The AVM bus groaned and moaned, emitting thick black fumes of smoke, as it
traveled the dust roads of Lower Gweru. Taking me closer and closer to a place that
means a lot to me. A place, I can call home. The home that I had known ever since I
was a little girl, when I still had my innocence and it's still the same place today,
even though my canvas has been smudged over and over again. Looking out the
dusty window, I see trees, rocks, buildings, animals and people, who move the
contradictory direction to that of the bus. My head is resting on the glass panel and
my mind is tracing the old reminiscences that I had locked up at the back of my
head. The recollections of travelling by bus with my whole family when I was a child.
The bitter and sweet memories of travelling by these AV-Ms…. Usually, when we
traveled to the rural areas back in the day, I used to carry my sister on my legs for
half the journey and she would carry me the other half of the journey. It was all, my
parents' idea of saving money.
I get off at my bus stop and the bus drives away, raising a storm of dust that gets me
coughing and waving frantically to clear it out. Finally the dust clears out and I walk
down the dust road, heading straight home, to the old farm that has been my rural
home, for as far as my memory can remember. All I know, my father grew up in that
farm. I walk patiently, my eyes taking every detail of this place that seems to have
developed so much, since my last encounter. The farms look more modernised and
the farming has been improved more. On my way home, I pass head boys, driving
large herds of fat cattle and women carrying large bundles of fire wood on their heads.
It really feels like home, even the air is much cleaner than that of the city, the
environment is much calmer, less noisy and more natural. Just home.
Finally, I walk into the yard that I call home. As I enter, I am met by the farm workers
who are leaving for their homes after a long day in the fields. We greet each other. I
am the one who offers the first greetings, bending my knees a bit to show respect as
in shone custom. I proceed further into the farm, passing fields, that boarder the
road, until at last,. I reach the houses. Before I even walk into the area, the children
playing outside run to me. All of them competing to get to me first. In no time, I am
surrounded by a mass of children, who are covered in dust, from the playing. I hug
them all and give my bags to the older ones and I carry the younger ones in my arms.
We all head to the main house, with the children asking me endless questions about
the city and how I travelled. You know children!
I walk into the main house, where my grandfather and my uncle Jeremiah are
watching television. My grandfather looks very glad to see me. I greet them all and I
sit briefly with them, holding up conversations of this and that with them and finally
I stand up and run around the house doing duties like usual. I start with bathing
the younger kids who are extremely dirty from all the playing they were doing, I
supervise the older ones and when all the children have bathed, I give them the
snacks that I bought and they all sit in the living room. I start helping my
grandmother with the cooking. This woman never trusts anyone with the cooking; I
wonder how I earned myself the favours of being allowed to cook for her. I cook and
when I finish, I serve the food in the dining room. We all settle down, I wash people's
hands, one of my cousins offers a prayer and we start eating.
After we finish eating, I prepare tea for the elders as they sit and discuss a number
of issues. I send the children straight to bed and I get down to washing the dishes.
"I could tell from a distance that there is someone I know in this house." A sweet first
turner voice says behind me. i smile and turn to face Shamiso, dressed in her white
nursing uniform, a wide smile plastered on her lips. This one is my favourite cousin.
We grew up together and we became like sisters.
"Ahh, how could you tell?" I question, faking confusion.
"Come on Maria, I know when you are home. You put everything in absolute order.
You even give ambuya (grandmother) the chance to sit down and rest. She never does
that when the rest of us are here." Shamiso responds as she takes her plate to eat.
"So, tell me, how are you. How is the job and how are things with you know who?" I
question her, as I dry the dishes with the dish towel.
"Slow down with all these questions. We have a very long time to spend in each
other's company." Shamiso says, causing me to giggle lightly. I finish cleaning up the
kitchen, after cleaning I make us cups of tea and we sit down and talk about a
number of feminine issues and other personal issues. We then retire to bed because,
one thing for sure, we are going to have a long day tomorrow.
I wake up early in the morning the following day and I bath, with cold water and start
the duties for the day. The first thing to do is to put water for Shamiso to bath, boil
water for porridge and I get down to cleaning the house. After cleaning I start cooking
the porridge. By six thirty when Shamiso wakes up, I am about to finish cooking, I
am already boiling eggs for tea. Shamiso goes to bath, dress and when she comes
back, I have already served the porridge and the whole family is sitting by the dining
table, eating. After eating porridge, i start preparing tea and i serve it. Shamiso is
long gone by this time because she is a nurse and this week, she is doing then
morning duty.
After tea time, I take out the laundry in the house, including curtains, carpets, mats
and bed linen. I get down to washing, whilst washing, lunch is cooking on the stove.
By the time I finish washing, the clothes cover, the eight long lines and i serve lunch.
After lunch, I wash the windows; re-clean the whole house with everyone outside. I
start ironing and finish at around four in the evening. After ironing, i start cooking
supper whilst putting laundry were its supposed to go. Grandmother takes over after
me, in cooking supper and I start bathing the children. By the time i am done,
ambuya is already done with the cooking, so i take over from where she left and i
serve the meal, leaving extra plates for some of the family members who are to arrive
today at unnamed times.
After eating supper. I prepare tea for the elders, send the children to bed, wash the
plates, clean the kitchen and wait for Shamiso to come, whilst i read a novel.
"Looking exactly like the academics in the movies, with the spectacles and that calm
face." A masculine voice says, causing me to raise my face from the book and look at
the individual who is talking to me. And there in front of me, is Ngoni, uncle
Jeremiah's last born son. My partner in crime. This one! We have memories that
make me laugh whenever I think about them.
"You, why didn't you tell me you were coming this Christmas?! Yey, how much i had
missed you! We always miss each other, whenever i come, you will be absent and
vice versa." I respond as I stand up to greet him.
"Look at you, refusing the laws of aging. This is how you looked five years ago." Ngoni
says as he spins me around, inspecting me. Some things never change I tell you!
This is how he used to greet me even as we were children.
"I am not that old! And what is five years?" I respond, brushing the matter at hand
away. The moment people start speaking about my age, the next thing they are going
to be talking about is marriage. The same old topic, that strangely makes me tense.
"Five years is long enough, for a child to be born and be able to walk and talk.
Speaking of children, where is my little man?" he questions as he takes a seat at one
of the chairs at the kitchen table.
"Oh, that one, he is coming with Arnold and Tariro. Most probably tomorrow." I
respond as I put a plate of sadza and a glass of water in front of him. I also wash his
hands.
"Where are your wife and the children?" I question.
"She took the children to our room. They are already asleep. She must come here in
just about now." he says as his wife enters the room. She looks tall, lean, tired, her
cheek bones showing visibly. Something seems off about her; even her smile seems
more or less coaxed.
"Mainini how are you." She says as she bends her knee in respect.
"Ahh, nhaiwe (you) there is absolutely no need for these formalities if you are talking
to me. Otherwise how are you?" I say, as I put a plate of sadza and a glass of water
in front of her. I wash her hands, make myself a cup of tea and I sit down with them
at the kitchen table and we start catching up. Apparently, there is just a lot to talk
about and we touch different issues. As we are talking, Ngoni's wife, Rumbidzai is
silent. She only contributes when provoked and after that, she falls silent, holding
her head low and concentrating on her plate. I might not be a psychologist but,
something seems off about the way she is acting. Anyway, it's not my place to go
around poking my nose into people's business.
"Eiii! Inga mashura aya! (Isn't it a wonder!) The two of you meeting together for the
same Christmas. Did you happen to tell each other when to remember us, down here
in the rural areas?" Shamiso asks as she enters the kitchen.
"Things happen. This was just a coincidence." I respond as I give her a plate of sadza
and a glass of water. She washes her hands and settles down. We talk for a very long
time and Rumbidzai excuses herself and retires to bed. We st0ay behind for a long
time, until at last; I excuse myself and head to sleep, with Shamiso trailing behind
me. We get to our rooms and change into night dresses.
"Did you notice something wrong about Rumbidzai?" i question.
"Who wouldn't? I am sure you are going to ask, what is wrong about her and my
answer would be, he hits her." Shamiso responds, as she covers her head with a
head wrap.
"And yes, we tried to intervene but Ngoni akatiudza mashoko akatizvimbira
kwenguva yakareba (he told us bombastic words.) And from then, we have decided
to keep our lips pursed. We don't want drama in our lives." Shamiso responds.
"Speaking of drama, how are things going with your baby daddy?" I question.
"That one, he can go to hell and screw the whores in hell for all I care. I have had
enough of him. He is not going to see that boy ever again! I mean, what type of a
father disappears for eleven good years. I mean, he only sent nappies for Joshua,
when he was still a baby. And after that, he disappeared into thin air. He came here
about a week ago and said he wanted to see Joshua. I set the dogs on him! I mean,
who comes to see their son whilst carrying nothing, not even a penny. That's so
immature! To think that I fell in love with that idiot, later alone, make a baby with
him, it makes my blood boil." Shamiso says her anger visible.
Thinking about the story of Shamiso setting dogs on her ex, makes me laugh. I wish
i had been there to witness the drama.
"This is not a laughing matter!" Shamiso reprimands me, causing me to laugh even
more. We however settle in and sleep. Though Shamiso doesn't fall asleep
immediately, she reads a novel before she falls asleep. No matter how tired she is,
she still finds time to read something before she falls asleep. I however dose off.
I wake up the next day, earlier than everyone else, clean the house and get down to
cooking some porridge. After that I wake everyone up. After porridge Shamiso helps
me to make tea and after that we serve the others and sit outside in the veranda
drinking tea, catching up and enjoying ourselves. After tea, we start cooking lunch
and more relatives trickle in. Some of them, I dearly love, some of them I dislike and
some of them I stay clean out of their way. It's better that way. A range rover drives
into the yard and from it, walks out someone, who makes my heart skip a beat –
Miriam Maruva. Miriam gets out of the car, dressed in a in a knee high dress, tennis
shoes and a large brown hat, similar to the one that I own. Looking like the typical
traditional women.
She walks up to us, together with her family, her four children and her husband.
Shamiso runs up to them, dancing and clapping and singing in anticipation of the
visitors that have come to see us. I sit at my chair, shocked and frozen at my seat. I
look at them in absolute astonishment. I watch them, walking up to the veranda, the
adults and children in the house, come out to greet the new visitors. All of them get
into the house and I stay outside, not willing to walk into the house and talk to the
new visitors, so I decide to sit outside and read my novel, until Arnold's car drives
in. An involuntary smile creeps onto my lips and I walk out of the veranda into the
heat of the scotching sunlight to greet my siblings.
Simangaliso runs up to me and I take him into my arms. I greet Arnold and Tariro,
who later get into the house, with me tailing at their heels. As soon as we enter the
house, i go straight to the kitchen and start preparing tea. Rumbidzai helps me to
prepare tea and to serve it, whilst Shamiso on the other hand is playing the host.
Cracking jokes and holding up conversations with the visitors.
As soon as we finish serving the tea, more relatives trickle in and in no time, the
living room is filled with relatives. Instead of preparing lunch, we then decide to
prepare a large tea. For some time Tariro, Rumbidzai and I are busy with the
preparation of the meal. After that we serve the adults in the living room and we take
the children to the veranda where we serve them. I opt to sit in the kitchen and
Rumbidzai joins me.
For a moment, Rumbidzai is very silent. She only answers to one word answers.
Gradually she loosens up and starts talking. She talks about her children and other
basic things. After tea, we let the younger ones wash the dishes as we sit outside in
the veranda talking and discussing. She finally loosens up and we start chatting and
laughing. As we are still chatting, another car drives in. It's a new car and I have
never seen it before. From the car descends my parents. I jump and scream like a
little girl. Oh, how I had missed these two.
"And there she is. Always making herself comfortable." My father says as he hugs
me.
"I was preparing this place for all the visitors that are coming to this place." I respond.
"Eey! I don't know where we would be without you. The problem about you is that,
we just see less of you every year. It's like you stay in another country, yet you stay
just next door, in Harare." My mother says.
"It's just that I have a lot of work to do." I respond.
"Always quick to put across an excuse." My father responds.
"Baba, please. Okay. I promise that I will spend the whole month with you guys after
this whole festivity is over." I respond.
"Now you are talking. We also want to have a share of your hard work. Now let's get
into the house" my mother responds as she walks into the house, baba and i
following at her heels. She enters into the house and greets my grandparents in the
traditional manner that daughters in law usually use.
I don't sit together with the rest of the people in the living room. As I still have supper
to prepare so i get down to cooking sadza. Since there are a lot of people in the house
and most of them are coming on their first visit, I then decide to cook chicken as the
relish, as per shone custom. One thing for sure, it's not going to be easy task to catch
seven road runner chickens and worse off, by a woman but what can I say, it has to
be done one way or the other.
I get out of the house and get down to catching seven chickens. Putting to practice
the skills of childhood. In actual essence, the catching is supposed to be done by the
children but regarding the fact that I haven't been exercising, its best that I do this
vigorous exercise so that can also keep in shape. These festive celebrations always
get me overweight one way or the other, so today i will exercise when i chase the
chickens.
After chasing the chickens, I get down to yet another task, which is slaughtering the
chickens and l cook them. All the ladies are sitting in the living room, enjoying life
as if there are no meals to be cooked. I however finish cooking and after that i ask
Rumbidzai to help me severe the supper. We all settle down for supper, and
Shamiso's son prays for us and we dig in. After we finish eating supper, i take the
plates to the kitchen, dump them in the sink and i take my son who is sitting on my
mother's lap to bed.
I undress him and dress him in pajamas and after that; I take every kid to bed and
later i make sure that all the teenagers go straight. I come back and walk into the
kitchen, with the sole intention to make tea for the elders. As i walk into the kitchen,
i hear voices, seemingly discussing about something. It must be two or three women
at most. I stand by the wall and listen carefully to hear what is being spoken about.
".....oh, that one, too pompous for nothing! I mean, who cooks a whole meal for eighty
people alone? She just wants to impress people and nothing else." Someone says.
"Guys come on. She is not that kind of woman. She is just a hands on woman who
believes in getting things done on time and nothing else. All the things you are saying
are nothing but speculations." Another one responds.
"You're only defending her because you are friends. That woman is an attention
seeker. She just wants to be seen, praised and glorified. I really think that it's just a
desperate attempt to capture attention and decent comments." Someone says.
Judging from the way this one is talking, it must be Candice.
I walk into the kitchen and I start preparing tea for the elders who are still in the
living room, catching up on this and that. The whole room falls silent as soon as I
enter. Inside the room is Rumbidzai who is busy with the dishes, being helped by
another younger girl. Most probably another daughter in law. I prepare the tea and
take the trays to the elders. I take six trays and call every woman into the kitchen
and lastly I come back to the kitchen and the ladies fall silent yet again. The other
ladies, including two of my sisters and Shamiso join me in the kitchen.
"Thank you ladies for listening to the clarion call and coming. Candice lets clear the
mist here. This is my home. I was raised here. If it were ever possible, my feet would
have been imprinted on these soils. My point is, I will do all the chores and
whatsoever I can to get things running. Not because I want attention or what, but
because this is my home and I am putting to action what I was taught to do. If you
have a problem with that, then go straight to hell, where your family's lazy demons
are! To the dear ladies who are here, I don't want to seem selfish so I will delegate
duties. Some of you will clean the house; the others take care of the cooking and so
forth. The rest, just don't bother; I have it all under control. Rumbidzai, Shamiso and
I will take care of breakfast including tea. We will also wash the morning dishes. The
rest of you will share the rest of the duties in however way you feel like doing but at
the end of the day, meals must be cooked, dishes washed and the house cleaned.
Thank you for your time. Please have a good night.... oh, another thing, Candice you
are a muroora (daughter in law) here so you should watch your tongue. This is by no
means your mother's homestead so respect our home. Don't give us, especially me,
a reason to hate you and later on, claw at your eyes. If the ladies won't, I will. And
another thing, since you think I seek attention so much, please do me the honour
and share the spotlight with me. After the elders finish drinking tea, make sure that
the utensils are collected, washed, dried and put away properly." I say and I walk out
of the kitchen, leaving the whole kitchen silent and out of words to say. Even Candice,
the one with the sharp tongue, can't even open her mouth to comment. I walk to my
room, where I undress and get into the bathroom, take a long hot shower and I retire
to bed. I end up falling asleep even before Shamiso comes to bed.
I wake up earlier than everyone else, clean the house and i get down to cooking. By
the time Rumbidzai and Shamiso join me, i have done almost all the work.
"Don't you ever rest?" Shamiso says to me as she walks into kitchen, dressed in a
nightdress, a head wrap and a wrapper around her waist. Typical African woman.
"I do rest, that's if there is nothing to do." I respond.
"Ahh, as if the world ever gets boring for you. You are ever monkeying about the
whole place. I thought age would tone down the energy but it instead fuelled it."
Shamiso says as she removes the boiled eggs from the stove.
"My energy has now been directed towards a certain goal. That's where the main
difference between this current me and the younger me." I respond.
"And the drama that you caused yesterday with Candice was epic. She was silent the
whole time. Only muttering complaints that were barely audible. She was the joke of
the night. All of the women were talking about her." Shamiso responds.
"It was not my intention to make drama." I respond.
"Ahh, you and drama! You are always the salt in the food. I don't really think Candice
knew you because if she did, she would have avoided the sulphur that oozes out of
those beautiful lips." Shamiso says.
"Come on, I am a good girl. I don't start drama." I respond in a childish flirty voice.
"I would be sick in the brain and mad in the stomach if i believe that. I know you
and I know how you function. Now let's cut the talking and finish up cooking before
the hungry lions wake up. The men tend to be a nuisance in the kitchen when they
are hungry." Shamiso responds.
"Our third hand slept in today." I say as I start serving the porridge in the plates.
"Or, she most probably has a black eye and is shying away from the world." Shamiso
says.
"Why does it sound like you know something about her?" I question in absolute
shock.
"They were arguing yesterday and I know that whenever Ngoni argues with her, he
silences her. And you know what I mean by that. Now my dear let's get the breakfast
on the table." Shamiso responds childishly. She sounds so care free about it, but it
really bothers me to know that no one is willing to talk to Ngoni about his street
behaviour. I will make time with him and put him straight in his place.
We start serving the porridge, call everyone and we settle down to eat, after eating,
we wash the dishes and get down to preparing some tea and after that we serve it.
And there is still no sign of Rumbidzai. Ngoni enters the kitchen as we are still
washing the dishes.
"Ladies." Ngoni says.
"Where is Rumbidzai?" I question him, as I towel my hands using a dishtowel and I
turn to face him.
"She is in her room. She is not feeling well today." He responds.
"Has she eaten anything as of yet?" I question again.
"No, not yet. That's why I came here to look for something for her to eat." He responds.
"Well, her porridge is here and so is the tea. Make sure she eats everything and after
that she should drink some pain killers." I say to him as I hand him the food and he
walks out of the kitchen.
"And there goes his usual story. So carefully structure, his emotions and tone
perfectly mastered. Well executed if you ask me but then, he forgets that he has
coned most of us with the same story. If he really wants to continue with his thing,
he should get a better story than the one that he is using. I mean, she can't be falling
sick every time she has an argument with him or does something he dislikes."
Shamiso responds. I wash the dishes in absolute silence, trying to find a way to
confront Ngoni about this. After I finish doing the dishes, I take a bath; change into
a knee high dress and a head wrap. I ask for sekuru's Dotson 300 and I ask Ngoni
to accompany me to the shops. We buy a few goodies at the growth point and we
make way to the nearest river. Ngoni and I used to love swimming in this river but
now age has put its leash on us, so there are some things that we can't do. I park the
car near the river and we sit at the banks of the river, our feet dangling in the river.
The soft skin of my feet is in contact with the cold water of the flowing river and it
revives the sweet reminisces of my youthful days. When I was free to do anything….
"Ngoni, what's going on between you and Rumbidzai?" I question, as I sip my not so
cold cool drink.
"Nothing. She is just not feeling well. Now, to speak about something better than my
wife's sickness. When are you planning on getting married? You are getting older by
the day." He says.
"My marital status is not the discussion point here. We are talking about Rumbidzai."
I respond.
"What about her? What do you want to talk about Rumbidzai yet you cook with her.
Ask her the questions and she will tell you what she is comfortable about telling!" he
responds, his voice stern and warning.
"Just as I had figured! You are abusing her." I say.
"Even if I am, it's absolutely none of your business. Get yourself a husband and mind
your own business." He responds, his anger now visibly shown in his face.
"Ngoni, you grew up without a mother in your life, why because she left. She left
because your father was an abusive man. She left and never looked back. I thought
you would learn from your father's mistakes and treat women with respect." I say
"Did you bring me here so that you can fill me up with your nonsense? If that's the
case then I am going." He says as he stands up.
"No, I brought you here, away from the multitudes of people so that we could talk.
So that I could knock some sense into that head of yours, because clearly, you seem
to be blinded or possessed." I respond.
"I am not going to take advice from a woman, worse off a married wild woman who
has an illegitimate child! Go and try that counselling nonsense on someone else not
me." He responds as he stands up and walks away to collect his shoes. He bends
over in attempt to put them on and that when I use a pallet gun and I give him two
shots. One on his buttocks and the other on his leg. He wails like a dying animal and
falls to the ground, cursing and shouting.
"I didn't want to come this far, but for this problem to be solved, i really had to use
such measures, just so as to knock some sense into that head of yours. Now let's
talk like adults." I say to him.
"Fuck you! That's why you are unmarried you piece of shit!" he responds through
gritted teeth, causing me to laugh maliciously.
"Do you really want us to talk or you want to curse me the whole day? That will earn
you some ruffling a bit." I say.
"i am not going to talk to you about anything!" he responds as he puts on his shoes
and stands up to walk away. I fire three more shots, one on his back and the other
one on the other supportive leg. And that solicit an inhuman scream from him and
most probably a bit of some urine. He falls on his knees, cursing and shouting. He
forgets that he is in the bush, so far away from human civilization and all human
activity that takes place in this river, so very few people, if any are going to hear him
scream.
"Ngoni, this is how you make Rumbidzai feel every time that you lay your hands on
her. She feels vulnerable, useless and small. The worst part about all that is the fact
that she can't easily escape you because she loves you so much. You make her think,
she solely depends on your love and that if ever she leaves her will have no one to
love her. I respect your mother's strength. She managed to walk away even after
being treated in a similar way. Worse off, back in the day, it was a total disgrace to
the woman's family if she quit her marriage, but your mother left, leaving you and
two younger siblings. The youngest was three months old. She didn't want anything
that would remind her of your father. Strange how you want to inherit your father's
mistake. Your brothers did not inherit that! They instead inherited his spirit of hard
work." I say and Ngoni just laughs.
"What do you know about married life? You are unmarried and most probably that
son of yours is a product of infidelity with a married man. So you have absolutely no
right to tell me about what I should do in my house and how I should treat my wife!"
he says.
"In fact I have every right to tell you. I am your family. You my dear are my blood
relative and I have to put you in line before I put anyone else. I mean, what type of
children do you want to raise in your life? Do you want your children to become like
you, a man who practices such monstrous behavior?.... tell you what, that wife that
you always beat, will someday react and I guarantee you, it will only end in you being
buried. She will go and serve whatever sentence she would have been given and she
will do so with any remorse, because you killed her humanity. I will come to your
funeral and dance to celebrate your life and I will cook cabbages, bury you, cry and
after that go. Is that what you want? I bet not!" i say.
"Guilt tripping me now hey. Well that does not work with me." He responds.
"I am not guilt tripping you; I am showing you the reality that you will at some point
face if you continue with that behavior... i so heard that you stopped Rumbidzai
from getting a job because you felt like she should stay at home and take of the kids
and not go around prostituting. But as far as i am concerned, your wife Rumbidzai
has a degree in Accounting. You married an educated woman, who dedicated her
youth to education, not some rural girl who dropped out of school because she is
travelling long distances. Rumbidzai fought hard to get that degree. She was an
orphan, being raised by an aunt and uncle, who sacrificed certain luxuries to see to
that woman's future and then you came along with your rotten principals, all in the
guise of being her husband and enforcing law and order in the house. I want her to
start work as soon as possible. Let not her family's sweat and sacrifice go to waste."
I say to him.
"Who are you tell me such sick nonsense? This is the problem with educated women,
who have sucked and fucked so many dicks to get to high posts in life. You blubber
nonsense! And I will not watch my wife become like you. You are a certified
professional prostitute who disguises herself in a sheep skin so that we don't see
what you are doing but your possessions scream it all. I mean, how can an unmarried
woman own a house at an upmarket suburb. Later alone a farm and three cars.
That's clear prostitution. You are using your vagina to your advantage. Good for you,
wait until diseases start attacking that body, all that fake beauty will dissolve away.
I really don't want my wife to be like you!" he responds. Causing me to burst out in
laughter and again I compose myself.
"Point of correction, I am an educated woman. A woman who has fought hard to
acquire a good life through her education. While most of you thought about
masturbating and partying, I was consumed in my books. While most of you thought
about screwing girls and making a chain of unplanned babies, I was consumed in
my books. And my education paid off. I am now living a life that i dreamed of. Now,
getting back to the topic at hand, I want you to change that stinking behaviour and
your progress should be seen as soon as today." I respond.
"Fuck you! I don't take orders from a woman, worse off a prostitute like you!" he
responds as he spits at me. I stand up from my squatting position, wiping his slimy
saliva that he has spat on me. For a moment, I stand here staring at him. A thousand
devilish ideas running through my mind, until finally, I decide to ruffle him a bit and
I do that by kicking him, straight in the testicles. As he screams like a dying beast,
and curls in response the pain he is feeling, I fire two shots, one at his exposed back
and the other on one of his hands that cover the groin. I get into the car, reverse it,
until at last, I am near him.
I take a rope from the car and use it to tie his hands. And tie the other end of the
rope to the back of the car.
"This is something that I learnt in South Africa. Here in Zimbabwe it's illegal, but for
your sake, I will do it. It really wasn't in my intentions to do this but it has to be
done. If you sit on the ground it's your fault, but I suggest you run after the car. Let's
go home. Buckle your sit belt!" I say to Ngoni as I enter the car and start its engine.
I know it's very ruthless of me, but I want him to feel what it feels like to be abused.
It's for his benefit individually.... regarding that I had shot his legs with a pallet gun,
he must be in a lot of pain to walk properly, so if I speed the car too much, he won't
be able to tail along. So I decide to increase the speed in phases. I give him time to
walk and then suddenly i increase the speed again. That way, it will torture him
much more.
I drive on the dust road for a kilometre and a half. I am watching him through the
view mirror. Watching him struggle to walk and later alone run. Of course I don't
enjoy seeing the look on his face, but I have to teach him a lesson. One that he will
never forget. When we approach our yard, I increase the speed for quite a longer time
and tails behind like his life depends on it, until finally we drive into the yard and
everyone, relatives and workers are looking at the scenario like I came home naked.
I park the car under the shade of a tree and Ngoni collapses to the ground, most
probably exhausted or in pain. A number of family members, especially the man
came to intervene but as they near him, I fire a few warning shots at their feet and
they move a few steps back.
"Anyone comes close I will shoot you!" I warn them off as I untie Ngoni from where
the rope was tired and squat right next to him. He is sweaty and covered in dust.
"If you ever repeat what you are doing to that poor girl, the punishment is going to
be more severe than this, so please be extra careful about what you do. It's going to
have consequences." I say to him and after that I turn to the crowd of people who are
staring at me like a mad woman.
"Look everyone, I am not conducting a circus, so please excuse me....oh, another
thing, if you men have a tendency of beating up women, you will end up like him. I
will make sure of that. I have my ways, because no one has the right to lay their
filthy hands." I say to them and after that, push past them and head to the house,
particularly to the room where Rumbidzai is. I don't bother to even knock at the door,
I just barge into the room and I find Rumbidzai watching through the window, most
probably trying to see what is happening with all the commission outside. When I
enter the room, she turns to face me, fear written all over her face and I get the shock
of my life. Her wounds are too much for a single night. A swollen eye and a split lip
characterise her face. Her light complexion make the wounds look more of horrific.
I pull her by her hand without even talking to her and I take her to my room, where
I rummage through Shamiso's things and I find some medical appliances that I can
use to clean the wounds. I make her sit down on the bed and I work on her face.
"A woman should not sit down, watch and relax when men are walking all over her
like this! You are a woman, an educated woman for that matter and you have to
stand up for yourself! If it means reporting him, do so. This is no longer the time
when you have to worry about a man. You have to worry more about those children
who hear you scream, those children who see this bruised face, whenever you and
Ngoni fight." I say to her, as I dress her wounds.
"...but I love him." Rumbidzai responds, in an almost faint voice.
"I didn't say leave him. I said make sure this doesn't happen again." I respond.
"I have spoken to Ngoni about this, well not spoken to him about this, but I have
come to certain clause with him about this. If he is in his correct senses he won't do
it again." I say to Rumbidzai as I finish off dressing her wounded face.
"What did you tell him?" Rumbidzai asks in alarm.
"Nothing much, I just ruffled him up. Nothing that a few days in bed cannot resolve.
He is going to be fine." I say as I walk out of the room and head to the exterior. I go
and sit at a shade, reading a novel and sipping on juice. Living the life.
"You just can't stay out of trouble can you?" Shamiso says as she sits down next to
me.
"I was not causing any drama, I just wanted to iron out a problem and I really tried
to be civil but that guy pushed me straight to the edge." I say.
"The pallet gun. Tying him behind a car and making him track behind a moving car.
Dramatic if you ask me!" she says
"I wanted to make a lasting impression. One that would not give him the chance to
ever lay his hands on a woman." I respond.
"In the process, making the best drama for this Christmas. It was a bizarre episode.
An example to Candice, as to what would happen to her if she ever crosses you."
Shamiso responds causing me to laugh. Simangaliso walks up to us, talking to
someone over the cell phone.
"....hold on." Simangaliso says and covers the speaker and he says.
"Mom, there is someone on the phone who wants to talk to you." He says as he hands
me the cell phone.
"Who is it?" I ask.
"I don't know." He says as he hands me the phone and runs off to join the other
children who are playing.
"hello." I respond as I put my novel on the table together with my spectacles.
"Thank God, I finally got through to you. I have been trying to find your contact
details for a very long time." A deep masculine voice with an elite accent says.
"Excuse me, who am I talking to?" I ask in total confusion.
"Maria, it's me Chris Evans...." he says and my heart races in total shock. How the
fuck did he get this number and what does he want.
"First things first, how did you get my number?" I question.
"I met your sister at her law firm and she gave it to me. At first I had mistaken her
for you. The two of you look so much alike. It's really hard to tell you apart, especially
now that your voices have mysteriously matched...." I cut him off before he says
more.
"Let's hope you didn't tell her anything about what happened because things are
already complicated enough." I say to him.
"Whoa! I am not here to fight with you. I just want to tell you that he is looking for
you and he really wants to see you. Are you in Bulawayo?" he questions.
"I don't want to see him. Tell him that you don't know where I am and keep it at that.
Things are very complicated right now and he would only complicate them further. I
really don't want to sound rude but I hope you will understand. My life is a bit
dramatic at this particular point in time." I say to him.
"He is not asking for too much, he just wants to see your face. If it were possible."
Chris responds over the cell phone.
"As much as it breaks my heart to deny him the chance to see me, it's for the best.
Thank you for the concern though. Have yourself a merry Christmas and a happy
new year." I say and hang up, in the process exhaling in relief.
"That sounded intense, what was it about?" Shamiso asks, looking at me, wide eyed
in concern.
"Nothing major." I respond as I resume my seat and gulp all my juice at once and
after that, I take the book and start reading it. I fail to read a simple paragraph as
my brain straights to the issue that Chris just raised. Even thinking about the issue
makes my heart race involuntarily. A hollow stomach feeling arises and my palms
involuntarily sweat.