Ziphozethu

30

From that day onwards it was just me and Buhle. It had been a month since I had seen Moses. Moses left and he never looked back. My heart was shattered.

Sicelo was home for December holidays. I acted like nothing was wrong but I knew he could sense something was off. Luckily, the only thing Moses did correctly was leave me access to my credit card he gave me so we lived comfortably.

Buhle was almost one and she was walking. I was so proud and thought her mother would like to see it. I sent her a video but there was no response. "Sicelo, bring all your dirty clothes and busy doing the laundry outside." I said when I came in the house. "Zethu? When is uncle Moses coming back?"

I didn't expect him to ask me that. "Um, Boy-boy uncle Moses is spending the holidays with his family. Remember I told you I was his second wife?" He just nodded. "Well, he spent a lot of time with me and he didn't see his first family, so now it's their turn." He nodded. "Okay. I get it. But can't he just come visit for a few minutes and then he can go back?" I sighed and took a seat next to him.

"He's a very busy man Sicelo. He works really hard so we can live comfortably and you can have nice things in school. You have to understand that when he's not here it doesn't mean he doesn't love us. It's because he loves us that he's not here." I could feel my heart shatter into a million pieces. My brother nodded and he went to get his dirty clothes. I went to my room and cried silently into a pillow until I heard Buhle wake up.

I made breakfast for everyone and then got back to the laundry. After breakfast Sicelo went to play with his friends. Buhle sat on her blanket playing while I hung the clothes out on the washing line. "There she is. Makoti we've been knocking for ten minutes. But I see you're busy." It was Ma and Fikile. I greeted and hugged them.

"We don't want to disturb you. We can talk while you do your thing." Ma said and i shook my head. "I just finished Ma. We can go inside." I got Buhle and her things and led them inside. I got tea and biscuits for them. And had a seat.

"We're here because of the wedding. We said we'd do the last ceremony a month after the first but it's been almost three months. It's Christmas soon." I just kept quiet. "Where's Moses? He should be here for this." I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Moses is with Nozipho." They looked confused. "We just came from there. She says he's with you. So where is he? Makoti I wasn't born yesterday. I can tell that you're hiding something."

I let out a deep breath. "Ma, I haven't seen Moses in over a month." She looked confused. "I don't understand. My son would never do that to you." I just bowed my head in shame. "We had a fight and he left." Ma stayed quiet.

"Do you have any idea where he might be?" I asked worried. "Usually when he's upset he throws himself into his work. I'll go check his office. Meanwhile we have something to ask you. Since we've come all this way I was hoping you would let your stepmother stay here for the few days that she's in the city?" I hesitantly agreed. I prepared Sicelo's room for her and then started on lunch.

I went out into the street and saw Sicelo playing soccer with a few other boys. "Sicelo! Lunch!" He came running home and we went inside. "What are we having?" He asked walking into the house. "Spaghetti." I said and he quickly ran to the kitchen where Fikile was. "Sicelo, this is Mam'Fikile. She's our father's first wife. She'll be visiting with us this week. He said a soft 'hi' and then we ate in silence.

"Zethu, can I go play again?" I gave him the side eye. "And the dishes?" He just sighed. "Fine, but when I'm done?" I agreed and he washed and packed the dishes away. I laid Buhle down for an afternoon nap. "Zethu, can we talk?" Fikile asked and I just sighed.

We took a seat in the living room. "How have you been after everything that's happened?" I could already tell where this was going. "I've been fine, Ma. Life goes on." She looked concerned and she just sighed. "You look fine and I know that you're a strong woman but you don't have to be all the time." She said and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.

"Ma, the time for this talk was two months ago when you're husband killed my unborn child. We're past the crying and being vulnerable stage. Can I just live my life peacefully please? The time for crying and talking about my feelings is over."

"Zethu." She said shocked. "Fine. Can we at least talk about the wedding. We've done a lot of planning on the traditional wedding already. We've done what we can without a wedding date. We decided to leave the white wedding all to you." She said as if it was a gift. "I'm not having a white wedding." I was over it. I knew my marriage wasn't concrete and this comfortable life might not last but I was over it.

"Zethu, what has gotten into you? I understand you and your husband are going through a really difficult time but you need to stick together." I just rolled my eyes. "Roll your eyes all you want. You are the wife of a very influential man. You had to have known it would come with a lot of sacrifices and hard work. If you want your marriage to work you're going to need to suck it up and go talk to your husband!"

I wanted to roll my eyes again but I knew what she was saying was true. I had to speak to Moses but what he did to me really hurt. I was broken and while I was at my weakest he decided to leave me over stupid reasons.

The was a panicked knock on my door in the middle of the night. "Ma, don't open it. This is not the village. We don't open doors in the middle of the night." I stopped Fikile who ran to the door. "Zethu it's me! MaRadebe!" I rushed to the door and opened it only to find her holding up a very drunk and stinky Moses.