I don’t know how Mashimane is. I really don’t. He is a bit lost without Fifi. It is as if he is waiting for someone to give him an instruction before he moves. When we ask him for anything, he phones Fifi first and discusses it with her. Then he gets back to us. He is worried about Fifi and he hates that he cannot be there with her because he is here preparing to bury Nompumelelo. Then he is also sad about Nompumelelo’s death. Luhle is the one who is sitting on the mattress and all she does is cry. She doesn’t speak. She doesn’t do anything but cry. I feel like if Fifi were here, Mashimane would cry too. He relies on her for strength and he doesn’t even hide it.

Zithulele, the kids and I have been sleeping here at Mashimane’s house since we got back from KZN. Tebza stayed in KZN to be close to Fifi and be there for her so that she is not entirely alone. Everyone else arrives in the morning and leaves at night. Zithulele is clearly Mashimane’s only son now and I’ve been bestowed with the responsibility of being his only makoti. In the greater scheme of things, he isn’t a bad father-in-law at all. He makes sure that I have everything that I need and that nobody upsets me. I could get used to this.

I’m cleaning the kitchen now that I’ve made breakfast and have prepared the tea and juice stations for the day. The four Maphumulo wives are all here and it amazes Mashimane that I get along with each and every one of them. They are the ones who also tell me and teach me how to do certain things that I had no idea how to do. I’ve even started preparing my umqombothi. Today, Luhle and the four mamas are going to wash Nompumelelo’s corpse and dress it up for the funeral tomorrow. Her body will arrive this afternoon, then the funeral will be tomorrow.

I get a call. It is Fifi.
“Hey sis’Fifi.”
“Hey Tlali. How are you?”
“Ke shup. How are you feeling?”
“I’m worried about Shaka. How is he? Really?”
I don’t know how to answer this question..
“Tlali?”
“He’s not okay, sis’Fifi. He really isn’t. He’s just getting through the days. He’s worried about you and he’s mourning his daughter at the same time. He is just so –
“I get you. I spoke to Kea as well. She told me he’s not okay. I need to arrange to be closer.”
“Sis’Fifi, if anything happens to you or the child, he will collapse and die of a broken heart. His heart is there now. One more thing that goes wrong will force his heart to burst and he will collapse and die. After the funeral tomorrow, he is driving down with Maboko to be with you guys. I know it’s difficult, but please just do what you need to do to make sure that you and that baby make it back in one piece.”
I hear her sobbing.
“I know it’s difficult. But we’ve asked the undertaker to make sure that the funeral can be streamed. You and Tebza will be able to stream it and be part of it.” I say.
“Thank you, Letlali. For everything. Thank you.”
“Okay sisi. Bye.”
We hang up.
Eish.

“Love”, Zithulele is behind me. I didn’t see him. He’s dressed in overalls and a cap. He’s been busy since this morning.
“Hey love”, I say.
He walks up to me and we hug.
“Who were you talking to?” He asks me.
“Sis’Fifi. Yoh, she’s not okay.”
“I can imagine. They should be together. This is just so –
“Don’t say it, Zithulele. Let’s just get through this.” I say.
He just hugs me tighter.
“Ngisaphuma kancane neh”, we hear a voice say. We come out of our hug. It’s Mashimane and morena is next to him. Mofomahadi is already welcoming people at the door.
“Iyaphi indlela, Mashimane?” Zithulele asks him.
“I’m going to buy a cow for the slaughtering”, he says.
“Let me come with you. You will not be able to handle a cow by yourself.” Zithulele says. I know he just doesn’t want Mashimane to be alone.
“Okay. Makoti, will you be okay without the both of us?” He asks me.
“Hey Shak. Hey guys”, Lulu and Thabi say walking in with pots of food. Khotso and Ona are behind them with grocery bags. Lulu has Rena on her back wrapped in a towel. Tholoana and Mohale are walking in, find Banathi and Mnqobi, and the chaos begins. I see Khabane walk in as well with Ruri on his hip. Their father is behind them dressed in overalls as well.
“I’m not so alone now, am I?” I say to Mashimane.
He laughs.
“Where are we going?” Maboko asks.
“To get a cow.” Zithulele says.
“Shaka, I found the goats and sheep as well.” Morena says.
“Okay, half can come with me to get the cow. We can even get two cows. Then the other half can go with morena for the other livestock”, Shak says.
They leave the kitchen discussing who is getting what and who is driving with who.
We are already busy in the kitchen and people have started arriving.

We are all busy chatting away and serving people when some pregnant girl walks in. She looks young and gorgeous. She has a knock-off LV overnight bag. She is wearing a dungaree dress, white t-shirt underneath the dress and has braids on.
“Sanibonani”, she greets.
We all look at her.
“Igama lami uMbali. I’m Ntuthuko’s girlfriend.” She says.
Eh!
“Mbali! Ufunani la?!” MaTango barks. I don’t even know where she came from.
“UNtuthuko said I should bring my pregnancy here”, Mbali says and a hot klap meets her cheek from MaTango’s hand.
Are we allowed to hit pregnant people?
“You are not welcome here. And that child is not Ntuthuko’s child.” MaTango.
“Mbali, what have you come here to do? Is it not clear ukuthi sishonelwe?” MaNgobese.
“Ngilethe isisu.” Mbali is not scared of these women. At all. Her bravery is unmatched.
“Where’s your family?” MaNgobese.
“Basindwe i’nyawo. I came alone.” Mbali.
“But this is not how things are done, Mbali.” MaNgobese.
“And the child is not ours.” MaTango.
“Ntuthuko said I shouldn’t leave here until I’ve seen his father and uSis’Fifi.” Mbali.
“Mbali, voetsek!” MaTango.
While their fight goes on, I quickly dial Fifi and step out to talk to her.
“Hey girl”, she answers her phone.
“Hey. Do you know a Mbali?”
“Mbali?”
“Ja. A girl came here saying she’s Mbali and Ntuthuko sent her. Ntuthuko said she doesn’t leave until she sees you and Mashimane. She’s pregnant and claims to be Ntuthuko’s girlfriend.” I say.
“And she decided to come now? At this time?”
“MaTango has slapped her and told her she’s not carrying Ntuthuko’s child. She is practically kicking her out.”
“Where’s Shaka?”
“Stepped out.”
“I’ll call you back, Letlali.”
She hangs up.
I’m pacing outside because I honestly don’t want to see anymore of the action. But Mbali le yena… was there really no better time to do this? Really?
I see Mashimane park his car at the gate. He jumps out quickly and he’s jogging into the house while on his phone. Zithulele and Ona climb out his bucky and start managing the cows. I see Khotso and Maboko climb out of a car with morena and they offload livestock.

I walk back into the house.
“Shaka, this is not Ntuthuko’s child. Is’febe esikhulu kabi saseMtubatuba lesi.” MaTango insists.
“Kulungile, mama. Ngiyakuzwa. Kodwa, we have to bury Nompumelelo then give this matter the attention that it needs. Ntuthuko has spoken to Refiloe and I about this. I cannot just chase this girl away. I will put her up in a hotel until the funeral is over. Tomorrow after the funeral, I’m driving back to KZN to be with Refiloe. She will drive down with Maboko and I. While we are there, we will go and see Ntuthuko with her and we will discuss this.”
“Why are you being so nice? This is not your grandchild, Shaka.” MaTango.
“I understand, mama. The truth always has a way of coming out. It will come out. For now, I’ll ask one of the boys to take her to a hotel so she can rest.”
“Boys?! Whose marriage are you trying to break up, Shaka? This girl is a disaster of a human being.” MaTango.
“I’ll take her”, Mofomahadi says.
She takes a bag from her then says, “Let’s go”.
“I’ll come with you, ndodakazi”, MaKhumalo says.
Mbali follows Mofomahadi and MaKhumalo out. MaTango is just not impressed.
But anyway, she leaves because they are already two hours late for washing the corpse.

…

4am.

Today is the funeral.
I’m already up because I need to bath the kids and make sure that they are sorted before things start getting hectic.
I get a dish and start bathing them while they are asleep. MaNgobese helps me by bathing mine. I bath Ruri and Khabane. They slept over here with their dad last night.

When we are done, we start preparing breakfast. I showered at 3:30am. I’m already dressed in a dress, doek and sneakers. I won’t be going to the actual service and cemetery because I have to make sure that everything is sorted for when people get back. Thabi and Lulu will be staying behind with me and helping me.
It is raining today, so we will be working in the rain.
I prepare breakfast before the entire house starts waking up. I see Luhle on the balcony smoking. When did Luhle start smoking? I just let her be.
A text comes through my phone. It’s Fifi. She’s sent me a picture of a suit and a text then follows saying, “Please make sure he wears this suit”.
How the hell am I supposed to do that? This is not my husband. Hai bo.
“Okay.” I reply.
This is just weird.

I find Zithulele and I show him Fifi’s text. Then I tell him to go and make sure that Shaka is dressed accordingly.
He agrees.
Good.

People leave for the church at 8am. With the house empty, we work a bit better. We show the catering people where to set up and we show the people who have brought the mobile restrooms where to set up. The glass tent is also being set up so that people can go and sit there when they come back and the rain doesn’t disturb them. As these happen, Lulu, Thabi and I chill in the TV room with the kids. Their dads told us they’d be carrying the casket, so they will not be able to look after them. We all know they just didn’t want the admin of babysitting them. But hey. Suzy is also here with Selaelo. She arrived this morning and has been helping us a lot.

Thabi is on her phone texting someone.
“Ona says Thandeka is at the funeral”, Thabi says.
Lulu and Suzy look at her.
“Is it wrong for me to say that because their relationship is not public knowledge, they cannot display affection in public? I mean, we did just get married”. She says.
Hai, this situation of theirs is just weird.
“What’s Thandeka even doing at the funeral? Did she know Nompumelelo?” I innocently ask.
Lulu looks at me as if I should stay out of this.
“The only person that she knows in Tholoana Kingdom is Ona. She knows the rest of us through Ona. She clearly doesn’t even know how to behave as a potential second wife.” Thabi says.
“You already letting Ona take a second wife? Didn’t you just get married?” Suzy asks. I also need to understand this.
“It’s complicated. But Ona promised he’d only marry her after two years. So, he’s still all mine for two years even though she will be his royal mistress for these two years. I just have a problem with the fact that she doesn’t want to stay anonymous as a royal mistress. She’s a dirty secret that shouldn’t come to the light, but here she is shining under the light.” Thabi says as she rolls her out.
Suzy and I look at each other. Lulu looks at us and tries to hide a smile. Clearly, Lulu watches this movie every day.
“To answer your question, you are not wrong. Preferably, baby girl needs to leave the funeral with immediate effect. But if she’s going to be around, may she kindly remain invisible.” Suzy says.
“Thanks.” Thabi says then types something on her phone.
After a few seconds, she says, “he replied. It’s a screenshot of a conversation between him and Thandeka.”
I get up from where I’m sitting because I also want to see what Thandeka is saying. Lulu, Suzy and I are now gathered around Thabi and her cellphone.
Thandeka: “I’m just here to support. What have I done wrong?”
Ona: “This is not appropriate and you know it. I thought we spoke about how this would work. Why are we fighting about it?”
Thandeka: “You and Thabi discussed how this would work. I was just informed. Why are you letting her make you treat me like this?”
Ona: “We bought your house. We bought your car. We are paying for the fees of the kids and I spend two weekends with you a month. How is Thabi being unreasonable exactly?”
Thandeka: “You just don’t get it.”
Ona: “And until I do, please respect the rules. My wife will be respected.”

We are all really impressed with how Ona is standing up for Thabi. Even Thabi is impressed.
“You must give him sex for this.” Lulu says.
“I plan to”, Thabi says as she blushes.
“Let me reply for you”, Suzy says.
Thabi hands her the phone.
Suzy starts typing.
“Any sexy pics on here?” Suzy asks her.
Thabi heads to her phone and finds one. The pic is attached to the message and it’s sent.
The text reads, “You’ve done amazing in honouring my honour, husband. As recommended, you shall be home tonight.”
“Please text my man too?” Lulu gives Suzy her phone and says.
We all laugh.

2pm.
People are back and are eating. Us women are all in aprons and are serving people. I had to serve the umqombothi, tasting it first before serving it to the men. Zithulele was so proud. I even heard him tell Mashimane that he is a great in-law and he must make sure that he and sis’Fifi keep me as a good makoti. Mashimane laughed at this. Good.

Ona and Thabi are busy flirting with each other while Thabi is trying to serve people. It’s that picture and that text message. Even Khotso is annoying Lulu as she is working about. Suzy is officially appointed as the minister of text-messaging our husbands. She gets men to follow us like love-sick puppies by simply putting a few words together on a text message and attaching a picture to it? I guess I now understand how my brother has been so whipped all these years. If her text messages do this, what does she do in person?
Zithulele is being one hell of a son. Even Atisang and Reitumetsi are taking orders from Shaka and showing up. I’m so humbled. Honestly. I’m so happy they are back.

At about 6pm, Mashimane and Maboko are now preparing to leave for KZN. I hear Zithulele saying that we are leaving with them. Hawu?!
I believe it because I see a V300 being loaded.
“Makoti, are you ready to go?” Mashimane asks me.
“Will the mamas stay alone?”
“Let them. Ziyahlupha lezizalukazi. They seem to forget that their husband is six feet underground.”
I unintentionally laugh aloud.
He chuckles.
“Thank you. For everything. I really felt like I had a daughter and a son this week.”
“Thank you for always being our father, Mashimane. We don’t have parents. But because you have always been present in our lives, we’ve never felt like we don’t have parents. I’m humbled to know that I’ve done well as your daughter.” I say.
He nods his head. He seems moved.
“Let’s go. We still have to pick up Mbali.” He says.
I pull a face. He laughs aloud.
This is going to be an interesting ride shame.

8pm.
We are still on the road to KZN. Mbali is really quiet – but so beautiful. I cannot get used to how stunning she is. She also seems to have a bit of stress. I’ve tried to initiate conversation with her, but she’s just so removed from everything and everyone. She just rubs her belly all the time and looks out the window. The conversation between Banathi, Kabane, Mnqobi and Ruri is very entertaining. Ruri is bullying the boys to listen to her. The boys want to do their own thing. Mnqobi says he will hang out with Ruri and that’s only because Khabane and Banathi are ignoring him too. Zithulele is driving and Maboko is on the passenger seat. Mashimane is asleep on one of the seats. He is tired shame. He needs the sleep. I was counting on talking to Mbali, but she’s not about my life. So I just play on my phone too.

We arrive at a hotel in KZN at 1am.
Tebza is awake and is waiting for us. She is so excited to see her kids. She is super excited to see Maboko as well. Mbali just waits for us to assign her a room then she leaves. Mashimane tells us that he is going to the hospital. He will sleep there. Tebza gives him car keys to the smaller car that she’s been using while she’s been here so he doesn’t take a V300 to the hospital. He says thanks then leaves. Zithulele has Mnqobi in his arms and I have Banathi in mine. Banathi is grown now. He’s so heavy. Yoh. We get into our family room and put the boys on one bed to sleep. Now we cuddle and in no time, we are passed out.