VOLUME 4
ZENZELE MABASO
Walking out of his bedroom he heads straight into the vault, his private chambers that only he has access to. The door of the room is forever locked, it locks automatically behind him even on occasions when he just leaves without locking. It’s a high tech door that requires a combination to open, and he does so easily like he can see where which number on the button is engraved.
He kicks the door closed behind him and stride to his desk where he retrieves his cell phone from his joggers and unlocks it with his thumb before he throws it on the table,
“Lilly, call Ndaba” he throws a command into his cell phone and the voice assistant springs to life, dialling the familiar number,
‘Mhlonishwa!’ Ndaba picks on the first ring,
‘Are you messing with me, Ndaba?’ his tone comes calm yet authoritative at the same time,
‘Uhm…..I…Zen I wouldn’t do that’ Ndaba stutters,
‘Are you sure Ndaba?’ he calmly asks,
‘I’m……sure’ Ndaba drawls. The conversation is calm but he knows that behind that calmness is a building storm. He feels the sense of danger creeps up his spine through the calmness in Zen’s tone. It’s safe to say he is terrified of Zenzele more than his father. Bra Mindlos barks and bites, Zenele on the other hand doesn’t bark, but is bites are deadly. He is that man who lurks behind shadows and throws commands in his calm collected tone yet he is beyond calm. The man is a damn volcano waiting to erupt.
‘Do you work for me or Mandla, Ndaba?’ he continues to ask, his tone still as calm as the sea,
‘I work for you’ Ndaba say without hesitation and that makes Zenzele chuckles,
‘When you have time, open the book of the big guy and scan through 3:13’ he say,
‘Is that a psalm or something?’ Ndaba asks,
‘Nah. It’s a mother fu8cking motto I want you to read out loud as you betray me. ‘Their throats is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive….’ he quotes the bible for him,
‘Zen what is the meaning of that? I know nothing about the bible and shit’ Ndaba’s voice trembles on the other side. Even without Sunday school classes he knows a threat when he hears one.
‘It means the venom of their asps is under their lips. Take care of the frontal wig wife of yours. She was driving the polo to do the frontal wig at Pink Lady hair salon today, right?’
‘My wife has nothing to do with this….please Zen I don’t even know what I did’ Ndaba begs. He knows he is in shit.
‘I may be blind but I see everything, Ndaba. And I don’t fu8cking miss when I pull a trigger. So I’m going to ask one last time because you don’t want the skirrpot wig wearing wife being shaven from scalp to skull while you watch. Why the fu8ck are you sniffing on the Mbatha girl when I told you to let it slide?’ he asks and his tone is still just calm,
Ndaba goes silent, his breathing changes through the phone and Zenzele knows immediately that he is been betraying him,
‘Your back to being Mandla’s bone collector, Ndaba?’ he continues to ask,
‘I….was just broke and I swear Ntwenhle and Thabiso are the only ones I was going to collect from. I need the money…….’
‘Bi8tch I pay you money that can buy you your way to heaven, try another shit but not the broke hymn’
‘I swear I was broke…….’ He interjects him,
‘So you insist on being broke for running your own base behind my back?’
Silence, Ndaba knows that the more he explains, is the more he pisses him off,
‘You have been messing with me shlama and soon die poppe sal dans. End the call Lilly!’ he throws the last command to his voice assistant and the line goes dead.
He drops on his chair after the call. His mind immediately drift to the woman in his bedroom. He had vicious plans for her, he was going to strangle her to death but all that faded like dust the minute she was put on his bed. One of his father’s puppets brought her unconscious on his bed. Instead of being happy he was worried and angry. He fought with Boli because he thought they had done something to her.
She smells warm, she smells like a peaceful home that comforts something inside him. From all the women his father threw at him to give him children, this is the one woman his heart felt something so unfamiliar but so comforting and peaceful. It’s like she is something he needed yet he didn’t know he needed. She came in his room silent, unconscious and just placed on the bed but the warmth and peace that her presence brought to his soul is something he wants to keep for a while…..maybe forever. She hasn’t even spent a night but he feels so connected to her.
He was going to kick her out as all the others but this one he wants to smell and hold in his arms. He doesn’t know what she looks like and he is never seen her before but something about her is so welcoming to his soul, and that brings him a sense of peace in the storm his caught in.
“Ntwenhle Mbatha” her names sounds perfect on his tongue. He wonder how she looks like, if she is fat or thin, if she is light or dark skinned. The only thing he knows at the moment is that she is got a belly. That brings a smile to his face. A total stranger who hasn’t had a conversation with him has managed to make him feel…..excited in a while. He is actually looking forward to tonight. The warmth she arrived with in his room supressed all the anger and hate inside him.
“Jabu will tell me what she looks like” he trust his son to tell him how she looks like. Jabulani is his cousin since their fathers were brothers but because Jabulani is only 13 years old and has an uncle like Mandla who was supposed to be a father to him, Zenzele took on the father role and he is raising Jabulani as his son, not his cousin. Mandla is no father figure even to dogs.
He stands to go find Jabu but his cell phone rings for a second before Lilly (voice assistant) reports that;
“Precious is calling”
He halts for a minute. Hesitate until he decides to ignore it.
“Ignore the call Lilly”
–
–
NTWENHLE
When I come out of the bathroom I find him seated with a boy. This time he’s abandoned his window couch for a two seater couch that faces the bed. The room is quite spacious. There is a mini lounge setting not far from the bed where there is a coffee table with the large couch that can fit about three to four people.
He is squashed with the boy on the couch. They are both sitting too close like criminals planning to share whispers. They look like twins from different lives. The other one is the older version of the other one. The boy’s eyes follow my every move and I want to shy away but I’m not going to be intimidated by a little boy. When I hold his gaze he drops his eyes and mumble something to his older twin. They both look alike.
I roll my eyes before I disappear into the closet to dress up.
The man hasn’t said anything to me except asking for my surname. I have to take him downstairs for dinner as his father ordered. I also need to talk to him, have a conversation with him about this arrangement but he is cold as f8uck! And it doesn’t look like he is interested in anything that has to do with me.
When I come out of the closet I find them both in the same position where I left them. They look too suspicious for my liking.
“Your father said dinner is at 7pm” I glance at the watch on the wall that reports to be just 10 minutes before dinner,
“Okay” he clears is throat as he stands. Again he doesn’t use anything for aid,
“I’m Jabulani but you can call me your happiness……auch!” the little boy stretches his hand introducing himself but he receives a spank at the back of his head that makes him scream,
“You can call him Jabu. He is my son and he is 13 years old going on 14 very soon” the guy say and I’m beyond confused at this point. If he is got a son why is his father so insistent on him giving him a grandson?
“Lovely to meet you Jabu. I guess you’ll lead the way to the dinner table?”
“With pleasure my lady” Jabu is a gentleman and very vocal. He and I will get along quite well.
“You didn’t tell me your name Mah” Jabu say as he holds the door open for me,
“I’m Ntwenhle. You can call me sis Ntwe”
“Mah is just fine!” the man behind us interjects and we both roll our eyes,
“He is not my father by the way but he insist that I must call him baba” Jabu spills the beans and that immediately makes sense to me but…..
“You two look alike” I say. They both are the not so handsome kind. Unlike Bra Mindlos who is very kind on the eye these two look like Zulu men, the descendent of Shaka Zulu though wealth and their masculinity have collected their looks.
“That’s because we are cousins. His father and my father were brothers” Jabu shares and someone groans behind us. I keep glancing back because I’m worried about him as we go through corners. What if he hits a wall or something? Why is he not using a white cane?
“Is he going to be okay?” I whisper to Jabu as we head towards the stairs that descend down,
“He sees just fine at home. Tell me about you, are you single?”
“JABULANI!” the man scolds him and I smile to myself,
“What do you mean he sees just fine at home?” we take the stairs down but I make sure that we don’t take three stairs ahead of him. I make sure he is right behind us as we walk down. I can’t risk my already scarce handsome husband rolling down the stairs and breaking his teeth. It would be a disaster.
“You’re not interested in me, are you? I’m trying to get to know you but you’re interested in a man who sees in darkness” I glare down at him but he rolls his eyes.
My eyes keeps glancing at the man behind us. There is a smile on his face but it disappears immediately as I look at him. He holds on the stair rails as he walks down the stairs behind us. But he walks just fine.
“He is handsome, isn’t he?” Jabu,
“Yeah” I’m looking at the man and…….his smile creeps back in and I realise I just admitted that out loud.
“JABULANI!” I scold. He did that on purpose. His smile says it all.
Shamelessly I take my eyes off the man behind us but that’s how I miss a step. Before I can roll down the stairs he catches me at my scream. He pulls me with my arm and I collide into his chest. My big eyes missed a step while someone who walks in darkness didn’t.
This is the closest I have been to him. His eyes, his breath, his touch…….. I don’t think I’m going to hesitate giving babies here. I live once. I have never felt this magnetic pull to a man before. I know he can’t see me but I feel so seen in his arms. And his touch makes me convulse with need in places that only Senzo and my red dildo man can reach. He is in my suitcase and I think I’m going to need him tonight to do with this man’s touch.
“Qaphela” (Be careful) his warm breath brushes over my face and I swear it warms my sacred places. When I hold on to his waist for balance he clears his throat and immediately releases me off his warm touch like he is allergic to my touch,
“Our Romeo and Juliet! I like it when things go according to my plan” Bra Mindlos breaks our beautiful moment standing down the stairs. Jabu is now draped under his arm.
The son’s stance changes immediately upon hearing his father’s voice. It’s crystal clear that they are fire and ice. As Jabu and bra Mindlos turn conversing off, a firm hand grasp mine. It’s him.
“Don’t say anything about Ndaba or anything else to him” he pulls me back a bit. His grip on my hand is magical but the way he clenches his jaws as he stresses the Ndaba issue it invites a shiver down my spine. I don’t have to ask how he knows about Ndaba because I know he heard my conversation with Thabiso earlier on. But why am I not supposed to say anything to bra Mindlos?
Maybe it’s his firm hold on my hand but I decide to actually do as he say. I’ll talk to him about it when we are in the bedroom.
Soon we walk into a large dining table where Bra Mindlos sits with Jabu and a beautiful slender looking woman in a very sparkling dress and a smile that fails to pull mine.
“They are already getting along” Bra Mindlos smile is quite genuine. But as for the lady that he whispers to I think she is faking.
“That’s Lerato, a step mother that’s not stepping” the man holding my hand say as we both reach the table……… I frown at how he knew there is another female in the room,
“M8sunu wakho Zenzele!” Lerato roars and her beauty immediately fades as her fake smile disappears,
“Don’t let Zenzele get under your skin nawe. You know he is unstable in the head” bra Mindlos brushes her hand to calm her down,
“Sit” he lets my hand go to pull a chair for me and I miss his touch immediately,
He takes a sit right beside me and I feel warm and comfortable. I realise that bra Mindlos doesn’t have a cane next to him. And I think I see him different without the cane. He looks like just an old man with no sense of danger lurking around him.
“Eat mntanami, I forgot to tell you that your husband is also crazy on top being blind. His disabilities are beyond me” (Eat my child,……..) bra Mindlos say and Lerato laughs. Only she burst into laughter on the table, even Jabu is not smiling.
“I’m his father’s wife and your blind stupid husband hates me” Lerato introduces herself as she starts to eat,
“When did I marry you?” Bra Mindlos glares at her and her smile falls,
“I can disrespect my son and call him whatever I want but don’t you dare!” he points a fork at her and I’m confused. Are they married or not? And why is bra Mindlos actually a normal man without the cane. His spirit feels calm and loving without that cane next to him.
“You’re not eating” the man beside me whispers,
How did he see that I’m not eating?
“Do we eat before we pray?” I ask and the table stops. I’m a sinner but the man that raised me taught me to pray and be thankful for everything. Even sitting across bra Mindlos I’m still grateful for this meal because I know some wish to have just a slice of bread on the table,
“You want to pray for us?” bra Mindlos asks,
I nod,
“Go ahead then. Do I close my eyes?” he continues to ask and Jabulani chuckles beside him,
“Let’s hold hands like this mkhulu and bow our heads” (………grandpa and…….) Jabulani takes his hand and we all join hands,
Before I drop my head I meet Lerato’s evil stare. If looks could kill I would be in a morgue by now.
“Heavenly father, I bring before you the Mabaso family. You have blessed us with a meal on our table and we thank you for that. Some wished to have a meal today but they couldn’t. Please continue to bless us and shine your light upon this family. We thank you in Jesus’ name, amen!”
“AMEN!” Jabu and his father chant back,
“Oh amen!” bra Mindlos finally say looking confused as hell. Jabu is laughing his lungs out. Lerato’s look on me is not kind. She is not impressed at all.
“You haven’t been to church bra Mindlos?” I ask, finally eating and just making conversation. I know there is no way in hell he is been to church,
“Excuse you?!” he raises an eyebrow at me,
“Who are you calling bra Mindlos? I’m baba to you girlie don’t be calling me by my street names when you’re going to be the mother of my grandchildren” baba? Bra Mindlos without the cane is really a different man. And I thought he wanted one grandson as he called me makoti of the season.
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