This week has been normal. Very normal. Just the way that I like my life. I still live like I was born into royalty and there’s nothing I can do about that. But I attended all my lectures. I came home after lectures, studied, was lazy after studying, ate food – chef-cooked food – but I ate… then I slept. I also haven’t heard from Reahile all week and that was a bonus for me. His approach was very aggressive and I didn’t appreciate it. It almost felt like there was a bet on whether or not he could get me. I felt embarrassed even without the confirmation. And I told him this. Hence I haven’t heard from him ever since. 

I saw on instagram that Ruri, Wehweh and Zaza were on a weekend away with their men. The rest of the ladies are touched and I don’t know why. Yes, we are all friends. But there are cliques within the clique. Those three are a clique and they are all rich. It happens. They’ll invite everyone else when they are headed to places that can accommodate everyone. Plus, they all have stable men. Who would we have brought had we been invited? We all know that Bridgette is a prostitute… it’s been a rumour that she seems to be confirming more and more. Thendo vibes with anything that has a penis. Vanessa has an imaginary husband in a gay man. Then there’s me… single single single. They need to relax. It’s not their right to be invited to things that they cannot afford on their own budget. They put way too much pressure on other children just because their budgets are bigger than the average student. 

I’m walking back home after my last lecture for the day. I left Vanessa behind in class. I just wanted to walk alone today. I actually miss home. I miss my aunt. I miss my cousins. I miss my nieces and nephews. I know that they are struggling and it doesn’t feel right that I can afford to help them but I choose not to. Eish. 
I take a detour to Checkers. 
I withdraw R3500. I’ll send this to my aunt. I’ll phone her and tell her to go and collect it. 

It takes me ten minutes to send the money. Now I head to my place. I guess my life has changed quite a bit and I need a reminder of where I come from. I need to be grounded before I fly so high and forget who I am. 

As soon as I get home, I throw myself on the couch in the TV room. I saw that the chef is already here and is already cooking. I also saw the domestic worker leave. I guess she’s knocked off. It is 6pm.
I dial Mamholo.
After three rings…
“Hello?” She answers her phone.
“Dumela Mamholo. Ke nna. Ke Maphodile”.
“Maphodile ngwana ausi waka. Ujwang? We haven’t heard from you since you left. The other day, I asked Mrembula for R2 so I can go to a public phone and check if you’ve settled well. But your phone was off. How are you?” 
I instantly get emotional. Eish.
“I’m fine, Mamholo. I lost my phone. This is my new number. How are you guys? How are Tono and Lele?” 
“They are good. Ey, Tono is pregnant again. You know, I must just kick her out. I can’t afford to feed myself, now she keeps bringing me more children. Ache! Lele yena is gone.”
I put my legs on the couch and get comfortable. I missed this and I have no intention of ending this call anytime soon.
“What do you mean Lele is gone?” I ask her.
“Ey ngwana wa-ausi waka… Lele found a boyfriend. She left her child here with me and said if I want her to be happy and get a chance to be rich like you got a chance, I’ll let her leave with this man and look after her child. That man doesn’t know that she has a child”.
Yoh! Clearly a lot has happened.
“Mrembula went to find out where she stays. I don’t trust that boy. I think he abuses Lele. They live in Tloung”. She says.
“She will come back, Mamholo. Even if we need to find her ourselves. We will ask Mrembula to take us there and fetch her. This is madness.”
“Ja. How is school nana? Have you made friends yet? Have you met a man?” 
I laugh.
“Keng? You are old now. It’s going to happen. A man is going to happen and it’s okay. Just make sure he’s not a nonsense of a man. He must be smart and hardworking like you.”
“Mamholo, school is nice. I do have friends, but I don’t have a man yet.”
She laughs and says, “How are your friends? Are they nice people?”
“Yoh Mamholo… some are rich, one of them is a prostitute.” 
“Heh eh wena!” 
We laugh about this then we gossip about neighbours there at home for about two hours. 
When Vanessa finally walks into the house with Reahile – gosh – I end the conversation with my aunt saying, “Mamholo, I put in R3500 at Checkers for you. Go to any Checkers tomorrow with your ID and collect it. You should be able to buy a few things for the house.” 
She actually cries. 
“Aowa Mamholo. Don’t cry. I’ll put in money for you every month. And Mamholo, please start looking for a house in the township that doesn’t cost more than R5000 a month. Once you find it, tell me. I’ll apply for a bond then you guys can officially move out there.” 
“Bathung wena! You don’t have to do that.” 
“I know, Mamholo. But I want to.” 
I’m actually doing this for my mom, but I don’t say that.
“Ke kopa re emise ntlu yama?” She says.
She wants us to build where that shack we lived in is.
“I’ll ask Mrembula to help me to find people who will build for us. Our house will look like Mrembula’s house.” She says.
I laugh. 
“Okay then. Tell Mrembula to phone me. Ke tla buwa le yena.”
She ululates in excitement. 
“Bye bye hhe, Mamholo. Send me a callback when you get the money tomorrow.”
“Hai wena… I’ll buy airtime and phone you.”
“Okay then.”
“Kea leboha ngwana wa-ausi waka.”
“Mamholo… I love you guys. And things will change now. Re tlo ba shup.”
She ululates in excitement.
We finally hang up. 

These two fake in-laws are now in the garden. 
I head to my bedroom. I close the door then change into something more comfortable. I set up to start working on assignments. 
There’s a knock on my door. What now?! 
I don’t say come in, but my door opens then Reahile walks in. I look at him. 
“Hey”, he greets me.
“Hey.”
“Ushup?”
“Yeah. Wena?”
“Can we talk?” Him.
I just look at him.
“Sure. Come in.” I say. 
He walks in and sits on my bed. 
I sit next to him. 
“I’m sorry I offended you. I really like you. And maybe my tact was very poor. I’m really sorry. I never meant to disrespect or offend you in any way.” He says.
“But you do realise that for as long as you keep pursuing me while you are married, you are still disrespecting and offending me.” I say. 
He takes a deep breath. 
“Nandi and I don’t have much of a marriage anymore. We wanted different things and this caused more conflict between us more than anything. It’s unfortunate that we only realised this once we were in the marriage. So, we decided to live separately but stay legally married.” 
“Then what happens if you find someone and that person wants to be more than your royal mistress?” 
“I’d take a second wife”, he says. 
“Why don’t you just divorce Nandi? Akere the marriage is over? Why stay legally married?” 
“I’ve already been divorced. It’s not a good look when I’m continuously getting married and getting divorced. She’s also from a royal family in KZN. When we initiated the divorce, her family refused. So, the royal families agreed we could move on with our lives, but no divorce.” 
I look at him. This just sounds too convenient. 
“So, what happens when you still want to visit your first wife? Technically you are allowed, and you are both allowed. Plus, as the first wife, she takes preference. Why must your next wife be forced to marry another woman’s husband?” 
He looks at me. 
“What do you want me to do?” He asks me. 
“If I decide to date you and we grow to the extent where we decide to get married, I don’t want to be your second wife. I want to be your only wife. I know I’m a commoner, but I don’t deserve to be sharing my husband with someone just because she was born a princess.” 
He smiles at me. 
“I’ll work on my family, okay? But let’s date and get to know each other, not rushing anything or each other. We will get there at our own pace.” 
“I haven’t agreed to be your girlfriend.” 
“I’m asking you to please be my girlfriend”, he says. 
I don’t say anything. 
I just sit at my study desk and start studying. He gets comfortable on my bed. He actually passes out.
Ja neh.

–

It is now 10:30pm. I didn’t realise how late it is. I’ve just been in the zone, studying. Also, Reahile is still passed out on my bed. He’s not sleeping over. I hope he knows that. 
But I’m hungry. Let me be a host and wake him up so we can go eat together. 
I wake him up and he jumps up as if there’s a bomb somewhere.
“It’s just me”, I say with my hands up in surrender.
He’s still confused, but his mind comes back to him eventually. 
“Ushup?” He asks me.
“I’m fine. I was waking you up so we can go eat.” 
“What time is it?” He asks me.
“10pm.” 
“And we are eating dinner at this time?” 
“I am. You are welcome to join me if you are hungry.” 
“Then when will you be going to sleep?”
“I don’t know. I’ll see.”
He looks at me as if judging me. Do we eat on a schedule or when we are hungry? Im not sure what I’ve done wrong here. 

We are in the kitchen, sitting opposite each other at the dining table and we are eating. I don’t know where Vanessa is. Her room is vacant. I knocked just to make sure that she’s alive – that’s what you do when you live with someone, whether you like them or not. 

“What’s your day looking like tomorrow?” He asks me.
“I just have lessons until 5pm. Then I’ll probably come home and study or sleep. I’ll see how I feel.”
“I’m thinking we could hang out together. I’m going to South Africa this weekend to spend some time with my kids.” 
By the way, I’m also a step-parent. 
“That’s nice. Who do they stay with in South Africa?” I need to be interested in such things.
“Their mother and their grandparents. Their mother was away for quite some time. But she’s back now and she’s staying with her parents. With my marriage all over the place and my family being more than busy all the time, we thought it would be best – in terms of stability – for them to live with their mother and her side of the family.” He explains.
“Oh okay. How often do you go see them?”
“I try to go as often as possible. But I don’t compromise on going at least two weekends in a month.” 
“That’s beautiful. You are a good dad”, I say.
“Yeah. I’ve made quite a few mistakes in my life. But I don’t ever want my kids to pay for my mistakes or my choices.”
I nod my head. Then I ask, “do you only have the twins?” 
He nods his head then says, “Nandi and I don’t have kids. It’s one of the reasons why our marriage failed. And it’s not that I was putting pressure on her. She was putting pressure on both of us. And it caused her to even have a few miscarriages. Then I told her that I don’t want more kids. And it’s not that I don’t want them, it’s just that I didn’t want her putting so much pressure on herself. But that still wasn’t enough to save our marriage”. 
This is quite a lot.
“I’m really sorry”, I say.
“We need to be different. Our relationship. Our rules.”
I smile at him… slyly. I need to lighten up the mood… 
“I haven’t agreed to being your girlfriend, you know.” 
He laughs then says, “Do you plan on agreeing at any point?” 
I shrug my shoulders. 
He laughs aloud. 
“You know, I’ve never been in a relationship in my life before. I don’t know what it means to be in a relationship with someone… now, I’m here being courted by a prince who’s been married twice and has kids. What if I’m bad at being your girlfriend? It comes with understanding that you regularly interact with two of your exes – whom you saw to the altar, so it is serious. What if I’m jealous every time you have to go see your kids? What if your kids don’t like me?” 
He chuckles then says, “you are overthinking this. Just take it one day at a time. We will fight. We will both make mistakes. But the important thing is that you know that I’m just Reahile to you – not a prince. And you are my Maphodile – not a commoner. This is our relationship. We do what we want with it then we take it from there.” 
I nod my head. 
“Come here”, he says.
I get up from my chair then walk up to him. He directs me to sit on his lap and I do so.
“You are beautiful”, he says to me.
I blush. 
“It’s just me and you. Okay?”
I nod my head. 
He kisses me.
I actually kiss him back. 
“So, can we hang out tomorrow?” Him.
“Okay. What do you want to do?” I ask him. Im actually feeling excited. 
“We can do a movie after we’ve had some dinner”, he says.
“I’d love that. I’ve never been to a cinema before”, I say.
“It’s pretty cold in there. Make sure you have something warm to wear”, he says.
“Noted. Anything else?”
“Just be you… I’ll enjoy the company.”
We kiss again. I brush his bold head as we kiss. He holds my boobs. It actually feels so nice. 

I’m finally walking him to his car. He drives a Jaguar F-Pace. Black in colour. It’s a very beautiful car. 
“I’ll phone you when I get home”, he says to me as he leans against his car. 
“Okay. I’ll probably be up studying”, I say.
“Do you want me to stay over with you?”
I shake my head then say, “i need to study. If you are here, you’ll distract me.”
He smiles at me. 
We kiss one more time, then he gets into his car and leaves. 

…

The cinemas

We arrive at some private mall. I’ve never even been here before. I didn’t know this place existed. Also, we are surrounded by security. We have two bodyguards walking ahead of us and two walking behind us. We left two guarding the car and two left before all of us to inspect the cinema apparently. I wouldn’t be surprised if we are the only people in that cinema. This is quite dramatic. But I understand. Being royalty is a big deal. 
He’s wearing a black tracksuit with a black beanie. His sneakers are also black. I’m out here in tight blue jeans, a white t-shirt and a grey long cardigan jersey. I’m wearing white sneakers too. 
We are holding hands as we walk. I’ve seen bodyguards wrestling people with cameras and phones. Is this really going to be my life? I must phone Mamholo and ask her to talk me into liking this. I’m actually shaking. He holds my hand tighter, as if telling me to relax… he’s here for me. 

We are now getting popcorn and slushies. He tells me that putting whispers and wine gums in popcorn is a well-kept secret, so I get them to excite my tastebuds. 

We get into the cinema. It’s literally just us in here.
“Bathong wena! You booked out an entire cinema for us?” I ask him.
He just smiles at me. 
“You know you didn’t have to do all of this, right? I’m not dating you for all your money and all your privilege”, I say.
“I know. But is it at all possible for you to allow me to spoil you? To do things for you? The only woman in my life who should benefit from all of this is you.” 
“As long as you know that I appreciate all of this, but it’s not all that I want from you.”
He kisses me.

The movie starts. It’s some old movie. A comedy. I think he said it’s called Home Alone. I’ve been in stitches all night. He was laughing too. I think he was mostly laughing at me laughing the whole time. We were even served dinner in this cinema. It was a nice evening and I kinda don’t want it to end.
The movie ends and the lights come on in the cinema.
“I don’t want the night to end.” I sulk. 
“It doesn’t have to”, he says.
I giggle, but I’m slightly sad.
We walk out, holding hands even. 
We make our way to the car – guards around us again. 
We get in the car, and he drives off.
“So, am I sleeping over at your place or are you sleeping over at mine?” He says.
“Don’t you live at the royal house?” 
“I do.”
“So, you just take girls there to sleep over?” 
Kanti isn’t that place sacred ground?! 
“I don’t take girls there. You are my girlfriend and I want you to be in my life for the long haul.” 
“I’m not going to the royal house. It’s too weird.” I say.
He’s just quiet and drives on. I think I bore him hey. I bore him big time.
The drive to my place is silent.

We finally arrive. He parks his car. He seems pissed off. Hai bo, is he really this touched that I don’t want to sleep at the royal house? He needs to relax!
He flies out of the car and runs to the apartment. Heh bathung?!
I rush behind him. 
When I get to my apartment, I find the king and Vanessa half-naked trying to explain themselves to Reahile. 
I’m so shocked! 
My eyes! 
I feel like I’m going to go blind or I’ll be cursed for the rest of my life for seeing the king in such a compromising state. What the hell is wrong with Vanessa?! This is probably the real reason why I was signing NDAs! What the fuck?! 
After a fist fight breaks out between Rea and his father, the king leaves our place and Rea follows him. 
Vanessa and I look at each other. I shake my head at her.
“I don’t have to explain myself to you!” She immediately says.
“I wasn’t looking for an explanation. I’m not interested in one because I can clearly see that something is terribly wrong with you. You cannot be a normal person and think the shit you do is normal. You must just accompany Bridgette to her brothels and get to work when you get there.” 
“O reng?! How dare you! Who do you think you are?!” She yells at me.
“Whatever I am is far much better than what you are! Usifebe Vanessa! Usifebe sa-higher grade! And I’ll tell you this for free because lona di-febe don’t call each other out! This will not end well! The queen will make you pay for this, and I just hope that you are ready for whatever is thrown your way! I hope all of this is worth it!”
With this, I charge to my room and leave her standing in the middle of our living room. 
Yoh! 
Bofebe bobukana?! 
Sies!