I’m driving his car to Mathoanapo because my car is smaller and Tholoana Kingdom can have some hectic hills to climb. I told him that I’m kidnapping him for the weekend. I can just tell that curiosity is getting the better of him. But this navigation is probably giving my surprise location away. We’ve had three stops now to pee and get energy drinks. We are now doing our final stretch in our drive. We should be there soon. I told him that we are celebrating that he got the job that he was interviewed for and that his bond application was approved for the duplex that he wants to get. We spent the week doing furniture shopping and he let me pretty much set up as I wanted in his four-bedroom duplex. I absolutely love it. It has a lovely garden with a pool in it. His patio has a sunroof that you can open and close using a remote control. The bedroom downstairs is separated from the main house by a sliding door. It has its own bathroom with a bath, shower and toilet. You can lock it and whoever stays there doesn’t have access into the house. The TV room leads to the dining area. The dining area leads to the kitchen. There’s then a half bathroom downstairs for guests to use. 
Up the staircase is met with a stunning portrait of myself and Khanya. We did a photoshoot. This photo is a photo from one of those taken at the photoshoot. Up here, there are two bedrooms sharing a common bathroom. There’s an open area that we’ve set up as the study or workstation. Then the main bedroom has a walk-in closet, an insuite bathroom and a stunning big balcony. I love it. 
His mother, unfortunately, refused to return with Wandi. Khosini refused to return without his mother. So, Khanya is a bit sad about that. He tried and that’s what matters right now. 

My mom gifted us this weekend away. Khanya has been dealing with a lot, thanks to his mother being difficult. She hates me. She wants Khanya to break up with me. Khanya asked his mom and brother to live with him now he’s relocating from South Africa to Tholoana Kingdom. They’ve said no. My mom asked me if I really want Kganya’s mom to be my mother-in-law one day. Regardless of her shit, she’s still Khanya’s mother. As much as I hate to admit it, I have to admit that without her, I wouldn’t have Khanya in my life. I have a business that I’ve also been extra focused on. So, we need the break to just focus on each other. I appreciate my mom for this.

“We are almost there, babe”, I say.
He just laughs and says, “I’ve actually given up guessing because one – I don’t know this country very well, and two – you’ve been so secretive about this.”
“Yeah. I just hope you brought some condoms.” 
He’s quiet.
I mean… are we just going to look at each other while we are on a weekend away?

Yes, I’m still a virgin. But I’m ready… especially with him. We’ve been together since I was in high school. He’s treated me like a queen even though I wasn’t giving him sex. I love this guy.
“Ru, you know that there’s absolutely no pressure from me, right?” He says.
“I know. But, I’m ready. Unless you are not ready –
“No babe, I’m ready. I’m very ready. I just don’t want you to feel as if there’s pressure.” 
“I know. So, do I need to make one more stop so you get condoms or you’ve got stock?”
He laughs then says, “I’ve got stock.” 
“Perfect.” 

We finally arrive at Mathoanapo. The entrance itself takes our breaths away. We’ve both never been here. The security comes to the car. I give him the vouchers. Two butlers come to us. 
“Welcome to Mathoanapo. We will park your vehicle for you and ensure that your luggage meets you in your room. Please allow this shuttle to transport you to reception.” One of the butlers says this to us as two other ones open our doors. Okay! 
I’m wearing a really short dress with sneakers and a denim crop jacket. Khanya has his arm around me as we are escorted to the shuttle. We are chauffeur-driven to reception. My mother has basically overwhelmed us here. But to make things less awkward, I pull out my cellphone and start taking photos of us. At least Khanya cooperates. 

We get to reception then sign in. We are given welcome drinks. 
“Thank you for this, baby. I really needed this.” He says.
“I know that there’s a lot going on right now, but please try to have a good time. Please.”
He kisses me. 
One of the hostesses come to collect us from reception and takes us to our suite. Listen!
We have a king-sized bed in here… a whole TV room area… a stunning insuite bathroom… a jacuzzi on our balcony. I’m honestly blown away. 
I’m taking pictures while Khanya is getting comfortable. This is gorgeous! 
He finally joins me on the balcony, hugging me from behind… we both stare at the view. It’s absolutely breathtaking. And yes, our luggage was already here when we arrived in our room. 
Wow! 
“It’s so beautiful, isn’t it?” I say as we both stare into the view.
“Very beautiful. Just like you.” He says.
“I love you, Khanya.”
“You know that I love you too, right?”
“Yeah. I know.”
We stay like this for a while.
“My mom… she… yoh…” him.
“What did she do?” I ask.
“Please don’t be upset, Ru.”
“What did she do?!” I’m already snappy.
“She wants me to enter into an arranged marriage.” 
I instantly turn around and push him away from me.
“Ru-
“And what did you say?” I’m actually pissed off.
“I obviously said no.”
“Why would she want you to do that?” 
“Money.”
“Heh!” I’m actually in disbelief. 
“So she’d rather pimp you off into an arranged marriage than actually accept direct help from you?” 
“I think it’s her husband’s idea. He was the one who seemed to be arranging it. They think Khosini is not ready.”
“But you are ready?” 
“That’s what they say”, he says.
My weekend is actually already ruined. 
I just head back into our room and I start unpacking our bags. 

He comes back to the room from the balcony. He leans against the sliding door and stares at me. 
“Ruri, can we talk about this?” He says.
“About what, Khanya? Your mother hates me so much that she’d rather find a wife for you knowing very well that you and I are in a solid relationship? Or what? You don’t portray the seriousness of our relationship to her? Is that why she doesn’t recognise me in your life?!”
I’m actually shouting at him. 
“Ruri, we are not going to have a solid conversation with you being so angry.”
“So, this is normal for you?! If my dad just told me that he found a suitor for me and I must marry him, would you be calm and accepting?” 
He looks at me. 
“You know Khanya, it’s fine if your mother doesn’t like me. I’m really okay with that. It doesn’t add or take away a million rands in my bank account. But what hurts me is the fact that you let her.” 
“I let her?” 
“Yes, you let her.”
“How do I do that?”
“My father and brother are not exactly your biggest cheerleaders neither, but I’m able to put them in place. You’ve never had to deal with them and you’ve never experienced them saying such things or any other thing that would make us fight like this. What about you? What do you do or say to keep your mother in her place?”
“Ngiyasho nje ukuthi ngiyinqabile le nto.” He says.
“O mo galemetsi?!” I ask him.
“Yini loko?!”
I’m so done! 

I just finish unpacking, then I undress and get into the shower. He can just chill there and deal with his mother.
I’m not even enjoying this damn shower. I’m actually angry. I wish I could phone my mom and tell her so she can phone his mom and tell her to go to hell. 
The shower door opens and there’s a cold breeze that hits my back. 
I turn around. He’s in here. Naked. 
I’m a bit… 
Shocked…
Stunned…
He’s so…
“You are so beautiful”, he tells me.
I’m still angry, so I say, “As beautiful as your chosen wife?”
It does piss him off.
Good!
“Ruri, I’m sorry. I just wanted to be honest with you. Why are you making me feel like I can’t be honest with you?” 
Okay, I didn’t think about it like that.
I look away.
“I just want us to always be honest with each other and I don’t want to feel as if I can’t be honest with you. Im telling you that I’ve said no to this whole thing. What more do you want me to do, Ru?” 
“I want you to get your mom to start respecting me. She may not like me, but you chose me. I want to be respected in your life.” 
“People that matter to me respect you. Wandi adores you. Tholoana respects you. I can’t make people do anything. I can only control how I react or behave.” 
I look away.
“Ru, when we started dating, do you remember the promise that I made to you and begged you to help me keep?”
I nod my head. 
“Look at me, Ru.”
I look at him. 
“I promised you that I’d be a better partner and a better man to you than what my father ever was to my mother or any other woman he’s ever been with. And I begged you to keep me honest so I keep that promise. That hasn’t changed. Honesty is a huge part of me being that man. Please allow me. I’m begging you. Grow with me. Let that man come out of me, please.” 
“I want that for you too. But Khanya it hurts me when I’m constantly rejected by people that matter to you. Your mother is a BIG deal. And Khanya, she hates me.”
“We will work it out. And I’ll speak to my mom. I’ll galima her like you said.”
I laugh then say, “galimela. It means khuza.” 
He laughs and says, “Yebo, ngizogalima.”
“Galimela!” 
“Kona loko.”
We both just laugh.

We are now at dinner. We are chatting away and laughing hard. We left our cellphones in the room because we really just want to connect. We didn’t have sex after the shower, but we did cuddle for the rest of the afternoon… naked. And it was nice. 
Now we are much more touchier with each other. 
He’s busy telling me jokes and I’m actually laughing. After the dinner – it is quite an early dinner – we are going for an evening game drive. As dangerous as this sounds, the cars used are all the way closed. And we are going with hunters – I just hope that they will not get too excited and get us all killed. And just so we are clear – Khanya is the one who decided that we must do the game drive at this time. I warned him about the dangers, he told me the thrill is the point. IMAGINE! 

But the game drive is nice. We are all enjoying it. Everyone is having a conversation and drinking alcohol. I’m here having a cider. Khanya is having a beer. I’m sitting next to some white girl who is in the kingdom for the first time. The problem is that she’s drunk and she keeps asking me the same questions over and over again. She’s beginning to annoy me so so much. 
“So, is this your husband?” She asks me for the 75th time.
I’ve been saying no and explaining that this is not my husband for the past 74 times that she asked me. So now I say, “Yes, he’s my husband.”
“For real?! When did you get married?” She asks me. Now Khanya has stopped entertaining the other people in this car and pays attention to our conversation. 
“We got married five years ago”, I say.
“How was the wedding? Was it nice? How’s the marriage? Jaco wants us to get married, but I don’t think I like the idea of marriage. He still rapes my daughter, so he’s not entirely faithful to me.”
What the hell did this woman just say?!
Also, Jaco is now smashing her head against the window of this vehicle. All the other strangers in this vehicle are trying very hard to restrain Jaco.
“YOU CAN NEVER HANDLE YOUR ALCOHOL! EVERY TIME YOU ARE DRUNK, JY PRAT KAK!” Jaco yells.
“EK?! PRAT KAK?! I’VE SEEN THE BLOOD ON MY DAUGHTER’S VAGINA! I KNOW YOU RAPE HER! AND I’M GOING TO TELL THE POLICE!”
This lady is so drunk. 
But also Jaco is so angry – not ashamed or embarrassed, FURIOUS. 
The rest of us need to phone child services. This situation is not okay. That poor child! 

Jaco and his woman fought throughout the drive that our drive was cut short. We should’ve thrown them to the animals!
Now, we are passing out on our bed. With the drive here and the game drive, we are very tired. We don’t check our cellphones. Instead, we cuddle with each other again – naked again. And we pass out.

…

I’m waking up at 7am and Khanya is already awake and is working on his laptop. 
“Good morning, babe”, I say.
“Hello beautiful. You good?” 
“I’m fine. You?” 
“I’m fine. I just got a call from my boss regarding a report he needs me to submit. I was just busy with that.”
“Okay. Should I nap then you’ll wake me up when you are done?”
He laughs then says, “uthanda ubuthongo!” 
I mean…
Sleep is amazing and it’s free. If you have beef with sleep, o nale mathata! Period! 
“I’m done, baby. Let’s go to breakfast.” He says, closing his laptop. 
He’s in shorts and a t-shirt. I’m still naked. 
I quickly wear underwear and a baby blue tennis dress. As I comb my 32inch micro weave – ginger in colour – he hugs me from behind. 
“You are so beautiful”, he whispers. And he’s penis is poking my lower back.
I turn around.
“I’m ready”, I say.
“You sure?” 
I nod my head.
He unzips my dress. 
I pull down his shorts.
He takes off his own shirt.
And here we are… 
Having sex. 
Not only do I feel like a woman, but I’m also feeling loved. We are both moaning and gripping onto each other as if our lives depend on it, but he’s making me feel so safe… so beautiful… so loved. He’s whispering things that make me feel at home with him. I tell him that I want him to be the first, the last and the only man I sleep with. He thrusts deeper, crying even – which I find to be so beautiful, then he lets out a sound before collapsing on top of me. I find myself crying. I’m so in love.
“I love you, Ru.”
“I love you so much, Khanya.” 

–

We actually missed breakfast. We chose sex over food, but fortunately for us, we have a yacht ride that will be serving us food. 
We decide to shower and get ready because our car that’s picking us up and taking us on our boat ride will be here in the next hour.
He wears grey shorts, white sneakers and a simple black t-shirt. He actually looks really nice. 
I decide to wear my purple one shoulder asymmetrical hem bodycon dress. It’s a maxi-body-hugging dress, but the slit also starts from my thigh. It’s sexy, but tasteful. I take my Dior tote bag with me where I put sunscreen, hats and any other essentials we will need for being out in the sun. I wear my Dior slops, tie my micro weave into a bun, wear my hoop earrings then we head out. Khanya is laughing at how long it takes for me to get ready to leave the room. Whatever! 

We are welcomed onto the boat. There are about four other couples here. The yacht doesn’t take more than five couples at a time. We seem to be the last to arrive. 

Khanya finds a spot on the outside area of the yacht. It’s sunny, but it’s not hot. There are threats of rain. We start off by dishing up breakfast for ourselves because we actually are hungry. We kick off with fruit then have a plate of eggs, pork bangers, bacon, mushrooms and croissants next to our bowl of fruit. He’s having his food with orange juice. I’m having mine with water that has lemon and cucumber in it. 
I’m sitting on his lap as we eat… i don’t know why, I just am. 
“Khosini phoned me”, he says to me.
“Okay. Is everything okay?” 
“Nah. My mom is in hospital.”
Hai! This guy bathung! 
“Khanya, why are we still here? Why are we not on our way to South Africa?” 
“Because this is normal for her. And this is the life that she has chosen for herself. The only reason I’m upset is because Khosini is being dragged into this shit and it’s clear that my mom is so selfish, she doesn’t care about the impact it’s had on him. 
“Come, let’s go.” Im already on my feet, telling the staff to not move the yacht. We can no longer enjoy the yacht ride. 
They help us get off the yacht. I’m glad he’s not fighting me. 
Before we know it, our car has taken us back to our hotel, I’m packing and we are preparing to leave. 

…

South Africa, 4am. 

“I’ll wait for you here at reception, babe”, I say to him, letting go of his hand.
“Ngoba kwenze njani?” He’s suddenly pissed off. I think he’s tired and irritated.
“Your mother doesn’t like me, Khanya. I don’t want her saying seeing me is what killed her.”
“Ayikho le nto oyikhulumayo. If she doesn’t want you here, then she doesn’t want me here.” 
“We both know it’s not like that. You are her son. She always wants you near. I’m just the stranger she doesn’t like who happens to be sleeping with her son.”
The look he gives me! Yoh!
“Ruri! Asambe!” 
I follow him, but he insists on holding my hand. 

We get to his mother’s ward. Khosini is sleeping on a chair next to the mother’s bed. Khanya’s grandmother – Mme Thandeka’s mother – is also here, sleeping on a chair next to the bed. Khanya walks in as I stand at the door. 
Khanya wakes Khosini up. 
“Hola”, Khosini greets him. 
“Unjani umama?” Khanya asks him.
“She’s in pain.”
“Is he in prison?”
“You know he’s not.”
“So, what’s the protocol here? We cry. We support her. We all stop our lives to be here and to care. Only for her to go back to him and enable this horrible behaviour and cycle?” 
“Khanya!” Me.
He takes a deep breath. 
“Khanya? Uwe ngane yami?” The mother.
Now that she lifts her head, I see that she’s extremely bruised. Her lip is cut. She has swelling and bruising next to her lips, on both her cheeks, next to both her eyes – her eyes even look like they’ve been bleeding – and she has a cut on her forehead.
“Unjani mawunje? This man was trying to kill you! Why isn’t he in prison?!” Khanya.
“Khanya, it’s not that simple! And don’t discuss my business in front of a stranger”, she mumbles. Even in injury and pain, she’s an absolute cow.”
“This stranger is the reason why I’m here. I wasn’t coming here when Khosini phoned me. Ruri made me come here. So –
“Baby please. It’s okay. I’ll go get everyone coffee and maybe something to eat. There’s an Engen petrol station next to the hospital and it has a twenty-four hour Wimpy.” 
“Ngeke uhambe wedwa, Ru. It’s late and it’s not safe.” Khanya says.
“Ngizahamba naye. I need to stretch my legs anyway”, Khosini says.
Khanya hugs me. We kiss. Then I leave with Khosini. 
I’m so glad Khanya convinced me to change before leaving Mathoanapo. Imagine dealing with this while in summer-loving outfits. He is wearing a black Nike tracksuit with sleepers. I’m wearing a red Adidas tracksuit tracksuit with crocks. 

“Were you guys on holiday?” Khosini asks me as he notices our bags in the boot. He noticed them when I was finding my handbag in the boot so I can get my purse and PowerBank. I’ve told my mom that we are in South Africa and that the mother has been beaten black and blue yet again. She booked me into a hotel because ka nnete, I’m not staying at the abusive guy’s house.
“Yeah. We were at a weekend away, getting some air before I started school.” I say. 
I start the engine and we drive off. 
“That’s nice.” He says.
We don’t have to talk. We really don’t. And I was okay with going to Wimpy alone. 
“Well, thank you for cutting your soft life short just for us.”
I’m not even going to feel guilty NOR am I going to dignify that with a response. 
“Khanya is too hard on my mom. And don’t you think that my mom wants us to live with him? We both do. But Khanya is hard on us. We don’t want to feel as if we are at his mercy or that we will be in trouble every time that we don’t agree with him.”
I don’t know what to say, so I say nothing.
“I mean look at how he reacted with the arranged marriage suggestion?!” He says in frustration.
“So, you guys want him to agree with you when you suggest absolute nonsense. Why would anyone even suggest that?”
“Hai wena! You are not Khanya’s wife. You don’t get to have a say in this.”
“Khanya doesn’t think so!”
He looks at me as if disgusted.
“You do realise that his life is different, right? He doesn’t have a soft life with no responsibility. My mom and I come with him as a package. No matter how much we frustrate him, we will always need him and you will always have to make sure that he’s there for us.”
“You do realise that he’s ready to cut you guys off, right? I’m the reason he’s still here. Imagine what will happen if I stop giving a fuck and supporting him in cutting you guys off.”
“My mother would die. I don’t think you want that on your conscience. If you really love him, you’d never want his mother’s death on your hands.”
“It would make our lives a lot easier – including him. At least then, we would stop feeling as if we have a first born.”
He’s quiet. Good! And I hope he stays quiet until we get back to his mother’s ward! I’m not his friend!