How To Love

chapter one

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't have agreed to this whole thing. But as my mom put it, they've sacrificed a lot for my siblings and I, and as the only one with the power in my hands to save the family, it was time I made sacrifices too.

So, I agreed to be arranged in a marriage with my dad's best friend's son. The said best friend has been a part of my dad's life as long as I can remember. I used to call him papa 2 when I was younger because he felt like a second father.

Now, one would expect that it would mean the son and I were like siblings and got along. But it wasn't the case. Thuso and I hated each other's guts from a very young age. When we were in crèche, he used to bully me a lot, tease me about my weight and my skin colour. It continued in primary school, and it only got worse. In high school, he made me feel like an outcast, and humiliated me at every turn.

I wasn't a confrontational person back then, so I let things slide and just allowed him to basically walk all over me. I am not the same Warona though, the new me didn't take shit from anyone, and especially not Thuso.

My profession as a teacher in a high school has allowed me to grow a firm backbone. When you have teens around you for most of the day, who always thought they were older than their actual age, one would have to be assertive and very firm too. I've been a teacher for four years now, and I'm grateful for this job every day.

Anyway, I was in my room, waiting for my uncles and his uncles to settle the mahadi negotiations. Despite this being a marriage of convenience, basically a business deal, our parents wanted this to go as real as possible. In their eyes, this could turn out to be a real marriage, but I strongly doubted it, mostly because of how Thuso used to treat me.

Suffice to say, I've not seen him in almost ten years. Yep, after high school, we both left our hometown. I went to Johannesburg to study teaching at Wits university, he went to study business management in the UK and only recently returned to SA about a year ago, in which we've never bumped into each, and I counted that as a blessing.

A knock wrapped on my door, bringing me back to planet earth. My door opened, revealing my rakgadi wearing a huge smile on her face.

"Warona, you're one step closer to becoming a Moeti!" My aunt exclaimed excitedly. Everyone in my family was excited about this union, except for me. My cousins who were in the room with me jumped up in excitement. My only friend, Lerato who was thankfully here for me on this ominous day, looked at me with pity in her eyes and then held my hands in comfort.

"Alright then, what's next?" I asked, ready to get this day over with. I got up and dusted the skirt of my traditional dress, wanting to stretch my legs since I've been sitting on the floor this entire time.

"It's time to go to the tent. Where are the ones who will join you in disguising your identity, in order for the groom to choose his bride?" I looked around the room and spotted my two cousins. They raised their hands and then we all left my room in song.

We reached the tent, and then my aunt led my two cousins and I to the platform where we would be disguised. I was placed on the right, and my two cousins followed after me. They placed cream throws over us, and since my cousins and I were similar in body structure, I was pretty sure he was going to have a hard time figuring out who was who.

A small part of me wanted him to choose the wrong person. It would further cement that him and I were not meant to be. But it would also embarrass him and his family, because how come they paid for a bride they didn't know?

Soon, I heard the groom's people singing and coming inside of the tent. I immediately tensed up. As much as I have prepped myself for this day, my parents had given me a three months' notice in advance, I still didn't feel ready for this moment.