Love, the unconventional way

chapter 2

It's 18h00 and I am stuck in traffic, I am on my way to visit my man so I am really not even frustrated by this traffic, which is weird because on a different day, I would've probably asked the driver to turn back.

I use this time to text my little sister. She has been so closed up lately. I let her know about my weekend visit, hoping that this would cheer her up. I feel as though out of all of us, she is the one who is mostly affected by my mother's passing. I wish I could do so much more.

My phone rings, "Mapholoba," my heart melts as always. "yebo sthandwa sam, uyaphila mama?" I can't help it, this man makes me soo weak, "ngiyaphila baby" there's awkward silence, this is weird, "mama, I'm calling to let you know ukuthi ngiyobuka ibhola namajita so I might not be reachable" I sigh, I wanted this to be a surprise. "Kulungile ke, we'll talk later." we end the call, and I am a bit sad, but then again, I have the key to his place.

My boyfriend has a backroom at his dad's house in soweto, he lives there with his two older brothers, his eldest brother is married and thus he occupies the main house, while him and his older brother occupy the double storey backrooms. His dad lives in hydepark with his first wife. His second wife lives in Morningside, Spha's mother passed away years ago, but she's technically the first wife kwaNgcobo.

We finally arrive, I thank the driver, I take my many bags and make my way in. After opening the gate, I noticed that his car was actually parked outside the garage, which is odd because he just told me that we won't be home.

Anyway, I make my way to his door, and there's soft music playing. He's probably still getting ready to leave, I put my bags down and then unlock the door. As soon as I open the door, my ears are filled with the excruciating sound of a woman getting pleased! I am frozen in one spot for a few seconds before it registers. His back is facing me, and he is pounding the life out of her.

I make my way in, place my bags on the couch, and then switch off the music. I am standing in one spot, almost frozen, I can not turn back and look at the sight of my man having sex with another woman.

"Shit!" That's all he says before I hear a bit of shuffling, and next thing I see him standing next to me wearing nothing but his boxers. "MaMthembu, ngiyaxolisa mama..." I honestly can not believe that we are here again.

See one thing about dating Zulu men is that you have to bare with the cheating. This isn't the first or second time that I find this man cheating on me. At this point, I do not know what to do, I am helpless and defeated.

I turn to see who the lucky lady is this time, and as if things get any worse, this is the very same lady I found him with the last time, he promised, nothing hurts like someone promising to changes but turning out to do the exact same thing with the very same person.

I wipe my falling tears and then request a ride to take me to my parents house, it's late for me to go back to sandton, so I might as well go home. I hear him speaking and following me as I make my way out, but i chose to pay no attention to it.

My ride finally arrives. He tries to bully the driver into canceling the ride, but luckily, the driver is as zulu and as hard-headed as Spha is, so he doesn't budge.

It's dinner time when I arrive home, my dad wasn't expecting me, I find him sitting in the dinning room watching national geographic as usual, "hawu Lu, we weren't expecting you" he says jokingly, I don't even catch the joke in it, I just walk to where he is seated, the two seater couch has enough space for me to curl up next to my dad under his one arm.

He sighs, I guess he already knows what's up, he takes me into his embrace and we remain like that for a good 30 minutes before he breaks the silence, "I still have your banana muffins, do you want hot milk or fresh orange juice?" Oh, what did I do to deserve such an amazing dad? Trust me when I say one day I'll end up with a husband just like my dad.

"I'm actually hungry" he laughs and that on its own warms my aching heart "you're always hungry my lulu, lucky for you, your dad is a chef" I release a chuckle "uphi uAphe?" He sighs again and this time his smile disappears, this breaks my heart a bit "she's in her room, she's a bit distant lately, I think she misses her" after saying this he disappears quickly into the passage leading to the kitchen. I use this time to make my way to Aphe's room.

I knock lightly before letting my self in, she seems stuttled when she realizes someone is in the room with her, she's sleeping in an upward facing position, she's blankly staring at the ceiling with her airpods tugged into her ears. I take off my shoes and join her. "Aphe ka baba" she takes off her pods but doesn't move from her positioning, "I didn't know you'd be coming to visit us" I sigh, it kind of breaks my heart that I had to move away from them more especially seeing how my move might have also affected her.

"I couldn't help it, I missed you, both," she chuckles sarcastically, "what has he done?" I reposition sideways to face her, "What do you mean?" I know exactly what she means. I just want her to actually say it. "Come on, Lu, we both know you only came here because things didn't go as planned with Spha. He was with a girl, wasn't he?" I look away, too ashamed to face this smart little girl who seems to be wiser than her age suddenly, she chuckles and places back her pods, "please close the door on your way out" I stand shamefully and make my way out, I feel way more horrible than how I felt when I walked in here, she's right though, my life revolves around Sphamandla and he keeps disappointing me.

I make my way to place my bags in my room which is clean and organized, my dad has someone who comes in weekly to change bedding and deep clean the house, he's a bit of an OCD cleaner.

After placing my bags, I walk to the living room to find my plate of food neatly placed on a tray, "Eat up so we can talk about what that little boy has done this time."

I dig in, and honestly, the food tastes sooo delicious. Growing up, I used to enjoy my Dad's cooking over anyone else's, not even my mother cooked as good as this man does.

"How's the business going" I ask before taking in a spoonful of the delicious samp and beans, "quite great given that it's almost the festive season" he responds, my dad is a cattle farmer, he makes most of his profits around the festive season because of how most of his customers host events during that time and usually buy livestock.

We ended the night with the banana muffins and tea, I avoided the conversation about Spha, and my phone has been off since I got home. Aphe has been cooped up in her room and although I'm now all tucked in bed, her words still linger in my head, it hurts honestly, maybe I should consider moving back home for a bit...