Unhinged Love

CHAPTER 29

The dinner date with Zukhanye went well, even though she seemed more excited to hang out with my brother than me. I am not jealous. It’s just nice to see that he still has that charm without even saying a word. When the dinner came to an end, Zuh promised to come and see my restaurant but I just know that she will be more interested to see my brother. Mndeni on the other end did not notice the woman was flirting with him. Like why are men so clueless when it comes to seeing crushes? It’s wild, I tell you.

So this morning when we checked out, we went to Gateway and I bought my brother a phone. Nothing much, just a Huawei Y72. I did not let him see the price because he would have settled for a cheaper one. There is nothing wrong with a cheap phone. It’s just that sometimes it has endless faults. I drive us back to Esikhawini and he looks like a kid in a candy shop the whole journey. When we get to the Esikhawini-KwaDlangezwa off ramp, he asks to take the wheel just to see if he can still drive and I allow him, laughing in the process. It takes him a couple of seconds to get the hang of it. But driving is engrained in someone’s blood. Once you learn, you can never unlearn. When we get to the traffic lights, I tell him I drive to the mall. I just remembered that I don’t have any groceries and living with a man means I have to buy double the normal scale. He parks the car and we climb out. I first head to Clicks to buy my cosmetics, forcing him to buy his in the process. I am just going to be his breadwinner until he finds a stable job. We go to Shoprite and load as much groceries we can for maybe 5 people. We go to Roots and buy meat and then buy their grilled full chicken with rolls and chips. We then head home and when he parks the car outside, he steps out just to admire the house.

“You have done well for yourself, sis, without that man’s support or involvement. I am proud of you.” He says as I come to stand next to him. He hugs me and I soak in his warmth, allowing myself to treasure this moment with my brother whom I never thought I would reconcile with.
“Thank you, bhut wam. You don’t know how much happy it makes me to have you here. To hear you said you are proud of me. I thought you were dead and that I would never get closure or even see your grave. In a way, we should thank mom for leading us back to each other.” I hear him sniff and I tighten my arms around him.

“You are turning me into an onion. What do you want your neighbors to say about me?” he says after a few minutes, breaking the hug and I laugh. Men.
I open the gate and he drives the car inside while I go open the front door. I quickly open the windows just for some fresh air and he gets in with bags. I also help with bringing in the groceries and place it at the kitchen. I open the spare bedroom which belongs to Nqobile at times. I also open the window for fresh air and tell him that he may use it. I just need to buy him new masculine bedding because I know he doesn’t like this pink. I transfer some money to Nqo and ask that she brings me some navy or black bedding. She is curious but I don’t let her probe. I dish up on the lunch while defrosting meat for dinner. We sit at the lounge and watch the TV.

“So I am going to set up an appointment at the Home Affairs and I will see which slot will be available. After getting your ID, we need to go to the department of transport to see what they can do with regard to your license. The rest will be sorted as time goes by.” I start off and he smiles, his eyes become teary.
“Thank you, Magcina. I don’t know if I will ever be able to repay you for helping me fetch my life.”
I smile. “You are my brother. You don’t owe me anything.” He just smiles at me and doesn’t say anything.
“Can I watch soccer?” I groan and he laughs.
“I thought we were having a moment there.” Men will always choose soccer over us. I show him how to use the remote and then open the football channel for him. I then collect our dishes and head to the kitchen.

I was the dishes and then head to my bedroom. I need to take a nap just to rest for a bit. I have a few hours till my friends get here. I inform my brother about my nap so that he doesn’t think I am avoiding him or something. I lay on my bed and check on the socials. I usually create content for Healthy Eats and we do film a few videos behind the scenes so that people can see how hygienic the kitchen is. We want to provide quality everything. Tomorrow when I am done with the paperwork that awaits me, I will some a bit of kitchen work just for content. When I am about to put my phone down, a text comes in.

‘Unjani ntokazi? Can I call you?’

It’s Melisizwe again. I don’t want to entertain him. I really don’t. But it won’t hurt to hear him out. If he is spewing bullshit, I will block him. I swear. I respond with a mere ‘Yes’ and his call comes in after that. How do I behave on a call with him? Do I act cordial? But why do I have to act any other way? He will get a normal Hlengi. I answer the call.

“Sawubona Mzimela.” I greet and I hear a subtle chuckle.
“Ntokazi, how are you? I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time.” If it was a bad time I wouldn’t have told him to call, duh.
“No. I just arrived home from my mini vacation.” I respond, turning to lay on my back. I know I might doze off any minute.
“Ohh, you checked out today? Had I known, I would’ve came to see you.” I am glad you didn’t know because coming to Oceans just to see me would have been awkward.
“Sorry about that. So what did you want to say?” I have to cut straight to the chase.

“What I want is not something I can say on the phone, but I will be there on Friday. Can I take you out for dinner just so we talk?”
“Chat about what, Mnguni?”
He clears his throat. “I will explain everything on Friday if you agree to go out with me. Just a harmless dinner with no expectations. If you don’t want to, I won’t force you. But I just need your time. Minimum, one hour. I can’t say let’s meet up at a park during the day because you are a busy woman. Ngiyacela ntokazi.” This ntokazi of his will make me wanna say yes yazi. “If you don’t want to hear me, you can even leave after 5 minutes of your arrival. I won’t hold it against you.”

Somehow I know where this is going. Do I want it to go there? If it was something else, he would have said it over the phone. If it was business related, he would have sent an email. I know what he wants to talk about. But do I want to hear him say it? But look at me already considering it. Fuck. I am going to hell for this. I take a deep breath and that makes me yawn. I hear him chuckle again and I involuntarily laugh. “Yeah. I am tired. I woke up early today and the drive back didn’t make things easier.”
“If I knew, I would have offered to drive you back.”

I chuckle. “Yeah right. Anyways, it’s cool. I will go out for dinner with you on Friday. But the moment things get awkward, I will leave.”
“I promise I won’t make you uncomfortable. Your pleasure is all I care about.” He clears his throat. “That came out wrong.” I snort. That really came out wrong. “Sorry about that. But thank you for agreeing to come see me. Have a peaceful rest and see you on Friday. Take care ntokazi.”
“Bye Melisizwe.”