BONDED FOREVER.
25. EVERY SINGLE WORD.
SHAMISO
We form part of the few people who are at the restaurant area by the time they start serving breakfast because little Miss. Sarai here is an early riser. One would not say that she traveled late last night because by 06:30 she was already up and asking me, in my very much sleepy state, if I’m still sleeping. I hummed in response the first time then she gave me about fifteen minutes before asking again, that’s when I knew that waking up would be a lot better than forcing sleep where I have to confirm that I’m still sleeping every ten or fifteen minutes.
We didn’t see Andziso before he left, he must have assumed that we were still sleeping and I’m greatful. With Andziso, I have nowhere else to wear my heart except on my sleeve. I can never hide what I’m feeling, it’s like he takes one look at me and it’s enough to get me talking but if I’m being honest, I don’t want to hide anything. I can tell him how I feel, what he does with it is entirely up to him.
Sarai and I both showered and got dressed in jeans, t-shirts and sneakers. The weather here is a bit chilly so we grabbed our light jackets as well before heading out. As we move around the breakfast station, I assist her with the food that she wants to eat while getting my own then we get our own corner table.
She’s in her chatty mood and asks me about my workplace, friends, if I know what time her father will be back. It’s all light things until she asks “Where are your parents?”
I take time to swallow the juice that was already in my mouth as I internally debate how to handle this.
“They are back in Zimbabwe.” I reply, wishing there will not be a follow up question but this is Sarai and I know her too well by now.
“Will they visit us?”
“I don’t think so, sweetheart. Old people don’t like traveling.”
“Maybe we could ask daddy of we can visit them. Daddy doesn’t have parents so I don’t have grandparents from his side but you have parents.”
“I do, and maybe one day we will visit them but not now. Maybe when you’re a little older.” I cannot sit here and explain to an eight year old the my family believes that I am dead and that my uncle threatened to kill her if we ever reconnected. Sarai deserves so much better than that and if there’s one person that I wish she could meet from my family it would be aunt Chenesa. I don’t wish to have anyone else getting close enough to her, I don’t trust them to not hurt her. To sway this conversation before it completely dampens my mood, I say to her” Tell me about uncle Nhlamulo and uncle Tiyani. How are they? “
” I call them papa and dad. “
” You do? ” this is a little confusing to me.
” Yes. Daddy said his brothers are not my uncles but they are my fathers too, so I have three fathers, two uncles, two aunties and now I have a mom. ” she smiles at the end and I reach across the table to gently squeeze her hand. She will never know just how much she has my heart.
” Who are your uncles? ” I curiously ask.
” Uncle Lefa and uncle Bakang. “
” And which one is your favorite?” I whisper with a little smile.
” Uncle Bakang, but please don’t tell uncle Lefa because he will be sad. He is nice too but sometimes he says no a lot. Uncle Bakang says yes to everything.”
” I won’t say a word. “I pretend to zip my mouth with my fingers and she giggles.
Our conversation carries on and thankfully, she doesn’t ask about my side of the family. Right now, I consider Anaishe to be my family and that is because I cannot ever reach out to my aunt. Only the two of them hold a place in my heart. Everyone else, including my own parents is dead to me just as I am dead to them. The resentment that I hold for my uncle will not allow me ever move on from how he decided to handle things, although I know it might have been worse had it been my father, she might not be here today had my father known about her existence from the time she was still in my womb.
We finish with our food and get started with our activities for the day. I’ve never gone on a holiday like this so this is new to me and I make it a point to enjoy every moment from the horse riding. In between enjoying myself, I also take a lot of pictures of Sarai and some of us. Knowing they will not be going on social media is what makes me comfortable. I think I need to invest in a digital photo album too.
Andziso comes back at around 12 o’clock and we’re just getting back from their local culture tour and we meet him in the restaurant, he’s already ordered a drink. He looks up as we approach the opens his arms for Sarai so they can hug while I take my seat and she takes the one next to him. She asks for her iPad and immediately gets busy on it. He orders us drinks too.
“How did it go?” I ask and the smile on his face says it all.
“I’m yet to receive feedback but I believe I’ve hooked them. They were impressed and asked a lot of questions, that’s how I knew that they weren’t sleeping through my pitch.”
“And I bet you answered swiftly.”
“You know me.” he let’s out a gentle laugh “I came prepared and even if I don’t score this contract, I’ll know it’s not because I didn’t do my best.”
“Let’s hope for the best and not say anything negative, if you say you’ve hooked them then you’ve hooked them.”
“Yeah, you’re right. Speaking of which, it seems that I impressed one of them enough to get invited to the launch of a restaurant at his associates Winelands.” he boasts with a smirk.
“Wow, that’s nice. When is it?”
“This evening.”
“Okay, surely Khanyisa and I can keep ourselves busy while you go.” I glance over at her.
“The invite is for all of us.” he clarifies.
“All of us?”
“Yes, I was asked to bring my family along.”
“Andziso-” I hesitate because we aren’t alone and the last thing I want is to have this conversation in front of Sarai.
He glances over at her too then brings his eyes back to me and he picks his words carefully “I know there’s things that need to be said and we will… Tonight when we get back. For now, I’m asking you, my family to join me, please. ” there sincerity cannot be missed.
“Okay but I don’t think we have the appropriate clothes for an event like this and are kids even allowed?”
“The restaurant is family friendly so yes, kids are more than welcomed. As for things to wear, if the two of you can quickly finish your drinks then we can visit a few boutiques and see if we can’t find something for you.”
“What about you?”
“I brought an extra suit. So can we go?”
“Yes.” I answer in a heartbeat.
“Khanyisa?” he asks and there’s no response her entire focus is on the device. “Khanyisa.” he repeats, this time a little more firm and she looks up, when she finds him staring at her she sighs, with a frown she slowly hands back the iPad to me then mumbles a “Sorry” to him and he nods.
I look at him and he shrugs “She knows the rules. Are you ready to go?”
“Where are we going?” she asks.
“You would have heard me if you weren’t too focused on that iPad.” he replies.
“Will there be food?” she chooses to ask and he can’t even bring himself to form a sentence, he just laughs and gets up from his chair and we follow him.
.
.
.
Close to four hours later, we are back at the hotel and ready to leave. Sarai found herself a pretty princess like pink dress that allows her to wear with white sneakers while I chose a satin brown, bodycon dress with a draped collar and an open back the dress doesn’t go all the way down nor is it too short because it covers a good portion of my thighs, just not entirely. I’m counting on it not being too cold since we will be indoors. I match it up with beige heels and a mettalic glitter clutch bag. I don’t even want to add together the amount that I’m wearing right now and Andziso asked no questions. He only stopped me when I wanted to opt for a black, not so pricey dress. He told me to mimic Khanyisa’s behavior because the little girl wasn’t even checking pricetags.
There’s a knock on our door and she gets it while I finish styling my hair. “My beautiful girl, are you guys ready to leave?” I hear him ask
“Yes! We’re ready.” she enthusiastically replies.
I make it out the bedroom door and he just stops whatever he was doing and looks at me from head to toe and back up “You’re beautiful.” he doesn’t look away.
“Thank you, you look handsome too.”
“All eyes will definitely be on us tonight.” there’s that smirk that got me in varsity.
“I hope not, I don’t like such attention.”
“Then you shouldn’t have looked as good as you do, have you seen yourself?”
“Andziso.” I try to fight off a blushing moment but he’s got me.
“Let me take pictures so you can see.”
“I see now, she gets it from you.” I tell him.
“Like father like daughter.” he says and we do take a couple of snaps before we head out.
The invite is accompanied by a ride to to the location and I tell Andziso that if they are treating him like this then there is no need for him to stress about the pitch, this contract is his.
The place is packed, as expected and it takes a moment before Andziso finds the man who extended the invite “Rhangani, you made it.” the man’s loud voice booms.
“I did, not too late hopefully.”
“As long as you’re here, time isn’t being monitored. I see you brought along your lovely family.” he smiles at us.
“Yes, this is Shamiso and this is our daughter, Khanyisa.” he says then turns to me “This is Craig. A potential client.” Sarai and I greet the man.
“Miss or Mrs?” he asks me.
“Miss.”
“Oh, Rhangani you better act fast before someone snatches her from you.” he says and we all chuckle.
“I know, I need to do right by her.” he looks at me and it doesn’t look like he’s joking. Perhaps he’s just staying in this man’s good graces.
“That’s very right. You have a beautiful family and you ma’am are doing an excellent job at keeping him on his feet, he gave us a killer pitch this morning.”
“Oh, that’s all him. He’s always been a hard worker.”
“Don’t downplay the role that you play in his life too. There is no man who hustles like the one who has mouths to feed. I can see the hunger in this young man’s eyes. You’re headed in the right path, Rhangani. Don’t lose sight of things by chasing after different things at the same time when you’ve already been blessed with a wife and a daughter. “
“Believe me, I count my blessings each time I look at them.” he says “speaking of which, I believe I need to feed my people. We’ll talk?”
“Yes, have fun.” Craig says then walks away.
“That was smooth.” I say low enough for him to hear me.
“What was?”
“The things you said.”
“Oh yeah, were they smooth?”
“Very.”
“That’s good because they were true.” he says then leans closer to me and says “I meant every single word and I’m going to show you that I did.” I feel the warmth of his hand on the small of back as he leads us further into the restaurant.