I just woke up in my bed alone again. I have officially ended things with Thabiso because I really do want to fix things with Khotso. But he is so distant. I don’t even know what to make of the distance anymore. He doesn’t touch me and with me having to stay away from the royal house because there is a new baby, I cannot just show up anymore and demand answers from him. He missed our doctor’s appointment for the baby’s check-up and I just feel so lonely. Baby Mohale has turned three months already and there are already pictures of him with Maboko’s son and Teboho. I know that they are attending an event soon and someone has to look after that child. I am coordinating the event, so I am well aware of the guest list. 

I go on my social media and scroll through my Instagram. I see that the twins are out with Regodise, Maboko, Teboho, Khabane and baby Mohale. I check the location then make my way there. I notice that there is actually an extra girl there. It had better not be a plus one for Khotso.

I cannot believe that I am being blown off like this. Regodise better not have opened her mouth about the paternity of this child. The place that they are at is not too far from where I stay. I am there in no time and as I climb out of my car, I notice the car that Ona bought for Regodise. So they are still here. I pay for my entrance then start walking in, making my way to the picnic area. As I walk towards them, I notice the extra – the plus one – all over my man like a bad rash. Teboho and Regodise – the legendary side bitches of Tholoana Kingdom – are okay with this. No one is enquiring where Fikile is. They are just sitting there, nursing babies and watching this slut submit an application to fuck my man. It is Ona who sees me first walking towards them and he is laughing – in proper stitches. I don’t even know if I feel humiliated or upset right now. 

“Hi”, I say as I stand in front of them. Ona was so busy laughing, he didn’t give them a heads up. Now everyone is shocked to see me. 

“Hi”, it’s Khotso’s slut who greets me while everyone else is simply tongue-tied. Khotso just stares at me. 

“I’m Fikile. Khotso’s girlfriend and the mother of his child.” I introduce myself to the slut. 

“And I’m Gcina. Lovely to meet you Fikile, mother of his child.” 

“And girlfriend.” 

“I caught that. But it’s not worth mentioning because unless it’s wife, Khotso is considered single before the eyes of the law.” 

YHOOOOOO! I AM BEING TESTED! WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK IS THIS?! 

Ona is still laughing and I am five minutes away from slapping the joke out of him. Everyone notices that my face and my mood have changed for the worst. 

“Khotso!” I yell. But my heart is so heavy, my voice is stuck in my throat. 

“What are you doing here, Fikile?” That’s honestly what Khotso is going to ask me right now? 

“You have your slut speaking to me like this and that is the question that you want to ask me right now?” I am so upset! My heart feels like it is about to burst out of my chest. 

“Is everything okay over here?” Ona’s parents, Uncle Shaka and Aunt Nosi, and Uncle Qaphela and Aunt Pearl have just walked up to this rather awkward situation. It is Aunt Pearl who has enquired on the situation. 

“I don’t know yaz, mama. Fikile, the mother of his child, just walked up here, raised her own blood pressure and is now calling me Khotso’s slut.” 

Mama? Is this Aunt Pearl’s and Uncle Qaphela’s daughter? Really?

“Sisi, are you okay?” Aunt Pearl asks me, but she looks like she is going to slap me any minute from now. 

“I’m fine, Aunt Pearl. Khotso, can I please just speak to you privately for a minute?” I ask him. 

“No”, Khotso says to me. Everyone is taken aback by this. 

“Khotso, don’t be childish. Go deal with this. We would like to get on with our day.” Queen Kea says to Khotso. 

Khotso hesitantly stands up and walks towards me as Ona and Gcina giggle at something. I’m going to run these two over with a car one day. It is Regodise that I cannot read. She looks like she feels sorry for me, but I don’t understand why she is just sitting there and not doing anything about this. Why didn’t she even invite me to whatever is going on here? 

“What’s up?” Khotso asks me now that we are alone. 

“I should be asking you that question. Khotso, what the fuck? You miss our baby’s check-up, you blow me off for weeks and you slip away from me with each passing day. What is going on, Khotso? I need you now more than ever to be there for me and our child. And I just feel as if I am losing you because of this child.” 

He looks away from me. 

“Khotso –

“We are celebrating Mohale’s third month on earth today with family and close friends. Don’t ruin this for my son.” 

“Khotso, am I not close to you anymore? Is this really us right now? We exclude each other from things?” 

“I just need some space, Fikile.”

“Space from me?” 

“Space from our relationship.” 

“While we prepare to have a child?” 

“Especially while we prepare to have a child. But I’ll be ready by the time it is born to be its father.” 

What the hell?! 

Now, I cannot help but cry. 

“Khotso, please –

“I’ll call you later, okay? Drive safely.” 

Then he just walks away from me. Is he being serious right now? 

I get into my car and cry a bit. I honestly cannot believe that this is happening. Is it at all possible that he knows what is going on? Regodise wouldn’t do that to me. She just wouldn’t. I cannot believe it. I just start my engine and simply start driving. I am not going back to my flat. This is no time to be alone. If Khotso is not going to be there for me, I am going home. I am tired of behaving as if my parents threw me away in a bin and no longer care about me. I came to this stupid kingdom for Khotso and if he is done with me, I don’t see why I still need to be here. I can be just as successful and better loved far away from him and his fucken ego and that stupid egotistical family of his that believes it is better than everyone. Actually, let me drive to my place and pack all my shit. I have no plans of coming back to this fucken kuvuki land. 

It takes me two hours to fill my traveling bags with my clothes, shoes and accessories. I take them to the car then plug my cellphone on my phone charger. I plug my iPad in my powerbank then head back upstairs and lock up my flat. I am Fikile Mbatha. I have begged that man enough! I should be ashamed – ngincenge indoda to that degree? I’ll end up dead like Thato at this rate. His Royal Highness my ass! Nx!

As I drive away from my complex, I dial an agent. I tell them that I would like to rent out my apartment for nothing less than R25 000. It is actually worth so much more, but the R25 000 a month is all that I will need to get by until I start my business in Johannesburg. That’s another thing, I’m done being an employee as well. The apartment comes fully furnished and it is a bargain. Even the estate agent agrees with me and promises to have a tenant for me by the end of this week. As for my job, I’m AWOL bitches! Dismiss me in my absence for all I care. I’m just so done with Tholoana Kingdom it’s not even funny. As soon as my business is up and running, I’m getting rid of that apartment as well. 

…

I arrive at my parents’ house at 5am. I drove through the night. My mother is already watering her garden and my father is already reading his newspaper on the veranda. The streets of Soweto, Chiawelo, are already busy. People are rushing to work and the mamas that sell amagwinya are already setting up their stalls. I cry a little bit because this is not how I imagined coming back home. But I am here to lick my wounds, pick up the pieces and move on with my life. My father stands up from the couch that he is sitting on and my mom stops whatever it is that she is doing in the garden. 

“Fikile! Uwe ngane yami?” That would be my dad. I get extremely emotional at how happy he is to see me. 

“Yebo baba, yimi.” I say as I embrace him. My mother is in so much disbelief. When I am done hugging my father, I look at my mother and says, “MaKhumalo, Sawubona.” 

“Isiphosethusifikile? Ngane yami?” Now you know why I do not use my full name. I would have failed grade one if I had to learn how to write all of that while some kids were only learning how to write Mpho.

My parents and I just embrace each other. I needed this. The love. The warmth. I just needed to remember that I’m important too, no matter how the Mohales view me. 

“Kwenze njani? Umsind’ongaka so early in the morning?” My brother stops in his tracks when he sees me. My two sisters are right behind him. They are in uniform and clearly ready to catch a taxi to work. My eldest sister, Noni (short for Nonkululeko) is a nurse. My other sister, the second born, is a PA at some company. Her name is Nelisile (Neli for short). My brother is the third born. He is a construction worker and his name is Sibongiseni. We call him Sbo for short. I am the last born. None of my siblings ever moved out of home. But they genuinely helped me to extend our parents’ house and build rooms for each of us outside. Each room has a bathroom and is designed to be an open space accommodating a bed and whatever other furniture you want. They also built a double garage and I always asked them why because none of them have cars. Well, now it will work for me. My BMW X3 is not parking in the bare yard overnight. 

Our parents’ house is a big house. It has five bedrooms inside the house and four outside bedrooms that we built. The yard is huge. Noni has two daughters. Neli has one daughter. They all stay inside the house. Sbo and I do not have children at all. I want to abort the one that I am carrying. I’m five months in, but once I’m settled, I will ask Noni to help me abort the child. I want nothing from Tholoana Kingdom to linger behind me. 

“Fikile?” Noni. 

“Sanibonani.” Me. 

“Kwenze njani? Is it that prince? Do I need to kill someone?” The way Sbo thinks he is an untouchable thug – it is actually funny considering that I dated quite the thug and was around his thug brother and thug step-father, I can safely say that he is no match for them. 

“Hai bo! I’ve just come back home for good.” I say. 

Everyone can just see that I’m broken. They all feel sorry for me. 

“I just want to rest a bit. So, I’ll go sleep and catch up with you guys later.” I say. 

Sbo is the one who hugs me and tells me that whatever it is, I am going to be okay. 

“You going to make me cry”, I say. 

“Awuthi ngiphuthume ke.” He says. His greatest fear is a female’s tear. So just cry to get out of anything with Sbo. 

They all say goodbye to me and I just get into the house and pass out on the couch. My outside room has no furniture.

…

I hear TV playing in a distance and I’m not sure if I’m dreaming or what. I open one eye and see that Sibongiseni is here watching television. He notices that I am awake and says, “WehFikile, lapho ubuya khona kulalwa kosofa?” 

“Hai bo, you know that my room does not have any furniture nje. I just needed some sleep. I drove through the night.” 

“Why didn’t you go and sleep in my room? I didn’t lock it.” 

“I was respecting your privacy.” I say. 

He just looks at me. 

I get up from the couch and sit up. I stretch a bit. 

“I need to go and talk to mom and dad now anyway.” I say. 

“Are you going to live with us?” He asks me. 

I nod my head and say, “Yeah, just until I sort myself out.” 

“You can stay as long as you want. This is also your home no matter what anyone has to say.” 

“Did Noni or Neli say anything?” I mean, why would he put it like that? 

“Don’t worry about that. You are home now. Don’t let anyone take that away from you.” 

He walks with me to the lounge area where my parents are drinking tea and eating baked scones. My father is reading a book. He has always been a nerd. He used to be a male nurse. He has retired now. My mother used to be an administrator for some company in Johannesburg. When Noni started working, she made helped my parents get a bigger house, thus rented this place for the family. When I started working, I bought the house. It was a standard three-bedroom township house. Mom and dad slept in one bedroom. Sibongiseni had to have his privacy as the only boy, so he had his own bedroom. My sisters and I shared a bedroom. We had one open space in the house that we treated as a bathroom and we had one toilet outside the house. We would bath in vaskom dishes in the assigned bathroom. When we were in a serious hurry, some people would bath in the assigned bathroom while others bathed in their bedrooms. Each person had their own vaskom dish. My siblings and I broke the house down and started building it from scratch so that our parents could retire comfortably. Now, the house has five bedrooms inside of the house. It has a huge TV room, a dining area and a lounge area. We have three bathrooms in the house: one is an insuite bathroom to my parents’ bedroom, one is opposite the bedrooms and one is close to the TV room and we call it a guest bathroom. Each bathroom has a toilet, a shower and a bathtub. Our kitchen is my mother’s dream come true. The lounge area is my father’s favourite part of the house. He just sits in here and listens to jazz while reading his newspaper. Then we have the veranda outside with adequate outside furniture. We all love it there on hot as well as on rainy days. 

I sit next to my mother and she starts brushing my hands. She was knitting hats. She knits in summer then when winter creeps in, she walks around Soweto and gives hats to the homeless. Sibongiseni sits next to our father. 

“Mama, baba, I have come home permanently.” I say. 

“You are always welcome here, Isiphosethusifikile. You know that.” Eish this name.  

“Thank you.” 

“What happened in Tholoana Kingdom?” My dad asks. 

“Things didn’t work out between Khotso and me. I got homesick and decided to pack and come home.” I say. 

Everyone nods their head. 

“What are you going to do about work?” My dad asks me. 

“My savings will carry me for about two years. I rented out my apartment, so that money will go a long way as well. I don’t want a job. I want to start a business.” 

“In what?” My dad enquires. 

“A brand, communication and marketing consulting business. I’m good at brand, communications and marketing. I make companies millions with my skills and knowledge. Now I want to work for myself.” I explain. 

My dad nods his head then says, “Starting a business is not easy, Fiki”. 

Can my parents just call me Fikile? Aseblief tog. 

“I know, baba. But when have I ever been afraid to take risks?” 

My parents and Sbo smile at me. I smile at them. 

“For now, I’m going to offload my suitcases and go to the mall to see if I cannot get a bed at least.” 

“I can come with you if you like.” Sbo offers. 

“Okay sure.” 

“Let me quickly shower then we are on.” 

“Okay, I’ll unpack my stuff in the meantime. Wait… Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” 

“I have the afternoon off.” He says and runs out of the lounge. 

My parents and I laugh. 

“And that baby that you are carrying?” My mom asks me. 

“I’m going to abort it.” 

“Fikile!” My mom says and my dad is just simply concerned. 

“I don’t want it, mama.” 

“What did that boy do to you, baby girl?” My dad enquires. 

“Nothing. I am the one who hurt him. This baby is not his.” 

I see the disappointment on their faces so explicitly displayed. 

“I’m going to be okay, baba. I just need to start over. Trust me.” 

Sbo and I are at Eastgate. He said we couldn’t go to any mall in the South because his boss would see him and he would be shit because he said he wasn’t feeling well. Lol! Sibongiseni has always been – obnoxiously himself. I thought he came here to help me shop for stuff, but he has now disappeared. He told me that he would phone me when he is done. So, here I am walking into furniture shops myself. I just need a big ass bed – king-sized bed preferably, a classy couch and a TV that I will mount on my wall. A smart TV please. 

“Hi”, a man greets me. A very nice man, may I add. 

“Hello”, I greet him back. 

“How are you?” He asks me. 

“I’m trying to get some furniture and my brother ditched me.” 

We both laugh. 

“New place?” 

“Nope. I just moved back in with my parents. I moved up here from Tholoana Kingdom.” 

“Oh, that place. Well, welcome to South Africa?” 

“Well, more like welcome back. I am from here.” 

“What made you leave our beautiful country for that kingdom? Not enough opportunities here at home?” 

“I ran after a man. But it’s done now and here I am.”

“Sorry.” He says. 

“It’s life. And you? What brings you here? Buying bread for the household?” 

“Just me. My daughter is in boarding school, so it’s just me at home.” 

“And your wife?” 

“She passed away.” 

“I’m so sorry.” I say. 

“Thomas”, he says as he extends his hand for me to shake. 

“Fikile”, I say as I accept the hand and shake it. 

We share a smile – a moment. 

“So how does one get hold of you, Fikile?” 

I take his cellphone and punch in my number. He smiles at me as I do this. I hand him his cellphone. 

“Thank you.” He says. 

“Can I get back to my shopping now, please?” 

“Sure. I’ll call you later. Enjoy your shopping.” 

“You too.” 

Sibongiseni comes back and finds me paying the delivery guy. 

“You bought a TV?” he asks me. 

“Yes, Sibongiseni. I bought a TV.” 

“A 65inch?” 

“Do you want a TV, Sibongiseni?” 

He smiles at me. 

I ask the shop people to add another a TV, a 55inch. 

“55?” 

“I’ll take the 55inch, Sibongiseni. You can have the 65inch. I cannot afford another 65inch.” I say. 

He is so excited. Lol!

After I pay, he takes me to some baby store. The store is close to closing, they are just waiting for me to come and pay, I suppose. There are boxes upon boxes of stuff here. 

“Sibongiseni? And then?” I enquire. 

He pulls me to the side and says, “Sisi, ngimithisile. I am too scared to tell mom and dad. Please help me take care of the situation until I know the next step.” 

I just look at him then head to the cashiers. I pay R10 000 for all of these things then I ask to have the stuff taken to my car. He is so happy he cannot even restrain himself. 

As we drive to some skwatta camp, Sbo is filling me in on all of this drama. I honestly came to the perfect place to forget about my drama. My family’s drama is going to keep me entertained. The girl was a one-night stand and now he just wants his daughter to turn one then he will take his daughter and raise her himself. 

“I’m pregnant, bhuti. But I want to have an abortion.” I tell him. 

He is so shocked. My tummy is very small. I don’t even know how my mom saw that I’m pregnant. 

“What did Khotso say?” He asks me. 

“It’s not his”, I say. 

“Yho, Fikile.” 

“I know. I’m going to ask Noni to help me abort this child.”

“Do you need anything, sisi?” 

“Just to abort this child. Please help me if you can.” 

“I’ll drive you there and bring you back home. Noni will help you. Don’t worry.” He just wants an opportunity to drive my car. But it’s fine, I’ll take it. 

We drive into the skwatta camp. I’m so scared for my car. Yhooooo… 

Sbo climbs off the car. He knocks on the shack and I start unpacking the stuff that we bought, even groceries. 

“This is your babekazi, Fikile.” 

The daughter is so beautiful! She has our eyes and lips. She is going to be quite the mamacita. He lets me hold her. She doesn’t cry when I hold her. I greet her and she smiles at me. 

“Sawubona”, the mother greets me. 

“Hello sisi.” 

“I’m Thina”, she says. 

“Nice to meet you, Thina. I’m Fikile. Please take my number and if you can’t find Sbo when you need anything for Khanyisa, you can always call me.” Khanyisa is the baby girl. Sbo mentioned the name to me when he was explaining how he became a broke father. 

She smiles at me and pulls out a R299 cellphone then takes my number. 

We spend about an hour here. Sbo is setting up the baby’s cot, the baby’s playpen and the baby’s eating chair. These things take up a lot of space in this shack. I wonder if Thina lives here alone or with some leech of a relative. The shack is spacious, but it is only fit for one adult. Thina is cooking dinner and I am playing with my beautiful niece, Khanyisa. We leave when I tell Sbo that our furniture is arriving and we have to be there when the truck gets there. We leave because he just wants his TV mounted tonight. This guy!

…

My king-sized bed is unpacked and set up with my wall-mounted headboard and two of my black side pedestals. I have a black six-layered drawers’ set against my wall. My TV is mounted on the other side of the wall. Then I have a beautiful navy blue velvet long couch with yellow throw pillows and a grey throw blanket. I have a fridge in here as well to store any private food. My mom complained, but I need my snacks and food. I then have a corner in my room that I have put a study desk and an office chair. My man-size printer is next to my desk. I have a book shelf and a cabinet on the other side of my desk. I have my mini office set up so I can push work. I hope my nieces won’t think I’m an internet café. This is for my work and business. I have bought myself a wifi extender for my room. There is fibre and we pay for it. I just have the extender so that internet can be fast in my room. 

I am watching some show on Showmax as I unpack my bags. It helps me get going honestly and when I finish at midnight, my things are all nicely packed up. I check my phone before I go and shower and it hurts me a bit that Khotso has not even tried to contact me. I thank God that Noni agreed to help me get rid of this child that I am carrying tomorrow morning. Sbo will drive me there and bring me back home. For now, let me enjoy my shower, then my new bedding honey. Also, the agent has already confirmed a tenant that will be moving in tomorrow. 

This chapter of my life is titled “The Next Step.” 

…

Ona and I are babysitting Mohale while Dise is preparing breakfast with my mom for the family. The young champ is growing up very fast. He is leaning against me now as Ona and I chat away. Ona is so happy man. I am happy for him.

“So Fiks has left. She’s gone back to South Africa. She has moved back in with her parents and her siblings. Uncle Q has also confirmed that she had an abortion.” I tell him. 

“Abortion? Wasn’t she close to giving birth?” Ona asks me. 

I shrug my shoulders. 

“How do you feel about the situation?” He asks me. 

“I’m disappointed that this is how Fiks and I ended. But it was never going to work after what she did. I couldn’t even pretend to touch her.” 

“You don’t deserve what she did to you. She did all of us a favour by leaving.”

“Yeah. I am renting her flat from an agent. She was renting it out for R25k. I am paying her R45k. We can use it for cooking the meth. The apartment next to it will then be used to cut the coke.” 

“What did morena say?” 

“He is onboard. It is a high market complex. No one will think to look there for any illegal activity. It is two apartments per block and we renting out both apartments in that block – well, we are renting Fikile’s one. The other apartment we bought. The next block is more than 10km away. It’s perfect.” 

He nods his head. 

“And Fiks? Are you letting her live?” Ona asks me. 

“For now. She’s gone so she will not bother us. But I cannot promise for how long.” 

Ona nods his head then he says, “So you and Uncle Q’s daughter….”

I smile at him. 

“She is hot, isn’t she?” I say. 

“I’m a married man. I am no longer allowed to have opinions like that about people.” 

We both laugh. 

“But ja man, she’s nice. We’ve been talking.” I tell him. 

“Do you want to do more than just talk to her?” 

“I actually want something solid with her. She’s a real one.” 

“For real? Gcina?” 

“Yeah!” 

We both burst into laughter. 

“How are you going to convince Aunt Pearl and Uncle Q that she should move up here? Also, they are very aware that we are criminals. You think they’ll let you date their baby girl?” 

I actually ponder a bit and think about it. 

“Baby! Abuti! Come eat”, Regodise calls us. 

As Ona and I walk into the dining area, Aunt Pearl and Uncle Q are here and Uncle Q is looking at me like he wants to punch the life out of me. Gcina comes at me and kisses me on the cheek, saying, “Hey you.” This aggravates Uncle Q. 

“G, would you like to sit next to Khotso? I don’t mind giving up my chair for you”, Ona says as he laughs. He is lucky that Mohale is in his arms, else I would –

“Ntombikayise, come sit next to your mother and I”, Uncle Q says. 

This is definitely going to be awkward. 

Regodise serves Ona and me our plates and juice. Then she disappears to go and get Mohale’s feeding chair. She takes Mohale from Ona, kissing him while doing that, then puts Mohale in his chair. She is the last to sit down with her plate and juice. 

No one is saying a word at this table. Gcina keeps stealing looks at me and I am just scared of her father. Aunt Pearl keeps giggling with my mom. Morena looks very uncomfortable. 

“So Khotso, I hear that you and Gcina are going to Sun City”, Aunt Pearl says. 

“It was meant to be a surprise, Nobantu.” Gcina says. 

“A surprise? For what exactly?” 

Silence. 

“Surprise”, Uncle Q sarcastically says. 

I’m actually starting to sweat now. Regodise is looking at me like –

“Baby, maybe you should get Khotso a glass of water”, Ona says, laughing. 

Regodise throws Ona a look that shuts him up and we are all very thankful. 

“Uncle Q, I really didn’t mean to disrespect you or Aunt Pearl. I’m sorry if I came across as if I am disrespecting you.” Gcina is smiling as I say this and I don’t understand why. This is not the time to smile. 

“Khotso, are you not in a committed relationship with that Fikile girl?” Uncle Q asks me.

“We are no longer together, Uncle Q.”

Everyone is surprised to hear this. Only Ona and morena know that Fikile is even back in South Africa now, permanently. Uncle Q probably thinks she is just visiting her parents and had an abortion because we are not ready for a child. My mom looks at me as if she is searching me for confirmation that I’m okay. 

“Is it because of Gcina?” Aunt Pearl asks me. 

“No, Aunt Pearl. Gcina and I are not a scandalous situation. I really like her and I’d really appreciate your blessings in courting her.” I say. 

“Njengoba sekuyiwa kuma-surprise trip wase-Sun City nje?” Aunt Pearl says and my mom giggles. 

“Khotso, you know that you are a son to me, right?” Uncle Q. 

I nod my head. 

“So I know that at your age, you are probably still messing around. I support you in finding yourself along this manhood journey, but not when you are going to be dribbling my daughter’s heart. I’ll murder you, son.” Uncle Q says. 

“Uncle Q, I’d never disrespect you or Aunt Pearl like that. Most importantly, I’d never mess with Gcina like that. The heat of her head is a combination of you and Aunt Pearl, so I value my life.” I say and everyone laughs, including Uncle Q. Then I say, “We are just talking for now. If we end up together, we would love your blessings. If we don’t, then we remain friends. The point is I like her and she likes me. We are having fun getting to know each other better. Please let us.” 

“You have my blessings, my son. With Gcina’s choices, you are a good sign of growth on her end. I trust you and I think your head is in the right place. Just take your time, both of you. Khotso, you are coming out of a long-term relationship with a woman you shared a lot with. Give yourself time to heal and be careful to not fall into the trap of making Gcina your rebound. Gcina, take your time. Enjoy him –

“Enjoy him?! Nobantu –

“Hai bo, Qaphela! Okay fine, what I mean is that Gcina must enjoy her time with him, but give him space to heal so that if you decide to make him yours, baby girl, he is all yours. Trust me when I say that you don’t want the man if another woman has the heart. Take your time.” 

“Thank you, Nobantu. I genuinely appreciate your support.” Gcina says to her mother. 

Then she looks at her father and says, “Baba, wena uthini?” 

“Ntombikayise –

“Baba, he is a good man. He is good to me. He cares about me and nami ngimukhonzile kakhulu. I want to be happy and have what you and Nobantu have one day. I think I made a good call with this one.” She says. This actually makes me smile. 

Uncle Q takes a deep breath and says, “Khotso, if you ever – 

“I won’t, Uncle Q. I promise.” I say.

He stands up and walks towards me. I stand up too. He hugs me and says, “I’m trusting you, son. Don’t make me murder you. I’ve done time. I have no problem going back for another twenty-five years.” 

I just laugh. But I’m glad this is over and the elephant in the room is addressed. 

As Uncle Q sits down, morena says, “Gcina, Khotso cannot be the only one asking for good relations and blessings.”

We all laugh, but morena seems serious. 

“Khuluma phela, MaHadebe”, Aunt Pearl says to Gcina. 

This is very unnecessary. Morena and Ona are already looking at each other and we all already know that they are about to have fun with my potential girlfriend. 

Gcina clears her throat and says, “Aunt Kea and Uncle Mo, please allow me to date Khotso? I really like him and it would mean a lot to me if I had your blessings to perhaps be his girlfriend one day should he and I decide to take our connection to the next level.” 

My mom smiles at her. She is so sincere. Morena looks at Ona. Ona chuckles and says, “G, raise your right hand please.” 

Everyone is already giggling, but Gcina plays along. 

“G, do you promise to do right by my brother no matter how tough it gets? Because it can get hectic around here and we will always have your back and do right by you. We just want to know that we can expect the same from you.” Ona says. 

“You have my word, Ona.” She says. I wink at her. She smiles at me. 

“I’m not done – hold the winks.” Ona says and we all laugh again. 

“Thank you for choosing him. Our entire family is trusting you with his heart. Your father has asked him to not break your heart. I am asking you, from the depths of my soul, to please not break his heart. Take care of us and we will take care of you.” Ona. 

“You have my word.” Gcina says. 

“Baby, would you like to give her the hug that Uncle Q gave to Khotso to seal the deal?” Ona says to Dise and we all burst into laughter. Regodise stands up and walks up to Gcina. Gcina stands up and meets Dise half way. They hug each other. I love this. 

…

The Hadebes have left and the vibe is as it should be between us. I walk into the TV room of the main house and I find Dise changing Mohale’s diaper. She is talking to him and he is laughing as she changes his diaper. 

“So, what do you think?” 

She looks up at me and smiles, then says, “What do I think about?” 

“Gcina and me”, I say. 

“You actually care about what I think?” 

“You are my little sister. And I know you have my back. If there is anyone who will be honest with me and has my best intentions at heart, I know and trust that is you.” 

She smiles at me. 

“Well, I think she has always liked you. Fikile has just always been in her way.” 

I laugh because she is not saying this for the first time. 

“She seems to be on the fragile side of life. Do you think she can handle how hectic things can get around here?” She asks me. 

“I don’t know, hey. But I know that you will be good for her in preparing her for all of that”, I say.

She nods her. 

“I like her. She’s a genuine person. I think she is what you need. She will take good care of you and she will always be there to give you hope that there is so much more to life than all the stuff we have to go through just to be comfortable because apparently we are a royal family. Ona’s soul almost diminished because of it. Your soul almost diminished and Fikile didn’t do much to pull you out. Gcina has a purity about her that will do wonders for you. She’s different. She will change here and there, but her core is what I love the most for you.” 

I nod my head. What she is saying to me means everything to me. 

“Thank you, ausi waka. Thank you for choosing Ona. Thank you for taking care of all of us. And thank you for genuinely being my sister.” 

She smiles at me. 

“Eh monna! Are we ready to go?” Ona comes in and says. 

“Where are you guys going?” Dise asks us. 

“To work, baby. I love you.” Ona says to Dise then kisses her. 

…

CRASH! 

Zithulele crashes into a truck that has just crossed our border. We are driving a truck too. Ona and I jump out of the truck and Ona places an explosive on the truck. We run a few meters away from it and the explosive blows the truck open. All the other guys run out of their cars and start stealing the bags that are in this truck. As we do this, gun shots go off. These guys brought back up and so did we. Now people are shooting each other as Ona and I keep emptying bags out of this truck. When we are done, we jump back into the truck. Zithulele reverses our truck and drives towards some guy who is still shooting. He runs the guy over with the truck, causing absolute havoc on the streets and giving our guys a chance to jump into their cars and drive away. We drive away into a ditch. That ditch has morena, Uncle Shaka and Uncle Q waiting for us. As we arrive, more guys come in and empty our truck into the V300 cars that morena, Uncle Shaka and Uncle Q arrived in. As soon as they are done, one of their guys drives away with the truck – after we have changed the number plates – and we hop into one of the cars. 

As we drive, we come across a road block. 

“Didn’t they say that this road would be clear?” Uncle Q enquires. 

“Fuck!” Morena panics. 

“Let’s grab eight bags each and run on foot. We will run through the veld and meet up with the cars again after the road block”, I suggest. 

They all listen to me and indeed grab eight bags each. We run on foot into the bushes, making sure that the trees are hiding us well. We are running extremely fast and I am so glad that no one has knee or hip problems. When we see the road again, it is a dark road. But one of the V300 vehicles appears and we climb in it. 

We get to the warehouse and offload the bags. Each bag has cash, cocaine and meth ingredients. We got a tip off that it was bringing these things in and wanting to push this shit from another country into our country. 

“Well done, boys.” Morena tells us. 

Two girls are here with scales to weigh the coke. They are naked so that they don’t hide it anywhere. 

Three girls are counting money naked – no room to steal and hide the cash too. 

“Where is she?” Ram’holo Thapelo walks in and yells. 

We all look at him. 

“Where is Fikile?!” He yells louder. 

“O so hlanya?” Morena asks him. 

“I called the cops on you and organised that road block you saw out there. If you don’t give me Fikile, I am phoning them to come in here right now and arrest you in the act!” 

Ona is two steps ahead of him. Ona knees him in the back and takes his cellphone from him as he tries to find his breath again. 

“What did you do to her?” Ram’holo asks, out of breath. 

“Not what we are about to do to you!” Ona says to him as he points a gun at him. 

“You can take my life, it’s fine. But please, don’t let anything happen to Fikile.” He keeps saying. 

Morena wastes no time. He puts two bullets through his head. The girls that are counting money and weighing cocaine are extremely traumatised. That reaction instantly tells us that when they are done, they also need to leave here in coffins. They are eye-witnesses to a murder and for obvious reasons, we cannot have any of those walking around. 

“Pope, check this out!” Uncle Shaka says as he goes through one of the bags. 

We all walk towards him and we see him holding a bag of diamonds. We all look at each other. 

“Whoever is in charge of this operation is big. He was brave enough to take us on by bringing this shit into our side of the border and he was smuggling diamonds too? We need to find out who he is and what he wants before he finds us for robbing his shit.” Pope says. 

“And the diamonds?” 

“We will use sales from these diamonds to smuggle out our next batch of girls. But for now, these drugs that we scored from this robbery, make sure we transport them through Thapelo’s body and the bodies of these women.” Pope orders us. 

We nod our heads. What we normally do is open the bodies and put the drugs inside of them, then sow up the bodies. That way, no cop is going to suspect anything. They will not open up dead bodies to search for drugs. This order is headed to Nigeria. 

It is 4am now. We have six bodies that are being opened and are having drugs stashed into them. The cash and diamonds are in bags and loaded in one of the cars. That car leaves with Uncle Q. The meth ingredients leave with Uncle Shaka. The hearse arrives and takes the bodies loaded with cocaine then gets on the road, making its way to Nigeria. Clean up happens and when the warehouse is clean, Ona, morena, Zithulele and I are the last to leave. We get into one of the Fortuners we use for our work. Ona checks his phone and finds that Dise has been blowing up his phone. We are not allowed to answer our phones in the warehouse. We can never be traced back to the warehouse. 

“Where are you?” Dise asks Ona as soon as she answers her phone. 

“I’m on my way home, baby.” Ona is so humble when he answers her.

“Nx!” She hangs up after she clicks her tongue. 

Ona just throws his head on the headrest. Morena and I laugh at him. 

I am home now and I get into my bed. Ona wanted to sleep in my room, but I told him to go and face his wife. Now that I am alone, I make the long-anticipated phone call that I should have made weeks ago. I’m ready. 

“Khotso?” She says in a sleepy voice.

“Fikile. Hello.” I say. 

She is quiet.

“Are you ready to be honest with me about the paternity of the child?” 

“It wasn’t yours, Khotso.” 

I already knew this, but it stabs me in the heart as if I am hearing it for the first time. 

“Why Fikile? Why?” 

“I thought I was doing the right thing. I did believe that you couldn’t have kids and –

“How did you reach that conclusion, Fikile? We were still using condoms.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, Khotso. I’ve left Tholoana Kingdom. I don’t want to end up like Thato. I know how and when to count my losses.” 

“I see.” 

“I really loved you, Khotso.” 

“Just not enough to stay loyal and faithful to me.” 

“Yeah well, a girl can only wait so long without a ring.” 

I laugh because I refuse to believe that anyone is that desperate for marriage. 

“I guess you wanted it too much. I’m beginning to believe that you didn’t want it for the right reasons.” 

“Goodbye Khotso.” 

“Goodbye Fikile.”

“Khotso –

“What?” 

“Am I safe? Will you let me live?” 

“I’m still thinking about it.” I say then I hang up. 

As I am about to sleep, a call comes in. A FaceTime video call even… at this time? Yho, Gcina!  I sit up and answer it. 

“Hey”, me. 

“Hey.”

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” 

“I was, but my mom woke me up to go help her with something.” 

“What are you helping Aunt Pearl with at 5am?” 

“Preparing for a run. She wanted me to join her, but I’d rather wake you up and FaceTime with you.” 

I just smile at her. 

“You don’t look like you were sleeping”, she says. 

“I was chilling with Ona. But, I’m going to sleep now.” 

“Okay. Well, I wanted to check if you are cool to go to SunCity next weekend? My mom kind of blew the surprise, but I’ve made all the bookings and I hope we can still go?” 

“Sure. But this weekend is the great reveal of the face of the Connie.K. perfume line. I’d like you to be my date at the event.” I say. 

“My parents were invited to that. Your mom is one of the faces in the competition, right?” 

“Yeah. Her and my sister.” 

“Sister?” 

“Dise.” 

“Oh. That’s not fair though. No one can win against the queen and princess – especially in Tholoana Kingdom.”

I laugh at this. 

“But I’ll be there, don’t worry.” 

“Thank you. Let me phone you when I wake up, okay?” 

“Okay! I might as well join my mom on her run. Bye.” 

“Bye baby.”