My siblings are still living with us and we are in no rush to have them leave. The kids though – yoh, they drive us crazy sometimes. But, I’ve picked up some new routines.
Suzy has this thing where she meditates every morning. She has asked me to join her in it and I won’t lie, it’s so difficult to do it in the beginning. She turns on candles and plays music – the kind that makes you sleep. And I slept the first few times. But she kept telling me to keep going at it, I’ll get it eventually.
And indeed, I do now. I don’t even need the music anymore. I can just sit, light the candles and just meditate. I’ve taught myself to calm my mind and find peace in most situations.
I enjoy it.
Then after mediation, we do yoga. We even have a trainer that helps us. I’m actually enjoying it. My body has become a lot more toned. My ass is still big. The yoga has done nothing for my ass. But my tummy is flat and there are even solid traces of abs now. Zithulele loves my body. He loves my calmer nature. He loves the effects of meditation and yoga.
Then, I head to the government offices. Ona has put me in his team to look after data and basically use my skills to break the law and invade in people’s privacies. Zithulele has bought more clubs now and his businesses are growing as the church grows bigger. The new pope really has big plans. Maboko is another legoa as well. There are businesses that the church opened in construction that he cleans the money at and runs them on their behalf. Teboho is the one who is running his legitimate businesses now. Honestly, we are becoming more and more rich. Our husbands are becoming more and more dangerous.

Today, we are unveiling my mother’s tombstone. My brothers and I came together then decided that we want to do this for her. There will actually be a funeral service for her. I never got the opportunity to say goodbye to her. We cannot host people here at my house because this is a Khuzwayo home. And we are not doing it at my dad’s house because he’s living there with his girlfriend and I really did not want to ask him for anything. So, we are hosting it at a venue – a hall where her friends and people who couldn’t say goodbye to her can come and celebrate mama’s life with us.
I’ve been briefed that my dad will be there with his girl.
This is going to be an interesting day.

Suzy and I have bathed the boys and they are now ready for the service. They are all dressed in all black suits. They look very handsome. Zithulele, Tumi and Ati are dressed in black Italian suits. Apparently, my dad is here as well with that girlfriend of his. Zithulele organised an Italian black suit for him too. I don’t know why Zithulele is so committed to give this man chances he doesn’t deserve.
But whatever.
I’m finishing up getting ready.
I’m wearing a body-hugging black dress, blackmail pantihose and black Louboutin heels. I have thrown a black sanna marena blanket over my dress. I tie my weave into a bun and wear a black hat elegant and lacy fascinator.
I carry a big-ish black Louis Vuitton handbag where I put my stuff, snacks for the kids because I know my kids, and some snacks even for Zithulele because he does get annoyed when we do one thing with no end.

I head downstairs and see that Suzy is wearing a stunning black dress that has dramatic sleeves. She looks gorgeous though. Absolutely stunning.
I see my dad drinking tea. You know for the first time EVER, I see how handsome this man is. He is so handsome when he’s not drunk and wearing clothes that make him look homeless. I could even mistaken him for being sad today.
“Dumelang”, I say as I step into the kitchen.
Zithulele holds my hand. He wants me to stop moving about and face my dad.
I look at my dad.
His girlfriend is next to him.
She is a pretty woman who is his age mate. You can see that this is a masihlalisane situation until one of their names get called.
Shak is here with Fifi. They look nice.
“Dumela, ngwanake.” My dad says.
I look at him.
“You’ve done very well for yourself. My grandsons are very handsome. I’m proud of you.” He says.
“Kea leboha”, I say.
Zithulele squeezes my hand.
“This is Mme Onica. We’ve become close. And she’s the woman I’m staying with at the house that mkhwenyana bought for me. We want to thank you for that house. Mkhwenyana told me that it was from both of you.”
Why would mkhwenyana do that? Why? I look at him. He squeezes my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Letlali. I’ve heard quite a bit about you.” Mme Onica says.
I just look at her. She’s not even respecting my mother’s funeral. She’s here as the girlfriend. Is she going to sit with us? Last I checked, she wasn’t even family.
“Mommy, please pick me up”, Mnqobi says. He’s by my legs.
I pick him up and make my way to the cars.

The first car has my father in it – by himself. It’s a black Benz.
The next car has Atisang and his boyfriend, Suzy, Tumi and Selaelo. It’s also a black Benz.
In this car is my husband, my two sons and me. We are also in a black Benz. Mme Onica is traveling with us and I’m not impressed at all.
Then there are ten V300 Benz cars that take community people who do not have transportation to get to the service. It is a convoy to the hall now.
I suddenly feel down. I’m going to officially say goodbye to my mother.

We arrive at the hall and as we walk in, we see Serathi with Ntombikanandi with her. Ntombi is Tumi’s first born with Kefentse. She’s grown so much. Wow! And she looks like us… it’s actually scary. Her and Selaelo look like they crawled out of the same womb.
It is Suzy who goes to talk to Serathi.
I look at Tumi.
“She’s the one who has been talking to Serathi to manage this – especially because she might come to live with us.” Tumi explains.
“Why did you do this, Tumi? Was it worth it?” I find myself saying.
Zithulele wants me to catch my tongue.
“No, it wasn’t worth it. I regret it every day of my life. If I could, I’d undo all of it. But for now, I’d really like to try and raise my daughter.” Tumi says.
“I hope you treat Suzy with better respect in life. Not a lot of women would be extending themselves like this to a product of their partner’s infidelity. I don’t even think you would be handling this the way Suzy is if the roles were reversed.” I say.
He just looks at me and we find our seats.

The Mohales are all here as well. Maboko and Teboho are here too.
The kids all sit in one row together. They actually fill up a row. This is an entire class of children. Lol.
Ntombi comes to sit with us. I see Ruri walking up to her. Ntombi looks at this short and pretty little girl. Ruri smiles at her. She has Rena walking next to her and she’s holding Rena’s hand.
“Hello. I’m Ruri. This is Lefatselabarena.”
Ntombi looks at them. She seems rather anti-social.
“What’s your name?” Ruri asks.
We are all observing this quite carefully.
“Ntombikanandi.” She coldly says.
“That’s a very long name. And it sounds difficult.” Ruri says.
“You can call me Ntombi.”
“Okay, Nombi –
“NTOMBI!”
Hai bo!
“There’s no need to be mean! I just wanted to tell you that you can come and sit with us. You don’t have to sit with the big people.” Ruri.
Ntombi looks at Suzy as if asking for permission.
“It’s okay, you can go.” Suzy says.
Ntombi jumps off the chair, picks Rena up and the three of them go to the chairs where the class of children are all sitting. I see mme-mofomahadi take them all into a crying room of some sort. It’s a room in the hall that is covered by sound-proof glass. They are within our sight and still part of the service. But if they get bored and decide to be themselves, we won’t hear them. There’s a speaker in there for them to hear everything.
“She seems a bit – cold.” I say to Suzy.
“She is. She’s been told things about us. Especially me.”
“But she seems the most comfortable with you.” I say.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, Letlali.” She says.
“You don’t have to do it alone. Ke teng.”
We hold hands.
In our row sits, in this order from left to right, my dad, Tumi, Zithulele, Ati, me, Suzy then Ati’s boyfriend. I don’t know where Mme Onica is.

The service is beautiful. Every speaker had something beautiful to say about my mom. I’m not surprised. She played different roles in different people’s lives, and we were all laughing today sharing in her humour. Zithulele and Suzy spoke on behalf of mama’s children and grandchildren. They actually prepared something together that made people laugh and cry. I loved it. Mme-mofomahadi spoke as her employer and there were friends and neighbours that spoke about her in a beautiful light. The speech that touched me the most was the speech by our neighbour. She spoke about my father’s and mother’s marriage. She told us that my parents were so young when they moved into the shack that I called a home. They had two boys and each other – nothing else. And they had moved because my mom had found employment at the royal house, so the skwatta camp was the closest one to the royal house. At the time, my father was unemployed. But apparently, he was the most devoted husband there could ever be in life. He would walk my mom to the bus stop every morning without fail and wait for her when he knew it was time for her to come back home. He would sometimes ask neighbours how to prepare my mom’s favourite meals because he knew that she had a bad day at work. When my mother was pregnant with me, he went and found employment so that she could look after me and not worry about anything while watching me. Apparently, my dad spoiled my mom. Once my dad had said something about her, it was impossible for anyone to tell my mother otherwise. I saw my father crying as this was being said. Zithulele looked at me. I just wiped my face and looked away.
It is now finally time for the wreaths to be read and there are A LOT! So, I see Lulu, Tebza and mme-mofomahadi bringing the kids in to read them. Tholoana, Mnqobi, Ruri and Rena cannot read, so I do not understand why they are up there. But the boys read. And in true Ruri style, she holds a piece of paper, pretends to be reading but repeats what her brother has said. We all laugh at this. Maboko is the one laughing the most. Now Rena also wants to read, but she mumbles something. Their fathers find this whole thing funny.
Once Mohale, Khabane, Banathi and Ntombi have read the wreaths, Suzy hands them candles. Khotso helps by lighting the candles and making sure these kids don’t burn each other. Because they are very capable. Then, Ntombi and Banathi read the eulogy together. I look at Tumi. He is so proud. I hold his hand and he smiles at me. At the end of her reading the eulogy, Ntombi then says:
“If you will all allow me, I’d like to say something about my granny.”
We all look at her. Suzy nods her head. She proceeds and says, “A lot of things happened between my parents, my granny was the one who was always consistent in my life. She always called me Mmannete and I loved it. I even call myself Mmannete at school because I believe that’s my true identity. My granny would phone me on my mommy’s phone and make me laugh every morning before I went to school. She would tell me about my brother, Banathi, and say that one day we are going to be close and lift the Thokoane surname high. I loved my granny. I wish she were still here because more changes are happening in my life and it feels as if no one understands me quite like she did.”
Modimo waka! I just start crying. It feels like my mom had the relationship with her that she had with me, so I can identify with her pain and emptiness so much. Suzy is upset because what this child is essentially saying is that Suzy’s mother-in-law supported Tumi’s nonsense behind her back and she’s totally offended.
“We will get better. All of us. It’s amazing that even in her death, she has reunited me with my dad, my brothers Banathi and Mnqobi, my Auntie, and my new mommy – mama-Suzy. She has done her part in this lifetime. I hope that now her spirit will rest in peace knowing that we love her and that in loving her, we will all look after each other and look after my grandfather.”
She gets down from the podium. She whispers something to the kids then they all say a poem. When was this even planned? Was I that phased out during the planning of all of this?

We are now at the graveyard and the unveiling is about to happen. Ntombi is standing next to where I’m seated. I let her sit on my lap, under the shade. She smiles at me.
“You spoke very well, baby.” I tell her.
“Thank you, rakgadi.” She says to me.
Suzy is sitting next to us.
“Ntombi, would you like some water?” Suzy asks her. Suzy has Mnqobi on her lap. Selaelo and Banathi are with Tumi, Ati and Zithulele getting ready to unveil the tombstone. My dad is sitting with us.
“Yes please, mama.” She says to Suzy.
I see this making Suzy smile. I’m glad it makes her weak nyana.
Suddenly, Shaka is next to me.
“Ntombi, Mnqobi… Obaba benu are calling you. Come, let me take you there to them.”
Ntombi holds Mnqobi’s hand then they follow Shaka to the tombstone.
“Papa ena?” I ask Suzy.
She shrugs her shoulders.
“Papa, go le wena and unveil your wife’s tombstone”, I say.
“Let’s all go.” Suzy says.
My dad gets along better with Suzy, I don’t understand why he chooses to hold onto me to aid himself to walk. Now I’m that daughter walking with my dad to unveil the tombstone. Agh!

The tombstone is unveiled and Ntombi and Banathi read the writing on it. It is a beige stone with gold writing on it. It is beautiful.
I find myself in my husband’s arms, sobbing. He comforts me.
“Thank you”, I say to him.
He kisses my forehead.

…

We are all back at the hall now and people are eating and drinking. We have a mobile bar here. It’s actually turning into a party and I’m not sure how this is going down with my wife.
“Hello”, I see Nothile and Zama say to me.
They are here?
I’m so happy to see them.
“We got a bit delayed, but we are here.” Zama says.
“Sanibonani. It’s so good to see you guys”, I say.
I’m actually happy to see them.
Then Tlali comes to us and she hugs them with so much energy and excitement. We really appreciate them being here.
“Mehlomadala”, Tlali says with her broken Zulu accent. We all just laugh. Honestly. I love that she tries, but she must stop it.
“Where can we help?” Nothile asks.
“No, don’t worry, please. There’s catering and they are doing everything. You guys must be so tired. Please sit down. I’ll bring you a plate and some drinks.” Tlali says.
“Siyabonga sisi. We’d really appreciate that.” Zama says. Of course, she would appreciate such nonsense yet she’s here ukuzoduduza.
“Let me come with you. We have a lot of catching up to do.” Nothile says then leaves with Tlali. I don’t understand why I must be left here with Zama. We have nothing to say to each other.
I’m saved by Tumi approaching me and saying, “Eh, Khuzwayo –
He pauses.
“Sho. This is my sister, Zama.” I say.
“Dumela Aus’Zama”, Tumi says.
“Hello. You are so respectful.”
“Hai ungazophapha wena”, I tell her. What the hell?!
“Unlike this one”, Zama says referring to me.
“This is Tumi. Tlali’s brother.” I say.
She hugs him and says, “We are all family mos. Hello.”
Tumi doesn’t know whether to laugh or…
“Timer le Mme-Onica want to leave. Tlali and Suzy are on my case that people are getting drunk and we must get the kids out of here.
I laugh at him. When Tlali and Suzy gang up on you, it’s real.
“Is timer coming to our house or back to his house?” I ask.
“Ah monna! Who’s going to the township? That’s an hour and thirty minute drive.” Tumi.
“But if they prefer their space, let’s give it to them. Besides, Tlali is still off-ish with your dad.” I say.
“You are driving!” He says. And we laugh.

I’m driving and Tumi is on the passenger seat. Mme-Onica and Ntate Thokoane are in the backseat. We are taking them back home.
“Re leboha mosebetsi o monhle.” Ntate says.
“You are welcome, ntate.” I say.
“Maybe one day, my grandchildren can visit me. You’ve built me such a nice big house. I’d like to share it with my grandchild at least.”
Eh! Who is going to say that to Letlali? I’m not brave.
“Maybe we will come and spend Christmas with you this year. We will all come and bring the kids with us”, Tumi says.
“Will Letlali agree?” Mme-Onica says. Even she knows we are being ambitious here.
“We will talk to her”, Tumi says.
“Watsiba, she didn’t even greet or acknowledge me today”, Mme-Onica says.
There are bigger issues at hand here and she’s worried about being greeted and acknowledged by Letlali? Really?
Even Tumi is annoyed.
Suzy phones Tumi. His phone is connected to the Bluetooth option here.
“Baby”, he answers his phone.
“Hey chicken. How are you?” Suzy.
I just look away because I will laugh if I look at him. Chicken? Inkukhu yonke?!
“Ke shup, love. What’s up?” Tumi.
“We just got to the house. Tlali and I are going to bath the kids now then we will all settle for a movie. Are you guys coming back straight here after dropping of papa le mme-Onica?”
He looks at me.
“We are going to meet up with the guys at the venue to make sure that we clean up efficiently”, I say.
“Okay. But don’t come back too late.” She says.
My wife is Letlali Khuzwayo. And unless she’s telling me that, I understand that order to not be directed at me.
They say goodbye to each other and hang up.

…

We are chilling with Ona, Khotso, Maboko and Shaka. We are drinking and laughing at nonsense. It’s weird now because Ona is the king. Now everyone bows down before us, say hi to Ona and they want to tell him about their problems.
Ona gets annoyed in no time, then we decide we will go back to my house and hang out there. All the wives and kids are there. Apparently Nothile left with some guy and I don’t know where Zama is. She has a PhD in disappearing. She will find her way back.

We get to the house and there is silence.
Impossible.
We all look at each other.
I lead the way to the cinema. The gents follow me. They are all here.
Their mothers are fast asleep, but the kids are focused on the screen.
“Hey guys”, we try to greet.
“Sssssshhhhh!!!” These little people shush us. Umhlolo kaQwabe lo.
I just leave and lead the way to the bar. We will sit right here.

In no time, we are just chilling, drinking and talking.
At about 11pm, we see our wives walk into the bar. They are all in comfortable clothes.
They tell us that the kids are asleep, so they sit with us.
“So, what’s going to happen with Ntombi?” Ona asks. She is his niece too, so I guess he has rights.
“She’s going to live with us now.” Suzy says.
“Oh. Serathi is cool with that?” Khotso.
“She’s not her biological mother. It’s not for her to be cool with. Besides, she’s getting married to some guy. Ntombi was in the way.” Suzy says.
We all nod our heads.
“If you need help, you can always call us.” Lulu says.
“Thanks Lulu… but, and I say this with the utmost respect, the Mohales didn’t handle this matter adequately when they still had a chance. So, I don’t want us to start things that will just confuse the child.” Suzy.
“From what I understand, you were the one making demands about Ntombi staying away from you and your husband. The Mohales were respecting that.” Khotso.
“The Mohales should have given their daughter the 101 basics on how not to sleep around with married men. We wouldn’t be in this position had they raised their child right.” Suzy.
“Maybe we need to change the subject”, Shak says.
There is silence.
“The Mohales are Ntombi’s maternal family. Does she not deserve to get to know us?” Ona says.
“That part of her life died the day that the Mohales killed her mother. Ntombi’s only surviving parent is Reitumetsi.”
Awu, inkukhu yakhe nkosiyami. Lol.
“We will manage just fine. Thanks.” Suzy concludes her point.
Shaka shakes his head at Ona to not respond to what Suzy has said.
Letlali is just quiet.

“Get the kids!” Shaka says in panic.
“Mashimane?” Me.
“I just got a tip-off. Kabila’s alliances have just invaded our border.” Shaka says.
“Who’s Kabila?” Suzy.
Shembe!
Tlali is already running up the stairs with the other women. We have the cars brought around. The women will travel in the V300s to Tsakane. They’ll travel through the night. Unfortunately. We are going to war.
There is a V300 that’s taking Suzy, Tumi, Ati, Ati’s boyfriend, Selaelo and Ntombi to Durban. We cannot risk being on a run with them.

As I’m wishing my wife and kids goodbye in their vehicle, Tumi comes to us.
“Please, take Ntombi with you.” He says.
We both look at him.
“I don’t think Suzy is ready. I don’t want to ruin my child.” Tumi.
Tlali nods her head.
I load Ntombi’s bag in the car then she climbs in.
She’s also sleepy. So, she passes out with Banathi and Mnqobi. Tlali is kissing me goodbye.
“You are not allowed to die.” She says to me.
“I’ll do my best.”
“No. You do more than your best. I need you.” She says.
“Here’s some information on the people coming for you”, she says, giving me an iPad. When did she put this together?
I kiss her.
“Be safe.” She says.
I close the door.
The cars drive off.

We are in a truck now. We have used the information that Tlali gave us to study how these people operate and how to catch them off-site. We know where they are staying and we are about to end them all.
The truck parks outside the hotel they are staying at. We are dressed as janitors.
We enter the hotel. Some through the door. Others through windows and others through the roof.
Khotso, Ona, Maboko, Shaka and I are on the roof of a hotel opposite the one they are sleeping in. We are waiting for the gunshots to explode then as people run out, we shoot from up here.

We see people that are not on our team walk out without our people. We look at each other. These men put a bomb on the building. We start shooting them from up here. We manage to kill twenty of them, but the building blows up with our men in it. FUCK!
The pressure from the bomb exploding has pushed us far away from where we were. We get up and start running. We realise that the building we are at the top of is suddenly surrounded.
Fuck!
“Phone Tlali”, Ona says.
Indeed, I phone her.
She doesn’t answer.
Fuck!
We prepare ourselves to just turn in and submit to these fuckers. We are out-numbered. We are surrounded. We will not be able to get out of here no matter how we look at getting out.

Then…
We hear gunshots.
We look at each other.
We go look over the roof. There are people dressed in black, killing these people. Who are these people?
“Come on! There’s no time.”
Tlali?!
We are so confused.
“NOW!” She yells.
We run after her. We run to the other side of the building, still on the roof.
We abseil down the roof, following her. I see Teboho at the bottom, catching us.
As soon as we are all in the car, they throw something out of the car window.
It goes off when we are a few miles away.

We are all breathing heavily. Tebza and Tlali are shaking.
“How did you –
“Don’t talk to us. Let the adrenaline settle. Please.” Letlali says to us.
“Where’s everyone else?” Khotso asks.
“They went ahead. Tlali and I came back together to save you. We are not prepared to have another funeral. We got the bodyguards you got us to help us.” Tebza explains.
“It’s not over. More people are coming in”, Tlali says.
“We need control at the border gates”, Tebza adds.
Clearly, we are not married to normal people.