Thando got back to his wife’s house. He found Noxolo still awake and Likhona in bed.

“When were you going to tell me that you are pregnant?” asked Thando. Noxolo froze in silence. “Noxolo, talk!”

Likhona came down stairs to see what was going on.

“Are you guys crazy, shouting at night. What seems to be the problem here?” asked Likhona.

Thando and Noxolo looked at each other.

“Talk!” shouted Likhona. “Noxolo, talk,” she said but Noxolo started sobbing. “Thando?” Likhona looked at her husband.

“Baby! Please don’t freak out, OK? It was just a once off thing, but Noxolo is pregnant with Charles’ baby,” Thando lied.

Noxolo looked at Thando like a stranger and Likhona stared at her sister.

“I thought you were clever,” she said, “I told you about the guy as soon as you moved in here, but no, you carried on dating him,”

“Dating? Were they dating?” asked Thando, hoping that the baby might not be his after all.

Noxolo took the stairs to her room. Likhona got angry and shouted at her. “Don’t you dare walk away from me, you whoe. I lost my virginity months ago. What about you? You’re not like me at all!”

“Baby, no, she’s just a girl, let’s go to sleep and forget about this,” Thando was holding his wife tightly. “Come, we’ll sort this out in the morning.”

The following day Simphiwe was meeting up with her boyfriend as he was away with his soccer team overseas.

“Baby,” said Simphiwe as she hugged Charles, but he wasn’t in the mood.

“Who is the guy?” he asked suddenly.

“Which guy, love?”

Charles became very furious and threw his phone at Simphiwe. Simphiwe looked to see a pictures of her in the front seat of a car, making out with a guy. She didn’t know how or when they were taken but Charles clearly knew everything that happened last night. In the pictures the guy’s face wasn’t clear but Simphiwe’s was clearly visible.

“Who is the guy?” he asked one last time.

“I don’t know,” lied Simphiwe and she got a slap on her face. “Charles, you’re abusing me!”

“O! I’m abusing you, OK,” he said as he approached his bed and took out a gun and pointed it to her face.

“It’s Thando, Thandolwethu Tima, the drama guy,” she said confessed, fearful for her life.

“Good girl,” he said as he went out the door.

Simphiwe ran towards him and tried to take the gun away, begging him not to go. “Please, don’t kill him, please, Charles,”

Charles accidently fired the gun while trying to take it away from her.

“Simphiwe, wake up, look, I’ll call the ambulance, OK?” he went out the house and left her in pain with a wound on her stomach. “Now you are going to pay boy,” he said as he drove out the yard.

He drove so fast that people on the street were frightened for their lives. He passed the freeway like it was the subway and turned to Vilakazi Street to Likhona’s house. Luckily for him the gate was opened and Thando was about to go to work.

Charles came behind and shot him six times. As he was about to shoot Likhona and Noxolo, the gun clicked like a printing machine. He ran to his car and drove off. Likhona was in tears as she went closer to her soul mate. Noxolo stared at her sister as she was coming out with blood running down her legs.

“You see what you’ve done?” Likhona blamed her sister.

“Likhona…” Noxolo tried again Likhona but wouldn’t hear a word from her sister.

Noxolo decided to call an ambulance and it came and picked Thando and Likhona up and took them to the hospital. Later the doctor came and told Noxolo that Thando died on the spot and Likhona had twins prematurely due to the stress, a boy and a girl. She had also died during labour.

“She also said you must name the two babies Likhona and Thando,” said the doctor.

A few months later Noxolo gave birth to a baby girl. She named her Simphiwe after her late friend. She took care of all the children, Simphiwe, Likhona and Thando.

***

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