Pearl

It’s been a great week. The week of holidaying with my spoiled child and my new found sex buddy has been great. I am no longer sexually frustrated. Qaphela did more than just open the flood gates again. He made me feel good and wanted again. The air is so much cooler. The birds’ singing is so much louder. The flowers are a lot brighter. Yoga feels so much more beautiful. I’m happy. I’m glowing. IVF drip treatment for who? For what? He is even more pleasant nje lately. He is funnier and looks a lot lighter. His sexual innuendos are through the roof and Gcina is just over us. But today is our last night here and we need to address what Qaphela and I have been trying to address since before we arrived here.

Qaphela and I are sitting next to each other. We have a fleece blanket over us. Qaphela is slouching on the couch, looking like he does not want to be here. My legs are crossed and I am sitting up straight because hey, my posture is even better now. Gcina is sitting on a one seater couch opposite us.

“Gcina, we need to conclude our conversation about your next steps.” I start.

She rolls her eyes at me. This child – she is even getting me out of my sexified mood.

“Gcina, we are trying here. Would it kill you to just meet us half way?” Me.

“So the two of you have sex and now you think you are parents of the year?” Gcina says to me.

“Gcinumama Ntombikayise Shange, I am your mother! We are your parents! You may not like me, but you will respect me! I will slap the shit out of you very quickly! Qaphela and I having sex has nothing to do with you being as old as you are and having nothing to show for your life. You are just taking up air instead of taking up space!” I shout at her.

She looks scared of me. Good. Qaphela is just shocked.

“Ntombikayise, what is the problem?” Qaphela asks her. He is too gentle with her and it’s starting to annoy me.

Gcina doesn’t say anything. Qaphela and I look at each other.

“Gcina, do you not want better for yourself? Do you want to just be floating through life for the rest of your life? What do you want?” I ask her.

“I do want better”, she mumbles.

“What is better for you, Gcina?” I ask her.

“I want a business”, she says.

This girl!

What does she think a business is? But at least I am getting her to talk, so let me humour this idea.

“A business in what, Gcina?” I ask her. Qaphela is brushing my thighs like he used to do when I was losing my temper over something. We were so young,but he was always able to calm me down. I genuinely appreciate how much he remembers me and everything that was me.

“I want to own a cleaning service. I want to go into a lab and create cleaning products then offer a service of domestic workers and sell cleaning products. I want it to start in KZN then move out into GP. My clients will be people like you, Nobantu, who want nothing to do with domestic work.” Yaz Gcina is also insulting me in that sentence.

“You do realise that you have to go to school for that, right? You are talking about creating products and providing services to people who will give you hell if you supply a shit service or a shit product. You need to finish a matric and actually have a degree.” I say.

She rolls her eyes at me again.

“Ntombikayise, how do you think your business will take off and make money if you don’t have the education?” Qaphela asks her.

“The same way that you have a business, but you’ve spent half your life in prison”, this twit says to my Qaphela. No one speaks to my Q like that, no one!

“Gcina, I promise you, my child. I swear to you – I will jump over this coffee table and box the breath out of you if you think you are going to continue this conversation speaking to us like we are your friends. Do you understand me?” I threaten her and I see genuine fear in her eyes. She knows I will do it. I never aim to disappoint.

She nods her head.

“Apologise to your father”, I command.

“Ngiyaxolisa baba”. Gcina says.

Qaphela sits up from his slouching position and rubs his hands together. He is losing his temper. He always gets this tense before he explodes. I put my hand over his hands and look at him. He looks at me. I can see the anger subsiding through his eyes.

“Gcina, is there another conversation that we should perhaps be having here? Are we putting the cart in front of the horse by raising a future issue when there is something else that should clearly be discussed first?” Qaphela asks her. He is calm, but I know Qaphela. When he starts asking such questions, this conversation will end in tears if Gcina continues to be herself.

“No baba”, Gcina says. I think she knows this side to him as well because her voice is low and her eyes are not facing us. She looks like she is about to cry.

“Ntombikayise, I am not going to apologise for leading the life that I lead. I did my time and before the law, I am rehabilitated. So if you plan on accusing me of anything without evidence, it is defamation of character. Are you aware? Or you just swing your tongue in any direction you please and not be mindful that there are consequences for the things that come out of your mouth?”

SILENCE! The smart mouth has nothing smart to say anymore.  

“Ntombikayise, you will either say whatever you need to say now and we move on. Or, you can keep quiet – you are well within your rights – and you stop disrespecting your mother and me. I have just about tolerated enough of this nonsense, now. If you are expecting me to apologise for loving Nobantu, it’s not happening.”

Woah!

But why do I feel so in love too?

“I love Nobantu and yes, we have sex and we are not going to stop. But that’s an element of our relationship that has nothing to do with you. I don’t understand how Nobantu’s and my sex life has anything to do with what we are trying to fix and make better for you. Unless you have insights that we don’t?”

SILENCE!

Allow me to just say, I LOVE THIS SIDE OF QAPHELA! It just makes me wet.

“Now, let’s try this conversation again… you want to have a business, but you don’t want to study for it. Why?” Qaphela.

Take me now, Qaphela! I’m yours!

“Cleaning is not something you need to go to school for”, she says, much more humble and with the adequate amount of respect required from a child when speaking to its parents.

“But managing people and creating products are two skills you need to go to school for”, I say.

She sighs.

“Fine, I’ll go back to school.” She says.

“And you’ll come live with me. Because you will not waste another cent of my money doing Lord knows what eNdwedwe when you should be in a classroom. You’ll go write your matric then go to UKZN and get a bloody degree.” I say.

She looks like she wants to fight me.

“Or you stay with me”, Qaphela says.

“Next thing you’ll be saying I’ll be living with both of you”, Gcina.

This child!

This child!

“And what’s wrong with that? We are your parents! And if we decide that’s what is going to happen, then that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” Qaphela.

…

Today we go back home. I don’t know how to feel about the conversation from last night, but I do think that living with Gcina will do her and me some good. We will fight, but eventually we will see each other for who and what we really are. I want what is best for her. I am sorry that I have lost out on her. I am okay if she hates me forever, as long as she knows that I am her mother and I love her.

But I just need to check in on Qaphela. He just went hectic on us because of this human we call a child and I don’t like that she took him there.

I walk into his designated room and hear the shower going on. He is taking a shower. I lie down on his bed and wait for him.

He comes out after about ten minutes and is shocked to me lying on his bed. But he smiles at me. I am distracted and embarrassed because he is completely naked. He sees my embarrassment and he laughs at me. He wears underwearthen lies next to me.

“I am worried about you”, I tell him.

“Why?”

“Gcina brought out a side to you that I haven’t seen in a long time.”

“I am okay. She’s a child and she’s still going to bring out monsters in us. As much as we need to love her, we also need to make it very clear who the parents are around here. That child inherited your tongue and it’s a problem.”

“What? Never! My tongue is nothing like that child’s tongue! Rha!”

We both laugh as I say this.

Then I wear my serious face.

“Did you mean what you said? About you loving me?” I ask him.

“I never stopped loving you, Nobantu. And I’ll never stop loving you. You are the love of my life and the mother of my daughter. I don’t want to do life with anyone who is not you. I want you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Qaphela. Not because my marriage with Thomas never worked out, but because it has always been you and it will always be you. I cared about Thomas, a lot. And yes, I loved him. I was with him for a long time and we built a lot together. But when I am with you, I become so stupid again. I become that fifteen year old girl who fell in love with you and never stopped. My stomach becomes tight and my head feels light when I am around you. Qaphela, I thought I was done with you until I laid my eyes on you again. You are the only man on this planet who I can be completely naked and vulnerable with. You accept me as I am and –

I am crying now, unable to finish my sentence. He just kisses me. He holds me in a way that only he can hold me and I just know that I am home.

I make my way to the kitchen to make some food for the road. Driving back to Mhlanga from Limpopo is a long drive.

“Wenzani lapho?” Gcina asks me. She can see that I am making food. Why is she asking me stupid questions? If she has something to say, she must just spit it out. I am not a small-talk kind of woman.

“Just some food for the road”, I say.

“May I help you?” She asks me.

“Sure”, me.

The chicken is still grilling. I’m making salad. She is buttering rolls and frying chips. I bought olive oil because that oil Gcina likes is just not for me. She says Olive Oil lacks kasi-chips-ingredients. This girl better thank our ancestors that she has my genes, else she would be massive in weight.

“Gcina, I know that I wasn’t there. I know that I left you. I know that my choices always had you coming second. And I’m so sorry, my baby girl. I’m so sorry.” I say to her.

She gets emotional. She nods her head. She doesn’t say anything, but her tears and her head nodding tell me that she is hearing me.

“Kukho konke, Gcina, I love you. It’s important to me that you know that.” I conclude.

“Nami ngiyakuthanda, Nobantu. And I’m very happy that you are back”, she says.

Wow.

I smile.

“And the way that you spoke to Qaphela yesterday… Gcina, I can take it when you speak to me like that. I am used to it and I can give as much as I get. But I’ll never forgive you if you ever speak to Qaphela like that again. Not him. Anyone but him.” I say.

“I’m sorry, Nobantu. And I spoke to him as well. It will never happen again.” She says.

I nod my head.

“You love him, don’t you? It’s beautiful to see you like this. He brings out the little girl in you.” She says.

I chuckle.

“So, you and dad…”

I look at her. We both laugh.

“What about Sthembile?” She asks in the middle of her laughter.

“What about her? That bitch is ghost to me. Step-mother se-foet!” I say.

Gcina is legit in stitches, laughing tears out of her eyes.

…

Qaphela

My girls are getting along. This is nice. They are laughing together and have made the trip beyond bearable. It was actually a very nice drive back.

We are now at Nobantu’s townhouse. All three of us decide that we will sleep over here. I have never been here before. It is a very nice place. Nobantu has always liked the finer things in life, so I am not surprised that her place looks like this.

She instructs us to put our bags down. The domestic worker is coming tomorrow and she will sort out our luggage.

Gcina tells us that she wants to shower and sleep, so we don’t argue with her. She says goodnight and leaves the room. Her room has an in suite bathroom, so she will probably lock her room and we will only see her tomorrow morning. The room that Nobantu and I will be using also has an in-suite bathroom and a walk-in closet. It’s big and beautiful. Then there is one extra room that she refers to as the guest bedroom.

Nobantu opens a bottle of dry red wine.

“Care to join me for a glass? I’m making wings that we can snack on”, she says to me.

I walk to the kitchen and sit on one of the barstools.

“Any beer?” I ask her.

“Why would I keep beer in my fridge? I don’t drink beer, Q.” She says.

She hasn’t called me Q in a very long time.

“Can we go into the township and get a six pack nyana? We will braai meat there as well.” I suggest.

“Will I ever lose weight? Between you and Gcina, I’m going to be a whale in the next three months.” She says.

She’s perfect. What weight is she losing?

I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her very tiny waist. I even rub my hands on her round big ass. She is very short. She is even shorter than Gcina. She is tiny and yet she’s such a bully. I used to call her my portable Pearl. It would make her blush so much.  

“You look beautiful, Nobantu. Give yourself a break. Asambe.” I say.

She kisses me back.

“Let’s tell Gcina we are going out”, she says.

She disappears into Gcina’s room.

“You need to knock, Nobantu. This is my room!” Gcina shouts.

“In whose house? Ka bani, Gcina? Ungang’hlanyeli wena.” Nobantu viciously responds.

Silence. I chuckle to myself. These two are going to give me a headache.

“Your dad and I are going out. We’ll see you when we get back.” Nobantu says.

I am already grabbing the car keys. These two…

We get to the township and obviously people love Nobantu’s car. It’s a G63 for crying out loud and it’s a beautiful car. We park at a shisanyama and Nobantu is actually not being a snob.

She lets me buy her a drink. She drinks that Red Square sweet shit. I buy her a six pack of Red Square Purple Ice and order us some meat to be braaied. While the guys braai, we go stand with some friends of mine that I’ve just bumped into.

“Did you get enough for that brat we left endlini?” She whispers in my ear.

I chuckle and kiss her.

“I got enough”, I whisper back.

The boys and I are talking nonsense as I wait for my meat. I see Nobantu participating in conversations with the girlfriends. The stick up her ass is not too far up, yaz. I am so impressed. I’ll even look past the fact that she introduced herself as Pearl.

Then I spot Sthembile and she is walking straight up to me. This evening is going so well. I was not anticipating that I would have to deal with what Gcina told her over the phone.

She stands in front of me while my arm is wrapped around Nobantu’s neck. Sthembile looks like she is about to hit me.

“I’ve been calling you”, Sthembile says to me.

“He hasn’t been available. He’s been away with his family”, Nobantu and her English that comes out through the nose. This is not going to end well.

“I’m not talking to you, Nobantu. I’m talking to my man.” Sthembile says.

“Your man? Wena na!” Nobantu says then kisses me.

Believe me when I say that all eyes are on us. Nobantu is getting us into greater shit with Sthembile. When we are done kissing, I am the one who gets a slap from Sthembile. Me! I get the slap, not Nobantu who has disrespected her and kissed me in front of her.

“You take me for granted wena, you damn swine!” She screams at me.

“Hey wena! Calm down! What the hell is your problem? So much unnecessary drama in public! Hai bo!” Nobantu needs to stop talking because I’m the one who is getting slapped and hit and abused, not her.

“So you are choosing her, Qaphela? You are choosing your baby mama who left you for a rich man in Joburg and is now back because life has humbled her? Who was there for you in jail? Who was there helping you pick up the pieces that she left your heart in?” Sthembile says and I honestly think that this is extremely unnecessary nor is this the place to have this conversation.

“Thank you very much for your efficient services, but they are no longer needed. I’m back now. You will not be my daughter’s step-mother, as you had proposed, and there is absolutely no room for you in our lives. Qaphela forgot to break-up with you when my return to KZN was announced. So here’s your break-up babes. It’s over between you and my man – the father of my child. You can stop ukungidlela i’thende! Friend!” Nobantu.

The way she said “friend”… now people are looking at Sthembile like she is the shady one and not at Nobantu for being a side chick disrespecting a main chick. The way she said friend even hit a nerve in Sthembile.

“Can we get our meat and go?” Nobantu says to me.

I do just that.

…

Her mother walks in. We are alerted by Gcina running to hug her and shouting, “Mama! How did you get here? When did you get here?” Nobantu’s mother briefly smiles at Gcina, then she looks at Nobantu and says, “Nobantu, who gave you the right to take Gcina without speaking to me first?”

Njani? Is Gcina not Nobantu’s child?

“We went away for a week, Mam’Shange. I didn’t just take her to live with me. And I don’t understand what the problem is with me spending time with my child.” Nobantu says. She hasn’t even offered her mother something to drink or eat.

I walk up to her mother.

“Can I take the bag from you, mama? And perhaps offer you something to eat or drink?” I say.

“She’s probably not staying long. She never does when it comes to me. She came here to check up on my child. Now that she knows that my child is fine, she can go.” Nobantu says. What’s wrong with this woman? I know the history between her and her mother, but I cannot stand here, witness this and take Nobantu’s side.

“Nobantu, please stop this. Gcina, take gogo’s bags and put them in the guest bedroom. Mama, please sit down, I will prepare something to eat and drink for you”, I say.

Gcina obeys my instructions. Nobantu looks furious. The mother looks equally furious, but she sits down.

“Thank you, my son. Nobantu should have been the one who went to prison for her evil heart, not you. This child has been evil since the day that she was born!” The mom says.

You know what, I am about to throw this woman out of here as well if she carries on like this.

“Why are you here?” Nobantu asks her mother. I am in the kitchen putting together a sandwich and some tea for the mother.

“Are you taking Gcina?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. She lived with you and thank you for looking after her. But she is as useless as you hoped I would be and as her mother, I am stepping in and trying to remedy the situation. Qaphela and I have decided that she will live with me where we can both watch her.”

“You don’t think I needed to be part of that conversation? I raised her. She was two when you left. She wasn’t even born when her father left. She’s twenty-one now. Ubuntu would have been to perhaps ask me what my stance is.”

“The same Ubuntu you showed me when you excluded me from her life and all the decisions that you made for her? Decisions that led her to being what she is today? The same Ubuntu you showed me every time I went home for a weekend to be present for my child and you kicked me out because I couldn’t leave you groceries? You kept my child from me and called that raising her and doing a better job than I would have at looking after her. And I’m sure that in your head, you did the best that you could. But it wasn’t good enough. Gcina is a resentful, bitter, spoiled and useless child today because of your methods of raising her.”

“And that’s your opinion that I honestly don’t care for. At this point, I need to understand what that means for me? With Gcina gone now, will I still be getting money and groceries from you?”

Silence.

Nobantu is so disappointed. And now that I am also realising what’s really happening here, I decide against taking this sandwich and tea to this woman. She can die of hunger and thirst.

“Is that all I was to you, mama? Your meal ticket to Nobantu giving you money and groceries every month?” Gcina asks. I thought she was in the bedroom.

“Q, can you and Gcina go for a drive?” Nobantu asks me.

“No Nobantu, I am not going anywhere. Mama, why don’t I know that Nobantu actually came for me and you chased her away? I thought you and I spoke about everything.”

Team Nobantu-and-Gcina has always be potent. Mam’Shange is not ready for what’s about to happen to her.

“Q, please. Gcina doesn’t need to be here.” Nobantu begs me.

I actually want Gcina to be here. Gcina has blamed and disrespected Nobantu all this time because she believed that Nobantu just deserted her. And Nobantu protected her mother and let that happen. Gcina must know who Mam’Shange is and know how much Nobantu loves her.

“I am talking to you, mama. You told me that Nobantu threw me away! That she left me at a mall and never came back. You told me Nobantu tells people that I don’t exist and that I have always held her back. So, what exactly is the truth, mama?” Gcina is actually crying.

Nobantu is shocked and emotional! I should have never let the granny sit on Nobantu’s couches. I should have let Nobantu just kick her out. She did what?

“I left her at a mall, Mam’Shange? Really? I threw her away? Seriously? Aren’t you the one who left me at a mall? Aren’t you the one who threw me away? No matter how many times I made my way back home to you, begging you for your love, you would leave me at a park or a mall or a hospital the very next day. I made peace with the fact that you and I will always be what we have become. But for you to push that nonsense onto my child? For what, Mam’Shange?”

“You haven’t answered my question, Nobantu. Am I still getting money and groceries?” THAT is Mam’Shange’s response to all of this.

I leave the kitchen and go into the bedroom to grab her bags and put them in the car.

“I will take you home now, mama.” I say to her. She needs to go!

“No baba, she must answer my questions. I need to know the truth about why and how Nobantu left and why or how I ended up with her. The things she made me do –

Both Nobantu and I stare at Gcina. You see, I know what this woman made Nobantu do. So if she did that shit to Gcina, she’s dying soon.

“What did she make you do?” Nobantu asks Gcina.

“You truly are your mother’s child, Gcinumama. Both of you are so entitled, you have absolutely no thanks to give to people who go out of their way for you. Gcinumama, I suffered and conquered with you. Today, this is how you speak to me in the presence of the parents who left you?”

“What did you do to my child, Mam’Shange? What did you make her do?” Nobantu asks, taking threatening steps towards Mam’Shange.  

“I just –

“You just what?”

“She was just taking care of me, Nobantu. I am old. I needed help and I couldn’t ask you for more than what you were sending us.”

“WHAT DID SHE HAVE TO DO TO TAKE CARE OF YOU, MAM’SHANGE?!”

Okay, Nobantu is losing it now. But, I am not going to stop her.

“Gcina, what did she make you do?” I ask Gcina because obviously this old woman is not telling us shit.

“She made me quit school to look after the children in the village. Their mothers would pay her for me looking after the children – cooking for them, teaching them how to read and write and the really young ones, I’d need to change their diapers, feed them and basically be their mother. On weekdays, it was the village kids. On weekends, it was the kids from mama’s church.”

Nobantu throws the first slap across her mother’s face. Yerr!

But Gcina has no mercy.

“So Nobantu, I am useless and kept getting kicked out of expensive schools because from the age of ten, I became a mother, a nanny and that girl who looks after people’s children in the village. She promised that I’d inherit her house as a reward.”

This earns the grandmother a second slap across the face from Nobantu, this time, Nobantu drags her from the couch and literally throws her out of her house. The granny is screaming as if we are killing her and the people in the complex have come out to see what’s happening. Let me take this woman home.

“She’s walking back to Ndwedwe, Q! Don’t you dare put this bitch in my car!” Nobantu yells.

But she’s old and it is 11pm.

“Nobantu, anything could happen to her.” I say.

“Anything should happen to her. If you drive her back to Ndwedwe, I will know exactly where Gcina and I stand with you.” She says.

“That’s not fair, Nobantu.” I say.

“Leave this bitch to die. Her expiry date has long passed.” Nobantu says and walks back into the townhouse. I am so conflicted. Mam’Shange is still loudly sobbing as she is trying to get herself off the floor. She’s even bleeding from somewhere. I look at her.

“Just take me to my church, please my son.” She keeps saying to me.

I can’t, bra. It’s you versus my family right now and I just can’t choose you. You’ve destroyed two of the most important people in my life and I just cannot choose you right now.

I walk back into the house.

…

“Bishop”.

“Deacon”.

“You called.”

“And you answered.”

“We have some deliveries – organs.” The bishop tells me.

“Thank you, sir. I also have something special for you.” I say.

He looks at me.

“You came in from Tholoana Kingdom. I cannot send you away without a gift.”

“Talk to me.” He says.

“A grandmother. About sixty-seven years of age. Sibuhlungu Shange is her name.” I tell him.

The bishop looks at me, confused. Then he says, “Isn’t that your woman’s mother?”

“She is. But she messed up my woman and my daughter. I want her out of our lives.” I explain.

“We are always looking for extra resources for our stakeholders. And we happen to have a few who have a thing for older and mature entertainment.” The bishop says.

“Let’s make it happen just after Christmas, but before New Year’s Eve. I plan on marrying Nobantu and I need an elder to receive her lobola. I don’t want the bad luck. When the stakeholders are done with her pussy, throw her dead body somewhere close to her house. We will find it and bury it. She’s officially on borrowed time.”

Bishop nods his head.

“And like I said, bishop. It’s a gift. No payment required.”

We shake hands.

I jog back to Nobantu’s townhouse. It is 3am. It is a 10km jog, so I should get there before she wakes up. But if she is up, I’ll just say I went for a run.

…

Who is the bishop? And Qaphela is a deacon… what does that even mean? Read up and prepare for more of our inserts because the church is about to be part of Pearl’s and Qaphela’s story. Nosi & The Church is available on our website https://www.k-pable-c.co.za/library/ . You will have 15 chapters to read up on for free – get an idea at least; you will need it. The full novel is available for purchase.