{SHORT}

LUXOLO

I shake Tsakini roughly, and he doesn’t wake up. I slap him, and he still doesn’t wake up. Guess the pills are working, and they will knock him off for a long time, hopefully by the time I come back he’d still be sleeping. I disembark the bed, and throw in my black tracksuit and look for his sneakers, zona zinkulu but I love them. I take the car keys, and my phone then steps out of the room, I grab some cold water, and exit the house. Luxolo said that I will find them at the warehouse, I will just have to activate the GPS and it will take me there.

2 hours later I’m parked outside this vast warehouse, and it is heavily protected the guards are all over the place with enormous machines, and they look scary. I’ve been scanned, and questioned then I was granted access. I don’t want to lie to you, their questions were infuriating, but then again they were following procedures, it had to be attained. The door slides open, and I step inside, this place is heaven mus even though I don’t know how heaven looks like. The walls are filled with their pictures, by the look of things these people have been at it since like forever, they’ve grown, and in some of these pictures, they look young. Dala babotsotsi mus laba.

“Welcome to our torturing place, little one.” Anthea, says taking my hand into hers. “Would you like a tour?”

“Maybe after I’ve seen Thembeka. How is she?” I implore as we walk towards this other dimmed room…

Her: “She’s okay, I guess.”

Me: “Why you guess?”

Her: “I haven’t seen her either, I also got here not long ago.” I nod. She leads us to this other room, and opens the door for me. There on the chair naked is Thembeka, her head is hanging low. Biggie, comes out of another room wheeling something I wonder what’s inside there.

“Hey, smallie.”

Me: “Hey, big. What’s in there?”

Her: “Raze, my friend.” Anthea laughs.

Me: “Then why is he in a cage?”

Her: “Because he’s very dangerous, and isn’t so friendly.”

Anthea: “He burps too, after being fed.”

Me: “Is it a snake?” Raising my brow.

Her: “An abnormal python, it is.”

Me: “Creepy. Has she said anything, yet?”

Biggie: “No. I haven’t asked her, I was waiting for you. Shall we?” I nod.

Anthea: “I’ll be watching from this side.”

Me: “She’s sleeping?”

Her: “Yeah, but don’t worry we are going to wake her up, bring me that bucket.” I pick up the bucket from the floor full of water and hand it to her. She pours Thembeka with the water, and she wakes up gasping for air looking around still disoriented. “Wake up sunshine.” She coughs.

Thembeka: “Where’s my son?”

Her: “Dead. I killed him, and fed him to the Pitbulls.”

Thembeka: “What?” She wiggles from the chair trying to free herself.

Me: “Forget it, that shit won’t work. Anyway, I’m not here you to have fun, but I’m here regarding a serious matter.”

Her: “Matter? What matters?” She’s still brave, I stan.

Me: ”Why did you poison my mother?”

Her: “What?” She scurries her eyes all over the room.

Me: “Don’t what me. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Why did you poison my mother? And don’t try to lie to me because I have receipts.”

Her: “I didn’t poison Nomalanga. I’m telling you the truth,” I chuckle.

Me: “Funny because, the day that I called Dr. Strydom, she was already on her way here at the pleasantry of your call of course. What was she coming to do there?”

Her: “How do you know that I’m the one who called her?”

Me: “Truecaller. Never heard of it?”

Her: “I called her because I wanted her to come and check me up, I wasn’t feeling well, and my baby wasn’t kicking for 8 hours straight. Since she was a family Dr. I had to call her.”

Biggie: “Bullshit! That’s a lot of bullshit, and you fucking know it. Tell us the truth or I will feed you to Raze, don’t push me.”

Her: “I’m telling the truth. Why would I want to kill Nomalanga? Such a humble woman?”

Me: “That’s what we want to know.”

Her: “I had no intention of killing your mother, I’d never.”

Biggie: “I’m not one to go around in circles, and prolong things. No. That’s not my style, now I’m forced to make you squirt the truth out.” She walks to this other toolbox and comes back with a hammer, Thembeka, widens her eyes in horror.

Her: “Wha- what are you doing?”

Biggie: “I’m making you talk,” she shrugs then squats and haul the hammer, then bring it down to Thembeka’s toes, and she screams as the hammer meets her toes. “I told you that I’m not one to prolong things, talk dammit, or else I’ll chop of your tongue!”

Her: “I didn’t do it, I swear,” she’s crying. Biggie hits her toes furthermore, and blood sprays out. Hhayi, how much blood does she have?

Biggie: “Okay, let’s do it this way. Anthea, bring the child and feed her to Raze maybe that will get her to talk!”

Her: “No, not my son please.”

Biggie: “Too late. I gave you a chance, and you failed to talk, now you leave me with no choice but to make you watch your son being eaten by Raze. Plus, it’s been long since she last ate some human flesh. Raze is no ordinary snake, he’s creepy and scary too. See, I always inject him with Morsadine and that gives it powers. Now, watch.” She nods at Anthea who pretends to be carrying a baby in her hands, she saunters to where the enclosure is located, and removes the cloth off the enclosure, and a very big, scary-looking snake comes into view.

Me: “Gzus! What on earth is this?!”

Her: “Meet my friend, Raze!”

Thembeka: “Pl- please, not my son, please,” she begs. “I wanted to kill her because of what she did to me in the past.”

Me: “In the past? What did she do to you? This ought to be interesting.”

Her: “Back in the days we were best of friends, not entirely best but yeah, that. I was married, and she was a prostitute. We both were, but luckily for me, I found a man who loved me, and he decided to take me and make me his wife, I was very happy. I told Nomalanga, and she was happy for me, or so I thought. Years down the line, Nomalanga came to me crying, saying that she can’t do it anymore, she can’t be a prostitute I must help her with a job. She can even be my maid

she doesn’t mind, kanty Satan wanted my husband. I found her in bed with my husband, and she showed no remorse for it afterward, then it came to a point where my husband wanted a divorce, and they eventually got married, I was kicked out of the house. I decided to go back home because I was not chased away, I vowed that I will make Nomalanga pay. She was living her best life at the expense of my tears, she betrayed me.” She takes a deep breath and looks at where Anthea is standing. 

“Later on I learned that she was pregnant with you, ” she points at biggie using her head. And during that year, her husband impregnated another woman that very same year. The other woman gave birth to a son the very same day you were born. It was supposed to be me that gave birth to a child, but your mother had to be evil and snatched my husband from me. I’ve been following her all these years, watching her every move, I know that my ex-husband divorced her because she was whoring around with another man, and fell pregnant, but aborted the child because Tsebo didn’t want a child with her, she was a mistress after all. She went back to prostitution, dumped Luxolo snr at her friend’s house, and never looked back. Once again, she found herself in bed with Tsebo, and Tsebo’s wife caught her. She ran to Mpumalanga in hopes of not being found and she changed her identity, and started a new life. She met a man there, only to find that he was her sister’s fiancé, Bhebetsi. But she still dated him, and moved in with him, Bhebetsi was chased out of the house, and your mother occupied it. She actually used muti to tame him, to cut the long story short. Your mother ruined a lot of women’s lives, she was a homewrecker and was proud of it. I was only trying to revenge myself, but I didn’t succeed.”

Wow, Nomalanga. Just wow. This is just too much to take in. How nasty of her? That’s if she’s telling the truth, but wait…

Me: “How do you know all this and how come she didn’t recognize you?”

Her: “Because I had people following her, and I forgot to mention that she poured me with acid, I had to buy a new face. You can go ahead and kill me now, Talon, will raise the baby with the help of his friends and the elite family.”

Biggie: “I need to breathe, I really need to catch an alleviation because this is too much to take in, I’ll decide what I will do with you when I come back. Excuse me,” she steps out of the room.

Me: “I need one too,” I also step out of the room. Now, it all makes sense as to why she was changing stories. A smoke or two will do for now.

Anthea: “Wow. Your mom was a badass, she’s the real MVP, a professional home wrecker. She deserves an award of a lifetime.”

Me: “This is sickening!” So, basically, Bhebetsi, was Muzi’s wife before my mother did her dirty? Damn, how sick twisted is she? I don’t even know how to feel about these revelations, tsii.

Biggie: “What are we going to do with Thembeka, now?”

Me: “Let’s leave her, let’s just free her. She’s a scorned woman, after all, she was only reacting because of hurt.”

Her: “Guess you are right, let’s free her.”

Anthea: “Best decision, but she almost killed your mother.”

Me: “She survived didn’t she?”

Her: “Yeah, she did. She was supposed to die.”

Biggie: “I’ve gotta agree with you, she was supposed to die.”

Me: “Let me just go home to my mans, wuhhh. What a waste.”

Her: “I’m leaving too.

Anthea: “Should I free her?”

Me: “Yes, she must take a bath too and give her food also. Bye guys,” I wave walking away. I’m defeated, it’s like I lost a very important battle. Nomalanga, yah neh.

★»★«

NOMALANGA

I can’t sleep. I’ve been tossing & turning. A lot of things are occupying my mind currently, and one of them being; how to tell Tsebo that Nono doesn’t want to meet with him, I know that he will try forcing me into setting up a meeting for the two of them without telling Nono. I know how he works, sighs. I get up from the bed, and sit upright as more thoughts keep on invading my mind, I’m stressed. Nono, is also not giving me a break. She asks too much, and that’s annoying me. My preceding is not that wow, ai. My phone rings and it’s Nono. What does she want so late? Hope everyone is fine.

“Nono.”

“Is it true?”

Me: “What is?”

Her: “That you were a homewrecker?”

Me: Chuckling. “What? Where did you get that?”

Her: “From an old friend of yours.”

Me: “I told you that I never had friends in my whole entire life, Nono. What friend are you talking about?”

Her: “I’m not a fool, Mama. I know everything about you, everything. We have your files. How can you be so evil, Mama?”

Me: “What are you talking about?”

Her: “Everything. Your history. You have a very unpleasant past.”

Me: “Nono, what past are you talking about?”

Her: “Your preceding involving married men. Basically you, being a homewrecker.” I gasp. “Wh- how? How does she know all this? Who was she talking to? I swallow my own saliva as my throat gets instantly dry. “Still there?” I steel my voice.

Me: “Yes, yes, I’m still here. I’m just quiet because I don’t know what you are talking about.”

Her: “You know very well what I’m talking about. How can you be so cruel, Mama? How do you even sleep at night knowing very well that you once made women shed tears? Made them feel less of a woman, like they are failers? Ever thought of how drenched their pillows would be like because of you? The sleepless nights, questioning their worth? Do have an idea how broken those women are to this date?” I blink away the tears that are veiling my eyes, she knows too much. I wonder who was feeding her the information, it’s too much.

Me: ”How do you… Know all that?”

Her: “Nothing hides forever, no matter how many years it takes the secrets will emerge, just like yours. You were portraying to be a very loving, and good mother to me knowing very well that you are evil, that you’ve caused a lot of woman heartache.” I can’t listen to this any further, she knows. She knows everything about my preceding life? But how? Who has she been speaking to? I hang up and switch off my phone instantly. I lie back down and face up, my secrets are out. But then again, I was a jealous woman, I was greedy, I wanted everything for myself. I hated seeing other women happy, I was a miserable person back then, but I’ve changed a lot. Yet, my past finally catches up with me. All the terrible things I did, and now I regret making those choices back then. Bad influencer I was, sighs. Guess she also knows that Tsebo didn’t actually rape me, we were seeing each other. I was his mistress. Now, the big question is; what is she going to do with the information? Sighs.