BAYANDA
14 .
NARRATED
The uber drops Katlego and Bayanda off at her house, they surely had a great time. They can’t stop smiling at each other, this all takes them back to all the times they spent together 14 years ago. They’re just beautiful memories that cannot be replaced by anything.
“I need my money though, you should pay me back. I spent quite a lot on you today.” Bayanda says, Katlego wraps his arm around her neck and they walk through the gate entrance.
“I’ll double it..” He says, she rolls her eyes. Is he really trying to flaunt his money infront of her?—well, she isn’t impressed one bit.
“That’s not impressive. Are you trying to brag? because if you are then it’s not working. I receive my salary every month and I’m content with it.” She says, he chuckles.
“I know you’re not impressed easily. I wasn’t trying to brag as well, you’re the one who said you want your money so I’ll pay it back with interest.” He says, she nods and takes her key out of her handbag.
“Home sweet home.. you can’t say it’s messy though because I was cleaning in the morning when you called.” She says, opening the door. Katlego’s facial expression changes, she glances at him and sighs.
“It’s not that dirty Katlego, come on. You’re trying to say I don’t know how to clean?” She asks him, Katlego glances at her. She hasn’t even taken a look inside.
“Look..” He says, Bayanda turns around and her heart falls to her stomach. The house is a complete mess, it looks like someone was in here throwing everything around. Her chairs are thrown everywhere, cloths.. vases and so many things are on the floor. She attempts to rush inside but Katlego holds her back.
“What if someone is still here? it’s not safe, wait..” He says making her step back, he walks inside slowly looking around.
“What did they do to my house?—how did they even pass the security code? I don’t understand.” She says following Katlego inside.
“It doesn’t look like anyone is here..” She says, Katlego turns around and glances at her.
“Are you sure the security was on? they messed up the whole house, it’s a mess in here.” Katlego says, walking to the kitchen. He stops on his tracks, glasses are broken on the floor. Plates are also broken, what the hell happened in this house?
“Oh my God, these..these glasses were a gift from my aunt. They..they’ve broken them! Oh no..” Bayanda says looking at the floor—she doesn’t want to cry but everything keeps getting worse.
“Go check if they didn’t take anything upstairs.” Katlego says, Bayanda turns back and runs upstairs. She opens the door of her bedroom and steps inside.
Her heart feels like it’s breaking, as she lays eyes on her wheelchair—it’s pieces are on the floor, they broke it. She tries speaking but the words fail to come out of her mouth, instead—tears stream down her cheeks.
“Yanda, is every…” Katlego pauses and stops on his tracks. His eyes also landing on the broken wheelchair. Some of its pieces are on the floor, he glances at Bayanda who’s just staring at the wheelchair.
“They broke it..” She whispers, her voice is breaking. She never wanted to throw this wheelchair away, she never wanted to give it away. How did it get broken in her own house?
“Out of all the things they could’ve broken, they broke my wheelchair—Katlego, they..they broke what was once a part of my life. It still is a part of my life, how can they do this?” She says, trying to wipe off her tears but they keep on forming.
“Do you want me to report this to the police?” Katlego asks her, she heaves a sigh.
“Everything else can be bought again, what about my wheelchair?” She asks him, Katlego’s heart breaks a bit.
“Let’s inform the police so they can be found. Are you sure you had put the security code on? I’m struggling to understand how they got in when you have security.” He says, Bayanda’s heart beats once and she glances at Katlego.
“I had a spare key, a spare key that I gave to Sipho when we started being serious.” She says, Katlego clenches his jaw. Could it be that Sipho did this? but what could be the reason?
“Sipho couldn’t have done this, right?” She says, she’d flip if he was the one who did this.
“I’ll get to the bottom of this, why don’t you sleep at my place tonight? you can’t sleep here, I’m informing the police so the house might be raided..” He says, the thought of sleeping at his place isn’t a bad one but she doesn’t think it’s appropriate.
“Are you sure sleeping at your place is an appropriate thing to do? My aunt always said that sleeping at a man’s house is not a nice thing to do especially if we’re not really in any relationship or married.” She says, looking at him in his eyes. Wasn’t she scared of maintaining eye contact a while back? what happened to her again?
“We’re best friends, there’s nothing wrong that we would be doing. I’m doing this for your safety and genuinely because I need to find out what went down in this house.” He says, Bayanda heaves a sigh and nods.
“Okay, let me just pack an overnight bag then we can go. You can request for an uber with my phone in the meantime. The live location is there, so you just requet and pay.” She says handing her phone to him. She walks inside and goes to her closet, she grabs an overnight bag and starts packing whatever she’s going to need for a day.
“I’m done, let’s go.” She says, she’s failing to look at the wheelchair—it breaks her heart, the tears she doesn’t want to fall off are forcing to fall off.
“Please make sure that my wheelchair isn’t thrown away. I don’t care whether it’s broken or not. I am not throwing it away.” She says walking past him, Katlego closes the door and follows her downstairs.
“The uber is 5 minutes away, will you relax?” He asks her, because she’s in a hurry.
“I can’t relax Katlego, someone broke into my house and did all of this. What’s the point of getting a house in the suburbs if it’s going to get robbed? what’s the point of having a security code if they’re going to break in eitherway, Katlego.. don’t tell me to relax, please.” She says, slowing down. Katlego heaves a sigh and pulls her arm.
She’s pinned against the wall in a second. She heaves a sigh and glances at him. His look is filled with love, she doesn’t see it but it’s there.
“I’ll find the person who did this, you’re like this because of them. I hate that.” He says, Bayanda nods slowly staring into his eyes.
“I don’t like it when you’re sad and I know the wheelchair cannot be replaced but you should be content with the fact that you never turned your back on it even after you started walking.” He says, deep down in his heart—he knows that Sipho might’ve done this.
He wants to be proven wrong but he can’t fight off the feeling, he needs to ask Sipho some questions.
“I can’t breathe..” Bayanda whispers, shrinking in his presence. Katlego kisses her forehead and steps away from her.
“The uber is here..” He says, Bayanda rushes out of the house. She almost felt like she was in a small space. She almost suffocated. He locks the door and they both walk to the uber.
They get in and it drives off, heading to Katlego’s house. Bayanda leans her head on his shoulders.
“Do you think your brother might’ve done this?” She asks him, Katlego badly wants to say yes but he’s hesitant.
“If he’s the one that did it then he’ll be punished. Don’t worry, whoever did this will be arrested.” He says, Bayanda nods and silence takes over again.
—
They reach Katlego’s apartment in Morningside, they get off the car and walk inside.
“The drama? you could’ve gotten a normal looking apartment. This one looks like a penthouse.” She says, he glances at her.
“You’ve started judging me, why?” He asks, she chuckles and shakes her head.
“I’m just playing, you obviously have taste in a lot of things. I wonder if you have the same taste in women.” She says, of course he does—judging by the way his best friend looks, he definitely has a great taste in women.
He unlocks the door with a special code, Bayanda is glancing at him as he unlocks the door. That’s her birthdate, how is her birthdate his special code?
“Don’t ask me any questions, yes that’s your birthdate.” He says opening the door after the code successfully opened. Bayanda walks inside and her jaw drops to the floor.
“Is your floor made of glass? I can see my reflection here Katlego!” She says, she doesn’t act like she has money—or maybe it’s because she hasn’t reached his level yet.
“You have a beautiful apartment, it’s so cozy and beautiful.” She says looking around, Katlego places her overnight bag on the couch.
“I have to be at work by 5pm.” She says, Katlego nods.
“We still have a few more hours before you go. Let me show you around.” He says, taking her hand and leading her out of the balcony.
—
—
Mbuso’s car parks right besides Sbahle’s car in the parking lot. They’re both here to see Kuhlekonke since it’s time for visiting hours. He gets off the car first and looks to her direction, Sbahle jumps off the car. It’s been so long since they saw each other, things aren’t the same anymore. Sbahle looks grown, she definitely looks like a mother.
“Hi..” Sbahle says, Mbuso nods and indicates that she walks ahead so they can walk inside Sbahle starts walking inside and he follows her.
“Her pediatrician’s name is Bayanda Ngwenya, she’s the one taking care of her while she’s here at the hospital.” Sbahle says walking into the reception are, Mbuso glances at her confused but shocked at the same time—is she talking about the same Bayanda that he has met at Katlego’s home a few days back?
“What?—What is it? you look like you’re lost in your thoughts.” Sbahle says turning back and glancing at him, Mbuso shakes his head.
“I’m fine, let’s just go.” He says, the receptionist tells them to sign the register. Once they’re done, they walk to the pediatric ward. A feeling of excitement and fear comes over Mbuso, as much he’s excited to see her again—this isn’t an ideal place to see his daughter. It doesn’t help him forget that she’s unwell and she needs help.
“They’re in here..” Sbahle says knocking on the door, there’s loud noise inside—kids playing, laughing and giggling. She opens the door and Mbuso’s questions are confirmed—this is the same Bayanda that he met, she did mention that she is a nurse pediatrician though so why is he surprised?
“Good morning, please.. come in.” She says getting up, with a bright smile on her face. The glow is visible.
“Hey Bayanda, this is..” Sbahle pauses before she speaks, the words are failing to come out of her mouth. Bayanda glances at Mbuso with a smile.
“Mbuso? you’re..you’re here? I didn’t know you knew Sbahle.” She says, with a confused but smiling face.
“Small world isn’t it, I am Kuhle’s father.” He says, Sbahle sighs a bit and decides to let him be.
“Oh, now I see the resemblance! she looks so much like you, so you and Sbahle are married? I didn’t know you have a wife.” Bayanda says, Sbahle frowns.
“We’re not married, please let’s focus on my daughter who is your patient—not irrelevant things.” She says, Bayanda pouts her lips and nods.
“Sure, please sit down. There are somethings that I would like to discuss with you.. also you Mbuso, since you’re now included as the father.” Bayanda says sitting down, Kuhlekonke is already crawling towards Mbuso who just sat down.
“There is a diagnosis that I would like to perform on your daughter. It’s called the Ecocardiography, it’s an ultrasound test that visualizes the heart structure and function.” She says, giving the copy of the X-ray to Sbahle and Mbuso.
“As you can see, Kuhlekonke’s tricuspid valve hasn’t developed correctly and that is causing her shortness of breath. There are also holes in between the walls of the upper chamber of her heart.” Bayanda says, Sbahle heaves a sigh.
“This is all my fault..” She says, glancing at the X-ray, Mbuso glances at her.
“Not everything has to be about you, can you please stop? this is about Kuhlekonke.” He says, Sbahle shuts her eyes and says a silent prayer in her heart—he’s testing her.
“Please carry on, I want to know more about my daughter’s condition and how she can be helped. But also, I think majority of it falls on spiritual matters in our family.” Mbuso says, Bayanda has never been a believer of such things but she’s not also against them.
“I’d be glad to tell you more… so here’s the thing..” Bayanda says, pushing the file over to Mbuso’s side. She glances at Sbahle who’s looking at Mbuso—no expression can be read on her face.
to be continued..