Ziphozethu

42

Moses spent more time with his brother in the week leading up to Christmas. Nozipho was becoming more and more of a bitch and she would order me around like I was her maid. I spent most of my time doing stuff for her and spending time with the kids.

I tried calling my friend, Sethu, but she was ignoring every single one of my calls. "MaZulu, I'm leaving. Moses and I are going out to lunch. You can make something for you and the kids since the staff has gone home for the holidays." She said and left immediately. I made lunch and spent the rest of the day with the kids.

It was almost midnight and I hadn't heard anything from Moses or Nozipho. I tried calling and texting but they didn't pick up. I was completely alone with the kids in this huge house. If anything were to happen I wouldn't know what to do.

I eventually fell asleep on the couch and woke up to kisses on my face. It was Moses. "Morning beautiful." I pushed him off me and made my way upstairs. "Mamakhe! What's going on!" I ignored him and went up to my room. "Mamakhe, wait." I slammed my door in his face and locked it.

I took a shower while he banged on the door. I got dressed and did my hair and I heard the door unlock. I looked back to find Nozipho smirking. "There's no need to doll yourself up. We have a chef coming in for Christmas so every inch of that kitchen needs to be scrubbed. Moses left with his brother. What did he say again? Oh, he said he doesn't have time for the tantrum you're throwing. If we had a scoreboard you would be sitting at zero and I would be making it impossible for you to catch up." She laughed and left.

I knew I wasn't going to get out of it so I put on an apron and went to the kitchen. "Here you are. Unpack all of the cupboards and wash everything. I don't need to be embarassed by dust. Make sure you clean the cupboards before you put everything back. Oh yes, clean the fridge too. I'll be checking in on you to make sure you're not slacking."

For the next two days I was busy in that kitchen. Luckily the kids would come down sometimes and keep me company. Buhle spent her naptimes on my back while I cleaned. My bond with Nozipho's children became stronger than their own mother.

"What are you doing? Aren't you supposed to be cleaning something?" I rolled my eyes. "So I should stop feeding your hungry baby because you want to control and direct all of my time and energy to chores instead of my husband?" Before I knew it she slapped me. I was so surprised I just sat there holding my cheek while Buhle cried.

"Speak like that again and I'll do something worse. You're disgusting! You're a child and you went after my husband! You're a child! You're the thing they warn all wives about and here you are sitting in my house with a ring! You're lucky I haven't beaten you yet! You're a slut! You opened your legs and Moses married you! That's all there was to it. Now look at you. Irrelevant! He doesn't even look at you anymore!" She laughed hysterically and walked away.

I cried silently and fed Buhle. Her words hurt so bad that I felt a pain in my chest. I hated it here. I would rather die in my shack than live here but now I was trapped. I never really understood what they meant by 'be careful what you wish for' but now I understand it fully.

I smiled through Christmas, I smiled through new years and when the kids finally went back to school the beatings got worse. Nozipho was merciless. She made sure never to touch my face so Moses wouldn't know.

Through all the chores and the beatings I didn't have the energy to deal with my husband. Moses only slept with me when he and Nozipho were fighting and that's usually when Nozipho beat me the hardest. He said that I was lazy and using him. He even said that I tricked him because I don't do the things I used to do.

The only time I got to rest was when Nozipho didn't work from home. She was out and I ordered a Uber to my friend, Sethu's house. She still hasn't been taking my calls. She couldn't be this mad. I assumed she was mad because I didn't invite her to my wedding.

"I'm coming!" I heard from inside the house and the door opened. "Oh, it's you. Are you slow? Did you not get the message? I don't want to talk to you." She said and tried closing the door but  I stopped her. "Sethu please. We're friends." She opened the door a little and I thought she would let me in.

"Friends? Friends invite each other to their wedding. Friends don't disappear on friends for weeks and months on end. Friends don't just contact their friend when somethings going wrong in their life. Which I can clearly tell from how you look. You look pathetic.
Did your rich husband leave you because you look more like the maid to me. What do you even have on? You look worse then you did when you were living in a shack. Do you remember that? When you were one of us peasants 'princess'."

I knew this was not going well and it wouldn't work out. I wanted to make it work but I just didn't have the energy. I also didn't have any excuses. So much happened so quickly and I didn't have the time to stay in contact with her. "Okay, I'll leave. It was good seeing you."
"Fuck you, Zethu!" She said and slammed the door shut in my face.

I started walking because I had nothing else to do. Nobody even recognized me. Did I look that bad? "Zethu? Is that you?" I looked behind me to see my old neighbor, MaMlambo. She used to help me out a lot when I lived in my shack. "MaMlambo?" Her eyes went wide. "It is you. I never thought I'd see you back here."

"I just came to see Sethu and decided to take a walk." My voice came out shaky but I couldn't control it. She looked concerned but nodded. "Okay, how about you come home with me and we have an early supper for old times sake?" I didn't know what to say. "I'll take your silence as a yes. Come on."

We made our way to her shack and started on dinner. "How's your husband and family? I saw your wedding on the news. You looked beautiful." I forced myself to smile. "Thank you, Ma. Everyone is still fine." She just nodded and cleared her throat awkwardly. "And you? Are you fine?" I just nodded.

"Zethu, you don't look fine my dear. You've never looked this bad ever. You were almost unrecognizable. Zethu, what's happened?" I stood frozen with my eyes welling up. "Zethu, did your husband leave you?" I shook my head and shut my eyes tightly as tears started to fall. "What's wrong?" I flinched when she put her hand on my back. It still hurt from when Nozipho beat me.

"Zethu?" She whispered. "No, he seemed  like such a good man. Is he hitting you?" I shook my head. "Zethu don't lie to me! Do not lie to me! Is that man abusing you!?"

"No! I swear he's not!" She pulled up my shirt and gasped. "Zethu." I closed my eyes because I could hear the disappointment in her voice and there was no need for me to see it in her face. "Zethu, my child. Tell the truth. Did he do this to you?" I let out a whimper.
"No, it wasn't him."
"Then who?"
"His wife."