. Siyezwana?”
“I can’t make it. I’m held up.”
Ngiyabonga feels the vein in his temple jump.
“With what, Menzi? What could be more important than your marriage to KaMajola?”
Silence on the line.
“Khuluma mhlathi kanyoko.” Ngiyabonga snaps.
“Baba, I’m busy. Okay?” Menzi snaps back.
The audacity tickles Ngiyabonga, he laughs.
“You think I’m stupid? Be home in the next hour, or else. Utsho ngesluthu.”
He ends the call with another tongue click and slams the phone on the counter. The maid flinches but says nothing.
He takes another sip of tea, hoping it will calm the storm inside him, but it’s not working. Menzi will come, he has to come. The boy has no choice, he knows the throne is on the line.
Just then the guard walks in. Ngiyabonga glares at him, this house is starting to feel like a market place.
“Yey wena. Does your father have a kitchen like this?”
The guard drops his head and shakes it.
Ngiyabonga snorts. “He can only dream of it. Don’t ever enter my house without knocking.”
“I’m sorry, baba.”
Ngiyabonga sips his tea loudly before asking, “What do you want?”
The guard swallows, they always do before him and he loves to see it. People should be nervous and intimidated by him, it’s good for his image.
“Baba… the kraal is empty. The cows are gone.”
The cup slips from Ngiyabonga’s fingers, tea splashes across the floor. He grabs the counter to steady himself.
“What do you mean the cows are gone?”
“When the herd boys woke up, they found the kraal empty. They searched all night. It looks like someone broke in and stole the livestock.”
Ngiyabonga feels the world tilt upside down. His knees buckle, he catches himself on the counter. This can’t be happening, not today of all days. Everything was finally falling into place.
He turns to the guard.
“When did they realize?”
“We are not sure, but the boys were awake by 4 a.m., baba.”
“And you’re only telling me now?”
“We were searching…”
“Searching?” Ngiyabonga roars. “You think I care about your searching? My cows are gone! The bride price is gone! Do you know what this means?”
The guard drops his eyes. Ngiyabonga feels sick. They don’t have enough cash for lobola negotiations, not even close. The farm barely covers expenses. The cows were everything, without them, Mpondo will laugh in his face.
Another guard walks in. Ngiyabonga sees the look on his face and his stomach sinks.
“What is it now?” he shouts.
“Baba… we drove around Mnweni Valley all night. We found nothing. We were going in circles, there is no palace.”
His heart hammers so hard, he feels it shift from its place.
“No palace?”
But that stupid girl said…
“We found nothing, baba. Just mountains and rocks. There is no hidden kingdom or any sign of it.”
Ngiyabonga laughs until it turns into anger. Everything was supposed to be perfect today. But the opposite is happening, everything is falling apart. He feels something he hasn’t felt since the fire that killed his brother… Helpless.
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600+ comments
It’s very short, will expand the next one.