Umendo Charpter 1

I knelt down on the freezing cold dirty cell floor and l prayed silently
tears flowing down my face profusely. How did l get here? Never in a
million years did l imagine that I would find myself in a prison cell for
any reason. But here l was on a cold winter night, arrested for God
knows what. Was l cursed? If my gogo was around, she would have
either said "kuyahlola, ngavela ngabona".Although a devoted
Christian, she was superstitious like that. Something somewhere
always meant something, if she saw a cat in our yard, she would say,
"kukhona okuzayo,kuyahlola", even certain birds passing by meant
something. I thought of her sitting on that hard floor,l thought of my
parents, my siblings, my husband. What if l never saw them again?
What if l got charged for whatever and got a long sentence. We
always hear of scary prison stories about people getting shanked by
other inmates using prison made knives. What if l got targeted by
some gang members?, or what if some inmate forced me to be their
prison wife? All these thoughts were running through my head.

So l did all l could at that moment, l knelt down and l prayed to God.
All that was left was my faith in God, and hope that l will be out of this
place before Monday, otherwise how would l even explain it at work? I
had always heard stories about the Hilbrow Holding Cells (eNo_4),
but l had never set foot. I had gotten close to it, just outside the Police
Station to bail out my cousin Nokuthaba who had been arrested for
papers. She had been arrested for being an illegal immigrant, so l had
gone with her asylum papers, but on my way there she called and told
me to bring R300 for ukudiza cos they had changed the charges to
loitering.l had to meet with one of the officers outside the police
station to pay him for the release of my cousin. Talk about corruption!
Because she had told them that someone was bringing her papers,
they decided to change the charges, that way they got the money.
That's how they work. They will always find a way to make you part
with your money,whatever it took. I had no faith in the justice system
here, so l knew that anything could happen, things could change from
bad to worse in a matter of minutes. How could I have faith in a
system that would lock a person without charging them? Eish, how l
wish l had joined one of those 'Don't talk to me, talk to my lawyer', that
take up most of the TV advert slots. It was one those things that you
tell yourself that you will join someday, because you don't think
anything will happen to you that will need a lawyer, until it does!

There were three other women in the cell with me. Ashley, who had
been arrested for card fraud. She seemed very relaxed, too relaxed in
fact.She said that this was her 5th time here. The other woman was
about 20 or 21 had been crying, no, wailing like someone who had
lost their child or something. Nobody knew her name or why she had
been arrested cos she wouldn't stop crying to talk. This one wouldn't
last in a proper prison for a week l tell you. She would either commit
suicide, or end up in the psychiatrist ward. Lerato had been arrested
for drugs and prostitution. Ah, that one was a tycoon l tell you. She
was busy on the phone when I arrived, talking and laughing like a
maniac with different people asking them to come bail her out as if
she was asking someone to come help her carry water from the
bhawuza. She even knew the names of the officers on duty, she was
shouting for them, saying why are they keeping her locked making her
cancel her clients' appointments. I had been arrested on my way from
work going home. There was a road block on Louis Botha as usual.
They waved for me to pull over. My heartbeat went over the hook, not
that l had anything to hide or anything. Ever since I started driving, l
had been pulled over three times, and of those three times, they only
asked for my license and let me go. But today it was a lady who was
coming towards me, eish, you never know with these lady cops. I
don't know what it is, but women usually have this attitude towards
other women. Especially checkout women, cops and nurses. "Well,
well, well, if it's not uMrs ngokwakhe. License sisi," she said. I took out
my licence and gave it to her. "Awubulisi?". I looked at her and said,
"Sabona sisi", l greeted her puzzled ukuthi what did she mean by "if
it's not uMrs ngokwakhe". She told me to open the car boot and step
outside the car. I did as l was told. I always carried a triangle, jump
cables, a first aid kit, a throw/ small blanket, and a 5litres of water just
in case. My mother had taught me to always carry emergency stuff
because you never know. It had come in handy one day when l had
just started driving, l got lost, went on the highway and my car broke
down and my phone battery died before the car broke down. That's a
story for another day. She closed the boot and walked towards one of
her female colleagues, and l heard her saying "ngaze ngamthola
namhlanje", she told her something else and they both laughed.

Now l was even more puzzled. Then they both came towards me. The
cop, whom l later learnt that her name is Lumkile Mbatha, was just
giving me the attitude. It was as if she had some sort of grudge
against me. She asked me whose car it was, l told her it was mine.
She asked me whom l had slept with to get it? I just looked at her with
bewilderment, Kanti why do people always assume that if a young
female drives a nice car, or has a good job, they had to sleep with
someone to get it? Is it really hard to believe that young women can
make a good honest living? She asked all sorts of questions, where
did l work, live, where was my passport? I told her everything she
wanted to know, then she said I was going to follow them to the
Hilbrow Police Station to answer a few questions. I asked her what
questions? She just looked at me with that talking eye and went to
their squad car.

I had no choice but to follow them cos they had my licence. When we
got there, she went to talk, or rather whisper to one of the male
officers who was behind the desk. Then they called me over. Lumkile
Mbatha said that they were going to hold me in their cells while they
made some investigations about my car. I asked her why, why were
they investigating my car? She told me that it was used in a bank
robbery, so they were investigating me as well which is why l had to
stay there cos for all they know, l could make a run for it. You should
have seen the shock and horror in my eyes. Me? Bank robbery, was
she being for real? Was I dreaming? I had to pinch my self. She
asked me to hand over my car keys. Wait a minute, was that even
legal. I didn't trust SA Police at all, now I was being asked to just hand
over my car? What if they came back and told me it had been
confisticated for this reason or that? "Weh sisi, asisebnzi wena,aksi
kwaMgabe lana, iskhiye!". I gave her my car keys and tears just rolled
down my cheeks. The other cop with the biggest mkhaba l had ever
seen looked and me and shook his head, and said "heh, uyadlala sisi,
usakhala he he he, were you crying when you were spending the
money you got from the bank robbery. Ungazosbangela iscefe mani,
hand over your belongings including your cellphone". Lumkile and her
female collegue left and l handed over my handbag and phone. I had
two phones, I had put one in my bra including the R450 cash that l
had in my purse and 3 of my bank cards before we got to the police
station. What was strange to me was that, I was then escorted straight
to the holding cell, no paperwork was filed or finger prints taken. I had
never been arrested before, but I knew that they had to do some
paper work. Right?

Ah, where are my manners, my name is Smelokuhle Nkomo. I have

been married for 4 years. I live in Johannesburg, Lyndhurst to be
exact. I work for a marketing company, I have no kids but l want them
so bad. I always thought that I will be one of the few lucky women who
are happily married. I mean if i did all the right things,prayed, and with
the love that me and my husband had for each other, what could
possibly go wrong?
Umendo Chapter 2

When l'm nervous and anxious, ngiyagijinyiswa yisisu. My mum is the

same. My stomach was growling and rumbling so loud, l couldn't hold
it anymore. I had to go. There was a toilet by the corner in the cell.
There was no toilet paper and l had to do my business in front of
everyone.Eish, imagine! I asked my cell mates if they had toilet paper
or wipes. Lerato shouted for the officer to give us some toilet paper.
She asked me if l had any money? I gave her R50, one officer came
with a roll and took the R50. The most expensive toilet paper i have
ever bought, 1 ply futhi for that matter. Anyway 2 ply for what umuntu
esestoksini, l will have to wipe twice. Tip I got from Trevor Noah's
uncle. I took it and wiped the toilet surface area, I squat and I just let it
rip. I apologised to the girls, but I just had to. I had no appetite at all,
so I didn't worry about eating that night. My husband was nowhere to
be found. At first his phone was going through with no answer, but
now it was not going through at all. The phone that l had left with my
bag had most of my contacts, it was my main phone. This one was a
simple Nokia with no internet or Whatsapp, l used it to call ekhaya
mostly.

I didn't want to stress my parents, but at this point I had no choice. I

didn't know any of my friends' number by heart and none of them were
saved on this phone. Vele the only phone numbers I knew by heart
were my parents landline and my mother's cell phone. So I called
back home. It was around 10pm, my mum answered. She could tell
that something was wrong just from my hello mama. "Kutheni
mntanami?", she asked worried. I told her that l had been arrested,
"yuuuuuu, Nkosi yami bantu umntanami, iGoli yangenza mina". I could
hear my father asking what was going on, he took the phone from my
mum and asked me what was going on. I explained to him exactly
what had happened. He asked me where my husband was, I told him
that I couldn't get hold of him. He said he was going to call my uncle
(his younger brother), and my aunt (my mum's young sister) and tell
them what was going on. I told him that I couldn't stay long on the
phone as l had to save the battery. I hung up with a heavy heart
because I could here my mum crying and praying on the background.

I couldn't sleep, not because the floor was too cold and hard, and the
thin blankets which we had to share were stinking and itchy. I just
couldn't stop thinking about why l had been arrested in the first place.
It made no sense to me. And where was my husband? Were they
going to interrogate me? Torture me and force me to confess under
duress? I have read stories whereby interrogators torture suspects
and force them to confess, and the suspects do because they don't
want to suffer anymore. What if they did the same with me? I
remember when I was young, $5 (Zim$) went missing in our house
and my mum beat the crap out of us, me and my 3 siblings. She told
us that she wasn't going to stop until someone confessed. I couldn't
take it anymore and I ended up confessing to a crime I didn't commit.
My punishment was to do everyone's chores by myself for a whole
week. 2 days later my mum came home from work and told us that
she found her $5 in her work drawer. She apologised and asked why l
confessed to something I hadn't done. I got away with a lot of things
the following weeks.

Ashley said that since tomorrow was a Saturday, it meant that we

would be spending the weekend inside. Can things get any worse? So
I was going to spend the weekend here for something I didn't even
know? I eventually drifted to sleep around 3am. I still hadn't heard
anything from my husband. I didn't know whether to be angry that he
hadn't called back or be worried about him. I was woken up by a loud
bang around 8am. It was another police officer. She gave us some
mints and water in a bowl. It was for washing our faces. I thanked God
that I wasn't on my period. I got a call from my aunt saying that she
was coming over to see what she can do. Another girl who was about
18 came to join us that morning.

Her name is Sharon. She told us that she was arrested for shoplifting.
She seemed to be on her phone a lot typing impatiently. That
afternoon she got a call and she mentioned the name Lumki, Lerato
asked her if she was speaking to Lumkile Mbatha, to which she
agreed. That's how I got to know that cop's name, the one who
arrested me. I was surprised as to why Sharon would be speaking to
her. She told me that she knew her and she was asking her to get her
out. My aunt called later that Saturday afternoon and told me that they
couldn't do anything until Monday. My uncle called and told me the
same thing. Still no word from my "husband". I wasn't too surprised
because he has pulled stunts like these a few times,then resurfaces
after a couple of days with some lame excuses.

Umendo Chapter 3

Ashley told me that I could speak to one of the officers on duty and
bribe them if l had the right amount of money. So that evening when
one of them came over I asked to speak to him. He asked for my
name, and he told me that he would see what he can do. That gave
me some hope. I got a text message from my mum telling me to be
strong and that she was praying for me. I didn't hear anything from
that officer. I was going to try again the following day. Sunday was as
slow as Saturday. At this point I just wanted to brush my teeth and
have a bath. I wasn't that bothered about food. I asked another cop if
we could come to some sort of arrangement. He asked me how much
I had, I told him that I had R400 with me, he looked at me and
laughed. He told me that l was a non starter. He left before I could ask
him how much he wanted.

My phone was off by now cos the battery had died. I asked to use
Sharon's phone to call my husband. It went through and he picked up.
He said that he had been calling me on my other phone, I told him
that I had been arrested. He didn't sound surprised, and seemed too
relaxed. He told me that he was going to get me out. I told him to call
me on Sharon number. I had so many questions for him, but right now
wasn't the time. Around 5pm that Sunday, an officer came and told
me I was free to go. I don't remember ever being so happy and
relieved in my life. I got to the front desk and there she was, that
Lumkile Mbatha woman who had arrested me. She threw me my car
keys back. I asked her why they were letting me go, and why she
arrested me to begin with. She told me that I should go back to the
cells if I didn't want to go home. The attitude she gave me,
ngiyakutshela umama uMaDube!

Ngavala owami, took my bag and left. Where I live it's a complex with
a sliding gate at the entrance. There is a security guard who opens
the gate for you if you don't have the gate remote. But he only lets
people who live in the complex in, if you are visiting, then your host
has to come to let you in. As I was driving in, Lindo, the security guard
said that I should hook him up with my cousin. I asked him which
cousin he was talking about because I had 2 cousins who come over
to visit every now and again, then he told me that the one who had
come over for the weekend. I just laughed it off and said she had a
boyfriend but I was confused. I didn't dwell on it that long, l just
brushed it off. I was just happy to be home and free. It's funny how
much we take our freedom for granted. It's only when you don't have
your freedom that you realise just how much it means. I was going to
deal with this later.

I got to my place and there was my husband, cleaning up and cooking

something. He hugged and apologised for not being there for me soon
enough. I asked him where he was the whole weekend. He told me
that he had forgotten his phone at one of his friends' place and the
battery had died. He said that he thought I had gone to sleep over at
one of my friends' place when I didn't show up on Friday. Ah heh, but
why would he even think that cos I had never just gone to sleep over
anywhere out of the blue without telling him. I wasn't in the mood for
arguing, so I just went straight to the bathroom to take a bath after
telling my parents that I was out. He asked me what I wanted to eat so
he could cook for me. I told him a cup of tea would be fine. He came
to our bedroom whilst I was dressing and started massaging me. I
was surprised cos he hadn't done that in a long time, but it was nice
and relaxing so l let him.

He took off my top to massage me properly. His hands moved from

my back to my boobs. He started massaging them and playing with
my nipples. Then he planted small kisses on my back going up to my
shoulders, on my neck, wuuuu, this guy knew were to touch shem. At
this point we were both panting and I was directing his hands where I
wanted to be touched. I pushed him onto the bed so that l could ride
him. I removed his vest, kissed and licked his chest and neck. Oh boy
did it feel good, he turned and pushed me onto the bed. Hungrily
removed my panties, I could see somebody missed me. He sucked on
my boobs, softly biting on my nipples which sent electric waves all
over my body. My down below was wet at this point. I wanted to feel
his manhood in me so bad but he took his time. He kissed my
stomach going down until he was there. He looked at me with
fulfilment in his eyes. I was moaning, crying for him to give it to me for
I missed him. He sucked my womanhood nice and slowly I could
hardly breathe. He then asked me to get off the bed and bend for him,
he wanted to take me from behind. Doggy was one of his favourite
positions.

I got off the bed and bent over. Oh what the hell??!! Right there on the
edge of bed on the floor was a police badge! I remained in that
position frozen! What was a police badge doing in our bedroom ???
Umendo Chapter 4

I instantly got a pounding headache. All that wetness dried up and my

body just went tense. Siyabonga never the one to read into a situation
just went inside me. I picked up the badge and pushed him away so
hard he hit the wall and fell. He looked at me with horror and shock. I
showed him the badge, you should have seen the look on his face.
Nga ngumlungu he would have turned pale white just then. That made
me even more suspicious. I grabbed my panties and put on my
morning gown. Our conversation went like this
Sme: Explain this phela Siyabonga
Siya: Wooh, it must have dropped ngeskhathi that cop came here for
the bribe yokuthi uphume
Sme: Who is this cop?
Siya: Mina ngimazi ngoNtuli, ngimlayelwe ngu Chris (his friend)
Sme: But why did he come here Siya? Couldn't you have met him
somewhere else, and what was he doing in our bedroom?
Siya: Nguye othe kungcono shlangane la endlini so that we don't raise
any suspicion. Ufike wangena ebedroom le spare room just looking
around. Angithi uyabazi ohata.
Sme: So why the shock on your face when l asked you?
Siya: Ngoba ngiyazi ukuba I shouldn't have allowed him to meet me
here at our place, and I didn't want you to find out cos I knew you
wouldn't be happy about it.
Sme: So how much did you bribe them?
Siya: R3000, I took it out from our savings.

I looked at him and l knew that kukhona okushaya amanzi. My gut told
me that something was amiss here.

Sme: Vele why was I arrested Siya? Why did they say my car used for
a bank robbery?
Siya: Ah love, how am l supposed to know. Bengikhona yini when you
got arrested?
Sme: No, you were not there,the question is where were you
Siyabonga cos istori sakho lesi esefoni angsthengi mina.
Siya: Baby, uduba ngakhonokho, ungazfaki istressi ngento
engekhoyo,what's important is that you are back home safely la
ezandleni zami (etsho engisondelela)

He sat behind me and started massaging me again. I was not in the

mood anymore. He said, "hawu love, ngicela eyodwa kuphela, kinini
ngacina". To be honest I hardly ever enjoyed sex or making love
anymore now. It felt laboured and so mechanical. Ever since we
started trying for a baby our sex life had changed. At first it was
spontaneous, quickies everywhere around the house, hot and steamy
sessions. But with every negative pregnancy test things changed,
slowly but surely. I got up, put some jeans on and said

Siya, I want to thank this officer Ntuli and give back his badge. Call
him and organise a place to meet, or he can come back here since
he's already seen where we live!

Umendo Chapter 5

Siya: Ah baby, soku late manje, and besides, you just got home. Kanti
awufuni kuphumula?
Sme: No, I had enough rest in that cell. Call him, if he can't make it
today we can meet up tomorrow morning before I go to work. I'll just
say I had an meeting somewhere. ( at work we had so many meetings
with clients, some of them in restaurants or at the clients' offices, so
my boss wouldn't suspect anything)
Siya: Ok then love, ithi ngiyothenga iairtime and few things egarajini.

When he left I went through everything, searching for anything that

shouldn't be there. I searched under the sofas, in our spare room, in
the kitchen but nothing. I couldn't find a thing. I sat down and tried to
make sense of things. Ngazbuza, what did Lindo the security guard
mean by my cousin visiting? I didn't have airtime to call and ask my
cousins so I sent both of them messages on Whatsapp. I just greeted
them and asked them to visit since it's been a while. Nokuthaba the
one I bailed out at one point replied instantly, she agreed that it had
been long and said she will try and visit on Saturday. So Noe hadn't
been here, otherwise she would have said she came but I wasn't
home. I waited for a reply from my other cousin Faith. As l was
waiting, watching Scandal omnibus which I always recorded, my
husband came in. He gave me the airtime he had bought me,sat
down and called Ntuli. I couldn't here what the other person was
saying but he kept on saying that "hayi umama uyakhala uthi ufuna
ukuk'bona in person azibongele for ukumsiza". It seems he eventually
agreed, so he was going to come over Monday morning before I left
for work.

USiya wayetatazela that night being extra nice. When I asked him
why he was going the extra mile, what was he hiding? He told me that
he was just happy that I was back home, "Kanti angisavunyelwa
ukuba nice kumfazi wami", he kept saying. I refused to sleep with him
that night but he didn't make a fuss about it like he usually does. He
just cuddled me until I fell asleep. Which made me even more
suspicious. Siya agreeing to not have sex? I've heard my friends and
read stories about women who say that if they don't feel like having
sex, they just feign a headache or just fulathela their partners in bed
kuphela nje kunjalo. Mina I had tried all the above but none of it ever
worked, if uSiya wanted sex, he would have it whether I wanted to or
not. Even if engikwatisile, if he wanted it, he would wait for me to calm
down uzwe esengiqweba emadabukakusa. He would nag me, touch
me here, touch me there, follow me to the spare room if I went, follow
me to the living room like a hungry child, annoy me until ngivule
amathanga lawa so that he will leave me alone.

The next morning, Ntuli came over to our house. For some reason he
looked so familiar, but I just couldn't place where I had seen him
before. He was wearing civilian clothes, he said that he was off duty.
He seemed nice and friendly. My husband gave him the badge and I
thanked him for helping me out. He said that it was no problem, and
he was happy to help. I joked with him and said I will call him again
should I find myself in a similar predicament and he seemed a bit
uncomfortable and looked at my husband. He then said that he had to
get somewhere and he was running late. When he left I asked Siya for
his phone number just in case I need it and he is nowhere to be
found. He gave me the number and I left for work.

As I walked into the office I got a message from my cousin Faith, it

read
" Sorry for the late reply khazi, this Naija has been keeping me extra
busy woh! We are in Capetown at the moment. Yo, this place is nice.
My Oga has been wining and dining me for the past 3days. Will call
you when I get back so we can meet and catch up."

Umendo Chapter 6

I just stood there with so much disappointment, feeling deplated. I

decided that I wasn't going to ask my husband over the phone cos I
wanted to see his reaction and facial expressions when I asked him. If
I called him, he could tell me that there was a poor connection or that
he was busy and couldn't talk, then say that he will call me back as
soon as he can, therefore allowing him time to come up with a good
excuse and ask one of his friends to lie for him if he needed his story
to be backed up. I'm sure if he was desperate he would even ask
Lindo to lie for him then buy him i6pack. So no, I wasn't taking that
chance. I didn't want to ask Lindo and look like a fool who doesn't
know what goes on endlini yakhe, and expose our dirty laundry in the
process. As much as Lindo was a nice guy, I knew he couldn't keep
his mouth shut, isfuba sakhatshwa lidube shem, and lamkhaba to
become nice. But who could blame him, the guy had nothing much to
do the whole day expect open the gate, of which most of the time he
wouldn't be at the gate, he would be at someone's house
shwashwating about who Zodwa (one of our neighbours) had brought
over last night or who dropped off sis Angie (another neighbour).
What's funny was that he would then go to Zodwa and gossip about
someone else, whilst digging more information from her, then go to sis
Angie, do the same thing, then someone else. I wouldn't set up any of
my cousins with him even if they were single. Indoda ethanda umgosi
kangaka, hayi no ngiyabonga. I know men like to gossip, my husband
included, but they do it in a very subtle way. Like my husband would
come home and say, "ah phela kuthwa uNgwenya lowana umaqhula
utshiywe ngumfazi". Then I'm there waiting for him to tell me why,
azithulele uSiya like he didn't say anything. Then I have to ask him,
why, umtshiyeleni? "Ah, kukhanya umfazi ubesethole ongaqhuliyo".
And that's it, I wouldn't be able to get anything else out of him no
matter how much I tried. He would just say, "ah, mina yikho kuphela
engikwaziyo."But I can assure you that with his friends, he would have
told them way more than that. Sometimes I would get annoyed at his
half stories and tell him never to tell me any of his stories again cos
what's the use if he won't tell me the whole story. Ah, kambe shuwa.

I decided to put my personal issues on hold and get to work. I knew I

wouldn't be able to fully concentrate, but I had no choice. Deep down I
hoped that there would be a good explanation for all this, I hoped that
this was all a misunderstand which will all be cleared. You know when
you a faced with bits and pieces of evidence that someone you love,
the person who 'claims' to love you with all his heart has betrayed you,
it's hard to accept. Because you know that if indeed they have
betrayed you, things will never be the same again. And because you
don't want things to change for the worst, you hope that there is a
good explanation to it all. Sometimes even turn a blind eye to some
obvious clues and evidence of betrayal, because you don't want to
rock the boat.

I got to my office and was greeted by our ever cheerful secretary/ PA,
Langelihle Dlaminini, she is from Swaziland. " Umama no tata wam
botaba disappointed if they find out kutsi I missed the chance of being
Mswati's number 2015 wife to spend the whole day sat here stalking
people I don't know on FB". Hahah, she was funny like that. "Why
haven't you been picking your calls iweekend yonke? I was about to
call the police to come to your house and check if you are still alive" ,
oh shit. I had forgotten to return calls after being released from
eNo_4. I told her that I was fine, I just had a busy weekend. I shared
the office with Mike Mdluli who screamed GAY from the way he
dressed to the way he spoke, and Langa our PA. We did our projects
together, and sometimes had to go away away for a day or two
around the country with work. My husband wasn't comfortable with me
going on business trips with a male collegue until he found out he was
gay.
"Busy weekend my foot, busy having fun more like. I saw your car
parked outside Monte Casino on Sartuday just when me and my man
were leaving, I called you like a million times but you never picked up.
Please tell me you don't have a gambling problem", Langa pleaded.
"Monte Casino?, my car?, hayi maybe awubonanga kahle sisi ngoba I
haven't been to that place in like a year or so", I retorted. She told me
that she knows what she saw, and she saw my car, a black 2011
Toyota Yaris number plate ******. I was shocked, it was my car, but
why would it have been there when it was supposed to be parked
eHilbrow Police Station whilst they did their investigation? It didn't
make any sense. Langa kept going on and on about God knows what,
I couldn't here her cos I was deep in my thoughts trying to make
sense of all this until she clapped her hands in front of my face. "Weh
Meme, jika kwabaphilayo, I have Zandie on hold, she says she is
worried about you cos you have not returned any of her calls". I told
her to put her through to my phone, and our conversation went like
this

Sme: Mfazi, unjani?

Zandie: Ah mfazi, ngibona wena nya. Ngafona ngafona
Sme: Bengise No_4 mfazi
Zandie: Ah, what were you doing eNo_4?
Sme: Bengibotshiwe, since Friday ngaze ngaphuma ngeSunday
(The look on Langa's face, she got up from her desk, pulled her chair
and sat opposite me)
Zandie: Ah mfazi, wothi uyadlala,ubotshelweni?
Sme: Nope, ngi serious.(I told her the whole story from when Lumkile
stopped me)
(Langa sat there with her eyes and mouth wide open I could see
islakalaka, I hadn't noticed Mike was there until he clapped his hands
with shock.)
Zandie: Yiii mfazi, why didn't you call me ngazokukhipha shuwa?
USiyabonga waze wangi disappointa ngimthembe kangaka! Manje
what have you decided to do?
Sme: I don't even know what to do mfazi, and now Langa is telling me
that she saw my car eMonte, l don't know yazi. Ngiphelelwe nje
njengawe.
Zandie: Eish, l'm sorry that you are going through this mfazi. Please
come over kwami for the weekend, I will cancel my Saturday shift.
You can come on Friday ungashayisa,you need a break from all of
this.
Sme: Ya I do need a break, but don't cancel your shift my friend, we
can meet up for lunch on Friday. Thank you for the offer though. I
have to go now mfazi, sokhuluma later.
Zandie: Sharp mfazi, take care.
( Zandie was a great friend shem, we had been friends since
secondary school. We had seen and been there for each other's ups
and downs. I couldn't have asked for a better friend, she was like a
sister to me.)

As soon as I hung up, Langa and Mike were onto me, bombarding me
with like million questions. When I started work here 6 years ago, I
told myself that I was going to keep a professional relationship with
my work collegues and not mix personal stuff with work. That all
changed when I met Mike, I met him on my first day here as an intern.
I was so nervous and scared that I wouldn't fit in, but Mike was so kind
to me, he took me under his wing, showed me around, told me whom
to look out for and all the office gossip. 3 months later I was offered a
permanent job, and was put in Mike's team. I started as a marketing
assistant, was promoted to marketing co-ordinator after 9months, then
to supervisor after a couple of years, now I am the junior manager,
Mike is the marketing project manager, I'm just a level below him.
Langa joined us nearly 3 years ago, we are like a small family.

"Tjoo, men are dogs shem", hahah, Mike liked saying that as if he
wasn't a man himself. Langa asked if I wanted her to make a few calls
to "her people" to find out about this Lumkile Mbatha, (Langa knew a
lot of people and had a lot of connections with people in higher
places), but I refused. I was going to handle it my way. Above
everything else they both showed their support and told me that I
should let them know if I wanted anything or wanted to take a few
days off. I didn't want to take time off work, my mind would go crazy if
I did. I wanted to keep myself busy and distracted from all this drama
that Siyabonga was bringing into our marriage. I decided to check all
my bank accounts including our savings with online banking. I was
surprised to see that R3000 had been withdrawn from our savings this
morning. Didn't Siya say that he withdrew R3000 from our savings to
bail me out on Sunday? How come it showed that it was withdrawn
only this morning at 10:20am to be exact.

Umendo Chapter 7

Forever the dutiful husband, he called a few times checking up on me

and sent a couple of messages reminding me how much he loved me.
I'm sure he could tell from my voice that I wasn't happy, Siya gets
nervous if he senses that I'm not happy. Especially if he has done
something wrong or if he is hiding something. So he
overcompensated with being extra nice to me. I didn't want him to
think that there was something wrong, because then he would be
ready to show his "I'm innocent face", I wanted him to relax and think
that I bought his story and everything is ok, then bam! Present him
with new evidence, but I guess I couldn't hide my annoyance with him.
Heh, umendo hayi shem. I was now reduced to plotting and planning
how to catch my husband out on a lie like a detective shuwa.
I left work around 4pm, got home and started cooking. Siya loved my
cooking and always said that I was in the wrong career, I should have
been a chef. I prepared one of his favourite meals, pasta with chilli
con carne. Siya was self employed, he had a driving school which he
co-owned with Francis, a guy he met whilst learning to drive. It wasn't
that big, they started it about 2 years ago, so it was fairly new. They
had 4 cars in total and employed 4 other drivers making them 6
altogether. They rotate the cars, so sometimes Siya doesn't have a
car if another driver is using it. Around 6pm Mandla, one the drivers
dropped him off. He brought me flowers and a box of ferrero rochers.
Pulling all stops I see. When I was dating Siya, he never bought me
flowers, he used to say 'akusi nto zakhe lezo' whenever I asked him
how come he never buys me flowers. Then one day he came home
from work and found a vase with the most beautiful flowers I have
ever seen, he hit the roof demanding to know who had gotten me
flowers. I told him it was Mike, I had been promoted to marketing co-
ordinator you see. He got jealous and kept maki snide remarks about
them. He only stopped making snide remarks when I threw them
away after they had dried up. I came home with more flowers from
Mike and some of my collegues in the years to follow, some for my
birthday and some for my promotions or signing up a new client. Siya
wasn't taking it so well, one day I came from work and I found flowers
all over the house. I was pleasantly surprised, he said that he was not
going to let other men buy his wife flowers yena ekhona. Ever since
then, Siya buys me flowers every once in a while.

I gave him a warm welcome and served him food. He told me about
his day and their plans to expand the business. I listened attentively
and made a few suggestions. He cleared the plates, then made
himself cosy next to me drinking his castle lager. When I was sure
that he was relaxed and comfortabel, I asked him

Sme: Siya, are you cheating on me?

Siya had just taken a sip of his castle and wavela wahitshwa and
started coughing non stop. I remained calm and collected
Siya: Why do you say so?
Sme: I'm not saying that you are cheating, I'm asking if you are.
Siya: Hayi, mina ngithi why ubuza umbuzo onjalo?
Sme, Siyabonga, what's so hard about this question. I want a simple
yes or no. ARE YOU CHEATING ON ME?
Siya: No, I'm not, and you know I wouldn't do that to you baby, to us.
Why would I destroy such a beautiful thing like this. Yinto enhle phela
le esilayo, and it's something I have always wanted empilweni yami.
So angeke ngimoshe into ekudala ngiyifuna.
Sme: You said that you paid R3000 to bribe uNtuli to get me out.
Yaphumaphi imali yakhona?
Siya: From our savings like I said
Sme: When?
Siya: Ohhh, is that why you think I'm cheating? Ngaboleka iR3000
kuFrancis cos l had forgotten my phone kuye. So when I got it back, I
found out about your arrest ngilaye. He is the one who said I should
call uChris cos he has connections.Chris gave me the number kaNtuli.
I called uNtuli who told me that ufuna R3000, so ngahle ngayicela ku
Francis ngazitshela ukuthi mina I will then withdraw it from our savings
and pay him back ngoba icard ngangilitshiye endlini. So I withdrew it
namhlanje ekuseni and I paid back uFrancis. You can call him and
confirm.
Sme: Ah, what's the use cos he will cover up for you even if you are
lying anyway
Siya: Kanti kutheni usungicabangela into ezinje?
Sme: You just disappeared when I needed you the most Siyabonga,
what am I supposed to think?
Siya: Eish, ngixolise kangaki sthandwa sami. Sengiyafela nje khona
ukuthi ngakhohlwa ifoni kuFrancis. Ngiyaxolisa baby, akungiphathi
kahle ma ungikwatele yazi. Even uku driver namhla ngicishe
ngashayelela kumbe kangaki (etsho ethatha isandla sami esiqabuza)
Sme: Langa says she saw my car parked eMonte casino on Saturday.
Do you know what it was doing there?
(Waqwayiqwayiza uSiya, batting his eyelids like a thousand times per
second)
Siya: Ah, how am I supposed to know. Buza uLumkile
Sme: Heeeeeeh Siyabonga! Ngubani uLumkile?
Siya: Isn't she the cop who arrested you?
Sme: Yes she is, but ukwazelaphi wena ngoba l never told you her
name?
Siya: Ngatshelwa nguNtuli, he made a few calls to find out who had
arrested you so that he knows who to deal with. He then mentioned
that uLumkile, the cop who arrested you is a bit tough on women and
will need a lot of conniving to let you go. That's how I got to know her
name. Ask uFrancis where I was the whole day on Saturday. The last
time I went to Monte was with you about a year ago.
Sme: Hayi, asazi Siya. I don't know what to think. ULindo said that my
cousin was here for the weekend. Who was here besides you nge
weekend?
Siya: Hawu bantu, love, ngiyazi I let you down. But lokhu soku too
much. So now I'm cheating with a cop and your cousin? Ah come on
love, gimme more credit than that. The only other person who was
here was uNtuli.
Sme: So ubewumana ULindo?
Siya: Who knows what goes on ekhanda lika Lindo, he is always
looking for something to gossip about, if kungela he starts making
things up. I will deal with him tomorrow.
( Siya knew that I didn't like people knowing our business, especially
ecomplexini, I preferred keeping our life a bit private. So he knew I
wouldn't want him to question ULindo.)
Sme: Ok, we will go to him together before we leave for work.
Siya: Kulungile (he didn't even bat an eyelid), but for now let's relax si
enjoye uthando lwethu. (Watsho ezisondeza kimi)

Umendo Chapter 8

Now I was more confused than before. Was I being paranoid? I mean
l thought l had all the evidence that something was going on, but now
I was beginning to have doubts. Maybe I was reading into things way
to much, over assessing things. Or maybe I was afraid of change,
maybe I was afraid of what it would mean if my husband was really
cheating, therefore I wanted to believe that Siya could be telling me
the truth. That night we had an argument when I refused to sleep with
him. I told him that I would only sleep with him if we used a condom,
but he refused and told me that he was not going to use a condom
with his wife. For him it was either dry sex or no sex at all. No sex at
all didn't bother me, so I told him that we weren't having any sex until
we got tested for STIs and HIV. He got frustrated and said that he
didn't understand why we had to go testing and start using condoms
all of sudden. I told him that it was because I didn't trust him, that I
think he is cheating but he won't admit to it. He got mad and went to
sleep in our spare bedroom. A part of me felt a bit guilty, what if I was
accusing him of something he didn't do, a part of me was scared that
my accusations if not true will push him to cheat if he wasn't already
doing it. But another part of me was sure I was doing the right thing. I
needed to make an appointment and get tested. I knelt down and
asked for God's protection and guidance before I went to sleep.

Sometime around midnight, I heard Siya sneaking into bed next to

me. He pulled me into his arms and told me that he couldn't sleep
alone in there knowing that I'm sleeping just a few feet away from him.
Then he kissed me at the back of my neck, his other hand fondling my
breasts. I knew where this was headed, I knew his intentions so I told
him it wasn't going to happen. That all fell on deaf ears cos he
continued, kissing me hungrily, his hand moving up and down all over
my body. I tried stopping him by pushing his hand away, but he would
just go back to doing what he was doing, so I got up and went to the
spare room. He followed me there, unfortunately there was no locks
on any of the rooms, except for the bathroom/toilet. I went to sleep on
the couch in the living room, and there he was forcing himself next to
me. I pleaded with him to leave me alone, but I knew I was wasting
my time. Finally I went into the bathroom and locked myself in there. I
closed the toilet seat and sat there. He knocked and knocked,
begging me to come back to bed, promising me that he wouldn't touch
me, he will let me sleep in peace. But I knew Siya, l decided to wait
until he fell asleep. I sat and waited for about 45mins, then I went to
sleep in the spare bedroom. I didn't want to risk waking him up, so
nganyonyoba making my way there. I think I had been asleep for
about an hour when I was woken up by soft kisses on my inner thighs.
Siya can be very persistent if he wants to. Before I could say anything,
he pushed my panties onto one side and he licked my vajay-jay,
umzimba wam wanglahla and I heard myself let out a weak moan.
"Hayi Siya, we ca.... ahhh uhmmmm, " I tried to say but shoved his
tongue deep inside me I lost my train of thoughts. He quickly pulled
my panties halfway to my knees, raised my legs up and towards my
head, he licked me up and down, round and round, in and out I was
about to see stars and travel to another universe when he stopped,
moved my legs to the side and asked me if he should stop. Ah this
guy, he was kissing me all over, gentle biting my nipples, my neck,
then he whispered to my ear "I am yours, you are mine, yo have
nothing to worry about, tell me if you want me to stop". He pulled my
panties from my knees, threw them to the side, went back to my
vajay-jay, wuuuuu, this guy knew how to work with his tongue. I came
violently my whole body was shaking,I let out a loud moan as I was
coming I swear the neighbours heard me. Siya wasn't done, he
entered his rod deep inside me, it felt so good I had forgotten just how
good. He pulled me closer to him in a way that I had my legs wrapped
around his waist with him kneeling. Our bare bodies were so close it
felt good, so good that I forgot about everything at that moment.
Nothing else mattered then, just me and him. He put both his hands
on my waist, with every thrust he held me tighter, he started to moan,
so did l. I kept going, in and out, he pushed me harder, I dug my nail
into his back,uSiya wawoma njenge skhonkwane and
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, we both came! He passed me
some wipes, then he held me tight and close to him. He kissed me
and told me that he loves me with all his heart. We both fell asleep in
no time.

I was woken up by a nice smell of sausages. I had another 45minutes

before my alarm went off. I got up, brushed my teeth and went to the
kitchen. Siya was making breakfast. He gave me a long heartfelt kiss
and told me that he was making me breakfast. "Hawu Siya, I only
have a bowl of cereal and a cup of tea before I go to work nje", I said.
"No, this morning we are going to have a full breakfast together, we
haven't done that in a while. Just set the table and I will be done in a
few minutes", he said. I couldn't help but smile, I stood there and
admired his bare back. Siya is 1.74m tall, has a fair complexion, an
athletic body which he keeps in shape by jogging a couple of times a
week and lifting a few weights, medium built, physically he is very
pleasing to the eye. He turns a few heads every now and again. I set
the table and we had breakfast, it was very nice I must say. He told
me that I should go get ready, he will clear up. I kissed him and
thanked him for the wonderful breakfast. I joked and said I should get
arrested more often if it means that I will get all this extra attention. He
said that I deserved it, I was his puntsu puntsu and I deserved nothing
but the best.

I know you are thinking, islima somfazi. How can I not see that
uyangivala, that there was more to this whole issue than Siya was
letting on. But like I said, maybe I was scared of what it would mean if
my husband was really cheating on me. Vele what was I going to do if
he really was cheating? Hayi, I didn't even want to think about that, I
told myself that I was just going to take everyday as it came. Try and
put yourself in my shoes, would you have packed and left?, Filed for
Dirvoce?, throw it all away without concrete evidence? What would
you have done?

Chapter 9

After a week or so things were slowly going back to normal. Siya was
still going the extra mile. He took me out for lunch one Saturday. He
didn't have a car on that day so we used mine. After our lunch he said
that he wanted us to go to Yoeville, he had some business to sort out.
I declined and asked him to drop me off at home. 30 mins after he
dropped me off I got a call from my car tracking and insurance
company telling me that my car was entering a danger zone and to
confirm that I was aware of it. I told them it was fine, my husband was
driving it. They always called if ever l drove to Hilbrow, Yoeville and
places nearby. I was expecting Siya to be back around 6/7pm. It was
now past 9 and he wasn't back. I decided to call and check up on him.
His phone wasn't going through. I hate calling Siya's friends asking
about his whereabouts, so I thought I will wait a bit more. Around
10pm I got a call from Chris, one of Siya's friends, he handed the
phone to Siya. He sounded distraught

Siya: Baby I don't know how to say this

Ngahle ngashaywa luvulo, a thousand thoughts were going through
my mind, I don't know why but I got up and started pacing
Sme: Kutheni Siya? Are you ok? Kwenzenjani?
There was a long silence
Sme: Just tell me mani Siya before I go crazy, kwenzenjani bo?
Siya: Imoto intshontshiwe
I sat down, I didn't say anything, I couldn't open my mouth, l felt like
someone was suffocating me, my palms were sweating
Siya: Baby, ukhona? Say something please.
Sme: I need to call the tracking company, when and we're was it
stolen? Were you high jacked or was it stolen while parked?
Siya: It was parked, I'm on my way home, Chris is going to drop me
off.

I called the tracking company and told them what Siya told me. They
said that it went off their radar about 15minutes ago in Alexandra.
They were going to send their people there to look for it and they will
keep me updated.
By the time Siya got home, I don't know how many times I had gone
to the toilet. My stomach was going crazy. I couldn't even look at him,
I was beyond upset. I wanted to punch him, slap him, scream at him. I
was only left with 5months to finish paying it off. He apologised non
stop but it wasn't going to bring it back. He said that uChris had asked
him ukuthi bayophuza eziyi 2 nyana koGumede, when he got out, the
car was gone and no-one had seen anything.
Sme: Drinking and driving Siyabonga, ubuzamani vele?
Siya: Bekuyi ngudu eziyi 2 kuphela baby, I was not going to go over
the limit
Sme: Manje ifoni yakho?
Siya: The battery died so I left it in the glove compartment
Sme: Hayi bantu Siyabonga, you will be the death of me wena hayi ah

I called the tracking company again to ask how things were going and
what would happen if they don't find it. They said they still could track
it, and they were going to send me a courtesy car whilst they are
looking for it or whilst they are sorting out a replacement car. It was a
bit comforting, it meant that I would have to pay an excess if I was
getting a replacement car, but I was still upset with Siya.
I missed church that Sunday because we had to go and open a case.
I was hardly speaking to him, he was trying to make conversations
with me, but I just gave him one word answers and faint laughs. I just
wasn't in the mood of entertaining him, I couldn't even stand being
around him.
I know these things happen, cars are stolen everyday, and I shouldn't
have been too mad at him, but I couldn't help it. He dropped me off
work that Monday and told me to let him know if I needed him to pick
me after work. I hoped that I would get the courtesy car by the end of
the day, that way I wouldn't have to ask him to come and get me. That
afternoon I got a call from the insurance company, they asked me a
bunch of questions then put me on hold for like ever. They then got
back to me and said "we are sorry ma'm but we cannot send you a
courtesy car or a replacement car because you were not driving your
car when it was stolen. It was in your husband's possession and your
husband is not insured to drive your car." No no no no no no, this can't
be happening, my head was pounding so hard my temperature shot
up to like a 1000 degrees celcious. It was true, I hadn't added my
husband onto my insurance, I meant to after we got married, but I
never got around doing it. I told Mike I was going to knock off early, I
knew I would have been useless at work, so there was no point in me
staying. I got a taxi home. Siya's car was parked outside, the radio
was on and it was too loud. The front door was unlocked
There on the sofa was woman kneeling on the floor, her head going
up and down. I couldn't see the woman's face cos she had her back
towards me. I just stood there for what seemed like an eternity.Sat on
the sofa was Siyabonga, my beloved husband,he had his eyes closed
looking up the ceiling. They were both moaning softly, this woman
was sucking Siyabonga's d**k.

Umendo Chapter 10

You know when you hear stories like these, you always think of how
you would deal with it if you ever found yourself in that situation. But I
tell you this, nothing can ever prepare you enough for something like
this. I remember a friend of mine once told me that she caught her
long term boyfriend in bed with her cousin and she lost it, she burnt all
her boyfiend's clothes, smashed his car, and slept with her cousin's
boyfriend. I remember thinking that if I was her, I would have beat the
crap out of both of them, then shut both of them out of my life.

But standing there, seeing my husband cheating on me, I just froze. I

didn't know whether to scream, beat the crap out of them, or just leave
in silence. After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to move
towards the radio. I switched it off and folded my arms waiting to see
who this sfebe was. I say sfebe cos that's what she is, I understand
that men are very untrustworthy and most of them lie to innocent
women out there bethi they are single when they have a family
somewhere. But this woman or girl or whatever chose to come to my
house, she saw all the pictures of me and my husband displayed all
around the house, including pictures of our wedding day, yet she still
chose to have an affair with him. I'm sorry but I have no respect for
such women, if he lied to you and told you he was single, then I
sympathise with you. But if you knew that he is married, happily or not
and you decided to help him cheat on his wife, then you derseve
much worse than you put his wife through. Anyway, so I switched off
the radio and stood there waiting to see who was pleasuring my
husband.

It went quiet for a few seconds then Siya opened his eyes and looked
towards me, I swear his eyes popped out about an inch, he pushed
the woman off of him and jumped from the couch. She got off the floor
with so much shock, turned around and saw me staring right at her.
Oh my word! She looked so young, about 17 or 18. She looked very
familiar but I just couldn't place her. She just stood there with horror in
her eyes. I looked at Siya scrambling for his bvd, his shirt was on, the
girl was fully dressed.
"Oh, never mind me, I see you were in the middle of something.
Please don't let me disturb you!" And I left. I couldn't get out of the
complex soon enough. Suddenly it felt like a really long walk from my
house to the gate. Everything seemed to be happening in slow
motion. I felt sick to my stomach. I had serious heartburn, my head
was this close to exploding. My mouth was dry, I felt like someone
had kicked me so hard on my stomach, like my heart had been ripped
out and the weight of the world placed on my shoulders. Everything
seemed to be in a daze, not real, like it was a horrible dream which I
would wake up from and thank God it wasn't real. As I walked past the
gate, Lindo said to me "tell your cousin to come over azongibulisa". I
just rushed off without saying anything, I couldn't make sense of what
he was saying at that moment cos my brain was trying to process a
million things at once. I later realised that Lindo saw that girl that
weekend I got arrested, he thought she that she is my cousin. I could
hear someone shouting my name continuously,Meme..e..e..eh, it
echoed. I didn't look back, I didn't want to look back in case I saw
Siya, I didn't want to see his face or I would lose and get arrested for
real this time around. I didn't know where I was going, all I knew was
that I wanted to get as far away from them as possible. I stop itaxi
which I had no clue where it was headed. I didn't care where I ended
up, so long it was away from him. My phone started ringing, it was
Siya, ignored his call, then I called my friend Zandie. I asked a lady
sat next to me where the taxi was going and she told me it was going
to Greenstone. I asked Zandie to come and pick me from Greenstone
mall after work, she could tell from my voice that I wasn't ok, so she
said she was coming to pick me up right away, she wasn't that far off,
about 10minutes away. Siya kept calling, I wanted to switch off my
phone but I couldn't cos I needed to keep in touch with Zandie, so I
blocked his number. He then started sending messages on Whatsapp
asking me to come back so we can talk, asking me to talk to him, so I
blocked him on Whatsapp. He moved to text messages, unfortunately
l can't block text messages on my phone, so I just deleted them
before reading them.

I didn't wait long for Zandie, she got to the mall pretty fast. I switched
off my phone as soon as we met. We got in the car and l told her what
had happened. She wanted to call him and tell him a piece of her
mind but I asked not to. We went over to her house, she lives
eFourways, a 20minute drive from Lyndhurst. I didn't say much along
the way cos I was still in shock. I was still trying to process what had
just happened. I knew it was going to haunt me for a long long time.
Zandie lives with her 4 year old daughter and her 13year old niece in
a 2 bedroom townhouse. I just went to lie down when we got there.
Lying there, replaying what l had seen, I finally broke down. I wept, l
cried so hard I vomited. Zandie was there holding my head over the
toilet. She comforted me the best way she could, she told me that it
will get better, that my heart will heal with time. But I just couldn't
imagine this pain ever going away, kimi kwakumnyama emva,
kumnyama njalo phambili. How can someone say that they love you
then rip your heart out and stomp on it? What had I ever done to
Siyabonga for him to do this to me? At some point I dozed off. This
had to be the worse day ever in my life.

I dreamt l was naked, so was Siya and his makhwapheni. I was

running trying to cover myself with my hands, nobody seemed to
notice my nakedness besides Siya and his makhwapheni. They both
pointed and me and laughed at me, I looked at them and cried but
they continued to laugh at me.
Umendo Chapter 11

I woke up with yet another pounding headache around 10pm. My

eyes were swollen from all that crying. Zandie was in the living room
watching TV. I went to join her, she warmed up my food but I had no
appetite. She told me that she had called Langa and Mike to tell them
that I wouldn't be going to work the next couple of days. She said that
they were going to come over after work tomorrow to see me. I didn't
feel like seeing anyone in the state I was in, I didn't feel like talking to
anyone either, but I couldn't tell them not to come. She said Siya
called her a dozen times asking her where I was, but she told her she
didn't know. Good, I didn't want him knowing where I was.
I couldn't sleep until around 3am. I switched on my phone when I
woke up, I had 37 missed calls from Siyabonga, 20 text messages.
About a dozen missed calls from Francis and 2 unsaved numbers.
When I'm stressed or under pressure, I tend to shut everyone out and
draw into myself. I just wanted to be left alone. I called my young twin
sister Tasha and told her what had happened and told her that I would
be going AWOL for a few days, so they shouldn't be surprised by my
silence. They knew me well, so she understood. I asked her not to tell
mum, I was going to tell her myself when I was ready. I really didn't
like stressing my parents, so I always dreaded telling them any bad
news. I put up a status on my Whatsapp saying 'Taking some time out
for a few days. Don't miss me too much'. I rarely go on Facebook, but
there are a few people I keep in touch with via FB, so I logged in to
post the same status. When I was about to log off it hit, that officer
Ntuli who had dropped his badge in our bedroom, I remembered
where I had seen him. He had commented on one of Siya's photos
and I knew the exact photo. I looked for the photo and there he was!
His name on FB is Andile Giggs Ngwenya. He he he! Siyabonga!
Hayi, surrend shem. Maybe it was a fake account since some people
have fake accounts for whatever reasons. I had his number, so I
decided to call it and see if it goes through. And it did,....,
Sme: Hello, may I please speak to Andile
Andile: Yebo, speaking, ngikhuluma nobani?
Sme: Wow, I don't know how to say this
Andile: Just say it!
Sme: Ermm, you gave me your number the other day when we met.
You were with your friend Siyabonga
Andile: Ohhh, Eish, askies mabebeza, I lost my phone and all my
contacts. I just did a sim swap the other day. I was hoping you would
call.
Heheheheh, these men I tell you. On FB, it says he is engaged to ****
******
Andile: I couldn't stop thinking about you since that day I laid eyes on
you, there is something about you..,
Sme: Something good I hope?
Andile: Ofcourse ma luv, how can anything bad come out of icheri
enhle njengawe.
Sme: He he he
Andile: So when are you free so I can take you out so we can get to
know each other more?
Sme: Tomorrow evening?
Andile: Eish, you have just made my day, no my week. Tomorrow it is
ma luv
Sme: My friend Zah, the one I was with that day likes your friend
Siyabonga, is there any chance he might be interested in her?
Andile: Ah. Siya is away for a few weeks.l'm not sure exactly when he
will be back
Sme: Ok, sharp. Later
Andile: ok mabebeza mncwaaah

I had no intention of meeting up with Andile anywhere, I knew that my

phone will be off when he calls, so I didn't worry about explaining
myself to him. So another thing my husband had lied about. My initial
thought about him asking someone to act as the cop he bribed to get
me out was right. No surprise there. More unanswered questions,
more lies.
Two days went by, Siya was still calling Zandie begging her to let him
speak to me. He turned up to her work place twice, but she told him
where to get off. He came over to Zandie's place 4 times but he
couldn't get in. At Zandie's complex, if you have a visitor, the security
calls you to confirm on the telecom first before they let your visitor in.
So he came over whilst Zandie was at work, and I told them he wasn't
welcome, I could hear him begging to speak to me. That Thursday I
decided to go home and get a few clothes, I am a size 34 and Zandie
is a size 30, so only her few baggy clothes could fit me. I asked
Zandie to take me there during her lunch break, that way I would
avoid Siyabonga. I wasn't ready to deal with him yet, I didn't know if I
ever would. We got there around 1pm, there were two cars parked
infront of our house one was Siya's car, I had never seen the other
one. I didn't want to go in, I asked Zandie to drive us back, but she
refused, she said that I had to deal with this sooner or later. I knew
she was right, but I wasn't prepared for this.
She parked on our neighbour's spot. I took a long breath and we went
in. There was a woman arguing with Siya, her voice sounded familiar.
There was a suitcase and two medium bags next to her. She had her
hands around her waist esifulathele, Siyabonga saw us standing
behind her. He stood up with the biggest smile, coming towards me
and said "oh baby, I am so sorry for everything", that woman turned
around to look our way. My head went woozy, I felt light headed, I
held onto Zandie and the wall for balance. It was the woman who
arrested me, Lumkile Mbatha!
Umendo Chapter 12

Lumkile Mbatha! What was she doing here? How did she fit in all this
craziness? Imitshwaqwana yona ke? Then I heard the toilet flash.
There was someone else in the house. I looked at Siya puzzled. He
looked like a lost puppy. This was the man who had managed to
cause all this chaos yet standing here, he looked helpless and
pathetic, umgodoyi ngokwawo. Out of the toilet came out Siya's
makhwapheni, when I saw her, all I could see was his d**k in her
mouth. I got even more confused when I saw her.l only wanted to get
my clothes, now this? So I asked Siya

Sme: What's going on?

Lumki: Mtshele Siyabonga
Siya: Baby, ngiyaxolisa ngokukuzwisa ubuhlungu, please sit down
and let's talk
Makhwapheni: (She came over and stood between me and Siya)
Baby my foot, just tell her to get her stuff and leave Siya
Zandie pushed her out of the way wamkhomba wathi "eyi nana,
ungazodelela lana, mina ngiyashaya, ungalinge ma ngikhona ngoba I
will whoop you so hard you will weep everytime you hear my name,
uyangizwa kahle")
Makhwapheni looked over at Lumkile with fear written all over her.
Lumki went over to Zandie
Lumki: He he he, weh sisi, do you know who I am?
Zandie: No, should I?
Sme: Zandie, she is the one who arrested me
Zandie: Ohh, I see. So you go around arresting innocent people huh?
You may have gotten away with it before, but sweetie la kimi is where
the road ends. Obviously you don't know who I am either
Lumkile looked puzzled and I jumped in and asked Siya to explain to
me what was going on
He just stood there, silent like his tongue had been cut off. We were
all looking at him waiting.
Makhwapheni: Ok Siya, since you can't tell her yourself, I will do you
the favour. I am
Nicole Mbatha, this is my mother Lumkile Mbatha. I am moving in as
you can see my bags and you are moving out! He is leaving you for
me!
Siya: No no no, you are not moving in here Nicole, and my wife is not
moving out either and I would never ever leave my wife for you or
anyone else!
Lumkile: So ufuna umntanami ayephi Siyabonga?
Siya: Where she has always lived, home, with you!
Lumki: No, umthwalo wakho, your problem, be a man and do the right
thing
Sme: What? Umthwalo kabani? Siyabonga ?
Nicole: Yes darling. I am going to give Siya what you have failed to
give him all these years. I am pregnant (she said rubbing her tummy)
I looked at Siyabonga with so much hurt and disappointed
Siya: Baby I am sorry, I really am, this was all a mistake
"Mistake?", me, Nicole and Lumki said at once. Everyone was
shouting at once,it was just chaos.
Sme: Siyabonga, how is getting someone pregnant a mistake? Did
your d**k accidentally fall into her vagina, accidentally go in and out
until you came? How old is this girl vele?
Nicole: This girl is over here, don't speak about me as if I'm not here. I
am 19.No, his d**k didn't accidentally fall into my vajay jay, into came
inside me willingly. He got tired of your old barren kuku and enjoyed
my young fresh tight kuku. (The nerve of this girl, I wanted to take a
belt ngimbethe okuyimconjana, maybe she would learn to control that
sharp tongue of hers)
Zandie: Mfazie, please ngekela ngishaye isfebe lesi !!
Nicole: At least isfebe lesi can get pregnant.
Sme: Siyabonga, so l'm barren? Is that what you've been telling her?
Siya: No baby,please believe me, I never told her that. I didn't even
ask her to come here. This was all a mistake, I only slept with her
once and the condom broke. The day you came and found me with
her was the second time I got physical with her, I didn't even sleep
with her that day. What you saw is the only thing that happend. I came
home early that day to cook for you since you were stressed about the
car and I found her waiting at the door, she told Lindo that she was
your cousin, so he let him in, then she seduced me, she caught me at
a weak moment so I gave in. And it was all a mistake, please forgive
me. Ngikuphoxile, bengingaqondile, ngixolele sthandwa sami.
Nicole: She can forgive you all she wants, but she will never give you
a child. Inyumba le ekudala ichitha.. (She didn't finish her sentence
cos Zandie slapped her so hard she never knew what hit her)
Lumkile walked over to Zandie and held her arms shaking her (mind
you Lumkile is short, and round, about 1.62m in height and size
38/40, Zandie is slim and same height as me, about 1.68m), so she
was looking down on Lumkile.
Lumkile: Uzamani?Do you want to kill my baby? This doesn't concern
you, stay out of it!
Zandie: It concerns me if it involves my sister, so don't tell me to stay
out of it! (She said pushing her away with her open palm on her face!
Talk about ukudelela, Zandie is very gutsy, isbindi wasphiwa shem)
Siya: (Umunwe ukhombe kuNicole who was still rubbing her face)You
will not talk to my wife like that! Do you hear me? (Yawugoqa umsila
inja yathula)
In fact, thatha imitshaqana yakho uphume uphele la! I don't want to
see you around here ever again!
Nicole: Then kiss your baby goodbye
Lumkile: She is not going anywhere, ngimshiya la!
Siya: She is not sleeping in my house. I never should have allowed
her to set foot in my house in the first place!
Sme: So have you been sleeping with her in our bed?
Siya: No baby, I only slept with her once at a friend's house. I've never
slept with her ever since.
Sme: So who's badge was that Siyabonga cos I know Andile isn't a
cop?
He looked at me shocked, wondering how I found out
Siya: It was Lumki's badge, she accidentally dropped it here when she
came to leave Nicole here
Lumkile: It wasn't accidental, I left it there on purpose cos I knew you
wouldn't have the guts to tell her ukuba umithise umntanami
Sme: Heeeeeeeeh, tjooo. Ngiyahleka kodwa angihleki. So why did
you arrest me Lumkile? So was Nicole here the weekend Lumkile
arrested me? Did you plan it with her Siyabonga?
Lumkile took the suitcase and the two bags, went into our bedroom
and started unpacking. Zandie followed her, she took her belt off from
her jeans, asked me to hold her watch!

Umendo Chapter 13

l know my frend very well,so l knew that she wouldn't hesitate going
head to head with Lumkile. But l had to stop her, Zandie had 2 kids to
take care of and her family back home who depended on her. She
wouldn't be able to take care of them behind bars,assualting an officer
of the law was a serious offence, and l'm sure Lumki would make sure
she served more time than she needed to. We all followed her to the
bedroom,
Zandie: Lumki, do yourself a big favour and return these clothes back
where they came from (wayegoqe ibhanti elishayelela esandleni
sakhe)
Lumki: Or what? (she said it with so much attitude, both hands on her
waist)
Zandie: Or this (the belt) lizophelela kuwe and anyone else who will
try to stop me
Lumki: We will see, (she opened my wardrobe and started removing
my clothes)
I didn't even see how Zandie moved from the other side of the bed to
the wardrobe, but all I heard was Zandie's belt go phaaaaaa. Lumki
jumped, no, she flew onto the bed screaming then she started rolling
all over the bed trying to rub her back la uZandie ambhaxabula khona.
Both me and Siya went over to stop Zandie. For a very slim woman,
she has got so much strength. She was springing trying to get to
Lumki so she could "continue what she started", her words.
Zandie: Ah nxaah mani, bayadelela laba bantu. They can't come here
and disrespect you like that. ( Nicole had gone over to her mum, and
was helping her rub her back)
Lumki: Awungazi kahle, you will pay for this, you will all pay for this.
You don't know who you are messing with. (She was packing Nicole's
clothes back into the suitcase now)
Nicole: Siya, how can you let izfebe zakho do this to us. I'm the
mother of your child, your first born child, your only child, and this is
how you treat me and my mother?
Siya: I didn't do anything to you, you brought all this to yourself, I told
you to leave the minute you got here. You should have never come
here in the first place.
Nicole: You have to choose Siya, it's either me and our baby or that
(etsho ekhombela kimi, sizing me up and down)
Zandie flew across the bed, reached for Nicole's head and yanked her
across the bed with her weave shouting "kuyadelela lokhu manje
nzokufundisa umthetho, something your mother seems to have
forgotten to teach you!"
I screamed for Zandie to let her go cos she is pregnant, she could
have a miscarriage. We tried to pull Zandie away from her but she
had a good grip on her, she pulled her all the way to the bathroom,
pushed it and locked herself inside with Nicole.
Sme: Mayeeee nkosi yami, do something Siya, uzofela ejele uZandie
(I was screaming)
Lumki was crying, "leave my baby alone, you regret this for the rest of
your life"
We were banging on the door, Siya went to get a wrench or
something to try to break in.
Nicole was screaming, asking for forgiveness, but I couldn't here any
sound of beatings or banging. Siya came back, and managed to break
in less than a minute.
Nicole was kneeling on the floor, Zandie was standing behind her with
both her hands on Nicole's ears. She was twisting Nicole's ears and
they had turned red. Her mother went and tried to push her away, but
she wouldn't budge,

Zandie: If you get any closer I will hurt her even more. I want her to
apologise to Sme for disrespecting her
Nicole: Ngicela uxolo Sme, for disreprecting you the way I did. I never
should have (she was sobbing)
Zandie: Will you do it again?
Nicole: No, soze ngiphinde, ngiyathembisa
( Zandie let her go)
She ran to her mother,and they hugged.
Siya: Now take you stuff and leave please, never ever come back
here again
Nicole ran outside and waited for her mother in the car. Lumki finished
packing Nicole's clothes
Lumki: This is not over I promise you. You don't treat me and my baby
like that and get away with it
Zandie: Hayi suka, enough with your empty threats. Thatha
imitshaqana yakho uphume uphele lokuyisfebenyana kwakho. Instead
of wasting time abusing your power locking innocent people up, you
should try spending more time with your daughter and teach her
manners. They go a long way.
She grunted and left

Zandie: Meme, I will go and pack you a few things while you talk to
your husband. What should I pack?
Siya: Please don't leave baby, I've been going crazy here without you.
Sme: You survived just fine the weekend I spent locked up whilst you
were playing happy families with Nicole
I told Zandie what to pack
Siya: No baby, I didn't spend the weekend with her. Lumki brought her
here with her clothes just like she did today, she wanted to leave her
here. I refused, we wrestled a bit ngikhupha impahla zakhe ebedroom
and I pushed them outside. I didn't even know you were arrested until
that Saturday when they came over here.
Sme: So if you found out that I was arrested on Saturday, why didn't
you try to bail me out?
Siya: I did, but Lumki pulled in some favours with her collegues and
told them not to release you until Sunday.
Sme: So what did you do with the R3000
Siya: I just took it out so you wouldn't be suspicious
Sme: And my car? What was it doing eMonte?
Siya: That I seriously don't know
Sme: How can I ever trust you again Siyabonga? You have destroyed
us,do you realise that? Things will never be the same again. Was I not
enough?
Siya: I know I have destroyed your trust, but please baby, give me a
chance to make things right. I swear I will make things right again.
You are more than enough for me, you always have been and you
always will be. What I did was stupid, I promise you that it will never
happen again
Sme: How will you make things right again? Can you undo what you
did? Cos that's the only way you can make things right. You broke my
heart Siya, I hope it was all worth it.
Mfazie, asambe.
Siya: (Kneeling on the floor, his hands around my waist, sobbing)
Sthandwa sami ngiyacela please, don't leave me. Stay and we can
work this out. I can't be without you again,please forgive me. Zandie,
ngicela ungixolisele kumfazi wami, ngimoshile ngiyazi, ngimphoxile
kakhulu kodwa ngeke ngize ngiphinde please.
Zandie: Siyabonga, you let me down big time. Bengkuthembile
yazi.(She then turned to me) Mfazie, hear him out.
If you ever break her heart again, l will deal with you !
Sme: Ok, but don't get your hopes up Siya.
Zandie: I'm going back to work, let me know if you need me to come
pick you up anytime
Siya: Thank you so much Zandie, I owe you big time
Zandie, Oh yes you do alright. I gotta go now. (She came over and
gave me a kiss and a hug)
Sme: Later mfazi, thank you ever so much. I don't know what I would
do without you

I went to sit on the couch, but I couldn't, all I could picture was Nicole
pleasuring my husband. Siya noticed my discomfort and asked me to
sit by the dining table. Well, where do we start?
Umendo Chapter 15

I woke up in Siya's hands on the sofa. "Hayi bantu, not this damn
sofa", I thought. I felt dizzy, the ceiling was going round and round.
Siya was holding a packet of frozen mixed vegetables on my
forehead. I looked at him,

Siya: Oh thank God, I am so sorry baby, I didn't release just how hard
I pulled the bag, I was so scared you would leave and never come
back to me again(He removed the bag from my forehead ) I always
see this in movies.
Sme: Haha, you watch too many movies, how long was I unconscious
for?
Siya: About two minutes, I have called Lindo to come with us to the
hospital. Ambulances take forever to come, so l asked Lindo to ride at
the back with you. He will be here any minute. He is the only nearest
person I could think of.
Sme: We don't need to go to the hospital, I will be fine. I just need to
take some ibuprofen and lie down for a little while
Siya: No baby, what if you have a concucusion that will damage your
brain or you are bleeding inside. Phela you hit the floor with the back
of your head as well
Sme: I will be fine Siya, if l wake up not feeling good we can go
Siya: Hayi love, we cannot take that chance, what if you go to sleep
and never wake up? I would never forgive myself. Please, let's just go.
Better safe than sorry like you always say, right?
Sme: Ah, ok then. But we don't need to go with Lindo.
Siya: Ok, let me call him and cancel.

We went to MediClinic in Morningside, Sandton. We didn't wait that

long to see a doctor. He did some tests, like moving his index finger
from left to right whilst I follow it's movement with my eyes, he held up
his hands and asked me to push it down, and few other tests which
seemed a bit silly really, but necessary l suppose. He concluded that I
was fine, I wouldn't need a head scan. He told me to come back if l
started having severe headaches, fits and vomiting. I hoped it wouldn't
come to that. We got back home and Siya told me to go lie down
whilst he cooked super.
I woke up about two hours later, there was a candle on the dining
table, Siya was in the middle of setting up the table. He pulled the
chair out for me, looked at me and smiled. He had cooked rice and
beef stew, I must say, l taught him well. When I met Siya, the only
thing he could cook was fried eggs. Oh, and a cup of tea. But now he
could cook a proper meal even without my help, I was impressed.
That whole night, Siya was all over the place, talking non stop,
apologising for this or that, if he said something and I didn't respond,
he would quickly say something else or say he was only joking. He
was so nervous it was kinda funny to watch. He didn't even make any
sexual gestures, but he told me that if I wanted some, he would
happily comply. Hahah, shame. I'm sure if I suggested that we go to
couple's counselling, he would have agreed at that moment even
though he always says it's a waste of money and time. "Why waste
money by asking someone to listen to your problems when you can
talk it out, ma kusehlula then you involve abadala, they will listen for
no charge", he always said.
When I was about to doze off my phone rang, it was Ntuli/Andile. Oh
no, I had forgotten about him, Siya handed me the phone puzzled. I
just dropped the call which made him suspicious. He called again and
Siya picked it up and put him on speakerphone

Siya: Weh ndoda, ufunani kumfazi wami?

Andile: Ermmm, askies ndoda, she told me she was single
Siya looked at me confused
Siya: Ndoda, ndoda, hlukana no mfazi wam, delete her numbers
uvele ukhohlwe ngaye
Andile: Siya? Siyabonga?
Siya: Yebo
Andile: Hawu ndoda, nguwe?
Siya: Yebo Andile, ufunani from uSme?
Andile: Yi misunderstanding ndoda, talk to her. It's not what it looks
like.
Siya hung up and asked me what's going on. I explain to him about
how I found out that Ntuli was actually Andile and our phone
conversation

Sme: So this is what you do when you are with your friends
Siyabonga, you go around asking for girls' numbers?
Siya: No baby, I don't do that. UAndile uyi Casanova, I don't even
hang around with him much anyway. I asked him because you know
all my friends, so l couldn't ask any of them.
Sme: Amanga asegazini kuwe neh? They just come so naturally.
Siya: Akunjalo love, I don't like lying to you. I know how much you
hate being lied to, and I'm sorry. I never meant for any of this to
happen. Please relax for now, we can talk about this tomorrow.

Everytime I turned that night I found Siya awake, looking at me, or his
hand checking for my pulse, or checking my heartbeat.I don't think he
slept for at all. He said that he wanted to make sure that nothing
happened to me during the night, he was still worried about the fall.
He didn't go to work the following day. He spent most of the morning
sleeping. He called some guys to come and take the sofa away.
When they removed the sofa, there were a few things under the sofa.
Amongst the things were two durex ribbed condoms

Umendo Chapter 16

I looked at my husband with disappointment and he looked at me with

confusion. Everything seemed to be going down South ever since that
weekend Lumki arrested me, I just couldn't catch a break. I didn't
know if I could carry on anymore. I mean when does it all stop? When
had Siya become such a liar?

Siya: Baby, l am just as shocked as you are about the condoms. I

swear I know nothing about them. I promised you that I will be honest
with you from now on, and I am being honest.
Sme: Don't bother Siya, I've had enough of your lies
Siya: You have to believe me, I don't know anything about them
Sme: I take it you were going to use them with Nicole the day I caught
you red handed. Or maybe not, since you had already knocked her
up. Are you seeing someone else besides Nicole?
Siya: No, I swear to you, I hadn't planned what happened with Nicole
that day, I never planned on sleeping with her and I am not seeing
anyone. Just you my baby
Sme: Argggh, ungphathisa ngekhanda Siyabonga. I'm going to talk a
walk to the garage and get airtime. I need some fresh air.
Siya: Baby please, I'm not lying to you. Shall l come with you?
Sme: NO, I can't be around you right now

I left for my walk, I took my time trying to figure out what to do. I was
hurt and confused. I knew I couldn't trust Siya anymore. I just didn't
know if l was ready to walk away. We had come a long way, and Siya
had become a better person since I had met him with a lot of my help.
What scared me the most was probably not knowing what lay ahead,
what if the next guy was far worse than Siya? I remembered what my
mum once told my aunt, her younger sister when she came to tell her
that she was leaving her husband because they were always at
loggerheads. She said "mnawami, uzowabhoda wonke amadoda
uwaqede ma ngabe uyatshiya everytime you have a problem." On my
way back it hit me! "Ribbed all the way baby"! Hahah, my cousin
Faith, the one who was away in Capetown with her Nigerian boyfriend
the weekend I got arrested, she likes using ribbed condoms. That was
her saying, she says "once you go ribbed, there is no going back to
plain". I argued that why would anyone want a ribbed penis inside
them, surely smooth was the best? She laughed and said it was cos I
am too traditional and boring. Well I beg to differ. Anyhow, Faith came
over to my house one Saturday so we could go together to a baby
shower. She dropped her clutchbag when she got up from the sofa
and all her stuff scattered all over the living room. I helped her pick up
her stuff, amongst the things was a pack of durex ribbed condoms. I
told her I would look for the rest of her things when I got back because
we were running late. She later told me that she was missing her
mascara and a pack of her ribbed condoms. She joked that I could
keep the condoms and add some excitement to the bedroom. I never
checked for her stuff when I got back from the party. And amongst the
things that were under the sofa was a mascara.

A part of me felt relieved, another felt a bit guilty. If I was to stay and
try to work things out with my husband, l would forever be suspicious.
If he came home late, if he went to visit friends or relatives, every
phone call or message he receives, I would always be thinking, 'what
if'. When I got home Siya told me that he had been cracking his head
trying to figure out how those condoms got there but to no avail. I told
him that I believed him, although I didn't tell him why. The relief in his
eyes when I told him was priceless. We went shopping for a new sofa
that afternoon. After we had purchased the sofa, we decided to have
something to eat. Whilst waiting for the bill, I saw someone who
looked familiar with two other girls. It was Sharon, the girl who said
she had been arrested for shoplifting. She joined us on Saturday and
she called Lumki to bail her out. It was only when the other girl flicked
her hair that I realised it was Nicole. They seemed to be arguing,
Sharon seemed very angry and the other girl was trying to calm them
down. Ngaqhweba uSiya, he asked me if I wanted us to go say hello. I
refused, I didn't want a scene in front of all these people. Chances are
Nicole would have caused a scene, so I thought it was best to just
leave them. I wondered though what Nicole was doing with Sharon.
Sharon had said that she knows Lumki and she called her to bail her
out, so that's probably how she knew Nicole. I left it at that. We waited
for them to leave before we could make our exit. Argggh, the
consequences of Siya's shenanigans! Now I had to suffer everyday
because of his escapades. Mxmm, Hayi uSiyabonga.
Umendo Chapter 17

I decided to go back to work the following day. I applied for a

company car which I could use until I got myself another one. I spent
a good hour catching up with Langa and Mike. They always manged
to cheer me up and surprisingly had more drama in their lives than
me. That afternoon Siya came to pick me up so we could go testing
for STIs and HIV. We tested for every or most STIs and HIV. I asked
to get all our results at once, because I didn't want to be told I'm
negative there and then, then to be told that I was positive after the
window period. So we had to come back after after two weeks for our
results. I didn't speak to Siya most of the time because I was so angry
at him for putting me through all this. I knew I wouldn't be able to
forgive him if he had infected me with HIV.
I told my mother about what was going on and she told my father. I
didn't tell them about the car, I decided to tell them when I went over
to visit. They were both worried about me. My father doesn't like
Johannesburg, so everytime I told him something bad had happened,
he always said "Ayilunganga indawo leyo mntanami. Kusiya ngami
nga uyabuya uzozihlalela ekhaya. Khona ngizokwazi ukulala
ebusuku". So he called me when he found out about imshikashika
kaSiya and said "hanti uyabona into engihlala ngiyikhuluma ngayo
Meme mntanami, nampo onondindwa baseGoli sebemyengile
umkhwenyana". They wanted me to take a break and come home, I
told them that I was going to come at once with Siya when he comes
to apologise to them. Siya called one of his uncles and explained what
he had done and that he wanted to apologise to my parents. His uncle
agreed and told him he would get back to him.
Over the next couple of weeks, I got calls from friends and family
checking up on me, it was all too much really, but I know they just
wanted to show their support. Siya's sisters called as well, even his
father, the only person who never called was his mother. I'm sure she
was overjoyed by the thought of having her prayers finally answered.
Siya's father is is very quiet, he only speaks when necessary,he is
very kind and down to earth. So when he called, there was an
awkward silence for a while. I'm sure he didn't know what to say
either, but the little he said was more than enough for me. He
apologised for Siya's actions and told me that nobody would blame
me if l walked away, but asked me to stay strong and not give up on
his son. He said that ever since I came into Siya's life, his life had
more direction and he knew that it would spiral all the way down if l
left him. That's the thing with cheating, you tell yourself that it's just
between you and your makhwapheni, but if your secret comes out, not
only do you hurt your other half, you hurt the both families and
indirectly bring them into your marriage.

I met Siya when I was in university. I met him at a coffee shop where
we were doing a marketing project. Me and my two project buddies
had gone to meet the shop manager to discuss promotions for the
shop. Siya served us coffes while we waited to start our meeting with
the manager. He got my order wrong, I ordered a cappuccino and he
brought me hot chocolate. He later told me that he had done it on
purpose, he had seen me walk through the door and knew he had to
find a way to talk to me. Unfortunately for him, I didn't complain, I just
drank it and kept quite. He kept coming to ask us if everything was ok,
I know you are supposed to check up on your customers, but his was
over the top. Anyway, when we were leaving after our meeting, Siya
ran up to me and said "excuse me ma'm, I think you dropped
something". He gave me a piece of folded paper, I looked at him
confused, he smiled and went back to the shop. I opened the piece of
paper and it was his number with a note written "Please call
Siyabonga Nkomo on this number to discuss your future ". Hahahah, I
thought it was cheesy but sweet. I never called him though, I chucked
the paper somewhere and forgot all about him. A month or so later, I
received a call from him, he introduced himself and told me to
remember his name and surname, surname especially because we
would share it in the near future. All I could think was, "this boy is
crazy". He told me that he had stolen my number from his manager's
file, he knew that our numbers would be written down on the
promotions file since we were doing their promotions. He told me that
he took all three of our numbers, but he thought that I looked like a
Meme, so he called me first, and lucky him, he got the right person.
Ever since then, Siya would call, text, wake me up with lovely
messages, update me on what was going on with his everyday life,
tell me jokes, some funny and some just plain cheesy. I told him that I
couldn't date him because I wanted to focus on my studies. He told
me that he understood and that he would wait until I was ready. He
invited me to his church, so our first date was in church. He would call
me to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning so I could study,
send me motivational messages to keep me going. We went out for
cheap meals and movies every now and again if I had a few hours to
spare. One day I asked him if he wanted to be make tea and coffee
for the rest of his life. He told me that he wanted more out of his life,
he just didn't know where to start, and with the money he got, he
wasn't sure he could do anything else besides paying his rent, food
and transport. I told him that he could do anything if he wanted to, he
just had to make a few sacrifices here and there. I advised him to start
by getting himself a driver's licence. After he got his license, he asked
one of his friends who owns a couple of metre taxis to work for him on
his two off days. He initially mentored him, then he worked for him one
day a week, then whenever he was off and when he worked half days.
I graduated and our relationship started to be serious. I still refused to
sleep with Siya, I told him that until I had a ring on my finger, he
wasn't getting any. He didn't know I was a virgin, I didn't tell him.

One day when I was coming from work, I found Siya waiting for me at
my place, I lived in Bedfordview then. I was surprised to find him
there, he seemed nervous and was a little sweaty. I asked him if
everything was ok? He took my hands and said
"Meme, my sweet Meme. I know ngingumasaka, I dont have much to
offer you right now. Ever since I met you, my life changed for the
better, I stand here before you with so much gratitude. I am a much
better man today because of you. I cannot imagine living my life
without you. Please be my wife and I promise you that I will be the
greatest husband you could ever ask for and the best father to our
children." I stood there frozen, I was in shock, I hadn't anticipated it at
all. I mean, he was always talking about what life would be like
together in the near future, but I didn't think the future would come by
so quickly. My mouth went dry, I forgot to blink, so my eyes became
teary. His hands started to shake, then he knelt down and removed a
ring from his pocket. "Please say something, please say you will be
my wife". I cried and laughed, told him to stop embarrassing me and
get up. He said that he would only get up if I agreed to be his wife,
and I said, "Ofcourse I will be your wife you silly silly guy, now get up
before anyone sees you". The ring was nothing expensive, but it was
a perfect fit and special to me.It is inscripted, "My Sweet Meme. Love
Siya". So now he jokes that I only agreed to be his wife because I
wanted him to stop embarrassing me. I told him that if he had asked
me to be his wife hoping that he would get laid there and then, he
should forget it because it I wasn't born yesterday. I could tell he was
a bit disappointed but he said that he had promised me that he was
going to wait until I was ready, so he was going to stick to his words.
Two months later we went home for ukuyovela and amalobolo. His
father was more than delighted, he said that he was happy that all this
had happened whilst he is alive. Siya only paid for ukangaziwe, his
father sold his cattle and bathumela abantu ukuba bahambise ezinye
inkomo zamalobolo kithi emakhaya. It was only when we got back that
I slept with Siya. His shock when he discovered I was a virgin was
priceless. My shock when I discovered how painful it is to lose your
virginity was priceless too. We moved in together and started to plan
our wedding. We had a small wedding with family and friends less
than a year after ukulotsholwa.A lot of people were angry that that
they were not invited, oh well, you can't please everyone. We took
some of the money that we got got from our wedding,some of my
savings and Siya's and invested in their first car for their business.
Things took off from there and Siya quit both the coffee shop and the
taxi driving to focus on their driving school.

My application was approved, I received a company car two days

before we left for ekhaya. We flew out on a Friday. Siya, his aunt and
two uncles came over the following day. Siya said his apologies, so
did his uncles and aunt. He was charged two cows. I know it's
tradition, but now his father had to lose two cows because of his son
couldn't keep it in his pants. He said he was going to pay his father for
one cow, which is understandably but it angered me because we
could have used that money for something else.

Umendo Chapter 18

After the meeting, Siya left with his uncles, I went to visit Siya's
parents eMakhandeni. I went past my house first which I rented out, to
check if everything was in working order.My parents borrowed me half
of the money for the house, so they collect the rent as their payment
and I top it up with monthly instalments to them. I bought it before I
got married. Siya's parents live with their two grandchildren and Siya's
youngest sister Bongiwe who is two years older than my twin sisters.
Bobo was so happy to see me she ran and gave me the biggest hug.
Siya's father came out of the house when he heard all the screaming
from Popo, he looked older and more frail than I remembered. He
embraced me and asked that we go sit under the avocado tree. Siya's
mother came to join us, I stood up to greet her, she gave me half a
hug as if she was scared I would pass some foreign disease to her
and she wouldn't look directly at me. Bobo made us some tea and
biscuits. Ubaba Nkomo as we called him apologised again on behalf
of his son, whilst MaMoyo, Siya's mother scoffed in disbelief. She
finally said,

MaMoyo: Mntanami, ngiyakwakha angikukhubi. When you married

Siya you knew how much he wanted children. Akunjalo?
Sme: Yebo kunjalo mama
MaMoyo: Ngakho if you failed to give him what he wanted, what did
you expect him to do?
(I sat there dumbfounded, I didn't know what to say. )
MaMoyo: Lakudala endulo mntanami, indoda ibithatha umfazi wesibili
ma umfazi esehluleka ukumupha abantwana.
(Ubaba Nkomo jumped in)
Nkomo: Mama kaSiyabonga, uyazizwa nje ukuthi uthini? Into
eyenzwe nguSiyabonga lihlazo, uzihlazile, wahlaza unkosikazi wakhe
abakubo kanye lathi. Ungamkhukhumezi umntwana esona, ngeke
afunde amaphutha akhe mani !
MaMoyo: Hayi baba, all I'm saying is, eventually bekuzomela uSiya
athathe umfazi azobazalela ngoba bona lomakoti kusehlula.
Nkomo: Heeeeeh, hayi batayi. Ungayehlisi isiko lethu kanje mama
kaSiyabonga. USiya bekufanele akhulume labomalume bakhe ma
ngabe bebelohlupho lonkosikazi wakhe, omalume bakhe
besebehlanganisa abadala ukuze kubonisanwe, hayi ubutshapha
obunje. Anyway obesethe umakoti kalayo inzalo ngubani ? (He looked
at me) Makoti, uke wamfonela uMaMoyo wamtshela ukuba uwula
nzalo nah?
Sme: Hayi baba, angizange.
Nkomo: Odokotela bathi awula nzalo ?
Sme: Hayi, sengibhode ngabhoda, bathi there is nothing wrong with
me.
MaMoyo: Ngeke uthembele kuyo yonke into ekhulunywa ngabo
dokotela. Kunini sisizwa stories about people who go to different
doctors begulela ukufa uzwe kuthwa odokotela ababoni lutho.
Nkomo: Heeeh umama umaNyathi olele emathuneni. Mama
kaSiyabonga, nga nguSiyabonga obuye wathi kalanzalo nga uthini ?
Lithini isiko ma indoda ingela nzalo? Don't let your desperation for a
grandchild from Siyabonga blind you between right and wrong mani.
Ubusisiwe ngabazukulu abanje (lifting up four fingers), kodwa wenza
angani usuzakufa ungela ngitsho loyedwa.
(MaMoyo just looked aside as if ubaba Nkomo had said nothing)
MaMoyo: Kusobala ukuba umakoti nguye ongelanzalo ngoba nanko
uSiya umithisile.
Nkomo: Hayi ngiyazigeza izandla, bazakubona abalamehlo.

I told them that I had to go because I had a few relatives to visit. I was
happy that I didn't have to stay at Siya's because the tension was high
up there. Bobo asked if she could come with me and return when we
are leaving. Her father said it was fine she can come with, but
MaMoyo refused and said who was going to help her with the
children, and she didn't want her to miss church. I could see the
disappointment in her eyes. Ubaba Nkomo just shook his head, stood
up and went into the house. I said my goodbyes and left.

I told my mother what happened at Siya's parents, she sat me down

and said
"Mntanami, your strength is also your weakness. You are very kind
and soft. You help anyone and everyone you can, it worries you if
can't help someone. You are very welcoming so people warm up to
you easily and they find it easy to open up to you. But some people
see your kindness and take advantage of that, they don't really
consider your feelings because they know that you don't hold a
grudge and you easily forgive. I'm not saying change who you are
because you are an amazing woman, but be careful because your
strength can also hurt you to a point of no recovery." She went on to
tell me that the worst was yet to come when the baby arrived, that's
when our love and commitment will really be tested. She told me that
this was either going to strengthen us as a couple or break us. She
continued to say that l should fast and pray for strength and guidance
from God because I will need now more than ever before. "Awukaze
waba lula umendo mntanami", she said and embraced me. We knelt
down and prayed.

I went to catch up with my sisters. They were both doing their A'
Levels, my brother who comes between me and the twins was away
at University. Home is home no matter what. It felt good being home. I
wished I could stay longer, but I had to go back the following day
because we were starting on a big project at work that coming week.
Before we went to bed I told my parents about the car. They were
shocked, but were thankful that l wasn't high jacked.This strengthened
my father's belief that Jo'burg is no good.

We flew back on Sunday. Siya told me that his father sat him down
and gave him a long lecture, so did his uncles. He apologised again
and again, and said the her mother was way out of order, he wouldn't
have allowed her to speak to me that way if he had been there. I just
kept quiet, I didn't want to raise my blood pressure.

Umendo Chapter 19

The next few weeks went by so quick because I was swamped with
work. We were working on a big project so I had my hands full, I had
to take some work home most of the time. Siya was working more
hours to pay back his father. I didn't mind him being away more than
usual because I couldn't stand being around him. He was trying the
best he could to make up for for his mistakes but I was still bitter. I
think mostly because his mother condoned his behaviour and I felt
insulted by her words. Nicole called one day when I had just arrived
from work asking for money to go for a scan and to buy the baby's
preparation. I asked her how much she wanted and she said she
wanted R10 000. I laughed so hard she hung up on me. I called her
back and told her not to mistake my kindness for stupidity, she told
me that babies were expensive, she said that she needed to buy the
baby's crib, pram, Moses basket and the baby's clothes and blankets.
She said that the R10 000 wasn't even going to cover it, so she was
trying to be considerate. I told her that she should have thought of that
before she opened her legs for a married man. And that I was going to
discuss it with my husband then get back to her, l made it very clear to
her that she wasn't going to get the R10 000 she was demanding. The
silly girl had the nerve to tell me that she was always going to be a
part of our lives whether I liked it or not, as if I didn't already know
that.

When my husband came home that night I told him about the
conversation I had with Nicole. He was shocked, or pretend to be
shocked I don't know. He asked me how much I thought we should
give her. I snapped and told him that because he couldn't keep it in
his pants we were losing money, money we could have put towards
our house. We had bought a stand back home and were saving up to
start building the following year. Discussing anything to do with Nicole
just made my blood boil. I had told myself a number of times that I
was going to try to stay calm and open to suggestions, but I just
couldn't. I walked away and Siya followed me.

Siya: I'm sorry sthandwa sami, I didn't mean to upset you.

Sme: Oh but you have, haven't you. You have managed more than
just upsetting me
Siya: we don't have to talk about this right now if you don't feel like it
Sme: But we still have to at some point, and for your own information,
I will NEVER feel like talking about anything to do with Nicole.
(He stood there, looking defeated. )
Sme: How much are you willing to give her for the baby's preparation?
Siya: Is R3 000 ok?
Sme: R3 000 is your magic number neh? We shall give her R4 000,
you will have to find a way to come up with R3 000 and still pay for
indleko zakho like you always do. I don't know where you will find it,
whether you work longer hours or you rob a bank. You will find a way,
just like you found your way into Nicole's pants. I will top it up with R1
000 from our savings.
Siya: Ok love, ngizoyenza njalo. Thank you for doing this. I will never
do anything to intentionally hurt you or what we have. I have truly
learnt my lesson. I will never lie to you again, not just for you, but for
myself as well. Because once you lie, you have to make up more lies
to support the original lie, I hated myself for lying to you everytime I
opened my mouth to cover up for my lies.
(I rolled my eyes so hard l had a sneak pic into my brain)

He came over to give me a hug, but I just walked away from him. I
wanted to scream at him, how could he? I felt betrayed, angry and
hurt. What made me even more angrier was how much I allowed this
whole thing to consume me, I found myself thinking about it all the
time, I just couldn't help it. I made a bank transfer of the R4 000 to
Nicole after a week. She called to tell me that she had seen it, she
didn't even say thank you. I told her that that's all the money she will
be getting from us until she gives birth. She sounded surprised and
asked me what she was meant to do with R4 000? I told her to burn it,
wipe her ass or whatever she felt like doing with it, but that's all she
would be getting. She scoffed then told me that she will send me the
pictures of the scan to show Siya their wonderful creation and that we
should start saving up for her baby shower. Heeeh, was this girl
smoking nyaope or something?

I got a message telling me that our results were ready, my heart

skipped a bit. I had been pushing away the thought of the possibility
that my husband may have put me at risk, but now I couldn't avoid it. I
called Siya and told him to clear his schedule for the following
afternoon to go to the clinic. That afternoon waiting to be called in, I
could tell that he was as nervous as l was. That made me more
nervous, did he know something I didn't. When they called my name, I
jumped because I was so lost in thought. My heart was beating out of
my chest, Siya held my hand as we sat opposite the doctor. She first
counselled us about HIV and told us that it was a standard procedure
whether a person had tested negative or positive to be counselled
before receiving the results. I just wanted her to give us the results
because the suspense was killing me and l already knew everything
she was telling us. Finally she said, "now, shall we move on to the
results?". I answered "YES", it came out louder than I wanted it to.
She then picked up the paper from her desk and said "You both
tested positive for ........"
When I heard the word positive, my mind blanked out everything else.
I could hear that she was still speaking, but I couldn't make out what
she was saying. My head kept replaying the word "POSITIVE........
POSITIVE.....POSITIVE !!!!" Siya tightened his grip on my hand, I
wanted to push his hand away from mine but I couldn't master up the
strength. My palms were sweating, my temperature went sky high, my
eyes welled up with tears, l looked down because I didn't want the
nurse to see the tears in my eyes. I wanted to my tears to go back or
dry up before I could look at her and listen to everything else she was
saying. At that moment right there, I hated my husband. I knew I
would never forgive him for this even if I wanted to.
Umendo Chapter 20

"Smelokuhle", she called my name. "Are you ok?" I thought "How

could l?, would you be if you were me?". She asked if we both
understood everything she had said. I hadn't, so l asked her to repeat.
She then said, "You both tested positive for Trichonomas Vaginalis
(TV) which can be treated by antibiotics and negative for everything
else including HIV". I breathed a big sigh of relief, I didn't know much
about this Trichonomas Vaginalis, in fact it was the first time I heard of
it, l was just glad it was something that could be treated. When she
said said positive earlier on, l just concluded that it was HIV, I don't
know why, but I did, maybe because it was my worst fear. I know HIV
is not a death sentence and can be controlled, but l was just not
emotionally ready as I was still trying to recover from everything else.
In fact l don't think anyone is ever ready for it. A part of me was
relieved because I knew that l wouldn't have been able to forgive Siya
if he had infected me with HIV. She prescribed metronidazole an
antibiotic, to take twice a day for five days. She stressed that we
should abstain from sex until the course was finished and not
consume any alcohol during and two days after the course was
finished otherwise the treatment won't work. She asked if any of us
had slept with someone who could be at risk and needed to be
tested? I thought, Kanti if you are pregnant don't they test you for STIs
when you go to register? If they do, wouldn't that mean that Nicole
had already been tested? I then thought I should just tell her about
Nicole, whatever happens from there wouldn't concern me. So l told
her about Nicole. She asked for her number and I gave it to her. She
thanked me and asked my husband if there was anyone else he had
slept with besides Nicole, he said that there wasn't anyone else. She
told us to come back in 3 months to test for HIV again. She gave us
STIs leaflets and asked us if we had any questions before we left. We
both said no and left. I wanted to call Nicole and give her a piece of
my mind but I thought against it. If there was anyone l should have
been mad at was my husband. Nicole didn't owe me anything, she did
not vow to always be honest, faithful and respect me for the rest of
her life, Siya did.

Siya: I am so sorry baby for everything I have put you through

Sme: Your apologies won't take away what you did, and I'm tired of
hearing you say sorry. You sound like a broken record
Siya: Eish baby, what can I do for you to forgive me? Tell me what to
do and l will do it. I will do anything I can to see you smile again
Sme: Help me understand why you cheated on me. Did I deny you
sex? Did l not satisfy you?
Siya: No love, akunjalo.
Sme: Did l become unattractive to you? Do you not find me attractive
anymore Siya? Do you not find me beautiful anymore?
Siya: Ah love, you know how much l'm attracted to you. Sometimes I
can't believe just how lucky l am to have you in my life. You are
beautiful baby wam, inside and out.
Sme: What is it then Siya. I am failing to understand why. Why, why,
why?
Siya: It just happened, it meant nothing to me and l regretted it soon
afterwards
Sme: So much so that you invited her into our home for more?
Siya: No love, l explained that incident to you. Seriously l never meant
for any of it to happen.
Sme: Or wawuvele ufuna ukubona if you could impregnant her? Did
you do it because you wanted a baby so much you didn't care whom
you had it with?
Siya: Baby, we both want a baby that's no secret. But that was never
my intention. I haven't lost hope that we will have children of our own.
(I took out my car keys, ready to leave)
Siya: Kuzolunga sthandwa sam, I will do everything I can to make
things right. Engikucelayo yikuthi ungalahli ithemba, ungibekezelele.
(He kissed me on my forehead and hugged me)

A few weeks later Lindo came to talk to me as l was driving past the
gate. He ask me if I was ok with a worried look on his face, I told him I
was fine and asked him why he was asking. He told me about the call
he had received from Siya to help him take me to hospital because I
had bumped my head and fainted. I told him not to worry and that I
recovered just fine. He then started telling me about sis Barbara who
used to live with her husband in the complex before we moved there.
He said that sis Barbara always had bruises on her arms, face but
tried to cover them up with make and always wore sunglasses even
when it was freezing cold in June. He told me that she always made
up excuses like, "oh, l tripped and fell on my way to the bathroom in
the middle of the night" or "I was a bit tipsy and banged my head on
the wall, I should stop drinking cos evidently it's not for me", or she
would disappear for days and come back when the bruises have
healed. I looked at him thinking, "ok, touching story but where are you
going with this?". He continued saying that one day sis Barbara's
husband beat her so bad, he hurt her spinal cord now she is
wheelchair bound. "Ah shame, that's really sad, where is sis Barbara
now?", l asked him. She went back to her parents' home KwaZulu with
their children, her husband was arrested.
Sme: Oohhh, you think Siya is physically abusing me?
Lindo: There is no shame in it sis wam, the sooner you leave him the
better.
Sme: No Lindo, thank you for your concern but my husband has never
laid a hand on me
Lindo: That's exactly what sis Barbara used to say. She made
excuses for him all the time
Sme: No, seriously I did bump my head that day.
(He looked at me and shook his head with disappointment)
Lindo: Anyway, you should know that it's not to late to stop being his
punching bag.
Sme: Hawu, Lindo, ngitsholo nje ngathi akunjalo?
Lindo: Ok then, if you say so. (He said it with sarcasm)
Sme: Sharp (I drove off)

I told Siya when he came back from work about my interesting

conversation with Lindo. Siya laughed and said that, that's probably
why these two ladies from our complex had been giving him evil eyes
when he greeted them, one of them even ignored him and murmured
something under her breath. "It all makes sense now", he said, "Lindo
has told the whole complex that ngikwenza ipunching bag, mnxx".
When were about to sleep that night, Siya's phone rang. It was
Lumkile, he passed it to me. I rolled my eyes and pushed it back to
him. He answered and put her on speakerphone
Siya: Hello
Lumki: Sabona Siya, kunjani?
Siya: Ngi right
Lumki: Aren't you going to ask me how I'm doing after your crazy wife
and her demented friend traumatised me and my baby like that?
Siya: Arghh, just say what you called for Lumki
Lumki: Ok then, kuzofanele uze nabakini nizobhadala idamage
nokulobola ingane yakho.
Siya: Ini????
Lumki: You heard me, you have to pay for taking Nicki's innocence
and pay lobola for your child.
Siya: Nicki's innocence? Did she tell you that she was innocent ?
Lumki: It doesn't matter, you got her pregnant ungamlobolanga, so
took away her innocence as far as anyone is concerned
Siya: Ningjwayela kabi, do l look like a fool to you? I am NOT paying
any damages or lobola for anyone, me and my wife have already paid
for the baby's preparation. I will pay child maintanence after the baby
is born and that's it, not amanyala la ongtshela wona.
Lumki: What R4 000?
Siya: Talk to your daughter. Don't call me about this nonsense again.
Nxxxaaah (And he hung up)

Umendo Chapter 21

Ngavela ngaphelelwa yibuthongo. I didn't know how culture worked if

your husband has a child outside, but I knew a few cases where
indoda ilobole umntwana otherwise he is refused the right to see his
child or children. I knew that my husband would want to be a in his
child's life, it was the right thing and I wasn't against him being a part
of his or her life. Umntwana kalasono. It angered me that Nicole and
her mother were demanding money left and right as if we were made
of money. I got up to leave the bedroom but Siya pulled me from
behind. "I'm sorry baby, please don't leave me", he pleaded with me.
"Let go of me mani Siya", l shouted at him. He got up, his hands on
my waist, pulled me even closer to him, l could feel his hard on. Ah, l
didn't know what was making him go hard but I wasn't interested in
finding out. I tried to pull myself out of his strong arms, but he wouldn't
let go of me. He planted a wet kiss on my neck, "hayi mani Siya, l'm
not in the mood for this", another one on the other side of my neck.
Then he licked behind my ear, l let out a soft moan. "No Si....," he hit
my spot. He moved his hands up to my boobs which were tender and
very sensitive (they get like that when l'm about to have my period). I
tilted my head backwards so I was looking up the ceiling. His lips met
mine, I had forgotten just how soft and tender they are. We hadn't had
any sex ever since I caught him with Nicole. He pulled my night dress
up, I helped him by lifting my hands up. He turned me around to face
him and pushed me against the wall. I helped him take off his vest, he
pulled down his shorts. His cock was pointing right at me, I smiled
slightly thinking "long time old friend". He moved closer to me, I
moved my face to kiss him, he moved his face away, placed his
hands around my waist and looked at me with lustful eyes. He teased
my lips slightly brushing his with mine. Then he kissed me hungrily,
pushed my panties down and pulled my legs apart. He sucked on my
nipples, moved his right hand down to my vajay-jay. I was wet and
ready to have him inside me. He inserted one finger whilst his thumb
played with my clitoris, then he inserted another finger, curved them
like a hook so he could hit my g-spot. I was searching for his lips,
wanting to kiss him so bad, I cupped his face with both my hands, we
looked into each other's eyes as if were were searching for something
hidden behind them. My knees became weak, so I pushed him
towards the bed. He lay in bed and closed his eyes. I went on top of
him, kissed his neck, moved down to his chest with both our hands
clasped together and spread out the bed. I went down to his belly
button, then I moved my hands to his balls. Softly massaging them
with one hand, I held his hard on with my other hand moving it up and
down his shaft. He pushed my hips towards his cock, I moved forward
then lowered myself down his shaft. I gasped because I had taken in
too much, so I moved myself up a bit and positioned myself properly.
Then I moved up and down, each time taking more of him inside me
than before until I took him all in. I started gyrating slowly but firmly,
then I went hard increasing the pace gradually. My blood started
rushing to my head, l started to moan louder and louder, Siya pushed
me off him and got on top of me. I held his cock with my right hand
directing it towards my vajay-jay, but he pushed my hand away. He
went down on me and licked my clit for a few seconds, then he gently
inserted his member inside me, he kissed and licked me on my neck
and nibbled on my ears. He went in deeper and deeper with every
thrust. I moved my hips up and down meeting him halfway. He held
my face, kissed me with so much passion and said "tell me you still
love me Meme...please tell me you still love me my baby". I held him
tighter and in between kisses I said "Ofcourse I still love you baby".
He went harder and harder, l felt like my body was being elevated and
"uuuuuuuuuuuu....", we moaned in unison and I had the most earth-
shattering orgasm!

Siya held me in his arms and said "thank you baby". He kissed me,
then pulled me even closer to him. We lay there naked and quiet, but
in our silence, we said a lot. Right there and then I felt connected to
him and I'm sure he felt the same, we shared something deeper. I
believe there is having sex, then there is making love. That night we
made love. I cannot fully explain the connection that one feels when
they do it with someone they truly love, I hope you too will some day if
you haven't already. I know you are thinking, how could l still love him
after everything he had done to me. I asked myself the same question
as well, but didn't find the answer. Maybe it was because l could see
he was making an effort to show me how sorry he was, maybe it was
because I had so much history with him or it could be that I just
couldn't switch my feelings off just like that. I still loved my husband, I
hated what he did, but I still loved and cared for him dearly. I turned
around and kissed him softly on his lips (that was my way of saying
thank you for giving it to me that good), l could feel him smiling. Don't
ask me how when I was facing the other side, but l just felt it. The
following morning, l was awakened by Siya's hard on probing me. I
turned around to looked at him, he gave me that eye that said it all. I
knew that he expected me to refuse, but I didn't which surprised him.
So I had some morning glory before I left for work. I was all smiles at
work that day. Mike and Langa said that they were going to ask my
husband to keep doing whatever he did to me that morning. He
brought me flowers when he came over to take me out fo lunch that
afternoon. While we waited for our meal, Siya took my hands, looked
me in the eye and said "ngiyabonga sthandwa sami". Sitting there I
realised that his collar bone was sticking out, I hadn't realised just how
much weight he had lost. His cheekbones stuck out of the rest of his
face. With everything that had happened I hardly looked at my
husband, yes we still lived under the same roof, but not necessarily
together. I avoided him most of the time, only spoke to him when it
was ubsolutely necessary and gave him one word answers whenever
he tried to make a conversation with me. With my hands till in his, I
looked at him and smiled, sometimes the best way to say something
is by your expression, he smiled back at me for he knew what my
smile meant. He knew that my smile meant that l still loved him and
appreciated his efforts but it didn't mean that he was off the hook just
yet. He kissed me on both hands, then we had our lunch.

When I got back from my lunch, I found another bunch of flowers on

my desk. I smiled and wondered when my husband had sent them, I
looked at the note and it wasn't Siya's writing. The note said. "You
take my breath away everytime I see you." It was signed "From
Someone Who Adores Everything About You". I asked Langa if she
knew whom them were from and she told me that she was hoping I
would tell her. I told her that maybe they had delivered them to me by
mistake, but Langa said she signed for them and the delivery guy said
they were for Meme Nkomo. I told Langa to chuck them out, it didn't
feel right keeping them. Langa asked if she could chuck them to her
desk, so l gave them to her and left it at that.
Siya's birthday was coming up in a few weeks and I didn't know what
to do for him. He always made such an effort for mine, so l had to
return the favour. I called Zandie to ask her for ideas, she suggested
that I booked us a weekend away in Capetown.
Sme: It would have been a great idea before all this drama happened.
But now kuzoba sengathi l am rewarding him for his mistakes?
Zandie: l know what Siya did is unforgivable, but you chose to forgive
him. Yes he begged and grovelled for your forgiveness, but you made
the choice to forgive him. Ngokumxolela it means that you wanted to
give your marriage another chance, therefore you cannot punish him
forever mfazi. What happened happened, sokwadlula, ungavumeli
isfebe sikudilizela umshado.Yes you have every right to be mad at
him, but at some point you have to open yourself up to heal, otherwise
you will never get past this and uzogcina usumenyanya.
Sme: That's how I was beginning to feel lately.
Zandie: Exactly, and if usumenyanya you will push him further and
further away from you. You won't even notice the effort he is making
to work things out with you. In the end , you will find solace in another
man. Before you know it, you will be cheating on him uziduduza
ngokuthi nguye owaqalayo.
Sme: Ah mfazi, that's a bit extreme
Zandie: Serious mfazi, qhubeka ungamxoleli, you will come back and
ask me how l knew. Either you will push him into another woman's
arms, or both of you will end up cheating on each other. All those
guys who keep perusing you ungabanaki, eventually you will start to
warm up to them. Trust me, these things happen.
Sme: I hear you mfazi. I will make an effort to works things with him.
Zandie: I know it's hard mfazi, kunjalo vele. If you feel like you can
never forgive him, then leave him and start the healing process,
because you cannot truly love him if you don't forgive him.
Forgiveness doesn't mean that you have to forget what he did, vele
you can never forget into enjalo, forgiveness means that you are
willing to look past his mistakes and move on with life.
Sme: Ngiyabonga mfazi. Honestly I don't know what you would do
without you.
Zandie: No worries mfazi, that's what friends are for.

I booked us a weekend in Clifton- Capetown and booked our flights

for that weekend. I thought I would surprise him with an early birthday
present. Things changed from that day, the mood lifted up a bit and
Siya was doing everything he could to keep the momentum. I could
tell that he was nervous and scared of things going back to where
they had been before. I told him about his early birthday present and
he was pleasantly surprised. We left for CT on a Friday after work.
Things were beginning to fall into place. What could possibly go
wrong?

Umendo Chapter 22

We were having a great time in Capetown, we spent the day at the

beach, had a lovely dinner at a nearby restaurant and went to watch
Umoja performing and they were amazing. It was all very nice, like an
escape from all the drama that was happening. "Ahh ahh ahh ah,
Umoja.......Feee ee ee eel the spirit of togetherness", we we busy
singing and dancing the following day (Heeeh, you should have seen
ama get down akhona), when we got to the 'spirit of togetherness'
part, singanise izandla zethu intertwined. Hahah, if you had been a fly
on that wall, you would have enjoyed yourself shame. The way Siya
put so much effort into his bass when we sung 'Bawo Thixo
Somandla', you could have sworn he was auditioning for x-factor of
something. We were singing 'Baba thina sinjeeee' esabele uSiya
'Sinje ngama jubaaa' when we got a call from Lindo. He sounded
hysterical at first l couldn't make out what he was saying, Siya told him
to calm down and say what the problem is. "THERE IS WATER
COMING OUT OF YOUR HOUSE!", he said with so much emphasis.
Water? Coming out of where?, l look at Siya with confusion. Why
would water be coming out of our house?. I was in a state of panic,
ngibambe lokhu ngiyeke, ngibambe lokhuyana. Saqala isisu sami, l
knew that we hadn't left any taps running. So what had happened.
Then Siya asked me if Zandie still had a spare key to our house, l
picked up the phone and called her. I asked her to go over and see
what was happening whilst Siya changed our tickets to an earlier time,
we had planned to visit a few more places then leave in the evening.
She got there in no time and called to tell me that indeed there was
water all over, and every tap had been left running. I knew then that
someone had been into our house and opened and every tap. But
who and why would someone do such a thing?

We couldn't get back quick enough, you know when you are in such a
hurry everything seems to be on go slow. Who ever is serving you
takes their sweet ass time, (the woman who checked us out took
forever busy chatting with her friend, if looks could kill, l would have
killed her in less than 5seconds); every traffic light goes red when it's
your turn to move, or you find yourself driving behind the slowest
driver ever, nje yonke into iyabe ingani it's working against you to
make you even more late. That's how it felt when we were trying to
get back home that Sunday. Zandie had called our other friend Angela
and my cousin Nokuthaba to help mop and remove anything that
needed drying since it was hot. Francis and Vuyo, Siya's friends had
gone over there as well. When we arrived, most of our furniture was
outside and everyone was busy moping. Zandi told us that the
overflow vents on the sink basins and tub had been cover with tape so
that the water wouldn't drain when it filled up. Most of our clothes were
on the floor, blankets, duvets, bedcovers, pillows, cushions. The sofa
we had just bought was soaking wet, the TV stand, chest of drawers,
bedside tables and the wardrobe in the spare bedroom were all spoilt.
We asked Lindo if he had seen anyone over at our house and he said
that my cousin had come over earlier that morning. When Lindo told
her that he hadn't seen us since Friday, she told him that I had called
her and asked her to wait for me as l was on my way back. Lindo said
that she waited for about 30minutes, then said she would come back
later since l was taking long to get back. So it was Nicole! Mnxx, that
witch! I told Lindo never to let her in here and that she is not my
cousin. What puzzled me was how she got in. I asked Siya if he had
ever given Nicole our house keys. He told me that he misplaced his
keys once and Nicole called and told her that she had picked them up
thinking they were hers, but realised when she got home they weren't
hers. So she gave them back the the following day when they met for
her driving lesson. I remembered that Siya once called me asking if I
had seen his keys, then he told me that he had found them the next
day. So Nicole stole Siya's keys and made a spare. Men can be
stupid when they are in lust l tell you. The girl was clearly pyschotic. I
called her fuming
Sme: Nicole, uzamukwenzani kahle kahle?
Nicole: Ermmmm, what are you talking about ?
Sme: You know what l'm talking about, why did you flood my house
Nicole: (she laughed) I don't know what you are talking about
Sme: Don't take me for a fool Nicole, l know you came to my house
and left every tap running. The security guard told me. You have gone
to far, you will be hearing from the police! (I hung up)
My BP was high up there, this girl will stop at nothing. I called the
police who came 3hours later. Were were still hard at work, most
laundrettes were closed since it was a Sunday, so we put most our
clothes and bedding in bin liners to take to the laundrette the next day.
They asked us a few questions including Lindo. They called Nicole to
go to Edenvale Police Station immediately. They told us that we would
have to go with them to open a case and Lindo had to go with us to
identify the person he had seen at our house. I went with Zandie and
Lindo to the station. Nicole arrived about an hour later with Lumki, she
looked at me with a mocking smile then winked at me. I wanted to
strangle her. Lumki greeted one of the officers who was dealing with
our case by name (Shezi) they knew each other and made small talk.
My heart sank because I knew then that we had no case. They asked
Nicole where she had been that morning,

Nicole: l was home with my mother ( she looked at Lumki and

battered her eyelids)
Lumki: Yep, Nicki only left the house when we were coming over here
Shezi: Is this the person you say claimed to be Smelokuhle's cousin?
Lindo: Yebo, l am a hundred percent sure, she was driving a blue
Nissan Micra
Shezi: Do you own the car he described Nicole?
Nicole: Nope, l don't own a car at all
Shezi: Smelokuhle says you went over to her house and left all the
taps running, do you deny that?
Nicole: Yes, l deny it, uyangsukela lona, bonke nje nalo security guard
Lumki: For all we know they paid the guard to say she saw her
Sme: For what reasons Lumki?
Lumki: Who knows, insurance scam or you want to defame Nicki's
name. We should sue you for defamation of character.
Zandie: Heeeeeeeh (claps once)
Shezi: Is it true that you had an affair with her husband and you are
carrying his child?
Nicole: Yes it is, and she hates me for it, that's why she is making up
stories about me. She called me threatening to kill me.
Sme: Ah, Nanso ke imihlola. Nicole, when did l threaten to kill you?
Nicole: When you called this morning accusing me of breaking into
your house. You said that you were going to come to my house with
your friend who beat me up the last time l was over at your house and
beat me to death
Zandie: Heh, you have serious issues Nicole, awukho wedwa wena.
You need help!
Shezi: Did you make those threats? And did you beat her up when
she came to your house
Sme: I did not make any threats, I only told her that I knew it was her
who did that and that she will be hearing from the police. And I know
you didn't break in, you have our front door key.
Nicole: Why would l have your house key? Do l live with you?
Sme: I know you stole them from my husband and made a spare.
Lumki:Do you have any proof of that?
Zandie: As for the beating, I gave her a hot clap to put her back in line
because she was extremely rude. Ask her mother, she will tell you.
(Lumki said nothing)
Shezi: Unfortunately Mrs Nkomo, there is nothing more we can do at
then moment as Nicole has an alibi who confirmed her where abouts
at the time in question. We will keep looking into the case and we will
contact you if we have any developments.
Shezi: Nicole, would you like to have a restraining order against
Zandile and Smelokuhle?
Zandie: Heheheheheheheeeeeeee (claps once)
Nicole: Not now, but you better watch what you say to me next time
you because I will get it!

Just like that, Nicole had gotten away with a crime. When we were
driving off, Lumki and Nicole were walking to their car. Lumki stopped
and said "You may have won the battle, but we will win the war.
Mnxxxx okungama makwerekwere okungena ngqondo".

Umendo Chapter 23

Yeah, talk about about 'The Spirit Of Togetherness'. I felt helpless,

Nicole and her mother were out to destroy us and there wasn't much
we could do about it. I know that I had chosen to forgive my husband,
but this was awakening my anger. Imagine you have been beat up to
a pulp you didn't even think you willsurvive. Somehow you sum up the
strength to hold on and stay strong. Slowly but surely your wounds
start to heal, you begin to have hope that you will make it although
you know that you will never forget the person who beat you up. Then
that same person comes back and beats you up again, not as bad as
before but still beats you up evusa amanxeba. That's how it felt. My
husband's few minutes of weakness were causing us a lot more pain,
and it didn't seem like it was going to end any time soon. We returned
the furniture back into to house in the evening although it hadn't dried
up. We all went over to Zandie's for a meal, we ended up having a
small barbaque, the seven of us and the kids "any reason for a party"
as Angela put it. We all had a good laugh exchanging stories, it ended
up not being such a bad day after all. I knew l was blessed to have
such people in my life and I was very thankful for it. Siya and l slept
over at Zandie's since we all our blankets were wet.
I called my insurance company for the next morning to make a claim
as I had insured our home contents. It's a good thing l always kept
receipts for every big purchase we made. They asked for a case
number to confirm with the police. They said that they were going to
send somebody over to assess the damages and see if our furniture
needed to be repaired or replaced. Siya took a day off work to take
our clothes and bedding to the laundrette, attend to the insurance
agents when they came to assess the damage made to our contents
and whatever else needed sorting out. Surprisingly, the insurance
people were quick and efficient. I thought that l would have to fight
tooth and nail to get our claim approved, but l received a call from
them before I knocked off asking me if we preferred that they replaced
our damaged goods with the next closest thing or money. I asked
them how long replacing the contents would take compared to giving
us money, and they said that money would probably take a week or
two whilst replacing could take up to three months, so obviously l
opted for the money. They told me that they were going to come and
collect the damaged goods in a few days. They had even added the
bed, dining table, chairs and rug to our claim list. On top of that they
put down some personal clothing; cushions and pillows, which l didn't
have receipts for. An electrician was sent to check if our sockets and
electricals were safe to use and they changed our locks. They sent
people to collect the furniture on Thursday and on Saturday we
received our payment. Although we had to pay a premium for our
claim, the pay out wasn't bad and we were happy with the amount.
We knelt down and thanked God because we both didn't think we
would get much from the insurance, The Lord was surely looking
down on us.

We spent the next few weeks making our home liveable again, our
spirits had not been dampened by what had happened. A few months
went by and life seemed to be a bit normal again. Nicole had called a
few times wanting money for her baby shower but each time I told her
where to get off. One day, Langa and l had gone out for lunch, it was
my treat for her birthday when we saw Sharon , the girl who had been
arrested for shoplifting. She was walking past the restaurant we were
in and I waved at her. She had another girl with her. She came over to
say hi. She gave me her phone number and asked me to call her as
she had something important to tell me. I was puzzled as to what she
could possibly have to tell me. I thought it probably had something to
do with Nicole. I called her when I got home
Sharon: I am glad I bumped into you today, l have been hoping to see
you for a long time
Sme: Ok, why is that?
Sharon: Do you remember when you got arrested?
Sme: Yeah, how could I forget
Sharon: Lumki sent me in that Saturday
Sme: Oh,l thought you were arrested for shop lifting? And didn't you
say that she was going to bail you out?
Sharon: Ok, let me enlighten you a bit. I grew up with Nicki, we played
together and went to the same school, but l was a year ahead of her. I
got in trouble with the law a few times and Lumki helped me out, and
a couple of times l begged her not to tell my mum cos I knew it would
kill her, so she didn't
Sme: Ok
Sharon: So because of that, Nicki and Lumki have blackmailed me a
few times to do stuff for them
Sme: No surprise there
Sharon: So that day when I came eNo_4 l had not been arrested for
shop lifting, Lumki sent me there to start a fight with you then beat you
up. I told my mother I was sleeping over at Nicki's so she wouldn't
worry. Lumki told the officers on duty that day that l was her niece and
she was trying to put me in line, so no paperwork for my arrest was
ever made. When you saw me texting non stop, I was chatting with
her, she kept on pushing me, reminding me what was at stake.
Sme: (My mouth was dry,I was shocked to the core) So why didn't you
go through with it?
Sharon: You seemed like such a nice person, everytime l looked at
you, you smiled at me and you showed genuine concern about me
when you told me that it wasn't too late for me to make something our
of my life. Lumki told me to take a stone and smuggle it inside my bra
and use it to knock your teeth out, break a few bones and just give
you a good beating nje in general. She told me that she would make
sure that no charges would be laid on me, and if they are, they
wouldn't stick.
Sme: What made her think that you could beat me, what if I had beat
you to a pulp instead?
Sharon: I said the same thing to her, but she was kept saying you
wouldn't. In the end she told me to smuggle a stone, that way I would
have more advantage than you
Sme: Tjooo, these people are crazy. So what did she do when you
didn't follow through her plan?
Sharon: I was meant to leave those cells on Sunday, but Lumki took
me out on Monday. She didn't tell my mum like she had threatened
because then she wouldn't be able to blackmail me anymore
Sme: So what made you tell me this, aren't you scared she will find
out you sold her out?
Sharon: Please don't tell her, I'm telling you this because I am sick of
her and Nicki using people the way they do
Sme: Thank you very much for telling me, your secret is safe with me.
Sharon: Oh, l don't know if this is any relevant, but a few months ago
after your arrest,Lumki called me over to her house to force me to do
more of her dirty work. Whilst l was there, l overheard her speaking
about selling a car and your name was mentioned in the same
conversation. It's probably nothing but just be careful, that woman is
ruthless!

Umendo Chapter 24

Of all the women my husband could have slept with, he chose this
sfebe who has a pyschotic mother. I knew that Lumki abuses her
power from the day she arrested me, no surprise there as she is not
the only corrupt cop here, but this? This was way up there, she had
no boundaries, so l knew l had to tread carefully wherever she is
involved. She had shown me that trying to fight her was was a waste
of time as she would win no doubt. I couldn't open a case against her
because l didn't have enough evidence. Sharon's testimony would
have helped but she asked me not to say anything, so l wouldn't be
able to get far with getting Lumki arrested. I sat there, deep in thought
thinking of how best l could handle this situation. Siya came home
from work and startled me as l was in my own world. I had even
forgotten to cook. I told him about the conversation that I had with
Sharon and he got furious. I told him to calm down because he had
gotten us into that situation in the first place. He told me that he
regrets it everyday, and with every stunt Nicole and her mother pulls,
he swears to himself that he will never ever look at any woman
besides me. I just gave him the talking eye. He then said that he was
going to ask for a peternity test as soon as Nicole gave birth and that
he wasn't going to pay them a penny until he was sure the child is his.
We decided to talk to a lawyer and find out if we had any chance of
getting justice served. I called Langa to refer me to a friend of hers
who is a lawyer. The lawyer said that unfortunately we only had
circumstantial evidence, our case wouldn't stand in court and make
ourselves more vulnerable to Lumki. He told us that chances are
Lumki got a duplicate key for my car since she had them whilst l was
arrested, so whoever took the car most likely used the duplicate key.
He had had dealt with a case similar to this one before. So we had hit
a dead end. In my heart I was hoping and praying that Nicole's baby
wasn't Siya's because I was tired of dealing with them. Maybe we
would have more peace without them holding something over us.
Nicole was due in less than a month, l couldn't wait to get the paternity
test done, but I did not want to get my hopes high just in case it came
positive.

About a week later my husband came home fuming, he was pacing

up and down
Sme: Hawu baby, kutheni manje?
Siya: I swear I will kill that woman myself
Sme: Which woman?
Siya: Lumkile Mbatha
Sme: Aarggghh, what has she done now?
Siya: One of our drivers uVusa called and said he was stopped by
metro police on his way to pick a customer for a lesson. They took the
car and said that they have been on the look out for it because it was
burst with tones of drugs, the driver left it and ran away then it went
missing whilst parked at the police station.
Sme: WHAT? Kanti isn't that the car you only bought recently?
Siya: Yes it is, we only had the roof sign on it. Besisazoyi printisa
Sme: How do you know it's Lumki?
Siya: Vusa said that one of the cops told him to tell me to call Lumkile
Mbatha. So l called her and she said "l told you l was going to get you
for what you did to me and the mother of your baby"
Sme: Oh my God!
Siya: So she will probably remove the roof sign and sell it,
Sme: That woman will stop at nothing, l'm going to call her
Siya: No love, that will only make things worse. I will meet up with
Francis tomorrow and see what we can do

We both couldn't sleep that night, we tossed and turned till it was way
past midnight. I called Siya from work the following day several times
reminding him not to do anything stupid. He told me not to worry.
When I got home from work l found flowers from my husband, he had
cooked and left a note saying "l'll be back soon my love" and he had
left his phone. I don't know why but ngashaywa luvulo. Something
didn't feel right. My back hairs stood up, I asked myself why Siya
would leave his phone at home? In the end l comforted myself
ngokuthi maybe he forgot it. I was washing up after l had finished
eating when my phone rang, l was startled. I jumped and threw the
glass in my hand in the air, it missed my foot slightly before it hit the
floor and cracked into pieces. I picked up the phone and it was
Francis. He was shouting something but there was a lot of noise on
the background l could hardly make out what he was saying. Whilst l
was talking to Francis l had a call waiting, l told Francis l was going to
call him back in a minute to answer the other call. It was Lumki, she
was puffing and sounded all over the place. She told me to tell Siya
that Nicole had just gone into labour. I told her I was going to let him
know and hung up before she even told me which hospital Nicole will
give birth in. I called Francis straight away, it was still noisy but l
picked up that he wanted me to come and pick up Siya from eYoeville
kwaGumede. I didn't like going there and l was scared of driving at
night alone, but l didn't argue with him, so l got in the car and drove
there. When I got there l saw one of their driving school cars, but l
couldn't find any parking nearby. I drove around for a bit to find a
parking space, then someone pulled out not too far from kwaGumede.
I called Francis to let him know I was outside but he didn't pick up. I
tried him two more times, but he still didn't pick up, I was getting
pissed off. I didn't want to go inside cos those people will stare at you
as if you have pooped yourself or something. The regulars that is. I
was about to call Francis again when he called me, there was a lot of
shouting on the background, l could hear insults and threats, Francis
was asking me to talk to Siya and calm him down. Suddenly a group
of about seven or eight people came out of kwaGumede, my husband
Francis and Chris were amongst them. It was clear that they were
fighting or were about to fight. Before l could think or make out what
was going on, l saw blood sprinkling everywhere. Four guys ran off to
a car, Chris, Francis and Siya chasing after them, only one of made
about two steps, staggered and fell on to the ground.l don't know
when l left the car, but all l remember is running towards them. Lying
there, igazi limpompoza from his neck (the blood was literally spraying
around like a water sprinkler) and with his hand on his stomach trying
to stop blood from coming out was my husband!

Umendo Chapter 25

They say that your life flashes before your own eyes when you are
about to die or nearly die, my whole life flashed before my eyes that
day. From when l was in pre-school, to university, meeting Siya, him
proposing to me, our wedding day, our first time in bed together, the
dozens of pregnancy tests l took, the weekend l spent eNo-4, the day
l caught him with Nicole, his motherinsinuating that l am barren. But
what was weird was I also saw the future after the death of Siya, his
mother crying and blaming me for his death, Nicole demanding money
from Siya's life insurance to support their child, me being depressed
forever and more. But l saw all this in less than 10seconds. I snapped
back to reality, I quickly removed my top (l was wearing a vest
underneath), and held it to his neck whilst my other hand pressed on
to his stomach. I was screaming for someone to call an ambulance
and asking Siya not to die on me. He was starting to lose
consciousness. Francis and Chris came back, Francis was shouting
and pacing up and down with his hands at the back of his head saying
"oh nkos yami, bambulele", and Chris was busy saying he was going
to kill each and every one of them. People started to surround us, and
were asking "kanti kuhambanjani", as if they couldn't see, but no one
seemed to be calling an ambulance. I screamed for people to help
me, do something, but they just stood there, Chris and Francis were
pretty much useless at that point. I shouted for someone to help me
get him in the car so l could take him to hospital. Ambulances take
forever to come anyway, l thought to myself.

These two guys helped get Siya in the car, I kept checking his pulse
to see if he was still alive. Francis drove while Chris and l sat at the
back with Siya on our laps. One of the guys who had helped us get
him in the car came with us, he was at the front with Francis. I kept
shouting to Francis to go faster, he seemed to be going slower than a
snail. "Please don't let him die Lord", l kept saying. We got to the
hospital and Francis dashed out to get someone over to help;
hehhhhh, you should have been there. The way they took their time!
One of the paramedics who was sitting in an ambulance parked
outside came over and had a look at Siya. Then modelled back to call
someone else who came like a hundred years later with a wheelchair.
When he got to us, he decided it was better to get a stretcher, so he
too walked as if he had blisters under his feet all the way to the
ambulance and took another 100years to come back. I was more
nervous then than l was on the way. Umuntu aze afe phambi
kwesbhedlela shuwa. I was fuming, l wanted to strangle them
kancane ngibamcitshe umoya, maybe they will have a rough idea of
what it's like to fight for your life. Mnxx. They finally brought the
stretcher and get this, they told US to get him on the stretcher. I don't
know if it was because they didn't want to get blood on their uniforms
or they were just terrible human beings, but I hated them right then.
We got him on the stretcher and I didn't ask them if they wanted us to
push him inside, l just did cos l knew that every second wasted
waiting for those idiots to do their job could cost my husband his life. I
pushed him for about two seconds then one of them said "Hawu sis,
you want to do our job for us?". Hehhh, can you imagine? He took
over and told one of the nurses to hit the emergency buzzer as soon
as he got in. We we following them behind, then a doctor came over
with 3 nurses and took over from him. They quickly took him to theatre
and told us to wait outside." At last people who know how to do their
job", l thought aloud.

My top was completely covered in blood, l was covered in blood, so

was Chris. I went over to the toilet to was my hands. I was washing
the blood off my hands thinking this is my husband's blood and l broke
down. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach, it was
painful to cry. An elderly woman walked in with a mop and a bucket
whilst l was crying , she came over, hugged me and told me to cry it
out. "Konke okwenzekayo ebomini bethu, yintando kabawo wethu",
she kept saying whilst rubbing my back. She stood there hugging me
until I stopped crying. I thanked her and left. Walking back to the
waiting area l couldn't help but think if this was some sort of
punishment from God. I went to the reception to register Siya in and
pay the administration fee then joined Chris and Francis. The other
guy took a taxi and left.l was deep in my own world l forgot to ask him
his name. We all sat there in silence until Chris asked what we
thought his chances of survival were. I knew it was what we all
thinking silently, but him actually saying it out loud hit the nerve. I
couldn't imagine what my life would be like without Siya, I needed him
to survive and come back home with me. When ever l tried to imagine
life without him, l only imagined sorrow and sadness. Francis asked
me if l wanted him to call Siya's parents to let them know, I was in my
own world ngangilibele ukubafonela. I dreaded talking to Siya's mum,
so l called his father, then his uncle (babomncane) who lives
eKatlehong and his eldest sister ose Pretoria. I called Zandie, Langa,
Mike who all offered to come over to the hospital but l told them not to.
Having to explain what had happened from when l got the call to
come pick up Siya was dreadful, but you know people want to know
every detail, especially when it's shocking incidents like these.
I told Chris and Francis that they should go home, that l would keep
them posted but they refused saying they couldn't leave me there by
myself. After about 3 hours the doctor came over to talk to me. He
said they managed to stitch him up, his brain had been starved of
oxygen, so they had put him in an induced coma.

Umendo Chapter 26

Siya and his friends had suspected that a couple of guys they know
had a hand in my missing car and that they worked for Lumkile. So
that evening, Francis called Siya telling him that those guys made a
snide remark about how their business was going down. They
suspicions were raised, so they confronted them. The confrontation
heightened when one of them said "Sowhat if we took the car? There
is nothing you can do about it!". Siya lost it, things got out of hand and
they stabbed him. That's what Francis and Chris told me. I had had
enough with that woman so I called her

Lumkile: So Siyabonga is still asking you to run his life? Even where
his son is concerned ?
Sme: You heartless witch, is it all worth it? Will you sleep like a baby
when you have killed my husband?
Lumkile: Yeyeni bantu! Ukhuluma ngani?
Sme: Don't act all surprised Lumkile, after you took their driving
school car, you sent otsotsi bakho to murder my husband, now he is
fighting for his life in a coma.
Lumkile: What?
Sme: Don't what me, you will get what's coming to you. And you better
kneel down and pray with everything you have that my husband
survives because if he doesn't, l will rain fire on you, mthakathi ndini
mnxxx! (And l hung up)
She called me about a dozen times, but I ignored her. Around 2am,
the doctor told me that l could go see my husband, but l was not
allowed to stay long. Seeing him lying there with tubes all over him
killed me. I asked the doctor how long he thought Siya would stay in a
coma. He explained that he couldn't be sure at that stage, he told me
that it was going to depend on how his body responds and that they
may have an idea after two or three days. Chris and Francis took me
back home because I was scared of driving by myself in the middle of
the night. It felt so empty and lonely at home without Siya. I took a
shower and went to sleep. I decided that l was going to fast and pray
for 3 days for my husband's recovery. I fell asleep crying that night. I
was woken up by a call around 7am, l jumped, quickly answered
without checking who it was. I thought that it was the hospital, my
heart was beating out of control. It was Zandie, she wanted me to
open the door for her. She embraced me and l cried some more. She
said that she had come to take me to her house because she didn't
want me being alone at a time like this. I told her that I was going to
be fine, and that I wanted to fast, so l couldn't be around distractions.
She told me that she was going to join me in fasting and that she
wasn't leaving without me, so l ended up packing a few things and
going with her. I dropped off my car at a car wash because there was
blood at the back seat. I got a call around noon when we getting ready
to go to the hospital, from Siya's mother letting me know that she and
ubab'uNkomo were coming over the following day to see their son.
That meant that l would have to go back home. I just prayed that
Siya's mother would behave like an adult and not make things any
worse than they already were. My parents called as well asking if they
could come over, but l declined and told them Siya's parents were
coming. We went to visit Siya and he was pretty much the same and l
was disappointed, l think subconsciously I had expected a bit of
change from him. His sister and uncles arrived whilst we were there.
All their words of comfort that were supposed to make me stronger
but they made me more emotional. It's like when you have lost
someone very close to your heart, when people try to comfort you, all
that does is make you cry.
After visiting Siya, I went over to my workplace to get some work so
that I could work from home. Mike and l were going to conference call
everyday for briefing and anything else we needed to discuss. Thank
heavens for technology. The following day l woke up early and went
for a jog to clear up my head and it helped to a certain point. When I
came back Zandie met me at the door and asked me to sit down. My
knees went weak, I suddenly couldn't breathe, I started blaming
myself for not taking my phone with me, my palms were sweating.

Zandie: Mfazie, calm down

Sme: Please don't tell me Siya had passed away
Zandie: No, mfazi, you received a call from UBongiwe ( Siya's
youngest sister)
Sme: Yini? Uthi basendleleni omama?
Zandie: No, unfortunately they can't make it anymore ngoba ubaba
kaSiya had a stroke this morning, bamthwalele esbhedlela.
Sme: Oh no Zandie, ngizomtshela ngithini uSiyabonga bantu. Maye
nkosi yami!Let me call them
I called Siya's mum who wasn't picking up, so l called Bongiwe who
told me that they had been packing to leave for SA when
ubab'uNkomo had a stroke. His right hand side had been paralysed
and his speech was slurred. I guess it true that when it rains it pours.
We knelt down and prayed for both Siya and his father's recovery.
Siya was still the same as he was the day before, l held his hand and
told him to wake up because we all needed him. I didn't know if he
could hear me or not, but l told him about how lonely l was without him
and how much l loved him. Later that day l received a call from
Francis telling me that they had gotten their driving school car back.
Some much needed good news. I didn't want to call Lumki or Nicole to
ask how the baby was and to ask the baby's sex, so l called Sharon to
see if she knew anything about the bay. She told me that she hadn't
been to see the baby, but she had seen a picture that Nicole had
posted on FB. She told me that the baby was an exact replica of his
father and that Nicole had named him Juniour. I had a call waiting
from Siya's mother whilst l was still talking to Sharon, so l dropped her
call and answered umamazala
Sme: Yebo mama linjani?
MaMoyo: Unjani umntanami?
Sme: Nothing has changed, he is still in a coma
MaMoyo: Bathi uzovuka nini odokotela ?
Sme: Bathi it depends on how fast his body heals
MaMoyo: Uqinile umntanami, uzovuka
Sme: That's what we are all hoping for
MaMoyo: Umama womntanakhe umazisile ngesimo akuso uSiya?
Sme: Hayi, umamakhe uyazi. It all happened when she was in labour
MaMoyo: Hawu, ubelethile?
Sme: Yebo, umntwana ongumfana
MaMoyo: Kanti manje awusazisi ngani into engako?
Sme: Ngilibele mama, izinto zisuke zangandela
MaMoyo: Habeeeee, unjani kanti wena mthethwakho? Ulenhliziyo
embi mntakaDube, uthi pho ayisuwe ogwazise umntanami ufuna
ukumbulalisa umbulalela umntwana lo osifihlela yena.Umkami ulele
esbhedlela ushaywe yi stroke ngendaba yestress somntanakhe
ogulela ukufa, wena uhleli mnandi udla imali yakhe. Hehhhhh,
Imihlola kaMoyo ukhokho olele emathuneni!

Umendo Chapter 27

I know grief makes people very emotional, but Siya's mother was way
out of line. I hung up on her and cried, I seemed to be doing that a lot
lately. It was hard dealing with what had happened to Siya, seeing
him lying there helplessly killed me inside everytime l saw him, his
father was also lying in a hospital bed, l also had to deal with Lumki
and Nicole, now l had the added stress of MaMoyo accusing me of
wanting to kill my own husband, in turn causing her husband a stroke.
The way she put it was like l wanted Siya dead so l could spend his
money. But what she didn't know was that l earned more than Siya,
way more than Siya and l would survive just fine without a cent from
him. Siya knew that l earned a bit more than him, but not that much. I
had decided not to tell him exactly how much l earned because I could
tell how uncomfortable he always seemed whenever we went out and
I offered to pay before we got married. So to keep his ego intact, l told
him a lower amount which was much closer to how much he made,
and l saved the difference into my own account for a rainy day. You
may think that l am very selfish, but l have seen women struggle in
their marriages but bahlale because they cannot afford to not be with
their husbands, l always thought that if we had a child and my
husband started ukungigilela imikhuba as most men do after having a
child, then l would be able to leave and use my savings to see me and
my baby through until l got back to work. So my reasons were that,
plus l didn't want to bruise his ego. Let's face it, most men wouldn't be
comfortable with their wives earning more than them. I don't know why
that is, but ask any guy you know if they would be comfortable with
being in a relationship with a woman who earns more than them. I
think it's got something to do with power and intimidation.

Siya's mother had riled me up, I couldn't concentrate on anything, on

top of that Sharon had told me that Nicole's baby looked exactly like
Siya, so l guess he wouldn't need a partenity test after all. So now it
was official that we were stuck with Nicole and her mother for the rest
of our lives, whether we liked it or not. The police asked me for a
statement, l told them what l saw, l didn't mention my suspicion about
Lumile because l was scared she was going to sneak in and finish off
my husband. There was no telling what that woman could do. Francis
and Chris also gave their statements which resulted in five guys being
arrested. That made me feel a little better. Two more days had gone
by and there was not much difference in Siya, but his father had made
a slight recovery. Siya's mother called asking for Nicole's number so
she could congratulate her and ask for her grandson's photos. When
she called, l thought that she was calling to apologise for the things
she had said to me, but alas, she asked, no, she demanded that l
send her the number so they could communicate between themselves
since l was making it my point to keep them apart. (Clap once)
A few days later the doctor told me that Siya was getting better and
they were going to start cutting down on the anaesthetic to bring him
out of the coma. I cried! Those were the best news l had received in a
long time. Nothing mattered to me more than having Siya back, his
mother's insults, Nicole, Lumkile, the baby, l was sure we could deal
with anything together. I just wanted my Siya back. The way l was
walking around that day, you could have sworn l had won the lottery. I
was more positive than ever. God was answering my prayers! Later
that night when we were watching TV with Zandie, l received a call
from Sharon
Sme: Sorry sisi, l forgot to call you back that day. It's just that l have
too much on my plate at the moment
Sharon: No it's cool, l understand
Sme: How have you been?
Sharon: l'm alright, no complaints, l can't imagine what you are going
through though with uma kaSiya wanting to meet Nicole's baby
Sme: It's her right l suppose, she has wanted a baby from Siya for a
very long time. Did Nicole tell you that she called her?
Sharon: No, she called whilst l was over at their house. I had gone to
see the baby for myself because everyone was talking about how he
looks exactly like the baby's daddy
Sme: Hold on a minute, everyone? Who is everyone? Did Siya meet
with Nicole's whole family?
Sharon: No, why do you keep saying Siya? Nicole's baby looks like
Mapetla. Mapetla is Lumkile's makhwapheni who happens to be
married and also happens to be the Senior Traffic Officer!

Umendo Chapter 28

Bathi okulempondo akufihlwa emgodlweni; loosely translated, you

cannot hide something that has horns in a sack, because eventually,
the horns will poke their way out of the sack for everyone to see.
Nicole and her mother had been hiding horns in a sack, and the horns
were finally coming out. Imagine how l felt at that moment. It was a
mixture of joy, anger, frustration and sadness. Joy because the
witches couldn't bother us anymore, anger because they had caused
us so much grief for someone else's child, and sadness because l felt
sorry for my husband. I knew how badly he wanted a baby, it was
going to be hard and sad for him to wake up from a coma and be told
that his father had stroke and he wasn't a father. I hoped and prayed
that his father gets better before he fully wakes up so that there would
be some good news to tell him.

Sharon told me that Nicole had been sleeping with her mother's side
dish but her mother didn't know about it. She thought that she was the
only one Mapetla was seeing besides his wife. Apparently Mapetla
used to visit Nicole whilst Lumkile was at work. So whilst she was
busy blackmailing people and taking bribes, her own daughter was
doing her side dish. Talk about karma. Heheh, tjo! So when Nicole
found out she was pregnant, they decided that she finds a boyfriend
fast abambise the unsuspecting fool. That unsuspecting fool
happened to be my husband. Sharon told me that it annoyed her
whenever Nicole demanded money from us because she used to
boast that she was going to hang us and leave us dry, and she was
blackmailing Mapetla for money as well. She threatened to tell her
mother and his wife if he refused to give her the money she wanted.
"Oh well, no surprise there, she learnt from the best", l said to Sharon.
Sharon said that what was funny though was how Lumkile was blind
to all of this, she hadn't noticed the similarities between "Junior" and
Mapetla, so as far as Lumkile was concerned, Siya was still the father,
and Nicole realising that umama wakhe usemnyameni, she continued
to go along with the stupid charade. Isn't it funny how the person who
is cheated on is always the last to find out! It was time someone woke
Lumkile from her fairy tale where everything worked in her favour.
That person was going to be me. I asked Sharon to send me Junior's
photo and Mapetla's if she had it. I was going to call Lumki to arrange
a meeting to discuss Juniour's maintenance.

Sharon sent me a photo of Juniour and another one of Mapetla,

Heheheheheheheeeeeeee, the way they looked alike was uncanny!
How could Lumkile not see this? Or maybe she saw it, but chose to
not believe it or she was blinded by love so much she couldn't see it? I
showed Zandie the two photos without mentioning who they were and
it didn't take her two seconds to see that it was father and son. I told
Zandie about my plan to meet up with Lumkile and she said she
wasn't missing it for the world because she wanted to see the look in
her face when l told her. I went to visit my husband the following day
and the most amazing thing happened. Whilst I was holding his hand
praying for him, he squeezed my hand. I opened my eyes thinking
that l was dreaming, he slightly opened his eyes and softly squeezed
my hand again. I called for the nurse crying, I was overjoyed. I cannot
describe exactly what I felt that day. They told me that he was doing
much better, so they were going to stop the anaesthetic altogether. So
if everything went well, he would be fully awake in three days. We
went to meet Lumkile after my visit at the hospital, l was so happy
nothing could have dampened my mood, not even Siya's mum or
Lumkile and her daughter
Lumkile: Wa smiler kangaka, uwine iLotto?
Sme: No, not really, but it feels like it
Lumkile: Shame, it would have reduce the burden of Juniour's child
support, children are expensive. Not that you would know.
Zandile: Heyi mthakathi, watch your mouth
Sme: Nah it's alright, you cannot kill my vibe today Lumkile
Lumkile: So, how much are you going to be paying Junior? And when
is Siya going to pay Lobola and the damages? I hope he knows that
he won't see his baby until he pays
Sme: First of all, how do you expect my husband to pay anything
when he is not working lying in hospital where you put him, don't even
try to deny it. You are going to pay for what you did to my husband,
your day is coming
Lumkile: Angazi ukhuluma ngani mina
Sme: Keep pretending.Secondly; l want every penny you got when
you sold my car, oh wait, you could have sold it for nothing seeing as
you never worked hard for it, so l want R165 000 for my car. On top of
that, you will pay R5 000 for taking my husband's driving school car
away for two days, you lost their business money and lost them a
couple of customers. Then depending on how long it takes my
husband to get better and go back to work, you will pay us for for the
distress you have caused his family and the money he could have
been making working.We shall discuss that amount when he comes
back home. I am giving you exactly two weeks to find that money and
pay it in full. It shouldn't be that hard for you since you go around
taking people's cars for 'investigations' that do not exist
Zandie: Two weeks mfazi, you are going way too easy on her, you
should have said three days, she never stopped to think of how much
pain she was causing you when she did all those things to you. In fact
she should also pay for the damages Nicole caused when she flooded
your house! Mnxx
Lumkile: You have no evidence of anything you are accusing me of.
You won't be getting a cent from me.
Sme: Usadlala ngiyakubona! Third of all, my husband is not paying a
penny for 'Junior', in fact you will pay us back the R4 000 we paid
Nicole for the baby's preparation because my husband is NOT the
father of your grandson.
Lumkile: So you called me here to tell me that you won't be paying
child support? I will have fun taking your husband to court for child
support.
(I took out my phone and showed her the photos of Juniuor and
Mapetla)
Sme: That is who you should be asking child support from. Not only
will l expose you for the corrupt cop you are, but l will also expose you
for the home wrecker that you are together lesfebe esingumntanakho.
If you don't get arrested for everything you have done, l will go to the
newspapers and talk to anyone who listens to me. And don't even try
getting your puppets to harm me in any way because my lawyer
knows everything, we are coming after you and you won't get away
with this one!
(You should have seen the look in her face, she was boiling she could
have cracked my phone squeezing it looking at the photos of her
grandson and her side dish)
Zandie: Game over magogo. Okungapheliyo kuyahlola
Sme: Last but not least, you will leave me, my husband and anyone
who is associated to us alone. If you so much as come anywhere near
us, you will wish you had never set eyes on me!

Umendo Chapter 29

Lumki stood up and left without another word with tears filled in her
eyes. She was nearly running as she left the restaurant. I felt a little
lighter, now l could focus all my energy on things that really matter. I
moved back home and went back to work. I spoke to my lawyer who
was representing Siya against the guys who stabbed him. He told me
that they were not going to mention any involvement with Lumkile,
and that they were going to be tried for stabbing him only because
there was not enough evidence that tied them to the theft of my car.
The trial was set to start in a fortnight.

I was coming from work one evening when Zodwa, one of my

neighbours came over to talk to me. It was a bit awkward because we
only ever had small talk about the weather and how the world is
changing whenever we bumped into each other. She asked if she
could come in for a little talk and l invited her in.
Zodwa: The things we have to put up with as women, shame, l can
imagine what you are going through.
(In my head l was trying to figure out how she could have found out
about my husband being in hospital because l had never told anyone
around the complex about it)
Sme: Yeah, it's not easy khona
Zodwa: l am here to let you know that there is nothing to be ashamed
of, you are not the first woman to be cheated on.
Sme: Oh..ok (puzzled)
Zodwa: My ex husband impregnanted a teenager as well and left me
and our two children to live with the girl who broke our marriage. I was
raised a Christian and my faith was tested the most at that time. I was
very angry and bitter and l contemplated suicide. Suddenly my
husband stopped caring about me and our children, he never called
nor visited. I would call begging him to come back home, but he would
insult me and tell me to leave him alone to be with his new family.
Sometimes he would even put his makhwapheni on the phone when l
called so she could insult me. I was depressed , l stopped working. It
broke my heart everytime my children asked me where their father
was and when he was coming back home. We had to move into a one
room because l couldn't afford anything, he wasn't paying child
support or anything. Eventually l gathered the strength and went back
to work. Slowly but surely l began to heal, when my children saw me
happy, they too were happy. That's what kept me going most of the
time, things got better and l accepted that everything happens for a
reason. After a year, my ex husband came crawling back begging me
to take him back, l guess the grass wasn't greener on the other side
as he thought. I forgave him but l didn't take him back because l knew
that l derseved much better than him, so did my children. I guess what
l'm trying to say to you is that, l know you are hurting right now that
your husband left you for the girl he impregnanted.
Sme: Ermmm, my hus....
(She came closer and held my hand)
Zodwa: It gets better with time, you won't always feel like this. You are
a very beautiful woman and you are still young, most man will kill to
be with you.
Sme: But ...
Zodwa: I want you to know that l am here if you want someone to talk
to because l understand exactly what you are going through. Here are
my phone numbers (she handed me a piece of paper)
Sme: Thank you very much Zodwa but my husband has not left me
Zodwa: I understand that you may still be in denial just like l was when
my husband left me. But trust me, the sooner you accept it, the better
because then you can begin to deal with the emotions that come with
it all
Sme: What makes you think my husband left me?
Zodwa: I saw people come to remove furniture after umakhwapheni
wakhe showed up here pregnant and l've not seen him for a while. It's
all for the best believe me, and once he starts physically abusing you,
there is no going back, the abuse never stops
Sme: Oh nkosi yam, Lindo told you all of this?
Zodwa: lt doesn't matter who told me, we are just worried about you?
Sme: We? Who is we?
Zodwa: Me and a few ladies ecomplexini, so we decided that l should
come talk to you since l have been through what you are going
through
Sme: Ok Zodwa, l appreciate your concern about my marriage, but
things are not the way they seem. My husband does not physically
abuse me and he has not left me for anyone, he has gone away for a
little while and will be back home soon.
Zodwa: Ok then, if you say so. You have my number if you need to
talk
Sme: Ok, thank you
(She peaked into my kitchen as she was leaving)
My neighbours were starting to annoy me, and Lindo, hayyi, l had no
words for him. I had serious issues to deal with, so l put that at the
back of my head.

I received a call from Nicole that night before l went to sleep, she was
asking me to help her with a place to live because her mother had
thrown her out and she had nowhere to go. I hung up on her, but she
called me again begging me to hear her out. She told me that she had
been staying at her aunt's house for the past few days but they
weren't getting on, so her aunt told her to look for some place else to
live. I asked her why she hadn't asked Mapetla, she explained to me
that he had gone AWOL ever since Lumkile found out about them and
confronted him. Mapetla told both of them to stay away from him
because they were causing friction between him and his wife, so he
wanted to work things out with his wife and wanted nothing more to do
with them. Lumkile was scared of losing her job, so she didn't want to
push the issue any further. Was this a test from God?

Umendo Chapter 30
As a Christian l am supposed to forgive those who do me wrong as
The Lord has already forgiven me for all my sins. Here was Nicole
calling me and asking me to forgive her and help her out. I knew that
the Christian thing was to help her, but she and her mother had put
me through so much. I asked her if ther wasn't any other relative she
could move in with and she told me that she didn't have many
relatives, and her aunt was the only relative who lived around, as for
her friends they all stayed at home with their parents, so none of them
could help her. In the end l told her l was going to sleep on it and get
back to her the following day. I couldn't sleep that night, l was thinking
of a week old baby in the streets sleeping rough, crying day and night
because mother cannot produce milk since she has not eaten all day.
I called my cousin Nokuthaba and asked her if she knew a vacant
space around. She told me l was crazy for wanting to help this girl
after everything but said that she knew me, so she wasn't surprised l
was doing this. She told me that there was a space in a flat opposite
to hers in Berea for R500. She called to find out if they allowed
children. They did, so l called Nicole and told her about the place. She
thanked me profusely but told me that she only had R700 in her
name, her clothes and her baby's stuff. I told her that the most
important thing was a roof over her head, which she had for now.

Langa and l went to visit Siya during lunch time the next day. He was
breathing by himself but he was asleep when we got there. I asked
Langa to go with me to Nicole's new place. The woman who open the
main door for us asked which one of us was Nicole's sister? Langa
and l looked at each other confused. She introduced herself as
umastanda and explained to us that she was asking because Nicole
told her that it was her sister who had found her the space and she
was going to stop over to visit her. Whilst she was talking to us, Nicole
came over and introduced me as her sister kumastanda. I didn't want
to seem rude, so l just kept quiet. Langa's eye though. She took us to
her space, It was a living room that had been divided into two by
curtains. Her baby was sleeping on the floor. She gave us her two
bags to sit on and she sat on her suitcase. She looked broken and
vulnerable, her eyes were swollen and red.
Nicole: l would offer you drinks but l don't have glasses nor the drinks
Sme: No, it's fine. We brought you some fruits, here (l handed her a
plastic bag filled with fruits)
Nicole: Thank you very much
Sme: Have you tried asking your aunt to talk to your mother?
Nicole: She did, but my mom won't hear any of it. She won't take any
of my calls, or reply any of my messages
Langa: How do we know this isn't a set up that you and your mother
have planned, to destroy Meme again? ( Langa tends to think aloud)
Nicole: l understand your reasons for thinking that way, but l swear l
am not lying about any of this, ungixoshile ngempela uma wami, and
akafuni nex ngam.
Sme: How about your father?
Nicole: Angimazi, l have never met him and my mom never talks
about him. I once overhead my aunt telling her friend that my father
was a married man when my mom had an affair with him. She had to
drop out of school because she got pregnant and had me, my father
denied he ever slept with her and told her that he wanted nothing to
do with her. She went to have an abortion but they told her it was too
late because she was five months pregnant by then.
Langa: Like mother, like daughter
Sme: Ah Langa
( Nicole started crying softly)
Langa: (Hands her a tissue) Utoba strong
Sme: So, do you have any blankets and toiletries?
Nicole: (sniffling) No, l have R150 left because l have paid my rent
and l used R50 for transport and pampers. (Etsho eyikhupha
eskhwameni)
Langa: (Shakes her head) What happened to the money you swindled
from Meme and your baby's father?
Nicole: l spent it all on Junior's preparation
Sme: And the car you were driving the day you flooded my house?
Nicole: (Taken by surprise, then sighs deeply) My mom sold it
because your security guard had seen it, so she said if you saw me
driving it, you could use is as evidence against me. She was in the
process to buy me another one when she found out about me and
Mapetla
Sme: Do you realise that l could get you and your mother arrested
right now?
Nicole: l do, and l am so sorry for the pain l have caused you. I got too
caught up in trying to hide my affair with Mapetla from my mother. I
was desperate, and didn't care who l hurt, but l realise now that l was
wrong. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me some day. I
really do
Sme: We are going to buy you a couple of blankets and will be back in
a short while.

We went eYoeville to buy buy some pampers, food basics, a cheap

bed, bedding, cutlery, a couple of plates, cups and amabhodo.
Whenever l picked up something, Langa will put it down and look for a
cheaper alternative. The bed arrived just as we did. Nicole wouldn't
stop crying and thanking me as we were taking the groceries inside. I
gave her R300 and told her to apply for a child grant from the
government. We left her making the bed. I got a call from Zandie
when we got back to work, she was checking up on me. We had a
long chat, but l did not mention anything about helping Nicole because
l knew she would go ballistic if she knew. So l was saving that talk for
another day. I received two text messages whilst l was on the phone
with Zandie. One was from my bank telling me that my account had
been deposited with R90 000. The other message was from Lumkile
asking me to be patient with her whilst she was working on getting the
rest of my money. I had to log into my online banking to see if there
hadn't been a mistake, and there is was. R90 000 from L. Mbatha.
Great for evidence that she indeed stole my car, l took a screenshot of
the text message and sent it to Zandie. When l got home that evening,
Lindo waved at me, but l just drove off. I saw him on the rear view
mirror following behind me, but l ignored him. I didn't want to give him
the chance to make up another lie and spread it around the complex.
Phela Lindo will take out anything from a simple conversation and
make something huge out of it. There at our front door l saw someone
sitting outside with a small suitcase
Umendo Chapter 31

I guess Lindo wanted to tell me l had a visitor. It was my mother in

law! Yeyi bantu, who in this day and age just turns up to someone's
door without warning, what if l was sleeping over at Zandie's or
something? What are phones for kanti? I took a deep breath, got out
the car and greeted her
Sme: Sabona mama, linjani
MaMoyo: Sabona makoti,vele yiso iskhathi ongena ngaso endlini lesi
even umntanami ekhona? Translated>( Is this the time you come
home even when my son is around?)
Sme: (l took her suitcase) Please come in. Yebo mama, l usually get
home around 6, if l'm early l get here around 5pm
MaMoyo: (She sits on the sofa whilst l take her suitcase to the spare
room) Pho, ubusumphekela nini umkakho? Translated> (So when do
you cook for your husband?)
Sme: When l get home
MaMoyo: By the time you finish cooking uyabe eselele phela, no
wonder ewondile umntanami
Sme: (Sigh) Can l make you a cup of tea ngisalungisa ukudla?
MaMoyo: Ngikhathele, kudala ngisendleleni. I cannot wait for you to
cook a proper meal.
Sme: l am sorry, had known that you were coming over, l would have
come home early to cook for you, then picked you up.
MaMoyo: In other words uzama ukuthi l should have asked your
permission to visit endlini yomntanami?
Sme: No mama, you are welcome at our home, l'm just saying, had l
known you were coming, l would have been better prepared for you.
Usenjani ubab'uNkomo ?
MaMoyo: He gets better everyday, he is back home. I left him in the
good hands of u aunt and Bobo. God is great, uyayiphendula eyami
imithandazo, that's why l came over to pray for umntanami holding his
hands.
Sme: That's great news, makaphile, sisamdinga empilweni zethu
MaMoyo: Borrow me your phone so l can call ekhaya ngizwe ukuba
basele njani
Sme: (l handed her my phone) I'll quickly drive to the garage to get
more airtime cos l don't have much left, would you like anything from
the shops?
MaMoyo: SIM card le airtime.
Sme: Kulungile
I made her a cup of tea, took out some frying steak and left it to thaw
in boiling water.
When l came back, l found her speaking to her daughter who lives in
Pretoria, telling her to come over so they could visit Siya together. I
quickly fried the steak and cooked pap and vegetables. We ate in
silence, l didn't know what to say to her because l felt that anything
that came out of my mouth was wrong as far as she was concerned.
Sme: Shall l pick you up tomorrow around 12:30pm when l'm going to
visit uSiya?
MaMoyo: Yebo, you can pick up uBuhle (Siya's sister in Pretoria)
along the way
Sme: From Pretoria?
MaMoyo: Yes, is there a problem?
Sme: Yes, Pretoria is quite far from here, and l only have an hour and
half from work. So l 'm afraid she will have to make her own way
MaMoyo: (Claps once) Heh, ukudubeka lokhu mntakaMoyo yisono.
Angithi nga uleyakho nga uyazidrayivela uyethatha umntanakho.
Loosely translated, being poor is a sin, if l had my own car, l would
have driven to pick up my daughter.
Sme: (deep sigh) So, should l come and pick you up
MaMoyo: Yebo, kulungile

I washed up and we went to sleep. I made her breakfast before l left

for work and told her to call me if she needs anything. I received a call
from Buhle before l arrived at work telling me not to worry about
picking her up, she was going to make her own way there. Just before
lunch l received a message from Nicole telling me that my mother in
law is asking to see her grandson and she doesn't know what to say
to her because she never told her that Junior is not her grandson. She
was asking me to help and tell umamazala the truth. I decided to tell
uBuhle, l thought it was going to sound better coming from her. We
met up at the hospital around noon. Siya was awake when we arrived.
He was weak, but he smiled and tried to talk, but trying to talk left me
breathless, so l told him that it was ok, he didn't have to, we were all
just happy to see him making so much progress. I got up to go to the
toilet and signalled Buhle to follow me. I told her what was going on
and asked her to tell uMaMoyo about Junior. She agreed and told me
she understood. We went to have lunch after visiting Siya.
Buhle: Mama
MaMoyo: Yebo mntanami
Buhle: I know how much you wanted a child from Siya
MaMoyo: Yebo mntanami, isn't The Lord great. He always answers!
Buhle: Yes he is, but the baby is not Siya's mama
MaMoyo: Ini? Did she put you up to this (pointing at me)
Buhle: No mama, she did not put me up to anything, the baby simply
isn't his
MaMoyo: Utsho ngani?
Buhle: Nicole, the baby's mother said so
MaMoyo: how come akangtshelanga mina? I came all the way here to
see my son and my grandson
Buhle: She didn't know how to tell you.
MaMoyo: Oh Nkosi yami, my son will be sad to hear that. Ukudana
kwabanye yinjabulo yabanye. I'm sure you were happy to hear that
(looking at me)
Buhle: Ah mama, don't be like that. To be honest, l was happy to hear
that cos Nicole and her mother are nothing but trouble. They are the
reason uSiya is lying there
MaMoyo: How come?
(Buhle explained the whole story to her mother)
MaMoyo: Tjo tjo tjo, (clapping at the same time). Mayeeee Nkosi
yami. Yhooooo, abathakathi laba bafuna ukungibulalela umntanami!
Buhle: Don't you think you owe umakoti an apology mama?
MaMoyo: For ini? I will not apologise for wanting a grandson from my
only son. Kulicala na ukuthi ngibe lesfiso sokuthi ngife sengibambe
umzukulu ovela kuSiyabonga? If it wasn't this little witch Nicole, it was
going to be someone else. When he gets better, we will have to
organise a meeting with both families athole omunye umfazi olenzalo
umntanami. Kanti nguye owabulala bani ukuthi uzakufa
engelamntwana. Wake wakuzwa ngaphi wena khonokho?

Umendo Chapter 32

Desperation causes people to be selfish l tell you. Buhle tried to make

her mother see that she was way out of line, but uMaMoyo was
adamant. She wanted a grandchild from my husband and she was
going to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. I asked Buhle to
come stay over at my house because l couldn't stand being alone with
uMaMoyo in the house, but l didn't tell her that part obviously. It was a
Friday so she wouldn't have to go to work because she always had
the weekends off. After a lot of begging she agreed to stay for the
weekend. So l dropped them off at home before l drove back to work.
Buhle had prepared super when l arrived home in the evening. Her
being there reduced the awkwardness between me and MaMoyo. We
had visitors coming in and out the whole weekends to see
umamazala, l did not mind having them over, l just wished she would
tell me in advance so that l could prepare meals that were enough for
everyone. I spent the whole weekend cooking and washing up. On
Sunday evening uMaMoyo received a call from ekhaya saying that
ubab'uNkomo is not looking good, she needs to come back
immidiately. She was reluctant to go. l told her that Siya was doing
much better and that she should go and be with her husband because
if anything was to happen, God forbid, she would beat herself up for
the rest of her life. Tjoooo, ngabe sengiluthezile olulenkume!
MaMoyo: Usungixotsha endlini yomntanami? Translated> You are
chucking me out of my son's house?
Sme: No mama, l am just saying if something happens to
ubab'uNkomo, you will regret not being there by his side
MaMoyo: Who are you to tell me what will happen to my husband?
Are you prophet now?
Sme: No, l just...
MaMoyo: Ngimdala ngingaka, Ngimdala lakunyoko. I don't need
usana olunga ngawe telling me what to do. I will go when l'm ready,
my husband will survive. There is nothing stronger than prayer
Sme: Ok, uxolo, l was just concerned that's all
MaMoyo: Concern yourself with other meaningful things, like giving
my son a child

Whilst at work the following day l got a call from Bongiwe, she
sounded sad and worried. She told me that ubab'uNkomo was getting
worse and he was asking to speak to Siya. I told her l was going to
call as soon as l got to the hospital. I tried to call MaMoyo but she
wasn't picking up my calls. I went home and she wasn't there but her
suitcase was still there. I called Buhle to ask her if they were together
by any chance, but she told me that she last saw her on Sunday
before she left for Pretoria. I told her about her father's deteriorating
state, she told me that she was trying to get some time off work to go
ekhaya on Thursday, then come back on a Sunday. I went to the
hospital and l found uMaMoyo there. I told her about Bongiwe's call
but she brushed it off and said that they were over exaggerating the
situation, she had spoken to her husband and he sounded 'fine'.
When she was about to leave, l offered to drop her off at home but
she refused and told me that she got to the hospital by herself, so she
could get back home by herself as well. Siya was asleep, but l stayed
there, hoping he would wake up before l left. I missed him so much, l
just wanted to hug him and his warmth on my body. Bongiwe called
whilst l was still at the hospital
Bongiwe: Ubaba ukhalela ukukhuluma lo Siya. Translated> Father is
desperate to speak to Siya
Sme: Ulele uSiya, let me try and wake him up
(Bongiwe handed ubab'uNkomo the phone before l could wake up
Siya, l think he assumed he was on the other end, so he started
speaking. He sounded very weak and his speech was a bit slurred)
Bab'uNkomo: Mntanami, ngiyagula. Translated > My son l am very
poorly. (He took a deep breath) l decided to record the call so Siya
could listen to it when he woke up.
I did everything l could for you and your sisters, being a parent is not
easy. But l hope you learnt a thing or two from your old man. Being a
man doesn't mean having children all over the world, any man can
have children. Indoda eqotho, yindoda elesithunzi, indoda
ehloniphekayo. Kodwa ukuze ubelesthunzi, kufanele uhloniphe
abantu ukuze bakuhloniphe lawe. Kuqala ngomkakho, ma
ungamhloniphi umakoti, ngeke kumthokozise lokho. Ma umakoti
engelayo intokozo, soze kubelokuthula endlini. But if your wife is
happy, then she will do everything she can to make you happy as
well. Problems will always be there ngoba we are different as people,
ngakho ke we are bound to not see things in the same light. But
whatever problem you have, you should sit down with your wife and
discuss it, no amount of women out there will sort out the problem for
you, instead they will cause more problems between you and your
wife. And remember to think about how you would feel if the tables
were turned before you do anything you know will affect omunye
wakho. Ngiyalithanda bantwabami, l wish you nothing but happiness
empilweni zenu. Let me say goodbye ku makoti.
Sme: Ulele uSiya baba, but l recorded you so that he can listen when
he wakes up
Bab'uNkomo: Kulungile mntanami. You have a good heart mntanami,
l know just how blessed uSiya is to have you in his life. Please don't
give up on him, l know my son, he will be a lost cause without you.
What he did was stupid, but l'm sure he regrets it
(He was now sounding breathless)
Sme: I heard you baba, angisoze ngimshiye uSiya. Thank you very
much for your support, it means so much to me. You should rest now,
l will call you tomorrow to check up on you.
Bab'uNkomo: Kulungile mntanami, lisale kuhle. Libambane ngaso
sonke iskhathi, you can conquer everything if you are united.

I went back to work in deep thoughts, l prayed for ubab'uNkomo to get

better. Siya had so much respect for his father and he doted on him. I
daren't think about how shattered he would be if he were to lose him.
Buhle called to ask if she could come and sleep over at my house
because she and umamazala had decided to leave the next morning
to go back home, she had been allowed to take a few days off work.
That evening everyone was tense, l guess we were all scared of what
could happen. We all went to sleep early, l was going to take Buhle
and MaMoyo ePark Station before l left for work.

Around 4am l was woken up by people wailing, my heart beat out of

my chest. I looked at my phone and there was a message from
Bongiwe. UBab'uNkomo had passed away.

Umendo Chapter 33

The first thing that came to my mind was my husband, my poor Siya.
It broke my heart that he was lying in hospital unaware of what was
happening. I got up and went over to Buhle and mamazala. I tried to
be strong, to comfort them, but it was just too painful, l broke down. I
think l cried mostly for Siya, how was l going to tell him that he had
lost his father and he wasn't Junior's father? I made some calls to
relatives in SA to let them know about ubab'uNkomo's passing.
Everyone was distraught, ubabazala wami was a great respectable
man who was loved by everyone who knew him. A man of few words,
but whenever he opened his mouth, he spoke wisely and there was a
calming effect about him. I sympathised with uMaMoyo, she had been
nasty to me, but l imagined how she felt. Back home they only keep a
corpse at the mortuary for three days, so l booked Buhle and
umamazala onto a morning flight so they could organise the funeral.
It's an hour 45 minutes away whereas travelling by road would take
about 12hours depending on the border situation. In true MaMoyo
fashion, she told me, she didn't ask, she told me to book two of Siya's
uncles on the same flight as them. Buhle and l looked at her at the
same time with that look that says "are you being serious?". Even in
mourning, umamazala wami still managed to make my life a tad
harder. Whilst we were still looking at her silently hoping she would
say something else like, "oh, never mind, they will get on the bus and
arrive in time for the funeral", she said "you can use my son's money, l
know he wouldn't mind", then she started sniffling. I booked the uncles
onto the same flight, what could l have done, argue with a woman
mourning her husband? Thank goodness they insisted on making
their own way to the airport. Buhle told me that ubab'uNkomo had a
burial society and a funeral policy, so most things would be covered
by the society and the policy pay out. When we arrived at the airport, I
handed umamazala R7 500. She held it on her open palm looking at
it, then looking at me. She didn't have to say anything, her actions
said it all, she expected more. Buhle and the uncles thanked me
profusely, but umamazala just stood there with her condescending
look. I had already spent around R10 000 on their plane tickets, was l
meant to give her more? I felt that the R7 500 was generous,
considering the burial society and the funeral policy, plus Siya had
three other sisters besides Bongiwe who work full time. A part of me
wanted to go withraw some more money to give her, another part of
me wanted to stand up for myself and not let her bully me. I knew she
wouldn't tell me off infront of the uncles, so l stood my ground. They
went to check in and l said my goodbyes, l told them that l was going
to fly in on the day of the funeral and fly back the following morning.
When l was hugging them goodbye, uMaMoyo whispered into my ear
that l should bring his son's money to help out with the funeral. I
wanted to tell her that she had spent all her son's money, but I kept
quiet of of respect of her grief. This woman was really getting me
worked up, all because she wanted a grandchild.

MaMoyo was not always like this, she had welcomed me into their
family with open arms. We used to talk over the phone and laugh as if
we had been friends forever. If l didn't contact her for a week, she
would call or text asking if everything was alright, if she had maybe
said something to offend her. She was thrilled to have a makoti, the
first one and possibly the last since she only has one son. I remember
l used to say to my friends that l was very lucky because l got on very
well with my mamazala, most of my close relatives and friends envied
our relationship. Then the jokes about her grandchildren from me and
Siya started to sound more and more serious, gradually turning into
this. Now l had become the barren woman who was standing in the
way of her son having a child, and wasting his money in the process. I
called Zandie and she agreed to meet me at the hospital, so did
Francis. I didn't know how to tell Siya about his father and the baby
not being his. I didn't know if l should tell him about both things at
once, or just the most important? He was awake and looked much
better when we arrived.
Siya: Baby, nguwe lo? Woza la my baby, woza Memela wami..
I sobbed, and hugged him. He winced in pain, l had hurt the wound on
his neck when l embraced him. I couldn't stop crying, l was happy that
Siya was looking and doing much better. It was like seeing someone
you love dearly after 10 years, you just want to embrace them and
hold onto that moment forever. Hearing him say my name made my
day, no my week and my whole month. It broke my heart that l had to
tell him the bad news about his father, what made it even worse was
that he couldn't attend the funeral. It killed me just thinking about how
much it was going to hurt him.
Sme: (l held his hand) Baby, l cannot explain just how happy l am to
hear your voice, to see you looking better everyday.
Siya: l had to hold on for you baby,for us, l had to see your beautiful
face again (He pulled my hand and kissed it with the biggest smile on
his face)
Zandie: Get a room you two
Francis: Uqinisile Zandie, hahah
Sme: I can't wait for you to come back home
Siya: Nami njalo love, ukuphi umama? Ubuyelile ekhaya? > Has my
mother gone back home?
Sme: (I looked at Zandie and Francis, the moment l was dreading)
Yes love, ubuyelile ekhaya umama, she went with Buhle and your
uncles.
Siya: Hawu, kufiwe yini?
Sme: Ubab'uNkomo had a stroke.....
Siya: What? (He tried to sit up) Nini? When did all this happen? Is that
why he didn't come with umama to visit?
Sme: Yebo love, it happened the day before they were supposed to
come visit you. He passed away namhlanje ngabo 4 ekuseni (I cried
as l told him)
Siya: No, no, no......... ( he kept saying that and shaking his head, l got
on the bed and held him)
Francis: Sokwenzakele ndoda, akwehlanga lungehlanga
>Condolences my friend
Zandie: (Crying) l am so sorry about your loss Siya, makalale
ngokuthula ubab'uNkomo
Siya: (The pain was written all over his face, but he did not shed a
tear) l have to go to my father's funeral. They have to discharge me
Sme: No Siya, you are very weak right now, you cannot travel in your
state
Siya: l cannot miss my own father's funeral, l HAVE to go
Francis: Ndoda, l understand ubuhlungu bakho, but you are not
physically strong to travel
Siya: I don't care about ukuqina, l will go in a wheelchair if l have to, l
have to bury my father
Sme: Baby, they won't discharge you, you have been in a coma for
nearly 2weeks, you are just starting to recover. Just talking is taking
all your strength, what more ukuhamba Siya
Siya: They cannot hold me against my will, l will take the next flight
Zandie: They won't allow you on the plane unje Siya
Siya: Ngizoyehluleka ngizamile
Siya wouldn't let it go, so l called the doctor who explained to him why
he had to stay at the hospital, but he wouldn't hear none of it. Since
they couldn't hold him against his will and he was an adult and sane,
he was within his rights to leave if he wanted to. So we got his
prescription, Francis held him on one side whilst l supported him on
the side and we left. I called Buhle and told her about Siya
discharging himself, she tried to talk to him, but he still refused. When
we arrived at the complex, l saw Lindo gawking at us as we were
helping Siya into the house. I made him something to eat,he refused
and said that he had no appetite. I told him that he had to eat before
he could take his medicine, but he couldn't careless, all he wanted
was for me to book tickets and be on our way to ubab'uNkomo's
funeral. He finally ate when l told him that not eating and skipping his
medication will only make him worse, and increase the chances of
him being refused to fly. Francis asked if l wanted him to stay and
help me with Siya, but l told him that was going to be fine. He left and
told me to call him anytime if l needed him to help with anything.
Whilst he was eating, l ran a bath for him. I had gone to our bedroom
to get my laptop so l could book our flight when l heard a very loud
bang and a thud. I ran out of the bedroom to see what had fallen. It
was Siya, lying in between the sofa and the coffee table bleeding from
the corner of his eye. He was unconscious.

Umendo Chapter 34
He was breathing, so l put him in the recovery position and lifted his
chin forward to open his airways. He regained consciousness when I
was trying to position him properly. He was a bit confused at first, then
he realised what had happened. The cut at the top corner of his eye
was not so bad, so he wasn't losing a lot of blood, l held a cloth onto it
whilst l called Francis tocome back. I knew that an ambulance would
take forever to come. Siya told me that he had gotten up to take the
plate back to the kitchen when everything went woozy, so he fell and
hit the corner of the coffee table with the corner of his eye, then onto
to the floor. He barely missed his eye. Francis got back in less than 15
minutes because he hadn't driven far, but it felt like l had been waiting
for hours. Siya was reluctant about going to hospital, he kept saying
that he was just a bit dizzy and would be fine, but l reminded him that
it's better to be safe than sorry. Francis drove us to the MediClinic in
Morningside. The doctor insisted on admitting Siya for a few days so
that he could get all the necessary help to fully recover, but Siya was
adamant about going to his father's funeral. I called back home to find
out if they had set a date for the funeral. I found out that it had been
set for Thursday, so l convinced Siya to stay in hospital until
Wednesday. He agreed, so we were going to leave on Wednesday
morning.

After he had settled in, l went home to pack. I took a week off work as
part of my 6 weeks leave per year. I was very lucky to work with
someone like Mike who is so understanding. I felt a bit guilty though
because my personal life had been affecting my work lately. Mike
understood because he himself had had a rough year a couple of
years earlier when he openly declared that he is gay. I was there for
him and often worked our projects alone whilst he was dealing with
the different problems he was going through. Whilst l was packing, l
got a call from Nicole panicking. Junior had been crying non stop for
two days and his temperature was very high. She begged me to help
her, yet again. I asked her why she didn't call her aunt or someone
else not me, she said that her aunt wasn't picking up her calls
because she probably assumed that she was calling to beg for a
place to stay. Her mother was still not speaking to her, so l was 'her
last hope' as she put it. I went to pick up my cousin Nokuthaba first,
then we went over to Nicole's. I didn't want to be around her alone,
she could cry wolf for all l knew. So if l had someone else, they would
be my witness and alibi if ever l needed it. Nicole looked like she
hadn't slept for days,Junior was wailing when we arrived and he was
boiling hot. We drove to the hospital. It seemed l couldn't stay away
from hospitals lately. It turned out Junior had a fever and an ear
infection. We got his prescriptions and l drove back to Berea. I told
Nicole to go straight to the clinic next time if she thought something
was wrong with the baby. I felt sorry for her because she knew
nothing about caring for a baby, she was still a child herself. Lumkile
only had her, so she never had any younger siblings to help take care
of, so she had been thrown right into the deep end when she had her
baby. Ukuphapha konke kwasekuphelile, she now seemed down to
earth and more mature. I guess its true that having children changes
most people. My cousin invited me to stay for supper, l think Nicole
thought the invite was for both of us cos she immidiately thanked my
cousin and said it would be nice to sit down and talk to people for a
change. When we got to my cousin's, Nicole asked me to hold Junior
whilst she went to the toilet. Looking at him, l thought about how much
l wanted a baby of my own. The thought of the possibility that I could
die without a child of my own brought tears to my eyes. Junior must
have been tired from all the crying and not having any proper sleep for
days because he fell asleep straight away in my arms. I laid him down
and we went to help Noe prepare super.

Noe: So...., Nicole..., did you think you could snatch Meme's husband
away from her?
Sme: Hayi Noe, there is no need. Sokwadlula
Nicole: No it's fine Meme, I deserve it. In fact, l deserve far much
worse after what l did to you. You didn't deserve any of that
Noe: What was your plan vele? Did you and your mother plan to
arrest Meme so you could move in with her husband?
Nicole: I didn't plan anything with my mum, she got home that night
and told me that l was moving in with Siya. I didn't exactly want to
move into your house Meme, l wanted a place of my own. Mapetla
had agreed to get me a flat and pay for it, l was going to tell my mum
that Siya was paying for it, but my mum kept pushing me to move in
with Siya.
Noe: Did you love this Mapetla guy or was it all for money?
Nicole: I grew to love him. I had know him for nearly six years, l grew
very fond of him. He always made me laugh. My mum caught him
staring at me a few times, l think that's why she desperately wanted
me to move out.
Sme: Do you think she will forgive you anytime soon?
Nicole: l don't know, maybe she never will. My mum always spoke
about how life was going to change for the best when Mapetla finally
left his wife. During the first few years, my mum wanted a baby so
bad, but Mapetla kept convincing her to wait until he left his wife so
they could start a proper family. So you can imagine how hurt she was
when she found out about Junior. The chances of her having a baby
now are close to none, same as the chances of her forgiving me. I
would understand if she never forgives me, l'm sure seeing Junior will
always be a reminder of how l betrayed her. And it doesn't help that
he looks exactly like Mapetla.
Noe: Khona vele why did you betray her like that?
Nicole: l don't know, it just happened. Everytime we slept together we
swore it was the last, but we couldn't stop.
Sme: Do you love uSiya?
Nicole: No, not really. I never got to know him enough to love him.
Noe: So you were prepared to live with someone you didn't love?
Nicole: I told myself that l was going to learn to love him, he seems
like a nice guy, and he has a great body.
Sme: (l cleared my throat) Ok. Let's leave that there.
Nicole: I am so sorry Meme, you are the kindest person l know. I
regret ever coming between you and your husband, and the pain l
have caused you. I regret it everyday.

After we had our supper, we walked Nicole to her flat. My cousin

begged me to sleep over at hers. I tried to tell her that l had to pack
and get ready for ukuya ekhaya, she said she was going to go with
me the next day and help me pack. I ran out of excuses, so l ended
up sleeping there.

Umendo Chapter 35

My cousin helped me pack as she had promised. We met up with

Zandie later in the afternoon to go visit Siya. I hadn't told my cousin
that Zandie was in the dark about me helping Nicole, so she
mentioned in passing how Nicole had been brought down to earth and
how she had been forced to turn to me for help. I tried to wink at my
cousin, ngazama ukumqhweba, but she just pushed my hand away
and continued rambling on
Zandie: Huh? Ini? (Zandie looked at me confused)
Noe: She called uMeme again yesterday when her baby wouldn't stop
crying
Zandie: Again?? Am l missing something? Is this the same Nicole
who tried to destroy your life? (Mina zwi)
Noe: Yena kanye! > Yep, none other than her!
Zandie: Meme? Why? Why ?
Sme: Mfazi, l couldn't let her sleep under a bridge with a week old
baby. What if the baby died? I would have never forgiven myself
knowing that she came to me for help and l pushed her away.
Zandie: (Clap once and shakes her head) And l take it you didn't tell
me any of this cos you knew l wouldn't go along with this bullshit?
Sme: I'm sorry mfazi l didn't tell you, but l just couldn't
Zandie: l know my friend. Your kindness is a blessing and a curse at
the same time. I hope it doesn't come back to bite you.
Siya was sitting on a chair and reading a newspaper when we arrived.
He looked stronger than he actually was. I think he was trying to look
like he was better so he could leave the hospital. My cousin started to
talk about about Nicole, eish, that one also. Me and Zandie pinched
her so hard this time she got the message and quickly changed the
topic. Siya asked if she had given birth, l told him that she had given
birth to a baby boy. I didn't want to tell him about Junior not being his
just yet, he had a lot on his plate already. He didn't need more bad
news just yet. I had already asked Buhle to speak to MaMoyo and ask
her to not mention anything to Siya about the baby. She agreed and
later told me it was sorted. Siya said that he was going to get a
paternity test when he got back from the funeral. Having to lie to my
husband like that killed me, l was sweating and couldn't keep eye
contact. I felt like he could see that l was lying, so l quickly changed
the topic. I now understood why sometimes people close to you would
lie to protect you.

We flew out on Wednesday morning, l held Siya and would let got of
him because l was scared he might fall. He looked much better, but l
didn't want to take the chance. Whenever he fell asleep, l checked
him regularly to make sure he was still breathing. We went over to my
parents' first, I knew that if we went straight to Siya's, l wouldn't be
able to leave until the funeral was over. I didn't want people to say
"umakoti ubalekela umsebenzi". My parents were very happy to see
us as always, my mother prayed for Siya's health, for his father to rest
in peace and for Siya's family and our marriage. I borrowed their car
and went with my younger twin sister Tasha. My parents and my other
twin sister Nelisa were going to join us on Thursday . Ubab'uNkomo
was going to be buried in Gwanda, his home where he grew up, so
they were going to drive with us there. When we arrived there were so
many cars parked outside, we had to ask one of the neighbours to
park in their house. There were so many people, ubab'uNkomo was
clearly loved and respected by many. We spent a good hour meeting
and greeting, half of the people there either knew my parents, or they
had grown up with one of my relatives, and apparently l was related to
most people there. You know how our elders always find a family
connection down the line through surnames. Tasha went straight to
Bongiwe as soon as we arrived. Most people told me to stay strong
for Siya because he needed me now more than ever. I dreaded going
to greet uMaMoyo, she was sat inside the living room with her two
sisters and one of her aunts (ubab'uNkomo's younger sister
uMaxesha). She was wrapped in blankets and looked defeated. I knelt
and greeted them one by one. UMaxesha gave me a hand shake
ekhangele eceleni as if l had a bad breath or something, then asked
where Siya was. I guess she too felt the same way as uMaMoyo.
Yena uMaMoyo she barely touched my hand when stretched it out to
greet her. Maxesha who got the name because after she spent 2
weeks in Capetown, she would stand up in church and say "ndithanda
ukthatha ixesha leli" everytime, I'm sure she still does even today.
Anyhow, Maxesha had always been nice to me, she used to say that l
was going to keep the Nkomo name alive, therefore keep her memory
alive. So l'm sure after MaMoyo told her that l was barren, l shattered
her dreams.

Salala silindele with ubab'uNkomo biding goodbye for the last time in
his home. It was a wonderful service. People sang, drank and danced
in celebration of his life and the memories he had left us, some just
drank because it was free alcohol. You know there is always those
people who will attend anything as long as they serve free alcohol. It
was the same here. I kept checking on Siya, or sending someone to
check up on him if I was busy with something. I cooked, cleaned,
washed up, served and helped with sleeping arrangements for those
who couldn't stay up all night. By morning l was knackered and just
wanted to have a bath and sleep. I decided to quickly dash to my
house, the one my parents helped me buy in Cowdraypark which is
just next to eMakhandeni and take a bath. I went with Bongiwe and
Tasha. We were back in less than an hour. When we arrived some
people told me that Siya had been looking for me, l found him
speaking to one of the uncles. The way he looked at me, it was as if
he was looking at something disgusting, something he couldn't stand
being around. When he finished speaking to his uncle he came over
to me and said "How could you refuse to give my mother imali to help
out with the funeral? And ukuxosha umama endlini Meme? How could
you be so cruel?"

Umendo Chapter 36

I was hurt by Siya's accusations, he just readily assumed that

everything his mother had said was true, and didn't bother to talk to
me about it first to hear my side of the story. I said everything l had to
say to him with one look. I walked away from him and joined the rest
of the people singing, he tried to pull me to the side but ngamlabhulela
le he nearly fell. We left for Gwanda, l drove mith my parents Tasha
and Nelisa. I slept the whole way, they woke me up when we arrived.
It felt like the whole journey had been 15minutes long, when it actually
is about an hour and a half to Gwanda. That's how tired and sleepy l
was. When we arrived there, it was more work for me as
umalukazana. Siya kept trying to talk to me but l avoided him, I didn't
want to talk to him angry and say things that I would forever regret,
especially at his father's funeral. He realised he was wrong because
everytime he looked at me, he wanted our eyes to lock so he could
show me his 'l'm sorry' face. In the end, l waved at him a little and
smiled. I wanted him to concentrate at the funeral because l know
Siya gets nervous and panics if he knows that he has hurt my feelings
or pissed me off. After that, he seemed a bit relieved and got on with
his tasks. The burial service was touching and sad. When the part
about how many grandchildren ubab'uNkomo left behind, uMaMoyo
and uMaxesha who were sat next to each other both gave me
piercing looks, l swear if looks could kill, they would have buried two
people that day.

After the burial, people started leaving. I went to say my goodbyes,

but my inlaws were not happy about it. They said that as
umalukazana l had to stay in Gwanda with the rest of the family for a
few more days. I told them that l had to go back to work, Siya came to
my rescue and told them that he was leaving with me because there
were some issues we needed to sort out and l had already missed a
lot of days at work taking care of him. They seemed to understand
after that. Siya went to say goodbye to his mother and came back like
a deflated balloon. He asked to speak to me alone
Sme: We have to go now Siya, my parents are waiting for me. Can it
not wait until we get back?
Siya: I know l was wrong for not asking your side of story before
accusing you of what my mother told me. Deep down l knew that you
wouldn't do that
Sme: We can talk about all of that when we get back Siya
Siya: No, this cannot wait till then. I sincerely apologise for what l said
this morning, there is no excuse for that. I should have know better
than that. Now l am going to ask you and not assume like l did earlier.
Did you record a conversation you had with my father that you were
supposed to have me listen to when l woke up?
Sme: Ohhh, yes. I...
Siya: Then why didn't you? Something so important to me Meme,
didn't you think l would have liked to listen to my father's last words to
me before I came to his funeral?
Sme: Siya, l'm sorry about that. Things have been crazy, l have been
dealing with like a dozen things at once. It totally slipped my mind. I
am so sorry, you can listen to it when we get back. The question you
should ask yourself is why your mother ekutshela amanga ngami.
Siya: I will talk to her about that, l don't understand her these days. ls
there anything else you are hiding from me?
Sme: Hawu Siyabonga, why would l hide this from you? Ungithatha
njani?
Siya: Ok, is there anything else you haven't told me okufanele ngibe
yazi?
Sme: Siya, you just got out of hospital, we have just finished burying
your father. We haven't had a chance to sit down and talk about
things. We can do that when we get back, l will not discuss serious
issues standing here. There is a place and time for everything. This is
not the place nor the time
Siya: Uqinisile, we can talk tonight when we get home
Sme: Do l have to sleep at yours?
Siya: It's also your home love
Sme: I know, but l wanted to spend a night with my family before we
head back tomorrow
Siya: Ohh, thina we are not your family?
Sme: Ah, you know what l mean Siya
Siya: Ngiyadlala, l know what you mean. Kulungile love.

We left in different cars. When we got home, l just collapsed on the

bed and slept like a baby. We left on a Friday afternoon, as soon as
we got into our house my phone rang and it was Nicole. Siya saw the
caller ID and asked what she wanted
Siya: Did they give you a hard time whilst l was in hospital?
Sme: No, on the contrary, Nicole has been coming to me for help.
Siya: What? Help with what?
Sme: Siya, you need to sit down
Siya: What happened?
Sme: Nicole's baby is not yours. (I could not tell if he was saddened
by it or happy cos he kept a straight face on)
Siya: Did you take a partenity test when l was hospitalised ?
Sme: No, we didn't have to. The baby looks exactly like his father, and
Nicole didn't deny it. (I took out my phone and showed him Junior and
Mapetla's picture)
Siya: Mapetla? Is this Mapetla?
Umendo Chapter 37

Siya explained to me how Mapetla had called him enquiring about

driving lessons. He told him that he wanted them for his niece, so a
few days later he introduced Nicole as the niece who wanted lessons.
So the guy had actually picked out Siya for Nicole to pin the
pregnancy on. Pity the baby is an exact replica of him.
Sme: So how does that make you feel?
Siya: Stupid, how could l have been so stupid?
Sme: No, l am talking about the baby not being yours?
Siya: Relieved, that girl brought nothing but trouble in our lives
Sme: No, you brought her into our lives, nobody forced you to have an
affair with her
Siya: It wasn't an affair bantu. Anyway, l'm glad this whole thing is
over and done with.
Sme: Now you have to go and get checked Siya. You cannot dodge it
forever. We need to know if there is a problem ukuze sikwazi how to
deal with it
Siya: Vele kusho khona ukuba the problem lies with me. You have
been to check ups and they said everything is ok, now Nicole's baby
is not mine. It's pretty clear now
Sme: We will never know until you get checked
Siya: So what will happen ? When the results say that l cannot have
children, what will happen to us?
Sme: l don't know. (I had never really thought that far,l guess l always
assumed that there would be something we could do)
Siya: l am tired, l'm going to lie down for a few hours (The look on his
face, it was as if his balls had been cut off)

I prepared dinner and sat down to catch up with my recorded

programmes. I received a message from Nicole that her mum agreed
that she could come back home, but only if she gives her baby away.
She said that she didn't want to give her baby away, but she also
wanted to have a good relationship with her mother. Eish nkosi yami,
ngazithela shem. I told her that if she gave up her baby, she would
regret it for the rest of her life and that this was her chance to do
something right after all the mistakes and poor choices she had made.
I woke up Siya for dinner, we had a long talk after l finished clearing
up. Eventually he agreed to get a check up, then we would take
everything from there. I updated him on everything that happened
whilst he was in hospital, and he listened to his father's message. For
the first time since hearing about ubab'uNkomo's passing, he cried. I
held him in silence until he stopped crying. We retired to bed around
midnight, it was nice to sleep next to my husband again. Siya holds
me in his arms everytime we sleep, but that night, l held him until we
both fell asleep.
I woke up early and made Siya breakfast in bed, it was a bit chilly, so
he was happy to stay in bed all morning. After breakfast l joined him in
bed and Siya started getting touchy feely. I wanted us to wait until he
was physically stronger, l was scared he might have a heart attack or
something during the act. I told him about my worries, but he tried to
assure me, I still wasn't convinced. Problem with Siya is he can be
quite persuasive, like l mentioned earlier on, he would follow me
everywhere like a hungry baby until l gave in. So most of the times l
don't even bother denying him because l know he will annoy me till l
get tired and give in. I eventually agreed on the basis that l was going
to be on top, that way l would control the pace and he wouldn't have
to do much work. It was beautiful, l grinded on his manhood nice and
softly with my eyes closed, it felt like magic. I briefly opened my eyes
to look at Siya and he had his eyes closed and was smiling with his
mouth open, l guess he was feeling it too. We both climaxed and l fell
onto his chest with his now soft manhood still inside me. I tried to get
off him as l remembered his wounds, but he pulled he right back and
wrapped his arms around me. And to think Lumkile wanted rip all this
away from me! Mnxxx
We spent most of the day cosied up in bed, we only got up to shower
together in the late afternoon. Siya helped me make dinner, l wanted
him to sit down and relax. I think l feared that he would feel dizzy and
fall again from all the standing, but he was keen on getting back to his
normal routine. We spent the rest of the day snuggled on the sofa
watching TV. That Sunday l attended Siya's church, l know l sound
paranoid, but l just wanted to make sure he was fine. Nothing had
changed at Siya's church, well there were even more people now, but
80% of the service was still "turn to the person next to you and
say....". I told Siya to put his turns on hold until his wound on the neck
healed. With that much turning he was guaranteed a couple more
days in hospital.

I went back to work the following day, Siya wanted to but l told him
that he need to relax for at least another week before going back to
work to give his body time to recover. He didn't like hearing that, he
said he was going to stay home five days tops, and he was only doing
it for me, if it was up to him, he would have gone back that same
Monday. Siya booked an appointment at the men's clinic for that
Wednesday. Thursday was supposed to be the start of the trial of the
guys who stabbed Siya, but I received a call from our lawyer saying
that the dockets had gone 'missing', so the trial was cancelled and
those guys were going to be released!

Umendo Chapter 38

We didn't know if Lumkile had something to do with the missing

dockets, even if we she did, there was nothing we could have done
about it. It was frustrating, especially for my husband because he
would have to come face to face with these people soon enough since
they hang around in the same places. I feared that he might lose his
temper when he came face to face with them and this time they could
kill him knowing that they can get away with it. So much for justice!
Over the next few weeks, Siya was looking much better, he was
called in for two more fertility test after the initial one. I could tell that
he was worried, l think what worried him the most was that he thought
if he couldn't give me children, l would leave him.

One afternoon at work l received a message from my bank that my

account had been deposited with R35 000. It was from Lumkile, but
this time she didn't send any message. That evening l got a call from
Nicole crying
Sme: Kutheni Nicole?
Nicole: My mum gave Junior away
Sme: Huh? She did what?
Nicole: She called me two days ago asking me if l really wanted to
make amends. I told her that l wanted that more than anything, she
said she was coming to visit so we could talk. She came to my place
this morning, she was so nice to me and she said that she was taking
me home with her. She then sent me to the shops to buy bin bags to
put my stuff in, l left her with Junior. When l got back she was gone
with my baby, l called her and she told me not to worry as she was on
her way back. She said that she had gone to sort out 'our' problem.
She came back without Junior, when l asked her where he was, she
told me that she left him at Door Of Hope. ( Door of Hope is an
opharnage in Berea, there is a big metal box on the wall that looks like
a huge bread bin. So people dump their unwanted babies there
without having to reveal their identity)
Sme: Oh nkosi yami, why didn't you go to ask for your baby back?
Nicole: I did, but they told me that they will call social workers to deal
with this whole issue. They will have to come to assess where l live to
see if it's fit for a baby, and obviously l will fail ngoba ngihlala
ekhethenini, l'm a single teenage mother, l don't have a job, l don't
have any adult helping me take care of my baby. My mum won't let
me tell them l live with her because she doesn't want me to get my
baby back, in fact she said if they ask her if she thinks l am a fit
mother she will tell them that l'm a party animal and l see Junior as
something that's getting in my way of having fun which is why l
dumped him at The Door Of Hope. Which is all lies because l haven't
been out every since l got pregnant, l love my baby, l wouldn't dream
of spending a day without him, let alone give him away. But who is
going to believe a single teenage mother over an adult who is an
officer of law and a 'respected' member of the community?
Sme: Eish, manje what are you going to do?
Nicole: l don't know, l'm going crazy right now. I know it's too much to
ask, but could you please help me with a place to stay until l get my
baby back.
Sme: I wish l could help Nicole, but you cannot move in with us.
Things will be too awkward, and l don't think my husband would agree
anyway
Nicole: No, l didn't mean moving in with you. I only receive R300 grant
per month for Junior and it doesn't even cover my current R500 rent. I
sold my phone and bought a cheaper one to pay this month's rent. If l
could get a bachelor flat for a month or two whilst they are assessing
my situation, l know it will increase my chances of getting Junior back.
Then l can find a cheaper place afterwards. I have no one else to turn
to
Sme: So you want me to deposit a bachelor flat for you, then pay your
rent until you get your son back?
Nicole: l will look for a job and pay you back every penny, l will start
searching from tomorrow. Hopefully l will get it ASAP and work full
time then reduce to part time after l get my baby back
Sme: Eyi Nicole, that's a bit much. Let me talk to my husband about it
Nicole: Thank you, and please let me know if you hear of a place they
are looking for people, angikhethi. I will do anything, l just want my
baby back....Could you please borrow me some money for marketing.
Sme: I'll keep an ear out for you. l will let you know where to meet me
after work.

Later that afternoon, l met Nicole in Sandton mall, she had lost so
much weight. Her clothes were baggy, amehlo ewele phakathi, her
hands were ashy l had to buy her some Vaseline before she left. She
was devasted about losing Junior, she cried when she told me that
she was being punished for what she did to me. I gave her R400, she
went to print out her CV and l headed home. I knew Siya wouldn't
agree to all this but l had to tell him anyway. I felt sorry for Nicole,
even though she had terrorised me, l knew she loved her son and
would have done anything for him. But l told myself that if my husband
refused ukuthi simncede, l wouldn't feel too guilty because at least he
had a roof over his head and wasn't going to sleep hungry. Even
though it wasn't an ideal circumstance, it was much better than living
under a bridge. Siya was already home when l arrived, he seemed
anxious and nervous. He told me that he had a received a call that the
results of his semen were ready. He had made an appointment for the
next afternoon, l volunteered to join him for the results. I didn't bring
up the Nicole issue because he was tense, it would have to wait for a
less stressful day.

The following day Siya came to pick me up at work just before lunch
time, his hands were sweating even though it was cold. We didn't say
much on our way there, just small talk. I wished l could tell him not to
worry, that everything was going to be just fine, but was it? Waiting
outside to be called seemed to take forever, when we were finally
called in, l held Siya hand and we walked in. The doctor was so blunt
and didn't beat about the bush, he said "Right, the results show that
you have low sperm count and most of your sperms are slow
swimmers. What this means is that your chances of conceiving are
less than 15%"

Umendo Chapter 39

Most people confuse a low sperm count with a small amount if semen,
so did Siya. He asked the doctor if that meant he was not producing
enough sperms when ejaculating. He explained to him that he
produces enough semen, but the amount of sperms in the semen was
low. For example, an average sample of semen contains up to 200
million sperms, Siya's contained less than 40 million sperms. Of those
40 million, 30 million were slow swimmers, leaving him with about 10
million healthy ones. So instead of 200 million sperms swimming
towards the ovaries to the eggs, he had 10 million , and that is a very
low number in fertility terms. He told him to start taking vitamin
supplements, eat more healthy foods, reduce his alcohol intake and
exercise regularly. He also advised that we cut down on sex and do it
no more than twice a week in order to increase the sperm count when
ejaculating. I reckoned that part wasn't going to be easy, but l was
determined, and l hoped Siya was on the same page as l.

We bought the vitamin supplements after the appointment, and l

bought loads of fish, fruits and vegetables. I wanted us to talk openly
about what this meant and what we were going to do together to
increase our chances of conceiving, but Siya seemed detached. He
didn't want to talk about it at all, whenever l brought it up, he would
say one thing then move on to something else. I ended up leaving it
alone and told him that we could conquer anything, so long we
worked together as a team. Three days later l received a call from
Nicole, l had a lot going on that l had forgotten about her. She called
to let me know that she had found a job at a hotel and she was going
to start training in a couple of days. She sounded excited and l was
genuinely happy for her. She told me that she was going to be paid
R3 800/ month, so she had made some calculations and figured she
would be able to pay me back all my money in 6months time if
everything went well. The following day, l decided to do a romantic
dinner for me and Siya. I left work early to start preparing before Siya
arrived home. He arrived when l was placing the candles on the dining
table. He gave me a kiss, then lit the candles whilst l dished our
dinner. We had smoked salmon and baked parmesan potatoes. For
desert we had cheesecake with a fresh cream and chocolate sauce.
"This is why l married you", my husband said as we finished eating. I
laughed and said "l thought you married me for my looks", to which he
replied "that too and a hundred more other things".

We had not had any 'coitus' since we got Siya's results back, we were
'banking the sperm' as that doctor had put it. It was hard to sleep next
to each other everyday and starve ourselves of coitus, but it was all
for the best. But tonight was the night and l had been looking forward
to it. Around 10pm, l left Siya watching TV and went to put on some
sexy lingerie that l had bought two days earlier in preparation for this
night. We have an alarm clock radio on our bedside cabinet which
supports USB, so l connected my phone to the radio and made a
quick nice and slow playlist. I played the first song Sexual Healing by
Marving Gaye and called my husband to come join me. Hehhh, the
look on his face, he couldn't stop smiling as he stripped down to his
underwear and enjoyed watching me give him a lap dance. Needless
to say, that all got him worked up, seeing him excited got me excited
as well. He got up with his manhood poking and kissed me with so
much passion, my arms carresed his bare back. He turned me sound
and unhooked the bra part of the sexy night dress and planted small
kisses on my back going up to my neck. He then turned me to face
him and pulled my nightie down slowly whilst planting small soft
kisses on my shoulders, neck, boobs and back to my mouth. I was
ready for him, l couldn't wait any longer, l was hungry to feel him
inside me, so l pulled his undies down and pulled him towards we
both fell on the bed. He got on top of me, l opened my legs as wide as
they could go and said "let's make a baby". Bad mistake because my
husband suddenly went soft on me. He tried to enter me whilst soft,
but it was an epic fail! He looked surprised and disappointed just like
me but l tried not to show my disappointment. I pulled him in my arms
and told him not to worry about it. He kept apologising saying that he
didn't know why that had happened. Around 1am he woke me up
probing me with his hard on, usually l'm reluctant when Siya wakes
me up for a second round in the middle of the night, l just prefer the
morning glory, but that night I was happy he woke me up. We both got
all worked up, he got inside me, thrust two three times and went soft.
This time he asked me to give him a hand job, l did, he got hard, three
to four thrust and went flaccid yet again. He wanted to try gain but l
told him to not worry about and that we were going to try in the
morning. I could tell he was very worried because he tossed and
turned the rest of the night. I reckoned he was thinking way too much
into it, and the pressure of impregnanting me was way too much for
him. Now not being able to perform in bed and satisfy me in bed
definitely bruised his ego as a man and he took it hard. We tried again
in the morning to no avail, he would get worked up, then just go soft
either before he entered me or after a few thrusts. I kissed him and
told him that everything was going to be alright as we both left for
work.

At work that morning, l received a call from my mother in law asking

for my aunt's number so that they could arrange a meeting to discuss
Siya's options were since l couldn't bare him a child!

Umendo Chapter 40

At work I called Siya a few times to check up on him, l wanted to

reassure him that l was going to stand by him through it all like l had
promised when we got married. He sounded down, I really wished l
could take away some of his worries so he wouldn't have to carry so
much by himself. I thought about asking him to visit the men's clinic,
but then decided to wait a while. I mean it had only happened once,
well several times in one day, so maybe things would go back to
normal when we tried again. And l didn't want him to feel like l was
putting more pressure on him after just one fail, so unless he brought
it up, l was going to keep my suggestion on hold for a while longer.
Then there was the issue of my mother in law, I told Siya when l
called him and he asked me not to give her my aunt's number, he was
going to talk to her. So l left it there, I understood how sensitive this
was for him, so l thought it was best that he handled it his way.

That afternoon at work l received a single rose with a note saying "I
can't get you out of my mind", it was the same writing as the one on
that last note that came with flowers from an anonymous admirer.
Usathane yisilingo ngempela, l chucked it into the bin and went back
to work. Mike and Langa gave me those inquisitive eyes but I didn't
indulge them. At home after we had our dinner, l gave Siya a
massage hoping it would relax him and hopefully reduce his stress. In
bed that night he made the first move, I responded, but it was yet
another flop. Siya got out of bed after the failure to launch and went to
watch TV at midnight. I followed him but he told me to go back to bed
he was going to join me soon. I didn't push it by trying to talk to him or
being all mushy, I kissed him and went to bed. I couldn't sleep though,
I tossed and turned thinking of what ifs. Around 2am l went to check
up on Siya and he had fallen asleep on the sofa, I put a blanket on
him and switched off the TV. For the first ever ngalala ngedwa kodwa
uSiya ekhona. Whenever he pissed me off, l would tell him to sleep in
the spare bedroom but he would refuse and come sleep with me, so l
would leave and go sleep in there myself but he always followed me
until l gave up. So that night felt a bit weird, what if life as l knew it was
going to change forever because of this? That was a scary thought for
me.

Over the next couple of weeks things didn't get any better, Siya was
sleeping on the sofa watching TV most of the time. Damn that TV,
whenever l called him to come to bed, he would say he is coming, but
not come at all or come around 4 or 5 in the morning. If he did go to
bed with me, he would sleep right on the edge of the bed ngani
angaze awe embhedeni, you could fit a bus in between him and l. If l
tried to get closer to him khona wayengavele awele phansi. The
conversations had gone stale, it was as if we didn't know each other
anymore. We usually argued whenever our favourite programmes
clashed, but Siya let me watch even when there was soccer on. Even
on the sofa, he would sit on the single recliner to avoid cosying up
next to me as we always did. It felt like we were an old married
couple, maybe layo old married couple ize ibengcono cos they have a
few things to talk about. Me and Siya on the other hand, hayi shem. It
was time to confront the elephant in the room, and boy was it a huge
elephant!

We were watching Khumbul 'eKhaya when that advert about the

men's clinic came on. After it finished playing, l muted the TV
Sme: Siya, maybe you need to visit the men's clinic.
Siya: (zwi yena, no eye contact)
Sme: We cannot ignore this forever baby, I don't mean to put pressure
on you or anything, but I think you should go and get help
Siya: Ok
Sme: Does that mean you will go?
Siya: Yes
Sme: Ok, do you want me to go with you?
Siya: No
Sme: Ok, let me know if you change your mind
Siya: Ok
Sme: Did you call umama?
Siya: Mayelana ngani?
Sme: Angithi you said you were going to talk to her when she called to
ask for my aunt's number?
Siya: Did she call you again?
Sme: No, l was just wondering
Siya: Then there is no need just yet
Sme: Siya, don't shut me out, I'm just trying to help here.
Siya: I'm sure you are relieved aren't you?
Sme: Relieved about what?
Siya: That it's not you ongazaliyo. That must have felt good when we
found out that I'm the one shooting blanks
Sme: Hawu Siyabonga
Siya: Ngamanga yini?Were you not relieved (now he had turned to
look at me)
Sme: Siya....
Siya: Exactly, you cannot tell me you weren't cos that would be a lie.
Sme: No Siya, l wasn't because it still affects us both.
Siya: But now it means you can leave me and be with someone who
can give you children. Ngubani ongafuna ukuhlalela indoda
engazaliyo, vele akula zabudoda if ungazali. It's my punishment l
guess
Sme: Siya, leaving you hasn't even crossed my mind
Siya: Manga!
Sme: And punishment for what?
Siya: For cheating. That moment of weakness brought nothing but
trouble in our lives. And because of that, l killed my own father!
Sme: Hawu Siya, where is all this coming from?
Siya: Just admit it, you all think it but won't say it out loud. My father
had a stroke because he was stressed about me, first of all because l
cheated and supposedly impregnanted that girl, then that same girl's
mother nearly got me killed. Had l not cheated, my father would have
never had a stroke, therefore he would still be alive today
(zahlengezela inyembezi)
Sme: (I knelt in front of him and held his hands which were shaking)
Baby, don't think like that. Ubab'uNkomo ubesekhulile, no one blames
you for his death. And as for this, it's not like you have a child or two
already and then usuzama futhi but kwehlula. No one is punishing
you. The doctor said you have a low sperm count, therefore our
chances of conceiveng are low, he didn't say it was entirely
impossible. We can't lose hope without trying.
He got up, went to his car and locked himself inside: he was still
crying. I knocked on the car window but he wouldn't open. Eventually l
left him there and went to bed, ngalala umqamelo umanzi. I felt
helpless, I couldn't help my husband whom l could tell was in a lot of
pain inside. I really wished he could share his burdens with me, let me
in and let me help him, but he was pushing me further and further
away from him. What does one do in a situation like this?

Umendo Chapter 41

When I woke up the next morning, Siya was sleeping in the spare
bedroom. He joined me in the kitchen when l was making breakfast. I
asked him why he slept in the spare bedroom and he told me that he
got into the house late, so he didn't want to disturb me in my sleep.
"Njenganini Siya?", l asked him. He just kept quiet and went to take a
shower. I shook my head in disappointmentand anguish. It broke my
heart to see him like that, what made it even worse was that l couldn't
help him. I wanted to, but he just kept shutting me out. That made me
gloomy, Langa and Mike had noticed, I guess l couldn't hide my
sadness. I met up with Zandie for lunch, I needed someone to talk to,
maybe l was approaching this whole thing from a wrong angle. I
needed someone else's perspective. Zandie looked glowing

Sme: Heheh, is there a little bun in the oven or have you met
someone?
Zandie: Hahahah, why mfazi?
Sme: You are glowing, like the time you were pregnant
Zandie: Hahah, hayi suka!
Sme: Have you met someone?
Zandie: Kinda...
Sme: I knew it! Well, at least one of us is happy. Tell me all about him
Zandie: One of us? Is there trouble in paradise? Is that why you look
depressed?
Sme: I wouldn't say depressed, but yes, there is trouble in paradise
Zandie: What has he done this time? Hayi Siyabonga nkosi yam!
Sme: (I explained everything to her)
Zandie: Tjoo, that's a tough one mfazi. Try to convince him to go to
the men's clinic
Sme: I mentioned it and he said he said he would go, but l doubt that
he will
Zandie: Qina ngomthandazo mfazi
Sme: I know l should, but l am ashamed to say that my faith is weak
lately. It's not that l have lost my faith, it's just that when it comes to
praying, I just don't know what to say anymore. Maybe l feel like l
have said everything there is to say....hayi, l don't know anymore
mfazi. It's really stressing me out
Zandie: Shame mfazi, I don't know what to say. But l will keep you in
my prayers. Don't worry too much, kuzolunga.
Sme: (deep sigh) Anyway, enough about me, tell me about this new
guy responsible for this lovely glow
Zandie: Ermm..
(My phone rang, it was my cousin Faith)
Sme: Fefe
Faith: Evie (Evelyn is my middle name, Faith is one of the few people
who used it)
Sme: How are you my long lost khazi
Faith: Not good l'm afraid
Sme: Kutheni?
Faith: I broke up with Didi (Faith's on and off boyfriend) and l don't
have a place to stay.
Sme: Ohhh
Faith: Can l come and crush with you until next month please. I'm
stranded
Sme: Let me speak to Siya first then get back to you
Faith: Ok, l don't mean to rush you but it's sort of urgent as l don't
have a place to sleep khona namhlanje
Sme: Ok, let me call him
(Zandie worked out what was going on from our conversation)
Zandie: Mfazi, l don't mean to pry but don't you think it's a bad time to
have a relative staying with you when you guys are going through a
rough patch?
Sme: I know it's not ideal, but ngeke ngimyeke elala estradeni mina
ngikhona. And maybe an extra person will get us talking again cos we
hardly ever talk anymore. You know with other couples that are going
through a rough patch, you hear them saying bahlanginiswa
ngabantwana, that's the only conversation they ever have. Manje
thina we don't have them, so there is very little that forces us to
converse.
Zandie: I hear you mfazi, but watch out, your cousin is very wild. She
might add more trouble to your troubles.
Sme: Let's hope she won't, and anyway she said she will be moving at
the beginning of next month, so she will only be with us for two weeks
Zandie: Ok
I called Siya to let him know about Faith's request, and he just said
"ok". Usually Siya would make a joke if a relative was coming to visit,
be it a relative from his side or mine. He would say something like "if
they overstay, we will chase them away by having loud rampant sex",
or "we can tell them that we have a holiday booked for the whole
week, that way they would be forced to go". But none of these would
work on Faith because first of all we were not having any sex, even if
we did, Faith would tell us to keep it down next time and if we said we
had a holiday to go to, she would definitely tell us to enjoy and extend
it if we wanted to, we will find her waiting. It's something l just thought
to myself, I missed my husband, I wished he would say something
funny like he always did in these situations, but he just coldly said
"ok". You know things are very wrong if you miss someone who lives
under the same roof as you.

I found Faith waiting for me by the door when l arrived home after
work. She had a small suitcase, a tshangan bag and two overnight
bags. Forever blunt, Faith told Siya that he looked like someone who
had emerged from a hole and that he needed to shave and eat
something when he arrived home. Siya laughed an awkward laugh
and went to warm up his food. That was the first time I had heard him
laugh in a long time. When he came to the living room where Faith
and l were, Faith got up from where she was sitting and went to the
single recliner, so Siya had no choice but to sit next to me. Faith
talked about anything and everything engaging both me and Siya in
her conversations. It was good to hear him speak even though it
wasn't about our problems, nje ukuthi he was making conversation
was good. Hopefully he would eventually talk about what was going
on. He went to bed shortly after eating, I went to join him. He held me
in his arms as we spooned for the first time after the weeks and
weeks of sleeping alone and apart. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe
having Faith over was going to be a blessing in disguise

Umendo Chapter 42

I had a better night's sleep that night. I didn't care much about sex, l
was just happy to be in my husband's arms. Even though he hadn't
said anything, just that small act of affection meant a lot to me. It gave
me a little bit of hope. I woke up early to make a full English breakfast
for him, l wanted to remind him of the little things that mattered and I
also show him that we could still do 'us' even with a visitor around. We
had breakfast together before we both left for work. The mood
seemed a bit lighter and he gave me a kiss goodbye. We gave Faith
Siya's key since he usually gets home after me.

I invited Siya to join me for lunch that afternoon and he agreed.

Things were still awkward because l didn't want to say anything to
upset him, so because of that, l had to carefully choose what l say and
how l say it. Nevertheless, it was a good lunch. When I got home I
found Faith watching TV still in her pyjamas, the sink was full of dirty
dishes that she had used from morning and she had mis-placed
things in the kitchen. One of my pet peeves is people who put things
where they didn't find them, I hate having to hunt for things when l
could easily get them if they are kept in their usual place. If you found
it in the top right cupboard, return it in the top right cupboard. Not in
the fridge, not it the left drawer, not under the sink, but in the top right
cupboard. It just makes life a little bit easier and saves a whole lot of
time and unnecessary arguments and headache.
Sme: Faith!
Faith: Evie....
Sme: No, don't Evie me, I don't know if you had a maid over at your
place, but here you clean up after yourself
Faith: Oh,l meant to do that. Yikuthi bengisabheke iRhythm City
Sme: Iqale nini ukudlala the whole day iRhythm City? You had time to
cook and eat but you had no time to clean up after yourself? Hayi no,
you are going to have to pull your weight around here
Faith: Ok ok, keep your wig on! Jeez, it's only dishes for goodness
sake. One would think I killed someone or something....Tjoo!
Sme: Don't make me regret inviting you in Faith, go wash up please. I
need to cook!
Faith: Ok, ima kancane iRhythm City iyaphela in 15 minutes
Sme: Heeh! (Shaking my head)

I didn't have time to wait, so l went and washed up and cleared the
mess Faith had made and started cooking. I was already regretting
agreeing to let her stay with us. When Rhythm City leyo finished
playing, she came to the kitchen and said "Hawu, ingani bengishilo
nje ngathi l will wash up after Rhythm City?". I just looked at her and
said nothing, I didn't want to say something l would later regret. She
went back to the living room to watch something else. I later
discovered that she put up a status on FB and Whatsapp saying
"Yekel'ukuba serious. Phola sisi". Maybe l had overreacted a bit, but
who wants to come home from work to find the kitchen in a state
ngomuntu who spent the whole day at home doing absolutely nothing
besides watching TV? A grown ass woman for that matter! Hayi no
man! I'm sure if Siya had come home before l did and found the place
like that, he wouldn't have been happy either. After we finished eating,
Siya helped me clear up, I washed the dishes whilst he dried
sizixoxela nje when Faith joined us. She asked me what the house
rules were so that "something like today never happened again" as
she put it. Siya looked at me to ask what had happened, l told him it
was not a big deal, he shouldn't worry himself about that. I told Faith
to clean up after herself and remember that she was sharing the
house with other people. I knew that that was her way of apologising.
Siya and l went to bed quite early that night as we wanted to wake up
early to go car hunting. I asked Faith if she wanted to join us but she
declined and said she had people to see.

That night as we were spooning, Siya pulled me closer to him and

said "thank you for everything baby, I am one the luckiest guys alive".
I turned around and kissed him and fell asleep with a smile. That
Saturday morning, Siya asked me to join him in the shower. I was a
big reluctant, I knew that 'Mr Muscle' as we called him, would get
excited. I feared that if he went flaccid again before doing the did,
things would go back to where they were. I felt that we were making
some progress and didn't want things to go south again. In the end I
thought, "oh well, we will have to try again at some point, so might as
well". I joined him, and less than a minute in the shower, Mr Muscle
showed himself up. I was a bit nervous, so was he. He pulled me
closer to him and kissed me like he had never kissed me before, I got
all excited and wrapped my arms around him. He pulled my legs
apart, licking me all over... Then there was a knock. Ah, l had
forgotten about Faith there for a second. She desperately needed the
toilet. Eish, talk about timing. Siya had already finished anyway, so he
quickly put something on and left. She didn't even apologise, mnxx.
We spent the whole day car hunting, even though we didn't get what
we wanted, it was a good day in general. Siya cracked a few jokes,
and we didn't run out of things to talk about. We got some take away
because we were both knackered. Faith wasn't home when we
arrived. She arrived just as we finished eating with two bottles of wine
and a pizza. She told me that she had gone out on a date. She
offered us some wine but we both declined
Faith: Hawu bantu, it's just wine. One glass won't kill you
Sme: No, we are fine Fefe
Faith: Siya uyakhulunyelwa? Don't you have your own mouth?
Uyakshaya yini uEvie?Loosen up people!
Siya: Hahah, hayi..,ok, just one glass then
That one glass turned to two, two to three till they had finnished the
whole two bottle. Here I was declining to have a glass in support of
Siya, but he goes and drinks a whole bottle of wine. I was pissed off
shem.

I went to bed and Siya followed me, he was tipsy and all over me as
soon as he closed our bedroom door. He said "shall we pick up where
we left off", even though I was pissed off I didn't declined. He touched
me at all the right places, so did l, he got on top of me and I helped
him guide Mr Muscle in. Things were looking and feeling good, just
when we were really getting into it, Faith knocked and let herself in at
the same time before we could say anything!

Umendo Chapter 43

We couldn't pull the duvet to cover us up quick enough, Faith just

stood there and said "oh, trying to make a baby are we?". Heh (clap
once), the nerve of that girl. She said that she was cold and wanted to
ask for an extra blanket. I don't know if she had genuinely forgotten
that we kept all our extra blankets in the spare bedroom where she
slept or if it was because she had quite a lot to drink. I told her where
to get the extra blanket and told her to learn some manners. She
apologised and left. As soon as Faith closed the door, Siya asked me
if l had told Faith about his problem. I told him that I hadn't, he didn't
seem to believe me because he asked me why Faith made that
statement about making a baby. It was probably coincidental because
I had never told her about any of my marital problems. Needless to
say, Siya's spirits were dampened and Mr Muscle didn't get excited for
the rest of the night.
Before we both left for church, l went to have a little chat with Faith
Sme: Faith, we need to talk
Faith: Oh oh, sounds like you are breaking up with me. I have a
massive headache right now, can we talk about whatever it is when
you get back from church?
Sme: No, it cannot wait. I let you come stay with us out of the
goodness of my heart, I didn't have to, but I did. You have caused
chaos ever since you got here and l'm afraid you cannot stay with us
any longer. You have to find some place else to stay otherwise we will
end up fighting till no point of return.
Faith: Wow, I've not been here a week and you already chucking me
out to the streets? Where am l supposed to go?
Sme: To your friends or something, l don't know. You have a lot of
friends right?
Faith: Yes, but none of them are in positions to offer me a place to
stay
Sme: Usukhulile Faith, l'm sure you will make a plan
She looked at me with so much sadness, l felt guilty, but she had to
go. After church l found a missed call from my aunt (Faith's mum, my
father's sister) and another from my mother. I called my mother first.
She told me that ubabakazi had called her asking her to speak to me
ukuthi ngingaxotshi uFaith because she doesn't have anywhere else
to go. I told my mother about Faith's lack of manners, she understood
but pleaded with me to let her stay for another week before she
moved out like she had said. I called my aunt who is very sweet and
down to earth, it's hard to believe that Faith came out of her womb. I
guess it true that umfundisi kazizali. My aunt begged me to let her
stay for a few more days. She told me that she was going to borrow
some money and send it for Faith's first month rent whilst she was
looking for a job, but I told her not to worry about the rent money, I
was going to give her the money. I wasn't doing it for her, l was doing
it for my aunt, shame my poor aunt. When we arrived home after
church, we found Faith cooking and the house was clean. I was
pleasantly surprised, ok the meal was below par, but it was the effort
that counted. Siya went to Yoeville after we finished eating. I told Faith
about my conversation with her mother. I told her to look for a job and
she said that she was going to start marketing the next day.

Siya came back later in the evening tipsy, I was beginning to get
worried. He was supposed to lay off alcohol whilst we were trying to
conceive in order to increase his sperm count. I didn't want to start
and argument with him, so l just kept quiet. In bed that night, Siya
didn't do much foreplay, just a kiss here and a kiss there then he was
on top of me. It felt awkward because I was not used to this, Mr
Muscle was fully loaded, but I can't say my honey pot was happy to
welcome Mr Muscle. I tried to focus on foreplay a while longer, but he
just wanted to go straight in. It was tricky because I didn't want to say
anything that could knock his confidence down and risk him goimg
flaccid again, so I just opened my legs. I could feel that he was very
tense and was focusing on staying hard for as long as possible that
he forgot to enjoy it all. After a minute of Mr Muscle pumping in and
out, my honey pot went dry. I wasn't enjoying it at all, I just wanted
him to cum quickly and get off me. He was now groaning, not the
pleasure type, but the groaning one does when they are lifting up
something heavy. The whole thing felt laboured. Three minutes gone
and the friction was killing me. It felt as if somebody was rubbing the
hottest chilli in there. I put some of my saliva down there very now and
again, but it would dried up after a couple of thrusts. We didn't have
any baby oil or lube on our night stands because we had never
needed them before. Five minutes later, now I was moaning in pain, I
guess Siya mistook it as pleasure moaning because he turned me
over and went harder. It was cold but he was sweating, some of his
sweat dripping onto to me. Seven minutes later, he was still pounding
me mercilessly. I could tell that he was getting frustrated that he was
nowhere near cuming, he was overthinking it. Ten minutes later, my
vajay jay felt like someone had added fire onto the hot chilli. Twelve
minutes later l collapsed onto the bed, l couldn't take it anymore. Siya
got off me ephufuzela, I was praying that he wouldn't want to try again
in a different position. He said "l'm sorry love, angazi kwenzakalani
ngami". I told him not to worry, that we were going to be ok before l
went to splash some cold water to cool down the fire that was burning
in between my thighs. I felt sore, I hoped that Siya wouldn't want to try
again anytime soon. I needed some time off to recover. Mr Muscle got
excited again twice during the night as we were spooning, but Siya
didn't try to get some. Yuu, l was relieved shem.

The next morning, Faith woke up early and got ready to go job
hunting. I dropped her off where she was going to get ama taxi. The
next few days, Siya tried to get some but I told him l was on my
period. I wasn't, I was still sore from that night. Faith was leaving early
in the morning with us to go job hunting. One day I got off work early
because I wanted to go look for a car to buy. I went home first to cook,
there was a car parked in front of our house. The radio was on, but
not to loud. I opened the front door slowly, as l walked past the
kitchen, l saw an empty bottle of wine on the the kitchen top. In the
exact same spot where I found Siya and Nicole, was Faith with only
her nickers on sitting on some guy's lap. She was straddling him with
her body facing away from me, so l couldn't see who the guy was from
I was standing.

Umendo Chapter 44

"Ahem ahem", l coughed a little to alert them of my presence. Faith

jumped from his lap and there he was. It was Didi, Faith's supposedly
ex boyfriend. He only had his vest on, so he too jumped to put his
trousers on. I turned my face away from him but obviously not quick
enough because l saw his ntenene. Heeeeh (clap once). Ok, I had
only ever been with Siya, so I could not say l had great knowledge
with penises. But we live in a digital world, where social networking
has been taken to another level, so l have seen a fair amount of
penises in these networking platforms, especially Whatsapp. Who
here can raise their hand and say they have never received a dirty
viral picture or video? I had seen a quite a few that I had an idea what
the average size is, so when I saw that ntenene I was speechless.
Well, l was speechless at the whole scene, but seeing that.....,I was
really speechless. How can I best describe it....? My biggest toe is
bigger than what I saw. It literally ended where it started! What was
Faith even doing straddling him? Was she going to put it in together
with his balls? Because that's the only way she would be able to feel
that there was something inside her. Some people say that size
doesn't matter, you just have to find a position that works for you. I
had no other experience besides Siya, so l believed that, but now,
now that I had seen Didi's ntenene, I knew right then that size matters.
Imagine if l went from Siya to him, no matter how many ice blocks I
shove down my honey pot, I could never be satisfied by him. Maybe it
would have been fine if I had never been with someone else, but
hayi... lokhuyana, even if you have never been with anyone else
ngeke usuthiseke. Vele I don't think you can even break anyone's
virginity with that. How do you even give him a hand job because it
would disappear in your hand and probably squash it. I know that it's
not his fault shame, he was born that way, but eish. If Faith dated him
with the hope to find a monster pipe underneath those expensive
trousers, shem wabhampa! Whoever said Nigerians are well endowed
clearly hadn't met Didi. Is there even a condom that fits him? I highly
doubt it.

Anyhow, I looked away and walked back outside, I don't know why I
went outside instead of the bedroom or kitchen, maybe I needed
some fresh air after what I had seen. To be honest, I was so relieved
it wasn't Siya, but I was pissed that Faith was doing her business in
the living room. Couldn't they do it at his place? A couple of minutes
later Didi came outside with so much embarrassment he couldn't even
walk properly, it was as if he was carrying a bucket in between his
thighs and didn't want to drop it. He couldn't look me in the eye, he
apologised for what they did and said his goodbyes. It's true that you
shouldn't judge a book by its cover, phela if you saw Didi, how tall he
was, how smart he always dressed and the car he drives, you could
never imagine that he has an excuse for a penis. No offence to you
guys who are in Didi's boat. It's true ukuthi uNkulunkulu akakunikezi
konke shem. Back in the house Faith's eyes were wandering all over
the place as if she was looking for something she had lost
Sme: Really Faith? Here I was thinking you are busy looking for a job.
Is this what you do everyday when we are at work?
Faith: No, I really have been looking for a job. I have never brought
any guy here
Sme: Having sex in the living room pho?
Faith: We were not having sex
Sme: You were going to if I hadn't arrived, weren't you?
Faith: (Zwi yena)
Sme: And I thought you had broken up with Didi?
Faith: Yes we had, he has been calling me these past few days trying
to get us back together. So he came to drop me off today after my job
hunt. One thing led to another, I'm sorry you had to see that
Sme: I don't have the energy to argue with you, please don't do it
again
Faith: It won't happen again. I promise.... I hope you are not
traumatised by what you saw
Sme: Oh l am alright
Faith: I know you are thinking why do I stay with him when he doesn't
even have .., you know
Sme: Ah, I didn't say anything mina
Faith: I laughed the first time l saw it you know. I was tipsy, so l
laughed so hard, put my clothes on and left. When he called me, I told
him to stop wasting my time because he could never satisfy me. He
didn't give up, he was such a gentleman, eventually l gave in. The first
time we got together, he made me cum three times just from foreplay,
so I didn't need to be penetrated to be satisfied. Yes, I hardly felt his
thing inside me when he got on top of me, he thrust in and out less
than ten times before he came. So that's what we always do, he gives
me the best orgasms with foreplay, then goes inside me for his
release. He is very nice to me, and he treats me better than any other
guy l have ever been with, so that's why I have stayed with him for all
this time
Sme: Ok, so long you are happy, that's all that matters.
Faith: Yah neh!
Sme: Yeah, so does this mean you are moving in back with him?
Faith: No, I want to find a place of my own, it's high time I became
independent. I want to find a job and do something tangible with my
life. Going back to live with him will just make me lazy because he
does everything for me.
Sme: That's the spirit, I hope you will find a job soon

Faith helped me prepare dinner and she joined me in my car hunt. I

saw a car that I liked, so l put down a deposit for it. I was going to
come back with Siya so he could see it and test drive it too before I
paid the balance.
After we finished eating, I asked to use Siya's phone to call Zandie
because I had no airtime. When I finished speaking to Zandie, the
phone went straight to the call logs.

Zandie's name appeared more than six times on the call log. This was
the first time I had ever called Zandie on Siya's new phone, so why
did she appear on the log so many times?

Umendo Chapter 45

Siya and Zandie only communicate every now and then, like when
there is a crisis or something like that. So naturally I was surprised to
see outgoing calls from Siya to Zandie. "Baby, lihlanganisani
loZandie?" I asked him. "Why do you ask?", he replied. I told him why
I was asking. Before he could react and reply, Faith said that she is
the one who had been calling Zandie using Siya's phone because she
had no airtime. She told me that she had asked her ukuba amzwele
umsebenzi, so she used Siya's phone a few times to call her about a
couple of job vacancies. Phew.....I felt stupid and silly for even asking
him that. Maybe I was becoming too paranoid, that's what being
cheated on does to you. You are always on guard, you become a
detective, always on the look out for anything and everything. Once
that trust is lost, it takes forever to build it up again, and even when
you've built it again, it's never the same. I was ashamed though that
Siya's infidelity had reduced me to even entertaining the thought that
my friend, my closest friend who had been there for me through it all
could even look at My husband that way. I was glad though that I had
been calm and collected when I asked him.

Faith got a job and asked to stay for a month to get her first pay then
move out. She worked different shifts five days a week. When she
was off, she went over to Didi's. Siya was still not able to perform in
bed, he would either go flat way too early, or go on forever when he
had a drink. He kept postponing going to the men's clinic. It was all
frustrating, but l tried to stay strong and positive. I was against him
drinking, but he argued that it was too much to expect him to not drink
any alcohol at all for heaven knows how long. So we ended up
compromising that he could have a drink once a week. One Saturday,
Siya and l went to collect my car, Faith had gone over to Didi's. We
met up with Zandie and Francis for dinner to celebrate my new car.
We arrived home around 8pm.

Around 10pm when we were sleeping, we heard a very loud knock.

We both looked at each other puzzled. We could hear footsteps
around the house, "open up or we will kick this door in", a male voice
said. I put on my morning gown, Siya put on a t-shirt and went to open
the door. When we got to the door, the same voice said, "This is your
last warning. It's the police, open up or we will break in". Siya
unlocked the door and opened it slowly, one of them pushed the door
wide open with his boots and with a gun pointed right at Siya. It was
oma beret! The ones who wear red berets and look like soldiers.
There were about 15 of them wearing bullet proof vests, they pushed
their way through all of them with guns pointed at us, we moved back
into the living room walking backwards. I have never been so scared
in my life, I had been scared when Siya was stabbed, but this! This
was on a whole new level! I have heard stories about how ruthless
oma beret are, in fact Siya once told me a story about a guy he knew.
The guy was one of two suspects in a high jacking shooting. They
went to his place where they found him sleeping with his girlfriend,
they beat him so hard before asking him about the gun he had used
for shooting the victim, then they asked his girlfriend where the gun
was. When she told them that she knew nothing, they beat her up too
breaking her jaw and knocking out three of her teeth. Whilst they were
interrogating them, the accomplice knocked at the door not knowing
that he was walking into a death trap. They opened the door and saw
that it was the other suspect, the suspect realised what was going on,
he tried to run but they shot him more that seven times. He died on
the spot. The other suspect seeing this, told them where the gun was.
Lapho ke they beat him to a pulp. He was unconscious when they
dragged him to their car to take him to the police station where he
died fours later. They wrote on their report that he had gotten in a fight
with one of cell mates in the holding cells. So as you can imagine, l
was scared shitless. I could tell that Siya was terrified as well, he was
shaking!

We were cornered against the wall in the living room by two of them,
the rest were walking around the house searching for God knows
what. It all seemed surreal. Then one of them, a tall white Afrikaner
middle aged guy who was wearing civilian clothes with a bullet proof
vest came over to us with a smile and said, "so, where are they?". We
looked at each other puzzled, then he said "The drugs! Were are the
drugs?!"
Umendo Chapter 46

That smile accompanied with a piercing gaze said it all, it was that
sort of villian smile you see in the movies. The Afrikaner guy whom I
gathered was the chief of that operation whacked Siya on his face so
hard with his gun, I swear I heard a cracking sound, probably his jaw.
Siya's body went flying across the sofa and he landed the top half of
his body on top of the coffee table. His nose was bleeding, I screamed
running towards my husband to help him up. One of them pulled me
away, no he yanked me away from Siya, I stumbled a little to get
some balance. Chief walked slowly towards Siya, he light a cigarette, I
don't know why but I screamed, "No Smoking In My House!". He
looked at me, with that piercing gaze and that wry smile, inhaled the
smoke of his cigarette and blew it towards me, then pressed the lit
part of his cigarette onto Siya's arm. He let out a muffled scream and I
cried out for the chief to stop hurting him. The other boma beret were
still ransacking our house in search of "the drugs" that we knew
nothing about. Chief kicked Siya on his head and l went flying towards
him,crying for him to stop. One beret held me, I tried to break free
from him but his grip was so tight and firm l couldn't even wiggle. He
kept kicking him everywhere and stumping on him saying "we are not
leaving here without what we came for you kak, ...you bastard", l was
sobbing uncontrollable, It killed me seeing my husband being
assaulted like that, and worse by officers of the law. Siya was
groaning in pain, oh bantu, my poor Siya. As if he hadn't suffered
enough when he got stabbed. I was praying silently that they finish the
search quickly, that way they would stop beating Siya. I'd rather they
locked us up whilst they were doing their investigation than abuse us
like that! Now another beret had joined Chief, they were both kicking
him, their boots were covered in blood. I knew Siya wasn't going to
make it if they kicked him one more time.He was using his hands to
block the kicks, eventually he stopped trying to protect himself. He
had stopped making any sounds, I knew he had passed out.

I prayed that they wouldn't shoot him and finish him up. At some point,
which to me felt like forever, they stopped kicking Siya, Chief came
towards me, l had stopped kicking and screaming . I was on the floor
sobbing so hard it felt like my guts had been ripped out of my
stomach.I had never cried so much and so hard until that day. At that
point I didn't care if they beat me up or shot me, I had never despiced
someone so much as l did this Afrikaner chief. He said to me "since
that kak of your husband won't tell us anything, maybe you will". I was
kneeling on the floor with my eyes fixed on his bloodied boots, "my
husband's blood", I thought to myself. He told me to get up and look at
him, I stayed on the floor. Not to defy him or anything, I just didn't
have the energy, my knees were weak, it felt as if all my bones had
been removed and l had been left limp. My tears were falling onto the
tip of his boot, washing off the blood. I crawled past him to get to Siya
kanti angibuzanga elangeni! He kicked me on my chest flipping me
upside down! I bit my tongue so hard I tased the blood gushing from
my tongue. I hit the floor with the back of my head and everything
went a bit fuzzy for a few seconds. I blinked rapidly to get my vision
back. As l was trying to lift up my head, he placed his boot on my
forehead. I knew he wouldn't hesitate to crush my head, I had to think
of something fast. I had to stay alive for my husband, or what was left
of him. I blurted out "Lumkile!". She was the only person l could think
of who could have had a hand in all this. She had probably planted
something somewhere, in one of Siya's driving school cars probably
and tipped them off or something. Eish, that woman! Even after she
hac found out that Siya wasn't the father of Nicole's baby, she was still
going out of her way to make us suffer. For what? Talk about
misguided anger! Or maybe she was mad that l helped Nicole, yeah,
that also made sense since she wanted her to suffer for what she did.
Or maybe it was because I demanded that she paid me back what
had taken from us, so she thought she would get back at us by this?
Or maybe it was all the above. Chief still with his boot on my forehead
said "Lumi..khile..., what?". Before l could say anything, one beret
came out of our spare bedroom and said "found something". Chief
moved away from me to see what had been found, I sat up and
looked towards them. The beret handed a packet which could have
roughly been 2kgs with white powder in it, and a ward of cash. You
should have seen the shock in my eyes! What was that doing in our
house?

Chief looked at me, this time his eyes were so full of anger! I knew
from his look that he was going to beat me to death. I got up so quick
and ran for the door, one of the berets came after me but he missed
me by a second, I closed our front door shutting them in and I
screamed. I wanted to wake up everyone in the complex so that they
would witness my death, and probably my husband's too. I wasn't
going to die without a fight! I was pulling the door handle with both of
my hands whilst screaming "he....lp.......Nampo besibulala bo, .....
He.......lp!".I saw a few light come on, and l heard a few couple of
doors being opened. I was going back and forth with whoever was
behind the door pulling to open it. Then I heard "pha..aaaa". A
gunshot! I fell to the ground and everything went black.....!

Umendo Chapter 47

I woke up in a pool of water surrounded by familiar faces from the

complex, Zodwa had my head in her arms.Somebody was calling the
ambulance. I quickly felt my whole body for the gunshot wound, I was
not bleeding and the only pain I felt was at the back of my head when
I fell and landed on the ground and on my chest, where Chief had
kicked me. Oh God, this only meant one thing, they had shot my
husband! I got up, and stumbled into the house to check my husband.
There was someone in the kitchen filling up a dish with water,
probably to splash it on me. There was no one in the living room, the
floor was wet, I quickly surveyed the rest of the house and there was
no one. I wept! What had they done with Siya? I asked Zodwa what
had happened to Siya, she told me that they took him with them. They
had poured cold water onto him to wake him up and dragged him into
one of their vans. So who had been shot then? Zodwa showed me the
hole on our front door, they had shot the door. I don't know if it was to
get me to open the door or if that bullet was meant for me. I got sick to
my stomach, I knew I had to do something about my husband before
they finished him off if they hadn't already. Zodwa told me that they
said they were taking him to Norwood Police Station.

I called Faith! It had to be her and Didi's drugs. I had let her into our
house not knowing she was going to bring us so much pain. Her
phone was not going through, I didn't have Didi's number so I was
stuck. I put on some dry clothes and took my handbag to go to the
police station. I was going to tell them who the drugs belonged to. I
just hoped my husband was still alive. The whole place was upside
down, I opened the drawer in the wardrobe where we kept emergency
cash so I could bail Siya out if they agreed. It was gone! R5 000, all of
it! Those thieves, those bastards! I knew wasn't going to get it back.
Zodwa offered to drive me to the police station but I declined, she
insisted so l ended up letting her drive me there. I don't know if it was
out of sympathy or if she wanted to gobhoza to the rest of the
complex when she got back. Whatever it was, I didn't care much at
that point, I just wanted my husband back home.

We got there and they wouldn't let me see him. I told them about Faith
and her boyfriend. They asked for her number and I gave it to them.
They called her but it wasn't going through, so they said I should take
them to Didi's place. I had only been there twice, I feared that I
wouldn't remember the place, worse it was at night. He lived
eYouville, so it wasn't that far from the police station. They were three
squad cars and a van. About 12 berets. Chief was there as well, I
wanted to spit on him, but I knew what was best for me and my
husband. When we got there, the security guard let us in, that made
me think. Who had let them into our complex because Lindo leaves
around 8pm and he doesn't live in our complex? They banged on the
door, but nobody opened, so they broke in. They searched the whole
flat and found a huge ward of cash, it had to be nothing less than R70
000, about a dozen passports, tablets, laptops and phones. They took
them all! I asked Chief if he was going to let my husband go, but he
said that they weren't going to let him go because for all they knew my
husband was working with Didi and Faith! What? Are you kidding me?
I asked him to let him out so he couldn't get some medical attention at
least, but he refused saying he could skip the country. He even
refused bail and said I had to go apply in court for bail. Oh nkosi yam
bantu! I called our lawyer to find out what our options were but he
wasn't picking up his phone. I was stuck! .

When we got downstairs, I asked the security guard if he had seen

Didi and Faith. He told me that they had left the flat about an hour
earlier, he said they had probably gone to eGuest House/ Palace, a
club in Youvillle. Chief was listening, so we went there. I prayed that
we would find them there. We got there around 1am. I went in with
two berets, we scoured the place but I couldn't find them. I went to the
ladies toilets and I found Faith there with one of her friends putting
make up on. I pulled her out to boma beret and said to her "tell them
that you are the one who stashed those drugs in my house and where
Didi is". She looked at me confused, but I wasn't buying it! I wanted to
slap the hell out of her, how dare she! They took her outside,
everyone in the club was watching, some people even followed us
outside. They asked her where Didi was, she hesitated a little. Bad
mistake cos one beret backhanded her so hard she stumbled and fell
to the ground with her hand rubbing where she had been slapped. I
think it dawned on her that these people meant business, because
she quickly got up and went sober there and then! She told them that
she knew nothing and that Didi had left soon after buying her drinks,
he had gone to collect something in Hilbrow with one of his friends.
She showed them Didi's car which was parked on the side. They told
her to call Didi and tell him to get back ASAP, but not to tell him
anything about them. Lucky enough Didi picked up and said they were
already on their way back. We waited for him in the car, he arrived
about 10 minutes later. They went straight to him as soon as he
arrived and searched the car. They found more money and about
500g of white powder. If that wasn't evidence enough for them to let
my husband go, I don't know what was. They arrested both of them
and Faith. I followed them to the station with Zodwa. Apparently Didi
and his friends had refused to say anything without a lawyer, and Didi
had told Faith not to say anything either. Around 3am they let Siya
out, he couldn't walk properly. He had to hold onto the walls for
balance, his face was swollenand covered in blood l could hardly
recognise him. His hands were swollen as well, Zodwa and l helped
him to the car. We didn't get an apology or anything, Chief just said,
"next time know who you let into your house".

We took Siya to the hospital, it brought back memories of when he got

stabbed just less than six months back. I was just glad that he was
still alive. I received a text message from Faith saying "I am so sorry
for what happened, but l swear l had nothing to do with the drugs".
Yeah right! When I got off the phone with Zandie, l received a call
from umamazala. Before I could even greet her she screamed "Wena
mthakathi wezigodo, lifuna ukubulalisa umntanami! You failed to kill
him last time, now you want to finish him!"

Umendo Chapter 48

I couldn't bring myself to call umamazala, l knew she was going to let
me have it on this one. She was probably going to say that me and
my family were trying to kill her son. I had called Buhle to let her know
about Siya on our way to the hospital and asked her to call uMaMoyo
to let her know and other relatives because I really had no energy. So
when she called me and said those words l was not surprised at all. I
didn't stay on the phone to listen to more of her insults, I hung up on
her, which l know is rude, but she was rude! She called me a few
more times and l ignored her calls. Siya was admitted, I wanted to
stay a bit longer by his side but they wouldn't let me. Zandie came
early in the morning to help me clear up the mess oma beret had
made. I searched our spare bedroom from top to bottom to make sure
that there wasn't anything else illegal, I did not find anything. I packed
Faith's clothes ready to be collected whenever she got out. I couldn't
take them to Didi's flat since they were both in custody.l didn't want to
hear my aunt crying, so l ask my mother to tell her about Faith's
shenanigans. She offered to come and be with me for moral support,
but I declined. The doctor who had attended to Siya had estimated
that he could be discharged in less than two weeks if the scan
revealed that he hadn't fractured any bones. So I wanted us to be
alone for a while whilst we tried to recover from this ordeal. If MaMoyo
wanted to visit Siya before he was discharged, she would have to stay
with Buhle because I was not prepared for her, mentally. This time
uzokhuluma iqiniso ma ethi ngimxotshile. Or I would go and stay with
Zandie, she will stay at the house by herself.

I discovered that some of my jewellery was missing from my jewellery

box, those thieving bastards! Mnxxxx. A couple of women from the
complex came over to 'check if l was ok'. When Siya got out, we
would have to discuss moving away from this place, so many bad
memories. We would rent it out until we finished paying the bond, then
sell it. It's funny how a few bad memories can completely suppress
many many good memories. As a person you can do many good
deeds in your life, but the minute you make that one mistake, people
forget all the thousand good things you have done and forever
remember that one bad mistake you made. Life hey... When I told
Langa and Mike about the recent events of my life, they proclaimed
that my life was more scandalous than Scandal, the TV soap. I went
to stay with Zandie, I was scared of being alone in that house;
besides, I didn't want to find MaMoyo waiting for me like last time. If
she wanted to see Siya, she would have to come after he was
discharged. Things would be extremely tense with just the two of us.
Either I would end up strangling her, or she would kill me first.

Siya was recovering well, the swellings were coming down nicely,
thank God he had no broken bones. He didn't like being in hospital,
but then again, nobody does, he wanted to get out of there as soon as
yesterday. Buhle called me one afternoon to tell me that uMaMoyo
was coming over from ekhaya, I told her that I was staying with
Zandie. She understood and said she would tell her to come and stay
with her. I found them (Buhle and MaMoyo), two days later visiting
Siya.
I greeted them, Buhle got up and gave me a hug, MaMoyo looked at
me and said nothing. So I greeted her again, this time specifically
mentioning her, but she just kept her eyes on Siya and asked Siya
something as if she hadn't heard me. Siya intervened and said
"uyakukhulumisa uMeme mama, awumuzwa yini?". She sized me up
and said "Yebo", then went back to her conversation with Siya. I
couldn't stay with all that tension, so l told Siya that I would visit later
and went back to work. When I visited him, I told him about what his
mother had said to him, but he said it was just probably stress and
frustration. He told me that he didn't blame me for what had
happened, for l knew nothing about Faith and Didi's dealings, he also
said that he was going to have a word with his mother. I asked him to
let me know when his mother was visiting so that l could come at an
alternative time, I really couldn't stand her anymore. I wanted to make
sure I didn't find myself in the same room as her because even if she
didn't say anything with her mouth, she said a lot with her
expressions.

A day before Siya was due to be discharged, I went home to prepare

for his return. He came back on a Thursday, so I took the day off
work. I cooked a lovely meal for him and got some candles and
flowers. It was great to have my husband back home in one piece, I
would have never been able to live with myself if something had
happened to him. I hadn't heard anything from Faith, I tried to call her
but her phone wasn't going through. I wanted to find out what was
going on with her because my aunt was very worried and she wanted
to know if she had been charged, she told me that she had heard
nothing from her. Maybe she had died in those cells or in prison, and
nobody had come forward to claim her body. I needed to find out for
my aunt's sake. I wanted Siya to be discharched first before I started
adding more stress to my already stressful life. So since Siya had
been discharged, I was going to go find out about Faith the coming
Monday. Siya was very happy to be home, we stayed up cuddling and
catching up on our TV programmes. The following day, he brought up
the issue of moving out as if he had read my mind. We both agreed to
look for a place and move out of the complex. There was no sex or
anything, just kissing, cuddling and spooning. I couldn't complain
really, I felt very blessed to have him back.

I was ironing on a Saturday afternoon when l heard a knock. Siya had

gone to sort our some business with Francis. I assumed it was Zodwa
or someone from the complex, I got up to open the door but umuntu
wavela wazingenela because the door wasn't locked. It was Faith! I
wasn't interested in finding out how she had gotten out who had
gotten her out, I just wanted her to take imitshaqana yakhe and go! I
was going to call aunty after she had left to tell her not to worry about
Her.

Sme: Go and get it your stuff it's in the spare bedroom. Don't ever
come back here again, you have caused us so much pain. My
husband nearly died because of you!
Faith: I told you, I had nothing to do with those drugs! I swear I knew
nothing!
Sme: Yeah right! Just leave please!
Faith: Can I stay for a week please whilst I sort myself out. It will only
be one week, nothing more
Sme: You must be joking, you cannot seriously be asking to stay here
after everything you have put us through!
Faith: Evie bantu, I swear I had nothing to do with that (She started
sobbing)
Sme: Your crocodile tears won't change anything, just leave please.
Faith: I have nowhere to go right now...( still crying) And Didi wants
nothing to do with me, he thinks I set him up.
Sme: I don't care what Didi thinks, or whatever is going on with you.
You cannot stay here, my husband won't like finding you here. So
yenza uhambe ( she ran to the toilet still crying and she vomited
violently....I hoped she wasn't ill)
Faith: (She finished throwing up) Please Sme, you have to believe
me, I had nothing to do with those drugs, I don't know how they got
there. Maybe you should ask Siya
Sme: You should be ashamed of yourself! Do l look stupid to you?
Why did they suddenly appear when you moved in with us? ( I took
her suitcase to the door to show her I meant business)
Faith: (She stopped crying and had a devilish look on her) Did Siya
tell you that wangimithisa? Is that why lingixotsha?
Sme: Huh? What are you talking about?
Faith: You heard me, I am PREGNANT! I am carrying Siya's baby.
Don't even suggest it's Didi's because I fell pregnant when I moved in
with you, and besides, I always use protection with Didi. I didn't with
Siya.
Sme: (I just stood there with my mouth dry, lost for words. I didn't
know what to think or say) Ini....???
Faith: Yes, your 'perfect' husband is not so perfect after all is he? And
to save you time of trying to find out who the other woman is, I will tell
you. It's your dear friend Zandie. He is sleeping with her. Those calls
you saw on his call logs were not by me, they were made by him! I
have never called Zandie!
Sme: No......, this can't be happening.Why? Why?
Faith: Don't worry, I will have an abortion. I don't want to bring shame
into our family (as if she hadn't done that already), plus, I am not
ready for kids. I have a life to live! (She picked up her bags and left!

Umendo Chapter 49

I couldn't believe Faith, so I called Zandie straight away. Her phone

was ringing but she wasn't picking it up. I knew she was off, so I got
into the car and drove to her house. I didn't want to entertain this
whole thing, because I would end up believing what Faith had said.
So I played music on my way there and tried to block it all out. There
must be an explanation for all this,Zandie could never do anything like
this. And Siya? Could he be stupid enough to cheat again after what
happened with Nicole? And impregnant Faith in less than a month
when we had been trying for years? If Faith was truly pregnant, it was
probably Didi's. There was absolutely no way she used condoms with
him because there is no condom that fits his ntenene, no ways! These
are all the things l kept replaying in my head, although I had told
myself not to think too much into this before hearing what Zandie and
Siya had to say. Before long I had arrived at Zandie's complex, the
gate at their complex is a see through and you can see Zandie's
house clearly from the gate.

I saw Siya's car parked behind Zandie's, what was he doing here? As
l was about to ask the security guard to ring Zandie, l saw Siya and
Zandie getting out of the house, Siya holding Zozo (Zandie's
daughter) to his chest. They hugged briefly , Siya got into the car and
rolled down the window to say something to Zandie. I quickly started
the car and drove off. I didn't know what to think, why would Siya lie to
me and say he is going to sort out some business whilst he was going
to see Zandie. And see her for what behind my back, on top of that
Zandie had ignored my calls. Zandie and Siya were never buddy
buddies, they communicated through me, like Siya would ask how
Zandie is if I had gone to lunch with her or something like that and
Zandie was the same. If Siya ever called Zandie, it was to ask her to
speak to me if he had done something wrong like the time I moved in
with her when he cheated with Nicole, or if my phone isn't going
through whilst Zandie and l are together. Could Faith have been
telling the truth? I pulled up and called Siya
Siya: Hey baby, usharp?
Sme: Yeah, when are you coming back home?
Siya: I'm on my way, I won't be long. Why do you sound so down?
Sme: Where are you?
Siya: I was with Francis discussing discussing some things about the
business
Sme: Really?
Siya: Ah baby, why would I lie to you?
I hung up on him, there it was! Pure lies...Why would Siya be calling
Zandie, now visiting her and lying about it? So he was busy donating
his sperm to Zandie and Faith whilst I was working hard making sure
he took his vitamin supplements and cooking healthy meals to
increase his sperm count. No wonder he couldn't get it up, how could
he after sleeping with two other women. By the time he got to me, Mr
Muscle would have had enough and probably tired. And he was
probably thinking of Faith and Zandie ephuzu kwami, no wonder he
couldn't concentrate enough to climax. Mnxx.. Men! Having a low
sperm count didn't mean that he couldn't have children, his chances
had probably gone up from 15% to 20% with those supplements, and
what did he do? Download it all on Faith who doesn't even want to
have a baby. And Faith said that she used protection with Didi, she
always has female condoms, so she could have been using them
since there is no size for Didi. I was done with all his lies and
cheating. I drove back home and quickly packed two suitcases. I
couldn't ask him to leave because I would literary have to drag him out
of the house myself, and even if I managed to drag him out, I know for
sure that he would come home everyday, even sleep outside the door
to push the point across. I had to find my own place where I wouldn't
find Siya waiting when I came back from work. I didn't want him to find
me there, lest he beg me and tell me how sorry he is, make believable
excuses like he did with the Nicole issue and I'd end up staying. This
was the final straw. I left a note saying, "Goodbye, you won't have to
sneak around anymore. Zandie or Faith, even both of them can move
in now since one woman will never be enough for you!
PS: I AM FILING FOR DIVORCE!"