Noma and Kea

CHAPTER 63

2 years have passed since the day he told me that the old man who came and pretended to be an ally to our pain, was actually the reason their mother was kidnapped and forced to flee Qumbu in the first place. I don’t know what the plan is, but they said there’s a plan to deal with him and its been 2 years. A LOT has happened in that time too. Lethabo and Lindy finally brought their babies into this place we call the world; TWINS too, might I add. His reaction when he found out was hilarious. When they found out they were having twins apparently, Lethabo’s first words were, ‘How am I gonna afford this?’ LOL. They are happy too, really happy with their twin Boys, yes, like Kea said, ‘The women of this family will give birth to only boys’. He named the twins Mzilikazi and Mazwi. Mzi is the oldest. Mazwi was happy because they named a baby after him, but that’s not why Kea named him Mazwi. The name Mazwi means ‘Word’ and the name Mzilikazi means ‘Great Road’ or ‘The path of Blood’ so in a sentence it means, ‘The word of the Great Road’ or ‘The word of the Path of Blood’. He also named him Mzilikazi after Mzilikazi kaMashobane. He was a military commander during the time of Shaka Zulu, apparently he was also the founder of the Ndebele nation. If you are wondering where are our twins well, they are around started walking, and DAMMIT are they naughty. You see they have this talent to just crawl into a room and disappear just as fast like nothing happened, they also gained this talent of moving without making a sound. It pisses me off a lot because, one time I was cooking and Qhawe just stood next to me, and grabbed my foot. I nearly stepped on him that day.

And yayyyy, I don’t want to make that mistake, Kea is really protective of his children. We aren’t allowed to discipline them, literally. There was a time, I was answering a call by the pool outside, I come back and they are nowhere to be found, after I left them in their cribs sleeping. I find them downstairs in the laundry room, playing with the washing soap, laughing and giggling. At the same time Kea comes home and sees them covered in white Omo powder. He was laughing when he saw them covered in soap.
They were laughing too, “And then?” he asks as I place them down.
Nx! Labantwana byang jwaila, “Kungani wenze lokhu?”(Why did you do this?) I ask them sternly and they stop laughing and look scared now.
“Ngiyakubuza ukuthi beninzani nina!?”(I asked you, what were you are doing) I shout. Kea has his elbows on the counter, watching.
They just stare at me quiet, with their piercing eyes, “What were you doing!” They look at Kea, “Stop looking at your father” I shout and they start frowning and look like they are going to cry, “Nithi nikhalelani?”(Why are you crying?) I ask sternly.
I pick up Qhawe and Kea grabs my hand, “Kahle MaKhoza kgane keng?”(Wait MaKhoza, what are you doing?) he asks.
“Do you see what they look like?” I ask.
“Yes I can see them” he says.
I grab a cloth from the nearby laundry basket, shaking my head in frustration, and start wiping off the soap from Qhawe's face. He blinks at me with those big, round eyes, his lips trembling like he's deciding whether or not to cry. Kea is still leaning against the counter, that stupid grin on his face like he finds this whole situation entertaining. I glance over at Mogale, who is now on the verge of tears too, his little mouth twitching.

"You know, you could help instead of just standing there," I say, trying to keep my voice calm, but it’s hard. These kids are a handful, and Kea, as much as I love him, sometimes makes it worse.
He chuckles softly, “They’re kids, MaKhoza. Relax, it’s just soap. Look at them, they’re fine.” I finish wiping Qhawe down and set him on the floor. Mogale stands there, his bottom lip poked out, looking up at me like he’s expecting some mercy.
"They know better than to get into this mess,” I mutter, half to myself. But I can’t help it — as much as I want to stay mad, they do look adorable with those big, pleading eyes. They know exactly how to soften me up, and I hate that. Kea walks over and scoops Mogale into his arms. He’s gentle with them, always has been. It’s one of the reasons I fell for him in the first place, the way he has this effortless way with kids, how he’s never in a rush to discipline or scold them. But sometimes, I feel like he’s too easygoing.
“They’re still learning, MaKhoza,” he says, kissing Mogale’s forehead, leaving a faint white streak of soap behind, "No need to shout at them."
"They’re naughty, Kea. You can’t just laugh every time they do something wrong. One day they’re going to run into the road or something, and what then?" He sighs, still holding Mogale close.
“I know you’re worried, but they’re babies, not soldiers. They’re just exploring the world, testing their boundaries. We were all like that once, remember?” I scoff.
"We weren’t as naughty as these two.”
Kea smiles and raises an eyebrow, “You? Not naughty? You’re telling me you never got into trouble when you were their age?"
I roll my eyes, “That’s different. My parents didn’t let me get away with half the stuff you let these two get away with.” He laughs again, setting Mogale back down on the floor gently. “That’s exactly my point. Maybe we should let them make some mistakes, figure things out. They’ll learn. And if they don’t, we’ll be there to guide them.” I sigh, feeling my frustration melt just a little. I hate when he’s reasonable like this, but I know he’s right. As much as I want to protect these boys from every little thing, I can’t hover over them forever. Still, I refuse to let Kea off the hook completely.