One day Phelisa was alone at her place as Mandisa was at school. Her friend was in the neighborhood. She weakly woke up and bathed. She wore and packed some of her clothes and stood by the door looking for her friend Lindiwe. She shouted at her and Lindiwe came to her with lots of questions in her mind. She was wondering why an ill person would carry a bag as if she was going somewhere. Phelisa told her friend that she had to go back to Matatiele to do traditional rituals so that she would get better.

She also asked her to take good care of her daughter until she came back. Of course Lindiwe promised to take care of Mandisa. When Phelisa arrived at home she found Sizakele living with her grandmother and they were poor but they could afford some things. When she arrived she was tired in a way that they had to help her eat her food in bed.

After they had finished feeding her she said there was something that she had to tell them. But she couldn’t utter any words when she opened her mouth. Her eyes started rolling and she died.

This was a predicament for Sizakele to lose a parent exactly a week before her exams. They buried her without getting to know what Phelisa wanted to tell them. They never knew where she was coming from and where Mandisa was. They tried to look for Mandisa but they did not find her.

By this time Mandisa moved from her mother’s shack to her mother’s friend’s house.

Lindiwe had four children with her husband. They were self-employed but managed to get some things for their family. They sold everything that belonged to Phelisa. They did not know that she had passed away. She had to take care of Mandisa as she promised her friend that she would look after her.

That year ended and Mandisa passed with flying colors to Grade 3. It turned out that Sizakele passed her matric but unfortunately the very same day, she received the news of her grandmother’s death. This meant that she was not going to varsity and had to find a job as she was dependent on her granny’s grant. Luckily she found a job at a supermarket as a cashier.

After twelve years in Cape Town Mandisa was still living with her mother’s friend and now she passed her matric but could not further her studies due to financial problems. So she stayed home with an admission to a bachelor’s degree with distinctions in Maths and Physical Science. She later was kicked out of the house by her mother’s friend, claiming that she was struggling to get money for her and her children.

“You should go and make a living, you are very old now,” said Lindiwe.

Mandisa did not know where to go. She had no relatives or anyone that she knew who could help her. She walked up and down the streets of Cape Town not knowing what she was looking for. She slept at the street corner with no blankets, cold and hungry, until a certain woman woke her one night and offered her a place to stay for as long as she wanted.

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Tell us what you think: What do you think will happen to the two sisters now?