HIS ROYAL BRIDE

CHAPTER 18

CHAPTER 18

[KULANI]

After seeing more blood-chilling things during my nap in jail, I decided I was going to tell Kurhula everything when he came to fetch me. The matter didn’t even make it to court like I was promised it would. After walking out of the station, I get in the car and wait for him. He’s still outside, talking on the phone. He steps in and reaches for a plastic from the back.
‘You must be starving’ he says as he hands it to me. He’s right. I receive it and find rice, beef stew and cabbage. These look mouth-mouthing.
‘Thank you’
His mood is down. There is something on his mind and I won’t ask right now what it is. I have this toxic thing of wanting to avoid being burdened with other people’s emotions. They tend to get emotionally harmful for me but I am gonna ask him, just not now. I suspect that it is the fact that I refused to open a case against Fikani. After fifteen minutes on the road, he parks in front of a doctor’s office.
‘Take your time. We’ll go in once you’re done’ he states and unbuckles his seat belt. He should’ve warned me. I need a shower and I don’t like how musky I feel. I have been sweating and I’m carrying around dead skin and grease. I eventually finish my food and wash it down with the can of Sprite. It’s luckily still cold. I catch him with a subtle smile on his face.
‘What?’ I shrug.
‘Nothing. Can we go?’
He hands me his trackpants and hoodie, along with his size nine slides. I’m a size four! Everything looks big on me and I look sketchy. I raise my arms and laugh. He smiles and asks what I’m laughing at. He knows damn well what I’m laughing at.
‘You look adorable, Dora’
‘You should’ve at least given me the opportunity to shower’ I complain and he laughs.
‘There’s no time for that. You’re fine’
He holds my hand as we walk in. We greet the receptionist and Kurhula is the one to fill in the forms. There’s another lady in front of us so we’re clearly gonna wait. Kurhula rubs my palm and tells me to relax.
‘I am relaxed’
‘You’re tapping your foot nonstop’ he notes. I stop. He’s right. I am feeling quite apprehensive. ‘Nothing is ever going to happen to you ever again, not while I’m still alive’
‘Where is he?’ I ask.
‘Still at the hospital’
‘Please tell me you haven’t done anything stupid?’
He sighs.
‘Kurhula! This was not his fault. It hurts me to say this because I can’t blame him now but it really wasn’t’
He frowns. The receptionist is busy stealing glances at us behind her spectacles. Kurhula notices this when I stare at her and she looks away. I get up and ask him to follow me. We go outside and stand next to the large pot plant situated at a corner. I could never understand the need for doctors to make their surgeries look like homes. This looks like somebody’s house but I disregard this thought. He is waiting for me to speak. I try and gather my thoughts in a comprehensible sequence. My head is spinning all over the place right now.
‘How are you defending that son of a bxtch?’
By this b word, he’s referring to his own mother?
‘I am not defending him. You know that I see things, right?’
He doesn’t respond. He’s still looking forward to me explaining myself.
‘You are not going to like this but… Mhan Xongi and Aunt Fanisa are behind all of this. I’m not sure how Uncle Sol features but yeah… his face showed up’
‘I did say that they were working with him’
‘No, no. You don’t understand. They concocted a potion and gave it to him, that’s why he’s behaving the way he is’
‘Are you sure you’re interpreting this the right way? You have a bruise on your forehead. You probably have a concussion’
I laugh. I hate him.
‘Baby vona, I hear you neh? But there is always a wild story about a man being bewitched when he abuses a woman and even kills her. Black people never want to take accountability in this regard and this blame shifting is sickening. I quite frankly do not care what had influenced him to bludgeon you in this manner. He is going to pay. I just want him to recover first because I don’t kick a man when he’s down. It becomes way too easy and right now, it will be a sloppy move’
‘You are not going to touch him. That’s your twin brother’ I argue.
‘More reason why I should award him with a violent massage. I’m gonna mash him until all his joints get disconnected. His bones will turn to mash. WATCH’
I pull him back when he wants to walk away’
‘Uhm… sorry to interrupt but you may come in’ the receptionist informs before I can say another word. We walk in and straight to the doctors office. The first thing he does is check my eyes. My eye is still red and painful.
‘What happened here?’ he asks, pointing at the would on my forehead.
‘I fell down the stairs’ I say in truth and he gives Kurhula a suspicious look. The doctor sighs and asks Kurhula to excuse us.
‘I’m going nowhere’ he’s adamant to stay.
‘Baby please…’ I plead with him. I want to leave this office and go sleep on a comfortable bed. The sooner this is done, the better. He leaves and Dr Stein looks me in the eye. He pulls his stethoscope off his neck and sits on the bed with me.
‘Kuli, I want you to know that this is a safe space’ he assures. I nod.
‘What happened to your eye and forehead?’
‘What you’re thinking is incorrect, partially’
‘Tell me what happened then’
‘I fell and—’
‘Tell me the truth’ he insists.
‘I will if you would just let me finish’
‘I’m sorry. I just get to upset when women defend their husbands over these things’
‘I fell. This is what happened here’ I point at the wound. ‘And here, his brother hit me. It wasn’t my husband who did this’
‘Why would his brother do something like that?’
‘He had abducted me, but I managed to escape. Now that that’s out of the way, can we finish up here and check if my baby is okay?’
He’s very sceptical but he does what I tell him to.