THE COVEN’S BRIDE
CHAPTER 18
GUMBI HOUSEHOLD
Mzilikazi, Zolani, Mkhonto, Sipho, and Ntombizodwa are in the room they were all in earlier when Mzilikazi introduced Naledi. They all like Naledi and think she is gorgeous, but they are all curious to know if she is the one that Mzilikazi saw. She might be the one that they have been waiting for, but Mzilikazi has to confirm if she is with the correct Gumbi brother. After Naledi left the room with Sipho, Mzilikazi mentioned that he needs to confirm if Naledi is with the right Gumbi son.
She might be the chosen one, but the ritual will not work if she is with the wrong man. Now Mzilikasi has to confirm if Naledi is meant to be with Senzo, Sibusiso, or Jules. Sipho has been stressed the whole evening. He knows how much his son loves Naledi, and he fears Mzilikazi might say Sibusiso and Naledi are not meant to be together.
“Say something already,” Sipho says impatiently. He feels like he is going to pass out.
Mzilikazi answers, “You can relax, my boy. Those two are meant to be together.”
Sipho reaches for the drink next to him and gulps it down in one go. “That’s a relief. Has it told you what they want from Naledi when she becomes a Gumbi?”
“Not yet, but it will reveal everything to me as time goes on,” says Mzilikazi. He then looks across the room, a woman walks to him with two glasses on a tray. Mzilikazi takes the tray from the woman and hands it to Sipho. “Make sure they drink this and make sure Sibusiso marries that girl soon.”
“Why do you think it chose her? She is just an ordinary woman,” Ntombizodwa asks.
“She is pure and has never been touched by another,” Mzilikazi answers. “Even besides that, it chose her, she is the one it wants.”
“What now? What is the way forward?” Sipho asks. He wants to know what Naledi has to give on her side. He is crossing his fingers that the same fate that fell on Rosa doesn’t fall on Naledi. All this kills him.
Mzilikazi answers. “Make sure they drink those drinks, then we wait for it to reveal everything.”
Mzilikazi leaves the room, and Zolani and Ntombizodwa follow behind him. Mkhonto walks to his son and says, “I am sorry, son, I know that doesn’t fix anything, but I am sorry.”
“How do I tell Rosa and my son all this?”
Mkhonto says, “My offer to tell them for you still stands. Maybe they will hate you less if I tell them.”
“They will still hate me. Rosa will leave me, and I might lose my family. I think we should let this thing wipe us out. Death is better.”
“We have already started the process with the first drink. Naledi is already linked to us, and there is no turning back. I know this is all hard, but we have already started, and backing out will cause harm to Naledi,” Mkhonto explains.
“I guess I have no choice but to give them the drinks.” Sipho takes the tray and leaves the room. He looks around for Naledi and Sibusiso. Luckily, he finds them before anyone asks him why he is carrying drinks instead of letting the staff do it for him.
“Let me help you with that, Mr. Gumbi,” Naledi offers when Sipho gets close to them.
“These are for you, my children,” Sipho says with a smile. He hands Sibusiso and Naledi each a glass, then signals for the staff the take the tray and also give him a drink. Sipho says, “Thank you, son, for introducing us to your gorgeous woman. We hope we will be drinking drinks at your wedding soon. Welcome to the family once more, Naledi.”
Sipho tells them to drink up, and they do. Their faces tell that the drinks are bitter, but they both don’t voice it out. Sipho tells them to drink up and finish the drinks. Without question, they do and give the helper the glasses.
“Let me look for my woman. I hope we will see you again for lunch or dinner, Naledi,” says Sipho.
“You will see me, Mr Gumbi,” Naledi answers.
“Call me Dad, you are my daughter now, call me like a daughter would call her father,” says Sipho before walking away.
“Your family is so nice,” Naledi whispers to Sibusiso.
“You are lovable,” Sibusiso leans and kisses her. “And what the f*ck is that bitter drink?”
“It is bitter, right? I thought maybe it’s me who doesn’t know nice things,” Naledi laughs.
Sibusiso takes her hand and leads her to the kitchen to get water. After drinking water, he takes her to his room to steal a few kisses.
***
“There you are, where have you been?” Rosa says to her husband, Sipho.
“I have also been looking for you,” Sipho pulls her close and kisses her on the cheek.
“Did you see Naledi? She is gorgeous, she is going to give us beautiful grandchildren.”
Sipho answers, “The only gorgeous woman to me is you. I think she is not bad.”
Rosa says, “Lizzy (one of Ntombizodwa’s grandchildren) is looking for you, come tell her that I wanted to attend her baby shower, but I was sick.”
“Are you trying to make me lie for you? We both know you were not sick.”
“Love you lie to people all the time, just do it one more time, this time for your wife,” Rosa takes his arms and leads him to where Lizzy is.
The word lie cuts Sipho deep when he remembers that he is lying to his wife. Will he ever find the right moment to tell his family the truth, or will he keep quiet until everything blows up in his face? To him, telling them later is better than now. It’s better they hate him later than now.
“See, I wasn’t lying,” Rosa says to Lizzy after Sipho backs up her lie.
Lizzy nods with understanding. “No problem, Aunty, I still want my gift though.”
“Your gift is coming, sweetie,” Rosa says and then walks away with her husband.
“You owe me for lying for you.”
“I also lie for you sometimes, we are even.” Rosa stops walking and says to her husband. “Are you sure you are okay? You don’t seem like yourself these days.”
“Me? I am fine, do I maybe not look good? I am fine, my love.”
Rosa leans and kisses him. “Maybe I am looking too much into it, but you don’t seem yourself lately, and it’s worrying me. Are you dying, Sipho?”
“I am not dying, my love. I apologize for worrying you, I promise I am fine.”
Rosa jokingly says, “I hope Mzilikazi isn’t going around saying crazy stuff. You know how he is when he drinks too much – we don’t want to scare Naledi away.”
“We are supposed to be having fun today. Can we please focus on that?” Sipho asks for more alcohol from one of the servers.
“Speaking of Naledi, where is she?”
“Let the children have fun, come, let’s dance,” says Sipho, changing the subject. She doesn’t want to talk about Naledi and Sibusiso for a second
NALEDI
“Love, we need to get back to the others,” I giggle. Sibusiso took us to his room, and we have been kissing. I love his lips more than anything, but we need to get back to the rest of the family before they notice that we are gone.
“They won’t even notice,” Sibusiso answers, now kissing my neck.
“Love, we need to go before we end up not going back downstairs.”
He stops kissing me and says, “Now that you have met my family, when am I meeting yours?”
“My family isn’t as nice as yours and…”
He shuts me up with a kiss. “I still want to meet them. I want to marry you, Naledi.”
“When do you want to marry me, Mr Gumbi?”
“Are you available tomorrow?” he asks, and I laugh. “I am serious, Naledi, I want to marry you.”
“Let’s do it then.”
“Are you sure?” he asks, and I nod. I don’t want to wait anymore. “You need to introduce me to your family, then I will tell them my intentions.”
“We haven’t been together that long, are you sure?”
He answers, “Very sure, are you?”
“I am sure. Also, I have never wanted to sleep with a man the way I do with you. If we want to do it on our wedding night, then we’d better get married soon.”
“I love you, Naledi. S*x aside, I love you so much,” he says. I can tell he means it. I love him too. I don’t care that we haven’t been together that long.
I yawn and say, “Why am I so tired?”
“I also feel tired. Do you want to lie down for a second?” I nod and we lie down with my head on his chest.