Today, I’m having lunch with my sister wives. They invited me to lunch because we apparently need to talk. Thabang has seriously axed them. I thought that he would’ve calmed down by now, but he’s even shocking me at how unforgiving he is about this situation. I was more shocked when the sister wives phoned me, telling me that they’d like us to meet up and chat. Imagine. I just don’t want trouble. I really don’t. So I hope this isn’t some shit.
I’ve dropped my kids off at school. I’ve been working since 4am this morning, so I’m in a good position to take lunch today. 

I arrive at Reahile just after 1pm. 
They haven’t arrived yet. I order myself a glass of wine then phone my husband to check in.
“My love”, he answers his phone. 
“Hey you. Ujwang?” 
“Ke shup, my baby. How are you?”
“I’m fine. I just wanted to check in. I miss you a bit. It’s as if I didn’t wake up next to you this morning.”
He laughs a bit.
I giggle. 
“I’m serious.” I say.
He’s still laughing. Then he says, “do you want to come by my office?” 
“You not busy?” I ask.
“I am. But I’ll always make time for you.” 
“You sure? I mean, I deliberately stay away from places you don’t invite me to because I don’t want to find myself bumping into women you are busy with.”
“Morafe, I’m not cheating on you.”
“Would you admit it if you were?” 
“I’d tell you. Yes.” 
“Do you intend to cheat on me?”
“No. You are enough for me. I mean that.” 
I’m quiet.
My wine arrives. I thank the waiter. I return to my call. 
“Love”, me.
“Where are you, baby?” 
I didn’t tell him about this meeting.
“I’m having lunch at Reahile.” I say.
“With?” 
“Mmakabelo and Mahali.”
“Why, Morafe? Why?” 
“They asked to see me. With everything going on, I thought I’d just hear them out.”
“Morafe”
“My baby, I’ll come by your office when I’m done. I’ll even bring you some… you know… di-sweets.”
He laughs. 
I chuckle too.
I see Mmakabelo and Mahali walk into the restaurant.
“Babe, they’ve arrived. I have to go.” I say.
“Phone me as soon as you are done there.” 
“I will.”
They get to the table.
“I love you, Morafe.” He says.
“I love you too, baby.” I say.
They seem hurt. They look at each other. They sit down. I hang up. 

“We apologise for being late. We had to take taxis”, Mahali says.
A lot of people take taxis. They won’t die. So, I’m not moved by that statement. 
They order water. 
Are they broke too? 
But I just look at them, I don’t show any emotion towards what’s happening.
The waiter leaves. 
“Morafe, we cannot continue to live with Thabang’s mother. It’s just a lot and we are not coping. Mama is… a lot. And we don’t have anything. The Mothipas are not looking after us at all. Our kids are in village schools. Tumelo cannot do anything. He’s in prison. Kgomotso, who is currently in control of his estate because Thabang handed over everything to her in him wanting nothing to do with all of us, she has shut us out completely. She only helps her house and Tumelo’s second wife. She doesn’t even look at us or our kids.” Mmakabelo explains. 
This is a lot. 
But I’m still confused about what is required of me here. 
“We tried to go see Tumelo in prison. But Kgomotso cut us off his visitor’s list and banned us from seeing him.” Mahali.
I like Kgomotso. She’s crazy and no one can do anything about it.
I’m still looking at them. 
“Re kopa thuso, Morafe.” Mmakabelo.
“What kind of help, exactly?” I ask. 
“We know that you can get us a visit with Tumelo. Please help us get a visit with him. We need to talk to him to talk to a lawyer so that Kgomotso doesn’t have this kind of power over his money because our kids are suffering and it’s not fair. They are his kids too.” Mmakabelo. These two really know how to look out for themselves.
“Why don’t you just go to a lawyer and get that lawyer to help divide his estate?” I ask.
“With what money, Morafe?” Mahali. 
“Nna, I don’t want to get involved. I actually have a decent relationship with Kgomotso and I’m not trying to ruin that because the two of you are down and out after betraying her.”
“Betraying her?!” They collectively say.
“Or whatever you call it. I’m not getting involved.” 
“Morafe, do you think we’d be here begging you for help if we had options? You are our only hope! Our last hope! Please Morafe. Thabang has completely cut us off. He even served us with divorce papers.” Mahali.
“So you want a meeting with Tumelo that you want me to arrange?” I ask, ensuring that I’m clear. 
They nod their heads. Then Mmakabelo says, “and a better divorce settlement from Thabang.”
I actually laugh.
“Morafe, he wants to leave us with nothing.” Mahali.
“Well, what did you come into this marriage with? What did you accumulate in this marriage?” I ask.
“Who do you think you are?!” Mahali.
“You called me here. I’m okay without the regular update of what’s happening in your lives. You don’t need to update me and keep bothering me for whatever help you need. Are you that arrogant to assume that I’ll just help just nje? Because you said so?” I say.
“Thabang can afford to look after us. We know he can.” 
“It doesn’t mean he has to”, I say.
“What happened was not out of malicious intent.” Mmakabelo.
“To be honest with you, I’m getting tired of listening to this. I’ve heard the story and I’m tired of hearing it on repeat as if there’s a point that I’ve missed somewhere. You can either get a lawyer and fight this legally, or just let it be!” I say. 
They are taken aback. 
“Are we done here?” I ask. 
They are silent… but hurt.
“Guys, I’m sorry. I don’t know what to tell you and I don’t know how to help you. Thabang is my husband and he’s deeply hurt by this. And he feels unseen in all of it. Everyone is telling him what to do, but no one is acknowledging how he feels. He feels unprotected. You guys have the family protecting you. I’m all he has. Right now, I cannot be anything that contradicts his emotional and psychological security. Askies. I really cannot help you.” I say.
“You are enjoying this, aren’t you? The wife that Thabang has and can lean on… the last wife standing… the one who didn’t betray him. This is all good for you.” Mahali. 
“First of all, I didn’t ask you guys to sleep with your husband’s brother instead of talking to him about what the problem was. I’m not going to apologise for being someone that he can trust. And secondly, my husband is hurting. I lie next to him everyday. I wake up next to him everyday. I’m the one witnessing him processing all of this and coming to terms with the fact that his life is not what he thought it was. I love him. This has never been a competition for me. You know, I’d feel better if he were just being unreasonable and being an absolute asshole. Then, I’d even help you without him knowing it. At least he wouldn’t be hurting. But you are all so committed to being right that no one can acknowledge what your actions have done to him. My house right now is not one big party, celebrating this mess. My kids try everyday to make this a little bit better for him even though they have no idea what’s going on. I’m hugging him even when I’m not sure what he needs so that all of this can be okay. Thabang is hurt! 
If you feel anything at all for him… anything… you’ll at least acknowledge his wound. You’ll at least acknowledge what it has done to him and you’ll acknowledge that to him, it hurts… whether you believe you were wrong or not. Maybe that’s the breakthrough that you need to get through to him and tell him what you need.” 
They actually look at each other.
“I really have to go. But seriously guys… good luck. I truly mean that.” I say, leaving R4500 on the table. My wine glass was only R750. They can decide what they do with the rest of the money. 

…

I arrive at Thabang’s office just after 3pm. I went to a lingerie store and bought something cute to wear underneath my button dress. I’ll just distract him a little bit, but not go all the way. His office is all the way transparent – glass walls and a glass door. So he has a view of everything happening on his floor, and his staff has full view of what’s happening in his office. Thankfully, its sound proof though. So real privacy is actually in his insuite restroom. I’ll probably just work from here for the rest of the day. His office is big enough. Plus, I need to do my debrief with Mofomahadi today. She’s still in South Africa, but she comes around to the kingdom on a much more regular basis now that the school is almost up and running. I’ll be assisting with shortlisting staff and school children. The applications we’ve received and continue to receive are insane. There are even campaigns for a similar school to be open here in the kingdom. Ja neh…

As I make my way up the elevator taking me to my husband’s office, I get a call from Mosetsana. 
“Hey baby girl”, I answer my phone.
“Mama, I’m just telling you that we are all home now. That’s why I have my phone. So if you see me online anywhere, just know that I’m home and I didn’t take my phone to school.” 
I want to laugh neh.
“Thank you, my baby. Thank you for being such an obedient child. I love you so much.” 
“I love you too, mommy. When will you and papa be home?” 
“Before 7pm. We will all have dinner together.” I say. 
“Okay. Perfect.”
“How’s your brother? And how’s Meme?” 
“We are all fine. Mamane Meme is making us lunch then it’s homework time”, she says.
“Okay baby. I’ll check homework and all books when I get home. I love you guys. Give your brother a big kiss for me.” 
“I will. Bye. I need to save my airtime.” Ngwana oe!
“Bye nana”, I say.
She’s already hung up.
I just find myself laughing to myself.

I walk into the office open plan floor. Some people are chatting, and some are focused on their laptop screens. I briefly greet everyone, then I head straight to my man’s office. His PA doesn’t like me. And it’s fine. She doesn’t have to like me. I don’t need her to like me. I just simply don’t acknowledge her and she hates that the most about me. She can actually fuck off. Mahali once told me that she used to fuck Thabang. Of course I’m not going to recognise her as a person. And if she even rubs my skin up the wrong way, I’ll have her fired. And I think she knows it. Everyone in this office knows it.

“Sphalaphala”, Thabang says as I walk into his office. He gets up from his seat and makes his way to embrace me. I catch the PA getting mad from the corner of my eye. I also catch the entire open plan watch her die inside. Let me make this good. 
“Hello, my handsome husband. Ujwang?” Me, all over my man, even feeling his dick get hard as he presses himself against me. I unbutton five buttons from my dress and he cannot even hide that he wants me… right here! Right now! His kisses start becoming sexual. Then I’m after I’m satisfied that the PA bitch has got the message, I stop my man saying, “love… your office is watching.”
“Let the watch. My guy is excited. What am I supposed to tell him? Come on, baby. Okay, I’ll only put in the head.” 
I laugh and say, “Thabang, no. Come, sit with me.”
“Okay let’s go to the toilet”, he says. 
Now I’m in stitches. 
Let me turn this down a notch. 
“Where you used to fuck that PA who disrespects me so much? No thanks. We are not the same calibre of woman. Please don’t treat us as such.” 
Now he feels… I don’t know. 
He’s still so hard that he limps back to his chair, but at least he’s left me alone. Good! 

I decide to sit on top of him on this chair. It’s my way of saying, I’m not angry but don’t ever touch that bitch again. He lets me. He even sits back and puts his hands behind his head. 
“So, ujwang?” I ask him.
“Ai, I’m just…” 
“Keng? Talk to me, love.” 
“I think my father told the board about what’s going on and they’ve definitely lost faith in me as their CEO. It’s just not pleasant working here anymore. I just want to get the fuck out of here, Mo.” 
“So, baby, why don’t you leave? What are you still sitting around here for?” I ask him. 
“My love, we have responsibilities. I can’t just stop working.” 
“Thabang, le wena you like expensive responsibilities. You are more than able to stop working here, and actually do something that will bring you genuine joy.” 
“What do you mean?”
“T, do you know where I lived before I moved back home?”
He looks at me.
“I lived in a backroom… in a shady township that had thugs roaming around like it was paradise. The rooms next to me was occupied with people who were formally employed but were earning next to nothing, people who lived on piece jobs, and criminals. There was no vetting of tenants there. If you could afford to pay your R800 rent at the end of the month as well as your R1500 non-refundable deposit, you could stay there. In that one backroom that I stayed in, I had curtains to divide a one room into a bedroom, a dining room and kitchen. I had to buy my own two-plate stove to create that kitchen-nyana. And that backroom, T, was smaller than this very office. I lived in there with two kids and an abusive man that I wanted to run away from every moment that I was breathing.” 
He looks at me as if amazed how anyone could live under those conditions. 
“My point is, Thabang, I didn’t even think that I was suffering because there were people who still had it worse than me. So if you are too afraid to follow your heart and your dreams because you don’t want us to suffer, you married someone who has a PhD in suffering and I can tell you right now that we will not suffer. We will definitely downsize because truly speaking, we don’t need all of this. We can sell that house that we live in and get something nice, smaller, and fitting for our kids and us. We can have one domestic worker who comes in ho seng then knocks off at the end of the day. We don’t need three stay in domestic workers. I have a great stipend for a house at the royal house. We can get something decent. We can sell our cars. We don’t need this many cars. I have one car that’s fully paid for by the royal house. We can afford another car so we have two vehicles. We will do our own school runs. We don’t need drivers. The royal house pays for school fees. With all that money from selling the house and cars, plus the money we will make from savings by not having so much staff around us all the time, plus the money you’ll get when you resign from here, you can start your dream… whatever it is. I have a salary… a very good one. There are hosueholds with a joint income that doesn’t even amount to what I make. I’ll carry us until your dream is standing. Plus, I also have savings because you told me to not overspend with my salary. I could also chip in. My point is… I’m not a responsibility or a liability in your life, T. I’m your wife. Ke molikane wahao…. your partner. Your equal. I don’t love your money. I love you. And I want you to be happy. Everything we build for our kids and for ourselves is built by both of us. I don’t expect all of this to fall on your shoulders alone. Ke teng, motho waka. And I’m not just here for the sex. I’m here for real.” 
He looks at me. He’s even crying. 

…

“How did I get so lucky?” I ask her. 
She smiles at me. 
“Why didn’t you come into my life a lot earlier, Morafe? Why?” 
“I don’t know, baby. But I’m here now. Let’s do this.” She says.
“I don’t know where to start.” I honestly become vulnerable with her. 
“Okay… let’s say that I came into your life when we were still teenagers… when you were still this fat and chubby little guy with a big bum that had a school bag as wide as an old man’s shoulders that always sat on the top part of your ass.”
I’m in stitches! 
Morafe o ntlwayelo masepa if I’m being honest.
She’s also laughing.
“Let’s say I agreed to be your girlfriend then. How would you imagine that our lives would have turned out?” She says. 
After laughing, I actually think about this. I allow myself to go there, then I tell her…
“I would’ve married you the minute you turned eighteen and matriculated. Then I would’ve taken you away from the madness and captivity that comes with being born into a royal family. Because the shit never ends. And I loved you so much – I still love you so much that I do not want you to think that’s acceptable. Just look at what we’ve been through.”
“Don’t digress. Let’s stay on our journey as young Mr and Mrs Mothipa.” She says.
I smile.
“Where would you have taken me?” She asks me. 
“Taung. Definitely. I love this city. But I’d move us to the more quiet side of it, you know. Where the royal house is. I’d buy us land, and I’d build you the kind of house you would’ve wanted regardless of where we ended up living. Then I’d open a game reserve lodge.” 
“A game reserve lodge?” She’s so shocked.
“Yeah. The accommodation rooms would be a rondavel, you know the ones we have ko mahayeng?”
“Ja…” She’s really interested. No one has ever been this interested in my dream. 
“Yeah… but inside, it’s a five-star hotel room… all white… with a shower located outside so that they shower privately, but in the bush.”
“And what happens in winter? Because Tholoana Kingdom plus it’s rain… this place gets shit cold in the winter.” She says.
“We will have an option to close just the shower area to trap heat in while the people take a shower.” 
She gives me an impressed look.
“We will have entertainment, definitely. But the main attraction will be our kingdom itself. How the black man and black woman is designed to win in this kingdom. We have a template that the world is dying to copy. What better way to show them while accommodating them, hosting their conferences and stays in our very land? Our game drives will not only include seeing animals and learning about the kingdom, but we will have higher packages that include meeting business owners of Tholoana Kingdom and their journeys in this kingdom of ours. Our highest package would be a meeting with the king and queen themselves. And they’ll give us a tour of why our country is Morafe.” 
“Morafe?”
“Yeah. That’s what I also want to call my lodge. Not only because I love you so much, but because your name is so powerful, Morafe. When we talk about Morafe, we talk about people who are of ancestors of land and will one day become ancestors to the next people. It’s not only royalty based. It’s everyone. My lodge is for everyone and they’ll be treated as we should treat ancestors because when they leave this earth, they bless the generations that remain. That’s how our kingdom prospers. The royal family will talk about Morafe wabona. Because Morafe wabonahas led us through centuries, and small and poor as we may be as a kingdom, we are rich in things that many other countries are still trying to win at. I want my reserve and the experience there to depict that.” 
She looks blown away. 
She holds my hands then says, “today, you will hand in your resignation. While you serve your six months notice, we will look for a new home in Taung royal lands then start preparing to move there. I’ll chat to Mofomahadi as well and ask her for a meeting with herself and the king. Then you will go in there and pitch this miracle that you’ve just pitched for me. I’ll help you. And I have it on good authority that the king will be putting some land up for sale soon. Let’s meet him before it goes out.” 
“You serious?” I ask her.
“It’s our dream now, Mr Mothipa. It’s our legacy now. We can do this. And if you want a quick win, get involved in this school business that Mofomahadi is so invested in. You’ll win them over instantly, especially Mofomahadi. And if she says yes, she will do the rest of the work for us le morena.”
I just kiss her. 
I wish we could have sex.
I love her so much. I feel like I’ve finally found the substance that we are taught we will find in marriage. I’ve found it three wives later. Now I just need to make sure that those other two sign the damn divorce papers so that I can rebuild – without them! 

Morafe decided that she would work from my office for the rest of the day. I’m honestly inspired by how happy she is in her job and how well she connects with Mofomahadi. I’ve been listening to her calls and she’s really amazing as the queen’s assistant. I can see how the queen only wants her. I heard that the queen even fired the king’s assistant and now Morafe works for the both of them. It came with a handsome bump in her salary. But she’s good. They are not blowing steam up her ass, she’s amazing at this. 
I’ve also typed up my resignation letter and I have sent it about five minutes ago. I’m making the right decision. I have the perfect support by my side. I’m going to be okay. 

Morafe finishes her meeting with Mofomahadi and Morena at 6pm. I heard her commit to working on something tonight, so I know she’s having a late night. I decide that I’m going to work on my proposal for my game reserve lodge. I won’t get a chance this weekend because I heard that we are having a kids’ day what-what with Morafe’s friends and their men and kids at Tholoana World – our very own African Disney World. It will be an all day affair from what I understand. It will be Wandi, Senzi and their new baby. There will be Basetsana, Keith and their son – Risuna. There will be Tamia, Ntuthuko and all all four of their kids. Then it will be Morafe, myself and our three kids – Meme, Mosetsana and Tshenolo. I’m just happy that I’m cool with these guys. These women love each other too much. They’ve forced a friendship amongst the kids. So us guys have just got with the program. 

Morafe and I drive home, following each other because we came here with different cars. I’m being driven and she’s driving herself. 
I get a call from my mother. Ey! I wonder. 
“Hi mah.” 
“So you and Morafe first threaten us to make sure that you don’t lose the businesses that you’ve been looking after, only for you to just throw it back in our faces by resigning? What game are you planning exactly?” She’s already spitting anger. 
“Mah, I’m just returning what’s rightfully yours. You and papa were right. I shouldn’t have a right to things you’ve worked hard for if I’m not prepared to play ball with what you require of me. And I’ll never play ball with what’s required of me at the moment… to raise kids that are a significant reminder of how my entire family betrayed me and how my own brother ang’jetsi direte.” 
“Thabang –
“So mama, I’m giving it all back to you because I don’t want there to ever be a day where you ever hold anything over my head and tell me to be grateful because you made me. I’ll have my own things- things that all of you in that kraal will have no claim over. I’ll be okay. My family and I will be fine.”
“Do you think Morafe will stay with you when you are broke?” 
“Fortunately for me, Morafe is nothing like the women that you all chose for me and decided to call my wives. Whatever happens, we will be okay.” 
“Then maybe she must treat her family better as she climbs off that high horse of hers.” 
“Excuse me?” Me.
“Ja. Her mother, sister and sister’s children are in hospital. The community burned their house down because of this thing they call a job. No one appreciates their husband sleeping in that house with those over-used and abused vaginas. So the community taught them  a lesson. In fact, I hear that one of the sister’s children is in a very critical and unstable condition. Anything could happen to that child at any time.” 
“And you just let that happen?”
“What did you want me to do? Am I the one who told them to go and be village bicycles? To go tare down people’s families?” 
“No, you are not. But you are a leader… an upholder of the law in that community. If I remember correctly, you took an oath to be for the people regardless of how you feel about them. Now I’m sitting here thinking that you probably incited that violence to try and get back at Morafe.” 
“Would you blame me? She took my child away from me. My family is falling apart because of her, after I trusted her with you. Now that I think about it, she’s exactly like her mother and her sister. Coming between families is their specialty and they are so skilled at doing it. The other two just use their vaginas with different men. Morafe solely focuses her vagina on you.” 
“Where would you prefer her to focus her vagina? On my brother? Like you told my other wives to focus their vaginas?” 
Now she’s quiet. 
“If I find out that you had anything to do with the burning down of the Letuka family home, I will personally report you to the police and you’ll share a home with Tumelo behind bars. That’s a promise.”
She giggles then says, “please! I’m your mother! You would never do that to someone who gave birth to you.”
“Would you like to put some money on that? If you are behind this, you’ve gone too far! And you will pay for it.” 
I hang up. 

I make some calls and organise for Morafe’s family to be moved to a private hospital here in Taung. I’m given confirmation that they’ll be here by midnight. 
I don’t know how I’m going to tell Morafe about this. 
Yoh! 
I do however, phone a PI that I trust… that not even my family knows and I ask him to investigate what happened at that house and who is responsible for that fire. 

…

Midnight 

Morafe and I are in the waiting area. One of Mmaletuka’s kids managed to run away on time. The seven year old. I don’t know how she processed all of this so quickly. She’s the youngest of the four kids. The two middle ones are really bad. We don’t know where the eldest one is. Apparently, she wasn’t even in the house. The youngest one was found by the police. So she’s just getting checked to make sure that she’s fine fine. It’s the kind of checks that don’t happen in government hospitals. In government hospitals, if you don’t have visible burns, you can go. People need your bed. Here, they even check your emotions. But she should be coming home with us tonight. Meme is here with us, so Mosetsana and Tshenolo are asleep at home with the nanny. Meme and Morafe are shaking. I’ve given them coffee. I’m not sure what else to give them. 
The mom looks like she’s going to make it. The doctors even say that she’s out of danger. The sister… eish… she was apparently beaten up really badly before she was set alight, thrown into the house then burnt up with the house. She was even found with her ass in the air in some woman’s house with that woman’s husband as well as three other men who are husbands to women in that community. She hosted a whole orgy in another woman’s main bedroom. Imagine! If that girl was operating in another place, she’d be rich… living in some mansion and flaunting the Instagram dream life. If she’s that brave with her vagina, a lot of men would be more than happy to sponsor the good life for her. But she didn’t have access to the right places and the right connections. Shame man. I’m sure those she did that shit for will never experience such again at the rate that Mmaletuka was charging. The doctor told us that her still being alive right now is a miracle. But it’s not looking good. 

“Yoh bathung, mamane. What happened?” The eldest one comes running into the hospital. She looks like she just left a party. She’s in heels, a very short skirt, an uncomfortably tight top that exposes her entire stomach… her makeup is very weird. Her hair is… actually, she looks like she just had sex. And she’s with some guy. I know this boy. He’s a son to one of my business clients. 
“O tswa kai wena?!” Morafe is already being a parent.
“I went out with my boyfriend. Mama had given me permission”, the girl replies. She seems scared of Morafe, but she also seems like she will give us shit.
Morafe stares at her. I can tell that Morafe is judging her sister’s parenting this very moment.
“Mamane, what happened hle?” The girl asks. 
“The community set the house alight. Thato was able to run away. So she’s fine. She’s being checked out. Mama – well, koko wahao – she’s looking okay. Apparently, she’s out of danger. Mmaletuka… she might not make it. Yenaas well as your other two sisters… it’s bad.” Meme tells her.
She looks like she’s about to pass out. Her boyfriend is comforting her though. 
“Where are we going to live? What about all of our stuff that’s in that house? So we have nothing? And why did they do this? Why?!” She keeps saying. 
“Sit down, Palesa. There’s nothing anyone can do. We just have to wait.” Meme.
“Mamane doesn’t want us. Mama told us. If Mama dies, nna leThato re tloya kai?” Palesa says.
“Just sit down and keep quiet. It’s that mouth that will have you homeless.” Meme tells her. 
Ja neh, we are going to have our hands full mo. 
“Yoh maweh! Yoh yoh yoh! Modimo waka.” She keeps saying. She’s even crying now. She’s gone from shock to realising that this is really happening. 
From what I’ve gathered, Palesa – Mmaletuka’s eldest – is twelve. So I understand why Morafe is judging Mmaletuka for letting her twelve year old go out with a boyfriend on a school night… a boyfriend that’s licensed to drive and is in matric. Hai. Then the middle two are aged ten and eleven. Ja, Mmaletuka doesn’t play. Thato then came last and she’s seven. All four girls are not too far off in age. 

The doctor comes by with Thato. Thato is wide awake and even bouncing around. 
“Yoh nana”, Palesa is so happy to see her sister. They hug each other. I catch Morafe smiling at them.
“U shup?” Palesa asks Thato.
Thato just cuddles her sister. She’s traumatised this one. 
The doctor explains to us that she’s fine. But she will probably need counselling. She gives us some meds in case she struggles to sleep. 
“What about my mom? And my other two sisters?” Palesa immediately asks the doctor.
The doctor looks at Morafe and I as if enquiring if Palesa should be asking questions.
“She’s my niece. It’s okay. She can be here for all updates”, Morafe says.
The doctor nods her head then says, “I’m sorry, Mrs Mothipa. We tried our best. But Mmaletuka Letuka has passed away.” 
I see a tear slip out of Morafe’s eyes. I hold her. Palesa is screaming and has thrown herself on the floor. Thato is comforting her.
The doctor now focuses on me. I’m the only one that’s not falling apart. 
“Reabetsoe Letuka passed away in the ambulance on their way here”, the doctor. 
Now Morafe is shaking. I’m assuming Reabetsoe is one of the other daughters. 
“And Precious Letuka… we lost her on the operating table. I’m really really sorry.” She says.
Now Morafe folds into my arms and let’s me be her pillar. I hold her tightly and give her her right to mourn. It feels as if Palesa had taken that away. I’m giving it back to her. Regardless of their relationship, Mmaletuka was her sister. And no matter what anyone says, we basically have two more kids in our hands – one of which has just sworn on her mother’s life to give us hell and show us teenage flames. My wife needs to mourn right now. Because after this moment, everything… and I mean everything, will be in her hands. From these kids, to her mother, to what happens next for them.

We get home just after 2am. We had to call an undertaker to come collect the three bodies after Morafe viewed them. The hospital does not have a mortuary because it’s a private hospital and I don’t know what else. Morafe and I had to tell her mother and she was so hysterical that she was sedated back to sleep. 
Morafe is the one that takes Palesa and Thato to their rooms – the vacant guest bedrooms. She also gives them some pyjamas. She tells them to shower then sleep. 
I’m downstairs drinking some hard liquor. 
My PI phones me. 
“Sho”, I answer. 
“Mr Mothipa… it was a good idea to have everyone involved in this arrested. They sang like birds and even provided evidence of the fact that your mother, Mmakabelo and Mahali are all behind this. They’ve been planning this… talking to people for the past two weeks. Then they started the protest. Mmakabelo is the one who set the house on fire.” 
I take a deep breath. How am I going to tell this to Morafe?! My family is the reason why hers is in this state?! Yerrrr!
“What do you want me to do, Mr Mothipa?” He asks me.
“Arrest them. I’ll deal with them tomorrow. I need to be here for my wife tonight.” 
“Are you sure? I mean… it’s your mother and your wives.” 
“Arrest them. They’ve committed a crime. And make sure that they are separated. But each one must be in a populated cell of people awaiting trial.”
“Yoh, Mr Mothipa.” 
“Ja. We don’t need them putting stories together or devising how to get out. They must be treated like prisoners. No mercy.”
“Sho.”
“Bye.”
I hang up. 
“Who is getting arrested, Thabang?” Morafe. 
I didn’t see her standing behind me.
I actually get a fright. 
She’s looking me straight in the eye.
I take a deep breath. 
“Thabang?” 
“Mmakabelo. Mahali. Mama.” 
She wipes tears off her face. She looks away. Then she looks at me. 
“Did they do this?” She asks me.
I nod my head. 
I can’t even describe the look on her face.
“Why?” She’s so broken.
I just hug her. 
I don’t know what else to do.