"How about we make this love thing real, yeah?"~Qaphela Makhathini.
In this fleeting span of mortal existence, Ayize and Qaphela are graciously granted another opportunity to love each other. However, circumstances don't appear to be as delightfu...
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"𝙸'𝚅𝙴 𝙱𝙴𝙴𝙽 𝙷𝙰𝚅𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙸𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙲 𝙳𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙼𝚂, about you two," those are the first words that leave the boy's mouth as he shifts his gaze back and forth between Ayize and I. God knows that I'm afraid of even glancing in my wife's direction. I know that this moment is a sensitive one for her.
"Who are you? Do you even know who I am? How did you even find this place?" I plague at the innocent being who's possibly...my son. I'm obviously familiar with his face but I wouldn't say I know him. Could he be our Uyanda? But how?
"My name is Uyanda," he confirms my assumptions, shooting a dagger across my heart. Fuck this fuckery. Is this some sick joke? "A—a friend of mine helped me find you and your people. Which led me to her socials..." he points at Nangamso who simply gawks at him, wide-eyed. "She posted the birthday party details and location. I then—I decided to take that as an opportunity to approach you," he confesses.
"Come on! Who's child is this anyway?" Nangamso grills, her face wrinkled into a grimace.
"I think I'm your son," the boy asserts, dauntlessly. "My— my mom died from a drug overdose. But before that, she kind of explained everything, about you, her, your father. As well as the mental stuff," he whispers the latter. I clench my jaw, prohibiting myself from having an outburst. Not now, not today.
"I have this," he states timidly, handing me a creased piece of paper.
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"Qaphela! Say something, the fuck?" Sakhile shouts, indecorously raising his voice at me for the first time in his existence. Though it makes my blood boil, it brings me back to reality, which I'm thankful for. That painful part of my life replayed in my head for years and years after it had happened but after a while, I thought it was behind me.
But now, fifteen years later, it's back to bite me in the behind. My line of vision blurs, slightly, as my emotions catch up to me. Ayize's face is the only sight I want to see for now. And, there she is. Right in front of me with a weariness I've only seen on her face once —the moment we were told that everything was never real. That pain left a stain on my heart that I'd never be able to scrub off.
