I can never and will never understand what Rofhiwa is trying to do by dating that boy. He’s from a family of criminals! Does Rofhiwa honestly believe that she’s cut out to be on the run for eighty percent of her life? What’s wrong with her?! Not every woman is cut out to be a thug wife.
I spoke to Kenneth about this and we both think it’s a good idea that Rofhiwa enters an arranged marriage.
A royal family that’s close to our family is willing to overlook the fact that she’s not a virgin anymore and allow her to be the chosen wife for their son who is currently working in the UK. I’ll be fine if Rofhiwa lived in the UK with a decent man that is not from the Mohale thughood. If Lydia were here, she’d agree with me.

“Dad”, I hear someone say. It’s Rofhiwa. She’s supposed to be in class. What is she doing in my office? This boy already has her believing that it’s okay to do what she is not supposed to be doing… or not be where she is supposed to be. This is a place of work and I’m not in the mood to deal with her right now.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” I ask.
“Papa, ndi khou tou humbela. Please, hear me out. If you still don’t want to talk about this when I’ve said what I need to say, I’ll never raise it again. I promise.”
I look at her.
She takes this as a sign to close my door and sit on my one of my couches. I don’t move from my chair. I just look at her.
“Papa, I didn’t mean to hurt or disrespect you. You have to believe that. Ndi khou humbela pfarelo.” She begins.
“Why him? Why that thug?”
“To be fair, his fathers are the thugs. Papa, he’s a good man. He’s a hardworker who actually cares about the things that politicians campaign on. He’s in school and he takes it very seriously because he actually wants to make a difference with his privilege.”
“So you came here to campaign for him?”
“I came here to explain to you why I love him.”
“Love?”
She’s silent.
“Papa, I know that you have reservations about him because of who his fathers are and because his family has a history with kazi-
“Leave my wife out of this.”
She looks at me.
“Papa, if you want me to break-up with him, I will. But I won’t be happy about it. I won’t. I want to be with Reahile and things are serious between us. I’m the one who has been stalling our progress because I was worried about you and I losing each other. But papa, you moved on. You are happy with kazi and I gave her a chance because it meant a lot to you. I just want you to give Rea that same chance.”
“I do want you to break-up with him. Your uncle and I have arranged for you to go and meet the Mudau family. You will be marrying their son who’s destined to be the next chief.”
She is utterly shocked and disturbed.
“Excuse me?!” She finally says.
I stare at her.
“Papa! You want me to enter into an arranged marriage?”
“That’s exactly what’s going to happening. We are making your engagement official this weekend.”
“You can’t do this! I have rights!”
“Not in my house, you don’t. And not while I still support you financially!”
“Papa!”
“Do the right thing, Rofhiwa. End things with that boy! Now get out of my office! I have work to do.”
She leaves my office, crying. She’ll be fine.

I spend the next few hours in and out of useless meetings. After my last meeting, I decide that I want to get into my office and enjoy a nice glass of bourbon.
As I walk into my office, I stumble upon Fikile sitting in my office chair.
“Hey baby”, I say.
“Thomas, lithatha kahle le khanda lakho?” She says.
I guess Rofhiwa spoke to her.
“Rofhiwa?”
“An arranged marriage? Really?”
“Kenneth and I spoke and –
“Kenneth? The same Kenneth who doesn’t even have your best interests at heart? That’s who you went to to discuss the future of your child?!”
“Fikile, I’ve made a decision!”
“Thomas, Rofhiwa is not marrying a man that she doesn’t know and doesn’t love!”
“You don’t get to make that decision! YOU ARE NOT HER MOTHER!”
I see it. The pain in her eyes. I see it.
“I’m sorry. I –
She leaves my office.
Fuck!

It’s finally time for me to go home. Fikile and I drove to work together, so I guess on our drive back home, I’ll have an opportunity to talk to her and apologise.

I get into her office with the intention to tell her that it’s time for us to go home. She’s not here. I turn to Thando, her business manager, and I ask her…
“Is Fikile in a meeting?”
“She left two hours ago. She left with Rofhiwa.” She tells me.
What the…?!
I head home and I arrive after about thirty minutes. Rofhiwa’s car is not here, so I assume they haven’t arrived yet. I go into the house and my house is quiet. With my three boys, this is not normal.
“Mkhwenyana, umenzeni uSiphosethusifikile?” Her mother asks me.
“Mah, where is she?”
“I don’t know. She came here fuming, told all the kids to pack their bags, packed her bags, and they all left.”
“Left?”
What is she saying?!
I run upstairs and start looking through cupboards. All my kids and wife have left. Their cupboards are empty. What the fuck is wrong with Fikile?!
I dial her number.
After two rings…
“Thomas”.
There is noise in the background. The boys are being chaotic and Khanyisa is giving them a piece of her mind. My heart instantly leaves my body.
“Fikile, where are you?”
“In an AirBnB with my kids. We are not prepared to live with someone who thinks arranged marriages are an answer to his dislike to a relationship. And I’m certainly not prepared to stay married to a man who doesn’t even see me as a mother to my kids just because I don’t agree with you.”
“Fikile, come home, right now! Bring my children back right now!!”
“Go report me for kidnapping ke. We are not coming back. Phone Kenneth. He seems to be good at telling you who you need to be for our family.”
She hangs up.
FIKILE!

I wake up at about 4am. I probably passed out after 1am on my couch. My wife and kids are not back. I suddenly find myself crying. I want them back! I need them back! But I’ll hopefully see Fikile at the office today. Maybe we’ll be able to talk about this.

…

Thomas has been distant all morning. He even missed two meetings. Fikile has been working from home. I know he’s been fucked up since he found out about Fifi and that Mohale boy. But for it to be causing such issues between him and Fikile? Fikile is not even smashing the father anymore.
“Chief”, I say as I walk into his office.
“Hey. Everything okay?” I should be asking him that.
“Yeah. I’m just worried about you. Are you alright?”
“Fikile left me.”
Okay, it’s bad.
“Left you?”
“She took my kids and left.”
“Because of Rofhiwa and that boy?”
“Because I told her she’s not in a position to make a decision about Rofhiwa as she’s not Rofhiwa’s mother.”
What the fuck?! Koena would divorce me in an instant if I told her that about Mfundo. But then again, no matter how much we disagree on decisions regarding Mfundo, I’d never dream of saying that to her. I smell Kenneth’s scent all over that statement.
“Why would you say that? And to her face?”
“I made a decision that Rofhiwa should enter into an arranged marriage.”
Is this man high?!
“Rofhiwa got upset and went to Fikile”. As expected.
“And Fikile came here and told me I’d lost my mind. I told her it’s not up to her. Lydia would agree with me.”
“I hope you didn’t say the Lydia part to her.”
He shakes his head.
I walk towards a chair opposite his desk. I can’t believe I’m the one with the better advice. I’m supposed to be the stupid one.
“Chief, Fikile didn’t deserve for you to say what you said to her”, I say.
“Lydia would have agreed with me that Rofhiwa would be better off with a man we’ve chosen for her because she clearly doesn’t know how to make her own decisions when it comes to choosing a boyfriend.”
“And she would have disagreed with you on other things that maybe Fikile would have agreed with you on. She wasn’t going to agree with you on everything.”
He looks at me.
Now he’s becoming sad… almost emotional.
“Why would my baby girl run around with that boy? Of all the boys she could have been with.”
“I remember Lydia’s parents saying the same thing about you.”
He looks at me.
“So I should just let her date this guy?”
“She’s going to do it with or without your permission. Even if you marry her off to some guy just to stop her from being with this boy… what makes you think that she wouldn’t sneak out and sleep with this guy behind her husband’s back?”
We look at each other.
“One thing I’ve learned about kids is that they have free will. Our role in their lives is to advise them and do our best at raising them. After that, we have to accept that they are their own individuals, and they will exercise their free will no matter how it makes us feel. If he’s so bad, let her see it for herself.”
“That family, chief… yerrr!!!”
“And Fiks used to be part of it.”
He’s quiet.
“Fikile loves you, chief. She’s crazy about you.”
“I know.”
“And she’s not going to leave you for him.”
He’s silent.
“Telling her what you told her will not make her stay if her plan was to leave you anyway.” I say.
I’m not sure he’s hearing me.
“Maybe you should go home and –
I’m interrupted by him just crying. I’m so glad my daughter is resting in peace.

I decided to stay with Thomas at his place today. He’s not okay and we are not sure when Fikile will be back.
My phone rings. It’s Koena. I told her I’m staying with Thomas today mos.
“Love”, me.
“Hi baby. I’m going to meet up with Fikile.”
Thomas and I look at each other. He heard it too. I put Koena on speaker.
“Okay?”
“Gundo had an asthma attack at school and he was rushed to hospital. He’s been discharged now and is at home, but Fikile is obviously stressed.”
“Why wouldn’t she tell Thomas that his kid was in hospital?”
“I don’t know. But I’m calling you because I need you to come check in on Thingo and Zothile. I don’t exactly trust Thingo to be in charge.”
“Mah!” I hear Thingo in the background.
“Okay. Drive safely. I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.”
We hang up.
“Ramaru, let’s go.” I say.
“We following her?”
“All our cars have trackers and I track them all on my phone.”
He’s up and we are heading out. I’ll phone Mfundo to come and look after his brothers.

…

I left my son at home with Thuli today. She has become quite the mom with him, he adores her incredibly, and their relationship is honestly beautiful to watch. I was sceptical at first because I did make him while cheating on her. But Thuli stays true to who she is and that’s one of the most beautiful things about her. Thuli will lash out, go crazy, fight and all of that… but when she’s moved on from something, SHE’S MOVED ON. She’s not like those women who will remind you every time you fart about things you did fifteen years ago.
I know I have gold with Thuli. No one – absolutely no one knows how blessed I am to have a woman like Thuli in my life. I’m actually convinced that if I never met Thuli or if Thuli were not my girl, I wouldn’t be Yaya Mbatha. I know what Tee-le sees in her with this stupid crush he has on her. But he’s my boy because he’s respectful about that silly crush he has.

I’m a guy who comes from nothing. Seriously. I grew up in KwaNtuzuma in KZN with parents who couldn’t even feed themselves, but decided to have five kids. I’m the eldest of those kids. I came to Gauteng to get a job and help feed my siblings at least. I never understood my parents’ logic in birthing all five of us, but I had suffered enough and I didn’t believe that my siblings had to suffer the same way that I did.
My first night in Joburg city, I slept on a pavement. I have a clear conscience, so I can sleep pretty much anywhere. Lol. But I slept okay on the streets because I didn’t have anything that anyone could mug from me. I spent all the money I could steal on a taxi to Joburg. Now, I had to steal to eat.
I remember seeing Thuli for the first time ever. She was climbing out of a taxi wearing flat black shoes, a short black dress and a black cardigan. She had this big bag on her, and I could see the heel of the shoes she’d wear when she got to where she was going sticking out of her bag. What a beauty she was. Wow!
I remember going to her to tell her that she’s beautiful and she thought I was about to mug her. She spoke siSwati and blew me away completely. She wasn’t rude like all these Joburg people. She actually started crying and begged me to not mug her. Ja, it was bad. I promised her I wouldn’t mug her and shame, she just ran away from me.
That afternoon, she saw me again. Well, I saw her. She was walking with friends to get a taxi and I went to say hi again. She smiled at me this this time and said, “Hi. I’m sorry about this morning.”
I just smiled at her. Her friends asked her why she was talking to a homeless guy. And Thuli shame, bless her soul, she took me to Chicken Licken and bought me food. We ate there together. I was so hungry, and I guess she saw it. She even bought me a meal to eat that night. For the first time ever, I was scared to go sleep on the street because now I had something they could mug – food.
But you know, we spoke. We really spoke. She told me she was from Mpumalanga and she was raised by her mother’s tuckshop in the township. I told her where I came from and that I had come to Joburg for work, but it’s bad. She told me it would get better and that when it got better, I’d owe her a date. I know this is unreal neh, but it gave me strength and hope.

Practice today is good – as always. The guys are committed. They’ve arrived on time and coach likes our form. We fine people five thousand rands for being late. There’s no point in fining them an amount of money that will not hurt them – it wouldn’t be impactful, and the aim is to make sure that they just don’t do it. Last week, we fined Tee-le and Lerumo ten thousand rands each for fighting in the locker room. We don’t behave that way here. They are still not talking to each other and they just steer clear from each other. It started affecting their play in training because they also didn’t want to pass each other. Coach lost his mind and told them he will bench both of them for three games.
And all this because Khosi’s sister married Lerumo’s father… REALLY?!
Khosi is not the kind of girl you get into a fight for. Ever! And Tee-le knows that. He shocked us all when he defended her to Lerumo – especially after she messed with Thabang Sebata in Cape Town. But maybe he felt disrespected by Lerumo because whether he’s dating the lowest form of a female or not, you don’t come for someone’s girl to his face the way that Lerumo came for Khosi to Tee-le.

We are taking a brief break now. I’m lying on the ground on my back catching my breath. Some guys are having water and some are just talking shit.
“Ey”, Tee-le says to me, giving me some water and helping me to sit up.
“Sho. You good?” Me.
“I’m good. Wena? Khosi tells me that you and Thuli were in a slightly bad place.” He says.
The guys are all circling around me now. Oh well.
“Ndalo.” I say.
“Eeeeehhhhhhh”, the guys say and we all start laughing.
“Ndalo showed up at my place in the middle of the night with my kid. Then Thuli left.”
“Left?” Mo says.
“Yeah.”
“As in, Ndalo walked in and Thuli left? That’s not like her.” Shack.
“Well, we were asleep. We get woken up by this loud bang on my door. We get up to check who it is and it’s Ndalo. In the rain. With my son.”
“You live in one of the most tense estates in this kingdom as far as security is concerned. How did Ndalo make it to your door past security?” Reahile asks me.
“She has biometric access.” I say.
“Yoooooooh! Hai! We give up!” The guys.
How? She’s the mother of my child!
“And then what happened?” Tee-le. He’s so focused on this.
“I took my son and got him into a hot bath to get him warm. Thuli stayed in the living room with Ndalo and they had a conversation. I don’t know what they said to each other. When I came out the bathroom with my son, Thuli was basically telling me to tell Ndalo to fuck off. I told her that she has my son. Thuli didn’t want to hear me. Then Ndalo came in and told me she wants to sleep… in our main bedroom.”
The guys are…
“You know you are going to lose her one day, right?” Reahile. He’s too sensitive this one.
“Why would I lose her?”
“Because no woman is going to tolerate being this disrespected in life. How do you let the mother of your child disrespect your woman like that? What’s wrong with you?” Reahile.
“And don’t even think about saying that she doesn’t like your child. Renay would never even be half of what Thuli is to your son to a child that I’ve brought into our lives as a result of my infidelity. That woman is one hell of a woman.” Shack.
“It’s not that… it’s just… I don’t know man. Something is wrong in our relationship. I don’t know what it is, but it’s something.” I say.
“It’s your cheating. When you do it the way that you do it, you become the problem and want to project it onto someone else.” Reahile. He can be gay sometimes this one.
“Focus on Rofhiwa and leave me alone.” I say.
“I’m with him on this. Thuli has been down with you even before you became Yaya Mbatha. She doesn’t deserve this.” Tee-le. It’s his crush talking.
“I’ve showed her my gratefulness. I’ve never given her a reason to doubt me. She chose to forgive me after I cheated with Ndalo and she’s accepted my kid. If it’s something she’d struggle with, why did she forgive me and choose to give me another chance?”
“For the same reason she gave you a chance to begin with. She fucken loves you. It’s the same reason she got you off you off the streets, put you in her apartment, invested in you and your career – when you had nothing to offer. Now some bitches you meet on the street and are with you because you are Yaya Mbatha has you thinking a real one like Thuli is not enough? You are full of shit, Yaya! You don’t deserve Thuli!”
I just look at Tee-le. All the guys look at him. We all know where that came from and I’m getting tired of it now.
“Serame, she’s my woman. And this love thing you have for her is beginning to piss me off. I’m going to fuck you up, boy.” I tell him.
“At least he would know what to do with a woman like that. Akere wena you are confused!” Reahile.
I get up from the ground and walk away from these guys before I start beating up inappropriate fools.
Nx!

…

Reahile and I are in ice baths. The bathtubs are next to each other. The rest of the guys are either showering or are in the changing rooms, getting dressed and preparing to go back home to their lives.
“This thing that you feel for Thuli… it seems to be getting serious.” He says.
I’d say that he’s one of my good friends.
“She deserves better than Yaya, dude. Sometimes, I just want to punch him for her.”
“He is her decision for now, Tee-le. You need to respect that. Regardless of how you feel about her, the important thing here is how she feels. And she’s feeling Yaya. You have to respect that.”
“I know. Trust me, I know.”
We are quiet for a brief minute. Then I ask him, “Have you spoken to Fifi yet?”
He sighs and says, “Yeah. But things are bad between herself and her father. Ramaru is losing his mind.”
“Why though? Is the issue that Fifi is dating or is the issue who she is dating?”
“The latter. My dad and Fifi’s stepmother were a serious couple back in the day.”
“Get the fuck out of here! Which dad?”
“Khotso.”
“Yoh!”
“Yeah. And it seems as if my dad is not over her. It’s as if… you know what Thuli is to you… that’s what Mrs R is to my dad.”
“Nah… I’d never let Thuli go if I ever had the opportunity to have her.”
We laugh.
“But Mrs R is really into Ramaru. And it must be love because dai mahn is a khehla and your dad is a fine one. For her to go for him over a man who is her peer… he must know what to do with a woman. He must school Yaya.”
We both laugh.
“What are you going to do, man?” I ask him.
“I love Fifi. I don’t want to be with anyone else. I want her. But I also know how much she aims to never disappoint her father. For all I know, she could be done with me.”
“Have you tried talking to your dad?” I ask.
“And say what?”
“To maybe ask him to try fix this. To make Ramaru less agitated about him.”
“That shouldn’t be my dad’s job. Ramaru must trust his wife.”
“And I’m sure he does. But that doesn’t mean he wants your dad all up and around Mrs R all the time. If you and Fifi get married, they become family. Imagine having to deal with a man that used to fuck your wife? Hai!”
“I never thought about it like that.” He says.
We sit in silence a bit.
“Look, I’m headed home to Sebokeng when I leave here. I’ll be back tomorrow night. I just need to go check up on a few things for my mother and sister. You can drive down with me and maybe see Fifi. Talk, you know. I’m sure you’ll get a lot more figured out face to face.” I say.
“For real?”
“Yeah. Plus you know my mom loves the hell out of you and I’m very secure knowing that my sister has family-zoned you, so I don’t have to worry about you fucking her.”
He laughs. I’m actually serious.
“Thanks, my man. I really appreciate you.” He says.
We fist-pump each other then get out of these tubs to go and take a shower.

…

“Bitso, how’s your family doing?” Mam’Remo asks me. She is married to Uncle-Khotso, one of Reahile’s dads. She and I have the same name. I find it weird, but we make it less awkward by calling each other Bitso.
“They are good, Bitso. Thank you.” I say.
We are at the royal house. Reahile is packing a bag then we are hitting the road, headed to South Africa, Sebokeng.
“That’s nice. Will you guys be safe on the roads? Rea doesn’t want to take a bodyguard with him.”
Ey… traveling with the royals.
“We will be fine. Don’t worry.” I say.
“Hi Tee-le.” Rena walks in and says. She’s in grade R now. She’s grown and super cute. She is the reason that I want kids. A daughter specifically.
“Hey baby girl. How’s school?” Me.
“I never understand why people ask me that. It’s the most stressful part of a child’s life, you know.”
What the…?!
Bitso and I look at each other then laugh. Her best friend, Ruri is also here.
“Ru, you also here?” Me.
“Yep. And don’t even think about asking me about school.” Okay, I see Rena’s influence now.
Bitso and I are just laughing at this.
Morena and mofomahadi walk into the room chatting away. They seem to be coming back from somewhere.
“Remo, you are still here?!” Mofomahadi says.
“I’m waiting for Khotso”, Bitso.
“Where is he?” Morena asks.
“On his way from the office. He had to meet up with Shaka.” Bitso.
Morena is now on his phone and leaves the room.
“Guys, you are going to be late.” Mofomahadi.
“We are all packed and everything. The minute he gets here, we leave. Tebza and Maboko are already gone.” Bitso.
Mofomahadi nods her head. Then she suddenly sees me.
“Hey Tee-le.” She greets me.
“Mofomahadi.” I say and bow my head to respect that I’m in the presence of a queen.
Morena’s third wife walks in. She’s heavily pregnant.
Where the hell is Rea?!
“Dumelang”, she greets us.
Silence.
Should I maybe say hi?
“Don’t you have your own house, wena? Why are you here?” Mofomahadi.
“I needed to speak to our husband. His PA told me I’d find him here at this time before the two of you fly out again.” The wife.
“Did his PA forget to tell you that he’s busy?” Mofomahadi.
“Bathung, Thabi.” The woman.
“We are not equals. It’s Mofomahadi to you.”
This woman looks ready to cry.
“What do you want?” Mofomahadi.
“My doctor says I have to give birth tomorrow. I’m going into hospital today. I thought he should know.” The wife.
“He needs to know to do what? Akere you have a midwife and everything that you need?” Mofomahadi.
“It’s his child. Maybe he should be there when the baby is born.” The wife.
“You seem to be forgetting what your role is in this family… you are not here for hugs and love. You are merely a baby-making machine. Being pregnant and giving birth is your job. Now get to it. I’ll let morena know that tomorrow another addition to his squad of kids will be born. Yours is not special. He’s one of many.”
H.E.C.T.I.C!
“You still here?!” Mofomahadi.
The third wife just turns around and waddles back to wherever she came from.
Finally, Rea comes into the room with a bag. What the fuck was he doing all this time?!
“Ready to bounce?” He says to me.
I’m already on my feet. Let’s get the fuck out of here.
He kisses his two mothers on the cheek – bitso and mofomahadi. Then we finally leave. I don’t even know where Mo is. But these two actually have separate lives. Unlike their fathers, they do their own things and very little things together. Also, Mo suffers from a condition called Major Depression Disorder and Anxiety. He has a whole team of medical professionals helping him deal with his mental health and Zari is proper down for him and supporting him. His condition is not common knowledge and the royals really try their best to not have the world know. I know because Rea and I are close. Zari knows because she’s been dating him for longer than a year and she seems to really care about him. But anyone else just thinks he’s spoiled and entitled.
Rea and I finally hit the road using my Jaguar E-Pace.