The cluttering of cups seized and every movement around her died down. The grey walls and black tables in the Yellow Buzz became blurry until they were invisible.
"He hits her!" Masego's voice kept on replaying in her mind like a mantra. Those three words haunted her, piercing the silence that filled the space around them.
She was afraid of her mother's reaction. Would she be furious at Themba? Would she be disappointed in her for her poor ability to keep her marriage strong? Would she tell her to leave him?
But maMpho's actions shocked her – both of them. She laughed.
"So that's the reason you wanted to come back home six months ago? Don't be silly sweetheart. That's no reason to leave him, he loves you that's why he does what he does."
"If he did not love you he would not do that. He would have left you a long time ago." the hazel eyed woman clad in a peach two piece business suit and black stockings said, with a tiny smile.
Boitumelo remained frozen by shock, her eyes staring unblinkingly at her mother. As her words sunk in, Masego was the first one to recover from the shock.
"What? Are you kidding me?" Masego was furious. He looked at his mother's face, her small hazel eyes, caramel skin tone, short black her, her elegant clothes... And suddenly he hated everything he used to love, all because of her mindset.
He let out a bitter laugh, he could not understand his mother's way of seeing the situation. All he wanted to do was strangle Themba. No man, or woman should ever lay their hands on any of his sisters.
The tiny smile playing on his mother's lips, fueled his anger. If it was some cartoon there would be steam coming out of his ears and his eyes would be wide and bloodshot red. But this was no cartoon.
His voice was booming, he stood up and faced his mother, "Ma, he hit her. Laid his filthy hands on her precious body! Is that love? He made her cry, gave her bruises? You call that love! I call it abuse!"
"Masego, I'm still your mother. Watch your tone when you talk to me. Now go outside and get some fresh air, and stop drawing attention to us." She said in a calm voice, seeing that Masego would not cooperate she raised her voice "Now!"
He wanted to argue with her, to yell at her. But then he turned to Tumi and saw the fear in her eyes. 'Is this what the bastard looks like when he's mad?' he decided that his sister had far too much on her plate and he wouldn't add anymore problems.
He huffed out and went away. Probably to the bathroom where he would pace up and down. Thankfully it was a Monday and there were very few people in the restaurant to witness Masego's outburst.
MaMpho turned towards her daughter, and she looked at her as if she was only seeing her for the first time. Maybe she was, after all Boitumelo was the overlooked one.
Mpho was the firstborn, so naturally she was loved. Masego was the only boy in the house – the one who would carry on the Letsatsi name. Gontse was the youngest, the one who would inherit everything. Boitumelo. Well she was Masego's twin, the middle child.
"Baby, let me tell you something. Lenyalo le boima. When it gets challenging, you don't chicken out or come to us crying. You fight, hard, you fight for your marriage."
[lenyalo le boima - Marriage is difficult]
"Do you think your the only one?" she paused to look at her daughter, before continuing "We all go through that. You think me and your dad had it easy? We did not."
"He cheated on me but, I did not leave, I stayed with him and we resolved our issues. Look at us now, been married for 24 years."
But how could she!? Cheating and abuse - as Masego calls it - were not the same. She should not compare them, maybe they both hurt, but they were very different.
"But ma..." came her tired response, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. "Ma it should not be like this, we should be happy; in love."
Her mother laughed a bitter love, "Honey, marriage is not a bed of roses. If o batla go mo tlogela, go ahead but just know that there are plenty women out there waiting for you to leave so they can take your spot."
[if o batla go mo tlogela - if you want to leave him]
"He doesn't hit you all the time, does he?" the question made her eyes light up. Was maMpho finally coming to her senses? Did it mean that she was also against Themba's actions? She shook her head no.
"It means your marriage is still salvageable. O ikobele ena, he is the head of the household. His word should be the last, don't disagree with him. Respect him, baby."
[o ikobele ena - humble yourself to him]
The words sunk in. No matter how hard she tried to disagree with her mother, she couldn't. She had to be right, this was a woman who had been married for more than two decades.
"it's hard, ma" she said releasing an exhausted sigh. Her mother slid her hand across the table and enclosed Boitumelo's dark one with her lighter one.
The action surprised her a bit, it was pretty obvious that the pair had never been tight friends. She gave her daughter a tight-lipped smile, that was meant to be sympathetic.
"Whatever comes easy does not last forever. Fight the good fight, otherwise o tlile go fetoga setshegisa. Think about it baby, batho ba tla re eng?"
[•o tlile go fetoga setshegisa - you will turn into a laughing stock
•batho ba tla reng - what would people say]
Oh she did think about it. It was the only thought swimming in her brain as she drove back home. It was the same thought that led her to make up her mind.
Batho ba tla re eng.
_________________
~Bee♡
YOU ARE READING
Surviving ||On Hold
General Fiction"Ina lebe seromo." This is a Setswana proverb that means: you are your name. Your name is your destiny, it is who you become, and it is you. Batswana, like most if not all Africans, understand that your name defines your fate. That your name shape...
