NONKULULEKO

#06

NONKULULEKO
#06

I waited for a few minutes, thinking he would come back. I thought he would come back and cuddle me, and tell me that everything was going to be okay. Tell me that he loved me or he cared about me. But I was waiting in vain, he didn’t come back. I was stupid to give him my virginity, sometimes I feel like I lost my mind during that period. I did idiotic things. I was old enough to know right from wrong. Yes I was abused but I should have seen the red flags on Mfundo. He showed them from day one. He acted nice, always wanted to know about me but never told me anything about him, he knew what to say to comfort me. He made me vulnerable and I played right into it. I was blind. I didn’t see what his game play was.

The door opened and my smile widened as I thought it was him. He had come back for me. I was disappointed to see a person I didn’t know. He looked surprised to see me too. He must have been Mfundo’s friend. He asked me, “Where is Mfundo?” and I told him that he left. The worst part of it all was that I was still naked. My mind didn’t register that I needed to wear my clothes. He was eyeing me everywhere and I didn’t like the look on his face.

I found enough strength and wore my clothes with him watching. I told him I was leaving and he said he was sorry for what Mfundo did. I asked him where Mfundo was and he didn’t know. I accepted that I had been played and went back home. My body hurt a lot, especially in my private area. It was burning, such that I could not even walk properly.

At that moment I wished I could turn back time and do things differently, fix my wrongs and re-evaluate my choices. Mfundo was a mistake I deeply regretted and I wanted to learn from it.
I got back home and Nandi saw the way I was walking. She looked at me until I disappeared into the room I slept in. She walked in seconds later and sat on the chair. I was lying on my stomach on the bed.

“What happened to you?”if I didn’t know any better I would say she was worried. But why would she be worried about me? She hated me.
I told her that it was nothing, that I had tripped on something outside. She seemed to believe me because she just nodded and left.

Weeks went by and I still hadn’t seen Mfundo anywhere, I tried going to his home but he was never there. He disappeared on me. Ghosted me. I was hurt and felt betrayed. He was the only person I could run into when Nandi did her things, but then I had no one. I was all alone.

My dad was still fighting Nandi over paternity. I didn’t want to get involved. If only she could just tell my father the truth, the whole thing could have stopped. But Nandi was a stubborn person, her word was final. She didn’t even respect her “husband”. She would rather they fought like that than tell the truth.

One day, the man in the pink suit came back. Luckily, dad was home so he could see for himself. He was the one who opened the door for him and let him inside. His name was Celimpilo. He kept on looking around the house. My dad asked him, “Can I help you?”

Celimpilo: “I am not here for much, I am here for my children and my wife”.

Whaaat!? Dad’s world looked like it was spinning. His children and his wife? What did he mean by that?

“Your w…iffee?” he asked, stuttering.

“Yes, my wife, Nandi! And my children. Where is she by the way!?”

Nandi left for the shops but she would be back soon to see her lies exposed like that.

“You have no wife here!!! Get out of my house!!!”dad acted strong but he was hurt by the revelation.

Celimpilo laughed in a boastful way and stood up, fixing his suit. That day he was wearing a shiny, green suit.
“Boy this is my house! You are staying in another man’s house”
“Stop lying! This is not your house”
Celimpilo laughed once again and pointed at the couch.
“I bought this couch in 2016. This table in 2017. Everything here belongs to me. I just had some issues with my wife, only to come back and find her living with another man in my house!”

Dad furiously asked him, “So you are the father?”

Celimpilo: “Ahh he finally sees the light. Look I don’t know what you and Nandi agreed on, but I want you and her out of my house. Like right now”

By her, he meant me. I felt for dad but I was happy that we were leaving that house. I was happy that I would finally escape my prison. Dad told me to pack my things and I didn’t want to be even told twice. I stuffed everything in the suitcase and I was done in no time. I went to my dad's van and threw the suitcase in the boot.

“Where are we going now dad?”I asked him. He didn’t reply, he kept on packing his things. I silently waited for him. I just wondered if Anele and Lwazi were aware of what was happening, or did Nandi lie to them? Those two were always very quiet, they only spoke when they wanted something.

“Asambe!” said my dad. I got inside the car and he drove out of the yard. We came across Nandi and my dad just clicked his tongue. Nandi looked down ashamed and didn’t say anything.
The whole drive was tiring. I felt very nauseous and I wanted to throw up. I didn’t know where the sudden urge came from. Maybe it was my mind not believing that I finally escaped the claws of my evil stepmother. A year and a few months and I was finally free. I wanted to be a child again. Maybe dad would take me back to school again and I would continue with my studies.

I noticed that the drive wasn’t taking us to our old house and I asked him where we were going exactly. He didn’t have to reply because I knew exactly where we were at. He parked right outside the yard. Gogo’s house. Why there? Why did we have to go there? Couldn’t we have gone to a house where nobody hated me? Why didn’t my dad care about my safety and well-being first? Everything just always had to be about him.
“We are going to stay with grandma for a while until I get my things in order”

“Why don’t we go back to our old house?”

“I sold it”

He did what!? What about my mother’s memory?

“My mother’s things?”

“I sold them too. We needed the money Nonkululeko. Nandi wasn’t working and I earned peanuts.”

“You didn’t have to sell her things” I mumbled under my breath.

We got out of the car and went inside. She was happy to see her son, not me. Not that I expected her to!
“I cooked your favorite meal my son” she brought him a plate of food and it looked mouthwatering. But the smell! What was it? Chicken?  The urge to vomit again came back and I ran outside holding my mouth. I let it all out and washed my mouth after. I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
Gogo looked at me in disapproval and shook her head. Why!? I didn’t know!?
I just wasn’t comfortable with being in that house. I went from one prison to another. I thought Nandi was better, but gogo showed me flames in the months we stayed with her. So much for my name – Nonkululeko.

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