A Mother's Struggle

Chapter 7

Zandile's POV

It is  about four p.m and I am busy cooking in the kitchen. I'm exhausted but my husband has to eat. Being a wife comes with a lot of duties. I hear my phone ringing so I go to the bedroom to answer it. It actually took a while for me to find it. It is one of my colleagues, Obakeng. While I'm on the phone, I hear a knock on the door. I assume that Sibusiso will get it.

"Hello sir, how are you?" I overhear them.

A woman? We never have woman visitors except my colleagues but that doesn't sound like any of them or Mmampho so who could it be?

"Hi, I'm good thanks and yourself?" I hear Sibusiso say.

"I'm good." The same woman replies.

The person on the phone snaps me out of my thoughts. I even forgot that I was on a call. I still talk to the person on the phone but my focus is more on the person at the door.

"We are looking for Mmampho, we just came to get the money she owes Thembi."

Oh snap! It must be Helen and that other woman Mmampho owes. I am in so much trouble.

This cannot be happening, at least not today, not right now. I honestly did not expect this to happen. I did not expect it to backfire like this. My heart is beating in a faster pace, I need to calm down. I need to think of something really fast. What am I supposed to do? I never planned for this.

"Hello...Zandile!" Obakeng calls on me.

"Uh...look, I will get back to you." I say through the speaker of my phone then hang up. I eavesdrop on the conversation between my husband and Helen.

"Mmampho does not live here, I think you guys are lost." Sibusiso says to them.

How do I get out of this one?

"But sir..."

"Please call me Sibusiso." He never liked being called sir. He says that it sounds like school children calling a teacher.

"But Sibusiso, we are not lost. We have been coming to Mmampho's place. It's been a few  times so we cannot be lost." The woman says.

"Well, you are. Mmampho is my wife's friend. Zandile!" He calls me.

"Yes?" I try to act calm and normal, like I have no idea what is going on. I have to lie myself out of this one.

"These women are looking for your friend Mmampho." I walk slowly to the door. I'm trying to come up with a lie but I can't. That's more Mmapho than me. I finally get to the door.

"Uhm...yeah guys Mmampho does not live here." I say to them.

Their faces are filled with confusion and I fully understand. I would lie to them but Sibusiso is here which makes it so difficult for me.

"I'm so sorry for bothering you. Good bye and have a nice evening." They say.

"It's okay." I smile at them and close the door while I let out a breath of relief. I do not know what it is for because this is not even sorted out. Sibusiso looks like he has a lot of questions to ask me but fortunately for me, he does not ask.

I have to warn Mmampho that Helen is ought to expose her. I will call her as soon as I finish dishing up for Sibusiso. He still looks very confused and I don't know how to explain this whole thing. I place a kiss on his cheek before I go out to make a phone call. I wanted to call Mmampho. Her phone takes me straight to voicemail. This cannot be happening. I called her about seven times hoping that she'll switch on her cellphone but she doesn't. Mmampho cannot do this.

I did not think Helen would ever come here, I do not think Mmampho did too. We did not think this whole thing through and it is back firing. The last thing I want is for Sibusiso to know what I did.

The following day, the women show up at my door again. Come on! Now my life has become like Mmampho's. I have to lie for her. Seeing these women makes me want to puke. They are really getting on my last nerve too, I finally understand how Mmampho feels. I still do not understand why she thinks lying to these women will help her, she has dug a big hole for herself and I was there to help.

"What do you guys want? I told you that Mmampho does not live here now what do you want?" Sibusiso is very rude to them.
I guess he is as annoyed as I am with them. They keep showing up and it is really infuriating.

"Sorry for barging in like this sir..." The tall lady with long hair says.

"Sibusiso." He interrupts the lady.

"Sorry. I meant Sibusiso, I just need help to get to Mmampho's house. Can you please show me or give me the directions."

"Uhg! Zandile. Please come here." I had food in my mouth but I still went. "They want directions to Mmampho's house."

I can't lie about this. Mmampho will have to forgive me for doing this. I don't know how to get around this one. I have no choice but to tell the truth. You can't really find Mmampho's house on the GPS so I told them that when they are near Milani's shop, they should go to their far left and that's where they'll see her "house" , is the word I used. Wait until they see their surprise.

"Thank you very much Zandile."

"You are welcome..."
Isn't 'you're welcome' used when you are happy to help? Well, I am not happy to help.
I gesture for them to tell me their names so that I can finish my sentence.

"Helen." She's the only one that answers and the other one goes off to answer her phone.

"Helen. Good bye."

"Wait can you please tell us how is it that we've been coming here for the past few weeks."

Oh gosh! They want to know everything and this means I have to expose my friend. I have no way to get through this. Sibusiso cannot know. How will I tell them? Should I even tell them? The thought just bothers me a lot. I want to be rude to them but it is not worth it at all.

"Zandile, tell those people to leave. They are disturbing my peace!" Sibusiso yells from the bedroom. Thank Goodness, he has no idea how thankful I am that he yelled that. I let out a breath of relief but made sure that they do not notice.

"I have to go." I tell the women that keep bugging me about Mmampho.

"Okay, thanks for the information." I nod with a fake smile and immediately shut my door, lean against it and roll my eyes. I cannot believe that just happened. Mmampho is probably going to hate my guts but I have done so much for her, this was just beyond my control. And the truth could ruin my marriage.

"Are they gone?" He snaps me out of my moment there. "Yeah, finally!" I say.

"You are just too nice to people." He says to me.

I am just hoping he will not ask more questions about that, I can't continue with this lying. Especially to my husband. It is just not that easy for me as it is easy for Mmampho. How does she do this? I am actually still panicking on the inside. I did not want to admit this but Mmampho has made my life a lie too, well, sort of. She has literally made her problems mine, Sibusiso is right, I am too nice, super nice and the consequences suck. I chuckle.

"You were too mean hey." I tell him.

"I have to. Sometimes when you are too nice to people, they take advantage of you and you will end up in troubles that were never meant for you." He says.  Almost like he knows exactly what is happening in my life right now, I am hoping he does not. I think I can actually get away with this. I do not say anything, I decide to drink a glass of water. I do not think it will help me though. My grandmother used to say that whenever I need to calm down, I should add sugar to my water. It really helps, I got robbed once and came home crying. I was about fourteen years old and those men looked very scary. I thought they were going to kidnap me, fortunately for me, they just took my credit card and my cellphone. My grandmother made that water for me and I felt better after drinking it. From there on, I always used it to calm down but if I do now, Sibusiso will ask me why I am drinking it and I do not think I can lie any further from here.