MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

THE JOURNEY OF ZAMA DLALA

CHAPTER TWELVE

I am never setting foot here ever again. This woman will miss me for all I care. What kind of a mother who chases a female child out in the hours of the witches. I hate her with every passion that I have. I drag myself outside the gate. I am still in my pajamas. I shouldn't have come here. I should have stayed at home - where I am unconditionally loved. My money and my phone, all gone. Whomever stole from me shall never see light. I look around, everything is just dark. Disadvantages of some rural areas. I keep walking hoping and praying that someone comes to the rescue. Eshowe is very far from home. How will I reach Durban again? I wouldn't survive walking that distance, even if I tried to. I wouldn't have survived. I will see where this road takes me. There is literally no car in sight. I have stopped crying. What is the use of crying over something that has no cause over. That family will never see me again. And suddenly - I feel this cold breeze around me and the back of my hair stands.

"Thinking too much is not good for the baby." a voice behind me says making me to let out a very loud scream. I hold my pounding chest.
"Ow, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." He further says. He smiles. I can see his white teeth through the dark. I look around just to make sure that he is alone.
"I am alone, actually." I sigh out of relief. "What are you doing here so late at night?" He asks. I am still shivering from the shock.
"My mother chased me out. Her husband tried getting on top of me." Saying the other word will leave a bitter taste in my mouth.
He chucks.
"Some men! Where will you go so late? Do you have any plan?" He asks.
"I don't know. I was just walking alongside the road to see where it led me." I have no back up plan. My phone was stolen. It's funny cause I remember placing my phone underneath the pillow before I slept. That person must have seen me putting it there and decided to do me dirty. But it's fine. My God will deal with them in the most crucial way possible.
"I used to have spare bed in my room. You can have that one and I will sleep in my old bed where I used to sleep."
"That is so kind of you. Thank you."
"We need to keep moving. I have been walking for quite some time and I need to rest." We started walking. I feel like we are just going around in circles. There is no ending.
"Is this not the place that we passed just half an hour ago?" I am confused. I look around - I look at the trees through the darkness and I can attest that we did pass her. He keeps quiet. I am tired, hungry and exhausted. My feet are numb.
"Buti..."
"We should keep moving." He repeats. He walks and I remain standing.
"I am tired and thirsty!" I feel like crying. My knees are shaking.
"I have been thirsty for quite some time too. I fact for a very long time."
You know what! I can't deal with this. I held my bag firmly and walked past him. I see some light but further from here.
"We are close. I used to walk..."
"Why do you always have your wording in past tense?" He doesn't respond but keeps quiet.
"You are soon to understand." We keep walking. I am so tempered to release the stress by biting my nails. I have healed and I don't want to go back there. Peeling off meat hurts and it takes time to heal. Mthoko always had a way to stop me from biting my nails. He was good at it. One of the reasons I miss him. I yawn. I am so sleepy.
"Sleepy?" He asks. The man hasn't even offered to hold my heavy bag.
"Yes. What is your name?" Maybe having a conversation with him will keep me awake. I hope we are not too far from the light. It looks like we are getting closer each second.
"I was called Skhundla Madida."
"Can you stop with the past tense. You are really freaking me out."
"Look. We have arrived."
He opens the gate and leads me in. I feel like something just pulled me up here. This shit doesn't make any sense. I take steps back... I feel drowsiness taking over. I can't breathe and I start to hallucinate. Seeing multiples of him. I am hearing angry voices. My head is pounding like it's being smashed on something. Everything becomes dark.

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The ceremony is coming along just fine. Zama almost ruined everything for her precious daughter. It's not her fault that her father is failing to provide for her.
"Kodwa Deliwe. Wayidela ingane yakho nje kanjalo phakathi nababili?" Can Ncane mind her own business. She is in a good mood today. Deliwe continues to hum a song in excitement. Deliwe fixes umhlwehlwe on Amahle's shoulders with a proud smile on her face. She is sixteen and she is a baby in her eyes.
"I am so proud of you. Can't say much about your sister." She sighs. Amahle just smiles looking at her mother.
"Ay bandla. Sesiyoxoxela ama gwababa echobana inkosi impela." Ncane walks out leaving Deliwe throwing daggers at her.
"Don't mind them. They are jealous of you." Deliwe cups Amahle's cheeks and kisses her forehead. "Go do me proud esigcawini. Show them what you are made of." She smiles even wider. Her smile is reaching ear to ear. She takes a couple of hundred notes from her bra and pins them on her head.
"Mah..."
"Do not embarrass me. Look, you are now being introduced to a different stage. A woman's stage to be precises."
Malume Sibeko enters the rondovel where Amahle was dressing up in with the other maidens. She is wearing her cute umhlonyane attire.
"It's time Mshana." He is a proud uncle today. Not every day that they get to experience such joy. It's very rear to find a sixteen-year-old still in tacked. Amahle smiles and holds her uncle's hand. They go hand in hand in the ancestral rondovel to speak to their ancestors. Amahle was told to kneel while Sibeko squatted. He lights the incest and speaks to the ancestors.
"We have gathered here to enjoy the ceremony of my beloved sister's child. Amahle has grown enough to take her own decisions now as a young lady. In our culture it is said a woman is ready for marriage at age 24, but that would be her decision to make. The ceremony represents Ubuntu, and it is important to keep your virginity till you are old enough because you not only make your family proud, but you make yourself worthy to be a proud young lady in our community. We will have a successful day with plenty of food and people came out in numbers to support us; we are grateful for that."