I’m dropping Wehweh and her mother off at the mom’s house. She’s been staying with us all this time and I can genuinely see that this has made Wehweh happy. Wehweh has this strange detachment from family values and I think it has a lot to do with her relationship with her mother. She still is crazy here and there, but there is an improvement. When her father told her that he’s going on holiday with his fiance, Wehweh was annoyed, but she agreed to going to be with her mom while I spend time in Soweto this weekend. 

My mother is taking off her black mourning cloth. Only Palesa can be there because she is the full bride. Wehweh and Mfundo can’t be there. Banathi and Palesa arrived with my mom two days ago. I’m catching up with them today. 

“Wehweh, you’ll find me inside”, the mom says. I suppose she’s giving us space to say goodbye to each other. 

Three young boys run to us. I’ve always known that Wehweh and Patrick share three younger brothers, but I’ve never met them.

“Sis’Wehweh, are you staying with us?” They are so excited. 

“Yes. This is Bhut’Mnqobi.” Wehweh says.

They greet me so respectfully, but you can see that they want me to be their friend. This entire exchange is really funny. 

“Are you Sis’Wehweh’s boyfriend?” The one asks me. I didn’t even get their names.

“He’s my fiancée”, Wehweh answers them. 

“What’s a fiancée?” The youngest one asks.

“It means they are going to get married”, the eldest one says. 

The middle one is just smiling at me. And it’s weird. He looks like… I don’t know… as if all the lights are on in his head, but nobody is home. He’s just standing there… staring and smiling. I prefer kids that communicate hey.

“When is the wedding? Can I be your best man?” The middle one speaks for the first time and that’s what he says. 

“What’s a best man?” The youngest asks.

Yoh! These kids. 

“Why aren’t you saying hello to your mother? Do you only see Wehweh and Mnqobi?” The mother rescues me. 

“Hello mama”, now they greet their mother. 

“Take mine and Wehweh’s bags, and let’s go inside the house”, the mom says.

She’s so strict and direct. I’ve learned to understand her in the last three weeks. 

She says goodbye to me.

Her boys say goodbye to me. 

they follow each other into the house. 

Wehweh and I look at each other then laugh.

“The best part about them is that they do whatever I ask them to do. So you know I’ll definitely be relaxing”, she says.

“Now that’s music to my ears”, I say.

“I need you to rest, baby. You heard what the doctor said”, I say. She’s even starting to show that she’s pregnant.

“I will. I promise.” She says.

“And we have our wedding next month. I can’t wait to have you be my Mrs Khuzwayo”, I say.

She smiles from ear to ear. 

Then she’s suddenly serious.

“Love”, her.

“Hmmmm?” Me.

“I had Sli investigated”, she says.

What’s wrong with this woman?! 

“I was right about her! You know that she murdered her husband’s mistress then framed it on her husband? Then, she had her husband murdered in prison!” Wehweh blows me away. 

I’m so shocked. 

She gives me some envelope and says, “look! This is what my PI found”.

She has a PI? Or she means she hired one or???

“I would have asked you to look into her for me, but you already thought I was being a brat. That’s why I did this on my own. I want her away from my dad”, she says.

“I’m sorry for making you feel like you are on your own with this. And I’m sorry I didn’t take you seriously. But I don’t want you stressing about this anymore. I’ll take it from here. By the time she and your dad come back from their trip, they’ll be over”, I say.

“Thank you”, she says. 

“I want my dad to be happy. He’s a good man with a big heart. He does deserve love. But not with that thug. If I have to find love for him, I will”, she says.

“Nomawethu, stay out of your dad’s bedroom affairs. That man has more game than you think.” I say. 

I happen to know that Si Radebe is paying lobola for a whole other woman in two months time. He was switched off from Sli because Sli hated Wehweh. So he met someone else. But with what Wehweh has told me, I do need to remove Sli. If she murders people when cheated on, then Si needs to leave her. I don’t need Wehweh losing her dad right now. It will destroy her. 

We finally say goodbye to each other. We kiss. She heads into the house and I drive from Pretoria, headed to Ndofaya. 

When I arrive, Banathi and Phakathwayo are in overalls and are busy with hard labour. I’m not even pressured to change and do anything. I just give them beer. We chill a bit and drink. 

“Z’khiphani?” I ask them. 

“The gogos are here. But they brought cousins and their wives, so at least Palesa is not on her own. But Palesa is in charge. She phoned Mfundo and Mfundo told her where everything is. So everyone goes to her for stuff”, Banathi tells me. 

“Where is Mfundo?” I ask. 

“At her flat. She has a flat in Jabulani”, Phakathwayo says. 

“Where the fuck is Jabulani?” I ask.

“A township behind –

“A TOWNSHIP?!” Banathi and I both say… shocked! 

“She stays there. She was staying there when I met her”, Phakathwayo.

“Dude, not even our dad was this stingy. Tell her to pack. We are sending people to fetch her things. Let’s get her a decent place to stay”, Banathi says, already on his phone. 

“Let me get Wehweh to sort it out. She knows good places in Gauteng and she’s well-connected”, I say. 

“I’ll get the boys”, Banathi. 

Phakathwayo is laughing. 

This is going to be his wife. What’s wrong with him?

By the time we are done with our third bottles of beer, Wehweh has organised a hotel apartment for Mfundo at The Capital in Sandton. Phakathwayo is on his phone with Mfundo telling her about her new living arrangements, and the boys we organised are on their way to move Mfundo’s things. 

Now that that’s sorted, I get into my overall, and also involve myself in stuff. 

Palesa is in a doek, dress and apron. But she looks nice. I hope she trains Wehweh to be this respectful and not fight everything told to her. And the mamas here like her so much. 

“Bhuti”, she’s suddenly next to me. 

I look at her. 

“Ngicela ifavour please”, she says.

I’m already laughing.

She gives me a mug that has a lid on it. 

“Savanna with a lot of ice. Please tog”, she says.

I am in stitches. 

She gives me another cup. 

“Two yonke?” I ask her. 

“The other one is for your mom. We need this to stomach these Khuzwayo elders… abantu bakini”, she says.

I honestly just laugh and head out, leaving her and her apron in the kitchen doing I don’t know what. 

“Aph’ amaSavanna? Umutnu wakho nomah wakho want some… with a lot of ice”, I tell Banathi. 

He laughs. 

“Don’t turn my wife into isdakwa!” Banathi says, laughing. 

“Where are the kids?” I ask. 

“Running around at the back. Katli is taking a nap.” Banathi tells me. 

At least when he wakes up, we will have more hands. 

Four guys walk to where we are. Apparently these are our cousins, and the women that are in there with Palesa are their wives. 

I take the Savanas with a lot of ice to Palesa. She says thank you then heads to give my mom a cup. 

Imagine! 

Now I’m back out here with Banathi, Phakathwayo and the cousins. 

We meet them and we chat about as we work. We set things up and prepare for umsebenzi. 

It’s early hours now of the morning. We are at the Vaal Dam. We stay far because my mom is being cleansed and is completely naked. She’s been extremely emotional all week. 

Now she is dressed up in a dress that is not black. Her hair is also cut. She is told to turn her back on the water and never look back. 

She indeed does that. She is still emotional, but I think that she will be able to let go a lot easier now. 

When we get back to the house, Palesa uses a cutting machine to cut my mom’s hair well so it looks decent. And my mom looks good. Look, she’s a beautiful woman. She has always been one. She just looks really really nice right now. 

Our friends from the kingdom start arriving at 8am, and Palesa has made sure that everything is ready. I’m so happy to see Mfundo. Phakathwayo is even happier. She is a beautiful woman. And I can see that Phakathwayo is taken by her. She came here with a friend of hers. A very beautiful friend. If I were single, I’d really get with that. But the disciplined man in me decides to pass the friend on to Moloko. He’s the next king and we have never seen him with a woman. We’ve all wondered if he maybe is a Mohale in terms of preferring males over females. But he’s grown now and he needs to at least start having sex. 

“She’s nice neh”, I say to Moloko… referring to the friend. 

“She’s alright. We have prettier woman in the kingdom”, he says.

“Are you at least dating one of them?” Banathi asks him. 

I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s concerned about this. 

“I am. But it’s none of anyone’s business. It’s between me and her”, he says. 

“Has anyone met her?” I ask. 

“She’s none of anyone’s business. Please”, Moloko snaps. 

I decide to back off. 

Ang’sazi nami.

Inkosi enjani le?! 

“Bhuti”, Mfundo calls Banathi and I. 

We both look at her. 

“I want to go and help Palesa. But your aunts and grannies are so scary. I don’t even think they like me”, she says.

“Let’s go”, Banathi says, leading her into the house. 

I hope Wehweh doesn’t just show up. She will be the talk of the town for the rest of my life because Wehweh will not be as nice as Mfundo if anyone tries her. 

The day ends on a good note. My mom decides that she will keep the Khuzwayo surname. She loved my father. She still does. I don’t know if any of us are ready to see her with another man yet, but we do want to see her get her life back. She deserves it.