{"id":620,"date":"2026-01-22T06:15:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/?p=620"},"modified":"2026-01-22T06:15:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:15:23","slug":"the-cane-of-wealth-novel-chapter-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/the-cane-of-wealth-novel-chapter-12\/","title":{"rendered":"THE CANE OF WEALTH Novel Chapter 12"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VOLUME 12<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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NTWENHLE<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Our results came back last week\u2026..well mine. I got a call from Dr. Ndlovu and he asked to see me alone. That alone was nerve-wracking for me. I was nervous about my HIV test because I know myself and where I have been. I haven\u2019t been sleeping around but my boyfriends were always dodgy and questionable. I loved creepy men who aren\u2019t from around here, and that has come back to bite my big as8s. I might be HIV positive. I don\u2019t even know how I am going to tell Zenzele if I am. Ndlovu only said my results were inconclusive and asked to take my blood again. He said the results will be back in two weeks this time around, and that was a week ago.<\/div>\n
I\u2019m thankful he called me alone, I don\u2019t know what I would have done if Zenzele was there. For the past week I have avoided him and him being preoccupied with work has helped a great deal. I haven\u2019t seen much of him in a week and I\u2019m grateful. Through the phone we talk everyday but we don\u2019t see each other that much. He comes home after 18:00 and I lied that my father doesn\u2019t want me to leave the yard after 18:00.<\/div>\n
I need to get my head straight before I see him. If I\u2019m HIV positive I\u2019m going to hang myself with a tissue paper, just to die for a second and then come back. I can\u2019t imagen living with a tablet for the rest of my life. The biggest pill I have taken is panado. If I hadn\u2019t been a clever and bought my contraceptives at the chemist I think the clinic would have given me prep and I would be safe right now. But no, Ntwenhle Mbatha had to be a clever and I wasn\u2019t going to queue on clinic lines when I can buy my contraceptives. And this is where I am\u2026\u2026paying greatly for being a smart as8s.<\/div>\n
\u201cYou want to reopen again?\u201d Aunty Joy disturbs my heavy thoughts,<\/div>\n
I\u2019m standing on my kitchen door staring inside as my mind goes wild on me. Now that I\u2019m back home part of me wants me to reopen but there is also my subconscious telling me that I shouldn\u2019t, I won\u2019t be in this premises for long. But then there is also that other voice that\u2019s asking me if I\u2019m HIV positive, do I think Zenzele will still want me? He would be a fool not to\u2026..<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A smile graces my face when I think of how I messed his credit card last week. He said he\u2019ll never give his card again and I don\u2019t blame him. I bought myself two wigs worth 4.5k, that\u2019s the purchase I\u2019m mostly happy about. The other were just branded clothes I couldn\u2019t afford before and two or three shirts for him. That\u2019s all he got from me out of love. When I buy for myself I buy for myself, I don\u2019t want to be distracted by men\u2019s depressing clothing line. Men\u2019s clothes sections always depresses me. But all that was before Dr. Ndlovu called. I haven\u2019t even wore my new clothes the way I\u2019m so stressed.<\/div>\n
\u201cNtwenhle?\u201d aunty Joy calls again,<\/div>\n
I heave a sigh,<\/div>\n
\u201cAre you okay? I asked if you\u2019re reopening?\u201d she continues to add. I heard her but my mind is not here.<\/div>\n
She stands beside me, white on the cheeks with gentle magic mattifying moisturizer applied only on her cheeks. I bought her a gentle magic hamper last week while I was shopping with Zen\u2019s card. I had to be an ambassador of gentle magic and sell her lies for her to agree to use the products. \u201cIt\u2019s self-explanatory, gently on skin and gives you magic\u201d that\u2019s the line that pulled her. For a week she is been using the product but I haven\u2019t seen the magic yet. I heard from one of my customers that gentle magic saved her from the creams burning. I hope it assist her too because she is starting to look really scary.<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about it. Are you supposed to apply the cream on your cheeks only?\u201d I ask. I don\u2019t use gentle magic so I\u2019m not sure how one is supposed to use it,<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m starting to doubt this product of yours Ntwe, I haven\u2019t seen the magic in a week I have been using this things\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou have to be patient aunty Joy, give it at least three months before you give up on it\u201d I\u2019m praying cats and dogs that\u2019s she doesn\u2019t stop using it,<\/div>\n
\u201cMy cream didn\u2019t need three months to make me glow and shine brighter than the sun\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cGentle magic will make you shine in darkness, you just have to be patient\u201d Ntwenhle the face of gentle magic should be who I am,<\/div>\n
\u201cReally? I\u2019ll shine during the night?\u201d she asks. I don\u2019t know why she is so obsessed with being a yellow bone,<\/div>\n
\u201cYes. Give it three months and you\u2019ll see wonders\u201d I hope it fixes her face in three months\u2019 time because if it doesn\u2019t, I won\u2019t hear the end of it.<\/div>\n
\u201cOkay my baby. Your father is calling you, he is in our bedroom\u201d she say,<\/div>\n
In their bedroom? I raise an eyebrow at her, \u201cHe just wants to talk to you. Shaka Zulu called\u201d she adds,<\/div>\n
\u201cZen? Called who?\u201d my heart freezes,<\/div>\n
\u201cHe called your dad, come on, let\u2019s go\u201d<\/div>\n
With Zenzele I no longer ask how he got information, the man is blind but knows everything. Why is he calling my dad though? I hope Ndlovu didn\u2019t tell him anything, there is something called a doctor patient confidentiality, right?<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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My father is on his bed when I walk in. He pats the space next to him for me to sit. Aunty Joy didn\u2019t follow me into the house, she went to the tavern.<\/div>\n
\u201cIs everything okay?\u201d I ask taking gentle steps in, his posture assumes that of a troubled old man,<\/div>\n
\u201cEverything is okay child, come sit down\u201d he breathes,<\/div>\n
As I step closer I notice an old bible beside him. It\u2019s not his bible, his is there on his bedside table where I always see it whenever I clean in here.<\/div>\n
He takes the bible in his hands to make space for me to sit. He brushes it so gentle like its treasure in his hand.<\/div>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s bible is this, baba?\u201d I ask,<\/div>\n
\u201cYours\u201d he lifts his eyes to me with smile,<\/div>\n
\u201cMine\u201d I frown. I don\u2019t remember owning a bible before,<\/div>\n
\u201cYour mother left you this before she passed\u201d he say and everything in me stills. I don\u2019t remember much about my mother, apparently she died when I was very young. It was just my father and I for so long until aunty Joy came by. The only images I have of my mother are from the photographs that my father provided. I\u2019m told she was a prophetess. She has a white cloth and doek in all her photos.<\/div>\n
\u201cYour mother was a woman of faith. She had a magnificent gift that made people envy her and in the end they killed her\u201d he never speaks about my mother\u2019s death, even today I still don\u2019t know how she died because he never told me and I never asked. It\u2019s one of the things I know he\u2019ll never tell me even if I was to ask.<\/div>\n
\u201cI prayed so hard that her gift doesn\u2019t pass on to you and it didn\u2019t. I let you have a wild life because I wanted you to be a sinner. I didn\u2019t want you innocent and grounded like your mother. I wanted you to do every bad thing in the book just so the gift doesn\u2019t come to you and it worked. For years you have been wild my child and I just watched\u201d he say,<\/div>\n
This is why I was surprised of him being hard on Zen when he is always been a cool dad who lets me do as I please,<\/div>\n
\u201cHer shawl and doek I burned them but this is the one thing she begged me not to burn. On her death bed she asked that I give this to you when you grow up. I have wanted to give it to you too many times but I just felt it wasn\u2019t the right time until last night\u201d he pauses to breath,<\/div>\n
\u201cShe came to me in a dream. I haven\u2019t seen her in years. She asked me to give this to you because the next chapter of your life depends on it. And this morning I got a call from that\u2026\u2026\u201d he trails off and take in a deep breath,<\/div>\n
\u201c\u2026\u2026I got a call from Zenzele asking to see me. He didn\u2019t say anything but I know that boy is going to take you away from me. He is the next chapter of your life and I think your mother wants me to give this to you now\u201d he passes the bible to me,<\/div>\n
It feels solid and heavy in my hands, I don\u2019t feel anything except its weight as I hold it.<\/div>\n
\u201cThank you, baba\u201d this bible I\u2019m going to hold it like my life depends on it. I\u2019m going to treasure it. I don\u2019t remember being to church or opening a bible before but this one\u2026\u2026. all my prayers comes straight from my heart, some I learned from my dad when he prayed blessing the table or on new year\u2019s eve when he prays for a new year. Now I have a book of faith to teach me how to pray.<\/div>\n
–<\/div>\n
–<\/div>\n
Zen is finally here. He still hasn\u2019t said anything to give me the heads up about his meeting with my father. When he arrived they both went straight to the lounge and Aunty Joy and I were chased out. At this point aunty Joy and I we wish to be flies and fly in the room just to hear what they are talking about. It doesn\u2019t help that my dad choose to sit on his couch that faces the kitchen, he\u2019ll see us if we try to eavesdrop.<\/div>\n
\u201cI think he is going to ask for your hand\u201d aunty Joy say,<\/div>\n
I smile but my smile is short lived. I think so too but with my pending test results I can\u2019t celebrate anything at the moment,<\/div>\n
We are both seated outside on the stoep, waiting to hear anything,<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to be a Mabaso wife child, it would have been better if your boyfriend looked like his father\u201d she adds<\/div>\n
\u201cAunty please\u201d she is starting,<\/div>\n
\u201cPray that when god bless you with children they are all boys because imagen a girl child that looks like her dad\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMxm!\u201d I leave because I don\u2019t want to respond and be called disrespectful. And I\u2019m also in my feelings lately,<\/div>\n
\u201cNTWENHLE I\u2019M KIDDING!\u201d she screams after me. I\u2019m going to sit with Khalipha who might actually tell me something.<\/div>\n
\u201cHello Khalipha\u201d I greet nearing the vehicle. He seated in the car with all the windows rolled down,<\/div>\n
He frowns \u201cYebo Mashandu, how are you?\u201d he is so formal!<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine. It\u2019s hot today, huh?\u201d gossip must always start with small talk. I want to know what Zenzele is doing here since he didn\u2019t tell me anything,<\/div>\n
\u201cIt is\u201d he say, eyeing me suspiciously,<\/div>\n
\u201cYeah, do you have any plans with Zen this weekend?\u201d I ask,<\/div>\n
He shrugs. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s a yes, no or maybe but I\u2019m not giving up,<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy is he meeting with my father?\u201d I know he knows something, he is Zenzele\u2019s eyes,<\/div>\n
Another shrug.<\/div>\n
\u201cKhalipha say something\u201d I beg, I\u2019m really nervous,<\/div>\n
\u201cI have nothing to say\u201d he chuckles. I don\u2019t know what I was thinking thinking a man in black and white will share some gossip with me.<\/div>\n
I don\u2019t say goodbye to him as turn, he was useless!<\/div>\n
Zenzele walks out of the house with my father as I walk back to the house.<\/div>\n
I pick my steps as they shake hands. I want to hear something but I\u2019m late.<\/div>\n
\u201cJoy!\u201d my father calls aunty Joy to follow him to the tavern when I near them. Aunty Joy doesn\u2019t want to leave but she drags herself,<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing here? Why didn\u2019t you tell me that you\u2019ll be meeting my dad?\u201d I ask Zen as soon as it\u2019s just the two of us,<\/div>\n
\u201cAccompany me to the car. How are you?\u201d he offers me his hand and I take it,<\/div>\n
I breathe. He looks normal, this means Ndlovu hasn\u2019t said anything to him,<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine. So?\u201d I want the news,<\/div>\n
He chuckles \u201cLord you\u2019re so impatient! I was trying my luck again but I still got a no\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cAsking for my hand?\u201d I ask,<\/div>\n
He nods,<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s only been two weeks, what made you think he\u2019ll change his mind so soon?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t live without you Ntwenhle, we spent one night together but that was enough for me to want you next to me every night. Even if it means I have to take the couch again but I want to sleep in the same room with you\u201d guilt clutches me, if I\u2019m positive I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to tell him\u2026.<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re my all. If I have to annoy your father every week until he says eyes, I\u2019ll do so\u201d he cups my face \u201cI miss you\u201d he adds<\/div>\n
\u201cI miss you too\u201d I swallow,<\/div>\n
He smiles \u201cI didn\u2019t get a yes yet, but at least I got him to allow me to take you on a little get away this weekend\u201d he say,<\/div>\n
\u201cVacation?\u201d I pop my eyes,<\/div>\n
\u201cWe have to be in Bergville on Monday so I figured maybe we can fly down early and chill in Durban\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYou\u2026.you want us to go on vacation?\u201d he is going to want sex. He is been hinting it for the past week that it\u2019s time\u2026..<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not exactly a vacation just a get away\u201d he say<\/div>\n
\u201cCan\u2019t we do it next week?\u201d by next week I\u2019ll know my exact results,<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, we have to be in Bergville on Monday\u201d he insist,<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s in Bergville?\u201d I ask,<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are visiting my grandfather, Mvelo, there is a healer he found for us\u201d he explains,<\/div>\n
\u201cDo I have to come with?\u201d I can stay, I don\u2019t mind,<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on with you? You\u2019re the one who insisted that I should see someone and now that I am doing as you asked you don\u2019t want to come with me?\u201d it\u2019s not that, I just want to avoid the little vacation before that. I know he is going to want sex, that I know for a fact,<\/div>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not that I don\u2019t want to come with you, I just\u2026\u2026I feel a bit down\u201d I\u2019m not entirely lying,<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy? What happened?\u201d<\/div>\n
I shrug like he can see me,<\/div>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll ask Mandisa to book you into a spa tomorrow. I really need you by my side kaMabaso, don\u2019t disappoint me please\u201d he takes my hands in his. It\u2019s the way he breathes that makes me see that he really needs me.<\/div>\n
\u201cCan we take Jabu with?\u201d Jabu will be my only escape,<\/div>\n
\u201cHaibo! You want us to drag a 13 year old to our romantic get away\u2026\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cZen I want us to create memories together as a family. I want him to come with us\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHis got school on Friday and Monday!\u201d he points,<\/div>\n
\u201cWe can leave on Friday when he come back from school. Missing one day won\u2019t delay him\u201d he\u2019ll only miss Monday,<\/div>\n
\u201cI honestly don\u2019t know what is wrong with you, I thought you would be happy with this but now you want me to bring a 13 year old to our fu8ck trip. Open my door Khalipha!\u201d he is pissed. He barks the last order to Khalipha. I knew this trip includes sex in it, this is why I want Jabu to come along.<\/div>\n
\u201cAm I not getting a kiss goodbye?\u201d I ask,<\/div>\n
\u201cMy mouth is sore!\u201d bathong! He gets in the car. I can\u2019t help but smile, I have never seen him pissed with me until today.<\/div>\n
\u201cI love you\u201d I say as Khalipha starts the car,<\/div>\n
\u201cUmuntu says she loves me yet she wants us to bring a 13 year old to our romantic get away, make that make sense for me KHALIPHA!\u201d he ignores me. Poor Khalipha will answer things he doesn\u2019t know. Unfortunately I\u2019ll be on my fake periods on Friday. He\u2019ll be strong.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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VOLUME 12 NTWENHLE Our results came back last week\u2026..well mine. I got a call from Dr. Ndlovu and he asked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-cane-of-wealth-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":634,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/620\/revisions\/634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}