Spurned

31

"No, Lindo Myeke!" I stop him just as she jolts awake. "Maqhawe!" He seethes out. "Let's go to bed, we'll talk about this tomorrow-" He cuts me off. "Yini amasimba oyenzayo Maqhawe?! Huh? Vuka!" He shouts. "Lindokuhle" I stand infront of him.

"Ngizokubulala Namhlanje wena!" He throws the packet at her. "Lindo please" I beg as she backs up on the corner of the room. He takes a step back, heavily breathing. I cautiously watch as he locks the door. "No one is leaving this room alive"

I back myself up on the corner infront of Maqhawe when he pulls out his belt and places his gun on the table. "B-Baba-" He cuts her off. "Ucabanga ukuthi usukhulile manje? Angithi? I'm going to beat you like a grown person" (You think that you're grown now? Huh?)

He wraps it around his hand. "Itumeleng, move" He orders and I shake my head no. He grabs my upper arm, dragging me out of the way. "Manje usuyaheva emzini wami? Huh? Maqhawe!" He hits her and she cries.

"Ngikubuzile umbuzo " (I asked you a question) He hits her again. "C-Cha, Baba!" She screams as he keeps on hitting her. I close my eyes, looking away. "Ngitheni kuwe, Maqhawe?!" He gritts out. "N-Ngiyaxolisa Baba" She sobs.

"Ngitheni?!" He shouts. "W-Wathi kimi uku-uthi ng-ihlukane n-nabafana" (you said that I should stay away from boys) "Clearly you need that engraved onto your mind, Ngoba awulaleli!" He hits her once again. Oh Modimo nthuse.

She chokes out an apology as the sound of the belt connecting with her skin echoes throughout the room. "L-Lindo, I think that's enough... She heard you" I place my hand on his arm and he still continues to hit her. "Lindokuhle ngiyakucela" I beg, blinking my tears away.

He heaves out a breath, taking a threatening step towards her. "Try that nonsense with me again, I'm warning you... Ngizokubulala ngezami izandla" (I'll kill you with my own hands). "You're going to get rid of these things then you're going to tell us everything that you've been doing"

He storms out of the room, leaving her on the floor, crying. "M-Mama" She croaks out. "Shh, It's okay" I drop onto my knees, sitting down on the floor with her. I pull her into my arms, rubbing her back. "I-I swear I didn't do a-anything" She sobs. "I p-promise"

I help her up and onto the bed. I quickly head down to the kitchen and boil water as I grab a bowl and pour coarse sea salt along with dettol. I pour the water into the bowl and grab a cloth. I walk back into her room, shutting the door.

I sit on the bed, next to her. I lift up her shirt and grimace. I dip the cloth in the warm water and start wiping her swelling wounds. She winces, wiping her tears away. "I'm sorry- I shouldn't have told him" I mumble. "He beat me Mama! He beat me like I wasn't his child!"

"I'm sorry" I dryly swallow, pushing my tears to the back of my eyes. I discard of the water and get into bed with ehr lying in my arms. I rub her back as she cries herself to sleep. I wait until she's sleeping, then I carefully get out of bed. I tuck her in and make my way back to my bedroom.

I find him pacing around the room. He has his gun on top of the nightstand and he still has his belt in hand. He stops once I close the door and he turns his attention to me. "Ukuphi?" (Where is she?) The nerve of this man.

"You can't possibly expect her to rock up here as if you weren't beating the life out of her a few minutes ago! She's sleeping" I stand at a safe distance from him. "Who told her that she could go to sleep?" He scowls. "Lindokuhle, please don't annoy me. Mxm." I smack my lips together.

"Le ngane iyangidelela, Itumeleng" He states. (That child is disrespecting me) "I understand that you are angry- but you didn't have to beat her like that. She's your daughter, Lindokuhle not one of your enemies!" I scold. "Control your tone" He demands.

"Yini? Nami uzongishaya?" (Are you also going to hit me?) I sarcastically say.
"We talked about gentle parenting, Lindo" I sigh. "Gentle parenting yokunuka, Itumeleng." He clicks his tongue in annoyance. "You didn't have to beat her- we could've sat down and spoken about it!"

"There's absolutely nothing to speak about! She's going to tell us the name of the boy that influenced her to do it and I'll handle it from there..." He surely says. "Why are you so sure? What if she doesn't tell us who he is?"

"Ngizomshaya futhi, aze angitshele" (I will hit her again, until she tells me) "You are not hitting my child again, Lindokuhle!" I exclaim. "Ingane yakho?... Uyangidelela uMaqhawe, I will beat her until she gets it through her damn head that she's not an adult!"

"No child of mine will be sleeping around, Itumeleng" He deadpans. "She's not sleeping around, Dlamini!" I defend her. "And how do you know that? Huh? Did she tell you that?" He scoffs. "Yes! Maqhawe is a lot of things but I know that she's still pure!"

"Itumeleng. You're not going to tell me how to parent our child, If you're afraid to hit her- I'll hit her for the both of us" He clicks his tongue. "You're not beating my child again, Lindokuhle marn!" I scream. "Your child thinks that I'm joking when I say that I'll kill her"

I watch as he throws the belt onto the bed and slips off his shirt. "Lindokuhle" I heavily sigh as he tries to walk out of the room. "She's had enough, please let her rest, I'll talk to her and I'll give you all the answer that you want" I hold onto his hand, stopping him. He huffs and I flinch as his fist comes in contact with the wall.

"Ngizoyibulala le ngane, Itumeleng"