MELAMINA THE QUEEN

CHAPTER 56

Being a Zululand queen means I have to act the part. I have to host tea parties. I have to cater to needs of women all ages. I have to be the mother of the nation. I have to show up when my people need me. Growing up, I never thought I would be someone that people look up to and depend on. I just thought I would be Doctor Futhy Cele, a billionaire architect not Doctor/Queen Melamina Zulu, the most famous queen in South Africa and a multi-billionaire architect. Getting married was never in my cards, especially to royalty. But you cannot outrun your destiny because no matter what, it always catches up with you. I think I would have became Kuhle’s wife whether Sthabile was still alive or not. Our ancestors would have set us up whether we like it or not.

Last week my team and I visited five high schools where we supplied young girls with sanitary pads and panty liners. We also taught them about the importance of preventing because we cannot stop them from engaging in sex. These kids are too curious. Which is why it’s better to educate them about protected sex and not scare them about the possibility of getting pregnant. They will think that nothing will happen in one encounter whereas it doesn’t even take a minute to fertilize an egg. They them told us about how they are ridiculed when they go to public clinics for prevention. How the nurses shout at them for loving sex too much. Honestly people have been complaining a lot about health care staff from public institutions. Why haven’t the government done something about it? It’s bizarre. They complains made me swear that I will open a clinic that specially caters to young women of all ages and the staff is going to be fresh graduates who still love their jobs not bitter old women who are rude to patients as if they aren’t the reason why they get paid. We also taught them about the importance of Pap Smears. Many were curious and asked about it and I even brought along qualified doctors who were able to provide clarity.

Being queen also means I cannot repeat the same outfit in public, so Nonkosi has been working with Simamiso and Noluthando to make sure I don’t have to worry about what to wear at any occasion and that I always stand out. It’s wild. I would donate the clothes to needy people but you know with witchcraft in our country, I can’t do that. Especially with my gift.

Today I am hosting a High Tea Party in Greyville and I invited royal women, business women and a few influential female celebrities. Preparing for the event has been nerve wrecking, I don’t want to lie, even though it only took two weeks. This is the first event where I will be speaking to people as Queen Melamina Zulu.

My husband gave me a pep talk this morning and even accompanied me here but he dropped me off. It’s a women’s only thing and he is not invited. He said he had some business to attend to but he will fetch me when I am done so that we can go back home together. Being a host means you have to arrive early but being queen means you have to arrive fashionably late to make a statement. As much as I don’t want to keep my guests waiting, I have to act like royalty and not behave holier than thou.

“Your Majesty.” A familiar voice interrupts me and I turn to find Noma standing at the entry with a cheeky smile on her face. I laugh and stand up to go hug her. I am currently sitting on a secluded marquee waiting for the rest of the guests to arrive before heading to the area decorated for the event.
“Look at you being early at an event.” I tease and she laughs.
“Blame Nick. He made sure I wake up early. He even wanted to do my make up so that I am not late. He just dropped me off. You know me, tase. I would have arrived an hour after the event started.” I laugh. Kuhle is a buzz kill when it comes to time but Carter is the worst. He never gets tired of his ever late wide though. He just makes sure to deplete ways of her becoming late. When they are going on a date, he always gets ready when she is done getting ready so that he doesn’t have to wait around with his outfit.

“But I am glad you could make it, tase. I need all the support I can get.” I lead her to the couch I was on and we both take a seat. “This queen thing is not easy. Yeah, doing some charity work here and there is fun but the backlash one receives for some things. Like can you believe people were saying I am encouraging girls of engaging in sex when I emphasized about contraceptives? These children are curious. They love sex. They are bound to explore. So having double protection is better than trusting boys.”

She chuckles. “People will always find something negative to say about any good deed. You are new to this thing. Of course they are going to fault anything you do. Just don’t let them drag you down. Stay positive and stay shining.” I needed to hear that. We catch up about things since we hardly have time for that. She tells me about the trouble Zama has been causing. I feel like she is Milisuthando’s wife. I can’t imagine the type of mischief they would both get up to if they link up or live together. I inform her about my pregnancy and she is happy about that. She also tells me that she and Carter got a surrogate and she is currently 4 months pregnant. I am happy for them. I hope the surrogate doesn’t cause problems for her.

Nonkosi walks into the marquee and we look at her. I know she is about to announce something. “Your Majesties, 90% of your guests have arrived. Only a few celebrities who are known doe being fashionably late haven’t arrived.” I nod and stand up. Noma also stands.
“Let me go and let you have your grand entrance Mam Zulu.” She says with a smile and I chuckle. She exits the marquee.

Nonkosi makes sure the make up team does some touch ups. We then exit the marquee and as we approach the cabanas where everything is set up, I see the media taking pictures of the whole moment. I can only imagine the comments they are going to make about my outfit because they always want to find something wrong with what I wear. I wave at the guests and shake hands with a few. I go and hug Lisa. I wasn’t even sure she was going to make it. We exchange a simple conversation before I walk to my seat. The event starts. The MC, Penny Ntuli welcomes everyone and states the purpose of the day. She is a really phenomenal young lady and she is going places. I can feel it. She calls me to the stage and I head there. I clear my throat and sing a little.

“Umkhuleko unamandla
Uma sikhuleka ngokukholwa
UJesu, uyalalela aphendule umkhuleko
Letha konke kuJesu ngomkhuleko.”

Everyone joins in and I say a small prayer before I start talking.

“Good Afternoon everyone. I am  Melamina Zulu and I would like to officially welcome you to my tea party. I hope that this will be an annual event which will include all women as we move forward. Thank you so much for availing yourself. This is not a formal event. I just wanted to gather a few of the influential women I know just to connect with them. As successful women, we were taught to compete with men and try so hard to come above them just so we could get recognized, but I want us to do away with that mentality. I believe that a woman’s success can shine on its own without being compared to a man who is in the same field as her. That starts with the children we are raising. The siblings that we are supporting and the children who look up to us. Here is a quick question. Can we build a nation where everyone’s work is recognized equally regardless of gender or generational wealth?”

“I believe we can.” Dr. Yengwa responds. She is the founder of one of the biggest advertising companies in the country. She has made a name for herself and she only started with simple higher certificate and a life goal. Now she has her own market place app and it has about 5 million subscribers.

“Thank you for that, Dr. Yengwa. With all your help, we can build a better community that doesn’t look down on each other, rather build each other and thrives to see others succeed as much as them. As much as I will help my people survive, I want to leave a mark by uplifting everyone one. If it were up to me, I would take all the amaphara from the CBD and forcefully admit them into a rehab because that is the bottom of the food chain and what better way to start than to follow Drake’s advice?” I earn a few chuckles. “There are many projects I want to implement but I need to know that I have women that I can trust and count on for anything. Now ladies, are we going to build a better world for the current generation, our descendants and their descendants?”

“YES!” Almost everyone chants and I smile.
“Now, let’s toast to a better future.”