O-week has officially started. O-week is orientation week. I’m not attending any events like that field party they had, but I attend the lectures where they teach us about the various subjects and help us choose what would go best with the qualifications we are trying to attain. Today, it’s just lectures from 10am. It’s now 6:45am. My kids are all bathed up. I’ve also bathed. I’m preparing their lunch boxes for the day. They are eating breakfast. I’ve fed Lelapa. Phupho is feeding herself with my help her and there. Yes – multitasking at its best. 

My father got me a three bedroom apartment. It has a nice and big garden where we’ve located a trampoline, a doll house as well as two electric kid cars. Phupho’s car is a white G63 AMG and Lelapa’s car is a black Range Rover Sport. My dad bought these for them. 
Both my kids have their own rooms, but they still sleep with me. I need to start training them hey. My bedroom, where we sleep, has an in-suite bathroom. There is then a second bathroom as well facing the other two bedrooms. We have quite an open kitchen, a dining area and an open space that I’ve turned into a study. It’s nicely located. I have my little desk there. Then in the TV room, there is a small table for my two kiddies to use. Our nanny and helper, Aus’Maletsoho, lives with us. She sleeps in Lelapa’s room. 

The gate phones me. Aus’Maletsoho has started cleaning. She just had porridge then started cleaning. I’ve put her bigger breakfast in the oven. I’m actually managing with the kids, so I might just ask my dad to have a helper who goes home at the end of the day. 
“Hello?” I answer the gate. 
“Hello ma’am. Mr Molise is at the gate for you.” 
What does he want? During our morning rush, vele?
“Okay, please let him in.” I say. 
Now I’m packing bags – mine and the kids’ bags.
Their school has uniform, so I don’t have to worry about what they wear every day. They wear tracksuits and golf shirts or shorts and golf shirts. We’ve been staying here for a week and my kids like it. My dad came to stay with us for two days. Molise stayed away. I know my dad went to see him before he left; since then, he comes here everyday. 

“Hi dad”, I hear Phupho say.
He does have a key to our apartment. 
“Hey baby girl. How are you?” 
He now has Lelapa in his arms and is holding Phupho’s hand. 
“Mme wabana”, he says to me. 
“Kunjani?” Me.
“Ke shup. I thought I’d come by and help with the morning business.” 
“Thank you. They’ve just eaten and I have packed their bags. All that’s left is for me to take them to school.” 
“I can do that if that’s okay.” 
I look at him. 
“Don’t you need to be rushing to work?” I ask him.
“My office opens at 9am. I have some time. Actually, now that you guys have moved to Taung, I could do more of this.” He says.
“You literally live ten minutes away and –
“And I want to try.” 
“Try what?”
“Being a family. I want to be here for my kids… and maybe for you too. I actually want us to try and make our marriage work… our family work.” 
“Are you drunk?” I ask him.
“No –
“Did my dad threaten you or something?” 
“No. But I had a conversation with him that really made me realise how unfair I’ve been to you.” 
Yaz I’m shocked.
I look at my kids and they are not even paying attention to lo msangano. 
“Zanolwazi, my father couldn’t provide for us. Of all his kids, only one made it out and became some kind of portion of hope for the family. That child is me. Look at the rest of my siblings. Look at how my mom still lives. My dad was a present husband and present father. But he brought in just enough so we don’t go to bed on empty stomachs – it doesn’t mean we didn’t go to bed hungry. Families around us had fathers working in the city and only coming home once or twice a year – but they had stuff. They were better than us. We had our father in the house, but we were the family that went to them to ask for sugar or dishwashing liquid.”
I breathe and look away from him. 
“Zaza, when you told me that you were pregnant, I knew that I’d have to go work in the city so that my child could have it all… so that you and my child wouldn’t ask neighbours for stuff.” 
“Why didn’t you take us with you? Why did you leave us with your mother instead of having us live with you?” 
“My career is chaotic as hell. I could be here right now, and a call will have me dash out immediately. I hadn’t exactly mastered, at the time, how to balance you guys and my career. Now, we are at least here in Taung together. We can try to figure it out together.” 
I take a deep breath. Then I say, “Look, I appreciate all of this. There was a time when I was desperate to hear you say all of this. But it’s not that time anymore. You taught me how to live without you. You taught me how to just be with the kids without you. Manje ke, I’ve shaped my life to just be the three of us – whether you are there or not.”
“Am I able to change that?” 
“I don’t know. I really don’t. But just give me time, okay? What I do promise is that I’ll try. But I also need you to try too.” 
“I will. I want to.”
“And your other women?” 
He laughs then says, “Look, we are not kids so I won’t lie to you. There have been women, but it was just sex.”
“Any kids you left with them?”
“I kept it wrapped all the time”, he says.
“So you only have two kids?” 
“Three.”
“Three?” 
“Yeah. I had my first child when I was in high school.” 
“Really?” 
“Yeah”. 
“So where is the child?” 
“I don’t know. The mother took him and left the village when he was a year old. I was too poor for her, I suppose. I haven’t heard from her or him ever since.” 
I nod my head. What else am I supposed to say.
“But outside of him, my kids are just Phupho and Lelapa.” 
I nod my head. 
“You look nice by the way”, he says.
I giggle and say, “thanks.”
I’m just wearing black jeggings, a white t-shirt, a white crop jacket and Vans sneakers – the classic black and white. I have accessorized with a cute neck piece and my wristwatch. I’m not wearing anything out there. I have my hair braided in faux dreadlocks. I have chunky stud earrings.
“You remind me of the night that resulted in Phupho…”
“Hai bo!” Me.
We both laugh. 
He looks nice too. He has jeans, some very expensive sneakers, a hoodie and a beanie. He looks really nice and smells even better. 
“You look good too.” I say. 
He smiles at me. 
“Well, I’ll fetch them after school neh. I’ll be done by 2pm today.” I say.
“Okay. Maybe I can come over for dinner?” 
“If you are available, it would be nice.”
“I don’t have any surgeries scheduled for today. But if anything comes up, I’ll let you know.” 
“Okay. We will be in touch ke.” 
He pulls me into a hug. I actually hug him back. 

We all head out together after we’ve said goodbye to Aus’Maletsoho. He takes the kids in his C63. He actually has car seats in there, so I’m impressed. 
I get into the red Range Rover Velar that my father bought for me. We all drive out and head our own ways.

–

I drive to the admin building then park my car next to a Mercedes-Benz A45 that’s also just parked. 
I quickly text Molise: “Drop off okay?” 
I get out the car then grab my bag from the boot. It’s a tote bag. I just have my iPad in here. I’ll take notes on there. I lock my car then throw my purse, phone, house keys and car keys in the bag.
“Hey”, I greet the stunner locking her A45.
“Hey babe. You are so gorgeous”, she says to me.
I like her. 
“Zanolwazi. But everyone calls me Zaza.” 
“I’m Nomawethu. Everyone calls me Wehweh.”
“It’s so nice to meet you.” I say.
“Which res are you in?” She asks me.
“I’m in private residence. I have two kids and a husband. Res wouldn’t really work for me.”
“Lalela… firstly, can your man hook me up with some mature man tu!”
I laugh and say, “he’s a doctor. I’ll tell him to bring one of his single doctor friends and we will host you for dinner.”
“Love it! And secondly, when res gets insane, I’m coming to your house. I’m sharing with a judgemental bitch!”
“You know what, I like you. You’ve made me feel less bad about not getting the full university experience.”
We just laugh then find our way to the first lecture. Turns out we are both doing a BCom. So the lectures we will be attending will be of subjects we can take with a BCom.

We’ve actually been in lectures all morning. I’m kind of hungry and tired. I check my messages. I have one from Molise. 
“Drop off was good. I met teachers and caught up a bit on progress.” 
Nice, I suppose.
I see another text message from him. 
“How’s the day going? Thinking of taking lunch when you finish your day so we can spend time together before the kids come back home.” 
“Girl, I just ordered some food for us. I hope you like club sandwiches and appetizers. As soon as they are delivered, we can go to my res and I’ll introduce you to some girls I’ve met and I think are a vibe.” Wehweh says to me. 
“Thanks so much babe. How much should I send to you for the food?” 
“Hai bo, I got it. Next time, lunch can be on you.” 
I smile at her. 
“Can I quickly call the hubby? Two minutes.”
“Sure.” 
I quickly dial Molise and take a quick step away from Wehweh. 
“Hey”, he answers his phone.
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” 
“I’m in between consultations. I have about two minutes.” 
“Okay. I won’t keep you. I just saw your text message about us hanging out.”
“Okay. Are you available?” 
“I met a friend and she wants me to meet other friends. But tomorrow I have a later start. If you can move some appointments, we can hang out in the morning after dropping the kids off at school.” 
“Okay, I can make it happen.”
“Okay then. I’ll see you at dinner, yeah?”
“Sure. Later, Zah.” 
“Later.” 
We hang up. 
I’m back with Wehweh… and some guy… okay.
And they have food. 
Lovely. 
“He just brought our food. This is Wandile, my best friend.” 
“Hi Wandile.”
“Kunjani nkosazana emhlophe?” He says to me.
“Hai wena! Ushadile!” Wehweh.
I laugh then say, “I’m Zaza.” 
I go for a handshake and he comes in with a hug. Okay…
“You are stunning”, he says to me. 
Wehweh and I look each other. This is so weird. 
The three of us find a table then eat together. 
We actually talk nonsense. I like them. I like their vibe so much. We just laugh a lot and talk crap. 
Finally, Wandile stands up and says, “ladies, it’s been amazing. But I need to run.” 
“Zaza, do you mind if I catch a ride with you? Wandile is taking my car.” Wehweh says.
“No problem at all.” I say. 
“First year’s this year are bringing it hey… top shayela cars nje.” Wandile.
“Hashtag, girls with four pipes!” Wehweh. 
I’m just done. I’m in stitches. 
He finally leaves. We also head to my car. 

We arrive at her res and I park my car. Four girls are sitting on the staircase and see us climb out my Velar. Look, my car is gorgeous. I also love it. I also screamed and jumped up and down when my dad had it delivered to me.
“Hey ladies”, Wehweh says. I’m right behind her. I just have my cellphone in my back pocket.
“Hey”, they say, sizing me up really.
“This is Zaza. Zaza, this is Mapho, Breezy, Thendo and Vanessa”, Wehweh. 
“You all live here?” I ask.
“Yep. Where do you stay?” Breezy asks me.
“I’m in a flat.” I say.
“She’s married and has two kids.” Wehweh.
They all have me weird looks. 
Okay! I guess being in university, married and having kids has a stigma attached to it.
“Are the two of you still fighting?” The Thendo girl says. This is a relief for me because I thought that I’m the one that brought about the weird vibe. Kanti there’s more to this group. 
“Zaza, please come sit next to me. You’ll be hearing this story for the first time, like me, and maybe you can help us get to a resolution for whatever happened between Breezy and and Wehweh.” Mapho says. 
I indeed go and sit next to her. I sit between her and Vanessa.
“She got into a fight with Wandile’s girlfriend”, Wehweh says.
“Wandile has a girlfriend?!” Mapho says, genuinely shocked.
“My point exactly!” Breezy. 
I’m just observing the dynamics because this just seems too tense for little old me. 
“I was defending your honour. I merely asked Wandile where you were and that bitch picked a fight with me!” 
“You should’ve walked away”, Wehweh. 
“The only person that should be walking away is you, Wehweh. And what you should be walking away from is your friendship with Wandile. Wandile loves you and you love him too. You are hurting people then hiding behind this friendship of yours so you don’t take the necessary accountability. The poor Sanel girl was in tears! I don’t know for sure what happened for the tears to be triggered, but I’m prepared to put money on the fact that it has something to do with you and Wandile and this friendship of yours that nobody really understands. I will apologise to Sanel if that’s what you want me to do, but the way that I physically hurt her by hitting her is nothing compared to the pain that you and Wandile are causing her.” Breezy says.
Breezy is a realist. She’s so much of a realist that she almost comes across as pessimistic. You can just tell that she’s seen life in its true form. But she also knows love. And it’s her knowledge and belief in love that keeps her human. You could easily hate her – she just has that thing you want to hate about her. But you could also easily love her and defend her from that thing she has that makes it easy to hate her.
“Wandile and I are friends. We’ve been friends since I was nine years. I’ll only back off when he tells me too. We are not doing anything wrong.” Wehweh says. 
Wehweh is a sweet girl… a fun girl… a funny girl… but she’s also really naive. I see what Breezy means. The only reason why I’m prepared to hear the full side of Wehweh’s story on this is because she actually has pure intentions. But she needs a lesson or two on why people say not everything is as it seems.
“Now that we’ve squashed your issues… can we talk about why Thendo slept with Thapelo last night?!” Vanessa.
Hai bo! People are already sleeping with people?!.
“I didn’t know there was a dibs on him!” Thendo.
Dibs?! How old are we?!
“So, you didn’t notice that there’s a vibe between Thapelo and Maphodile?” Vanessa.
“I didn’t rape him. We both wanted it.” Thendo.
“He was all over Mapho! You wanted it. He needed to get off the erection that Mapho caused. Congratulations Thendo, you enjoyed Mapho’s erection on that man.” Vanessa.
“There’s nothing going on between Thapelo and I. Thendo, if you want him, please enjoy him.” Mapho speaks for herself. But there is a hint of pain in her tone and I think we all caught it.
“Clearly, people don’t believe in girl code.” Vanessa.
“Girl code? Please! We haven’t been friends for that long for us to be having that level of loyalty towards each other.” Thendo.
“Wow!” Vanessa.
“Then why was Breezy fighting Sanel if we are not friends enough to do stupid things in honour of each other?!” Wehweh. 
“Thapelo gave Mapho his jacket.” Vanessa.
“It’s a raincoat. And it was raining. He was just being nice. It meant nothing!” Mapho. 
“So you get the TLC and Thendo gets the herpes.” Vanessa.
Yoh! Yoh! Yoh! 
There’s a brief silence. Then Breezy says, “Can we all stop underplaying our feelings for people? Because when you tell people you don’t feel anything for people, you can’t be mad when he’s fair game. Wehweh is Wandile’s friend, but I’m sure she’d be hurt if one of us smashed him. Just like Mapho is hurt even though she swears that Thapelo is nothing. Actually… this sounds a lot like Wandile-Sanel-Wehweh. Wandile goes to Sanel for sex like Thapelo goes to Thendo for sex. But Wandile gives Wehweh the TLC just like Thapelo gives Mapho the TLC. What do Thendo and Sanel have in common? Sex can be had with pretty much anyone so these men can easily cheat on them. And what do Wehweh and Mapho have in common? They’ve unlocked parts of these men that men don’t easily give to women. Their hearts are actually safe in these men’s hands. Must be nice.” 
This is a lot! A lot! 

…

Dinner was nice yesterday. The kids enjoyed having their father around to have dinner with them. They also enjoy having him drop them off at school. He’s just stepped out to drop them off now. I’m in the apartment. I’ve just taken a shower and lotioned myself. I’ll head to campus later today. I decide to wear an off-the-shoulder dress. It’s a short dress so my thighs and calves have come out to play. At the top, it’s a short-sleeved dress and it goes off my left shoulder. It’s beige in colour. It has a beige lining underneath. At the top, it’s net, out together with wool fabric. I actually like this dress. There is a bit of sun today, but it’s still a bit cold. The heaters are on though, so the apartment is warm. Aus’Maletsoho has her earphones on and are connected to her phone. She’s doing laundry today. I told Molise that he could bring his laundry over for her to wash. He brought it today. So she’s busy with that.

Molise walks into the apartment and finds me resting on the couch. 
“Hey”, he says, lifting my legs, sitting down then putting my legs on his thighs.
“How was drop off?” I ask him.
“It was good. I’m very impressed with Lelapa’s independence hey. He doesn’t cry when we leave him in his class.” 
“Ja, he’s a big boy.” I say. 
“You did well with them”, he says.
“Thank you.” I say, genuinely receiving this complement.
“Tell me, how are you finding Taung? And the university experience?” He asks me.
I actually tell him about my weird encounter with what’s supposed to be my new crew yesterday and he’s proper in stitches, laughing. He thinks that Wehweh and Wandile must just smash, Thendo is not only a whore, but she’s actually an inconsiderate whore, and he believes that when it comes to it, Thapelo will pick Mapho over Thendo because no man wants a girl who’s that easy, loose and inconsiderate. I just… ja…
Now I ask him… 
“And wena? How’s work?” 
“It’s always busy. If I’m not delivering babies, I’m walking people through their pregnancy journeys or their journeys to getting pregnant. If I’m not doing that, I’m helping people with their gynaecological challenges. And if I’m not doing any of the above, I’m doing research.” 
“Why gynaecology though? Why not be a surgeon for instance?” 
“I don’t know. I guess it fascinated me the most in school. Women don’t understand their bodies at the extent that they should. And with all the challenges around them, there’s still a lot of pressure on them to produce life and birth it. These journeys are never easy. Some are traumatic as hell. If I can make that a little bit easier for them, I know I’ve fulfilled the purpose aspect of my job.” 
“That’s beautiful. Do any of them ever hit on you? I mean, you are all over their private areas AND you are not a bad looking man.” 
He smiles at me then says, “Are you jealous?” 
I giggle and say, “Kancane.”
He laughs aloud. Then he says, “Look, I keep it as professional as possible. I take my job very seriously. I take medicine very seriously. I’d never do anything that could cost me my license or compromise me as a professional. You can trust me.” 
“So you don’t get hit on?” I need this answered. 
“I do. But I never entertain it. And when someone hits on me, I invite one of my nurses that work in my office to be in the session with me. I always encourage women to bring their partners with them when they come consult. But when they don’t, I have staff that I bring to help manage the situation. I have more to lose than what they do. I don’t risk it.”
I nod my head.
“This is nice”, he says.
“It is.” Me. 
We hold hands and look each other in the eye.