MELAMINA THE QUEEN

CHAPTER 46

NTOMBIFUTHI MELAMINA ZULU

If I was a normal person, I wouldn’t have to worry about transitioning from princess to queen. In fact I wouldn’t worry about anything except for getting guidance from my mother in laws and the late queens. But because the Mkhize ancestors bestowed a gift upon me, now I have to do ceremonies to unite all my ancestors. Meaning whatever small getaway I was planning has to be cancelled. I woke up yesterday and told everyone to pack up. Even the kids. My ancestors had told me that we all have to head to the royal house. So we had to start at the kids’ school and it was easy because they all attend Curro House Heritage. It was easy to excuse their absence since everyone knows about the upcoming ceremony. Even the Head Mistress asked for an invite. But this is thee coronation. There are no invites issued. Everyone in the country or outside is more than welcome to attend.

IF I had initiates under me, it would be easy to go from house to house doing these ceremonies, but I have no one, so I asked Gogo Mnguni to bring her initiates. She will be guiding me and making sure that everything is done correctly. Not that I don’t trust Bab Mthembu, but this is a new era and change is here. Unfortunately for me, I am going to be the full time royal healer. Mthembu will still be there but I will be in charge of healing my family. Inyanga iyazelapha in this case.

On our quest to unite izidalwa, we have to start at the Mkhize royal house, then go to my mother’s childhood home, thereafter we will go to the Cele household, eNdwedwe. Then the whole trip will come to its end after passing the current Zulu Royal House and ending up on the new Royal House which is the palace Kuhle and I built. Well I’m the one who designed and built it, he only financed it, but it was a team effort. I had to buy six white goats to appease to the ancestors.

We first head to the royal house where we perform the ceremony and when it’s done, we are served food. I see Gogo Mnguni sitting with Mkhulu Thokozani and I head over to them. Mkhulu smiles when he sees me.

“Mzukulu, you look like you are ready to be a queen.”
“Mkhulu, I was born ready.” They both laugh.
“You have struggled a lot to get where you are. If you were another person, you would have left or worse, allowed people to walk all over you all in the name of marriage. We may be royal men but one thing we hate is for our children to marry into a polygamous marriage. Being raised in that type of marriage, I know the struggles that come with it. So I wouldn’t want my children to get into that. You are lucky Mzukulu, and congratulations.”

I smile. I love his honesty. “Thank You, Gcwabe.”
Gogo Mnguni laughs. “No, he is congratulating you for the other thing.” I frown. What other thing? “His newest great-grandchildren.” Sorry what?
“What are you on about, Gogo?”
“Come on, MaCele. You have been down this road twice. Surely you can feel it when your body is accommodating uninvited guests.” My throat dries up. ‘guests’? What the fuck? Come on. We already have a lot of kids, how could Kuhle do this to me? “Don’t blame umkhwenyana. You know it takes two to tango, right?” I don’t need her savage remarks right now.

“I need some air.”
She laughs. “But we are outside. Anyways, these minions will be here after 7 months, so don’t worry much about that. Focus on these ceremonies because if your mind is not here, then izidalwa will feel it and they will deem the whole thing void.” I hear her but I need to breathe.

I get up and walk away. I find myself in the Royal garden. Kante isn’t 6 kids enough? These royal ancestors are too much. I have 4 toddlers who need my attention. What the fuck am I going to do with new-borns? What if they are also quads? Yoh, I am going to scream.

×××

When we get to my mother’s childhood home, the ceremony is very swift and we are done quickly. Not many people live in the yard, so after eating, the initiates continue singing and dancing. Gogo Mnguni is dancing with them. It’s never weird seeing her in her element. It’s just that she is so powerful, so you never think you will find her dancing with amathwasa. I walk out of the rondavel we were assigned to, which is my grandmother’s rondavel. It is very worn out, there aren’t even stable windows. Seeing my mom’s childhood home in these conditions breaks my heart. I know I need to fix all this. We may never come back here, but I know my children will want to know their grandmother’s roots one day, and not just the Mkhize Royal house, but mom’s actual origin. Where her umbilical cord was buried and where her parents lie. I see Mam Ntombikababa seating in the gut that’s closer to the gate chatting with her grandchildren. She raises her head when she sees me approaching and tells the kids to go play.  I sit down on the grass near her and she laughs.

“A whole Zulu wife sitting in the grass. You want your in-laws to say we are abusing you?” she asks and I just brush her off.
“I was a Mkhize before I became their daughter in law, so they will have to deal.” She snorts. “The yard is strangely quiet. Was this how things were like growing up?”
She shakes her head and sigh. “Ubaba was not the best father in the world, but when he was still here, we lived in harmony, I guess. Being a polygamist meant us having lots of siblings. The yard was never quiet. Maybe only at night. Those who didn’t attend school, made sure to keep yard clean at all times, made sure to take the live stock to the fields and take care of plants in the garden. Since he was an Arch Bishop and a healer through holy water, he always had people coming in and asking for help and prayers. That’s how he got his last wife who almost killed him. She came here under the pretence of a patient.

“Anyways most things went downhill when your mother left. She was the last born, so you can imagine how our mother felt. She was heartbroken and she missed Jabu everyday until the day she died. The arranged marriage and education aren’t the only reason why she left. Your mother had a gift. She had an angelic voice that could heal people. One day our parents left to pray for some family in uLundi. Your mother was a free spirited child. She went to my father’s last wife to keep her company since she was lonely. That was normal back in the days. The next morning she woke up with a hoarse voice. Her gift was gone and it never came back. Mom blamed the last wife while father brushed things off. In a way, I understand why Jabu left. I just wish her departure did not break my mom’s heart like that.”

Wow. “Mom never told us any of that.”
“One of the reasons why people run from their past, is so they don’t have to talk about it. Anyways that’s mom’s grave and that is dad’s grave.” The cemetery is merely a few meters from where we are seated. “You should throw stones in their graves before leaving.” The said graves are so worn out. The only reason I can spot them is because they are circled by blocks. There are only two graves that have tombstones. One of the tombstones seem to have suffered an earthquake which is weird because the only natural disasters Nongoma usual face is heavy rainfalls that leave muddy roads. “The broken tombstone is my daughter’s. There was a heavy storm last year that left everything shattered.” My heart goes out to her. She buried most of her kids.

“You are married. Why would your child be buried in your home and not your marital home?” I’m being noisy, I know. But it’s strange.
“The house I have now, my son built it for me less than 10 years ago. I separated with my first husband maybe 6 years after your mother left and I went to stay at Empangeni. I couldn’t bury my child in town and I also couldn’t bury her at her home. It is filled with witches who would have turn all my kids into zombies. So burying them at home was safer.” I nod. She has been through a lot. No wonder she is so bitter. And I doubt she received any therapy. That’s the thing about old people. They go through a lot and they harbor all their pain inside. They never talk about it and heal from it.

“Why didn’t anyone put tombstones on my grandparents’ graves?” not everyone is poor in this family. Those who are well off could’ve done something to the graves or the falling houses.
“You are here now. You can do the honours.” I roll my eyes. Vele I am planning on doing it. I still plan on getting to know my maternal grandmother even though she is late. I will know her through my dreams. I hope she becomes a good ancestor like my khokho from the Cele family has been. That one is my day one and she has never forsaken me. I shall do something extra for her when I get to the Cele household.