The Two Of Us

Chapter 14

THE TWO OF US

CHAPTER 14

NOKUKHANYA MTHEMBU

She has to get herself together and face this seventeen-year-old teenage girl she gave birth to.

"What? I don't even know where in the world that man is!" she retorts. "I  was just talking to a...uhm...a colleague," she punctuates with a lie. It's not a total lie though, they are colleagues. It's just that he's her employer but they do work together. So, there's no problem there! But she wonders if Ukhona believes it.

"So you talk about me with your male colleagues?"

Where did she get the nerve?

"You'll see when you have your own job." She's trying her best to be nonchalant.
She's expecting her to just say 'okay' and go away sulking but no. The girl has other plans.

"Why are you so selfish Ma? You are not a result of teenage pregnancy so you don't relate. You had both of your parents growing up. You had that daddy's princess moments and all. Why are taking that away from me, huh?" A tear drop from her eye.
"You know who you are so it's easy for you to just say that I don't need a father. Why? Because I am a girl? Because it's only boys who need their fathers?"

This is an emotional blackmail. Seeing her daughter crying breaks her heart but even the black mamba venom doesn't stand a chance when it comes to the Khumalo's toxicity.

"You don't need him Khona, " she says in a hushed tone, pleading. "You've been doing great for your whole life without him baby. It has been the two of us since forever, it can still remain that way."

She tries to hug her but she pushes her away.  "Doing great?" she chuckles. "Wow!" She wipe the Vaal River flowing tears with her hand. "I've been in and out of hospitals for my whole life with no medication prescribed and you call that doing great?"
Well, she's also amazed. She's always wanted to say this. It has been stuck in her head and she's glad she finally let it all out. Maybe her mother will finally do something.

"Khona," Khanyo pleads.

"This is about either of you. It's about me! About me not knowing who my father is. This is about me not knowing my surname." She's crying Pongola River.
"It's not about your heartbreaks and breakups!" she says then walk out crying.
Khanyo's eyes burn with tears. Whatever Ukhona said is true. So damn true! She's not a good mother she thought she was. She has caused so much damage in her daughter's life without realizing. She did all of this thinking Ukhona is a girl and does not need even a little of Bheka but she was wrong. Everyone need a father figure in their life. Ukhona is right, she was daddy's princess. Her father would drive with her to wherever he goes. They were inseparable. How selfish of her to steal those moments from Ukhona?

She let the fear of losing her daughter, like she lost her son, blind her into making selfish decisions. It completely clouded her mind. She should have looked for Bheka, told him about Ukhona maybe they were going to find a way. It's too late to do that though. She's lost her daughter and thing will not be the same until she decides tell the truth. Maybe the truth is all Ukhona need. She's been feeling rejected for her whole because she thinks her father wants nothing to do with her of which is not true.
She's the reason why her daughter feels the way she does. Guilt and regret creep on her like a dark cloud.

             _______________________

BHEKA KHUMALO

Mixed emotions is what he's experiencing right now. He's angry, betrayed and...heartbroken? Maybe. It's clear that he thought so highly of Nokukhanya. He overestimated her loyalty and got disappointed in the end but what can you expect from a woman you betrayed?