Mandla

Chapter 7: Girls week in

It's Parliament week so the politicians have left for Cape-Town. The wives and I planned a weeks sleep over at Masthandiles house. She said she had a special surprise for us so we're all heading down to see it. She gave birth right after Mandlas celebratory dinner but still makes it out to all of our outings. I really don't know how she does it. Her house is beautiful, It's a single story nine bedroom home with a built in spa and animal farm. She is really into this mum thing cause it looks like a well rounded mini-game reserve too. I don't know what to pack though cause i'm sure her kids will be all over the place and I don't want to create the wrong impression. You know how judgey mothers can be when it comes to dress code around their kids and since the guys aren't home, we chose to take one SUV so we can share security. We'll give my guys a week off and Nomzamos bodyguards will be on duty.

The pick up point will be at Thembis. Noma will connect here and we'll head down together. I don't know why she insists on coming to these things, she makes it no secret that she doesn't like us. She arrives seemingly alot less bitchy then she usual. If I didn't know any better I'd say she looks happy.

We make small talk, I offer her something to eat but she has wine to drink instead. The way she's dressed makes her look like she's going to a press conference. She's wearing a thigh high figure hugging khaki dress, black gladiator heels and a pale yellow headwrap, make-up on fleek and 100% gold jewellery from her earrings to her rings. The woman has expensive taste and a really nice pear shaped body If I do say so myself. If she wasn't dull in personality, the girl would be damn near perfect.

"You look nice"- She says.
wow! a compliment? Melusi must have shagged her before he left.
"Thanks"- I answer.
I would say I look rather simple comparing to what I usually have on but if simple is nice then nice it is. I have a black leather body suit and a red leather skirt on paired with diamond earrings, a gold one strap wedge and dark brown sunglasses. We all decided to go natural with the hair this month, something Noma will pretend didn't get a memo on because here she is rocking a 24 inch Malaysian weave under that headwrap.

We get into my car and drive of to Thembis. When we get there, the ladies come out looking expensive. Nomzamo is wearing a knee-high colourful flowy dress, gold sneakers and a diamond bracelet to match. Thembi is in a high fashion jump suit and sandle like heels, She has no accessories on but I can guarantee you that her outfit costs more than all of ours combined. We call her Ms. High Fashion. She has very expensive taste and is always rocking a lady fade, she is very beautiful! The four of us are complete now and are heading to Masthandiles. The media refers to us as the "yellowbone squad" and often ask us, what about a light complexion girl drives a politician wild. It's funny cause I consider myself caramel in complexion. I think it's just a coincidence though. This battle of the skin complexion is ridiculous because when you take a look at the media industry, every skin tone is winning.

Masthandile is impatiently waiting by the door when we arrive.
"The kids are gone for the week!"-She yells when we walk in to her yard.
Hoooooraaaaah, the ladies go crazy.
"Iyoh! chommie I want to get poop drunk"-Nomzamo shouts
#ClapsOnce!
"where the Jameson at?"-Thembi
They look at me and suddenly remember why I don't have an opinion on this topic today.
Noma looks at my tummy "shame! sorry!" she says.
Everybody bursts out laughing
"better you than me"- Masthandile chuckles.
Yeah because she just gave birth a few months ago.
Yey! everybody seems to be in high spirits. Fun will be had this week. I can feel it.
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"Nokubonga, Nokubonga"- He whispers
Huh?
"Mpheleliseni? what are you doing here? aren't you supposed to be in Cape..."-Me
"Shhhh... there's no time to explain, everybody is already in the lounge. I'm going to need you to crawl until you get there"-Him
"what? where's Mandla?"-Me
"Just do as I say, now!"-He insists, making his way to the others.

I crawl to the lounge, It's dark. Masthandile is already on the floor. I ask her what's going on but she avoids my question. I ask again. "It's best to just do what they say, okay?"- She shuts me up by saying. She said "they", which means Mandla could be here too. I try to crawl further but Masthandile holds me back. Nomzamo and Noma follow in tow. They're all surprisingly reserved. Kgante what's going on?
Mpheleliseni nods at Masthandile then she instructs us to follow behind her. wait, where's Thembi?
I try to enquire but everybody seems to be fixated on making their exit. We see the parked SUV outside the kitchen door. "We'll go out on 3"-Noma
huh?
"1, 2,"-Masthandile
"3"-Nomzamo

We run to the car and the first gunshot is fired, then the second then the third.
"Go, go, go,"- Mpheleliseni yells.
We get in and somebody closes us in. Mandla is on the drivers seat.
"Baby what's going on?"-I ask him
He doesn't answer, instead he drives us out of the gate in full speed. The key windows are bulletproof but that doesn't stop us from seeing the bullets flying our direction.

"Where is Thembi?"- I ask.
Nobody answers, Nomzamo avoids eye contact when I try to read her. Oh my God, I think I know what that means.
"They got her, didn't they?"-Me
Noma nods.
Shit!

Mandla is still trying to drive us to safety when we see a blue vw polo pull up infront of us, Mandla gets out. It's Melusi and Mpheleliseni dragging out a guy who is actively fighting to get out of their grip. Mandla takes 3 steps towards them and shoots him. Just like that, cold blooded and everything.

I see the guy slowly slip from their hands, they pick him up again and put him in the boot like he doesn't have a family probably waiting for him to come back home tonight. Everybody in the car is still now, me included. Mandla gets back in and individually drops the ladies off to their respective houses. The drive is a sour one especially beause one of us is missing. I wonder where Themba is, the guy must be broken. He loved her so so much.

I can't even look at Mandla. He must notice how traumatised I am cause he sits back and allows the silence. We get home and I go straight to bed. What just happened? You know it's funny how people can kind of predict their death. Last night was day two of the sleepover and we were all hurdled up infront of the TV, talking about how unexpectadly life can turn out to be. Thembi who's the least vocal amongst all of us spoke the most. She went on to say how much she loved her family and friends and that if she had to die, she would be at perfect peace as she had accomplished all that she had dreamt off ever since she was a child. A tear escapes my eye as I think about this.

"You know I didn't want you to see that"-Mandla says
"Which part of it?"-Me
He doesn't answer.
"The part where you shot a living human being to death Mandla! or the part where you watched them lock him inside the boot like an animal? which part, cause quiet frankly I'm confused"- I'm raising my voice now. He hates it when I do that.

"If I didn't, he was going to kill you and that's just something I can't allow, it's something I won't allow"- He murmurs
"So you chose to pull the trigger?"-Me
"And I would do it again in a heartbeat Nokubonga"-Him
I look down. The events of today were unfortunate. I lost a good friend and an important part of my husband that I will never get back, the human side of him, the compassionate side that I fell so deeply inlove with. The person staring back at me is a beast, a cold blooded murderer, that is all he is.

"Where did they take the body?"- Me
"They buried it"-Him
"Why did they want to kill us?"- Me
"It was a tender deal gone wrong. Themba orchestrated it. That's why Thembi was the target. The guys know us personally, when they saw you girls, they wanted to weaken our alliance. Bonga, I don't want you to get involved, that's why I don't tell you these things.."-Him
"continue"- Me
"They wanted to settle an old score, they found our weak points and went in for the kill. Luckily the security alerted us beforehand, they said they saw unusual movements around the house since you got there, we took the first flight back as soon as we heard"-Him

"So they meant to kill Thembi?"-Me
"Yes"-Him
"Are some of them still alive?"- Me
"Yes"-Him
"Finish them. All of them. Do it fast like they did to her. Don't spare them any mercy".

I say leaving him gobsmacked, I get in bed and release my tears. No pain can compare to losing a friend in the way that we did. Nothing.
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