We arrived in Joburg the following morning with the help of the GPS on Michael’s phone. The house was big, beautiful and there were lots of people outside. Many cars were parked in the drive-way so my mother parked at a neighbour’s front gate. People greeted us as we found our way inside.

My mom, my real mom, was a business woman but she had fallen sick a year ago and had to stay at home. I was told she was so sick she didn’t want her other child to witness her last days, so she sent him to another school in Cape Town, where I come from.

So I had a brother. “Is he here?” I asked my other relatives.

Then one elder called out:”Vusi, come meet your sister!”

Vusi? So he has the same name as my dumb ass boyfriend, I thought. Then there he was, my twin brother… with his mouth wide open just like me! The Vusi I know is actually my brother!

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Uncle Sam as he saw me. “What’s going on here?” asked the elder. “You two know each other?”

Uncle Sam explained everything to them and they were all shocked, I was trembling. I had slept with my brother!

“Sam, I want you to take care of Vusi please. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this when I was still alive but Vusi has a twin sister, I named her Vuyelwa. She was very sick as a toddler so she stayed at hospital for a very long time until one day I was told my baby girl had died. I wasn’t given the chance to see her tiny body or even bury her. I fought in vain to get her body so I can bury her and live knowing that my daughter was resting in peace.

Deep inside I felt that something was wrong, I felt like my baby was still alive. That she was stolen or something, but I eventually lost hope. I know that she is alive somewhere, being taken care of or maybe being abused. Please have the courage to one day tell Vusi that he has a twin sister somewhere. If you wish to search for her, she has a birth mark on her left shoulder.
Love, your sister.”

Uncle Sam read out that letter in front of everyone, with teary eyes. He found the letter in my mom’s drawer that morning. So my mother was right, my mom didn’t give me up for adoption, I was abducted! I went outside crying, Vusi followed me while they proceeded with the funeral. We just stood outside; we couldn’t look at each other. After a long silence he finally said, “I’m sorry Vatiswa… this pains me as much as it pains you”.

I just looked away; I didn’t look at his cuteness this time. My mom had told her older sister, Maria, about me and she searched for me until she found out that I was adopted by a Muloni family in Cape Town. She didn’t tell my mom, which I’m confuses me; she told a close friend of hers who happened to know my adopted mother. The friend and my adopted mother constantly contacted each other since then. That was Aunt Maria’s confession.

I wish I could wake my mom up and tell her that her baby girl is alive, I am alive and well. And with high hopes that I have passed matric, but that’s just impossible. Her little girl Vuyelwa was alive but not as happy as Vusi was. He grew up with the one thing I truly, really wanted; my real mother. But what really happened at hospital that day, who abducted me from my loving mother and how was I adopted? I guess I’ll never know.

The End.

Tell us what you think: Did you enjoy the story? What would you do if you were in Vatiswa’s shoes?