TO LOVE A BROKEN MAN

25

There was stubborn and then there was Kgomotso, her picture needed to replace the definition in the dictionary. She left the hospital with Khanya despite Lwazi's objections, Anesu went with her to his mother's house in Umhlanga because someone needed to talk sense into Kgomotso before her flight back to Joburg in the afternoon.

He needed a shower and his appetite made a comeback now that Khanya was safe and sound. Lwazi didn't get a moment of peace once he arrived home because aunty Sthembile wasn't happy to learn that Kgomotso took the baby and she urged him to do something about it, because if she took action things would take a turn for the worst.

He couldn't dispute that his aunt and Kgomotso wanted the best for Khanya, but their tug of war was bound to cause a rift in the long run.

He was done taking a shower when his uncle called and Lwazi was tempted not to answer because in his eyes that man was worse than Judas.

"Bab'omncane."

"It's me."

The sound of her voice infuriated him all over again as his composure quickly waned. She knew how to push his buttons as well as she knew how to work her tongue to bring him pleasure.

"Ufunani, Nolitha?" he asked, impatiently.

"I wanted to say goodbye but my father thought it wouldn't be a good idea for us to see each other."

Good thing she listened to her father because he would've strangled her on sight for putting him through that ordeal.

"Why do you think I'd even care to hear from you after what you did?"

"Because I know we can work through this, our love is eternal and can never be broken by anyone or anything."

The hard part about this was how serious she was, except life wasn't the fairy-tale she depicted in her head and he wasn't going to move on like nothing happened.

"Cha, Nolitha, you need to do yourself a favour and stay far away from me because I'll never forgive you for what you did."

"You always keep breaking my heart."

She started crying, softly at first but her sobs got louder when Lwazi didn't offer any words of comfort. There was no reason for him to overreact like this because Khanya was unharmed and that should count for something considering her plan was to get rid of Khanya since she was in the way of her happiness.

"Don't call me again." He hung up.

Lwazi drove to Umhlanga and let himself in when no-one came to answer the door. He heard that Kgomotso came with Jabu but found Kgomotso sitting alone in the living room, with Khanya sleeping soundly next to her. It warmed his heart, seeing Khanya and he knew then that he could never let her out of his sight after what happened. And he was prepared to fight if need be.

The lingering silence only seemed to heighten the tension taking up space as none of them wanted to be the first to break the ice. Kgomotso locked her questioning eyes on Lwazi, lost as to why he was there in the first place.

"Anesu is upstairs sleeping," she said, picking up the remote to switch the TV on. He'll be forced to leave if she ignores him long enough.

"I'm actually here to talk to you."

"Oh? Have the police arrested Nolitha?"

"No, but my uncle will make sure she gets the help she needs."

"Then we have nothing to talk about."

He clenched his jaw and the rest of his features hardened as he stared at her. "Fine you don't have to say anything but I'm taking my child."

"Over my dead body." She sprung to her feet, blocking Khanya from his view.

"What's your problem? Because I feel like whatever it is, it has nothing to do with this current situation."

"You're not capable of being the father she needs because you're busy worrying about whether she's yours or not."

"And whose fault is that?"

"The only mistake Kamo made was keeping the ring, she had no intention of leaving you and you know that but it was important for you to taint her image so Khanya will grow-up thinking ill of her mother."

He sighed, slightly shaking his head. "I wasn't the perfect husband and I won't claim to be, I should've told Kamo about Nomusa when we first started dating and I shouldn't have helped Nomusa behind her back, but we're not going to pretend that your sister wasn't wrong for entertaining another man."

"You need to let it go because she's not here to answer for herself and deep down you must know that nothing happened between her and Churchill because she loved you."

"And I loved her, too, which is why I don't want this to get ugly but if you keep trying to take my child away from me I'll make sure that you never see Khanya again."

"You can't do that." She gasped, taking a step back. It wasn't an idle threat and she knew it.

He pulled out a white envelope from his back pocket and dropped it on the table. "It's the DNA results. I'd like to see which court will let you take Khanya without probable cause."

She was too shaken up to move let alone reach for the envelope and see if what he was saying was true.

"Is everything all right here?" asked Anesu, coming down the stairs.

Lwazi turned to her, looking rather full of himself. "I don't know, is it?" he asked.

"Yes, everything is fine." She managed a faint smile. "We talked and both agreed that Khanya deserves to be with her father, I let my emotions get the best of me at the hospital."

"That's good, baby because if this continued, Khanya was going to suffer eventually."

She didn't feel like Anesu was on her side because he was colluding with Lwazi against her for wanting justice while Nolitha was spared from the consequences of what she did.
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