CHAPTER 20
VHUTSHILO MUOFHE

“It was nice meeting you mama,” Karabo says,
hugging my mother.
“Same here, I hope to see you in Venda this
month end,” my mother murmurs and my
girlfriend nods vigorously.
“I’ll definitely be there,”
My mom is driving back to Venda, it’s a long
trip but at least she has her jazz to get her
through the drive.
“Are you sure Naledi is okay?” she asks again
and I shrug.
“She’s okay physically, but emotionally she’s
hurt you know. Everyone is attacking her as if
she’s the one who broke her vows, when she
didn’t even know that the man was still
married.
“This situation is sad. I cannot begin to
imagine what she’s going through; Try and
help out more with Basetsana so Naledi can
have time to herself,” they are actually
moving in tomorrow. We are both not going
to work, I’m going to help them move and
settle in. I’m yet to talk to Karabo about it
and inform the rest of my family. I just hope
and pray that my girlfriend understands that
Naledi needs me now more than ever.
“Definitely, you know Naledi and I are a team.
We get through things together,” Mama
smiles sweetly at me.
“I know, my grandbaby is blessed to have you
as her parents. A lot of young people could
learn a thing or two about co-parenting from
you guys,” it’s always nice hearing people
praise me and my daughters mother for doing
a great job.
“Thank you mama,” she pulls me in for a hug
then climbs into the car and drive off.
Karabo and I head back to the house and I go
straight to the bathroom to shower. I woke
up early to go pick up Naledi from the
hospital; They stitched her up last night and
decided to keep her overnight because she
was complaining about a painful headache.
We started at the police station before I
dropped her off at home; I’m happy she
decided to open a case against the spoilt brat
who thought attacking her was a good idea.
Naledi has been humiliated enough by this
whole Jimmy situation, I just wish they could
all leave her alone and accept that she doesn’t
want to be in a polygamous marriage.
I take a quick shower and once I’m done I go
check on my daughter. She’s sleeping
peacefully on her bed, at her age Bassie still
takes afternoon naps. I take out a flee
blanket from the wardrobe and cover her
before walking out to find my girl; We need to
have a convesation about Naledi and my
daughter living here until we find them a
proper place to rent out.
Karabo is in the kitchen, washing the dishes.
She and my mother cooked Sunday lunch and
ate while I was still out with Naledi.
“Should I dish up for you babe?” she asks and I
shake my head.
“No, thank you,” I open the fridge and take
out a bottle of beer.
“Will you be dropping Bassie off when she
wakes up?” I blow out a heavy sigh before
pinning open my beer.
“Can we please talk in the lounge,” she
narrows her eyes and wipes her hands on the
apron she has on.
“Okay,” I lead the way and she’s following
behind me. I am super nervous to talk to her
about this. It might cause serious problems in
my relationship, but at the same time I
cannot just stand back and watch Naledi
suffer.
“Is everything okay?” Karabo asks as soon as
we are settled on the same couch.
“Yesterday at the dinner table Naledi and I
weren’t talking about the food. She had a
fight with her mother before meeting with us.
Maswabi wants to force her into a
polygamous marriage with the man whose
daughter attacked her at the club,” I say and
her eyes widen.
“That’s bad babe. Why would a parent want
that for their child?” beats all of us.
“Naledi wants to move out of the house and I
think it’s a good idea. Her mom will not see
her and always force her to live life how she
wants. I’m all for the idea because I don’t
want my child seeing her mom unhappy for
any reason,” she takes my hand and brushes
my knuckles.
“That’s a great idea. She should leave the
negativity behind. I always say that a person
should cut anyone who takes peace from
them, even if it’s family,” that’s very true.
“She wanted to go and stay at a hotel until
she finds the perfect place to stay, but I
couldn’t allow that. I mean hotels aren’t a
great place for kids; The change would be
more confusing for my daughter,” I explain
and she raises an eyebrow.
“Let me guess, Vhutshilo. You asked Naledi to
move in here with you right?” I nod with a
straight face, but my heart is threatening to
jump out of my chest right this minute.
“It’s the best thing to do for my daughter’s
sake,” she chuckles, shaking her head.
“If it’s for Basetsana then stay with her and
let Naledi go live in a hotel,” what?
“We don’t know how long it will take to find
an apartment. I can’t separate them for that
long,” her suggestion is just crazy.
“You’re not separating them. She can have
Bassie after school and bring her later, then
take her on the weekends,” Wow, just wow.
“Where’s the stability in that, Karabo?” I know
she doesn’t have kids but damn! “There are
days when I work late at night. Naledi living
here for a while is the best solution. I’ll be at
ease, Bassie will have stability and Naledi will
be away from her toxic mother,” I say,
counting with my fingers.
“Where does that leave me?” why is Karabo
making this about her?
“What do you mean?”
“Our relationship, where do we stand if they
move in here?” Jesus Christ.
“Nothing changes with our relationship,
Karabo. We do things the way we are used to
doing them,” she buries her face in her hands,
“We are probably going to spend more time at
your place for privacy,” she sits up straight
and looks at me.
“Naledi will always be an issue in this
relationship. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live
like this for the rest of my life,” I gasp in
shock.
“What are you saying?” is she trying to break
up with me right now?
“Uhm… I’m gonna go. I’ll call you when I get to
my place,” she says then gets up and walks
towards the bedroom. I’m guessing she’s going
to get her things.
This is not the life I want to live. I can’t be
with someone who wants to make me feel
bad for helping my daughter and her mom. I
mean I get that it’s only natural for a
girlfriend to have insecurities now and again
but we had a convesation about this. Our
situation shows that love is not enough, it’s
the reason why people get together but not
why they stay together.

NALEDI MOLETSANE

“I’ll see you later, have a great day at school” I
say to Bassie.
“Okay, mommy. I love you,” her sweet voice
says and my heart melts. This little girl makes
me so happy, she brings a smile to my face on
days I’m low.
“I love you, too. Bye.” I hang up the phone.
I asked her dad to keep her with him
yesterday because I didn’t want her seeing me
in the messy state I was in. I couldn’t stop
crying because of what Jimmy’s daughter did
to me in that club. I have stitches on my
forehead to remind me that I once fell for a
man who made my life hell because he was
dishonest.
I opened an assault case against Sihle
Khambule, I want to show the rest of them
that I’m not a ball they can kick around. If
they want someone to blame for this bullshit
they don’t have to leave their home to do so
because their adulterous father is there. She
will pay dearly for wounding me and leaving
me with scars on my face. I’m not letting this
one go for any reason under the sun.
Manana cried her eyes out yesterday when
she saw me, she couldn’t believe that the
daughter thought it was okay to hurt me like
this. My mother wasn’t home when Vhutshilo
dropped me off and she hasn’t seen me, I
locked myself in my bedroom till this
morning. She would have found a way to
blame me for being attacked; I’ve accepted
that Maswabi will never take my side on
anything.
I sat Manana down yesterday and told her
that I’m moving to Vhutshilo’s house until I
find a good apartment for Bassie and I. She is
heart broken that I’m leaving but understands
that I cannot take Maswabi’s abuse any
longer. I asked her to move in with us when I
finally find a place and she agreed on the
spot. Maswabi is going to lose her mind but I
honestly don’t care, the woman doesn’t rate
me so I’m done rating her too. From here
onwards she will get what she gives.
Manana offered to help Vutshilo and I with
our daughter while we are at work. She will
pick up Basetsana from school and take her
to the house, stay with her until one of us
gets home. I spoke to my daughters father
about it last night and he was on board, it
will make life easier for the both of us.
.
.
.
I’ve packed everything that belongs to me and
I’m sure Manana is almost done too.
Basetsana has more staff than me, she has
many people buying her things.
I’m sitting on the edge of the bed texting with
Lufuno. She was just checking up on me, she
couldn’t stay longer in Johannesburg because
she was booked for a photo shoot in Cape
Town yesterday afternoon. She works as a
photographer and her staff is amazing, Lufuno
is very talented.
My phone rings in my hand and it’s not a
saved number. I’m crossing fingers that it’s
not these telemarketers. I don’t want to talk
to them but when I’ve answered I can’t just
hang up, it’s a very rude thing to do. I exhale
sharply and take the call.
“Hello,” I answer.
The person heaves a sigh, “Bubble, it’s me,”
Jimmy says and I close my eyes. That name
and how softly it rolls off his tongue makes
me think of all the good times we shared. But
I cannot let that drive me back into his arms,
he lied and my life has been hell because of
that.
“What do you want?” I ask vehemently.
“I wanted to find out how you’re doing. I just
heard about what Sihle did to you at the club.
I am so sorry my love. You did well by opening
a case against her,” I swallow hard.
“Jimmy, I’m not going to marry you, polygamy
or not. Please, tell your family to leave me
alone. I’m trying to live my life but I am
constantly pulled back into the situation,” I
am honestly tired of this whole thing.
“Bubble, I love you. Please give me a chance, I
promise to make you the happiest woman in
the world,” he’s not hearing me.
“If you truly love me then you’ll leave me
alone to be happy. Your family will never
accept me, they will always go out of their
way to make my life miserable. I don’t want
that, I have a daughter to think about. Fix
things with your wife and leave me alone, if
you really want a second wife then go look
somewhere else,” I say firmly.
“I will keep you away and safe from my
family. It will only be us, Basetsana and the
kids we will have in the future. Baby, please
think about it,” I’m shaking my head.
“I don’t want any of that. Leave me alone,
Jimmy. I don’t want to go to the lengths of
applying for protection orders against you and
your entire family,” he gasps in shock.
“No! Please, you don’t have to. Take some
time to think about this. I love you and you
love me, let that be the reason why we try to
make things work,” I click my tongue and
hang up the call. I think I’m gonna have to
change my phone number.
A knock comes through my bedroom door and
Manana walks in.
“Nyeleti, Vhutshilo is here with the moving
truck,” she says and I quickly get on my feet.
“Okay, I’ll go help him carry Bassie’s things
first,” I say and she takes my hand.
“Are you sure about this?” she asks and I nod
vigorously with a huge smile on my face. This
move is new beginings for me.
“This is the best thing for me and my
daughter, Manana,” she kisses my cheek.
“Okay, I’ll tell Maswabi you’ve moved out and
make sure she doesn’t try anything funny,”
what would I be without this woman and her
support?
I decided to leave while Maswabi is at work
because I didn’t want to get into a fight with
her, I don’t have the energy.
“Thank you so much, Manana.”