“You should talk to Lovemore,” Melody complained quietly. “He is always bringing different women into my home.”

“But you are his mother, so talk to him,” Gerald responded, then sighed.

Every time Melody brought up the issue of Lovemore, Gerald got irritated. He had tried reasoning with him about his behaviour, but he would not change. Lovemore always changed his emotions.

Lovemore had dropped out of school in Grade 7, and started hanging around bad crowds. He was never good at any subject at school, and Gerald thought that he would maybe do handiwork instead. While his siblings attended school, he was busy selling cannabis. He used to make some profit that he sometimes brought road-runners and some groceries home with, and Melody would appease him gratefully.

Now days, no one bought Lovemore’s weed because many had searched for greener valleys in the city. As a result, he hung around the bar, drank, and returned home, where they would find him on the floors, even in the kitchen or their pit toilet.

Gerald was visited his wife at the end of month because it was his leave at work, and they were sitting in the kitchen while she made breakfast for him. She had fried fresh eggs from the chickens, and had baked traditional bread for him in the ground. To make the bread, she had dug a hole, put hot coal in it, and then put her dough in a pan. She then covered it with hot coals, and the bread would cook, because that was how people in the village baked.

While Gerald and Melody were busy, a sharp thudding knock echoed from the door, causing Melody to panic. Gerald impatiently jerked and opened the door. A girl, aged 12, came panting into the door, and held the threshold.

“Aunt … aunt … Lovemore is in the kraal sleeping,” the girl said.

“What has that boy done? God, why did you give me this useless son?” Melody said, looking up as if she was speaking to God, and then clicked her tongue. “I’m coming,” she added, turning to face the girl.

The girl rushed away, and Melody looked at Gerald, who was busy sipping his tea as if he was not troubled. “Baba, come help me with L …” she tried to beg, but he interrupted her.

“You spoiled him, so I will not interfere,” Gerald said, then swallowed the food and gulped his warm tea.

Melody rushed out while fixing the cloth covering from her waist.

“That boy will give me a heart attack,” Gerald said. “I can’t stop enjoying my meal for this idiot. Just look how fresh the eggs and bread are. Foolish boy,” he insulted Lovemore while angrily looking at the plate.

Gerald hated his son’s behaviour, and he had warned him that his actions would have consequences. He suspected that he usually spoke to him when he was always high, and that he could not tell when he was not high or not. What pained him was that he had a bastard of a son. He then licked his hands and wiped them with a cloth, and then he heard sniffing from the door. It was Lovemore hanging on his mother’s shoulder. He was drunk, so she put him on the chair.

“Baba, this is getting serious,” Melody said, sitting next to Gerald. “Lovemore nearly raped that girl who came earlier. The family want us to pay a fine.”

Gerald could not believe his ears, and he fumed and clenched his fists. If only he could beat the hell out of his son, but he would never change anyway. “If he does this again, let him get arrested,” he shouted angrily.

“He is our son …” Melody said, worried and protesting, but Gerald interrupted her.

“He is not my son, he is an embarrassment,” Gerald said. “What will you do if he rapes a girl? Are you going to protect him? The village will chase you out, I ‘m warning you,” he added, angrily pointing at his wife with his long finger. He then stood up and clicked his tongue. “If he does not learn now, he needs to learn the hard way,” he said, and then he let out a sigh and stormed out to rest in the bedroom.

Melody threw her hands on her face. “Lovemore, what should I do with you? You cannot be like other man in the village. All the ones who used to play with you have left to go work, and you … Nonsense,” she said with a deep breath, and then threw her head up and covered her face with her hand.

***

Tell us: What do you think about Gerald’s treatment of his troublesome son?