The 19-year-old Lukhanyiso walked to his car and picked up Mandlenkosi and locked the car. Noncedo exclaimed as the moon shimmered on Mandlenkosi’s body. This was the first time she saw him naked. Lukhanyiso shot her a piercing glare, silencing her. She cowered out of sight.

Lukhanyiso stood in front of the door, not knowing how he was supposed to feel. The woman he had married and impregnated had disappeared. He had moved on and met Mandlenkosi. Now the woman had returned. Lukhanyiso had started to believe that she was dead after the long, silent, absence. At this point he had made peace with everyone’s absence and that they would never come back again. But now, one of the people who mattered before had come back…with somebody else. He did not know who this other person was. After standing at the door for what seemed like forever, he saw himself turning the key and opening the door while still holding on to Mandlenkosi, literally and figuratively.

The door creaked and he remembered that he needed to fix it. He stepped in and put Mandlenkosi down on the couch. When he turned around he saw her. She had a weary but honest smile on her face. Her skin was pale, and her body was skin and bones. Her eyes were blissful, but tired at the same time. She was draped in an old white dress which looked all worn out but still beamed a bright light. Her left hand held her inflated stomach as the other held the key to the house. Her hair was short and curly. Each second standing seemed painful as her thin legs started to tremble.

“Molo, I thought I’d let myself in,” she said with a smile and weak voice. Suddenly her pupils disappeared inside her eye sockets and her body made contact with the floor as she fainted.

Lukhanyiso carried her unusually light body and placed it on his bed. He rushed out of his bedroom with a blanket and covered Mandlenkosi. Then he went to the kitchen and turned on the kettle. He ran to the garden and plucked out two petals from a purple flower, rushed back in and placed the two petals inside a mug as he waited for the water to boil. He poured the hot water in the mug and waited for the petals to colour the water. As he stood waiting, his arms felt numb and the burn marks were no longer there. Lukhanyiso removed the petals, walked into the bedroom and helped the shuddering 20-year-old woman sit up straight and drink the medicinal water. Her tremors stopped and she fell asleep immediately.

He placed the mug on the floor and sat on a chair facing the door on the other side of the bed. He scratched his head in confusion as he looked at the baby bump and smiled. Naturally, he reached his hand forward and touched the belly with both hands. A gush of emotions overcame him and he began to sob uncontrollably. At first he was angry that she did not tell him about the pregnancy, but smiled after realising it had been a long time since she left him.

“They love your touch” the woman said, looking at him.

Lukhanyiso removed his hands from her belly. “Twins?!” he exclaimed.

“I was shocked too when I found out” she smiled.

Lukhanyiso grinned at the thought of two children, and then asked the one question he always wanted to know the answer to. “Why did you leave me Angelosi? Why did you disappear?” he waited for her reply.

“I returned home… I knew I’d find answers to your father’s whereabouts.” Her smile disappeared and she looked away. “But my stay was disrupted after I was chased out of the village…after I killed iSangoma.” She was quiet, staring at the ceiling, remembering what had happened. “She predicted that I had less than a year to live.” Tears began gushing down her delicate ebony face as Lukhanyiso held her cold hand with both of his. “I couldn’t leave this planet without leaving anything behind. So I took a life for a life; the sangoma’s life for Lukhangeliso’s. One night she killed one of the children. In order to get back Lukhangeliso, I had to take the life of the one who killed him.” Her other hand wiped the excessive tears from her cheeks.

Lukhanyiso stared at her as he processed the news. “You’re okay now. I won’t allow anyone to hurt you anymore. I will protect you and our children” he said with a proud smile. “You are the most powerful witch I know. I am proud of you Liso” he said, as he climbed on the bed and held her gently in his arms, comforting her. “How many months have you been pregnant?”

“This is the ninth month. I am on my last month now.” She smiled at him. “Your father’s whereabouts… he is–” she winced as she held her stomach.

Lukhanyiso furrowed his eyebrows and placed his hands on hers, “No… let’s get you back to health before that. You have your lifetime to tell me where he is.” He comforted her.

“I am losing my magic, Lukhanyiso.” She said with a depressed tone in her voice, “I can’t use my clairvoyance, alchemy, incantations, enchantment, augury, voodoo… and one other unidentified power. But I still feel them inside me; I believe that they got transferred to the babies inside me, the next generation.”

“You are still impressive.” He smiled as he looked at her. “Sleep now, and allow the medicine I gave you to work” he said as he held her closer to himself, giving her the warmth she lacked.

“You still believe in nature? Good. Lukhangeliso and Mangelosi will be happy with you in their lives. Tell them about me. Love them.” She said as she fell into a deep slumber while smiling.

“Don’t talk like that!” Lukhanyiso snapped, “umlomo uyadala (your mouth prophesises) Angelosi.”

She nodded and kept quiet, then fell into a deep sleep.

After ten seconds of silence passed, a knock came from the open door and Lukhanyiso looked up. Mandlenkosi stood in the doorway stark naked. They locked eyes. Lukhanyiso looked alarmed and embarrassed as he looked at his boyfriend with an ‘I was not cheating on you!’ look. Mandlenkosi’s gaze exuded concern and a feeling of intrusion as he looked at the pregnant girl, which triggered a ‘What is going on here?’ look.

“Can you lend me some clothes? Mine could not withstand the beating I took in order to save your life!” he said.

Lukhanyiso removed his hands from the pregnant woman cautiously. He sprang up from the bed, red with mortification. He rushed to Mandlenkosi. Noncedo appeared from the passage and saw Angelosi lying on the bed inside the room Lukhanyiso was coming from. She exclaimed out loud as her hands flew to her mouth in shock.

“Nothing happened… Can you please take care of her?” Lukhanyiso asked as he closed the door behind him.

She tilted her head to the side and crossed her arms as he looked up at him. “Now why would I do that?” she pouted her lips.

“Because you are a doctor,” Lukhanyiso said and she looked far away with her hands on her waist. “She is nine months pregnant and I do not know when she’ll go to labour.”

“Why do you care about those devil babies?” She questioned as she looked at him.

Mandlenkosi glared at the old woman as he hid behind his boyfriend.

Lukhanyiso knew that he was upset and had to talk to him. He dragged his attention back to what Noncedo said. He did want to tell her that Angelosi was a witch even though she was suspicious. “They both mean the world to me. I can’t lose them.” Lukhanyiso said.

“Fine, I’ll take care of them. Oh God, help me,” she whispered before entering the room.

***

Tell us: What would you do if you were Lukhanyiso?