PULL MY HEARTSTRINGS (COMPLETE)

60

She didn't like how her conversation with Hazel ended, after reflecting and playing it back repeatedly in her mind, Kgomotso realized her insistence to get Hazel proactive in seeking justice was done with a fair amount of aggression. It wasn't intentional on her part, but it was more so driven by not wanting to see another man go scot-free without facing any consequences.

And she was triggered, it took a while to realise it but when the pent up trauma resurfaced from the dark void of dejection it hit her like a ton of bricks and the pain felt fresh and raw, much like a stubborn wound that refused to heal.

She read somewhere that one in every three South Africans were either a victim of GBV or knew someone who was and Kgomotso was no different. There were so many stories she could tell because what happened behind closed doors didn't stay there in the township, gossip was shared with a vested interest, while the same people turned a blind eye because knowing people's business was a rite of passage and that hasn't changed.

Kgomotso left work early and so did everybody else to prevent an uprising at the office and made a stop at Bedford centre to buy a few things she thought Hazel would like. Anesu's Mercedes was still at her disposal and she hoped he was ready to change the ownership because she didn't envision herself going back to driving a manual.

On her way to Graighall she couldn't stop thinking about the signs she missed, alluding to the abuse Hazel endured and was forced to sit with those intruding thoughts when she joined the gridlocked traffic, heading toward the Jan Smuts off-ramp. The silence grew uncomfortable even her playlist couldn't compete with it and the harsh glare shooting down from the blistering ball in the sky left Kgomotso sweating underneath her black velvet dress.

The security guard let her through without any hassle and Hazel wouldn't chase her away when she showed up on her doorstep. After spending 10 minutes knocking with no answer Kgomotso was ready to give up because Hazel's phone was off but her car was here, clearly she was ignoring her.

Good thing she remembered the spare key Hazel gave her and let herself in, putting the shopping bag on the counter next to her hand bag. The curtains were closed, depriving the living room of sunlight but it wasn't hard to make out Hazel's frame slumped on the sofa under a homechoice blanket despite the cosy warmth coming from the gas heater.

"What are you doing here, Kgomotso?" Her voice was gruff from crying.

She was strong and always was from an early age because life required her to be, but it didn't take much for Justice to break her. What he did went beyond physical scars, it was him wanting to strip her power away and make her feel helpless. It was going to be hard to reclaim her power because he didn't just snuff it with this one incident, it was months of verbal abuse and gaslighting and she didn't notice the damage he was inflicting until he put his hands on her.

"I thought you could use some company."

"Mxm."

Hazel turned off the mute button and carried on, watching Darcy and her twin on their quest to find love for the hundredth time. Between the both of them they were one surgery away from looking like Joan Rivers.

"I bought some chicken soup and cake," said Kgomotso, while unpacking the shopping bag and found a vase for the sunflowers.

"Cake?"

"Yes. I didn't buy wine because I can't drink."

The temptation was strong especially with everything else that was going on, a glass of Rosé would be her saving grace.

"I'm not hungry."

That didn't deter Kgomotso as she warmed the creamy soup because she was expecting Hazel to be stand-offish so it didn't get to her. She joined Hazel on the couch, putting her bowl of soup on the table in case she changed her mind.