While Teboho and Letlali took all the guards to rescue our criminal husbands, we got kidnapped. We don’t know where we are. But we are grateful for one thing – we are all in one basement or container or… I don’t know where we are.
Lulu, Fifi and Kea are trying to keep the kids calm. I’m the only one who has been studying the guards here, so I can see a gap and get us out of here.
I’ve noticed a few things. I’ve noticed that the guards do round checks every thirty minutes or so. They don’t really lock the cans because when they do their checks, they have to check that people are still inside.
So…
This is what we need to do.
At night, when it’s lights out, that’s our time to make a move.
I tell Kea, Lulu and Fifi my plan. They don’t seem too comfortable with trusting me, but what choice do they have?
“Are you sure about this, Thabi?” Fifi asks me.
“I lived in a home where my brother raped me every time he had an erection for three years. Adults were aware and did nothing about it. I learned how to plan escapes and run until I couldn’t run anymore at a very young age. Trust me.”
They look at me as if they feel sorry for me.
“Don’t do that. Don’t feel sorry for me. Please.” I say.
Then I say, “Now, there’s four of us and nine of these kids. How are we going to carry them?” I ask.
“I’ll carry Wande on my back. I’ll tie him with my sweater. I can carry Rena on my front”, Fifi says.
“I’ll carry Mnqobi and Ruri”, Mofomahadi says.
“I’ll take Tholoana and run with Banathi and Mohale – holding them of course. They are both too old to be carried, but he can run fast enough”, Lulu says.
“I’ll run with the older two. I hope their instincts are sharp.” I say.
They look me with judgy eyes. This is a key and necessary skill, so please. We could all die here.

Midnight strikes. We are all pretending to be asleep. The small babies are really sleeping. We cover them with our jackets when they sleep so they don’t get cold. This is how it’s been since three days ago when we first arrived here. As soon as they check our container and close it – not locking it – we wake up quietly and put the babies on our backs and fronts. We cover them with jackets. The older ones seem sharp enough to run.
I lead the way with my two soldiers, Ntombi and Khabane. I open the door first and step out, to check the coast. Clear. I use my hand to signal that they must come out. They follow me out. I take my two soldiers with me and I start walking. Mohale and Banathi have joined my soldiers by the time we get to a fence that must be jumped. But it’s a wired fence and anyone who has lived in a township knows how to get through something like this.
Fifi and I cut it using some tool that we picked up around here.
You can see the township huns now. Then, Lulu is the one who holds the fence down with her foot and my now four soldiers cross first. Then the ones with babies cross. Now, I cross last. I try to fix the fence as best as I can, so they only see foul play when it’s too late to do anything about it.
But, the checks are about to start again, so we need to start running.
And…
We run! As planned.
The four soldiers are running as fast as I need them to and it’s good, but Fifi is not running fast enough.
“Give me a child.” I say to her.
I mean even Kea is running faster than her.
“Give me a child”, I say.
She gives me Rena who is now awake.
I put her on my back and Kea straps her to my back with a sweater.
“Can we run faster now?”
She sprints.
Good.
We are all sprinting as fast as we can.

After running for about an hour, the kids are tired. I tell all of them to go into a restaurant and get food. But they must be aware.
“Where are you going?” Kea asks me. I thought she didn’t care about me. This is not the time to show care and ask me useless questions.
“I’m going to get a cellphone. We need to phone Ona.” I say.
“Thabi –
“Eat. Rest. We have some running to do after I find a phone. I’m going to the Chinese shop across the road.”
The kids look at me.
“Champs, you did good. Have a big meal. We running some more when you are done, okay?” I say to my soldiers. They nod their heads.
I move to the shop before they talk me out of it.

It’s a Chinese shop and I find a cellphone, wigs, clothes, towels and a bag. Four baby prams and three toddler prams. It should do for the bigger kids. I pay for these things.
I cross the road to where they are all eating. I give the women wigs and they wear them immediately. As they pack the kids into the prams, I turn the cellphone on and dial Ona’s number. He answers instantly.
“Hello?” It’s a shady simcard that is probably RICA-ed under someone else’s name. I mean, I wasn’t asked for any form of RICA information when I purchased this. So, I’m sure truecaller showed a random name of who is calling.
“Ona. Ke Thabi.”
“Baby! Fuck. Where are you guys?”
“On the run. Listen, we are in a place called Rustenburg. I’ve figured out that much.” I say.
“It’s going to take us two hours to get there. Baby, can I trust you to hold shit down? I’m going to find a way to get to you, I promise.”
“We’ll be fine. We are all okay. The kids are good too. I’ll keep everyone safe. We will find a safe house place to rest at too. I’ll phone you when I can. I bought this phone at some cheap Chinese shop, so I’m not too trusting.” I say.
“Okay baby. Phone me. Every hour. Check in. Please.” He says.
I hang up.
The bag is packed as well. Rena and Ruri are in one pram. Mnqobi and Wande are in one pram. Tholoana and Mohale are in one toddler pram. Mohale is old-ish, but he fits in the pram he is in. Banathi and Ntombi are in one toddler pram, so we start pushing and leave the rest of the prams here. Please can pick a pram and enjoy.

We walk for about 6km then we see a Quantum. An empty one.
I go to one of the taxi drivers and ask him to please give us a lift. We will use the entire taxi – pay him for the entire taxi.
We get in and he drives us. I asked him to take us to Suncity. We will stay there for now.
The driver takes us to Suncity.

We arrive and we make our way to the cabanas.
We all decide to pay for five rooms, but we make our way to one room and we decide to stay together.

I phone Ona.
“We are at Suncity, baby”, I tell Ona.
“Okay baby. We are twenty minutes away.”
“Come to the cabanas.” I say.

…

“You did great, baby.” He tells me.
Ona and I are cuddled in bed. When the others arrived, we were able to move into our own rooms. I asked Mohale and Tholoana to come and sleep with us because really, I’d imagine Ona would want them next to him. But they wanted to be next to Lulu, so they are with Khotso, Lulu and Lefatselabarena.
“I needed to, my love. I couldn’t let anything happen to us. I know that I’m useless when it comes to the kids, but I needed to make sure we came out okay.” I say.
“You are not useless. You are just… DIFFERENT”, he says then he laughs.
I chuckle too.
“Is it over now?” I ask him.
“We bombed the place that you guys were kept at. Most of the people there work together. We have deployed people to end the rest that remains. But we are safe… we just waiting for confirmation that it’s over.”
I nod my head.
My head is still on his chest.
“Tell me about her”, I say.
He is silent. He knows exactly what I’m talking about. He knows what I’m asking.
“She’s beautiful – just like you.” He says as he kisses my forehead.
“She’s funny. She’s glamorous. Just like you.” He says. I chuckle.
“But she’s sick. She does need special attention, but she loves family. She may not have too much time to live, but I want her last few moments to be happy moments. And baby, she loves us. We make her happy. I know that if we could bring her to live with us, she would be so happy.” He says.
“But baby, look at our lives… what happens when we have to be on the run? What do we do with her?” I ask him.
“The highlight of her day is Khotso and I spending time with her. Imagine how happy she would be if she is with us all the time?”
“You haven’t answered my question, Ona. What happens when we have to run for our lives?” I repeat my question.
He is quiet.
“At least come with us next time to see her?” He asks me.
“I’m not ready, Ona. But, thank you. Thank you so much for being her father. You and Khotso – thank you.”
He kisses me.
We start feeling up each other. His erection is strengthening and my nipples are demanding action.
“Ona!” We hear.
I want to cry.
“Ona! Come. We need to talk”, Maboko insists.
“Fuck”, he whispers.
“We will be quick. I promise.” I whisper.
He laughs.
“Ona!”
“I’m coming”, Ona shouts back.
“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.” He says as he gets out of bed and starts getting dressed.
“I need my reward for being good today”, I say.
He smiles at me.
“Anything you want, baby. It’s yours.”
“I want your dick.”
He laughs.
He makes it out of the room laughing.
Now what am I supposed to do with myself?

…

I’m waking up to an empty bed. Were they really up all night? And what were they doing? I mean, really?
I stretch my body and feel some pain in my body. I find a mirror and I take off my robe. I see bruises on my thighs and some cuts on my back. My baby toe is bruised and looks like it’s been bleeding. Was my adrenaline so high that I didn’t see myself get hurt along the run?

I take a shower and use the complimentary products I find here to shower and lotion my body. I put my robe back on, remembering that I gave the other ladies all the clothes that I got from the Chinese shop.
I see Lulu walking towards my room.
She knocks and I open for her. She walks in with a dress over her arm. I guess it’s for me. She hands it to me, and I wear it. I say thank you.
She nods her head then she says, “Thank you, Thabi. For everything.”
I nod my head.
“You were a real one out there”, she says, smiling at me.
I just nod my head.
“The first thing the kids asked me this morning when they woke up was whether or not MaThabi is okay.” She says.
“Aus’Thabi”, I say. I don’t want these kids looking at me and seeing a mom. I still need to come to terms with my own child.
“Well, you protected them like a mother, Thabi. And they felt it.” She says.
Whatever.
“Are you coming to breakfast?” She asks me.
“I’ll be down in a minute.” I say.
She nods her head then leaves the room.

Breakfast is us ladies and the kids. These kids are so rowdy and happy as if they are not affected by what has happened in the past four days – beautiful even… just as Ona described Pelo. I imagine her here. With all of them. Being a child and being happy. But what if I mess her up? What if she’s better off without me? I don’t even know how to be a mother to these kids and I’ve been around them for over a year now. How am I going to manage Pelo and her special needs?

I eat some fruit so no one starts asking me what’s wrong and asks me to engage in this conversation that they are having. Where is Ona anyway? I just want to be alone today.
“I’m going to take a nap. I’m feeling a bit bushed.” I say.
“We are going to the valley of the waves. You don’t want to come with us?” Teboho says.
“No, thank you. Please, have fun. I’ll be sleeping in today.” I tell them.
I get up and head to my room. They are all looking at me as if I’m going to kill myself. They must relax. And even if I did kill myself, it wouldn’t be any skin off their noses.

I close all my curtains and lock my door. I turn on the TV. Our bedroom is already clean so housekeeping will not bother me.
I’m watching something useless while in bed, but I cry. I just simply cry. I don’t even know why I’m crying. My heart just feels so heavy. My spirit just feels so heavy. I need this cry and I let it out. All of it. Alone. At some point, I just fall asleep.

…

We are on our private plan back to Rustenburg from Nigeria. Everyone is super exhausted, so they are sleeping. I’m still up. And apparently so is Maboko.
“Ushup?” He asks me.
“I miss Regodise”, I tell him.
He takes a deep breath.
“I’m supposed to be doing this with her.” I say.
“Do you think the two of you would have been able to move on from everything that happened had she lived?” He asks me.
“My issue with Dise is that she came for people that had nothing to do with the mess that I created. She put my mom on blast for absolutely nothing. That was unnecessary. I’m the one who cheated on her. She should have just come after me.”
He is quiet.
“I mean… Tebza just fucked off, you know. She didn’t come for your family just because you cheated. And I get it, Maboko. I made a mistake. I’m man enough to admit that much. But was Regodise genuinely entitled to perfection that the minute I made a mistake, she felt the need to end everyone’s world?”
I lay my head back and just breathe.
He pats my back. Then he says, “I think Thabi might just be the real one.”
I look at him.
“Was there ever a part of you that felt that if you convinced yourself enough, Linda would be the one?”
“Tebza was always my one. Always. I married Linda because if my wife wasn’t going to be Tebza, then the woman who would be Mrs Seete could have been anyone who could just fuck me on a regular and accept that I will cheat because nothing real keeps me coming back home. Sure, we’d probably have a couple of kids, but those would be my only responsibility – not the mother.”
I hear what he says. And I actually get it.
“Do you think Dise was your one?” He asks me.
“I don’t know. What I felt for came close to what I felt for Lineo.” I confess.
“Yoh monna. Lineo?!” He’s even shocked.
We laugh.
“I loved that girl. A lot.”
“I know. You cried like a little bitch when she dumped you for that Wits boyfriend of hers.”
We laugh, then I say, “You have no idea how happy I am that shit didn’t work out between the two of them.”
We laugh hysterically now.
Then he says, “When last did you speak to her?”
“When we matriculated and she went to study at Wits in South Africa, chasing that fucken loser of hers.”
“What do you think she’s doing with her life now?” He asks me.
I laugh.
This is why I love this guy so much. He gets me. He lets me reminisce about things people would demand I snap out of because I’m married now.
“She’s probably something big and people who matter know who she is, inviting her to important meetings and using her ideas to make money.” I say.
“Let’s check her out on social media”, he says and pulls out an iPad.

We search on social media platforms, “Lineo Liale.”
None of her platforms are private.
She looks happy.
She looks like she’s in a good place.
She’s a CSR director at her father’s company and she’s really taken the company to the next level.
“What is that?” Maboko says as something catches his eye.
“What is what?” I ask him.
He goes back a few pictures and opens a picture.
The picture is dated to be my birthday.
“Happy birthday to the reason that I discovered my highest calling of being a mother.” She’s posted two boys.
“Ona, they look exactly like you and Khotso.” Maboko says.
Now Khotso is up and he is staring at what we are staring at.
“She has twins? Your twins?” Khotso.
“This is not possible.” I say.
“When was the last time you saw her?” Maboko.
“Matric.” Me.
“Seventeen years ago?” Maboko.
“An on the 16th of February this year – our birthday – Lineo’s twins turned sixteen.” Khotso says, as if putting the pieces together for me.
“Twins that are the spitting image of the two of you.” Maboko says.
“Honestly… is this a thing? Do chicks just run away, have our babies and raise them without us? This is actually a trend now?” I say, extremely heartbroken.
I actually cry like a little bitch after this.

…

I’m in my mom’s room with Khotso and Maboko. We have explained everything to her as we put the dots together and we have shown her the picture.
She is also in a lot of disbelief.
“What do you want to do, Onaleruna?” My mom asks me.
“Fuck that bitch! Who the fuck does she think she is?! I want my kids and I want her dead.”
“Haaaa!” My mom exclaims.
“Ona, come on, man!” Khotso.
“Come on?! I must come on?! She kept two kids away from me. Two?! For what?! I didn’t deserve to raise my kids?!”
“These are the questions that you should be asking her. And maybe in a calm tone, so you can hear her side of the story.” My mom says.
“Fuck Lineo! Fuck her!”
“Okay, Ona… you are not thinking about this properly. These kids are sixteen years old. How do you think they’ll react when you approach their mother with this much rage and just grab them from her?” My mom says.
“You know, I wish morena were around. If he were here, he’d understand what needed to be done and this wouldn’t even be a fucken conversation.” I say.
This hurts my mom. I didn’t mean to. I was just stating facts.

I walk out of her room, get into a car and tell my driver to drive me to Johannesburg.
I phone Tlali.
“Hey Ona”, she answers her phone.
“I need you to track someone down for me. I need an exact location.”
“Okay?”
“Lineo Liale.”
“I’m on it”.
“Thanks.”
I hang up.
I’m going to murder that bitch!

I arrive at Houghton after following the location that Letali sent. It is 6H30am. I get out of the car and break into the house. I find Lineo in her kitchen preparing breakfast and humming. She is beyond shocked to see me.
“Ona?”
“Where are my kids?!”
“What?”
“My kids! Where are they?!”
“Ona, what are you talking about?”
I grab her neck and drag her across the kitchen. She’s screaming. This is not about to be the conversation she’s trying to make it out to be. I shove her against the wall and pin her against the wall with my hands around her neck.
“Mom?” I hear voices.
I let her go.
She’s coughing, trying to regain the breath.
“Why didn’t you tell me about my children?!” I ask her. My voice is high because I am irritated and angry. Everything inside of me is pressing down my tears. This bitch doesn’t deserve to see me sad.
She’s still trying to catch her breath.
“I never cheated on you, Lineo. I did fuck all to you. You are the one who left me and told me you wanted a varsity experience and wanted to follow that fucken guy of yours. Then you said you’d come back to me when you were ready. So, you keep my kids from me?!”
She’s still coughing. I feel like she’s pretending now.
“Lineo!” I yell.
She’s crying and coughing. I didn’t hold her that tightly around her neck.
“Ey man, you need to get the fuck out of here. You’ve done more than enough for the morning”, one of the twins say to me.
Maboko runs in.
Khotso runs in.
Lulu runs in.
Tebza runs in.
Thabi runs in.
My mom runs in.
They witness the situation before them.
“Ona –
“Mma, I’m not leaving here without my kids.”
“What?!” Oh, now she’s not coughing anymore.
“I’m taking my kids with me.” I repeat.
“Ona, don’t test me.” She says.
“What are you going to do, Lineo?! What the fuck do you think you are going to do?”
“Ey! I said that’s enough! Stop talking to my mom like that.” One of the twins.
“Ey wena! Are you fucken crazy? I’ll fuck you up, son!” I say.
“ONALERUNA! JEEZ MAN!” My mom.
Silence.
“Lineo, take the kids and get in the car.” My mom says.
“We actually have a life… jobs, school… things we were preparing for before Ona –
“In the car, Lineo. Either you do it yourself, or I leave and let Ona handle this led by his temper.” My mom.
She breathes.
She looks at the boys.
“Mohato. Reahile. Let’s go.” She says.
She named them after my biological father and the father that raised me. This bitch is twisted!
“Ah mah, you know I have a social tonight. And –
“Mohato, did I phrase that as a suggestion?” Lineo.
My mom is emotional now.
What Lineo has done can never be undone. Ever!
The boys sulk, but they head to the car.
I look at Thabi.
I cannot make out her feelings or thoughts or facial expression. She just looks at me, then she heads to the car.