Taken By a Mafia King - Hlengiwe Mathebula (top 100 novels TXT) š
- Author: Hlengiwe Mathebula
Book online Ā«Taken By a Mafia King - Hlengiwe Mathebula (top 100 novels TXT) šĀ». Author Hlengiwe Mathebula
āYou look beautifulā my mom tells me. I just ignore her and I sit with my dad on our single sofa while they occupy the 3 and 2 seater sofas. They greet us and they donāt talk so my dad and I also stare at them.
āWe decided to come back because we couldnāt talk the last timeā. This woman is like the spokesperson or something. My mom is the one who left us, so she can do the talking.
āZekhethelo is here, you can talk to her. Nonhle has nothing to say to me. She can talk to her daughterā my dad tells them. I wait for Nonhle to say something, instead of talking she starts crying. My God. She starts screaming saying some things I cannot hear. I just sit and wait for her to stop all the drama so they talk and leave. My dad excuses himself and he goes to the kitchen and I hear a lot clattering. Heās cooking. I wait for Nonhle to stop crying and tell me what she wants from me. After some time she stops. Her mom asks me to bring some water for her but I just ignore her, Iām just not in the mood for their stupid drama.
āZekhethelo I made a mistakeā¦ā hehehe a mistake? Leaving a child behind is a mistake? Cheating on your husband with his best friend is a mistake? If she calls all of that a mistake. Then what do we call spilling milk? I still donāt say anything. She continues talking and crying.
āCan I say something?ā I finally talk and judging from what I can hear from the kitchen my dad has stopped chopping whatever. I wonder what heās thinking.
āI donāt know why you left with Joe. What made you leave me behind. But I forgave you a long time ago. You were gone for 20 years and I learnt to live without you. I needed you then but I donāt you need now. You can go back to wherever you went to 20 years ago. Iām coolā Nonhle continues crying. This woman is going to annoy me. We sit in silence.
After some time my dad walks in with food and he serves me first with a huge smile on his face. My dad really thought Iād choose Nonhle over him? Whatās with this nonsense that a girl needs her mother most and a boy needs his father most? How many woman raise their kids alone and visa verse? There were times when I needed my mom and she wasnāt here my aunts, grandma and Momo our neighbour were here for me and my dad. We eat in silence. My dad is a great cook and he cooked my favourite chicken stew and pap.
āWe came here because we wanted to apologise on behalf of your mother. She was wrong to leave you like that. We were also wrong to also disappear but we were ashamed of what she didā the old woman tells me.
āI understand honestly I do. I forgave my mom a long time ago. And I also forgive you but I donāt want a relationship with any of youā I tell them honestly.
āMuzi, please talk to herā my mom begs my dad.
āI have nothing to sayā my dad tells her and she starts crying again.
Doesnāt she stop? I decide to take the plates to the kitchen to wash them. They are still sitting at the lounge when I finish washing the dishes. My dad is sitting on the sofa looking all relaxed. I honestly canāt believe my dad thought Iāll be out the door when my mommy dearest decides to grace us with her presence. I look at the time itās 2pm we need to go to the workshop. I tell them my dad and I need to be somewhere and they tell us that theyāll wait. Even when I tell them weāll be back late they insist. I tell my dad that he can stay behind but he doesnāt want to. If these cars werenāt in the garage the whole weekend then Iād go there tomorrow but I canāt. So we leave them.
Today I had wealthy customers, Iām under my favourite car Audi Q5 changing the tyre when I see people walking in.
āYouāre a mechanic?ā comes the most annoying voice in the world. Sheās asking the obvious clearly sheās not waiting for an answer.
āBaba what time is it?ā I ask my dad.
āItās 8pmā he replies.
āI thought you guys left.ā
āI couldnāt believe it when Momo told me that youāre a car mechanicā she tells me still shocked. Momo is our neighbour sheās been a good one helping my dad where she could with me. Sheās the one who knew that my mom was having an affair with my dadās best friend. Sheās a teacher, she helped me with assignments and homework and studying. At some point I asked my dad to marry her. I canāt remember what he said.
āArenāt you leaving?ā I ask her. She doesnāt say anything. I continue working the owner of this car will be here first thing tomorrow morning.
āWeāre done for the dayā I tell my dad as soon as Iām done changing the tyre.
We head home, they follow us back. I turn to look for answers from my dad and I can see that he is as confused as I am. When we get home they tell us that theyāll sleep at Momoās place. We decide to watch Uzalo my dadās favourite soapie. He looks happy, Iām glad, I hate it when he looks grumpy and tired I get worried. At 9pm we both head to our bedrooms. I take a quick shower and I head to bed, Iām very tired but I canāt sleep. I have so much on my mind. I keep wondering why my mom cheated, why she left and why sheās only coming back now. I forgave her a long time ago as soon as I realised sheās not coming back.
*******
āZekhethelo, can we talk?ā my dad comes into my room. Itās 5 in the morning and judging by the way he looks, he didnāt sleep. I sit up and nod.
āDonāt look so worriedā he tells me faking a smile. How could I not? But I pretend as if I didnāt see him faking a smile.
āItās about your mom. I think you should build a relationship with herā he tells me and goes mute. I think heās waiting for me to say something but I have nothing to say right now. I kind of feel betrayed. What has the woman done to my dad, why the sudden change of heart? Wasnāt he happy I chose him? Iām confused, but I donāt say anything to him. I talk a lot I always have something to say but right I choose to say nothing.
āCan you do that?ā he asks me placing his hand on top of mine. I shake my head.
āI know Iāve been selfish, for the past 20 years I dreamt of her coming back and you not wanting anything to do with her. But now I think itās not fair, you needed your mother and I canāt be the reason you didnāt build a relationship with her. If you want to leave with her then thatās okay with meā
Is my dad being serious? He really thinks I want a relationship with my mom? Iām so mad right now did he really wake me up at 5am to talk about my mom. Iām too mad to say anything so I just go back to sleep. I slept an hour back because Iāve been busy at the workshop since yesterday at 7pm.
I wake up 3 hours later, I take a quick shower and eat breakfast. My dad is sitting at the lounge, I just ignore him Iām too mad. I know Iām not being fair. I wash the bowl after eating cornflakes and I leave I know he was waiting for me but I leave. Iāll walk I need to clear my head. As soon as I close the gate. A familiar voice shouts
āSurpriseā itās Bonga my boyfriend. Iām so happy to see him, I last saw him 2 months back. I didnāt realise how much I missed him until now.
āNot here my dad will kill you when he sees you hereā I tell him smiling. At least weāll walk together to the workshop and heāāll probably assist me if he has time.
āAre you not happy to see me?ā he asks smiling.
āOf course I amā I tell him and we walk to the workshop it usually takes me 30 minutes to walk there but with Bonga itās going to take more than an hour. We walk and talk about everything. I didnāt tell him about my mom during our daily calls and chats. Bonga and I have known each other since I was 5 and weāve been dating for 4 years. Heās 7 years older, a UCT computer science graduate. He works and stays in Cape Town. We see each other every 2 months and we talk daily. I will tell him about my mom later, he knows she left 20 years ago.
After an hour we are at the workshop and some of my regular clients are here waiting. I greet them and I open the roller door. We get inside and I do all the administrative work before I can start working on the cars. I work the whole day with Bonga helping me, I decide to tell him about my mom. Like I expected heās hurt I didnāt tell him sooner but he thinks my father is right I should try and build a relationship with my mom.
āIāve seen how this affected you remember Iāve known you since you were littleā I shake my head. Itās true weāve known each other since we were little and his mom used to joke about us getting married someday.
āI love you and I value your opinions but right now youāre talking shitā I tell him feeling betrayed. How dare he? I know Iām being childish, but heās my bf he should take my side not my momās side. So I take out all my frustration on the car Iām working on.
Chapter 2
I wipe beads of sweat from my forehead using my arm. Iāve been working from 4am to 4pm for the past 2 weeks. Bonga left a week ago, itās always sad seeing him leave but heās coming back early January. Iām under one of my favourite cars Audi Q5 when the atmosphere changes and we all know who that is. I continue fixing the car. Three pairs of expensive shoes walk towards me.
āWhy havenāt you changed the chequeā the deep voice asks. The cheque. OMW I forgot to change the cheque things have been crazy for the past 4 weeks. My granddad being sick, Nonhle appearing out of the blue, my dad and Bonga telling me to forgive and forget (I still havenāt forgiven my dad) and Bonga visiting I havenāt had time to change the cheque.
āI havenāt had timeā I reply. He pulls me out of the car using the stretcher. When I look up I see the most handsome guy ever. Even Maps Maponyana isnāt this handsome. I mustāve been drooling over him.
āClose that mouthā he commands. And I comply instantly.
āYouāre here because I didnāt change the cheque?ā I ask him. He doesnāt say anything, instead heās staring at me. It feels uncomfortable.
āNoā he replies not expanding.
āWhat do you want?ā I ask
āYouā he replies. I let out a nervous chuckle. Heās joking right? Why would he want me? Iām way out of his league and I have a boyfriend I love very much thank you. I look back at him and heās not laughing.
āI have a bf and I donāt want youā I tell him. He says
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