MELAMINA THE QUEEN

CHAPTER 34

Being in this home feels so weird, yet so comforting. My husband has been with me since I woke up and he doesn’t want to leave my side. It’s like he is afraid I will fall into a spiritual comma once again. I am tired of being locked up, so I decide to go out and see my maternal family. The palace is not as big as the Zulu one but it’s close. You can see that this family is well off. We get to the lounge area which is filled with so many unfamiliar faces. I head over to sit next to my siblings and Kuhle sits next to me.

“How are you feeling, niece?” One older guy asks. I know he is the king, not only by his regalia, but I have seen him before. In my dreams.
“I am okay, my king. Can someone explain to me a few things before I crack my head?”
“But why? You already know everything. You have seen everything.” Mkhulu Thokozani chirps in with a smile. I know he is my grandfather’s younger brother, and he is a powerful sangoma.

“But some of us don’t have a gift of seeing into the past, so we would like to know in detail what is going on. Personally, I wanna hear the story once again. I didn’t get it right the first time.” Gcino comments. There is no playfulness in his tone. You know things are serious when the Cele family clown wants answers.

An older woman clears her throat, and we all turn to look at her. She looks like the gogo from my coma. These people look a lot alike. Their noses are weirdly shaped in the same way, and now that I am seeing mom with them, I can see the resemblance. There is a woman seated next to her who looks like an older version of some old woman who I once dreamt about, she was in a wheelchair though, so I guess it was a different person.

“My name is Zasembo Mkhonza, I am your grandfather’s younger sister. Our father had 6 wives and they all gave him children, but bhut Nqobimpi was the first born and the heir to the throne. He was okay with it for a while, until some white people passed our village, preaching about Christianity. They left the word with some old man here and ordained him a pastor. He continued to preach the word and our brother became his disciple. He was obsessed with the religion that he began forsaking his duties as the crowned prince. He even missed some important occasions just because him and his pastor were preaching the word of God around the village. Then one day, he had a big argument with our father. The king was upset that Nqobimpi was just doing as he pleases, all in the name of religion. When it came down to choices, he chose his religion over his family and decided there and then to pack up his belongings and leave without making amends with father.

“That left the family in shambles and broke mom’s heart. People knew that Siyakha, the second son, was going to be heir to the throne. Even though he was born by the second wife, he was the eldest son in the yard, so that made him the perfect candidate. But somehow Khehla, the fifth son, thought he was going to become the next king because he was the second son of the eldest wife. There was a huge fight between the two siblings that resulted in one of them attempting to kill the other. Khehla was banished from the palace after that and that plus Nqobimpi’s own drama, killed our mother, the first wife. Knowing the modern diagnosis now, I know she died due to a heart failure but back then, fingers were pointed. Basically Nqobimpi’s departure caused a lot of troubles and turmoil.

“Anyways, Siyakha was crowned king after father died and he had three wives. King Vulamasango was his eldest son and now the ruler of Abasembo Kingdom. We know that we can’t wake bhut Nqobimpi and our father just so they can bury the hatchet, but your generation can appease on their behalf and hopefully that will be enough to get rid of all the bad luck.” That was a mouthful.

The woman seated next to my mother chuckles. I think it’s her older sister or something. Wild how we never met anyone in my mother’s side of the family until now. We never wanted to pry into her past seeing that she didn’t want to share it with us, but this is a lot. “You, of all people, know how stubborn my father way. Even Sgcino left home because of his crazy life choices. What makes you think that now he is ready for reconciliation? He has nothing to lose. How will this benefit him? He hated traditional ceremonies, so I don’t think we should do anything about it. Somehow, my children have already been sacrificed for his stupid mistakes, so I don’t want anything to do with him.” I can feel her anger from where I am seated. She harbours a lot of hate for her father and a black veil is covering her. It seems like she is still in mourning, but she is wearing colourful clothes. That can only mean she is still grieving at heart.

“I think the ceremonies are mainly for the living.” I start off and she looks at me. “You are covered in a black veil and your heart is full of hatred. You know very well that your gift and what you feel right now don’t mix. That’s why you haven’t been seeing visions a lot. That’s because of what is inside you. You should do the ceremonies for your own good so that this generation curse ends. You don’t want what happened to you to repeat itself with your grandchildren now, do you?” she looks at me and her eyes water, but her tears don’t fall. “Thabile has a beautiful angelic voice.” Her eyes pop out. “I saw her when I was in their world. Her voice set my heart at ease. She is at peace, and I am sure she wants the same for her mother.” Her lower lip quivers before she starts sobbing. Mom comforts her. “I didn’t mean to bring you back painful memories, but we all need this. I have eight children and I know I would die if I were to bury five of them.”

“You are one powerful seer, Lwandle. But you haven’t unlocked your full power. It was gifted to you by our ancestors, so your final initiation process has to be done the night before the welcoming ceremony for all Nqobimpi’s descendants. You will lead the whole cleansing and reconciliation process. We need two channelers who will be able to communicate with both baba and Nqobimpi. They should have a conversation to but everything in bed so that our brother can finally be reconciled with his ancestors because right now he is just wondering around like a headless chicken.” Mkhulu Thokozani explains, and I nod. I know everything that he is talking about. The ancestors already showed me.

“Your husband has to pay lobola for you and your children here at the royal house. Same as your father. They are not recognised by the ancestors and their presence is not welcomed here.” He furthers and my father chuckles. I know he is saying ‘that’s crazy’ in his head. That’s also what I think. Ancestors and their crazy demands. “That also applies to you, Busi.” My sister just nods. She looks so drained and a bit slimer than I last saw her. I make note to chat to her after this informal meeting.

“That means I can’t go back to the UK until these ceremonies are carried out?” Thando asks and Mkhulu Thokozani nods. She sighs. “Now I have to miss Milan Fashion Week. Yuh, ma ancestors.” Everyone in here looks serious but her comment is funny, so I laugh, and she joins me. I hope better days are coming.