BONDED FOREVER.
15. YOU AND VIOLENCE.
PEARL
I find Mika waiting for me next to my car and one look at her had me wishing there was a quicker way to get us back to work because I can’t trust myself to stay calm around her after what just happened in that restaurant.
I wish she had let me on in this plan and I would have stopped it. This was unnecessary, all of it. There was no reason for us to come here and cause trouble at work for someone else but Mika refuses to see that. I also can’t forget the look on Shamiso’s face when Mike was shaming her. This is bad.
“What took you so long?” she asks and I don’t reapond. I just unlock the car and get in the driver side, soon enough she also gets in and places our food at the back before buckling up. “we put that girl in her place, maybe she will crawl back to whatever hole she came from.”
My grip on the steering wheel tightens as I begin driving us back to work. I’m trying to remain calm but her smugness is really getting to me. How does one celebrate putting another person down like this? I know that Mika has what she calls a strong personality but this was out of line, she was out of line.
“Hau, am I talking to myself?”
“What do you want me to say, Mikateko? Huh? What is it that you want me to say?”
“Don’t speak to me like that. I was just being a friend, I was helping you out.”
“Did I ask for your help!” I snap, I’m trying hy all means to remain cool so I don’t make mistakes on the road and the best thing for her would be to shut up, she just needs to shut up.
“Pearl, what’s your prob-“
“My problem is you sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong, Mikateko! That’s my problem. Why the hell did you do what you just did? Why did you plan all of this? How does it benefit me?”
“I said I was helping you!” She yells.
“I never asked for your help!” I yell back. At this point I’m taking deep breaths just to calm myself down and focus on the road “You had no right to trick me like that. If you were really concerned about what you saw yesterday that you could have told me at the office or even called me. You didnt have to bring me to that place and most certainly didn’t have to treat Shamiso the way that you did. She did nothing to you or me, she doesn’t even know us and you see nothing wrong with what you did? What if she gets fired? Oh, wait, I forgot that you couldn’t care less. You go around starting trouble for people then leave them to suffer while you go back to your own comfort. That was cruel and I had to sit there and not say anything because you are my freind but I swear, the next time you do something like that again in front of me I’ll tell the truth, I will not let you put me in such a position again. Do better, Mikateko! “
” Oh, so you can yell at me and call me cruel but you couldn’t even say a proper sentence to that girl who is probably eyeing your man. “
” Who says she’s eyeing him? “.
” Don’t be dumb, why else do you think she’s back? Obviously it’s for him and while you’re still busy playing ‘saint Pearl’ she will be out there mending her broken family and where will that leave you? I was just looking out for you before they steal your man. “
” A man can’t be stolen. There’s not a thing that I can do to make Andziso stay with me if he doesn’t want to. ” I don’t even want to think about this possibility, it would hurt me if he were to leave but I’m mature enough to understand that if he walks away it will be because he wants to, not because someone is stealing or snatching him from me.
” And you are okay with that happening, I guess. That’s why you’re this relaxed.”
“What I’m not okay with is you starting such trouble, now I have to call him and tell him what happened,” I shake my head. Mika had put me in a hard position and she doesn’t even see it.
“Well, let’s hope his baby mama hadn’t called him already to cry on his shoulder. Maybe then you will open your eyes and see what I’m talking about.” she says with a sharp tone then looks out the window.
I decide to just terminate this conversation, I have bigger things to worry about now and it’s all because of her.
.
.
.
I called Andziso to tell him that there’s something I want to talk to him about and on a day where I would have wanted him to be a bit fsr from me he tells me that he’s not too far from my workplace so he’s on his way, just my luck.
Now I’m a nervous mess. I think this would have been better via a phone call because he is going to be angry at me, I just know it.
There’s a knock on my office door and I clear my throat before telling the person to enter and in comes Andziso with a brown paper bag. He immediately smiles when our eyes lock and I try my best to return the smile. I get up from my chair and round my table so I can hug him.
He gives me a quick kiss then pulls his face back to give me a concerned look “Are you okay?”
“Y-yeah, I’m good.”
“You didn’t sound good on the phone and we all know that when a woman says we need to talk then it’s never good.” he says the late part playfully and my eyes fall on the brown paperbag again.
“Whats in there?”
“I brought you something to eat and four different slices of cake from your favourite spot.”
“Babe, that’s so sweet of you. Thank you,”
“You’re very much welcome, baby.” He places the bag on my table and has both hands on me “Now talk to me, tell me what has you looking this sad.”
I try to move from him but he doesn’t let me. The serious look on his face lets me know that he’s not about to let go of me either, he wants me this close and it scares me to think that just seconds from now the mood will completely shift. Also, if he’s still being like this with me and showing no signs of being upset then it means Shamiso had not called him.
“Something happened earlier. I want you to know that it wasn’t my idea, I didn’t even know it was going to happen and Mika just went crazy.”
“What did your friend do now?” I hear the irritation in his tone already. Andziso is not fond of Mika. I could go as far as saying he can’t stand her but tolerated her because she’s my friend. He tries not to talk about her when we are together though and the one time I asked him about it he just said that she’s too loud for his liking.
“She took me to the restaurant that you went to yesterday… To meet Shamiso.” I slowly deliver the sentence and just at that moment, his hands fall from my body and he takes a step back.
“I don’t recall telling you her name.” I don’t know if it’s coldness or what that’s coming with his words but he’s not in the least happy about what I’ve just said and I haven’t even explained the whole thing.
“So you did go to see her yesterday?” I try to divert, just to buy myself a little bit of time.
“I told you that I’d be in contact with her regarding Khanyisa and you know better than to try and divert from the real issue. What’s going on here?”
“Mika saw the two of you then she decided to invite me for lunch…” I begin to explain everything as it happened. I don’t sugarcoat or leave anything out, I told him everything up to the point where I went to apologise “I went to apologise to her-“
“And that’s supposed to make things okay?”
“Andziso-“
“No. Who does your friend think she is? Where does she get the nerve to speak to her like that?does she know her?”
“No.”
“Where does she get information about her from then?” he asks. He already knows but wants me to say it.
“Baby-“
“I asked you a question, Pearl. When I speak to you about things going on in my life I’m not saying go and entertain your friend with them. I confide in you because we’re in a relationship and it would not be okay to leave you in the dark. I told you the little bit that I did about Khanyisa’s mother because it wouldn’t have made sense for me to say you’re my woman but have no idea of what’s going on between me and the mother of my child. At what point did I say Shamiso is a deadbeat? “his jaw locks after he asks this question. It clearly infuriates him to know that someone called her that.
” You never did, Mika was out of line. “
” And the reason she felt she can do that is because you take things that I tell you and tell to your friend. Am I in a relationship with the two of you?”
“No, baby. ” I shake my head
“Why is she in our business then? Why does she feel so free to talk about thing and act on things that have absolutely nothing to do with her?” he runs his hand over his mouth and looks at me.
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I should have never told her any of the things that you told me. I was wrong and I see it, it won’t happen again, I know you’re angry at me and I understand.”
“You don’t understand-” he stops himself from talking, he takes a moment then speaks up again “And no, I’m not angry. I’m disappointed because I thought I could trust you with the personal things that I tell you and now I hqve to start counting the things that I say to you because later I’ll hear them be repeated by your friend.”
“That’s not true, this is a once off error. I’ve learned my lesson and it won’t happen again, I promise.”
“I’d never tell you who to befriend, you know that. In as much as I cannot stand your friend I have always respected the fact that she is your friend but this is unacceptable and I will not stand for it. Get your friend in line and out of my business, Pearl because if I have to do it then things will go south, completely. Get your friend in line, I won’t say it again. “
He turns to leave and nearly bumps into the one person I was hoping he won’t see. What is she even doing here? I thought she’s mad at me.
” Oh, Andziso, I wasn’t expecting to see you. ” Mika happily says and he just pushes past her without sparing her even a single look.
“Eh, and that?” she asks me.
“What do you think?” I loudly say and click my tongue. I’ve just gotten a tongue lashing because of her.
“He’s mad about earlier? Did she-“
I stop her from spewing nonsense. “I told him. I called him here and told him.”
“That’s good before that girl spins him a story with added lies, I hope you were smart about it.” she continues to irk me. She refuses to see her wrong doing and nothing will get her to see it.
“Mikateko?”
“Yes?”
“Get out of my office.”
ANDZISO
I internally debate on whether to drive to her place or just give her a call. I’m trying to not be in front of her since the last time I saw her but right now I just want to make sure that she’s fine. I know Shamiso, she will not say anything to me about what happened and she will want to brush it off but I don’t want her to. I want her to be honest with me.
I’m still in the parking lot at Pearl’s workplace and I’m already in my car, trying to decide where to from here. I decide that I’d rather call her and give her a chance to ignore me if that’s what she wants. I imagine that she will be upset with me too because ultimately, I’m the reason some grown bully decided to try her today.
The phone rings and she doesn’t answer, I try again and it’s the same thing so I drive home, against my strong urge to drive to her place instead. I promised that I’d ease up on just showing up.
When I arrive, Nelo is still finishing up with supper and Khanyisa is doing her homework in her bedroom. She’s cooped up on her little study table that she took upon herself to decorate and I stand by the door, watching her work on her English homework independently. I’m raising a little independent girl here, she’s in the third grade and the only time I’m called in to save the day is when she has to make some sort of project but even then, she wants to be in charge, I’m just the helper. I guess I can be grateful that I haven’t been told to sculpture a cat, in the morning just before I have to take her to school.
“What are we doing here?” I say when I decide to disturb her from her work and her smile as she turns to looks at me melts a lot of the tension that had started building up from my heart.
I squat next to her and look at the reading comprehension that she is busy with.
” I have to answer these questions after reading this story, then I have to practice how to read it without mistakes.”
“And how is it going so far?”
“It’s good. Do you want me to read for you?” she excitedly asks.
“I’d love that but first, why don’t you finish answering those questions while I go change, when I’m done I’ll come back and you’ll read for me.”
“Okay.”
I start moving out of her room but she stops me “Daddy?”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t ask how my day was.”
I chuckle before asking “I’m sorry. How was your day, Sweetheart?”
“It was good and tiring, what about yours?”
“It was good and tiring too, Nana.”
“I see, that’s why you look tired, you must go to bed early.”
“Yes ma’am.”
I excuse myself to go to my bedroom to change out of my work clothes but before I do. I find myself reaching going on my closet and reaching in the shelve that I hardly open. The shelve that is stuffed with letters I used to write to Shamiso when I got tired of leaving voice messages and I search for the locket that was in Khanyisa’s blanket the day they brought her to me. I’ve never shown this to her, mainly because I wasn’t ready to answer more questions about her mother. I told her that her mother couldn’t be with us and I didn’t explain much and the plan was to give this to her as she grew older, if Shamiso never made her way back but now she’s back. She doesn’t have to see a picture of her, she can see her in person now.
I glance at that little picture inside and she has on her brightest smile, the same one I have seen on my daughter for the past few year. I still can’t get over how much Khanyisa is a copy of her mother. Sometimes it made it easy because I had a reminder of her and sometimes it made it hard I had to look at the face that looks exactly like the one that left me heartbroken and lost.
The phone that I tossed on the bed when I stepped in rings and I rush to go check who it is and it’s Shamiso. “Hey.”
“Hey, sorry I missed your call. The phone was in my bad and I was on my way home.”
“Are you home now?”
“Yeah, I just got in.”
“How was your day?”
“IT was okay. Yours?” she swiftly answers but I do hear the change in her tone.
“Pearl told me what happened. I’m sorry.”
“You shouldn’t be apologising for something you didn’t do, I know you didn’t send that girl my way.”
“And you weren’t planning on telling me about it?” she sighs when I ask this
“I don’t want it to look like I’m trying to start something when I’m not. That girl already thinks I’m trying to get back together with you, hence the showdown earlier.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Andziso, it’s not your place to apologise, you did nothing wrong. Your girlfriend also came to apologise and honestly I just want to forget this day.”
“How much grief did your manager give you?”
She groans first “Simon will be Simon. I can handle him, I’d appreciate it if this doesn’t happen again though.”
“Trust me, it will not be happening again.”
“Okay. I’m not trying to come between you and your girlfriend, I know that I lost my chance with you years ago and right now I just want a chance to mend the one relationship that I still have a chance to mend.” for some reason, my chest tightens when she says these words to me.
” I want nothing more than for you to mend this relationship as well. “I tell her.
” I will, it all starts this weekend. We’re still good for it, right? “.
” Nothing has changed, Shamiso. “I tell her it goes quiet for a while until she says bye and hangs up.
SHAMISO
” What was that about? “Ana asks, she missed what happened this afternoon and I hadn’t filled her in too.
” He was calling to check on me after what happened earlier. “I’m still looking at my phone screen. There’s this tight feeling in my chest that I’m struggling to get rid off. It’s there whenever I speak to him.
” What happened earlier? “
I fill her in and when I try to summarise, she won’t have it. But the end of it, she’s on her feet, looking like she’s ready to take part in a street fight.
“Where was I? Where was I Shamiso when this was going down because I would have mopped that juice off the floor with her crooked, uneven weave!”
I don’t mean to laugh but I do because that rude girl really had a weave on and it wasn’t crooked.
“You didn’t even see her.”
“Well I can see her in my imagination right now and she is an ugly witch. Who the hell does she think she is?”
“It’s over, Ana. I’m over it.”
“Oh, no. It’s far from over. Infact, she should come back tomorrow and I’ll spill the juice all over her cheap outfit. Stupid people irritate me. Where does she get off, coming to attack you like you stole her husband? Perhaps she wants a piece of him too? “
” I don’t know, maybe she’s standing up for her friend. “
” Standing up against what? You never start trouble with anyone, I know you so what gave her the right to come at you like that. You know what? She should come back, I’ll pray for her to come back and when she does you better point me in her direction fast! I’ll serve her and as for that Simon, making you apologise like that when you’re not wrong. May he remain single for the rest of his life! “
” Imagine. He made me stand there and apologise and not just that, he said their meals are on the house, you know he’s going to take the money from my pay just for the hell of it. “
” As if I haven’t given him enough money already, how much more does he want to collect from us? I see the spirit of Levi lives in him hence he is behaving like a tax collector. “
“And you know he’s just going to use this incident as another thing to hold over my head. I’ve already gotten a verbal warning for it. “
She gets distracted when she checks her message on her phone, she smiles a bit then looks up after responding “I’m not smiling about the verbal warning. We should just beat him up so he had something to warn you about.” she clicks her tongue in annoyance.
“You and violence.”
“Sometimes violence is the only way and best believe it will be the one and only way if that wicked witch decides to come back. I’ll be ready for her and I’ll teach her manners.”
This time it’s my phone that interrupts us and when I check it’s a bank notification. I gasp when I see the money in my account.
” What now? “Ana asks.
” Someone just sent me 10k, it must be a mistake. “
” It’s not. “
She calmly and knowingly says and before I can ask what she means. A text comes through and it reads” Just incase your boss decides to be an ass, you shouldn’t be paying for meals you didn’t eat. Don’t even think about returning the money because I’ll just send it back. A. “
” Hey, tell me what’s happening because I also want to smile like you. “Ana says and I try to stop smiling. Instead of telling her, I just give her my phone and without warning, she’s on the floor, twerking.
” Yassss, go baby daddy! The Simon is a liar! “