Oyama: Her Story

CHAPTER 54

The air Qumbu was chilly from the previous night’s light shower. It was 4am and Kea rolls out of bed and sits, rubbing his eyes.
He stands up and walks to the bathroom and starts taking a shower, he switches the water too cold to shock his system into waking up.
He switches it back to warm and continues to shower underneath the water, he steps out of the shower and dry’s his body.
He wraps a towel around his waist and walks out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, and lotions up and walks into his closet flicking the light on.
He grabs a pair of black slacks, a black poloneck, he walks out holding his Black Oxfords and Blazer.
As he sits down dipping the bed, Noma sits up, “Wa’vuka ekseni kanje, uyaphi”(You are up early)
“Ke na le lebaka lela, le santse re lelokishe”(I have that issue I need to resolve) he says putting on his sock.
“Maybe I should be the one going, he hates you” she says, Kea looks back, with a smile, “What tell me I’m lying?”
“You not wrong” Kea chuckles, “But, even so, his problems are with me, not you or the others, their problems can be solved, how they have always fixed their problems” Kea pauses, pondering, “But, our issues go as deep as, I was the one who pushed him too far”
“Kea, you tried” says Noma.
“No, ma’Khoza, I pushed all these boys, to never question me and to always obey me, I should’ve known the one who was named after me, would be the one to not to follow blindly” he smiles at her, “Go back to bed”
“How do you even know it was your mother? Anything could’ve started that fire” she says.
He turns and looks, “My mother once made a joke, where she said, ‘If any of you do anything similar to what the people who gave birth to yall did, I will burn your houses, because none of my children will ever do those things’ I abandoned him” Kea says.
“You didn’t abandon him” she says.
“What would you call what I did, 5 years, I haven’t talked to him” he says.
She nods understanding, “Are you flying?” she asks.
“No, I’m gonna drive, you know” she nods.
“Stay dangerous” she says softly.
“You know me; baby I’m always packing” he smiles as he stands up.

Kea walks out, then walks back into the room and kisses his wife’s forehead, “I love you, Ma’Khoza” he whispers gently.
“I love you too, Kolobe” she whispers back.
He walks out again and walks, through the family ranch lodge, down the steps and into the kitchen where his sons are all walking around grabbing, Muffins, Vetkoeks and eggs for breakfast.
“Dressed so formal, where are you headed dad?” asks Lwandle.
“KZN, got something, I need to do, what yall planning?” he asks.
“Gonna move the cattle up the creek and over the valley to Pasture 14” says Lwandle.
Kea chuckles, “Good luck with them Nguni Bulls” he smiles, pouring his coffee in a travel mug. The boys all smile, understanding what their father means, “See you later boys” he waves walking through the passage and to the main door and grabbing his Black Cowboy hat and the hand wrapped gift.
He walks downs the patio steps, onto the gravel and down to his Black RAM 3500 Heavy Duty Dually.
He places the gift in the back seat and his hat in the passenger. He starts the truck and makes a U-Turn on the entrance and drives down the driveway, moving side to side.
He reaches the Estate’s Gate and waits for the gate to open, he smoothly pulls into the road and starts cruising slowly on the freeway.
As Kea drove through the early morning haze, the road stretched ahead, flanked by open fields glistening with dew.
The RAM’s engine hummed steadily, its weight lending an anchor-like stability to the silence that pressed against him. His thoughts wandered as the freeway unfurled before him. The air in the truck was filled with the faint aroma of leather and his morning coffee.
Kea tightened his grip on the steering wheel, his mind replaying old arguments, failed reconciliations, and the moment he’d pushed him—the one person he should have handled differently.

He sat up more comfortably as he drove closer to Pinetown.
His car playing, ‘Churchill Downs’ by Jack Harlow. He cruised slowly as he drove closer to nestled neighborhood of Everton.
His mind racing with the possible outcomes, what were the first words he was gonna say to his son after not seeing him in 6 years.
He drives up the secluded driveway to a beautiful dark oak chalet, he drove closer to the house and parked next to the Isuzu.
He sat in the car and looked up at the house, there was no turning back, “Here we go” he whispered to himself, grabbing the hat and wrapped gift.
He stepped out of the truck and texted his wife, “Just landed”
She replies with a heart emoji.
He stopped and looked around at the nature sanctuary, they lived at, it was open, full of trees and life.
He walked to the stairs and up he climbed taking each step slowly and carefully, something he hasn’t done in at least 25 years.
Slow and carefully, those were rare in Kea’s life especially given the life he used to live compared to the one he wakes up in.
He reaches the Entrance, that is combined with a balcony. He places the gift near the outside couch, leaning towards it.
He looked back again admiring the view and smirked, it almost reminded him of his Ranch, the Empire he built for all his children.
He knew, he wasn’t the greatest of father’s, hell he would be on the same tier as Joseph Stalin had his wife not been the one to soften and correct him.
He raised his hand to knock, but paused for a moment. Then knocked gently twice and knocked properly 3 times.