“Khotso!” I yell from downstairs of my duplex. 

I have been on set all day today. One of my novels is being turned into a limited series and I’ve been called to consult on the project. I just hot home and I saw Khotso’s car parked outside, so I know that he is here. 

“Baby!” I yell again. 

This guy still doesn’t answer me. 

I make my way up the stairs. Why is he so quiet? 

He is not in the master bedroom. I find him in my writing room on the bean bag located in my reading corner and right next to my bookshelf, and he is reading one of my novels. 

I stand at the door and I observe him engage so deeply with the content that he is consuming. 

After a minute, I knock on the door and he jumps as if frightened. He looks at me. 

I wave at him and say, “Dumela Mohale”. 

He smiles at me. 

He marks his place with a bookmark he found somewhere in this room then makes his way to me. 

He hugs me. Then he kisses me. He is so tall. He smells so good. 

“Hey”, he greets me after kissing me. 

I’m in heels and I’m still looking up at him. 

“How are you, baby?” I ask him. 

“I was missing you. I tried to call you.” He says.

“I’m sorry, baby. My battery died and I had forgotten the power bank. Askies“, I say.

He just kisses me and says, “Okay baby”. 

“It’s 9pm, so it’s too late to cook. I’m thinking of going to get food then we can eat?” I suggest. 

“Okay. I’ll drive us.” 

He kisses me then leads me outside. 

We use my turquoise VW Tiguan R Line to head out and get dinner. He is driving. 

“How was your day, baby?” I ask him. 

“It was cool. Work was just a bit busy. I have to travel this weekend”. He says. 

“Travel?”

“Yeah. My brother, Dise and I have to go to South Africa at some place called Lakefield. It’s for a business meeting.” He explains. 

“Oh okay. Maybe I can drive down with you. I’ll use it as an opportunity to drive with you and also see my parents. I’ll stay with my parents while we are there.” I say. 

“But that’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“You sleeping over at your parents’ house while I’ll be at a hotel. I can drop you off to see your parents and spend the day with them, but I want you to come sleep with us at the hotel.” 

I laugh and say, “But love, Lakefield is in Benoni. You guys will be in the east rand. My parents live in the Vaal, in Sebokeng. That’s far.”

“I don’t care. I’m still fetching you.”

“Okay, let’s travel with two cars then. That way, I can just meet you at the hotel, so you don’t spend too much time on the road.” 

“No babe. If you must use a meter taxi or uber, then use that. It’s best if we travel together – all four of us”. He says.

“Okay. I can live with that”, I say

He smiles at me. 

“How long is this shooting of the series going to take?” He asks me. 

“I’m only there as a consultant because it’s my intellectual property. But I’ve already been paid my money for the show. I don’t have to be there every day”, I explain. 

He nods his head and says, “I’m proud of you, baby. I really am.” 

I smile at him. 

His phone rings and I see the caller ID read “Ona”. I know it’s his brother. 

“Sho!” Khotso answers his phone. 

“Sho! Where are you?” 

“I’m with Olu. We are going out to get food.” 

“Okay. We need to leave tomorrow morning. Morena wants us to expedite with Legoa a little faster.” 

“Oh? Uhm okay…”

“Ja, plus magogo is in South Africa. I don’t understand why that woman travels. She’s too old to see the world anyway. Now morena wants us to come back with her from South Africa.”

Khotso laughs. 

“Okay. Well, can you and Dise come pick Olu and I up then we can leave from here?”

“Olu is coming with us?” 

“Yeah, but she’s going to spend the day with her parents when we go and speak to Legoa.” 

“Okay. Maybe Dise and I can come and sleep over there tonight? We will all just wake up from there then leave. Would that be okay?” 

Khotso looks at me as if checking if it’s okay. I nod my head then he says, “Sure. We will get food for all of us then. I’ll ask Olu to generate the code to get in at the gate. I’ll text it to you.” 

“Sho.”

“Sho.”

“Who’s magogo?” I ask because I am curious. 

“Our grandmother. Mathabo. You don’t want to meet her. We wish we never met her.”

I laugh at this. Some of us would do just about anything to have five minutes – even a mere five seconds – with our grandmothers. He still has his and he says he wishes he never met her? I’m keen to understand this one day. 

It is 2am in the morning when we lock up the house and get into a V300 that we will be using to go to South Africa. Mohale is with us and he will be spending the day with myself and my parents when we get to South Africa. I appreciate how much Dise trusts me with her son. I appreciate how Ona treats me with respect. 

We have a driver and some bodyguards with us. I have a pillow and a blanket with me. I plan to doze off the minute we hit the road. Mohale is still fast asleep himself. I don’t understand why we have to leave so early. 

We arrive at the hotel that we will be staying in at 11am. I was asleep the whole way here and I have no regrets. Ona, Dise and Mohale have a family room – makes sense. Then Khotso and I are in quite the room as well. I feel quite relaxed actually. 

“We will drop you and Mohale off at Vaal then go to Benoni, okay?” Khotso says.

“Okay babe.” 

I take my polo classic crossbody bag and some stuff that I will need for today. I pack some cash, my card, my cellphone and a packet of sweets and tissue. Essentials only. Khotso is doing something on his phone. 

Dise, Ona and Mohale walk in and Dise gives me a backpack with all of Mohale’s essentials. I put my light cardigan in there as the weather has warned that there will be rain later. After some chatter and minor time wasting, we leave for the Vaal.

…

I told them not to come in. These are my parents. Tea and biscuits are their thing to welcome people in their home. Ona agreed with me that they should not come in to greet my parents, but Dise and Khotso said leaving Mohale and I at the gate then hooting goodbye would just be rude. So, they came inside with the hope of greeting my parents for five minutes then leavning. The minute we walked in, my father wanted to know who his son-in-law was and he has been bonding with Khotso ever since. They’ve been here for two hours and now that they REALLY have to go, my parents are trying to find a way to make them stay longer. But shame, they finally leave for Lakefield. 

“Are you enjoying Tholoana Kingdom?” My mother asks me. 

“Yes, mother. I am.”

“You have a very handsome boyfriend. He’s an extremely flawed character with an extremely heavy presence about him, but he is a good man.” My mother says.

“He is a good man. That’s why I love him.”

I can’t believe I just said that. But I do… I really do love him. 

“Love is the one thing God uses to show us who is God. When you make that kind of a commitment to a person, you are inviting God into your union and my dear, you will be tested. You will be thrown into the flames of wildfire and everything about that situation will corner you to leave that man. You’ll know that you truly love him if you still choose him after all of that.” My father says.

“I think Khotso is the kind of man that I would choose no matter what”, I say. 

My parents just smile at me, but something about their expressions tell me that they don’t believe me. 

“Well, I’m glad that you’ve finally come back from the United States. We are getting old, Lulu, and we are getting ready to die. You need to be here now, so I can tell you how I want everything to be when I’m gone. Your brother has a girl that he’s very serious about. She’s a lovely girl, but there are certain things that I can only share with my daughter.” My mother. 

“You are not going to die yet, guys. Malcolm and I haven’t even given you one grandbaby.” I tell them.

“Oh Lulu, you and your brother have given us so much more than just grand babies. You’ve made us proud to be your parents. My son the doctor and my daughter the author. If I were to die today, I’d die with so much joy in my heart and I’d want my tombstone to read “resting in pride.” My dad says. 

My mother and I laugh. But I’m not enjoying this conversation one bit. Mohale is falling asleep in my arms. 

My parents and I talk and reminisce for about three hours, then I decide to go and put Mohale down in my bedroom. He slightly wakes up as I prepare to leave, so I lie down with him and rub his back as I try to put him to sleep again. I get up to close the sliding door in my room – I fought my parents for this room because I always wanted to be able to study while staring at the garden. They let me have it because my brother was the sibling who would always use it to sneak out at night. As I close the sliding door, I notice three cars parking at the gate. Then I hear a loud bang in the kitchen, breaking down the door almost. 

“Where is the boy? Where is Mohale?!” They yell. I grab my handbag and throw it across my body. I take Mohale’s backpack and sling it over my shoulder. I grab Mohale and he holds onto me for dear life. 

“Mathabo, you said the boy is here. If we don’t find him, we kill you.” 

My mom keeps yelling that she doesn’t know a Mohale and it’s just her and my father in the house. 

I use my sliding door to get out of the house. I jump into the neighbour’s yard with Mohale clinging onto me – just as my brother taught me how to do in case I wanted to sneak out too. I use the neighbour’s gate to get out and onto the street – the next street though. 

Now, I start running with Mohale in my arms and our bags intact. 

Mohale is not crying. It’s as if he is used to this. He is just hanging onto me and it starts raining. I find a foreign-owned tuckshop and a lot of people standing under its shelter to run from the rain. I put Mohale down for a minute and he refuses to let his feet touch the ground. 

“I’m getting a jersey so I can cover your head, my boy.” I say. 

He shakes his head and I just know that he’s staying in my arms. 

“Hai ausi, ngwana wa hao wa tefa.” Some man says. I don’t know who asked him for his opinion. 

“Voetsek!” Says little Mohale from his little mouth. I’m too defeated to even say anything. The guy is just as shocked. The look on Mohale’s face is the look that Khotso has when he is absolutely pissed off and could actually cost someone their life if they pushed him any further. The guy must be quite shook. I’m shook. 

I use one hand to pull my cardigan out of his bag and I cover his head with it. I also make him wear one of his jerseys that his mother packed for him. 

I grab my cellphone and I dial Khotso.

No answer. 

I dial him again. Nothing. 

I dial Regodise. She answers. 

I walk away from people and start speaking, “Dise, people came to my house looking for Mohale. I grabbed him and ran. Can someone please just make sure that my parents are okay. I’m going to try and find a way to make it back to the hotel. I have Mohale with me.” 

“Where are you?” She asks me.

“On the run.” 

“Send me your live location.” She says. 

“Okay.”

I hang up, send the location then I give my phone to Mohale saying, “hold on tight to it, okay?”

He nods his head. 

I go out into the pouring rain and I just run. I’m using all the back routes that I can remember as I grew up on these streets. I make sure that I use as many pedestrian paths as possible, so no cars can follow me. 

After about an hour and a half run, I get to some yard owned by white people. This is a farm, so there are animals everywhere. 

They say something to me in Afrikaans and I cannot understand what they are saying. 

“I don’t understand Afrikaans, sir.” I say. 

“Where are you going?” Accent thick and all. 

“To Sandton, sir.” 

“On foot? Nee!” He says in shock. 

“My car broke down and I need to get there as soon as possible.” 

“Hoekom?“

I can’t exactly explain. 

“You know what, my daughter is headed there. Why don’t you get a lift with her?” 

I want to say yes. I really do. My feet hurt so badly. But I’m not sure if I can trust anyone right now. 

The man speaks to someone in Afrikaans then some young sexy thing that cannot be older than twenty-one walks out. 

“Don’t trust strangers”, Mohale whispers to me. 

I don’t like this child’s bravery. 

“Oluremi? Oluremi Makhwena?” 

“You know her?” 

The daughter recognises me. Wow. I didn’t think she was my target market. 

“Let’s go, mama.” Mohale says. 

“I really have to go. Bye.” 

I’m on my feet again, running. 

The minute I hit the streets, Khotso grabs Mohale and I and throws us in a V300. Some guy I don’t even know is on top of the car shooting at three cars behind us – the three cars that were at my parents’ house.

“Legoa, a re vaye. The soldiers are here.” I hear Ona say. 

As soon as Khotso, Ona and Legoa get into the vehicle, the vehicle speeds off. 

Now that my adrenaline is dying down, I realise that Mohale and I are soaking wet. I get Mohale out of his wet clothes, use the baby Vaseline inside his bag to lotion him and try to keep him warm. I change his diaper, then dress him into something warm. I make him sit next to me because I’m super wet. He wants to be on top of me. I put a towel on top of me then I let him sit. These three men in front of me do not even help me. They just watch me and don’t say much. 

“Who is Mathabo?” I ask them.

They all stare at me. 

“Those men said that Mathabo told them they’d find Mohale at my parents’ house. Who the hell is Mathabo and what does she want with a child?” 

I’m so scared that my voice is even cracking. 

“That’s not possible”, Khotso says.

“Anything is possible with that fucked up magogo”, Ona. 

“Magogo? Your grandmother?” Me. 

Khotso looks at me. 

Before I can ask further questions, the car stops in front of a hospital. 

I look at Khotso. 

“We got there just on time. Your parents are getting help”, Khotso tells me. 

I jump off the car with Mohale in my arms because he is just not letting me go. Regodise sprints to us and hugs us super tightly. 

“Thank you, Oluremi. Thank you from the bottom of my soul. Thank you.” She keeps saying. 

She takes Mohale from me and before we can talk further, I run into the hospital. I need to find my parents. 

Malcolm meets me in the passageway. My plan was to go ward to ward until I find them.

“Mom and dad are okay”, he says. 

“Where are they?”

“Hello to you too, baby sister. I missed you so much and you cannot even say hi to your big brother?” 

We look at each other and laugh. Then I hug him. 

Someone clears their throat. I look behind me and my boyfriend looks like he wants to beat up my brother. Oh ja, they haven’t met. 

“Guys, this is my brother, Malcolm. Mal, this is my boyfriend Khotso, his brother Ona, his sister Dise and our son, Mohale.” 

I don’t know why I said that. My brain is just not working. 

“Babe! I came as soon as I could. Things are a bit hectic at work.” Some girl says. 

“It’s okay, love. I understand. This is my sister, Lulu. Lulu, this is my girlfriend, Thando.” 

“Hi”, I say with a smile. 

“Hello”, she says as she comes in for a hug. 

“Can I please see mom and dad now?” I ask. 

Mal leads me to their wards, starting with my mom’s. 

…

Tebza and I arrive at the hospital and find the Mohales sitting in the waiting area – including morena and the queen. Oluremi’s parents’ house was set alight with the parents tied onto chairs. People arrived on time and were able to help them. From what I understand, they are okay. 

We all greet each other. 

“Any news?” Tebza asks Dise. 

Dise shakes her head. 

“Where’s mama?” Mohale keeps saying. 

Olu is mama now? 

“She’s coming, boy. Come here”, Khotso. 

“He’s been a bit shaken since the incident. He was with Olu. Now he just wants Olu next to him all the time”, Dise explains. That makes sense. 

Some girl walks out and walks towards us with food for all of us. 

We all look at her then she says, “I thought I’d get us all some food. Mal and Lulu are still with their parents.” 

“And who are you?” Morena aggressively enquires. 

“Thando. I’m Mal’s girlfriend”, the girl says. 

“No, thank you. We don’t just eat food from people we do not know.” Morena. 

“It’s just food. Why would I want to poison you? I don’t even know who you are.” Ai, this girl! 

“Ela, we don’t want your food.” Ona says. 

I think I’m seeing things. There’s no way. 

“Is that –

Ona is also just as shocked. 

This Thando girl looks in the direction of our eyes, then she says, “Boss, hey.” 

Fikile stares at all of us. 

“When you said you were coming to support your boyfriend, I didn’t think you meant one of these people.” Fikile says. 

“They are here with my boyfriend’s sister. I don’t know who they are, but they are rude as hell.” 

What’s happening?! 

Fikile takes another look at all of us. She has a beautiful wedding ring on her finger. 

“Thando, I just came to drop these off for you as discussed. Will you be in the office tomorrow?” 

“I will.”

“Okay. We will go over these together and make sure they are ready for when we have to go and pitch. Our clients have agreed to meet with us at our offices.” Fikile. 

“Awesome. I’m on top of it.” Thando. 

Fikile nods her head then she turns around, Olu standing right in front of her now. 

Khotso will always find a way to make shit awkward with his women. I don’t know what this guy baths with, but if you stick with him, women will find a way to be dramatic in situations that should not even have drama. Khotso makes his way to Olu and hugs her, kissing her even – in front of Fikile. 

Ona is already laughing. I’m not sure if it’s shock or disbelief or what…

“How are your parents?” Khotso asks Olu. 

“They are fine. My brother and I are just talking about them coming back to Tholoana Kingdom with me. They’ll stay with me at my house until my brother and I rebuild their house.” 

“Okay, we can all drive down together. That’s fine.” Khotso says. 

“They are being discharged now, so we can leave as soon as they are done.” Olu. 

“I thought you said you’d never stop loving me”, Fikile says to Khotso. 

Silence! I was really praying to be proven wrong today. 

“Who’s this?” Olu.

“Fikile.” Fikile says. 

“Mrs Fikile Ramaru”, Khotso. 

“What happened to the door always being open for me? Is this wife number one? Considering that you’ll marry customary to make sure that I can always come back and be your wife whenever I were ready?” What’s wrong with Fikile? 

“Oh that?! He just wanted to test if you were still ho enough to sleep with him while committed to another man like you did with his uncle while you were still with him”, Olu fights for herself and Khotso. Fikile shakes her head in anger. Thando is not quite sure what to do. None of us thought Olu had it in her to be so salty. 

“Bye”, Olu says to dumb-founded Fikile. 

Fikile just walks away. Ona and morena burst into laughter uncontrollably before Fikile has even turned a corner. Queen Kea just looks at Ona and morena and shakes her head. 

We are at some hotel that we will be staying at overnight before driving back to Tholoana Kingdom. Tebza and Dise are in Khotso’s and Olu’s room with Olu and Mohale. Olu’s parents are in a room that has been booked for them. Us gents are having beer at the bar. 

“How’s Olu?” I ask Khotso. 

“She’s a bit spooked. My mother gave her some sleeping tablets because she was struggling to keep her eyes shut.” Khotso.

“Mom is a plug for these sleeping drugs.” Ona says and we laugh.

“Mohale is spooked. He will not leave her side.” Khotso. 

“Olu saved his life. Dise and I are forever grateful to her.” Ona. 

“Thandeka did this”, Ona says. 

“Thandeka?” Me.

“Pule’s and Fifi’s mother. And that old bitch – magogo – she helped her.” Ona.

“Hai! Have some respect.” I say. 

They both look at me. 

Zithulele walks into the bar with a very small child and his wife has the child we all know. This man is very brave. Two under two?

“Your hotel room is room 709. It’s a family room and we made sure it has a crib and everything for both kids. Here’s your key card”, Khotso tells Zithulele and hands him the key card. 

“Thanks”, Zithulele says.

“Gentlemen, we need to get going”, morena says. He randomly walked in. 

“I’ll get my family settled and I’ll meet you at the car.” Zithulele. 

“Maboko, we will see you later.” Ona says.

“I’m coming with you.” 

Morena, Khotso and Ona look at me. 

What else am I going to do? Gossip with the women?

“It’s stuff that you made us swear to never do in front of you.” Ona says. 

I down my whiskey and get on my feet.

“Maboko –

“Let’s go”, I say and I lead the way out.

…

We get to some house and I’m told to stay in the car. Why are these people treating me like a child? 

“But –

“I’ll stay right here with you”, Ona says. 

I can’t even fight it. This is so unnecessary, but hey. 

As Ona and I sit in the car while everyone else has gone inside, I see Shaka walk in dressed in some overall and he is dragging Ngono-Mathabo inside the house. 

“What are they going to do to her?” I ask Ona.

“Maboko, you can’t do this. You can’t just come out here and interfere with these kinds of things when you have made it very clear that you want nothing to do with this.” Ona tells me. 

“I just –

“Nah, monna! We don’t bring people out here to shadow what we do. There are no job-shadowing opportunities here. So, you and I are going to sit here and we are going to make sure that we keep ourselves busy with either talking or watching porn until these guys come back to the car. Then we go back to the hotel to our wives.”

Mxm!

…

Tebza and I arrive at our house from South Africa. We are beyond exhausted. It is still very early in the morning, so Bane and Ruri are still fast asleep. But we do stumble upon Refiloe bouncing about in the kitchen. Things are a bit awkward between us and honestly, I don’t know how to be around her. 

“Hey”, she greets us. 

“Hi”, Tebza says with a smile. 

I just look at her. 

“I brought Mason over last night and saw that you guys were away, so I decided to sleep over and help with the kids.” She says. 

I thought she didn’t want her child ganging out where the Mohales were hanging out a lot of the times. Refiloe must make up her mind on what she wants. I’m getting whiplash with her up and down as she changes her mind every minute she gets. 

“Can we talk?” Refiloe says. 

“I’ll go check up on the kids and give you guys some space”, Tebza says. 

Refiloe nods her head and Tebza leaves. 

I walk to a chair and sit on it. Refiloe follows me and we end up sitting at the dining area. 

I look at her. 

“Mason asked me who his real father is”, she says as if this is not some bomb that she’s dropping on me. I was not ready to be dealing with this kind of conversation. 

“He told me that he feels like he doesn’t have a father because Marcus was in his life until we broke up, then he left and has never checked in on him ever again. Now that you and I are fighting, I don’t allow him to be in your life because I’m upset with you and he says you are the most consistent father-figure in his life. Then he asked me if he should start calling Shaka dad because he is my new boyfriend, but will Shaka also leave like Marcus and never contact him again.” 

This is a lot for 5:30am and after a trip from South Africa. Let’s be honest.

“Refiloe, I don’t even understand why we are fighting. I don’t understand your anger towards me at all. I told you that I’d support you in whatever you are doing with Shaka. And I believe that I have. I even let that man sleep in my house. Do you have any idea how uncomfortable that was for me? Probably as uncomfortable as it was for his children when they walked in on the two of you in his kitchen and probably as uncomfortable as it is for you when you think about taking him to mom’s house. Now you use a child to prove a point to the Mohales? Look now, you are the one who has to explain such difficult things because you didn’t put Mason’s emotional needs above your own needs to make a dramatic exit out my house in front of the Mohales.” I’m actually irritated. 

She looks like she’s about to cry. 

I get a text message and when I look at my Apple Watch to see who is texting me, I see it’s a text message from Tebza. It reads, 

“This is not the time for such a lecture. She needs her brother. Stop it.” 

I take a deep breath. 

I look at Fifi. 

After a brief silence, I say, “Fifi, why don’t you and Shaka buy yourselves a love nest where you can be together in peace? I know that you don’t believe in explaining yourselves to everyone, but that doesn’t mean you are not hurting people around you. Surely that’s not bringing you any peace and it’s not even allowing you explore what’s truly happening between the two of you. You spend your time either having sex or dealing with judgement because everywhere you go, you are dressed in defence and feel the need to defend your relationship. I feel uncomfortable with another man waking up inside my house. It’s not just a Shaka thing, it’s just any guy that’s not my dad or Tebza’s dad or my sons. Shaka’s kids feel uncomfortable with you guys at their home. It’s Shaka’s house – yes – but it’s their home and it’s their place of memory of their mother. For as long as you wake up in that house, regardless of what Shaka says, you will not have a good relationship with those kids. And as a parent yourself, do you really want that? Surely, they deserve for you to be what Shaka clearly is to Mason. Shaka is great with Mason, you could at least be cordial with his kids. You will not achieve that if you keep disrespecting their mother – or coming across as disrespecting her. It doesn’t matter how you or Shaka see it, when it comes to them, the only thing that matters is how you make them feel.” 

She’s actually listening to me. She’s staring at me attentively and nodding her head as I speak – she is not interrupting me or being defensive. She’s just listening. 

“I’m not sure what your reason is for not seeing him at mom’s house, but I’m sure you have your reasons and I respect that. Mom’s house will always be there. I can’t do anything to it or with it without you anyway. Whenever you need to run there for whatever reason, it will be there. But for now, get a nice apartment for the two of you and when you are together, be together. Surely, whatever is going on between you guys also deserves a shot that it’s clearly never going to get if you live in defence mode about your relationship. Then let Mason move in with us. He needs the stability and Bane is here. You know that you are welcome to come and go as you please here. I’ll never deny you access. And I’ve told you that you are even welcome to bring Shaka with you, just not sleep over.” 

She laughs. I smile at her. 

“Sis, I love you. I respect you more than you know. I’m in your corner here. I’m cheering for whatever makes you happy. I just also want you to be realistic about the situation and the impact that it’s having on people. At the end of the day, you and Shaka live with people. It’s no use making enemies out of them.” I say. 

“Thank you so much, Maboko. Thank you for not judging me and – 

“Fifi, I’m the last person to judge you. I had scandals myself about my relationship choices. I understand you more than you know.” 

“Still, even when your father insisted that I be kept a secret, you were always there and not keeping me a secret. Today, you are still here supporting me and showing me that you only want what is best for me. I can never thank you enough.” She says. 

Tebza comes into the kitchen and starts preparing stuff. We both look at her. 

“Oh, Shaka is at the gate. He is driving in. The gate just buzzed me. I thought I’d maybe prepare breakfast?” Tebza says. 

I honestly have an amazing wife. Fifi stands up and hugs her. 

She just smiles and pulls a thumbs up at me. I know that she’s telling me that I’ve done well in handling this situation. I nod my head and smile. 

In no time, Shaka parks his car and walks to the house. The door is open, so he stands there and I suppose waits for someone to tell him to come in. 

I give him a bottle of beer and say, “We can start braaiing the steak.”

He smiles at me. 

He greets his girlfriend with kiss, greets my wife with flowers and greets me with whiskey – a mature and twenty-five thousand rands whiskey. I’m not sure what this means, but I love the gesture. The kids are also now awake. Ruri is on Mason’s hip and Bane is next to them. 

“Shak!” They shout. 

These kids love this guy. I don’t understand it. They lose their minds when they see him. 

They sprint to him and we are all concerned that Ruri is in a sprinting child’s arms and I can just see Tebza running towards them so they don’t drop her. Shaka sprints to them faster and immediately takes Ruri from Mason. Yey!

Then he greets the boys and they start asking him a million questions. I find it interesting how he’s managing to answer each and every one of those questions. Tebza and I observe this so carefully because it’s honestly fascinating. Refiloe is just charmed. She’s staring at the situation with eyes of love. 

“Papa, can we swim?” Bane asks me. 

“Okay, but Shak and I will have to watch you as we braai the meat we will have for breakfast.” 

They lose their minds and run upstairs. 

Shak shakes his head and we all look at him in awe. 

“It comes with experience, kids.” He says and we all just laugh. 

Good morning.