CHAPTER 77
KHWEZIKAZI GUMBI

It’s been days since Mphikeleli raped me and
told me I’ll be working as a prostitute at one
of his brothels. I had absolutely no idea that
he had girls at corners selling their bodies for
him in exchange for drugs. This guy is not a
good person, he is the devil himself and I
honestly feel guilty for helping him destroy
Nhlangano’s life. That young man had a
promising future but now he’s a nothing. He’s
preparing for a baby that doesn’t exist; I don’t
know if I’ll ever forgive myself for ever
deceiving him this way.
I get to our apartment floor and sigh in relief,
happy to be back here after spending my
whole day at the whore house down town. I
haven’t been forced to go sell myself like the
rest of them but I’m not counting myself
lucky. I know my day will come soon and
there’s nothing I can do to escape it.
Mphikeleli threatened to take my daughters
life if I try to run away or tell Nhlangano the
truth about everything. God knows I want to
come clean but I need to keep Zekhethelo safe
from this wolf in sheepskin.
I open the door and immediately wish I could
go back to where I come from. Mphikeleli is
home and I don’t think Nhlangano is here. I’m
now afraid of being alone with this man; I
mean what’s to stop him from raping me
again? He looks at me frozen by the door
then looks at the TV screen again. I say a
short prayer before closing the door behind
me and walking straight to the room I use.
I close the door and realize that the key has
been removed, son of a bitch! Locking myself
in here makes me feel a little safer and now
that he has taken the key I feel vulnerable to
the apex predator in the lounge. I take a deep
breath before stepping out of my high heels
and dragging the bed to block the door.
The handle rattles, startling me. Oh God, why
can’t he just leave me the hell alone.
Mphikeleli starts banging on the door,
demanding that I open his damned door. He’s
mad as hell but I’m not opening for him, in
fact let me call Nhlangano and tell him to
come home immediately. I’ll say I have
abdominal pains, I know that will get him
here in a second. This “baby” means everything
to him.
“Open this door or I swear I will order my guy
in Johannesburg to snatch your precious
daughter and do to her what I did to you on
this floor a couple of days ago,” he sneers and
I stop breathing.
“I’m not playing with you Khwezi,” I quickly
move the bed away from the door. Mphikeleli
kicks it open, he’s breathing fire. I step back
but he keeps coming, closing the space
between us. My eyes are burning with tears,
I’m scared out of my mind. What kind of evil
did I invite into my life.
“I’m sorry, Mphikeleli please, it will not
happen again. I promise to do whatever you
want, just leave my daughter alone. She has
been through so much in her life already,” I
beg, rubbing my hands together.
He doesn’t show me mercy, he just gives me a
slap that leaves me shivering.
“Shhh!” he places his index finger over his lips.
“Why are you crying? Do you want me to give
you something to really cry about?” he asks
and I press my lips into a thin line to muffle
my sobs.
“Strip naked right now and drop to your
knees, I want to fuck your mouth before
destroying that cunt between your legs. I
want to remind you that I own your ass now
Khwezi,” he says arrogantly and I shake my
head. Not again, God please see me through
this, please.
“I won’t ask twice,” he snaps his slender finger
and I start unbottoning my dress and taking
it off. I remove the pregnancy sponge and
drop it to the floor then kneel on it for
comfort. With shaking hands I unbuckle his
belt and unzip his jeans before dropping them
to his knees along side his boxer briefs. His
penis is already erect and popping a vein.
Tears blind my eyes as I grab his manhood and
direct it into my mouth.
“Your touch alone makes me vibrate, damn,
Nhlangano was enjoying,” he comments and it
leaves me feeling like the dirtiest thing in the
whole world.
“You can take your time baby. Nhlangano will
be back in about 2 hours,” Mphikeleli planned
this, he sent Nhlangano out so he could have
his way with me.
“What the fuck!” a voice exclaims and
Mphikeleli pushes me away from him, I fall
and he steps away, trying to pull up his pants.
Oh Thank God, Thank the heavens for this
save.
“What are you doing here? I sent you to go get
my…”
His son interjects, “I forgot the card in the
bathroom but I guess that was fate. I had to
come back to witness this,” he answers
angrily.
“It’s not what it looks like son. She seduced
me. I was stupid to fall for her bullshit. I’m
sorry,” I gasp in shock.
“Why are you lying Mphikeleli? I have never
seduced you,” I defend myself and he quickly
turns and gives me a warning look.
Nhlangano chuckles, walking further into my
bedroom.
“You have got to be kidding me Khwezi,”
Nhlangano’s voice is shaking.
“You have to belive me. You are her victim
too, you know how persistent she can be,”
Mphikeleli stands by his seduction story, but
the look in Nhlangano’s eyes tells me that he
isn’t buying his story.
“She must be one hell of a seductress that you
didn’t even realize that the baby bump is
fake,” my heart stops beating. Fuck! I’m naked
and kneeling on the bump that’s been making
him believe that I’m pregnant.
“I… Nhlang… Son, I swear I didn’t… Khwezi
what the fuck?” Mphikeleli acts like he
doesn’t know but I don’t care about him right
now. My heart is bleeding at the pain I see in
Nhlangano’s eyes. God, what have I done?
“Nhlangano, I swear I can explain,” a hot slap
lands on my face and I scream in pain.
“You bitch! You lied to us. How could you? Do
you have any idea how much my son
sacrificed to be a father?” anger bubbles in my
stomach. To hell with this son of a bitch! I
slowly get on my feet and roughly wipe my
tears with the back of my hand. I’ve heard
enough of this, I won’t allow Mphikeleli to
walk all over me again.
“You sadistic bastard,” I sneer at him and he
tightens his jaw as a warning, but I don’t
care.
“Nhlangano, this man is a snake. He doesn’t
care about you,” Mphikeleli holds out his
finger to caution me.
“I’m warning you, Khwezi. Lie one more time
and I’ll…”
I cut in, “You’ll what? Tell your boy to rape
and kill my daughter like you threatened? Do
it because I’m telling him the truth,” I will run
straight to Mthandazo’s house and ask him to
call Ze and tell her to stay in her room until
he can get to Johannesburg and help her out.
“What truth Khwezi?” Nhlangano asks with
tears gushing down his handsome face.
“Mphikeleli doesn’t give a fuck about you.
Everything Shlobo told you about this man
was true. I’m sorry that I agreed to be a part
of his plan to take you away from your dad. I
was just so mad that he reported me to the
school and I lost my job, my reputation and
most importantly my daughter. I am not
pregnant, never was, Mphikeleli planned the
whole thing and I just played along. And for
what? Revenge? To get his drugs for free? Or
maybe to be raped and told to work at his
brothel? I’m not sure anymore.” I explain
shamefully in between hiccups.
“Is that true?” Nhlangano asks, the question
directed to Satan’s cousin.
“Of course not. She’s trying to reverse this
whole thing because we caught her in a lie,”
“Take my phone and go through our texts.
You’ll see everything, even the part where he
admits that he raped me on the floor in the
lounge,”
“You’re dead bitch!” Mphikeleli fails to keep up
the facade any longer.
I pick up my dress and quickly put it on while
father and son have a starring contest. I take
my bag from on top of the bed and attempt
to leave the room, but Mphikeleli grabs my
arm.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
he asks and yelp as he tighten his grip.
“Leave her alone!” I have never heard
Nhlangano’s voice come out so deep. The devil
let’s go of my arm and I literally run out of
the apartment to my car. I need to go and
warn Mthandazo. I know this will make them
hate me even more but it’s imperative that I
give him this information so that he can be
able to keep our daughter safe. Our
relationship will be dead forever after this but
maybe it’s for the best. Zekhethelo deserves
more than what I can ever offer as a mother.
My absence will be the best gift I ever give
her in this life.
NHLANGANO MAVIMBELA
I’m sitting in the dark outside my fathers
gate. Tears are uncontrollably flowing down
my face, my heart is aching in a way I cannot
explain. I am feeling so many emotions right
now, but the most dominating one is guilt. All
the horrible things I’ve ever uttered to my
father and grandmother are re-playing in my
head. They kept warning me about Mphikeleli
but I just wouldn’t listen and now I’ve learned
the truth the hard way. Today I fully
understand what they mean when they say, a
child will not see what an elder sees while
sitting down even if they climb on the highest
tree.
My life has no direction. I sacrificed
everything so I could be around to help
Khwezi and be in my child’s life. That was all
for nothing, I wasted so much of my time on
a nonexistent baby. I practically flushed my
future down the toilet and I don’t know
where to start picking up the pieces of my
life. My mother must be turning in her grave,
I’m such a disappointment.
My phone chimes, message after message. I
take it out of my pocket and power on the
screen, it’s Khwezi. She’s sending me
screenshots of her conversations with
Mphikeleli. Proof that she wasn’t lying earlier
on. This was not needed, I believed every word
she said. A part of me feels like I have always
known, but was too scared to actually look
into things because of the damage I had
already caused with my real family.
These messages will not change the fact that
I hate this woman, I loathe everything about
her. I curse the day I met her, the day I
started anything with her. I wish I could turn
back the hands of time and focus on my
education and my relationship with
Zekhethelo. I wish I hadn’t given Mphikeleli
the time of day, but wishing will not change
anything. I can only acknowledge my
mistakes and sincerely apologize to my father
and MaZikode for everything I’ve done to hurt
them.
Thunder roars and I look up to the sky, when
did the weather change? I was so lost in
thought I didn’t even realize that it’s about to
pour down hard.
Now I don’t have any other choice but to
press the intercom and ask my aunt for a
place to sleep. I know I shouldn’t even be here
after everything I’ve said and done, but I’m
desperate, I have nowhere else to go. I get up
from the grass and head to the gate, pressing
the intercom a couple of times with no
answer. I should call her and find out where
she is.
“Nhlaks, hey,” she answers after forever.
She does not sound like her usual self, maybe
I woke her up.
“Auntiza. Where are you?” I get straight to the
point, my airtime is not enough.
“Mahlabathini, there’s a lot happening here,” I
narrow my eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
“Thale!” MaZikode bellows in the background.
“I’m coming ma,” she shouts back, “Nhlaks, let
me call you back.” the line goes dead and I
close my eyes. She was my only hope. What
am I going to do now.
A drop of rain hits my skin, God please hold it
off. I don’t have a place to sleep tonight, and
no warm clothes on me. I had a screaming
match with Mphikeleli before I left without
taking any of my belongings. I’ll go back for
them in a couple of days. The flood gates of
heaven open and I don’t have any other choice
but to jump over the pedestrian gate. I pull
my pants up and grab the gate bars, climbing
up. A car stops and the door opens, a male
voice I don’t recognizes announces himself
and I freeze with one leg about to go over.
Fuck, this looks bad.