Mxolisi began calming down as he came back to his senses. Manqoba wasn't happy with him. He was trying to gauge Sthe's pulse from behind his ear and his neck as Mxolisi stood there, still trying to comprehend what the hell just happened. Ndalo was still in the car talking to her grandma.
"Is he dead?", Mxo asked cautiously.
"You had better pray to oMbulazi that he's not!", Manqoba shot out. Mxo bit his lower lip in frustration and immediately tasted the blood Sthe spat in his face. He quickly wiped his lips and spat the saliva in his mouth out the window. Only then, did he feel that his whole face was covered in splashes of blood.
"He's still breathing. Go wash your face at the tap outside and get me my phone if someone hasn't picked it up yet", Manqoba commanded. Mxo was reluctant, confused. He loathed Sthe and he did want him dead, just not by him. He didn't want his blood on his hands.
"Mxolisi!", Manqoba yelled for him to be snappy as he squatted next to Sthembiso. He was bleeding from his mouth and the front of his pants. Mxolisi left. Manqoba pulled the duvet off the bed and applied pressure to Sthe's genitals so he didn't bleed out.
Mxo came back with a clean face and handed MQ the phone. He took it and handed him the car keys.
"Take Ndalo home. I'll take care of everything"
Mxo left. When it came to MK and MQ, he knew that his back was safe. No matter how badly he may fxck up, they were always be there to catch him,right before punishing him for being an idiot. When he came out of the house, he saw Ndalo approaching him.
"What took you so long?", she asked as she kept walking towards him. Mxo turned her back to the direction of the car. The darkness of dawn was making way for the sun to come out.
"Are you gonna answer me?"
"Did you call your grandmother?", he completely evaded her curiosity as he opened the passenger door for her. She got in. Mxo went round the car and got settled in his seat. Ndalo was waiting for an answer. She could see that he wasn't quite himself. After a big sigh, he started the car
"Where's uncle Manqoba? Are we leaving him behind?"
Mxo stopped the car and fell back on the seat. Ndalo was still waiting for an answer. He pushed the inside of his chin with his tongue before he began talking.
"He's inside..."
"Inside?"
"Yes. Inside. Sthe too", he confessed. He had to say something about what just happened for him to also understand it too.
"Oh my... is he beating him up?"
"No. He's trying to get him help"
"I don't understand baby"
Mxo kept quiet. He opened the car windows so his brain could get some fresh air.
"Mxolisi?"
"I almost killed him. I didn't mean to. I just wanted to teach him a lesson and the next thing..."
Ndalo did not know what to be scared of more. The fact that Mxo almost murdered someone or the calm in the slow voice that delivered the story. Silence...
"I had to make sure that he never touched you again. That's what I wanted to do. I didn't--"
"It's okay...", Ndalo said and grabbed his hand. Mxo raised his eyes.
"What?"
"It is okay", she repeated. He couldn't understand the emotion that he saw in her eyes. Fear mixed with assurance. She wasn't mad. The Ndalo he knows would definitely overreact. She wasn't. Instead, she kept saying that it was okay. What was? An ambulance sounded from afar and that was enough to alert Mxo that he took longer than instructed to leave. He then started the car and got it in motion. Nobody was talking.
...
"Where are my things?", Muzi asked the nurse as she removed the sphygmomanometer off his arm and wrote down his blood pressure.
"What things?"
"My wedding ring, watch, my phone?"
"They're with your sister. Ask her about them"
Speak of the devil and she shall appear. Thando was walking in at that moment.
"Wenzen usister ka Puckermoney?"(What has Puckermoney's sister done?), she questioned as she closed the door.
"You have my stuff. Bring them". He was in a foul mood. The nurse left. Thando took her seat next to him and placed her bag on the bed.
"Are you going to tell me what you saw that other side?", she asked and pulled the heavy chair forward, screeching it against the floor. Muzi huffed out a laugh.
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything. Did you see dad?", she questioned with intense curiosity.
"No. He's not the one who called me"
She playfully sulked.
"Why do they never call me?", Thando asked. Muzi laughed.
"I am sitting on a hospital bed in case you thought this was a hotel, straight from ICU"
She laughed too.
"Do your brother a little favor"
She rolled her eyes.
"I am actually telling you as your elder. I'm not asking"
Thando laughed.
"What is it?"
"Go to the house and get me fresh clothes"
"What do you need clothes for?"
"I am discharging myself"
"You can't do that"
Muzi lifted his threatening brow.
"Mom is gonna kill me don't make me do this"
"I'll get somebody else to do it then give me my phone?"
He raised his hand and straightened the palm. She heaved a sigh.
"Fine. I'll go get them"
He immediately smiled.
"I'll buy you a swiss roll"
A sharp laughter escaped her lips.
"I don't eat that anymore. I'm a grown a** woman now. Engaged to be married even", she blurted out. That single sentence was enough to completely erase the smile that was pasted on Muzi's face.
"Oops. That came out prematurely", she wished she could take it back.
"I hope you didn't allow that fool Xolani to marry you because I will rearrange his face again?"
He warned and she laughed.
"Nope. I'm done with black boys", she said as she reached for the handle.
"Wait. Wait. Wait a fxcking minute. You're getting married to a white boy?!", he was now sitting up.
"He's Italian", she informed with her back on Muzi.
There was silence.
"Money?", she lovingly called out, still keeping her eyes away. She wasn't prepared to face his expression. He fell back on his pillow and placed his arm behind his head.
"Hamba"(Go)
She turned in his direction
"But bhut--"
"Ngithe hamba Thandoww. Mathanda amaitallian"(Lover of Itallians)
She just stared, sulking. She's not supposed to be begging because she is grown however, her brother's approval means a lot to her. He is married himself. He has fxcked over five fingers but cringes at the thought of her having sex.
"Pucker--"
"Uyazibona ukuthi awuthumeki?"(You're not doing as I instructed you to do"
She still had a sulking face. He heaved a sigh.
"Okay. Okay. But I want to meet this fool before the lobola negotiations", he commanded.
"Uhm... there won't be any... nego-tiations", she hid her face with her palm. Muzi shrunk his whole face.
"You think you were born in a tuckshop ne Milisuthando?"
"I honestly don't want amalobola mina bhuti. I am not a commodity to be sold"
"I am not doing this with you. Landa impahla zami before ungifulathelisa ngedlozi"(Fetch my clothes before you turn my ancestors against me)
