Amile The Queen

Chapter Fifty-Six

***Nontuthuzelo Zulu***

It hadn’t gotten to that point where she hated the child. She was still tolerating it for the sake of Banzi. She didn’t want to try kill it again when he was still healing from Amile’s pregnancy loss. She was going to wait until things had settled down and then only decided on killing it. She doesn’t have time though, this is her sixth week pregnant, once she reaches twelve weeks, it will be very difficult.
Now everything is going south. Even after such a traumatic experience and falling hard, landing on her stomach, this child is still pretending to be a die hard. She’s given up on trying and she felt really hopeless when the doctor looked at her and confirmed that the baby was okay.
Now Mandlenkosi has left, her whole body is shivering from the inside, afraid of what Zwelibanzi might say to her. He’s still covered in blood, enough blood to create a murder scene but there is still a human being inside her body.
She knows he doesn’t know the truth, but the last thing she expected to find out was that Langa is alive, breathing and kicking like he didn’t just disappear three years ago. She’s not even sure if he himself knows the truth of what happened. She’s just crossing her fingers everything works well in her favour and she can easily blame it on Celemba.
“Myeni wami…” he spoke over her.
“The doctor told me that the baby is fine.”
“So you don’t care about me?” she still couldn’t look him in the eyes.
“Why did you fake that collapse?” he asked in a very low voice, that’s angry Banzi for you.
“Is that how low you think of me to be Mageba? You think I could just fake collapsing like that? tell me how could I have faked that blood all over you hands and clothes?” she’s hurt that he could insinuate such, it clearly means that the level of trust between them has slowly decreased.
“I don’t know Nontuthuzelo, you tell me. it’s not like you wanted my child from the onset.” She shook her head.
“Who is this man and what has he done to my loving husband?” her voice is breaking.
“Am I lying if I say you didn’t want it? When I say that you moved my hand away every time I tried to bond with him, something you never did.”
“This pregnancy is different Banzi, it was unplanned. I wasn’t expecting to have a child and now it feels like my life is being put on hold when this is the time to enjoy my life.”
“Is that why you forced me to take a second wife?” this is all news to him. he looks stunned.
But she’s trying to distract him from asking the real questions he should be asking, and it’s working like a charm.
“That’s what we agreed upon. More kids, just not from my womb.” She defended.
“That doesn’t mean the child should go back, it’s here! Its not going to disappear.” He raised his voice, much to her startlement.
“Yes, my feelings towards this pregnancy haven’t been positive but I could never wish to experience such and wish death on my own blood.” She wiped her crocodile tears and covered her face.
She was hoping for an apology but he’s just staring at her with a blank expression. Her heart starts racing, she’s slowly losing him, that’s all that she sees on his face.
“Tomorrow morning we are leaving.” She sits up in a haste. His voice is authoritative, it’s not up for discussion, but she won’t give up without trying.
“But I’m not feeling well Mageba.” She holds her stomach and fakes a cry.
“The doctor said both of you are fine. What are you running away from?” words get mumbled up in her mouth.
“Mageba I don’t understand why you are talking to me and treating me like this? I almost lost our child, and you are here, you can’t even look me in the eyes and ask how I feel?”
He avoids looking at her and bows his head.
“I’ll be outside. We are going home in the morning and that is final.” He cleared his throat and walked out.
She knows that he might be on to something. He wouldn’t act like this if he didn’t know something was going on. One thing about Zwelibanzi, he loves Nontuthu, and anything pertaining to her drives him crazy. Her wellbeing comes first. He would never treat her like this, this coldly, he knows something. It’s now or never, she needs to act fast otherwise she will lose everything she has worked for; she will lose him and suffer the consequences of her actions.

***Nambitha Makhathini***

There is a persistent knocking at the door. My brain is half asleep but there is another body next to me. Then it dawns to me that I’m not home. ngikwaDlamini la engikhona and Nkululeko’s hairy legs are on top of mine. Even in the hottest weather he finds a way to intertwine his body with mine. One thing about my man, when he sleeps, he sleeps like a log. Now I’m the only one subjected to this persistent knocking. Who in the world would think of knocking on someone’s door this early?
I move his legs aside and get up to go open. There are only two other people in this house, his brat and the baby mama. When I open the door she is standing there holding a tray of breakfast wearing pyjamas short enough to deem her naked.
“Can I help you?” I asked scanning her from top to bottom.
“Ngizolethela ubabazi ukudla. Phela umfazi wenza njalo, akalali lize liyihlabe endunu.” She’s trying to start something.
“Thank you for your gesture ‘Mfazi’ but my man is still sleeping.” I tried not to put too much emphasis on my in my man, but we have to set boundaries.
I tried closing the door but she blocked it with her perfectly pedicured foot and pushed back using her hand.
“Yeyi wena nondindwa! You think you are going to last? Nkululeko doesn’t love you. He’s mine, it’s always been me and it will always be me. He’s mine, all of him, that’s why he continues to make love to me even when he has you.” Shes triggering the bitch fit in me, and I don’t want to let her win.
“it’s so sad to hear that a beautiful woman like yourself can just spread her legs for someone else’s man and see that as something to brag about. You may claim to own his dick but I have his heart, and that’s all that I’m here for.”
I know that in order to match up to them just bow out, kill them with kindness. I have no reason to let her get to me, I know what Nkululeko and I have, I don’t have a reason to doubt that anymore. That’s why I used my calmest voice, only to get her throwing arms.
It all happened so fast but I felt her hands pulling my ponytail so hard I felt my roots separating from my sculp. I let out a shrill scream before digging my claws into her arms and pushing her back to press her against the wall in the passage way. There is food and glass scattered all over the floor and she is trying to free from my grip but I have my claws sunk into his skin. The harder she pulls my hair, the harder I scratch.
“Nkululeko!” I fucking told him to tell her to get out of this house, now we are here, and he’s sleeping peacefully.
“Don’t involve him in this, fight me like a woman!” she moves his hand to my neck and chokes me.
I use my teeth to bite her and she swears loudly and loosens the hand around my neck.
“Ntando! What the fuck are you doing?” I ran back to stand behind him and clutched on to his body and cried my eyes out.
“She started it!” now she’s the one crying as if she didn’t throw hands first.
“She’s lying baby, look at this.” I tried to turn him around to see the marks on my neck but he pushed me back.
“Both of you, shut up!” he shouted and I jumped up frightened.
“What is the meaning of this ratchet behaviour? What kind of example are you setting for Azande, both of you!? Ekseni kangaka!?” I thought I had seen him livid.
He wasn’t livid enough. I can almost see the smoke coming out of his ears and nose.
“Baby, you have to believe me, I would never do such.” I said placing my hands on his arms. His body is cold, or maybe my body temperature is too high.
“I know you wouldn’t sthandwa sami. Go back inside.” He pushed me back.
There is glass on the floor and I don’t know where and where not to step. I don’t want to leave him alone with him, now after what she said about spreading her legs for him whenever she wants.
“NO, I’m not going inside until she leaves. Now, she must leave, if I’m the one you love!”
Everything that has happened is pushing me to be this bitter woman that I myself can’t even recognize. But she fucking beat me up, even when I tried to be civil, she needs to leave.
“Nkululeko you will not kick me out I am the mother of your child!” she shouts.
“Nontando, you are here causing nothing but problems for us. What happened to being an adult!? What example are you setting for Azande?”
He’s pushing her towards the kitchen, he’s not paying attention to me. They are having a verbal altercation. I see Azande peeping at the door of her room and she has tears running down her face.
My heart breaks. I may not like her mother and most of the time, her father’s actions, but truth be told, she is innocent in all of this. She’s just a child and didn’t choose to be brought into this world.
My gut tells me to go and take her and shield her from the altercation happening in the kitchen, but my guilty conscious won’t let me. Instead I bend and clean up the mess in front of me. I hear car doors slamming very hard before I hear trampling foot steps charging from the kitchen to where I am.
“I’m taking her back to her place…” I don’t let him finish.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Akukho ndawo la oyakhona. You are going to stay here and look after Azande. I’ll be back now.” Its like he’s saying I must prove to him that I’m willing to compromise my feelings towards him having children like I said I would.
But it’s not even about that. I don’t trust them together. It’s not that j don’t trust Nkululeko, it’s the witch that I don’t trust.
He didn’t wait for my response, he found his way out the house, rattling the keys in his hand, making an annoying sound. He’s not even dressed appropriately.
I left the mess and went to Azande’s room. I’m hoping that it was an illusion seeing her cry, peeping at me.
She’s sitting on the edge of the bed hugging her stuffed animal. Her chocolate skin is stained with tears. She’s beautiful, looks a lot like Nkululeko, she took his skin colour and some of his features. She’s just prettier than him. Not that a man should be pretty.
“Come to Nana Azande.” I opened my arms for her to come to me.
I’m shivering from fear. I’m not good with children in general, now I have to be a comforter to a child that I’m having a hard time accepting.
She jumps off the bed and comes to hug my legs. My heart melted 
“Was my mommy hitting you?” words got trapped in my throat.
“No, why do you ask that?” it was difficult to speak, my throat was also strained. She strangled me quite hard.
“She spanks me too when I’m naughty, but she always says I must not tell daddy. Did daddy hit mommy?” so she’s naturally violent?
Why the hell would you tell the child to not tell their father that you are hitting them. There is something suspicious going on. I may not be a parent but I know you spank a child to discipline them, so why is she hiding it from Nkululeko if she’s just disciplining her? Or is it something beyond that?
“No she didn’t. Daddy doesn’t hit women, he respects them.”
He told me last night that he’s sorry. He apologized for what he did, for violating me. I forgave him, it’s a very complex situation. But he’s not his father. You’ll understand one day.
“Why?” this is why I don’t like children.
“Because women and girls like you should be treated with respect.” She nodded.
“Okay.” She looked at me and I bent down.
I used my thumbs to wipe her tears.
“Don’t cry. Daddy is going to come back now.” She nodded again and gave me a hug against my will.
I froze.
“I like you, Nana, you are pretty.” I chuckled.
“I like you too Azande.” I tapped her back before she went back to her bed.
It’s going to take a lot for me to get used to this. I’m not a terrible person, so I won’t let the circumstances change me, I’m giving it a shot and I’ll try to let her in. For the sake if Nkululeko’s happiness and peace in our relationship.
The bitch must just stay away from me!


***Mandlenkosi Zulu***

He’s at her mercy. He hates that he can’t stop thinking about her and she didn’t even have to do much but to be there for him.
That’s what’s running through his mind as he stands at her apartment door knocking like a love sick puppy, hoping and praying that she answers and doesn’t get rejected for crossing the line like this.
“Mr Zulu.”
“Two dates later I’m here unable to stop myself from thinking about you.”
“Wait, it’s 5 in the morning.” She looks sleepy.
Here eyes are half closed and her hair is all over the place. She looks sexy to him though, he never thought he’d be attracted to a thick Mami, but he is mesmerized. That short night dress revealing her chocolate thighs, amazing.
“Are you going to let me in?” he rubs his hands together as if he is cold.
It’s nothing but nerves, that’s all that’s taking over him.
“Mr Zulu I’m confused.” She rubbed her eyes again as to make sure that she wasn’t dreaming.
“Let me in Thandazo.” She moved out of the way and let him walk in.
He waited for her to close the door before he turned around and pinned her against the wall and locking his lips with hers. He’s been dying to do it.
“Wait.” She pushed him away and held her plump lips.
Her hand started quivering as she pushed him away.
“Am I crazy for saying that I can’t stop thinking about you, that I want to be with you and around you all the time?” his eyes glistened.
“Yes sir, you are crazy. Nothing can happen between us, you ate my patient.”
“You know me better than any woman has ever known me Mathapelo. I also want to know you too.”
She’s not grasping any of the things that he’s saying. He grabs her waist and pulls her closer, massaging her folds. She giggles, she’s very ticklish.
“Please don’t touch me.” She tried to move back but he lowered his head and captured her lips.
“I don’t want to be this person Mr Zulu, I don’t want to use our sessions against you but you haven’t healed, and you haven’t gotten over your ex, you can’t be pursuing me.” She said pushing him away again.
“Ngifuna ithuba lokuziveza kwena nje kuphela, nginike lelothuba.” She didn’t understand that, all of it.
“How will I know you aren’t just using me as your rebound?” He caressed her cheek.
“Games is the last thing I want to play Mathapelo. I’m serious.” None of this is making sense to her. You can see it on her face.
“Ngiyacela stufuza.” She frowned.
“Mr Zulu please get out of my apartment.” She pushes him off again.
His heart drops. He left Zululand in chaos for rejection, it hurts like hell.
“I mean everything I say Mathapelo. I want you and I wouldn’t have drove four hours from home to tell you that.” She avoided eye contact.
“I can’t just give you my heart. I may know your life problems but I don’t know you like that.”
“Then give me a chance to prove to you that I want you. Go on a date with me.” He bargained.
“Fine.” She gave in.
Success! He thinks to himself. He learnt in his last session with her that holding on to Amile is as good as holding on to a thread of cotton. Their love surely wasn’t meant to be. They want different things and although he still loves her with his whole heart, accepting that they can’t be is the first step to moving on. Now he has Mathapelo, and he wants to do things the right way.