Maid For Marriage

13

"We might as well leave it if you're going to threaten me like this. You say you love me, but you also say you'll leave if I don't act how you want me to? Please, take me home. I'm not going to fight about this. If you're not going to allow me to process what happened to me the other day, then it won't work between us."

He seemed shocked. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out. "Start the car, please." We drove off in silence. When we got home, I carried the groceries in. He didn't even help me. I was sweeping outside when Mbali's car stopped.

"Come here!" She called rudely. I could hear crying from the backseat. "Take the baby and her bags." I did as she said. I took the pink suitcase and the baby bag out before I took the screaming baby girl. "Close the door." I closed it, and she sped off, leaving me there with a screaming baby.

"Ma!" I called walking into the house with the screaming baby. "Who's baby..." She stopped in her tracks when she saw me. "Thandi, where did you get her?"
"Mbali dropped her off and drove away."
"Senzo!" She called, and I started rocking the screaming baby back and forth. "Chumisa? How did you get here, babygirl?" He took the baby from me. "Apparently, Mbali dropped her off."

He sighed. They spoke in the lounge, and I prepared dinner. "I'm sorry." I heard and turned around to find Senzo. "I didn't mean to treat you like that. I was just frustrated, and I also didn't realize how much the other day affected you. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?" He put his arms around me. "Come on, baby. Please forgive me." He said and started kissing my neck. His hands moved to the metal ring on my thong. "Baba, stop. Not here." He licked my neck, but let me go.

I still wanted an explanation for the baby, but I let it go. The next day, they were all up early with the baby. She was his late wife's child, MaRadebe, explained to me. I eventually took her and put her on my back while I was working. The constant moving around calmed her down, and she slept.

"Sisi! Sisi!" I heard a litte voice shout from outside. It was Jr. "I want Gogo!" He said to me from across the fence. I lifted him over. "Okay, but only for a little bit. Gogo is tired."
"Otay. Gogo!" He squealed and jumped around, excited when he saw her. He dug in his pocket and held out a plum. It was MaRadebe's favorite. "For me?" He nodded proudly. "Thank you. Come, let's eat it. Come." They went to the kitchen, and the baby woke up.

"Okay, okay." She was crying, and I took her off my back. I held her and went to get her bottle. "You must be hungry." I went to go sit on the couch to feed her. She drank her bottle peacefully until her father came. He riled her up, and she was babbling and squealing. "Baba, do you see what you've done now. Tell him you need to eat. Yes, you do. You need to eat." I got her to eat, and then she went down for another nap.

I served dinner and went home. I was tired. "Oh, you look terrible." My aunt said, and we both laughed. "I'm tired. I think I'm just going to go shower and sleep." She shook her head. "No, come sit down. Eat something." She heated my food, and I swear I could've fallen asleep waiting for it.

"Did Jr give MaRadebe her plum?" I nodded with a smile. "He wouldn't eat it. He insisted on taking it to her." He was such a sweet boy. "MaRadebe always has a great time when they come around. When can she come see the baby?" I asked. "Tell her anytime. Maybe tomorrow? It's your half day, isn't it?" I nodded, taking a bite of my food.

"Ma, can I get some juice, please?" She rolled her eyes. "I'm only letting you order me around because you're tired." I went to work the next day. I prepared all their meals so they could just heat it, and then I cleaned.  "Ma, my aunt said you can come see the baby whenever you want to." She all but jumped up. "Can I go now. I nodded and got my things.

She greeted everyone, and we went into the room. "Hi." She whispered. They spent some time together and I went to take a long shower. I used to go to school and then just go and check on them afterward. I was not used to all the cleaning, cooking, making sure they had the proper medicine, moving Bab'Dlamini around, and now a baby.

After my shower, I put on a tights and a croptop. I dried and cornrowed my hair and then went to go check on my aunt. "Come lay with me." She said I didn't hesitate. Her bed was extremely comfortable. "I miss you during the day." She said, rubbing my back.

"I miss you and the boys too. How are things with Thabo?" She just sighed. "That bad, huh?"
"We haven't spoken, and he's avoiding me. Saturday, we're introducing Lethu to the ancestors and cleansing the house." I just nodded.

"So, tell me. What's been happening? I saw you leave with Senzo the other day. What happened?" I just rolled my eyes thinking about it. "He tried to give me an altimatum? He said if I didn't want to be with him, I should just say so because he's going to marry a second wife, and if it's not me, it's going to be someone else." She was shocked. "What?"
"Yes. I told him I wasn't over what happened with his wife. He shouldn't rush me, and if he is going to threaten me like this, we should just leave it."
"Good for you."
"He appologized, so now I'll just wait it out and see what happens. Im tired, Ma."

Saturday came in no time. I was surprised to see Senzo come in with his family. After my half day, he went back into town, so I wasn't expecting him. "Thandi, that man sitting with Thabo says he'll only eat food if you dish and serve him." One of the aunt's said. When I looked to see who it was, I saw Senzo. I rolled my eyes but dished him a plate anyway. He thanked me and finally ate.

I tried avoiding him the whole day, but at some point, he found me next to the house. "Why are you standing here alone?" He came closer to me. I wanted to move away, but there was nowhere to go. "I'm hiding." He chuckled. "You seem off. What's wrong?" He placed a kiss on my cheek. "Just tired." I was hoping he could tell that I wasn't in the mood.

"Let's go sit in the car." I rolled my eyes. "No, not for that. I can tell that you're tired, but there's nowhere else to sit." I thought about it but still didn't want to. "No. Everyone will see us, and I'm tired of being a topic of discussion." He held my hand. "Fine. We'll stay here. Is that okay?" I nodded. He put his suit jacket on the floor for me to sit down. We sat there speaking until it got dark.

"Thandi!" I heard my name being called. Before I could react, my aunt came around the corner. "What the hell is going on here?" She asked softly. "Nothing happened, Ma. We were just talking." She looked at me skeptically. "You've been gone for hours, and you expect me to believe you and this grown ass man were just talking?" I nodded. "Yes, because we were." I said calmly.

"Nthombi, she's telling the truth. We were just enjoying each other's company. Nothing happened." My aunt narrowed her eyes at us. "Fine, but Thandi is coming in with me now. You better wait out here long enough for people to not notice the two of you were here together. Come Thandi." I got up, and we went back into the house.

"So? What's going on? Usually you tell me everything and all of a sudden I've been cut off." She said when got to her room. "You haven't been cut off, ma. You just have a lot going on at the moment." She rolled her eyes. "Let's not talk about me. You two were there for hours. Were you really just talking?" I nodded, getting into bed. "I think he really likes you." I couldn't help my smile, and she looked at me suspiciously.

"Thandi, you like him too, don't you?" I just rolled my eyes, but my smile wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried. We just giggled because I had nothing to say.
"Oh my word. You're going to marry him, aren't you?" I just looked away because I was sure I was blushing.