Maid For Marriage

24

I served her tea and took a seat. It felt like she was taking forever to scoop in her sugar. I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing it slowly just to torture me.

"Thandi, I like you." I was extremely confused, and you could see it on my face. She chuckled to herself. "I know, crazy right? Considering I almost killed you the first time we met." She was laughing, but it felt like she was threatening me.

"You'll probably be marrying my husband in a few weeks, and there'll be five of us. To be honest with you, I hate all of these women. As much as MaRadebe hates me and thinks I'm a horrible wife, I've played my part. I came in, stayed out of the first wife's way, and had children. These women, however, are not here to build this family. They're here to take over, and there's power in numbers." she took a sip of her tea.

"It's clear that they've planned this. Thandi if there's one thing you should know about my husband it's that he fucks anything in a skirt. You should prepare yourself for that. He says you will be the last wife, but there will definitely be girlfriends. These women took advantage of the fact that he's like a dog in heat humping everything he comes in contact with. I can't prove it, but they planned this. It's too perfect.
But like I said, there's power in numbers, and right now, I have nobody. So I need your assurance that when you get married to Senzo, you will have my back."

I was too shocked to say anything, so I just nodded. "Umm." I cleared my throat. "Yes? Ask your question." I worked up the courage to say something. "I'm just expected to be fine with the cheating?" She burst out laughing. "Says my husband's girlfriend." She was laughing hysterically. "Girly, there's no controlling that man. Haven't you learned already? He was with you and got two women pregnant. He is with you now, and in the past four weeks, he's married three women. I'm sure you can answer that question for yourself."

"But there's already five of us. What about diseases?" She just sighed. "Listen, I've tried for years to reason with him. My only hope is that the four of you keep him busy enough to keep us all safe. I'm not trying to scare you away, I just want you to know what you're getting yourself into. You're extremely young, one day I don't want you to tell me I didn't warn you."

She finished her tea and left. I lazed around on the couch until my aunt and the kids got back. "And this? Since when do you lay on my couches?" I just sighed and sat up straight. "How was the wedding?" I just shrugged. "I didn't go." She just chuckled.

"You're better than me. I would've gone and dressed in my best just to irritate them. They became Senzo's wives not long ago, and they thought they had the right to question you the way they did. Those women are disrespectful."

Monday came around, and I wasn't looking forward to it. The wives were still at MaRadebe's house, and I would have to deal with them the whole day.

"Oh, here she is. There's a lot of cleaning to be done today. Please make sure the house is spotless. Ma's sisters will be coming tomorrow." I just nodded. I made breakfast and gave Ma her medicine. "Thandi, I don't know where Moses went, but I thought he could take you to get some groceries." She handed me a list. "It's fine, Ma. I'll take a taxi. When I come back I'll do the rooms."

I walked to the taxi rank, and luckily, the taxi filled quickly. I got everything on ma's list and made my way back home. As I was walking from the taxi rank, I ran into my high school bullies. "Finally, we've got you all to ourselves. You really thought we'd never find you, huh?" I wanted to say something, but I felt a sting on my cheek. It took me a while to realize I was getting slapped.

It didn't stop there. All of them pounced on me and started beating me. They kept on screaming about me seducing their boyfriend's. I didn't even know who their boyfriend's we're. A crowd gathered, and the more I tried to explain, I didn't want their boyfriend's the harder they beat me. They started throwing Ma's groceries out on me, and all I could do was lay there while it happened. The crowd of people stood and laughed, taking videos of what was happening.

I heard I loud car horn and people started running away. Senzo and Thabo came running with whips. I don't know why, but I stood up and collected what was left of the groceries. It was like my body was moving by itself. Senzo had to stop me, and he led me to the car. I couldn't speak. I could barely move. It was like somebody pressed my off switch.

They drove me home where my aunt was waiting. She was saying something but I didn't hear anything. It was like all sound was just noise. My aunt put me in the shower, and I just stood there. She eventually came to help me, but I couldn't. I fell to the ground and just sat there.

"Thandi, please. It's been hours. Please come out." I sat naked in the cold shower. I still wasn't responding, and she got Senzo to come and lift me out. He put me on my bed and dried me off. I was sure I was going to have bruises all over. I didn't even care about clothes. I laid down in my bed and cried silently. He put a blanket over me and kissed me.

It was dark when my aunt came in. "Princess?" She came to lay with me. "Why does everyone hate me? I didn't do anything to them." She just held me as I cried myself to sleep.

The next morning, she woke me up early. "Here's clothes, and your breakfast is on the table.  We're going to the police station. They've been getting away with this for too long." I knew I couldn't change her mind, so I just went with it. My body felt like I had been hit by a truck.

We spent almost the whole day at the police station. It was annoying. So much work to just report an assault and lay a charge. I knew we probably wouldn't get anywhere, but my aunt was adamant.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" I shook my head. "Let's just go home." I needed some pain medication or something.