Mrs Mogale

PROLOGUE

Being stood up, being promised a forever love by someone you saw a future with was confusing. It was... very confusing, makes a person ask themselves a lot of questions they have no answers to. The shame that befalls them, the feeling of wishing the earth could crack open and you be deposited inside so you don't have to deal with any of the mess you find yourself in.

Questioning yourself worth, asking yourself if you had been blind to it all, that maybe the relationship was just a figment of your imagination all this time...

Your chest burning, feeling like your heart had caught fire, like a severe case of heartburn. It messes with your head, your life, your mood, everything.

You can't think straight, and yet you have so many questions, but those many questions happen at once.

Why is this happening? Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this? How do I make it stop? How do I feel okay again? How am I going to face people? How can he do this to me? Was I blind all along? I couldn't read between the lines?

These questions only hit Letago a month later when she was in her rented bachelor back room in Tembisa. A month ago, she was set to get married, after being in a relationship for over a year with her colleague and the principal of the school she taught in. But the man was a no show to the lobola negotiations as promised.

She had told her family, hell the man even gave her a letter to give to her family, to ask for her hand in marriage.

They had planned and prepared for the Sebapu family, but they never came. He never came but only sent a pathetic text on WhatsApp that read, '𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬, 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝. 𝐌𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐓𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐬𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞.'

Letago Molepo had almost lost her mind there and then. She couldn't even face her super judgmental mother who acted perfect in everyone's eyes, especially the church ladies while suffering behind the closed door of her bedroom.

It wasn't that Letago's father was abusive, he had mentally checked out of the marriage many moons ago and was just tolerating his wife for God knows what. Her mother was hanging on the illusion that her marriage was perfect and thus expecting perfection and absolute best in her children.

When Letago's supposed guests didn't pitch up right until the sun sank into the west, her mother had caused a commotion and hurled colorful words directed to her and her supposed boyfriend.

"Letago, I don't know if you think we are here to play games, but you've just wasted my time, your father's time, your uncles and aunts... and you've made a mockery of our family. I have told people my daughter is getting married, they'd now think I am liar. Thanks for nothing."

Letago couldn't believe her mother, she needed her support not her insults. So, she had packed her bags and left for Tembisa, despite being school holidays, she needed an away from her overbearing, judgmental and mentally exhausting mother, she needed to be alone.