“FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCKEN HELL! THAT BITCH WITH HER WIDE HIPS AND AN ASS AS BIG AS TWO PLANETS PUT TOGETHER HAS FUCKEN ESCAPED WITH ALL THE FUCKEN KIDS!” He says. 

I see relief of faces here. I even see Banathi and Mnqobi smiling. 

Wehweh just saved all of us! 

She actually just saved the church! 

Khanya wanted to know more about me and didn’t want me to shut him out, so he’s kidnapped right here with us.

“You think we wont get her? She’s declared war on us. She killed my men!” This guy! 

“She’s on foot. She left her car. We will find her. Le didi lakhe elikhulu won’t carry her far… especially with four children. And when I find her – yerrrrr! I’m going to fuck her so wild and so good! I can already imagine myself cuming on that fat ass as she screams for you to save her from my dick.” 

What’s wrong with this guy.

“I’m going to murder you! I want you to know that! So today, you better me. Because if you let me live, I will murder you while a hungry one from prison fucks you the way you wish you could fuck my girl. You look like a hungry prisoner’s type.” Mnqobi says. 

I see this guy shiver at the thought alone. 

Khanya is getting upset as if they are speaking about someone he loves. I guess the blatant disrespect towards Wehweh is just uncalled-for. Yes she has bums for days… some of us could benefit a lot from her donating to us, but so what?! 

“Chief! Sizokwenzani manje?” One of the guys say. 

“If the elders get wind of this, they’ll strike. Those kids were our insurance. I don’t give a fuck about the big-booty whore. If she ran alone, I’d be fine. She took the kids”, another says. 

Mnqobi is getting angry. 

By elders, they mean our parents. Our parents have assets and information that is needed. They know we can find a way to get out. But we were all worried shit about the kids. The other kids are safe in the royal house. It was the Khuzwayo kids that we were all stressing about. When we heard Wehweh had them, we were a bit relieved but still worried. Now that she’s fine, we can strike. Our parents were ready to give up a portion of the church to these KZN thugs for the safety of the kids.

“A minute.” One says. 

They all leave the room. 

We don’t even know whose house we are being kept in. 

“I’m going to kill these fuckers”, Mnqobi says as he unties Banathi. Clearly, he had wrestled with his rope and succeeded. When Banathi is loose, they both untie myself, Khanya, Reahile, Tholoana, Khabane, Khanyisa, Moloko and Wandi. 

We saw the gun room not too far from here and we all head there as if we briefed each other. Clearly, we’ve all been eyeing it. 

As soon as we step into where we were tied up, these ones also step in. They shoot first and we all shoot back. We manage to kill them all, but Mnqobi is also lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood. 

… 

Mnqobi is in ICU. The good news is that he’s out of danger. He keeps asking for Wehweh. We all don’t know where Wehweh is. She’s so good at hiding that not even we can find her. We are stressed because we don’t know what to tell him when he asks us for Wehweh. Also, Wehweh has the Khuzwayo kids and the Khuzwayos are STRESSED!

We are in the waiting area right now. His parents and Banathi are in his ward with him. 

“Ushup?” Khanyi says, giving me a cup of something to drink. 

I take a sip. 

I don’t know what cheap liquor this is, but I gulp it down so quickly because my nerves are heightened right now. 

“We need to find Wehweh”, I say. 

A get a DM notification.

It’s a DM from Nomawethu Wehweh Radebe. I show Khanyi. 

Khanya and Khabane have gone somewhere, I don’t know where. I won’t lie, I appreciate my brother keeping Khanya so occupied that he hasn’t given me a hard time at all throughout all of this. 

Khanyi opens the DM. 

“Friend, I bought a phone from o-My Friend. The bastards took my phone. Call me on 082 123 1234.”

I call her immediately and put her on speaker. My mom is now next to us.

The call is answered but she’s quiet. 

“Wehweh? It’s Ruri. Are you there?” 

“Hey”.

We all breathe a sigh of relief. I get up and run to Mnqobi’s ward. Before I’m stopped, I yell “I have Wehweh on the phone!”

Banathi comes to me and pulls me into the ward. Mnqobi is awake but is in pain. 

“Friend, where are you?” I say. 

“I’ll send you my location. The kids and I are fine. Are you guys okay?” 

“We are worried about you. Are you fine?” 

Uncle Zee asks for my phone. 

I hand it to him. 

“Wehweh, you’ve done well, sisi. Siyabonga. Banathi is coming to get you. We all need to be together. We don’t know if these people still have more people coming for us. Once we have everyone in place, we can strike. And they’ll pay for this.” 

Wehweh is quiet.

“Did they touch you?” Mnqobi says. I don’t blame him. The rape threats she got were honestly frightening.

“No. They didn’t touch any of us.” She says. Thank God!

“Okay. Send us your details of where you are. We will come get you.” Uncle Zee.

“I have a car. I can come to you guys. We don’t know if you are being followed. I don’t think we should give up our hiding place.” Ke Wehweh oe?! Serious?! Mnqobi found his mother in Wehweh shame.

“Okay. Come to Queen Kea Private Hospital.” Uncle Zee.

“Hospital?!” 

I shake my head. No one should tell her that Mnqobi is the hurt one.

“Everyone is fine. Just come, please. Come to the ICU wing, you’ll find us there.”

“ICU?!”

“Wehweh, just get here friend. Please.” Me.

“When can you get here?” Banathi.

“Six hours”.

“Where the fuck are you?!” Banathi.

She’s already hung up. 

“Rest, papa. Wehweh must find you strong when she gets here.” Aunt Tlali tells Mnqobi. And he indeed does sleep. 

10pm.

Wehweh arrives with the kids. The kids run to Banathi and hug him. I go to Wehweh and hug her. She’s wearing adidas black tights and a purple adidas t-shirt. The t-shirt is baggy, but I see that bum that has been trending all day. 

Aunt Tlali comes to us. She hugs Wehweh. They hold each other so tightly. We are all silent and we observe. Aunt Tlali didn’t vibe like this with Nothando, Khabane’s deceased spouse. 

“Let’s sit down, nana”. Aunt Tlali says. 

We all observe them. Khanya is back from whoever he comes from and wraps himself around me. I hold him tightly. He’s so much sexier these days hey. 

“Nana, Mnqobi o nthuntsoe.” Aunt Tlali. 

Wehweh is in disbelief. 

“Mah… Ngiyazi ukuthi I don’t understand Sotho the way that I should considering that I live in this kingdom… kodwa ukuthuntsoe kusho ukuthi udutshuliwe.” Wehweh.

Aunt Tlali nods her head and says, “yebo. He’s been shot.”

“Kodwa mah, ngikhulumile nobaba. Ubaba uthe everyone is fine. He said that before I left and made my way here.” She’s panicking now.

“Wehweh! Wehweh!” Aunt Tlali should’ve started this conversation with, ‘he’s alive and he’s okay.’

“He’s alive, friend. He’s alive.” I say. 

She calms down. 

“He’s going to be okay”, I emphasise. 

“Ngicela ukumbona? Kulungile, mah nawe baba?” Wehweh. 

“Yes. You may.” Aunt Tlali. 

“I’ll take you”, me. 

I indeed walk her to his ward. His parents and Banathi follow us. 

“Why ungithusa?” Wehweh says to Mnqobi, trying hard not to hurt him, but touching him. He keeps kissing her hand then says, “this is what happens when you don’t want to take me back.” 

Wow! 

“I’m still not taking you back!” Wehweh. 

“Then I’m going to die. Only if you take me back, will I heal.” 

Banathi and Uncle Zee actually laugh at this. 

“Uyabheda wena!” Wehweh says then laughs. 

A nurse walks in. 

“Sisi, please get a dish and some toiletries, so I can help him get clean”, Wehweh says to the nurse. 

“We will bath him tomorrow, sisi.” The nurse. 

“He can’t sleep like this. Please… he needs to get clean. Kulungile, I’ll go get the things myself – 

“Ima kancane, sisi.” Banathi says to Wehweh. 

“Sister, please get her what she needs”, Uncle Zee tells the nurse. 

The nurse just leaves to do what is requested. 

The rest of us say goodnight and prepare to leave now that Wehweh has told us that she will be sleeping here with Mnqobi. As for me, I paid an external tutor to do our assignments for the week. 

We slept at my parents’ house… yes, even Khanya was allowed to sleep over. He slept in the spare bedroom. Khanyisa and Khabane also slept over with all three of their boys. 

We are at breakfast now. 

It’s quite tense. 

No one is saying anything, even the kids. 

“Mnqobi is healing”, my mom finally says. 

We all look at her. 

“Tlali says Wehweh is forcing him to take medication so it’s really helping him. He might still be able to make it to Reahile’s wedding”, my mom is really trying shame. 

“That’s good. Tlali would’ve never forgiven us if her son died”, my dad. 

“Khanya and I managed to locate the gang.” Khabane says. 

I look Khanya straight in the eye. I’m not trying to have him in the church! 

My parent notice the look I’ve given him. My mom shakes her head at me, as if saying that this is not the time to shit on him.

“Ntuthuko and pope are already in KZN. Banathi and I are flying out to meet up with them”, Khabane. 

“I’ll come with you”, my dad. 

Khabane nods his head. 

“Khanya –

“Khanya is taking me to the hospital to see Mnqobi”, I interrupt my brother. 

The table is silent. 

“Are you ready to go?” I say to Khanya, looking straight at him so that he knows that if he had any church plans with my father or my brother, they are toast now! 

“Can we talk?” Khanya says to me. 

I’m already pissed off and everyone at the table sees it. My parents are observing us carefully, especially my dad. 

I get up from the table and walk to our patio. Khanya follows me. 

He closes the sliding door as he gets outside. Our sliding doors are sound proof. Good! Now I can shit on him. 

I fold my arms and look at him. 

He rubs my shoulders then says, “your dad and brother think that it would be a good idea for me to learn more about the church. They say that it’s part of the family and if I’m going to be with you, it’s going to be part of our lives.”

“Khanya, do you have any idea what you are getting yourself into?! This is why I didn’t want you anywhere near this thing! I wanted you far away from it! I didn’t want this shit to happen. What makes you think I want to be with a thug?! If I wanted to be with one, I’d have dated all the options around me that I grew up with. I dated the employee who progresses in his career outside of crime because I want out of this thing. I don’t want to be like my mom or the moms in this organisation that stress about their husbands all the time! No Khanya! No! If it means we must leave the kingdom and go live in South Africa from today onwards, so be it! You are not joining the church!” 

He takes a deep sigh. 

He puts his hands in his pockets. 

“Ru, you are in this whether you like it or not. Your entire family is in this. Your aunt was married to pope. Even if we step away, you are a target to use to get to your father… your brother… the church.” He says. 

“Khanya, is this how you want our children to grow up? Your mother hates me. If anything happens to you, what will I tell that woman?”

“I’ll be able to protect them. I’ll protect all of you. I’ll be trained by –

I storm off nje. I heard trained and I just knew that this entire conversation has my brother and father written all over it. 

I get back into the house then charge to my father. 

“Why are you doing this?” I ask him. 

“Ruri, don’t talk down to my husband.” My mom. 

“Mah –

“If you want to have a conversation with him, you can pull a chair, sit down and have a conversation. You don’t stand over my husband.” 

Silence. 

I pull a chair then sit between my dad and my brother. 

“Why are you doing this?” I ask my dad again. 

“What do you want me to do, Ruri?” 

“I don’t want Khanya part of this!” 

“So you want to leave him out of things again? Do you not remember what happened the last time you did that?! Aren’t the two of you still recovering from the beating you got as a result of that?!” My dad was probably the mean kid on the playground when he was at school. 

“Papa, Khanya is not like you or Bane. He’s –

“Soft? Weak? No heart? Don’t sit there and disrespect someone you’ll one day expect me to accept as a son in this house, do you understand me?! And while I appreciate your strength and independence, I don’t think it’s cute that you think you wear the pants in your relationship! Khanya has made a decision and you should be supportive, not this nonsense that you are doing right now in the middle of a crisis. Do you want him to be running and hiding with the women and the kids while we are out there making things right?!” 

“What if he dies, papa?!”

“We all run that risk… including me. Including Bane. Including everyone who is part of this, including the kids. You know that! What if we leave him out and he dies because they try get to us? Wouldn’t you rather he has a fair chance at protecting himself? At protecting you?” 

“Papa –

“Ruri, a day will come where I’m going to have to trust this man to be the head of your house. I need to know that you are in good hands.”

“A thug’s hands are good hands?”

“Hands that can protect my child from a life we cannot just run away from are good hands.” 

Now I’m silent. 

He looks at me.

He looks at me looking at Khanya. 

Khanya doesn’t know how to be. 

“Let’s go, boys.” My dad. 

Bane and Khanya both get up. Bane kisses Khanyi. Khanya tries to touch me and I just shrug my shoulders viciously. He leaves with my dad. 

…

1 week later

We are all preparing to leave for Maja Perre for Mapho’s lobola negotiations and first part of her wedding. Mnqobi is still in hospital. He’s out of ICU, but he’s still in hospital, a surgical ward. Wehweh will be staying with him. She decided and no one will change her mind. 

We are at the hospital now to see Mnqobi before we leave. I’ve already packed the dresses for the wedding and everyone I designed and sewed for has made full payment. Yes, I’m chopping that money! But I have a business. So the money goes towards salaries, operations and business growth. Even I earn a salary, so my business bank balance is cute… not my personal bank balance. I sometimes still need Khanya to bless me. 

Wehweh and I are sitting in the waiting area. The others are in the ward with Mnqobi. 

“Are you and Khanya okay? Y’all seem a bit tense”, Wehweh says to me. 

“Girl… he’s letting my brother and father recruit him into the church.” I tell her. 

“Are you surprised?” 

Why do people treat me like I’m being unreasonable?! 

“Ru… it was bound to happen, especially if the two of you are in this for the long haul. Khanya has big shoes to fill when it comes to being a man in your life. And you’ll find that a large part of him is doing this for you.”

Point. 

“Don’t be like that, friend. Iyakuthanda le ndoda.” She says. 

“I’m being a brat neh?”

“Kancane nje”, she says. 

We laugh. 

“Apparently, the guys want to recruit Molise into the church”, she says. 

“Yeah, I heard. Apparently he’s insecure?” Me. 

“Uyalibona nawe ikhaya uZaza comes from compared to his. And ubaba kaZaza bought a velar cash for Zaza while Molise has them paying a bond.” 

“How do you think Zaza will take this?” I ask.

She shrugs her shoulders. 

“You know… in some people’s lives, people like Khanya and Molise are doing well. They may be paying bond but at least they can afford to fund the lifestyles they’ve chosen. Why is it such an insult in our world?” I say.

“I don’t know. I guess there’s nothing cute about is’kweleti in our world.” 

I’m so done! 

We actually laugh hey. Wow! 

“So…? You and Mnqobi? Are you back together?”

She shakes her head. 

“Hawu friend?! Haven’t you punished him enough, hle?” I advocate for Mnqobi.

“I just don’t want him to think this behaviour is okay. He really hurt me to the core, Ru.” 

“He’s learned his lesson, friend.”

“I just can’t help but feel like Lindiwe is his one. If she wanted him as badly as he wants her, he’d choose her. I’m the one he settled for. Why le nto yabo ingapheli?!”

“Girl… please hey! Lindiwe and Mnqobi were just that relationship where two pretty people with big heads about their prettiness were in one relationship. The sex was the peak of that relationship, not their intimacy. When she got pregnant, the first thing Mnqobi said was ‘please don’t make me marry her. She can never be my wife. She’s not the one.’ There was no substance in that relationship. Yes, she cheated. But he was more humiliated than hurt. I’ve known Mnqobi all my life and I can tell you, comfortably so, that what we are all witnessing with you is a first for all of us… even for him.” 

She nods her head. 

“Forgive him, tu.” I say.

“I have forgiven him… it’s the trust I’m struggling with.”

We look at each other.

Everyone is now coming out of the ward. 

Wehweh and I hug. She says, “Enjoy the wedding and take lots of pictures for me, please.”

“I will, friend.” Me. 

She looks at Reahile then says, “All the best for the weekend. We will be there for next week’s wedding at the palace. And please please please look after Mapho. She’s a gem.” 

Reahile blushes then mumbles a thank you under his breath. 

“Here is a gift from Mnqobi and I. Please open it with your bride. We love you guys.” Wehweh is so sweet hey. 

Now Rea hugs her and says thank you. 

Today she’s wearing a Michael Kors dress with Christian Dior sandals. Wehweh neh. But her bum looks neat and put together today. I just can’t get over how the people that kidnapped us only remembered her ass and nothing else about her.

We all say goodbye to Wehweh. She heads back to Mnqobi’s ward and we hit the road!