I’m sitting in a family meeting to discuss my brother’s marital affairs. I’m honestly uncomfortable and not excited to be here. Worse, I’m the only one from my brothers who is here. Outside of me, it’s just my uncles and my mother. Mmaneo is also here with her family. 

We have spent the past two hours arguing. Mmaneo’s family is insisting on how much of a dog Molefe is, how he does not deserve Mmaneo, and how they’ll support their child if she files for a divorce.

My family is trying to keep the couple together, not advocate for a divorce. I just think my mom lacks EQ, because her version of doing this is insulting Mmaneo and her family, insisting that Mmaneo was not ready for marriage. She was not taught right. And she’s making a big deal out of nothing. I’m offended for Mmaneo. 

“May I please speak?” Molefe says.

I’m so glad he’s finally found his voice. 

Zah is supposed to be sitting right here with us, but she’s making tea, serving biscuits… she even started cooking just to avoid sitting here. Imagine! 

lol! 

“Go ahead”, one of my uncles.

“I’m really sorry, Mmaneo. I don’t want to lose you as my wife. You know me better than any person walking this planet – and you clearly love me as I am.” He says.

“I clearly don’t know you like I thought I did. Because I never imagined that you’d be having a full on relationship with another woman while you and I are trying to build the rest of our lives together”, Mmaneo cuts him short.

“Pinky was… Pinky and I dated before you and I even met. But I’ve never loved her. She was – if I’m being honest – nothing more than just a guilty pleasure. And it’s unfortunate that children came from that”, Molefe says. And I really wish they were having this conversation privately. I don’t want to know any of these things. 

“And what am I supposed to do with that?” Mmaneo is really hurt. 

Molefe is quiet for a while. He then stares at Mmaneo. Then he says, “I’m really sorry, Mmaneo.”

“I don’t forgive you”, Mmaneo says.

Silence.

“And I want a divorce”, Mmaneo utters. 

This is hectic! 

The elders – the Maphosa elders – are losing their minds. Mmaneo decides to just get up and leave. I don’t even know how to be or what to do. Worse, this thing is happening at my house. 

–

I’m now in the kitchen with my wife. She’s really worried about all of this. 

“I think she needs space”, I say to Zah.

“What she needs is for your mother to stop talking and those uncles to stop treating her like some spoiled brat for being upset about this. She has every right to be upset. And she’s trying to keep it together because her pregnancy is still –

“WOAH! Her what?!” Me.

She realises that she accidentally let that slip.

“My point is, I don’t know why we involved the old people in this. Those people don’t have the necessary skills to fix any marriage. Their language towards women in such circumstances is just disgusting. I’m not shocked that Mmaneo decided to pull her middle finger at all of this.” 

I look at her.

“Do you know where she is?” We hear Molefe’s voice say. 

We jump to show how startled we are. Molefe just looks at us.

“I do”, Zah says.

“Zah, I’m begging you. Please help me.” Molefe says.

Zah hasn’t even told me where Mmaneo is.

“I can’t tell you where she is, Molefe.” Zah says.

“She’s my wife, Zah. And she’s pregnant. She cannot be alone right now”, he says.

“She’s fine. I promise you. I’m on your guys’ side here. I don’t want to see you guys divorce. But she needs space. We can’t press her, tell her what to do, how to feel or how to deal with this”, Zah says. 

“Zah, I can’t lose my wife.” Molefe says.

“I don’t want you to lose her. But you are in no position to be making any demands right now. What you need to think about is how you are going to deal with this. What are you going to do about this woman and her children? When Mmaneo comes back with questions, you need to be able to answer a lot of questions about all of this.” Zah says.

Molefe now looks at me. What does he want me to do?

–

Zah left two hours ago saying that she’s going to meet up with Mmaneo. She said she’d spend the night there with her.  She didn’t tell me where Mmaneo is. She thinks I’ll tell my brother. I can see how she would reach that conclusion.

Molefe is here with me now. He decided to stay here. Our mom wanted to stay with us as well, but we were just not interested. We told her to leave. I think my mom just loves my house. She’d do just about anything to be in my house. 

“Do you think Mmaneo will forgive me?” Molefe asks me.

How am I supposed to know?! 

“I don’t know”, I say.

“Do you think Zah will convince her to forgive me?” He asks me. He’s really desperate hey. 

“Why did you do this? What exactly happened?” I ask him.

“I don’t need you to judge me”, he says.

“That’s not what I’m doing. I just want to understand how you got yourself in this position”, I say.

He takes a deep breath then says, “Pinky is just someone that was a snack. Nothing more. I didn’t love her then, and I still don’t love her.” 

“So, why give her so much power to do this to your marriage?” I ask.

“She thought there was love. She thought that with five years together and two children, there had to be love. She also got mad that Mmaneo was getting affection and time from me that she wasn’t getting. And she knew because they both work at the same hospital.” 

This is a messed up situation. But I’ll keep that comment to myself. 

“What’s going to happen with the kids?” I ask.

“Pinky got her family to basically put me in a corner, forcing me to marry her. They say that I deflowered her and gave her two children. Who will want to marry her with that? And I hear what they mean, that’s why I was open to taking her as a second wife. Mmaneo is hearing none of it. She doesn’t want to hear a damn thing. I can understand with Pinky. But my kids? And I hate that we can’t sit down and talk about an arrangement that will work for us. They are my kids, regardless of how they came into the world. I can’t just turn my back on them.” He says.

Yeah, he’s fucked. 

“What if Mmaneo says you must choose between her and your kids?” Me. 

“Honestly?” Him.

“Honestly”, me.

“I’d choose her… and the child that she’s carrying. That’s my heir, not Pinky’s kids.” He says. 

I actually understand him.

“You know, if Zah didn’t want Molemo, I was prepared to choose her over him too. I wonder what it is that is within us that makes us prepared to turn on our kids for our women”, I say.

“The women that we love. Not just any woman. I mean, if anything happens to Mmaneo – God forbid – and it was just me and the baby she’s carrying… I wouldn’t choose any woman over that baby. I love Mmaneo in a way I’ve never loved another woman and will probably never love another woman”, he says.

I feel the exact same way about Phupho and Lapa. I completely get what he means.

Now, we relax into the couch and just watch the blank TV screen in front of us quietly.

…

I’m at work today. I have to drive the Legends to South Africa for an away game that’s in Gauteng. They then have to be driven to a tournament in Durban; it will be a week long tournament. I’m obviously not happy about leaving under such circumstances. My wife is not speaking to me. I don’t even know where she is. I haven’t seen her since last week when she walked out of a family meeting. I’ve tried to phone her, but her phone is always off. I’ve tried to go to her workplace, but I was told that she took leave. Zah won’t tell me anything. The only thing that’s keeping me sane is that Zah won’t let anything happen to Mmaneo. They care about each other a lot. If Zah is still judging me as a husband, I know that Mmaneo is safe. 

“Sho, chief”, a co-driver says to me.

“Sho”, I reply. 

“Someone is looking for you at reception”, he says.

“Who?” I ask.

“She says she’s your wife”, he says.

His name is Sibongiseni Mbatha. He is the head of Logistics here. He’s my boss. I know he’s the brother to one of our CEOs, Fikile Ramaru. He works between South Africa and Tholoana Kingdom. 

“Shesha, chief. We hit the road in thirty minutes. The gents are still changing into their travelling gear”, he says.

I hurry to reception. I actually run there. It’s a five minute fast run.

When I get to reception, it’s Pinky! 

Yerrrrrr! 

And here I was thinking I’m running for Mmaneo. 

As I turn around, she yells, “Molefe!” 

I keep running and not look back at her. She’s not allowed beyond reception premises so the worst she can do is cause drama. 

“Sir, who is this person? Should we let her in or?” The receptionist asks me.

“I don’t know who she is”, I say.

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM?! YOU DON’T KNOW WHO I AM, MOLEFE?! I’M THE MOTHER OF TWO OF YOUR KIDS!” Pinky is a lot. 

“I don’t know who she is. Please alert security to never allow her on these premises ever again”, I say.

Now I run back to my bus. 

Pinky is shouting like a crazy woman. She is crazy! 

I was so hopeful that maybe it’s Mmaneo. And that she just wanted to talk. I would have even asked another driver to step in for me. But… nothing.

–

We arrive at this place in Gauteng and head into our hotel rooms. Everything is already paid for. My phone has been off all this time because that’s the rule for us when we drive. 

Everyone is quite tired. 

And considering that it’s 7pm, some will most likely sleep. It’s been nine hours on the road. 

I open my hotel room, and as I step in, I get the shock of my life. At first, I don’t believe my eyes, then she gets up and makes her way to me. My eyes follow her every move as if she will disappear should I even blink once. 

She folds her arms across her breasts, she looks at me, then she says, “you are trending”. 

Huh?! 

She sees that I’m confused.

She plays on her cellphone a bit then she puts her phone in my face. 

I look at what’s happening on the screen of the cellphone. It’s Pinky losing her mind and me denying to know her. Who even took a video of this?! 

Then she removes her phone from my face. She does something else on her phone, then puts her phone in my face again. Now it’s a video of Pinky telling people that she and I have kids together, and I’ve decided to spit on her and our kids because of my wife. She is calling my wife all kinds of evil for not allowing me to take Pinky as my second wife. She’s also calling me all kinds of weak because I listened to my wife. Then she goes on and on about how shit men are, how evil wives are, and how the other woman is always the one that has the most to lose.

She removes her phone from my face. 

We now look at each other.

“Dumela Mmaneo”, I greet her. 

I’m still holding my bags at the door of my hotel room. I’m still confused about how she came into my room. 

She just turns around and models back to the bed, then sits on it. She looks so beautiful. She’s wearing gym tights that expose her belly bump a bit. It is growing. But you really have to look for it if you don’t know that she’s pregnant. She has a baggy t-shirt on. 

I come into the hotel room, close the door and put my bags down. 

I don’t even know if I can sit with her on the bed. I decide to sit on the couch that’s in here. She looks at me like this has hurt her. 

I don’t know how to be or what to do. That time, I’m so exhausted.

“Zah organised with the people that she knows to get me to stay here and wait for you. I thought we could talk. Just me and you”, she says.

“Okay”, I say.

I don’t know what else to say.

“The divorce can be amicable. We don’t have to –

“I’m not going to divorce you, Mmaneo”, I tell her.

She came all the way here to speak to me about divorce?! Is she serious?! 

“Molefe, can we really come back from this?” She says.

“Why can’t we come back from it?” I ask her. 

“You cheated on me, Molefe”. 

“And I’m sorry”, I say. 

“You have children”. 

“I choose you over them.”

This shocks her. She cannot hide her shock. 

“What did you just say to me?” She says.

“I choose you”, I say.

“Why?” She asks me.

“What do you mean why?! Mmaneo, I love you!” I emphasise.

She even gets emotional. 

“I’m not losing you”, I say, now making my way to her. I sit next to her on the bed.

“What if I did this to you, Molefe? Would you forgive me?” She asks me.

Probably not.

I don’t respond. 

“I can’t forgive you. I’m so angry at you”, she says.

“Please try, motho waka. Please.” I say to her. 

I pull her towards me – her beautiful and petite body cuddles into me. 

She takes my hand and puts it on her belly. 

I now get emotional.

“It’s a boy.” She says.

Now I cry. 

“The doctor said that this one has attached. And I’m now in my second trimester. The doctor said I need to take it easy. While we are currently out of danger, it doesn’t mean we are completely safe. And with my history of miscarriages, my risk is high. This is the furtherest we’ve been on our pregnancy journey, Molefe, and I don’t want to lose this baby. I don’t want the stress that comes with you and Pinky and your kids –

I kiss her.

She lets me.

“I won’t stress you out. I promise. Pinky and the kids – irrelevant. At this point, we will go through courts if she takes me to a court. I’m sorry for all of this. I won’t marry her. I choose you. We are going to be a family.” I say.

She holds me tightly.

“I resigned from my job. I’ll go back when the baby starts school. With my pay out, I’ll settle the house. Thankfully, our cars are both fully paid up. Zah has just started a project that will bring in some money. She says I can work with her part time just to make extra money, but she won’t overwork me. She promised.” She says.

I love her relationship with Zah. I really do. 

I kiss her forehead. I feel myself dozing off. I pass out. 

I’m up and ready to drive the gents to their game. I think about waking Mmaneo up, but I decide against it and let her sleep. 

I give her a kiss then walk out of the hotel room. 

When I get to reception, I ask them to take her breakfast at 8am, and to deliver the breakfast with flowers. 

“What should we write in the card that will be delivered with the flowers, sir?” The receptionist asks me. 

If I had money, I’d be apologising and thanking her for my child with a brand new car. But these will have to do for now.

“You can write… thank you for being you. Thank you for who you are in my life. You are my sweetest dream come true. I love you.” 

“That’s so sweet. That’s one lucky woman”, the receptionist says. 

“I’m the lucky one”, I say. 

I head out before she thinks we are friends. 

The game is decent. It ended as a win. Mr Mfundo Msomi was here today to watch the game. He brought former legends with him – Tee-le Serame and Reahile Mohale. I heard Reahile is married to one of Zah’s friends. 

People were excited to see them. The team was nervous because Mr Mfundo Msomi is not nice when they lose. Thankfully, they won. And Banks Mokoena got man of the match. He is quite the player yena. And he’s a nice guy. That’s the best part of him. 

“I love you too”, a text message from Mmaneo comes into my phone.

I phone her. 

“Hey handsome”, she answers her phone. 

She’s back to making me blush again. 

“Hai man, you can’t call me things like that while I’m with people. I’m a man. I can’t be blushing”, I say. 

She’s laughing. She always laughs when I say these things. I think she trolls me on purpose. 

“Did you sleep okay?” I ask her. 

“I did. Do I need to leave and head back home?” She asks me. 

Kanti what was her agreement with whoever she planned this with? 

“Zah’s connect said I can stay with you provided I don’t distract you. I’m asking if I’m distracting you”, she says. 

“I’d really like you to stay, please”, I say. 

“Okay. But Zah and Molise are coming this afternoon and I’ll fly with them to Durban. They are taking the kids on holiday before schools reopen”, she says. 

“Okay. But you staying with me in Durban, right?” 

“Yes, handsome.”

Eish, this handsome word! 

“I love you”, she says. 

“I love you baby”, me. 

We hang up. 

My phone rings. 

I checked the caller ID. It’s Pinky. I need to block this woman!