FORCED TO MARRY AND I CHOSE YOU

55

"Are you ready?" That's my dad asking. I look down at his question. His 'are you ready?' could mean a lot of things and one of those things is 'are you ready to go home?' since I was discharged this morning. Or it could mean 'are you ready to see Hlanganani again after finding out that he's alive?'. I don't answer him and naye shame he can see the confliction in my eyes. I let him open the back seat door for me and even help my pregnant self inside. When the car starts moving,I place my head against the window. Into ethi Akani or Hlanganani angifuni ukuyibona,but its not like I have a choice as there's a family meeting in my house.

They are all just waiting for me to arrive then the meeting will commence. Since finding out that he's alive which was 2 days ago,I have refused to see him. I made it clear that I don't want him visiting me or even calling...the same applied to ubhuti Akani and so far they have respected my wishes. They never tried calling or coming to see me which is a blessing vele. The car comes to a halt,I don't move or look around as I assume that we are at a Stop sign or traffic light and soon we will be moving again. Instead of the car moving again, doors open instead and I sit properly to see what's the issue. I'm only realising now that we have arrived.

We are home,right in front of my house. Both my parents step out,I'm about to ask why isn't anyone opening the door for poor old preggie when I see a figure standing outside my side of the door. Upon seeing who it is,my anger and irritation all builds up. He opens the door for me,when our eyes lock,he flashes me a pretty smile which I return with a hard cold glare. Upon seeing that I'm not in the mood of being polite especially not to him,his smile drops. I can see his outstretched hand,he wants to help me out but I ignore him. I'd rather struggle on my own, which I do. "Suka!" I harshly say for him to move out of the way so that I can get down.

He does move but all this time his eyes remain on me,as he carefully watches my every move. As if he's waiting for me to fall so that he can quickly catch me or to hurt myself so that he can quickly help me. He closes the door behind me and holds my hand. I look into his eyes with nothing but fury,for what I'm about to do,I first have to check the coast. I look around looking for my parents but it seems that they have disappeared into the house,good. I again look for anyone wondering around the yard and find no one,good! I roughly yank my hand out of Hlanganani's hold. He looks taken back by my actions but I'm not done yet so its still early for him to be surprised now.

"The moment you saw it fit to play dead and be a creep by watching videos of me suffering all alone,is the moment you really died to me. So stay the hell away from me." I spit,as if my outburst means nothing to him,he walks closer to me. "Don't. Fucken. Touch. Me!!" I scream and stomp my feet all the way to the front door. He quietly follows behind me,"I'm sorry wanga" he pleads. Did I say quietly...guess that I spoke too soon. I ignore his plead and proceed inside. I bump into Mmabatho once inside the house and her being her,she drags me into the kitchen. "Okay don't beat me up for cooking in your kitchen." She jokes when she says my angry frown.

I guess that as uMakoti she had to cook for our guests,I give her a small smile. But she pulls me for a hug,"I'm sorry. I know that all of this is draining but for the sake of Pumpkin don't take anything to heart. Don't stress and when you need to talk I'm here." She softly whispers. All I can do at this moment is to weakly nod my head,if I speak I will cry. We pull away and she looks at me for a minute too long. "I don't know why they insist on having this meeting today of all days. I mean you just got discharged and you need to rest." She let's me know just how much she pities me. "Its okay,the sooner I kick him out of my house the better." I say in a serious tone meaning it.

"Don't you think..." She tries to talk me out of it but tatana Baloyi's loud voice cuts her off. He's calling us all to the living room. She gives me a look which I think means 'we will continue this later' but I inwardly roll my eyes. Hand in hand Mmabatho and I walk to where everyone is gathered. Once in the living room,my sister in-law goes to sit next to her husband. I stand here like a lost sheep,my eyes scan the room for a place to sit but there's only two available spots. One is next to Tiyani and the other one is next to Hlanganani. The meeting hasn't began yet mara here I am already forced to make tough decisions.

I look between the two,trying to decide which one is worse. Hlanganani's glare helps me to decide quickly,Tiyani is better. So I walk to where Tiyani is sitting and as I'm walking I can hear a growl behind me,no doubt that Hlanganani. Mxm seems like he came back with animalistic behaviour. Once seated next to my brother in-law,I look around to find everyone's eyes on me. I look right back at them...I refuse to be bullied shame. But I don't look at Hlanganani,I know that he's angry and that his angry face might intimidate me so I'd rather be on the safe side. I don't know what happened as I was looking at everyone present besides Hlanganani but I suddenly hear Tiyani saying "before you kill me I will move,come sit here."

And with that said vele,this coward moves. Since when is he scared of his baby brother!? Great,just when I need the insufferable Tiyani...he's not available. He's fully booked and this cowardice who idk shows up! Mxm. He takes a sit next to me seconds later and I move up,so much so that if it wasn't for this arm rest wall on the sofa,I would have fallen off. My father in-law soon commands everyone's attention but because Hlanganani is born different,he is still looking at me,he's glaring at me with nothing but anger burning through in his eyes. "Is everything okay?" That's my dad asking Hlanganani.

"I think that I need a glass of water." His answer comes out low,he abruptly stands up. If dramatic was a person,its definitely him. He comes back seconds later with a bottle of water and sits down. His aunt and two uncles are also present and I'm only realising now that I didn't greet. Bazongixolela bandla I'm going through a lot. My father in-law starts the meeting by saying that a few days ago he came to learn that Hlanganani didn't die and he says that he's aware of the fact that we are all curious,we have a lot of questions to ask both Akani and Hlanaganani,so he opens the floor for questions as he won't be able to answer on their behalf.

I don't waste any time,I jump on the opportunity presented because why not? I'm the one who suffered the most because of this. I turn so that I can face him,"where were you?" I angrily ask. "Botswana" he nonchalantly answers. His attitude just fuels me,I look at everyone as if to say 'can you all see that he's testing me?' I count up to five and take deep breathes. "Did that accident even happen or it was planned?" I ask,and God so help him if he gives me another one word answer. "The accident did happen,we didn't stage anything." By we its him and his brother. "Okay?" I urge him to continue speaking.

"I don't remember much,I remember hearing gunshots,I remember feeling pain because I was shot and the car exploding but Mthunzi pulled me out before it could but either way,a part of my arm got burnt. Then after that,I don't remember anything." He speaks in a distant tone as if not wanting to think back to that day. I feel bad for what happened to him but I refuse to sympathise with him.

Now I look at Akani. "You said that when you arrived,the police where already there and the paramedics." You best believe that my tone is just as harsh. "I'm sorry,I lied" he says sounding remorseful vele. But I look past that,"why?" I ask him. "When I got there,he wasn't at the scene,I searched around and found him laying in some nearby bushes bleeding out,I think that he tried to run away but he was too weak." He pauses and looks at Hlanganani with teary eyes if the memory is just too painful for him to handle.