It's ten o'clock in the morning. I wake up and open the curtains. The warm sun shines through the glass and the spring air meets my skin as I open the window.
When I leave the room, I notice how quiet the house is. Nobody is here. Thabo said that he is not working, then why isn't he here?
I go brush my teeth and bath before I go down for breakfast.
I am really bored. I am eating breakfast, trying to think of what to do next. Tv? Sure.
I scroll through all the channels and nothing intrigues me. I was going to watch say yes to the dress on TLC but, no. I do not even think I am getting married anytime soon and I have no interest on watching people getting married.
Next, Fast Five? Not really an action girl so I am changing. Actually, the television is boring, I am going outside.
I go to the kitchen and wash the bowl that I was eating breakfast with. After that, I take a short walk in the garden then go up to my room.
...
The noise the kids are making downstairs wakes me up. I can hear it getting louder. They open the door to my room without knocking.
"Dad took us shopping." Naledi exclaims.
"Didn't you guys go to school?" I ask.
"They did, I picked them up after school and we went to the mall." Their father says as he comes towards us too.
I thought for a moment there that he let them skip school.
"Can we talk?" I ask him and the children leave us.
"Is buying them clothes your way of making up for the time you weren't there?" I ask, I hope my attitude is sassy enough.
Am I being dramatic?
"What?" He asks, clearly shocked.
"Yes, you cannot make up for it with money Thabo." I say.
"Did you see them? They were happy." He raises his hands in the air.
"One of them, she's only ten, of course she is."
"Mmampho what did I do wrong now? I am really trying to reach out to them and you scold me for it." Again, the raising-hands-in-the-air gesture.
"Possessions aren't going to help Lesedi deal with what happened Thabo. You traumatised him at the age of four. Nobody that age should have to experience that kind of trauma."
"Why do you always have to fight with me, let me try my best with them in my own way Mmampho. I am a father, not a mother. I cannot do what you do." He says as he leaves the room. Rude!
Oh so now that I forgave him, he thinks he can be all sassy with me?
I click my tongue and leave the bedroom too. I am going to Lesedi's room to see if what their father got them excited him as it excited Naledi.
They are both in one room, looking at their clothes and shoes.
"Hey guys. How was school?" I ask them as I go through the door.
"Nice, Mrs Denise gave us a lot of homework though." Naledi tell me.
"What about you Lesedi?" I ask him.
"I am busy with my exams, I do not get homework." He tells me.
"I'm older," he adds and Naledi rolls her eyes.
"Whatever bro." We all laugh, or attempt to.
Naledi is so tiny but yet has the biggest mouth on earth, for a ten-year-old.
She tells Lesedi to leave the room so that she can fit her clothes and show me.
"Gosh, this is my room."
"Lesedi man, be nice." She begs.
"What are the magic words?"
YOU ARE READING
A Mother's Struggle
General FictionPain, secrets, mistrust, and deception are huge themes in this book as we look at the life of a single mother of two who is trying to get her life together but is struggling. Her last relationship dumped her in a pit of poverty and pain so she vowed...
