LUBANZI

Chapter 6

LUBANZI

Chapter 6

𝐀𝐅𝐄𝐙𝐈𝐖𝐄

We are at the Dalindyebo's mansion. We are sitting in the lounge because Mrs Dalindyebo is still setting the table. She was so welcoming and she even told us that she was happy we'd come.

Hlelo comes downstairs. Apparently, she's grounded because she ran away from home on Friday.

"Hello. Sis Amber, I would like to say thank you and I'm sorry for what happened on Friday." She says sitting next to Amber.

"It's okay. As long as you remember boys aren't worth it, especially at your age. Focus on your studies, Nana." My sister gives the best pieces of advice as long as she's not advising herself.

"Thank you once again." She's grateful. Maybe she's not the spoilt brat they say she is.

"Meet my little sister Kaya," Amber says and I nudge Kaya to take off her earphones.

"What?" She asks with an attitude.

"Oh, Kaya is your little sister? She's rude." Hlelo remarks and Kaya is not going to let this go.

"And you're spoilt." Like I said, Kaya is always ready for a fight. I wonder who she takes after.

"At least I'm not a loner."

"Girls…stop." I don't want this to escalate. We are at someone's house.

"I'm stopping just because you asked me to. I don't care if this is Hlelo's home, respect is earned." Kaya says then plugs in her earphones.

"I'm going to call my brothers." She stands up and goes upstairs.

"My dears, dinner is served. Let's go. Where's Hlelo?" Mrs Dalindyebo walks in. Even her voice is just so tiny when she speaks.

"She went to call her brothers," I answer before standing up and pulling Kaya with me.

"Oh, they'll join us. Let's go." We follow her to the dining room and we are welcomed by this huge dining table. This people are loaded. Their house screams classy.

I sit down and Kaya sits one chair away from me.

Hlelo walks in followed by her brothers.

"Banzi, can you please sit between Afeziwe and Kaya?" His mother asks him. He just nods and comes to sit next to me. He's smelling like he just bathed.

"Did you take a shower?" I ask him but nobody is paying heed to my question because they are all talking except for Kaya who's on her phone.

"Don't you ever get tired of talking, Afeziwe?" That's the first time he called me by my name.

"You're smelling like a shower. I just need to know."

"It's none of your business." He dismisses me but nobody dismisses me.

"Your new haircut looks cool," I say a little loudly.

"I'm surprised you noticed Banzi has a new haircut. I hadn't noticed." His mother says.

"I notice all these things, Ma." I smile at her. Themba Dalindyebo walks in in his suit.

"I hope I'm not late. Greetings my children." What a humble man.

"Hello, sir." I greet back and Amber also does.

"These are the Jali's daughters. This is Ambesiwe…" Mrs Dalindyebo introduces us.

"…and this is Afeziwe and that young girl is Kaya."

"You're welcome to my home, my children. We are happy to host you." Mr Dalindyebo says.

"We are grateful that you hosted us, sir." I say respectfully.

"Call me Tata." He makes me miss Dad. He's not dead, just moved on with his life.

"We can dig in." Mrs Dalindyebo says and we start digging in.

Everyone is talking as they eat except for me, Kaya and Lubanzi. I love talking guys.

"Do you love being a lecturer?" I nudge Lubanzi and he gives me a dead stare.

"Are you going to answer me or continue looking at me like that?"

"I love being a lecturer. Can you stop talking to me?"

"You sound like a man baby. Well, I'll tell you about myself. I love being a lawyer but sometimes it's just getting hard. People say I'm too uptight. Do you think I'm too uptight?" I'm holding the drumstick and pointing it at Lubanzi.

"I don't even know you." He says. I feel like laughing.

"Of course you don't. You're just like Kaya. You're always so reserved and you never make an effort to know other people." He turns to me.

"I only get to know people who are of value to me. Are you of value to me?"

"You'll be surprised to know how of value I could be to you." I stand up.

"Can you please show me the washroom?" I ask Mrs Dalindyebo.

"It's the first door on your left when you go out." She directs me.

"Thank you." I leave the dining room but head upstairs instead. I don't know what I'm planning on finding but I just need to check.

There's a room written ‘Study’ on top. I open it and it looks like a study. I start looking around and searching inside some of the books on the shelf.

I open the drawer and search. There are so many flash drives here. I pick up the blue one and put it inside the laptop. There's a video and lucky me, it looks like footage. I sit down on the chair to watch it.

A car parks in front of the florist shop. Liyema comes out of the car. He's on his phone and soon a guy in black clothes who's wounded comes to him holding a briefcase. They talk and then another man in a black suit comes so quickly, picks up the briefcase and leaves as if he never picked up anything. It's like he passed there with the briefcase. I pause the video and zoom in on the video.

It's Lubanzi. What is he doing here? I thought he was at the club when all this happened. I resumed the video and the police showed up as Liyema was closing the car's door after his friend got in. He raises his hands and they cuff him. I close the laptop.

The door opens and Lubanzi walks in. He heads straight to a cabinet takes out some bottle of liquor pours it into a glass and turns to me.

"You're not supposed to be in here, Miss Jali."