I’m already at the office pushing work like a drug dealer. My door stays closed at all times because I genuinely do not have time to waste. Ona wants me to knock off by 5pm like I’m some entry level employee in my own office just because he wants me to be in flat shoes doing homework with the kids then having sex with him. The 7am – 5pm hours are my time to be me, Rethabile Mohale, and actually feel alive because I’m doing what I love. I’m working.
My office has this beautiful picture of the kids… they took it on Pelo’s birthday… her last birthday… and they had a photoshoot as the kids. Ona framed a picture for me and he gave it to me. It now lives on my desk.

“Mrs Mohale, a Nothile Khuzwayo is here to see you”, my PA tells me as she peeps through my door.
“I’m busy”, I say without even looking at her.
“She’s in your diary, ma’am. I pencilled her in. She phoned asking for an appointment last week already.” She says.
“I’m busy”, I repeat.
“What should I tell her?” She asks me.
“That I’m busy. Now close my door and stop interrupting me”, I say.
She closes the door.
I work a bit more then I hear commotion outside my door. This dumb bitch is causing drama at my fucken place of work.
I stand up then make my way to my reception.
This girl!
“Yeh wena! Does this look like a whore house to you?” I say to Nothile.
She looks at me. Everyone in my office is looking at us now.
“What the fuck do you want?” I ask her.
“We need to talk. In private please.” She says.
“I’m busy”, I say.
“I just need five minutes. Please.”
I lead her to my office. I’m annoyed, but ke tla reng?

We are in my office now.
She grabs a seat.
“Please stand. You are not staying. What do you want?” I say.
She stands up and feels a bit hurt. But she gathers herself then says, “I love Khotso.”
“How’s that my business?”
“I don’t want to lose him.”
“I still don’t understand how this is any of my business.”
“I know you’ve found a wife for him”, she says.
“As it is my duty. But I’m not going to stand here and explain myself to you. What do you want?”
She’s silent.
“I want to be his royal mistress”, she says.
I laugh.
Ja no! I’ve officially heard it all.
“I’m being serious.” She says.
“Why are you so desperate?” I ask her.
” I love him.”
“Has it ever occurred to you that he doesn’t love you?”
“What makes you say that?” She asks me.
“He could’ve chosen you to be his wife. He’s been fucking you anyway. And he chose to have me look for a stranger to marry him instead of his regular snack. And you are here protesting, begging me to allow you to open your legs to him for free. Uwile shame!”
She’s quiet. She looks like she wants to slap me.
“Get out of my office. Walk past a dustbin and search for your dignity. Wear it with pride and never disturb my day ever again just to ask me to allow you to be Khotso’s slut. Remoletile Sedibe is going to be Khotso’s wife and we all know that when Khotso has decided to give his wife a chance, the sluts fall away. Walk away, Nothile. The sex festival is over.” I tell her.
“I’m pregnant”, she says.
I laugh and clap my hands.
She’s shaking and she wants to cry.
“Sit down, babe. Can I get you something to eat or drink?” I offer her.
She nods her head.
“Feel at home. I’ll be right back.” I say.

I close her in my office and take a walk to the restaurant downstairs. I’ve told my PA to place an order for two meals and sparkling water. I dial Ona as I get into the elevator, demanding that everyone else leaves the elevator. I need the space and I’m the queen.
“Baby”, he answers his phone.
“Love. Are you with Khotso?”
“Yeah. What’s up? You are on speaker.”
“Nothile is pregnant. She’s in my office right now and she was demanding to be Khotso’s royal mistress.”
They are quiet.
“Khotso, I can make this go away. But I love and respect you too much to do it without your go ahead. Just say the word and that baby will be gone within the next thirty minutes.” I say.
“Will she be hurt?” Khotso asks me.
“Just some pain. Miscarriages are difficult. But I’ll take the fall for it. She’ll never know you ever knew about it.”
He is quiet.
“I’m staying on the line for ten seconds. If you stay quiet, I make the baby go away. You have ten seconds to say no.” I say.
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
2
1
0
“It’s done.” I say.
I hang up.

I’m on the ground floor. I start at the clinic. I tell the nurse that I need something from the pharmacy. I’m a doctor. I’m the queen. I’m the director of health. I don’t get questions. None. So, I take the pills that I need then go collect the food and water.
“Do you mind if I go in your kitchen? I need to make sure all this was clean.” I say.
The sales person is nervous.
“And get everyone out of there. I need space.” I say.
I don’t wait for her to react, I just go in.

I’m alone now.
I crush one pill then put the powder in Nothile’s burger. I crush another pill then put it in her sparkling water. I use a marker to make a dot on the lid so I know it’s hers.
When I’m done, I just walk out and head back to my office.
They are all too scared of me to ask questions.
Good!

She is pigging out and I just watch her pig out. This girl! What exactly does Khotso have that drives these people into madness like this?

She starts experiencing pains. I look at her.
“Thabi, something is wrong”, she says.
I sit and look at her.
“Thabi, please help me”, she says.
“You are just having a miscarriage, you’ll live.” I say.
“What?!”
She screams for help and people run into my office.
I’m not even bothered.
“Boss? Are you alright?”
“Miss Khuzwayo seems to be having a miscarriage. Someone can please help her to the sick bay”, I say.
They are so worried about how unmoved I am by this. She gets up and there’s blood on the chair she was sitting on.
She screams!
One of the men in my team picks her up and carries her out of my office – probably to the sick bay.
“Please get someone to come clean this up”, I tell my PA.
She’s spooked, but she agrees.
I carry on with my work.

At 4pm, I decide to go downstairs to the sick bay. I get there and I find Nothile fast asleep. I open her file that’s there and I read it. She’s fine. She will live.
I dial Letlali.
“Hey Thabi.”
“Tlali, hey babe. Are you at the office?”
“Yeah. What’s up?”
“Nothile. She’s here at the sick bay. She miscarried a child.”
She’s quiet.
The she says, “I didn’t even know that she was pregnant.”
Now I’m quiet.
“Can you come to the sick bay?” Me.
“Sure.”

She walks in after about twenty minutes…
With Zithulele.
The three of us greet each other.
Nothile wakes up.
She sees me.
“You bitch!” She says to me.
“This coming from someone who drove all this way to beg me to be the Mohale royal mistress? Khotso’s royal mistress to be exact.”
“So that gave you the right to kill my child?”
“Do I need to explain the definition of a miscarriage to you?”
“No, fuck you! Fuck you!” She yells.
“Nothile!” Zithulele snaps.
Nothile looks at him. She’s angry and teary.
“Thule, she killed my child.” She says.
“She did you a favour. A royal mistress? What the fuck is that?” Zithulele.
“Thule –
“Nothile, it’s time you left Tholoana Kingdom.” He says.
“Excuse me?” She says.
“We need someone to look after our parents’ house – live there permanently. Zama and I decided that it should be you.”
“Thule –
“I’ll drive you there this evening.”
Nothile and I stare at each other.
“I’ll give you some space”, I say then I walk out. As I walk to the elevators, not realizing that someone is following me, I hear Tlali say, “Did you do it? Did you kill the baby?”
I stop.
I turn around.
I look at her.
“I’m the queen of this kingdom, Letlali. I make difficult decisions for a living and I protect the Mohale throne from vultures that would do anything to get in without pure intentions. When a pregnant sexual snack asks me to be a royal mistress to a man she has an unplanned pregnancy with, I’m worried. I react. There will be no baby forcing a union between Khotso and Nothile. Khotso is very clear when he speaks – he is not someone you easily misunderstand. He was clear that this thing with Nothile is just sex – something he uses to bust a nut. Therefore, nothing can come from it. Not even an unplanned miracle.”
We stare at each other.
Then she says, “Does Khotso or Ona know? That she was pregnant and what you did?”
I shake my head then say, “No.”
Tlali nods her head then heads back to the sick bay.
I get into the elevator and head back to my office.

…

I’m still stuck behind this desk trying to map out the new Tholoana Kingdom townships. Khotso and his soon-to-be wife have been here all day as well, putting all of this together with me. Remo helped with the planning a lot. She also spent the day with us and Tebza working out the construction of the mall, shopping centre, hospital and school. It will be starting soon.

My mom walks into my office. We are working from The Sip and Read today.
“Dumelang”, she greets us.
“Hey mah, ushup?” I ask her.
“I’m okay. I brought you some dinner and thought I’d check in on how the progress is going.”
She walks in, smiles at Remo then dishes up for us.
“Thabi is upset that you wanted her home by 6pm, yet you are not home yet and it’s headed for midnight.” My mom says.
Khotso starts laughing.
I cannot believe that Thabi actually thinks our jobs in this country and our roles in our marriage are the same. She must stop it.
After not responding and showing my clear annoyance at that comment, my mom says:
“Anyway, what’s it looking like?”
She looks at the map before us. Khotso, Remo and I are eating now.
“Everything they’ve ever complained about… they have it now. They’ll have their own mall, shopping centre, school, houses and hospital. Things are close. Hopefully, no more drama.” I say.
“And the workplace placements?” She asks.
“Remo went through them and we’ve been able to find placements for most of the people that have submitted their CVs. But, we will continue to look for those we haven’t found placements for yet.”
My mom nods her head.
“Remoletile, what do you think?” My mom asks.
We all look at her.
She bows her head before my mom then says, “If I were not privy to the conversations that were had behind closed doors with the royal family and I was a political analyst from the outside looking in, this would look like morena Onaleruna Mohale trying to remove the poor from the rich because they were polluting the rich people’s reality with their poverty.”
How dare she!
She’s been working with us the whole day – since last night actually – and she’s said nothing!
My mom can see me get upset, then she says, “Why do you say that?”
“We’ve created a whole country of their own for them. We keep them employed there. We keep them educated there. We keep them shopping there. We keep them living there. What reason do they have to get out of this place and do anything else in Tholoana Kingdom?” Remo says.
“But estates are like that. They are built and operated that way.” Khotso says.
“Estates use their own money and it is their choice to do that. They do that because they want what the country will be at the implementation of this plan – they don’t want to be close to the poverty. They are happy to see it on the news, but it should not be right outside their windows where it is evidence of its reality. The poor people who will be living here… they never said that they don’t want to bump into us at malls, the hospital or even at school. They just said they wanted to be closer to work and if they are going to be far, they want to be paid enough money to either live closer to work or to be able to pay to travel to work. They said they wanted convenient access to education, housing, healthcare and adequate sanitation. And they protested that they want these things because we have a constitution that tells them that these are their rights. I think that they are happy now. They won’t be a problem for the next few months. Then, one day they’ll turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper and see that our children are living a better quality lifestyle outside of the gates and borders we’ve put up between these townships and our suburbs. Morena Onaleruna Mohale will be trending, discussed and painted as a leader who just removed the poor from the sight of the rich, dressing it up as being for the people and building them their own economy when in actual fact, you divided the haves and the nots so significantly that you indirectly told them that life beyond the gates and invisible border you put around these townships is not for them. This is us saying that their constitutional rights are granted but limited by the invisible borders that we’ve created here.”
I’m actually going to punch this girl in her fucken throat.
“Remo, why would you be quiet about this all day?” I ask her. I cannot help myself.
“We’ve done all this work with you every step of today and you only open your mouth about this now?” I add.
“No one asked me for my views, Morena.” She says.
My blood is boiling overtime right now.
“You need permission to speak?” I’m PISSED!
“Yes, morena.” She says.
“Are you being serious right now?” I take warning steps towards her. Khotso stands in front of her as if protecting her.
“With all due respect Morena Onaleruna Mohale… I’m not from a royal family and I’m very clear on where my place is in this royal family. I speak when I’m spoken to and unless I’m asked for my opinion, I keep it to myself. Mofomahadi made her plans very clear to me when she approached me to assist on this project. She asked me to coordinate and assist, she did not ask me for an input. I follow instructions in this family unless otherwise requested, Morena. Please don’t expect me to treat you like we are all friends. We are not friends. You are my king. And I know my place.” She says.
I have never EVER been addressed or referred to with so much respect. I’m both pissed off and humbled. What a woman.
I take a deep breath. My mom and Khotso are looking at me now.
“Remo, I don’t regard you as a non-friend or non-family member. You are about to become my sister and when you are my sister, I don’t want to have to ask for your opinion. I want you to tell me what you think every single time. I rely on you guys – my family – the most to be the best leader that I could possibly be. Without you and your support, I cannot do this job. This responsibility is too big for me to take on by myself. I need you. I needed to hear that before we all dived deep into all this work that we have done. I’m not the person who will take a minute from my anger and irritation just to ask you for your input. Tell me I’m crazy when I need to hear it. Tell me to fuck off when I need to hear it. I’m not going to thrive on compliments only or people stroking my ego. People in this country come to me for help or to tell me that I’m amazing. I get the real feedback in here and amongst people that you are now part of – my close family and friends. I need you, ausi waka. And I’m not morena. Thabi is not mofomahadi. I’m Ona and she’s Thabi. Mme-mofomahadi is mama. Who Khotso is, is up to you behind closed doors. We are the royal family out there. But when the doors shut us in, we are a family.” I say.
She seems moved by this.
She nods her head.
“Kea leboha” She says.
My mom smiles at the three of us.
“So, all of this is a no for you?” I ask her.
“I think let’s just all go home and get some sleep. We will pick up this conversation tomorrow morning.” She says.
“I agree”, Khotso says.
I’m still very pissed off. What a waste of a day!

…

Something is happening to me.
I’m in deep sleep, but my body is reacting to something.
What’s happening?
I open my eyes.
I’m still in my room.
I look to my side.
Thabi is not here.
Oh wait… she’s under the blankets and my dick is in her mouth. My body is excited and now I’m moaning. I can’t even check the time, but the sun is out. It’s morning.
My wife and I are definitely having a marital morning and I absolutely love it!
I’m a happy man.

We are now at breakfast, after a good session of morning sex and an amazing shower after that. Moloko is sitting on my lap. Rena is bossing everyone around. Tholoana is with Khotso. The twins are chatting away. Thabi is just eating and stealing glances at me. My mom is looking at us with so much pride.

“What’s your day looking like today?” Thabi asks us.
“Honestly, I just want to play Playstation the whole day. I’m exhausted.” I say.
Everyone laughs.
“But, we are in the office again today.” I say.
“That bad?” Thabi.
I don’t want to get into it because I’ll want to slap Remoletile all over again.
“Just a lot of work, baby.” I say.
“Okay. Well, the twins and I are going to get their school books from the university today then pick up their cars”, Thabi says.
The table roars with excitement.
They are going to university. They’ll still be staying here with us for safety reasons and stability what-what – my mom explained the stability part better. They didn’t get cars in matric, so we got them cars to drive with to university because they baked those damn distinctions. Reahile got nine distinctions and Mohato got seven. Mohato will be studying a Bachelor of Accounting Sciences. Maboko is his mentor because that’s what Maboko studied too. They’ve also become very close. He has a black Mercedes Benz A35 AMG. Black rims. Black interior. We had to bullet-proof the windows. Reahile will be studying a Bachelor of Arts in Political Economics and International Relations. My mom told me that Reahile is truly my father. My father studied right up this alley too apparently. Reahile also got a Mercedes Benz A35 AMG. But his is a deep navy blue, white interior and black rims. His windows are also bullet-proofed. I’m proud of my boys. They are so different, but are both so incredible.
We tried to reach their mother so she could be here for their matriculation party and even the matric dance. She’s no where to be found. I hired a PI to look for her. They came back and told me that she’s alive, has another child and is getting married. I’m even too scared to tell the twins. That bitch is a bad mother. There, I said it.

“Can I say something?” Reahile says, stopping all the laughing and chatter at the table. We all look at him.
He says, “We have never felt safer and more loved in our lives than what we have in the last two and a half years. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for being consistent in our lives. Thank you for always putting us first and giving us the best at all times. You don’t just throw money at us and cover your lack of love and support with expensive things. I am at home here. We are at home. Papa – both of you – re a leboha. We lost mama and I know it’s been hard on everyone. I know. But thank you for trusting the right people with our healing. Aunt Tebza and Uncle Maboko are amazing. But also give yourselves credit for stepping up, holding each other together and raising us together, loving us in memory of her. That’s the one thing mama did well. She loved. And every time we love each other or share love with each other, we celebrate her. Thabz, thank you for being our mother. I know you don’t want us to call you mama, but that’s who you are to us. We never thought we’d go to university. Ever. We just wanted a matric so we could get a job and find our lives outside of the chaos we grew up under. Coming here, mama told us it was nonsense. She made us work hard to get into university in her true style. And even in her passing, you made sure that you kept that plan and promise. We miss mama. A lot. And even though papa is taking a new wife, we will respect her and love her, but we will never forget mama. Our matric qualifications with distinctions were for her. Our university degrees… those are for you. Just to say we love you and we thank you for everything.”
My mom is crying. Khotso looks like he wants to cry. He just stands up and hugs Reahile. They’ve always been close. From the day that these twins decided we were not pieces of shit anymore.
I’m even crying. I didn’t realise.
Then Khotso says, “Ona and I didn’t get an opportunity to go to University. We joined your grandfather in politics and business straight out of high school. So, you guys are taking a step into education that we didn’t take. We will happily take your Bachelor degrees.”
“I’d like your Honours degrees. So, if you think you will just get away with an undergraduate qualification, forget it.” Thabi says and we all laugh.
She lightens up the table. We need that.
“When I married your grandfather, I had just graduated with a masters degree.” My mom says.
“Mma, you have a masters degree?” Mohato says, shocked really.
“Keng? Do I look stupid?” My mom says and everyone just laughs.
“No… it’s just… we didn’t know.” Mohato says.
“Yes, I have a masters degree. It would be my dream that my all my grand-babies study and even have more degrees than I have. The highest is our doctor at the table. So, that’s the goal to beat.”
Everyone laughs.
“We are proud of you boys. We love you and we know you will do well.” My mom says.
It’s just hugs and compliments around the table.

Khotso and I finally have to leave. We are in suits and as we approach the car, bodyguards open the doors to the car we have to use today.
As we drive off, I ask him:
“How’s Remo?”
He laughs.
Wow! He must really like her. He hasn’t glowed like this in a while.
“She’s good. I was chatting to her this morning. She’s already at The Sip and Read.” He says.
“She’s not going to drive us crazy now, is she?”
He laughs.
Okay, he’s whipped.
“Do you like her? You think she’s for you? You can do forever with her?” I ask him.
“I do. She’s humble. She’s nice. She’s-
“She’s got a brain and she can be problematic. She has an edge about her that she masks well with this village girl shit. I saw right past her”, I say and we laugh.
“But I like her. She’s definitely going to keep us on our toes”, he says.
I agree.
“Nothile?” I ask him.
He takes a deep breath.
“Royal mistress? Really?” He says.
“What did you feed that girl?” I say.
We laugh.
“As cruel as this sounds, I’m glad Thabi solved the pregnancy issue. What was I going to do with a child with Nothile?” He says.
“Apparently Legoa took her ass back to Meadowlands”, I tell him.
“He’s done us quite the favour. But I do feel like I should go and talk to him, you know. I need to own up to my part in this. That’s his sister and I actually respect Legoa. He’s a real brother.” Khotso says.
“I agree. I don’t ever want him feeling as if we don’t respect him. Plus he has a crazy wife. If she has scores to settle with us, she will turn him. I don’t like how Thabi handled her. I told her that she needs to go and make nice with Tlali. She’s a needed asset.” I say.
“Yeah. I’ll also get Remo acquainted with Tlali as well. Maybe Remo will be the one who fixes the mess from time to time. Phela Thabi just runs her mouth and that’s never going to change. Hopefully, Remo will be the balance we need in putting out fires that Thabi doesn’t care to put out.” He says.
We fist-pump each other.