Inhliziyo Yami Yopha: My Heart Bleeds

Chapter 4

NOMBUSO

Tired is what I am. I started baking on the exact day I came back from dropping off my CV and I haven't stopped ever since. It's been two weeks since that happened and unfortunately I haven't got a response from any company as yet.

That doesn't bother me as much now that I finally found a purpose to wake up in the morning. I've come to realize that most workers and learners like having something sweet to nibble on before going to their destinations. They have become my target market and so far everything has been going well.

I make the dough the night before and then, cut it up in the morning and put it in the oven. This makes my job a lot less harder but I'm still forced to wake up early nonetheless. At five a.m. I am already up and running, then at around six people start entering through the gate to buy some of my pastry.

After a lot of consideration, I decided on selling from my home and putting a board upfront to inform people of my business. This was after asking for Kedi's input about my dilemma of course and I was ecstatic when she said she'd help whenever she could.

That is how I got to even have clientele- she invited some of the people she knew to come over and try some of my stuff. And it also didn't help how she is such a social butterfly so she was able to convince almost anyone, to come and support me.

I cannot thank her enough for that and that's why I've decided to make a 5L container of different types of biscuits for her. That is just my little token of appreciation for her going out of my way to help me. Like I said, she and I have become such great neighbours and friends.

Let me share a little about Kedibone, well at least the little that I know about her. She is twenty six years old and works at an Indian shop in Fordsburg, I think they sell curtains and other household items. She never goes into details about what they do just that they have terrible working conditions.

I also know that she lives with her six year old daughter, Reneilwe and as well as her mother. It's just the three of them as her father, who used to be a drunk left them years back and never returned. And that was after her mom had asked him repeatedly to join AA but I guess he got angry and left.

Now she lives to make her mom and daughter's life better. I admire her so much more for actually being the person that she is, taking care of other people besides yourself can get quite too much but she does it with so much grace. And not once did I hear her complaining about doing things for them, that's just how much she loves them.

We've talked about so many things and I've also learnt that she wanted to further her studies after matric but then life had other plans. I can tell that she's such a learned person and if given the opportunity, she can make better and drastic changes in her life.

"Sometimes I wonder how my life would be if I didn't have a child. I mean don't get me wrong, I love my daughter God is my witness but I wonder if things would be different you know. That's just the wonders of life I guess, there are some things you just can't control.", she'd say when we're in my kitchen and she's helping me bake.

That's why I feel like doing something nice for her just to show her that she matters and she's appreciated. She does a lot for everyone else and it's nice to show her that other people can care for her too. I'm on my last tray of biscuits now and all that's left is for me to add them in the container.

Thirty minutes later, I'm already at Kedi's place knocking. I know she was off work today so I know for sure I can find her inside and if not, I'll just leave them with her mom. The door opens and it is Kedi herself and she says with a smile, "Hi Nombuso. What brings you over here? I know you don't leave your house for just any reason.".