CHAPTER 30
VHUTSHILO MOUFHE

We just arrived in Venda and the sun is
scorching hot, I love being home but the heat
is the only thing I cannot stand. I told Karabo
about it and my girlfriend packed five bottles
of sunscreen, she is dramatic like that. I’m
with her and Basetsana, I’m super excited
about the couple of days we are going to
spend here with my family. I hope and pray
that this shows Karabo that I want her and I
to work out, that there’s nothing between my
daughters mother and I.
I drive into the yard and both my parents cars
are parked in; They aren’t together anymore
but they have become really close friends. It
was not always rosey, my father was not a
good man when he was still married to my
mom. He did a lot of things to hurt all of us
but he grew up I guess and we all found it in
our hearts to forgive him. I’m just glad he is a
better husband to my brother, Avathu’s
mother.
I stop my car behind my mom’s and look at
Karabo, she’s sweating profusely. I guess it’s
the heat and nerves, she has nothing to worry
about though, she has already met my family.
Today she gets to meet my dad and a day or
two from now I’ll go show her my paternal
side of the family, The Muofhe’s. The
Ramabulana’s, my moms side of the family
always stops by so I know they will see her
before the sun sets today.
I take Karabo’s hand and kiss her knuckles, I
got her back and I know everyone she hasn’t
met is going to love her too. I look in the back
seat and my baby girl is still out of it, she’s 9
years old but long distance driving still
knocks her out. I shake her gently and her
eyes flicker open, I watch her rub sleep off her
eyes then look out the window. The corners of
her lips curl up to form a smile, she’s happy to
be home, her father’s home.
The three of us climb out of the car and I go
take out the bags from the boot. We make
our way to the front door and it opens even
before we can knock. My mother and Avathu
walk out with smiles on the faces, Bassie runs
to my mom and they share a warm hug. This
is her one and only granddaughter and she
took a chunk of my mother’s heart when she
was born. Lufuno and I are loved but
Basetsana comes first.
“Finally, I thought you weren’t coming
anymore,” that’s my younger brother, Avathu.
“But I called when I left Johannesburg to say
I’m on my way,” I defend myself and he shakes
his head.
“You have stood us up before,” it’s never been
on purpose. Naledi’s mother would refuse me
taking my daughter in the last minutes, that
one is spiteful. I would give my family an
excuse that protects her imagine because I
don’t want any hate between the two
families.
“Karabo, welcome my dear,” my mother gives
my girlfriend a hug.
“Thank you mama. This place is beautiful, I
cannot wait to devour these avocado’s,”
Karabo says and we all laugh.
“We have all sorts of fruits here and you will
enjoy them all, don’t worry,” -Mama.
Avathu helps me with the bags and we all
walk inside. We find my father with his wife
and my mothers elder sister. We greet
everyone and settle down.
“Let me go get you some refreshments,” My
mother says, leaving the lounge.
I take the moment to do the introductions.
“Papa, Mmane and Mmemuhulu, this is the
lady I’m seeing. Her name is Karabo Mofokeng.
Babe, this is my father and his wife then
that’s my mother’s elder sister,” I say and
Karabo gets up to shake everyones hand. My
family is not too strict, they won’t judge her
for not greeting like a Venda girl.
“It’s really nice to meet you, I was very
surprised when my sister told me that
Vhutshilo has a girlfriend he is bringing home.
The whole family always thought that he and
Takalani’s mother will get married,”
Mmemuhulu says and I close my eyes. She
shouldn’t have mentioned Naledi, she’s going
to make Karabo sour this entire time.
“Naledi and I already told everyone that we
are just friends. Karabo here is the one I see a
future with, she will help me give Takalani
some siblings,” I try to salvage the situation.
“I see that you meant it. I hope you’re ready
to be a Venda bride,” Mmemuhulu says and
Karabo forces a smile.
“I’m ready ma,” I hope she means that.
I know how Naledi’s name and mine in the
same sentence gets her worked up.
Yes, everything has been great since the
dinner they had with Naledi, but I’m still
shaky with my lady. I’m not 100% sure that
she trusts that there’s nothing but friendship
and co-parenting between us.
“We are happy to hear that. We need a bride
at the Muofhe’s,” that’s Mmane, my father’s
wife.
Mama walks back in with a tray of drinks and
a light snack.
“Refresh with this, lunch will be ready in an
hour,” mama says, putting the tray on the
coffee table.
Takalani quickly gets off my father’s lap and
comes to take her drink. My family and I get
to call her Takalani freely when we are here.
Naledi’s mother hates the name, just like she
hates everything else about us.
“You don’t like the drink Karabo?” my mother
asks and she pulls another fake smile before
answering.
“I am just so sweaty mama. Can I please
refresh quickly and come back to enjoy this?”
that’s true but I know she’s mad inside
because of what Mmemuhulu said.
“Let me show you to my room and the
bathroom,” I say, getting up.
“No, Vhutshilo. You and Karabo aren’t married,
you will sleep in your room and she will use
Lufuno’s bedroom,” I mentally roll my eyes. My
mom and rules, I can still sneak into Karabo’s
room to take a round in the wee hours.
“Understood. Come babe,” I lead her to my
sisters room and her bag is already in here,
it’s not hard to miss that it belongs to her.
It’s pink and has a tag with her name on it.
My mother must have told Avathu to bring it
in here.
“Definitely Lufuno’s bedroom,” she says,
looking around.
“Mhhh, she has always been about pissing my
mother off. You saw that the two don’t agree
on religion,” the room is painted in black and
has messages that gives science credit for
everything my mom believes was created by
God. She wanted to change the room when
my sister left home but I told her not to do it,
it would have caused more fights between
them. Yes, Lufuno is an atheist but she
doesn’t bash peoples believes in their faces,
she only retaliates on people that call her
satanic for not believing in God.
“I tried giving it some color with the flowers
and the bedding,” my mother says behind us
and we turn, “I know it’s a little creepy in
here, you can swap with Vhutshilo if you are
uncomfortable,” she adds and Karabo shakes
her head.
“Oh no ma, it’s okay. I’ll be great in here,”
Karabo says and my mother smiles and walks
away. I close the door then go snake my arms
around her waist.
“I’m gonna tiptoe in here at night to steal a
delicious round,” I kiss her neck and she
wiggles out of my hold.
“In this heat? Plus, you heard your mom. We
aren’t married, so we can’t do anything in her
house,” she says, grabbing her suitcase and
puting it on top of the bed.
“I plan to marry you,” I say to lighten the
mood.
“Against your family’s wish? You heard them,
they want Naledi to be your wife,” I gasp in
shock. My aunt didn’t say that.
“Don’t lie against my aunt. She didn’t say
that,” she shrugs her shoulders.
“Same difference, they want Takalani’s mom,”
I’m tired of this bullshit.
“Am I going to live the rest of my freaking life
assuring you that I don’t want a relationship
with Naledi? Because if that’s the case then
we can end this relationship right now,” I say
and she’s blinking rapidly, “I won’t live with
your insecurities. I have shown you countless
times that it’s you I want. The same Naledi
took you to dinner to tell you the same thing
but no, you’re still holding on to nonsense. My
family and I will not be afraid to mention
Naledi in your presence just because you’ll be
offended and start thinking that I want her to
be my woman. My daughters mother and I
had what we had and it’s over, we are friends
and that’s that,” I say sternly but not loud
enough for my family to hear.
“Vhutshilo… I…”
I cut in, “This is the very last time I’m
discussing the Naledi situation. If you think
you’re going to keep bringing it up then break
up with me now and I’ll drive you back to
Johannesburg this minute. If you don’t trust
me then what the fuck are we doing? I’m a
grown ass man, I can’t keep doing this. I have
never given you a reason not to trust me,
Karabo,” I’m honestly mad at her right now.
“I’m sorry babe,” she says.
“The bathroom is right next door.” with that
said I leave the bedroom. I need a strong
drink, good thing my cooler box is filled up
with alcohol. It’s like I knew I’d have to deal
with this bull crap once again.
SHLOBOSENKOSI MAVIMBELA
“Babe,” Nonku says and I open my eyes.
We are lying on the bed in her house, we just
finished having sex and it was great. I have
missed her so much.
“You want a massage?” I ask and she chuckles.
“I always do because of your magic hands but
that’s not what I wanted to ask,” she says
and I sit up straight and look at her.
“I’m all ears, what’s up?” she takes a deep
breath and shifts uncomfortably. This must be
serious, she never finds it hard to say what
she needs to say.
“Nonkululeko, is everything okay?” I ask.
“We have a good thing going on, Shlobo. I like
your company but my family said something
that really had me thinking,” she says and I
narrow my eyes.
“What did they say?” I ask but I’m not sure if I
will like the answer to that.
“I know you don’t want to get married and
staff, I don’t want that too but I want to be
happy and in a relationship,” she mutters and
I’m confused.
“Kante what are we doing here, Nonku? Aren’t
we in a relationship?” I ask and she shakes her
head.
“No, this is not a relationship. Shlobo you
never take me out on dates, we sneak around
like kids. Our relationship is basically sexual, I
feel like your sperm dish at times. We only
have sex here or the hotel, it’s never your
place. Is that normal in a relationship?” I
never thought we’d have this convesation. I
made my intentions clear from day one, I
wanted an adult physical relationship and she
did too. She is divorced with kids and didn’t
want anything demanding, we have always
been on the same page so this is really
confusing.
“Tell me what you want then and I’ll decide if
I can be able to give it to you or not,” she gets
up from the bed and grabs her gown, I watch
as she puts in on then look at me with folded
arms.
“I don’t want a ring, I don’t want to move in
with you. What I want is to be able to sit
down around the table with our kids and have
a meal and laugh; I want to have sleep overs
now and again. Shlobo, I want to know your
family and for you to know mine. I want
vacations and emotional support. I want all
the perks of being in a relationship without
complicating it with marriage and being in
each others space 24/7,” she explains and I
heave a heavy sigh.
“Simply put you want my heart, Nonku,” I say
and she nods vigorously.
I close my eyes, that’s a tough one. My heart
has always belonged to one person and that’s
Melamina. I cannot betray her and give
another woman my heart like that.
“She’s dead, Shlobo. She won’t come back and
love you again. It’s time you accept this and
move on with your life,” oh wow.
I should have never said anything to her
about Melamina.
I get up from the bed and start putting on my
clothes.
“I didn’t mean that in a bad way, Shlobo. I just
want more and I need to know if you can give
it to me,” my heart is not part of the
agreement.
“I don’t know Nonku, I honestly don’t,” I pick
up my phone and car keys from the night
stand.
“You are going to leave in the middle on such
an important discussion?” I don’t want to be
talking about this, that’s why I’m leaving her
house.
“You have told me what you want from me
and I need some time to think about it,” she
nods with tears glistening in her eyes.
“Please don’t bother calling or showing up if
you won’t give me what I need. If you are
going to give me yourself then give me every
piece of you. I’m not asking for what I know
you don’t want, that should count for
something,” I didn’t see this day ending this
way. I genuinely missed her and I was hoping
to have a great time.
.
.
.
I get to my house and there’s music bursting
through the speakers. Does Nhlangano want
to break my windows? I leave the car in the
driveway and head inside; He’s on the couch in
his underwear listening to this loud music and
playing Fifa all at the same time. This is pure
insanity. I switch off the sound bar and stand
infront of the TV with arms folded across my
chest.
“Dude! You just made me miss a goal,” he says,
getting on his feet.
“Are you crazy? What noise is this? Do you
have money to replace the windows if they
shattered?” I ask and he narrows his eyes.
“It wasn’t that loud,” he says and I chuckle.
“Don’t tell me that nonsense. I heard the noise
all the way from the street,” I say wagging a
finger at him.
“Uhm, I’m sorry baba,” he looks scared, I have
never raised my voice at him like this.
“I’ll go play in my room,” he says and I sink
down on the couch and burry my head in my
hands.
I don’t speak to my son like this, yes the
music was loud but I could have addressed the
issue better. It wasn’t fair for me to take my
frustrations out on Nhlangano. He’s not the
one who messed up my mood, Nonku and her
sudden demands did.
I get up from the couch after a few minutes, I
need to apologize to my son.
I go the kitchen first and take out ingredients
to make tortilla wraps for dinner, I didn’t pick
anything to eat on my way from Nonku’s
house. I stuff it up with extra cheese and
bacon, those are his favorites.
I fill two tumblers with orange juice and place
everything on the tray then make my way to
his bedroom.
I knock on his door and the game pauses
inside the room, he comes to open the door
and I offer him a smile, he returns it and
steps aside for me to walk in. I place
everything down on the chest of drawers and
settle down next to him on the studio couch,
he has a cool room. These are the kind of
things I wish I had growing up but I’m glad I
was able to give it all to my son.
“I’m sorry,” I start off, “Something pissed me
off and I shouldn’t have brought it home with
me, son. I don’t talk to you in that manner
and I shouldn’t have started today, forgive
me,” I add and he looks at me.
“It’s okay baba. Days don’t come the same,
sometimes things happen and cause us to act
differently,” that’s very true.
“You’re wise beyond your age,” I say and he
laughs.
“Do you want to talk about what pissed you
off?” he asks and I quickly shake my head.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be okay. I made wraps for
dinner, there’s more cheese and bacon in
there,” he’s already on his feet, bringing the
tray back to the couch. He hands me my plate
and glass and starts devouring the poor wrap.
His phone chimes between us, he places the
food down on the floor and picks the phone.
Nhlangano quickly turns the screen away and
starts coughing violently.
And then?
“What’s wrong? Did they send you a picture of
a ghost?” he shakes his head, avoiding my
eyes.
“It’s nothing baba, please excuse me, I need
water,” he gets up and walks out of his
bedroom. Ya ne! Raising a teenager is
something else.