Shrivelled Roses 1 (Intro)

Chapter 1

-𝑶𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒆 𝑴𝒛𝒂𝒚𝒊-

She had always believed that her problems were birthed the day her parents decided that she was the last child. Surely, had there been another child after her, things would have turned out differently. Had there been another child after her, she wouldn't have been expected to follow on the footsteps of her perfect sisters.

"My name is Onele Mzayi, I'm eightee-" her well-prepared speech was cut short by Mr. Nyathi who seemed to know the entire Mzayi family. He removed his glasses and looked at her, amused, asking "Mzayi? Are you by any chance related to Lionel Mzayi?" She chuckled, almost nervously and answered, "he's my big brother" and Mr. Nyathi's approval made it dawn on her that she had a Mzayi reputation to uphold. Her siblings left a remarkable trail and she had that on her shoulders, her own life didn't really matter (to some extent) as long as she didn't bring shame to her last name. Talk about unplanned responsibilities.

The continuation of that oral presentation was longer than intended, because Mr. Nyathi seemed to have quite some opinions, and later, he proved himself to be nosy as he inquired about Lionel's life from Onele who didn't give away much. She didn't mind the questions, or curiosity for that matter. It gave her the idea that there could be something interesting about her brothers, but at the same time Mr. Nyathi was new to the school. She didn't know him hence she didn't give away much information. It was her last year in highscool and she had just broken up with her high school boyfriend. Her heart wasn't really broken, because there was another man in the picture. But, besides the other man, she was going to university the following year and all she wanted was freedom!

Ever since Cassandra left home to study at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth (PE) Onele felt lonely back home, but because her sister had bought a house in PE that loneliness became a thing of the past. Talking about Cassandra, she was a the youngest of Onele's big sisters. The only phrase that could possibly describe her would be "ice-queen". She wasn't necessarily a snob, but she was very choosy and vocal, but most importantly, she shocked their parents when she fell pregnant for a man almost ten years older than her. But that's a story for another day, if you haven't already heard it...

After Cassandra gave birth to Milli there was an obvious excitement within the sibling circle, excitement about the new member of the family, so they went down to Port Elizabeth (PE) to spend a week or two with the new born and the new mom. To be honest, Onele didn't travel to PE entirely for them, she had other plans. A few days before the trip to PE was confirmed she had met a friend on Facebook and agreed to meet up with him, when the trip got confirmed she arranged with the friend that she would be able to meet up with him that week. Unbeknownst to the rest of the siblings that the friend wasn't a stranger to the family, well, she kept the "meeting up" a secret altogether because she felt like they'd want to involve her in their drama, which was actually none of her business. He never did her any wrong, and anyway, she was attracted to them darker and violent.

"I've always made it known that I love my sister's relationship with Ta Nko. Like, every one was aware of that. Despite everything that was happening between them I still believed that they belonged together because I knew how much they loved each other. I knew how much Sandra loved that guy and it pained me to watch her hurting because Ta Nko was busy nomlungu endingamaziyo ba udibene nayephi. What goes on in your mind when you visit your baby momma with another girl??"

She mumbled to herself as her thoughts traveled back to the events of that day. Nkosinathi may have done that without thinking much about the after effects but she was hurt, and what hurt more was Cassandra trying to put her at ease saying she didn't mind what he was doing with his love life as long as he's sincere with his feelings towards her and not just do everything to spite her because she was over that. Well, who was Onele to say anything? She was secretly meeting up with an enemy, family enemy that she was attracted to and couldn't even share that with any of her siblings because she'd be the bad guy.

After a few days in Queen Elizabeth's homeland, Onele had to stay true to her word and meet up with the guy as promised. Her nerves shot sky high as she managed to get herself packed in denim dungaree shorts, white sports bra and matching kicks. She was young and inconservative, showing a little skin here and there wasn't being totally naked and in her mind, it wasn't worth the attention she knew she'd get from the perverts on the streets. Once the dressing up was done, she grabbed her cross-body bag and went to her sister's room who she was just lying there admiring her son. Onele sat just below the little kid and put her bag on the floor. Cassandra was aware that Onele was in the same room with them, but her focus and attention were on her son, and it was cute to watch.