Episode 42

I just dropped Risuna off at crèche. He was asking me very weird questions today. I didn’t realise that us moving to a new environment had affected him this way. He asked me why he has to go to a new school. I told him it’s because we moved and his old school is now very far for us. He asked me if we’d be moving again. I said no, but if we did, would it be an issue? He told me that he wants to know if he should make friends or not. He doesn’t want to make new friends only for him to move, have to forget about them, then have to go and make new friends. I told him that we don’t plan to move any time soon. We also moved so that dad could get a new job and be able to take care of us. If we can help it, I promised him that we won’t move again. He made me pinky swear. 
After that conversation, I felt the need to speak to his teachers and just understand how he has been adjusting. The teacher told me that he has no issues being a social child. He really doesn’t. But he told his teacher that he doesn’t want to make friends if we will be moving. I told the teacher that I’d speak to Keith and we will talk to him. The teacher said that if it doesn’t help, she will organise for the three of us to see the school therapist. 
Ja neh.

Now I’m driving back home. But I’m thinking of going to see Keith first. I don’t like his PA. She’s so rude. Not that I’m expecting special treatment because I’m the boss’ wife… but I am the boss’ wife and some special treatment would be nice.
So yes, Keith paid lobola for me then we went and signed. I’m officially Mrs Basetsana Nkuna. We thought about having a wedding in Tholoana Kingdom, but our mothers are not having it. So between Keith’s schedule and us settling in this side, we will probably have this wedding in December. 

“Hey baby”, Keith answers his phone after two rings.
“Babe, hey. You good?” Me.
“Just a bit hectic already. And wena? Ushup? How’s my boy?” 
“Can I come see you? We need to talk a bit about Risuna.” 
“What’s going on? Is something wrong?” 
“I’m not sure.”
“Okay sure, come by.”
“You not too busy?”
“Baby, I’m always busy. But for you, I make time.”
“Okay. Is there someone who can assist me to get to your office? I don’t like your PA. She’s just so rude.”
“I’ll organise with the intern that sits in my office. Buzz me when you get here.”
“Okay… I’ll see you just now.”
“Shup.”
We hang up.



The intern meets me downstairs and she leads me upstairs. 
“Hi Mrs N. How are you?” She says. She’s so young and cute. 
“I’m good. I don’t think I got your name.” I say.
“Thabiso.” She says.
“Lovely meeting you, Thabi. Are you from the kingdom?”
“I am. Born and bred here.” 
“Nice. Well, I hope you like working for my husband.”
She pulls a face. 
I laugh then say, “And then?”
“Mrs N… on behalf of the office, we are begging… please make sure he’s in a good mood when he comes to the office. Yoh, we are all quite scared of him.” 
I laugh then say, “consider me part of the team. I’ll do my bit.”
She laughs then high-fives me.

We finally get to the sixth floor where Keith sits. I walk through the open space area where everyone who works in his office sits. Everyone just looks tense. It’s not even 9am hle. 
Thabiso points in the direction of his office then heads to her desk. 
Shame man. 

“Is it safe to enter?” I say as I stand at the door.
He lifts his head from some document that he’s reading. He looks at me. He smiles.
“Hello gorgeous”, he greets me.
“Hello handsome. Ujwang?” 
“All the better for seeing you.”
I smile and say, “anything that I can help with?”
“You being here is making all the difference.”
I laugh then say, “I know admin, baby. And it’s not like I have anything to do between now and when Risuna comes home. I’ve got time on my hands. I can help… relieve the stress in wifely ways and in professional ways.”
He smiles at me. 
He gets up from behind his desk. He walks to me. I can see that he’s already hard. He gets to me. I start brushing his penis. 
He locks his door.
I become his wife on his desk… on his meeting table… and on his couches.
I hope we weren’t too loud. 

He opens the windows as he gets dressed. I also get dressed and fix myself a bit. 
“So, you wanted to chat about Risuna. Is everything okay?” He says to me.
We are both still fixing ourselves up. 
“I had an interesting conversation with your son this morning”, I say.
“About?”
“Why we moved. He asked me why he can’t go to his old school. Then he wanted to know if we plan on moving again. His reason for that is that he doesn’t want to make new friends if we have to move again and have to leave his friends behind.” 
He looks at me with concern.
“I told him that we moved because you got a new job. Then I promised him that if we can help it, we won’t move again. I then spoke to his teacher at school. She says that Risuna is fine with socialising, but he told her that he doesn’t want friends in case we have to move again.” 
We look at each other.
“I think we need to talk to him about this… make sure he’s not being messed up, you know. The teacher said if you and I don’t succeed in chatting to him, he’ll see the school therapist.” 
“Is it really that bad?” He asks me.
“It’s been a bit unstable. Maybe we do need to talk to him… make sure that he’s fine and reassure him, you know…” 
“We will. Today. We definitely will.” He says then he kisses me.
“So, what’s making you so stressed out and cramping all over your employees?” 
“I’m meeting with the board at the end of the week. The team is not coming to the party. My PA is useless. She’s barely helping me keep track of what is in place and what still needs to be worked on.” 
“Maybe, I can help. I’ve put board packs together before. And I’ve helped prep for them.” 
“Really?” 
“Yeah. Come on, let’s get started. I’ll probably have a lot done by the time that I have to fetch our son. Take me through what’s needed, then let me see what you have. We will make notes on what you still need then I’ll start drafting emails for you requesting what’s missing.”
“You are the best”, he says, kissing me.
We get to work! 



By 13:30, I’m ready to leave to go and fetch my son. I’ve actually done more than we thought I’d do in just one day. His PA is giving me looks. She’s been giving me looks all day. 
“I have to go and fetch your son”, I tell him. I wear my shoes now. I had actually taken off my shoes because I was deep into digging into the work.
“Already? But we need you around here. I need you.” He says.
I laugh at him.
He smiles. 
“Why don’t you just fire that PA of yours? I mean if you still need this much help, surely she’s not doing her work.” 
“I think she’s dating someone very senior… by senior, I mean someone on the board”, he says.
“Ja, but surely there’s a way that you can get rid of deadweight. Her vagina may be great for a board member, but it doesn’t get the job done adequately”, I say.
He actually laughs.
“Anyway, I’m out of here. I’ll probably have to wait a bit when I get to his school.” 
“Why?”
“He says I fetch him too early. And I’m not sure if he’s old enough for me to fetch him later. He’s not even three.” I say.
He laughs then says, “So what’s the compromise? Because you can’t get there and wait all day.” 
“I’ll give him an extra thirty minutes”, I say.
He just smiles and shakes his head.
“Bye baby. All the best, okay?”
“Bye my love. And thank you so much for all your help. I might just need to steal you again tomorrow.”
“Anytime I’m not being Risuna’s mommy, I’m all yours. So only when he’s at school.” 
“Okay. I’ll get you a laptop that you can work on. This will be very helpful. You might need to work with my PA though.” 
I pull a face.
He laughs.
“You better pay me in sex… in abundance.” I say.
“So I’m prostituting myself?” He says laughing.
I laugh. 
We kiss.
I finally leave. 


I’m chatting to HR about Bassie helping us this week. I’m telling them that she won’t be getting paid. She just has good admin skills that I could really use because the PA I was given is more than useless. All she knows to do is to be rude to people and make my office seem extremely unapproachable. HR is telling me that it’s fine, it’s just that they are worried about the precedence I could be setting. If it becomes a problem, it will stop… but until then, I need her assistance. 
Then I also ask HR what my options are regarding the PA. She laughs then says, 
“Mr N… you know she was hired as a favour, right?” 
“I don’t care. You can give her to someone else who can make a plan with a useless and rude PA. I need someone who will do the work. I don’t care about the connections and favours. I need someone who will produce the work. How am I paying someone a salary when I have to ask my wife to come and assist my office for free?” 
“I hear you, Mr N. And I’ll start the process of recruiting a PA for you. Then I’ll move Judy to a lower management manager. In the meantime, what’s your plan? Can your wife stand in until we employ someone full time?” 
“I’m sure she won’t mind. Thank you.” I say.
She nods her head then leaves my office. 

I push some work for a few hours, making notes of things I’ll ask Bassie to help me with after Risuna goes to sleep. Bassie is honestly a God-sent in my life. 
“Mr N, I have the files that Mrs N asked me for. She promised she’d go through them with me. Is she coming back?” The intern says. She’s already in my office. I guess the door was wide open. I don’t even know her name and I don’t want to know it. I don’t want anyone here getting over familiar with me. For one, I don’t want issues with my wife. Noria taught me that saying more than just hi to any female is a problem. I’ve learned my lesson. 
“She will be here tomorrow morning. I’ll let her know that you need her.” I say to her.
“Thank you, sir. Should I organise a desk for her in our area?”
Yes, because I don’t want these people in my office doing whatever tasks they have with Bassie. I think they also don’t want to be in my office any longer than they have to be.
“Yes, that would be great. Thanks.” I say.
Like I said… I don’t know her name, so I can’t even say thanks so-and-so. 
She’s already left. Good. 

I leave the office at about 6pm. 
Everyone is already gone. I’ll come in early tomorrow morning.

My drive home is quiet. I know when I get home, we will be bullied by Risuna’s noise and TV shows. This is my time for peace. 

I arrive home and park my car. The first thing I did when I got this job was trade in my Audi A4, then bought a Range Rover sport. Bassie didn’t want to let her A1 go. I don’t understand! I convinced her to get something more spacious. She’s travelling with Risuna most of the time. She needs to manage him, his luggage and his car seat… then manage her luggage. So she ended up settling on a BMW X3. I can live with that. I don’t like small cars. I never have and I probably never will. 

I walk into the house carefully. Risuna likes to hide behind doors and do weird things. So we can’t be aggressive when opening doors anymore. Since he started walking and starting speaking, we are in trouble. 
Just as anticipated…
He’s right behind the door and he “scares” me. I also pretend to be scared. He laughs! I know I’ve made his day. He gets a kick out of this. 
Now I put my bags down and lift him up, tickling him and making him laugh. I spot Bassie smiling at us. 
“How are you, my boy?” I ask him.
“Good.” He says.
“How was school?” 
“Not good.”
“Why?”
“I got into trouble.”
“For what?” 
“I… I… I… I finished my hotdog quickly. Then… then… then… then teacher gave me another one. So I ate. Now she says I stole a hotdog.” 
“You stole a hotdog?”
“NOOOO! Teacher gave me two. Just because she didn’t see that I already had one, it’s not my fault!” 
I want to laugh neh. 
But Bassie is not happy. So this is clearly not a funny matter. 

I greet Bassie with a kiss while Risuna is still in my arms, “Hey baby.” 
Risuna giggles. 
“Close your eyes!” I say.
He giggles then uses his hands to cover his hands.
“You good?” I say to Bassie, brushing her lips and touching her ass. 
“I’m good. Wena? Did you finish with your prep?” She asks me.
“Some people came to my office saying they need to sit with you and discuss some stuff. I told them you’d be back tomorrow. We even organised a desk for you”. I say.
“Are you hiring me?” She asks me.
“You are assisting us… HR has been made aware. Oh, and the PA will be reassigned to a more junior manager.” 
She laughs. 

We finally sit at the dinner table. Bassie serves us our food. This dinner looks really good. 
“We got a letter from Risuna’s school. They are saying that Risuna is not honest”, Bassie says.
Risuna looks ready to defend himself.
“Why were they even giving him hotdogs? Does he not take a lunch bag from home?” I ask. 
I really am still struggling to understand what happened. 
“We do. But we give them monthly tuckshop money for Risuna. So when Risuna wants things from the tuckshop, they just deduct from the money we pay monthly. Risuna wanted a hotdog and juice today… with chips and I don’t know what.” 
“Sweets”, Risuna.
“So when you saw your teacher giving you a second hotdog, why didn’t you tell teacher that you had already eaten?” Bassie asks him.
“Because it was extra food. Who says no to extra food?” Risuna neh.
I really want to laugh.
“So what happens now?” I ask.
“They deducted it off Risuna’s tuck money because he has to pay for it. But there has to be punishment.” Bassie.
“But it wasn’t my fault!” Now Risuna is getting a bit upset. 
I also see where he’s coming from, if I’m being honest. I don’t understand why we must punish him. 
“So for punishment, Risuna has to give up his favourite car toy and give it to one of his cousins that can’t afford. This will teach Risuna that people genuinely need food and all these things that he’s fortunate enough to have. He must learn to be honest about things and tell his teachers when he has already eaten.” 
Risuna starts crying. He leaves his chair and climbs on top of me, crying in my arms. Bassie is not moved. This is so unnecessary.
“I hate my teacher! Tomorrow, I’m going to put bugs in her bag!” He says as he cries. 
This is getting worse. 
“If you do that, I take away all your gadgets!” Bassie shouts. 
Now he cries loudly. 
I just help him calm down. Mothers are actually cruel.

… 

“Ja, Nkuna.” Some prison guard says to me, bringing me very kak food. Last I checked, no prison warden was allowed to speak to me. Apparently, I’m so high risk that if you sneeze in my direction, I’ll bribe you and you’ll accept, then you’ll help me escape this place. 
Secondly, I dish up my own food. No one just serves me food. It’s the rule. As prisoners, we dish up for ourselves. Yes, us isolated people generally dish up first because because we are not supposed to come into contact with the other prisoners, but still… I dish up my own plate AND the food is usually better than this. Way better! Now I’m being given four slices of dry bread and water with sugar. 
“Vader! What is this?” I ask the warden serving me. 
“Food. People eat it when they are hungry.” He aggressively says. 
“But… why am I not dishing up for myself today?” I ask him.
“The prison is under lockdown. Your fellow inmates are unable to behave themselves. So, nonke nje… you are being served. And we are not going to join ques for you… forget about it! Even the offenders that work in the kitchen couldn’t cook today because of the lockdown. Idla lapho sboshwa.” 
“How do I know this is not poisoned? This is bullshit, man!” I’m actually losing my temper.
“You don’t know. But if you are hungry, you will eat.”
“Do you know who my father is?!” Clearly I must now play that card. 
He laughs aloud then says, “Yes, we all know who your father is. Why do you think we are allowed to speak to you now?”
“Excuse me?!” Me.
He laughs then calls another male prison warden. He tells that warden that I’ve just asked him if he knows who my father is. That warden also laughs.
“What’s funny?” I ask.
“Your father has been arrested, sboshwa!”
WHAT THE HELL!!!!????!!!!
“He will also be joining you up here, in the male section. We should actually be taking you to the general population, but ke… you are considered quite dangerous and for the safety of the other offenders, we are keeping you isolated. Tomorrow though, we will take you to a less secure isolation place. Here where you are is an absolute silence area. Now, no one is scared of you. You are no longer a threat to the system. You can go back”, one of them say.
“I need a lawyer”, I say. 
“Uthini lo muntu?” 
“Lo muntu is saying that she needs a fucken lawyer. Get me a fucken lawyer! I was informed that if I cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided to me by the state. I need a fucken lawyer!” 
“Ey wena! You’ve already pled guilty wena. Icala lakho liphelile wena. Ugwejiwe wena!”
“GET ME A LAWYER! GET ME A FUCKEN LAWYER! RIGHT NOW!” I’m screaming… I have a brief blackout. By the time I come back to my senses, a siren is going off… I’m being dragged by some prison wardens, and one of the cops is lying in a pool of his own blood. I have a toothbrush in my hand and it’s covered in blood. 



I’m waking up in a different cell. I don’t remember how I got here. I don’t even understand which section this is of the prison. But I’m still in a single cell. My neighbours – also in single cells next to me – are males and females. We never mix with male prisoners. Why am I this close to them?

“Is sleeping beauty finally awake?” I hear a male voice say. 
“Looks that way”, a female voice says.
These isolation single cells are not even closed with metal doors like where I was. They are burglar bar gates that shut us in. So we can all see each other, we just sleep separately. 
“Is jy mal? You killed a prison warden. Are you trying to bring back the death penalty just for you?” Some guy says.

I’m not speaking to any of them. I’m just lying on my bed. I hear the chatter as background noise, but my tears are overwhelming me. I’ve been in prison for over three months and only now is it sinking in that I could be in here for the rest of my natural life while Keith is playing happy family with that whore. I thought with the elections getting closer, I could be counting the days until I am released. After the elections, my dad is no longer in the spotlight, therefore he can pull strings to get me out of here. Now he’s arrested too?! What the hell am I going to do?! This cannot be my life. It cannot.
I face the wall of this cell then cry myself to sleep. There are no windows here. I can’t tell if it’s day or night. We don’t even know if it’s hot or cold outside… or if it’s raining or what. All we have are these burglar bars, and I suppose seeing each other is the only taste of life that we deserve. 

I am being woken up by a prison warden. He’s in my cell. I turn around then look up at him.
“You need to go shower”, he says. But he’s rude shame. He even says, “You stink of the blood that you spilled yesterday.” 
Mxm! 
I get up, put my feet on the ground, stand up then look at him. 
“What?!” He asks me. He smells like an ashtray even. 
“My toiletries are in my previous cell”, I say.
“Well we used them to clean up the blood that you spilled! Buy new ones.” 
I look at him.
“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll kill you before you even put your hands on me! You hear?!”
“I’m already in jail. I’m probably already going to do life in prison. I can afford to kill you. You can’t afford to kill me. Because then, you’ll be in here with me and other people like me… imagine the fun that we would have with you!” I say.
I will not be disrespected by prison wardens. Never! Their highest qualification is a matric! Rha!
This guy giggles. 
Then he says, “I know just what to do with an attitude like yours.”
He drags me out of my cell. 
We walk past the showers. 
We are walk down long and dark passages. 
We head outside. Oh man! Fresh air. And it’s a rainy day. The rain smells so beautiful. Just as I’m about to enjoy the weather and the smell of rain, I’m put at the back of a van. 


The van is driven at a fast pace. 
Where is this fucker taking me?! 
I even notice that we are leaving the prison. Heh banna?!

We drive a bit. 
Then we stop at some very dodge house. 
Is this even legal?

He heads into the house. 
This could actually be my chance to escape. I don’t know where I am, but I’m not behind bars. And if I didn’t escape. A cop drove me out of the facility himself. Lol! What an idiot! I just need to find a weapon nyana, murder a few people then run! 
You can do this, Ria! You can do this! 

The door opens… I’m not even cuffed. Lol! This cop must really trust me.
“Enjoy gents. Don’t ever say that I never did anything for you. I’ll be back to fetch her after two hours. Release your dicks in there. And be careful, she’s a deadly one.” 
What the hell did this warden say?!
“Hello my love!” Some fail pop says to me, pulling me to the house while the warden drives away. 
There are so many men here. 
“Don’t even think about it!” Someone says to me. He can see me trying to figure a way out. 
Some men are already getting undressed while others have guns pointed against me. 
This cannot be happening! 
It cannot! 
“Are you stripping for us or what?! Do you know how long our days have been at the mine?!” Some man says. 
“Not even days, ek se! Weeks! You are the perfect meal ticket for us.” 

You know, I just let these men rape me. They are taking turns with every whole that exists on my body and I don’t fight them. That’s because I have a plan to leave this place and prison. So I’m saving my energy. These men are not even using condoms. At all. I pretend to be passing out. They don’t stop. I think it’s only after another twenty minutes that they stop. They even say that they are getting food, then will come back for one more round before Lehlohonolo comes to fetch me. Lehlohonolo is the cop that brought me here… the prison warden. 

They literally leave me in the room a few minutes… that’s all I need. I’m bleeding. I’m in pain. I don’t care though. I’m getting out of here! 
I open an eye. I’m alone in the room. 
I try to get up. 
Every part of me is in pain. But I’m going to get out of here. I’ll tap into my adrenaline, then sprint and not even feel this pain that I’m in. I feel like crying even, but this is not the time to cry… at all! 
I grab some clothes from an open cupboard. If I run in the prison uniform, I’ll be easily identified.
I see stacks of money in this cupboard. 
I grab what I can then put it in my bra.
I leave this place using this bar-less window in this room. Then I start running towards I don’t know what. 

I run until I can no longer see the house anymore. I’m deep in the woods! Deep! But I sprint! I keep running. Plus it’s raining, so I’m not burning up or anything. 
I think I run for a good 10km. 
As I take a break, I take off these prison clothes then wear the clothes that I stole. It’s a baggy t-shirt. Well, it belongs to one of the men there. It’s so long and baggy that I wear it as a dress. The pants don’t look like they’ll fit me. So, I just leave them there with the prison clothes.
Then, I pick up my run again. 

I find myself at a township mall. My face isn’t all over the media yet, so no one recognises me. I go to clicks and get some cosmetics with some of this money that I stole. I go to Edgars and get a decent outfit, non-branded sneakers, and a handbag. Then I go via a  knock-off wig shop then buy myself one. I now head to the toilet. I quickly clean myself up using the basin. I was in prison. The basin will do. Trust. I then wear these clothes that I bought – jeans and a jersey. I put the other money in the bag. I wear the wig too. It cost R1500 so it’s not a bad wig. It will do for now. 
I leave the dress in here. And the shoes. I wear sneakers that I bought at Edgars. I look okay. 

I’m avoiding eye-contact with every security guard or police officer. They are just going about their days, but I’m so scared that my picture may already be out. I’m consoled that Lehlohonolo is still trying to figure out how he will explain that he’s the one who got me out. He’s probably still coming up with a plan. 

I get to the taxi rank. 
“Uyaphi sisi?” A taxi driver asks me.
“Where’s this taxi going?” I ask. I don’t have a plan. I’m just running away here.
“Durban. It’s only short of one person.” The driver or Marshall or whatever he is says to me.
I climb in. 
Thankfully, the vacant seat is at the back… and it’s not a window seat. 
“Sisi, you didn’t pay. We pay over there”, he points at some shack-like place.
“How much?” I ask.
“R650.” 
I give him R700. 
“You must pay there!” He says.
I see a cop.
Yoh! 
“Please do it for me. You can keep the R50.” I say.
“Yeh?! Hai wena!”
Why is he delaying?! Why?!
I give him an extra R500. He just smiles at me then lets me be. 
Can the taxi now please just leave…!!!
The lady next to me has a kid that’s passing out. 
I offer to hold her toddler for her. I just want to hide. Honestly. 
She smiles at me, trusts me and let’s me.
The pain comes back to me again. My body is in so much pain; especially my vagina.
I want to cry. 
But I’m overcome by relief when this taxi finally takes off. 

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Comment (1)

  • T Nyuswa Reply

    Yo! Risuna is something else I don’t know what I’d do with such a smart mouth. Reminds me of Khotsos daughter somehow. Has answers beyond her age. I’m happy with the state where Kieth and Basetsana are at now.

    I don’t know how to feel about Noria yazi, it’s a lot at the same time. I’m relieved that she escaped though. Kodwa knowing her she’s going to disturb the peace Basetsana and Kieth at some point. She’s a bitter scorned B**t

    April 13, 2023 at 4:41 am

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