Distanced but Destined(A South African love story)

Chapter 13

“So tell me, how did you find out about all of this, your father and his brother?” Andre asked. “Ever since he came back he’s been acting different, so I searched his room and I found this” I pulled out the shoe box. Andre skimmed through the articles and pulled out the one I was reading last night. “I don’t understand, why was your mother flaunting around town with your uncle, the very same guy who raped you” “My father was accused of fraud so he had to lay low for a while, those two were trying to sort that out” “Sindiswa Sono would’ve been labelled the perfect wife, she loves being in the limelight and the papers would have painted her as the ‘precious wife’” I glanced at Andre. He was right, my mom would never miss an opportunity to be on the front page of Mpumalanga Times. “I don’t know, I just want to know why she neglected me when my uncle raped me”

He shifted his seating position. “I can’t say I know how you feel but my Sono Queen, I’m here for you” He leaned in and I backed away. For a few seconds I tried to figure out why I did that, then I realized. I stared at him and he looked puzzled. “Why are you always here Andre?” I asked. “Shouldn’t I be? Isn’t that what people in love do, be there for each other” I tried to gather my words and took a deep breath. “I know that but I just feel like I need to be alone” Andre laughed under his breath. “Is ek jou speelding? Omdat jy hou stoot my weg en ek bly terug kom” “No Andre it’s not like that. Whenever I’m down I just enjoy being alone, makes it easy to think” He stood up and headed for the door, “you have all the time in the world” and he slammed it. I went to the balcony in Nkanyezi’s room and watched him drive away, I can’t believe I messed up his day. I got to my phone and called Nkosinathi, I couldn’t believe what I was doing. “Nompilo, I didn’t think you’d call after you-know-what” tears started dripping from my eyes. “It’s not your fault my prince, I mean we can still be friends right?” I was hoping he’d say no, I wanted him to neglect me like everyone else. “We can’t. You know I want more than that” he said. “Well how about we start small? And work our way up?” I imagined him smiling as he said “I’d love that. Dinner today?” he asked. It was a little too early for him to be asking me out but I couldn’t say no, he didn’t know my flaws and after all he was the Prince of Swaziland. “Sure, what time?” “I’ll pick you up at 19h30. Can’t wait to see you” and then he hung up. My face brightened up a little bit. I splashed some water on my face and stared at myself in the mirror for a while. A voice in my head said “such beauty, messed up, by one man” “I can’t believe I’ve been living a lie” I mouthed to myself. At that moment I rushed down the stairs to find Maria, only she knew the whole truth. I paused as I saw my mom kissing my ‘dad’, he had a familiar scar, on his neck, next to his right ear. “Uhm mom, you won’t believe who called” I interrupted them. “Uhm, morning sweetie. Who called?” I moved closer and made my way to the coffee machine, “uTata. Malum’Mike. He said he might come and visit soon” my dad cleared his throat and faced me. “That’s impossible, last time I talked to Mike he was in China, he couldn’t have called you” I gave him a puzzled look. “I guess he’s back in the country then because he didn’t say anything about China. Coffee anyone?” My parents looked confused and for the first time I was also confused. Judging from the articles my mother enjoyed spending time with my uncle, what changed.

I finished making my coffee and made my way to Maria’s room. She was helping out with the garden and laughing very hard. I had never seen her this happy. “Hi Maria, can I talk to you, in private?” I asked. She dropped her gloves and pulled me away into her room. “Miss Nompi I’m really sorry about everything I said. I wasn’t supposed to say anything, your mother should’ve told you” I smiled and held her hand, “thank you for telling me Maria. But I’m still puzzled” I slowly paced around the room. “My dad was accused of fraud and he had to lay low for a while so he asked my mom to help him out. But then how does Uncle Mike fit in?” “Miss Nompi sometimes the answers are right in front of you but you choose to ignore them” Maria said. I stopped and faced her, she was smiling. “Why are you smiling Maria? What aren’t you telling me?” She stood up, reached for her gloves and made her way to the door, “sometimes people aren’t as picture perfect as they seem” and she left me there, in the room with nothing but a lot of questions. I was desperate to find out what she meant so I went back to the articles in my room. I dropped the shoe box on the floor and all the articles and paper clips fell around my feet, so did Andre’s chocolate bar and rose. I fell to my knees and cried, dry tears. But that first tear, which slowly rolled out of my left eye, made its way to the link of an article that would change everything. I jumped to my laptop and copied the link which led me to a gossip column on my father and his brother.

“The Sono twins saga. Who was really accused of fraud, Mike or Miles?
It’s hard to tell the difference between the millionaire Sono twins Mike and Miles and that’s what makes it even harder to figure out who was accused of fraud. Some say it was Mike because he is an ex-convict, but others believe its Miles, who let his brother do time for him back in the eighties. Here’s how to really tell the difference between the Sono brothers:
Mike Sono, who is the youngest by twenty five seconds, has a scar under his right ear, on his neck which he obtained in prison. He barely smiles and he hates paparazzi.
Miles Sono on the other hand is the exact opposite of his brother. He has a huge smile completed with dimples. He is the nicest of the twins but also hates paparazzi, even though he tries to smile.
Whether you believe that Mike was accused or Miles it makes no difference because the brothers are flaunting freely around the streets of Nelspruit.
-Chelsea Sibanyoni

Maria’s words replayed in my head. “Sometimes people aren’t as picture perfect as they seem” I muttered. She meant mom and dad, well the new dad. Who everyone thought was Miles Sono actually turned out to be Mike Sono. Just then I heard them giggle in the lounge, they sounded happy, but that happiness was at my expense. I dried my tears and went to talk to them. Someone had to tell me what the hell was going on. “Mom, and so called dad, you have a lot of explaining to do” I said. They stared at me for a few seconds and laughed then went back to staring at each other’s eyes. “Who’s my father?” I asked. My mother cleared her throat. “Excuse me where’s that coming from?” I now had all her attention. I stepped closer, “who is my father? Mike or Miles?” My ‘father’ stood up and poured himself some wine. “Miles obviously” he said. Anger was building up inside of me “then where the hell is he? Why isn’t he here?” I could see the fear in their eyes, it was as if I had opened a safe, like a dark deep secret has been revealed, the fear made my body tingle just a little bit. “Nompilo Smangele Sono, I have no idea what you are talking about” my mother yelled. “Yekela lomsangano, uzokufaka enkingeni”. “Kodwa Ma sonke leskathi you were lying to me, you made me believe that this man was my father, the man who so deliberately came into this house and raped me, the man who took all my virginity and dignity, all my pureness, my innocence. Aren’t you supposed to care, or at least pretend like you care?” my voice was breaking down. She looked down in shame, but didn’t utter a word. I could feel a burden rising from my shoulders, standing felt lighter now but I was still standing in shame. I was still standing in pain and heartache. Uncle Mike stepped closer to me, rage written all over his face and whispered, “Mike raped you, not me”. He tried to take another step but I backed away, I pushed him just a little bit. “I’m not stupid” I said. “I can tell the difference between you and my father, you’re not fooling anyone. And that scar, that you try to cover with mom’s makeup, I can still see. I remember everything about you Uncle Mike, how you were so nice to me, and so cruel when you raped me. How you promised to kill me if I said a word” his face turned red as he approached me. “You are delusional! None of that happened, you’re just dreaming” I was on the edge of the stairs when my mom shouted “Mike uyinja! I can’t believe you repeatedly raped my daughter”. I can't really remember much, just hurting quite a lot. I remember Mike crying and shouting "what have I done" and trying to comfort mom. I was so puzzled, I wanted to turn and look at what he had done wrong but I couldn't. After that I fell into a deep sleep.

Translations

Is ek jou speelding? Omdat jy hou stoot my weg en ek bly terug kom – am I your toy? Because you keep pushing me away and I keep coming back.
Yekela lomsangano – let go of this madness
Uzokufaka enkingeni – its going to get you into trouble
Kodwa Ma, sonke lesikathi – but Ma, all this time
Mike uyinja – Mike you’re a dog