[LARONA]
The dreadlocks are back on. My scalp is complaining because they pulled too hard but the face? Not at all. I also got individual lashes installed because they were running a special. For the first time since my mother decided she no longer wants anything to do with this crap called life, I have been able to sleep last night. I wish I could give inner peace the credit but it was all the work of sleeping tablets. I overdosed and they knocked me out. A part of me was hoping I wouldn’t wake up but a larger part is still hopeful that there’s more to life than suffering and I want to be here when it finally gets good for me too.
I empty the water I was using to bath into my pee bucket which its makers had intended for paint and paint only. I am in no mood to iron today so I’m going for this leather pencil skirt and a matching black blouse. It’s completely see-through so I have to put a camisole inside. To finish the look? Lycra ankle boots. Black makes sense. I’m mourning, am I not? Putting together outfits makes me happy. It’s a Kago and I thing. Speaking of her, I miss my girl. We no longer talk much because all her minutes go towards her new man. I’m so happy for her. Kago deserves all the genuine romance and back shots she can get. I’m lucky that the drain is close to my room so it’s always easy to discard the dirty water. I’m not used to using a plastic tub. I actually have never used it in my life until now but it’s not bad, really. After I’m done, I grab an apple and an energy bar. The transport hoots outside. I’ve made friends with a taxi driver. He always reeks of weed but his personality makes up for all of that. He picks me up every day and drops me at the gate. He says it’s because I’m pretty. Unlike all the others, he hasn’t made a move and he says he never will. He says he knows I’m out of his league. I laugh out loud whenever I remember that interaction. His name is Kevin.
He puts out his fist after I lock the gate. I lightly bump it with mine. I go round the front and climb the passenger seat.
‘Skeem’ he says and starts the car.
‘Good morning. How are you?’
‘Ah you know, we ncenga nceng’. You good?’
‘I’m okay, thanks. I like your t-shirt’ I compliment his green and white stripes. It looks new and expensive. He laughs.
‘You mean this old thing?’
‘Don’t lie’
‘Okay okay. Thanks man. I got it last week. We have to remember that we exist sometimes’
I agree. Being a breadwinner can’t be easy.
‘I see you got your hair done and your whatchamacallits’
I explode in laughter. Are those supposed to be lashes?
‘Thanks, Kev’ I say with a smile.
‘Ahhh mara saan. You don’t deserve to live amongst us mere mortals’
He is starting. I have to listen to him say this every weekday. I give him the fare.
‘If I had the capacity, I’d take you home to my mother. In her eyes, you’d be my biggest achievement. But I know better than to introduce you to poverty’
‘Don’t say that man. I also come from nothing’
I hate it when he reduces himself to a worthless person who will never achieve anything more. I’ve noticed that this is a habit of his. We arrive at my workplace and I see Kurhula’s grey merc driving in. I step out of the taxi and fist bump my friend. It’s my way of saying thanks. I walk in and I miss what he says because he was already driving away.
‘Huh?’ I yell.
‘I said I’ll love you from a distance saan!’ he says and I shoot out laughter. He’s the craziest boy I know. Kurhula closes his boot and wheels his bag inside. Is he not going to say hi? I shrug and keep walking.
‘Bab, baby!’ Andy chants when I step into the offices.
‘Don’t make me blush’ I already am.
‘You look stunning. Where did you get your hair installed?’
‘Some salon at home’
‘How much did you buy them for? These must’ve been expensive’
‘They used to belong to my mom’
‘Oh…’ she goes flat.
‘It’s okay. You can talk about her without me cracking open and flooding this whole place’ I assure. Life goes on. I think what also helped is the dream I had of her asking me to go back to church. She loved it with her whole heart. An image of her in her black and white uniform forms in my head and I smile. It was really nice to see her face although it looked different. In ‘deathy’, fading kinda way.
Andy and I chat for a little while and she updates me on her weekend. I then go up to go greet that one that looks like he’s in a bad mood.
‘Morning’ I say to the grumpy bear. He raises his face and drops his eyes back to white paper he has in hand.
‘Morning Larona’
‘How would you like your coffee today?’
‘Who said I’d like any?’
‘He-eh. I’m not the one who pushed you to the left side of the bed’
He stares at me. I need to learn how to tame my tongue.
‘Sorry’ I fold. He smiles, while chewing on his lower lip. This man is… Aii.
He stands up and comes to stand in front of me. My heart starts racing. I don’t know what he’s trying to do but it won’t work. The problem is that he’s attractive and he knows it.
‘My coffee, you ask? Caramel, strong yet still sweet’
‘How am I supposed to make that work?’
‘You’re a smart girl. I’d like to see you work your magic on that coffee machine’
I huff. He looks at my shaking hands and I hide them behind me. That smile on his face grows wider and he takes out something out of his pocket. It’s my mother’s gold watch.
I take it from his palm.
‘Thank you for keeping it safe’
‘You can trust me’
The eye lock again.
‘You want to be magezakazi now?’
‘What?’
He sniffs and the smile disappears.
‘Tell your taxi boyfriend I no longer want to see him here otherwise you both will hate the mere sight of this place’
Is he being serious?
‘You’ve got to be kidding me’
‘You’re my wife, remember that fact? I don’t want to trend, at all. So if I trend for bullshxt like you being seen with other men, I will lose all my calm’
I laugh. ‘You have none. You can’t lose what you don’t have’
He goes speechless. That’s a first. Let me ask for a favour while he’s still all smiles.
‘Uhm… advocate?’
‘What do you want?’
I shouldn’t have called him that. He’s now went into character.
‘Can I knock off early today?’
‘Why? Are you sick?’
‘No I need to move my stuff out of my place. The car I hired is only available from three to half past four’
‘You’re coming back home?’
‘I’d never come back to the royal house’
‘Where are you going then?’
Let me just be honest.
‘My mom was the one who was paying my rent. Now things are a bit difficult, so I’m going to be staying with Andy for a while till I find a night job and get back on my feet’
‘In that case, no. You can’t have the day off’ he says with a straight face.
I am not even going to argue with him, nor show him that I’m upset. I simply look at him and nod.
‘Your coffee is coming right up’
‘Forget about it before you poison me’ he says and goes back to his desk.
Is he intentionally trying to make me mad or is this him? Is he a natural azzhole? Because there’s really not much to do today? Unless if he’s planning on bombarding me with work.
‘I’ll be in the library downstairs if you need anything’ I immediately leave after this. I need to go somewhere else before I lose this mentorship because of my tongue.
I go study until lunch time hits. Andy and I are going to get bunny chows from this other Indian place down the road. I pack up my stuff and I find Kurhula behind me after I take my headphones off.
‘Let’s go. We have a client to meet in ten’
Oh hell no!
‘It’s lunch time?’ I remind him since it seems like he has convenient memory loss. Advocate Maila gives us a look. She’s been working from here since morning and it’s been quiet ever since.
‘I’m well aware. You’ll find me in the car’
He leaves me in there and I force myself to do a young woosah. I am going to the top of a mountain to scream my lungs out when I’m finally done with pupillage, I swear. I take my bag and find Andy waiting for me.
‘Duty calls babes. I’ll vent when I come back’
‘He’s not serious…’
I roll my eyes and we squeeze hands. I get to the car and throw myself in it. He’s so unbothered. We arrive to a block of apartments in five minutes. I haven’t been doing this for long but I already know that I hate clients who believe in house calls. I’m still giving him the silent treatment while I walk behind him. We get to door 1023 and we wait. Is he not going to knock? A man in blue overalls approaches us and greets. They converse and Kurhula gets handed a key. He opens the apartment and I find that it’s empty. He then hands the key to me. It takes me a minute to process what is really going on.
‘Welcome to your new home’
‘Are you serious?’
He nods like he doesn’t believe I just asked him that’
I scream and jump onto him. He laughs and catches me. I immediately get off.
‘I’m sorry. I’m just… are you sure?’
‘Would you prefer it better if I changed my mind?’
‘Mciim’
Trust him to ruin the mood. Can he just be polite for once in his life?
‘I need to go speak to security quickly. Look around and let me know if you’re happy with the place. And Larona?’
‘Yes, mentor?’ I can’t contain my excitement.
‘Lose the attitude, otherwise ntak’ nyimbisa unya meh’
My jaw drops and it stays on the floor after he walks out. Did I hear properly or did this man just threaten me with pregnancy in broad daylight? What on earth??? I want to be offended. I really am but I keep laughing. Not in humour but in utter disbelief.
…
[MABONTLE]
He walks in while I’m removing my sheet mask. He approaches me and puts his hands over my silk robe.
‘Hey baby’ he greets and kisses my neck. The look on his face tells he’s tasted the sugar from the serum. I usually put the excess there.
I want to sleep early today because I’m not feeling well. Masedi’s school called and said she got in a fight. She’s one offense away from suspension. I thought boarding school would reform her but it seems I’m only wasting my money on that girl. At this point, I am even considering calling Mr Makhura on her.
‘How was your meeting with the mayor?’
He called after the council meeting and told me that’s where he was going.
‘It was okay. Boring but okay. Mavundza can talk for the entire day if nobody stops him’ he says and checks his phone. He throws it on the bed and pulls off his t-shirt. I look at the bright screen after he pulls the shower door closed. The phone locks while I’m still contemplating grabbing it. The braai is off because the tension in this house is too unpalatable.
‘Kurhula and I decided on a boys night out. I haven’t seen him properly in a such a long time. We should be back before midnight’
The phone vibrates from the bed and I fail to stop myself. Mhan’ Masingita’s voice keeps reverberating in my head. I read the notification from the lock screen.
+2763 546 6676: “The conversation was super refreshing, Masiya. Hope to do this again soon, My King.
Hugs and kisses,
Khensani Mavundza”
Moleko wa ntja le tweba. I am being tested here. I need to read this again, slowly this time.
He comes out of the shower with a towel around his lower body. He’s busy rubbing body lotion on his upper arms.
‘What?’ he asks. I hold the phone up in the air.
‘Who is this?’
He frowns. ‘Who is who? And what are you doing with my phone, love?’
I give it to him in silence. He unlocks it and reads the message. He raises his eyes and I scoff. I walk to the door and he intercepts me.
‘Where are you going now? Give me a chance to explain, then get mad if you will’
‘Explain what? Is this the Mavundza who talks nonstop?’
‘No. This is his daughter. He brought her along because she’s apparently his assistant’
‘You told me nothing about a daughter this afternoon!’
‘That’s because I didn’t know she would be there!’
I am feeling an ice-cold lump slowly travelling down my throat. I try to walk past him and he steps in front of me again.
‘Respectfully, please move out of my way, Masiya’ I emphasize the last part because maybe he enjoys hearing it. He hold my arms and tries to kiss me. I bite him.
‘Fvck!’
He holds both my writs when I try to get my way again. I can’t escape his hold because he’s stronger than me.
‘Now tell why you did that?’
‘I asked you nicely to step out of my way’
He keeps stepping forward, forcing me to walk backwards. The bed becomes an obstacle and I fall on my back. He climbs on top of me. My chest is heaving right now because I can’t control my breathing. He is adamant on kissing me. I turn my face in the other direction and his lips keep following mine. He eventually overpowers me and kisses me forcefully as I cry. I am tasting his blood as I kiss him back. He slowly starts fingering me. I had no underwear on.
‘You’re too damn pretty to be this insecure. I was strictly out on business, nothing else. Except for a little bribe, there’s nothing else sinister that I did today’
His middle finger is still bent upwards and playing with my g-spot.
The phone vibrates. Someone is calling. He brings my face back when I try to look.
‘It’s Kurhula. Focus on what we’re doing here, focus on me’
I swallow when I feel every part of me getting sensitized.
‘Do I still have your trust?’
I moan in response.
‘Good’
The orgasm rips my entire body apart as he sucks on my neck, planting hickeys.
He pecks my forehead, then my nose and my lips after.
‘When we fight, I want us to fight about something that exists. Khensani is not even my type and it’s actually annoying me that all this madness is about a woman like her’
I am a lot calmer now. I might’ve overreacted a bit there’
‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry for biting you. My impulses mislead me. I don’t normally behave like this’
He looks at me and smiles. ‘I think it’s about damn time I accept that this is one bad luck of mine I could never do away with. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon with you’
‘What bad luck?’
‘I have the tendency of turning perfectly sane women into psychotic screwballs’ he says as he gets dressed. I laugh. He’s so full of himself.
