Phakade Lami (My Forever)

Chapter 16

Chapter 16.
It’s A Bit Late In The Evening As Mabutho Is Gulping Down His Whisky In One Round, Whilst Looking At His Brothers, As They All Stand On The Rooftop, And One Can See That Zimele Is Beyond Frustrated And As For His Brothers, Well That Is Another Story On It’s Own.
Meanwhile Hector On The Other Hand, Goes Out Of The Spare Room And Places Both Of The Bags, In Front Of His Siblings And Tells Them That.

Hector : You Can See That The Environment Here... Is Not A Healthy One And I Don’t Want You Guys To Catch Whatever Is Happening... So You Will Be Traveling Back To Limpopo... Where You Will Be Staying With Grandma And Uncle... You Know Fully Well That Their Dad’s Family... They Won’t Throw You Guys Away.

Kedibone : But Can’t We Stay Here... Let’s Just Stay Here... You Know How Grandma Can Be..

Hector : This Is No Place For You Guys... Take Your Bags... Malume Will Be Here To Fetch You Guys And Drop You Off At The Bus Station... It’s Non-negotiable And Don’t Worry When You Come Back In Less Than Three To Four Weeks From Now... I Will Already Have A Proper Job To Put You Guys In Proper Schools (He Then Turns To Morena) Take Care Of Your Sister (He Slowly Nods In Agreement) And You... (He Turns To Kedibone) Take Care Of Yourself And Your Brother... You All That I Have Left In This World.

He Then Goes With Them Outside And Gives The Bus Tickets To Malume And As They Drive Off, He Turns To Go Back In The Building But Then Raises His Head, And Sees All Of Zimele’s Brothers Except Him, Having Their Eyes Fully Opened And Glued To Him.
He Then Makes His Way Back In And Finds Zimele, Sitting On The Kitchen Counter With A Glass Of Whisky, He Makes His Way To The Room And That’s When Zimele Calls Him And Tells Him That.

Zimele : Ma... (He Stops At The Entrance) It’s Been Over A Day And A Half Now... Can We At Least Talk... I Seriously Hate This Silent Treatment Coming From You...?

Hector : Zimele... I Have A Lot Of Things On My Mind... Can I Please Be Left Alone..

Zimele : Well That’s Where You Are Wrong... I Can’t Leave You Alone... Not When Things Are Going South... You Can’t Be Building A Wall... Every Single Time They Is A Problem... (He Slowly Brings Out That Deep Voice, That He Used When He First Approached Him On The Taxi) We Are Two In This Relationship.
(Hector Let’s Out A Heavy Sigh As He Slowly Moves Towards Him, Making Zimele To Go Down From The Kitchen Counter And Then Putting Him There By Carrying Him Like A Toddler, He Then Moves To The Cupboard And Brings Out The Meal Of Serious Discussion, Yes He Comes Back With A Bowl Full Of Pap (Stiff Porridge), Already Smashed And Mixed With Milk, With Only One Spoon As Usual And Moves Towards Hector, He Opens His Legs Much To Hector’s Surprised Look And Places The Food In The Middle And Motions For Hector To Open His Mouth, Of Which He Does Without Hesitation) You See, Ma... I Was Just A Heart Broken Man Waiting For Someone To Mend My Heart, When... That Young Lady Called Harriet Broke My Heart... I Truly Loved And Appreciated Her In All Ways... And That Was Because I Knew Her, Since I Was Kid... My Father Had Already Told Me That I Was Going To Marry Her.

Hector : (He Can Sense The Pain And Trauma Behind The Man That He Has Grown To Love And Know For Only A Month And Probably A Half) If I May Ask... What Did She Do...

Zimele : She Aborted Our Child.. (Hector’s Eyes Open Wide In Shock) She Said That She Wasn’t Ready To Be A Mother Or A Wife... Hence The Creation Of The Spare Room.

Hector : So You Mean That The Spare Room Was Not For Nathi And Prince But Your Child.

Zimele : Yes... Initially It Was Created For My Child... But She Took That Away And Left For Overseas Particularly London... The Room Then Became Nathi And Prince’s Room, When They Came Over.

Hector : So She Stayed In This Place (Zimele Sadly Nods As He Feeds Him And Himself) Now I Can See The Taste That She Had.. She Loves White But Doesn’t Look Anything Like The Colour...And What’s Worse The House Looked Too... Vague... Like The Colours Painted On The Wall Was Done By A Kid... Playing Paint With Two Colours.