FIRE AND ICE
CHAPTER 83

Every member of his family is heart broken.
Yes, they were all aware of how hard this
whole situation was on him, but none of
them thought he’d take his own life because
of it. All they’ve been doing is praying for his
return after he left Mahlabathini weeks ago.
They hoped that he would come back ready to
move on from the pain of losing Naledi. Little
did they know that time wasn’t healing his
wounds, but making them worse. He was
struggling, mentally and emotionally. He
tried, God knows that he tried to keep his
head above water but the pain consumed him
and he just wanted to stop it all.
The family is sitting around the house after
the private funeral they held for Shlobo. They
didn’t want outsiders to ask them endless
questions and pretend that they care, when
all they want is information for their gossip.
They just released a brief statement for the
media because Shlobo was a businessman and
stakeholders had the right to know of his
passing. They decided not to include the
reason why he committed suicide. The family
thought it was best to not reveal to the
world that Shlobo and Naledi were father and
daughter. Making that information public
knowledge was going to make life difficult for
them. The secret is safe with those that
already know.
In the main bedroom, Naledi has her head on
MaZikode’s lap. The both of them are the
picture of pain, there’s no coming back from
this. MaZikode is shuttered, her last child
took his own life and all she wants is for God
to come back for her because life is not worth
living anymore. She doesn’t understand how
their lives took such a bad turn. She was a
ball of happiness just two months ago. Her
son was finally married to a woman he adored
and they were giving her another grandchild
at 71 years.
She thought she’d die and join her husband
with peace and joy in her heart.
Naledi, poor girl. She’s emotionally dead for
life. Since she heard that Shlobo died she has
been silent, not saying a word to anyone.
She’s feeling all sorts of emotions, anger, hurt
and guilt. She’s angry that God allowed Shlobo
to take his own life. She’s hurt by the fact
that the love of her life turned out to be her
father, and right now she doesn’t know who
to mourn for -her husband or her father.
Naledi feels guilty for changing her number,
she thinks Shlobo would still be alive if she
had not shut the door in his face. She thinks
communication between them would have
somehow helped them heal, but she’s wrong,
it would have made things worse.
Thalente is running around the house,
organizing this and that. She’s just trying to
keep busy so she can not think of her dear
brother hanging from the ceiling. She is
traumatized for life, but MaZikode has
already spoken to her mother, MamuGasela
about getting her into therapy ASAP. They
both don’t want Thalente to carry this with
her for the rest of her life. Shlobo adored his
little sister and wanted only the best for her,
he wouldn’t hurt her so badly on purpose. Him
hanging himself in a house where Thalente
was proves that he was not in the right frame
of mind.
Manana notices that Nhlangano has been
missing from the group since they came back
from the cemetery. She dishes a plate for him
and takes it to the bedroom he has been
using. She knocks on the door a couple of
times with no response so she decides to just
walk in. She finds Nhlangano lying on top of
the bed, facing the ceiling and tears escaping
the corners of his eyes. Oh what a heart
wrenching sight.
This has been the hardest thing to deal with.
He’s feeling all the guilt in the world. His
father died before he could apologize for
hurting him and choosing Mphikeleli over him.
He wanted to kneel down at Shlobo’s feet and
beg for his forgiveness, he didn’t want to do it
to a silent grave. How he wishes he could turn
back the hands of time.
He has been living with Thalente at Shlobo’s
house in Durban for the last couple of weeks.
That happened after he went to Mahlabathini
with Zekhethelo’s father accompanying him.
MaZikode forgave him and welcomed him
home with open arms. Nhlangano patiently
waited for his father to come back so he
could earn his forgiveness. He was nervous
but happy when Shlobo showed up last week,
his chance to fix things was finally there. He
couldn’t do it the same night because Shlobo
just wanted to sleep. One more sleep wouldn’t
hurt, he thought to himself but that would be
the last he saw his father alive.
Manana places the plate of food on the chest
of drawers and settles on the edge of the bed.
She helps Nhlangano to sit up straight and
takes him into a warm embrace. He breaks
down in her arms, like he was in need of a
shoulder to cry on.
“He loved you Nhlangano. He always loved
you,” she says and he holds on to her tighter.
“I hurt him, mama, I hurt my father so bad
and now I’ll never get the chance to tell him
how sorry I am,” he whimpers.
“Trust me, he forgave you long ago. You were
his baby boy, he couldn’t stop loving you or
stay mad at you even if he tried. He spoke
about you all the time, he was waiting for
you to finally see the truth and come back to
him,” Manana is saying nothing but the truth,
but it’s hard for Nhlangano to believe her.
“Forgive yourself for what happened between
you two and I promise you’ll belive that he
long forgave you.”
.
.
.
It has been a week since they buried Shlobo
and this morning Shlobo’s lawyer came to talk
to the family about his last will and
testament. He updated the will two weeks
after he left Mahlabathini. This means he had
already decided to take his life.
He left a chuck of money for Thalente to
complete her studies and be able to fund her
charity drives. She will also be able to live
comfortably and take care of her mother. Her
brothers are now able to make ends meet for
themselves and that’s all thanks to Shlobo
because he hooked them up with jobs at his
construction company.
Nhlangano is to get the soccer team, only if
he completes a university degree he can fall
back on if things go south. He broke down
when the lawyer said that, it made him
believe Manana when she said Shlobo long
forgave him for what happened.
Nhlangano has already started making his
research about rewriting his matric. He will
work hard to make his father proud. He feels
like he owes his father success and that’s
what will drive him to become the best at
everything he does.
He left the rest of his estate to Naledi and
asked that she takes care of MaZikode. Naledi
is not interested in taking over, she just
wants him to come back and tell her that this
is one cruel joke. She is so desperate for this
whole thing to not be true. Londeka has asked
everyone to let her be and not rush her. She
promised them that Naledi will come out of
this stronger. She just needs some time to
deal with her losses in her own way.