Gabsile

1st family meeting

Tonight the family is coming over for a house warming braai. We bought a two bedroom , two bathroom simplex with an open plan kitchen and dining room area , white walls and high ceilings. It was on auction and Akhumzi didn't have any negative comment so we bought it. I also bought myself a car , a white Fiat 500 and all our accomplishments make me feel like we are heading in the right direction. Our house is an hours drive from our work places which is a two hour drive from the monster-in-law's house and that is a bargain.

Our house doesn't have the fanciest furniture , im a simple girl whose wordrobe consists of mainly jeans , sneakers ,platform loafers and the casual formal wear clothes for work which are in pastel colours , beige dominating so I cannot and will not have extravagant furniture plus we don't have much money lying around waiting for us to spend it.

We have converted the second bedroom into a nursery and No we aren't expecting yet but we are trying.  I got off the pill two months ago and my gynae said it could take a year or less depending on when my cycle will return to normal. I also wanted to turn it into a nursery so the monster won't even think about sleeping over.

Im going to prepare some stir fry veggies because I like stir fry with garlic bread and some braai meat and If Asanda is late I will start with the chakalaka and pap and wait for the men to arrive with the meat and charcoal.

A Renault kwid stops infront of my house and a man comes out and starts chanting clan names;
'Mtungwa!
Mbulaz'omnyama!
Nina bakaBhej' eseNgome' he says at the top of his lungs.  I can't help but laugh , who does that ? He looks too young to be soo invested in culture and his wife or girlfriend is very embarassed.

I walk out with my dirty apron and  meet then at the gate ' Hi is this Gabsile Khumalo's house?"the young woman asks & I knit my brows together , I'm the only Khumalo on this street why would anyone call me that? 'My mother called and gave us your address & told us to find Gabsile Khumalo' he says & I cringe.

' oh I guess that's me ' I say with a shaky laugh that sounded more like a cough that causes this man to back away a bit . I clear my throat and open the gate for them. ' My actual name is Siyanda , you can call me Yanda or Siya or Just Mka-Akhu' I say ushering them in the house. ' I'm Thembelihle and this is my husband and bestfriend Siyabonga ' she says offering me a hug once we are in the house.

Siyabonga drops his wifes handbag on the counter and grabs a beer from the fridge. ' What time will Mzi arrive? I would like to eat and leave before MmaNtombi arrives ' he says and I laugh. I finally have a person , her own blood who feels the way I feel about her. I want to ask questions but that will seem like snooping around so I tell him I don't know and offer him something to eat while we wait for his brothers.

He lingers around the table cracking jokes about his workplace ,a car repair shop that does more harm than good- his words not mine , his mother- I'd like to record those and keep them for future use but I don't think I'm getting divorced anytime , Mzi as he calls my husband and marriage in general. I spend more time laughing than cooking and I wish it was just the brothers coming over for this braai. As soon as monster-in-law walks in through that door this mood and energy and environment will change. She will polute it.

Asanda, Bongokuhle and Thobani arrive with the meat and charcoal and Siyabonga cracks the speakers, Thobani ignites the fire and we have a great time. Only person & my favourite person in the world , my man is missing. Asanda and Thembelihle tell me more about themselves and share some juicy work gossip and I take it all in. Thembelihle is a private chef while Asanda works at a bank , the work gossip is saved for my man , during pillow talk. You know how they love a good gossip.

The lizard arrives in a two piece crocrody-(which is crocodile according to my learners)- set that looks like its heavy or itchy. Siyabonga called her a crocodile and we held in our laughter.  She greets Asanda and Thembelihle properly with warm motherly hugs and she pats my back and says ' Gabsi'  and my body stifens.

She opens our pots and sniffs them. I take zero offence because everytime I see those crocodile material , long pointed shoes I want to die and when she walks passed me revealing her soles abd ribbons I almost knock over the pot . She holds her handbag soo close to her and Siyabonga gives it once glance and says ' if that handbag doesn't fall on the floor leaving her holding that crocrodry handle I will pay you two fifty rands' .

We watch it closely and my man emerges somewhere and plants a kiss on my forehead after pulling me in for a hug. Just infront of us the handbag falls leaving her holding the straps for dear life on her forearm and I snort. Akhumzi holds me from swaying and knocking out pots and I close my eyes and count to five while Thembelihle , Siyabonga and Asanda break down in soft laughter. Thobani shakes his head and picks up the handbag and begins lecturing her , ' Weh Ma , my wife sends you money and you still refuse to buy a proper handbag? I told you about this handbag last year but no you still use it , its good that  it fell apart so you can actually let go of it ' I tilt my head and take a sneak peak at her and she knits her eyebrows , looks at the bag and says ' I'm going to sew it & I'm going to use it for special ocations like these".

While the men braai the meat she instructs me for a tour only giving saying ' mhh' as I show her around. She returns to the kitchen and opens the cupboards and fridge for inspection and looks annoyed. Maybe my cutlery and crockery isn't up to her standards or maybe it looks too cheap , but I couldn't care less. If Akhumzi doesn't complain then I won't budge.

We dish up and sit around the couch because we don't have a dining room table yet. She mentions how the only thing that taste good is the meat and I sigh. Everyone else thinks the food tastes good so its okay.

Thembelihle and Siyabonga stand up and grab our attention. Thembelihle is a beautiful young woman , a tall  curvy Xhosa woman who rocks curly wigs like no other. She has this air of confidence and beautiful smile , a brown skin girl with beautiful eyes that smile when she laughs. I like her too. Siyabonga is a dark  good looking  man with a little goatee and big eyes. He looks content and happy in his life , breaking peoples cars down so they come back for more damage & a little bit of repairing .

They look into each others eyes and smile ' So' Siyabonga says turning to face us ' my wife and I , my bestfriend and I , the love of my life and I are expecting. ' and I jump up and hug both of them ' Awww congratulations, I'm soo happy for you' I say while everyone else stands up for huggs too. Its a beautiful time to be young , married and inlove. Witnessing your inlaws in their happiest form is purely beautiful. Everyone is winning , except the monster-in-law who is clearing her throat.

'Gabsile what about you guys? Its been months since you guys got married , are you guys even having sex?" She asks me , in my face , during a full circle moment, stealing Thembelihle and Siyabongas moment & polluting our beautiful energy .

' when I conceive you will be the first one to know' I say with a faint smile  and she looks at me from my toes to my head ,' will that time come?will YOU conceive?"  She asks and I look at her bloody son. ' I'm asking because we paid a lot of money for your lobola the least you can give us is a son. You're the only one here who charged fifty thousand and you're also the only one without a son or daughter. This is the bare minimum, it onlytakes two minutes to conceive' she says with her chest. I look at him and I clear my throat ' I'm going to get fresh air ' I say going for my bag.

I get in the car and send them goodbye texts and leave for the furthest garage. I wanted to punch Akhumzi so much because its not like im not trying. We have been sleeping with the socks off since our wedding night and I am off the bloody pill , he knows that and yet he cant stand up for me  .

I park and sit under a bench near my car and allow myself to cry. I'm crying because maybe I am Gabi gabi umfazi onga zalayo maybe im infertile or I have something that causes me not to conceive and im crying because she will never accept me ; even when everyone is trying to with some already treating me like their sibling. Im also crying because my mother told me about this woman , and I soldiered on . It gets tiring and theres nothing I can do to change this.