“All our children are a disgrace, but you must not tell your other neighbours,” Gerald said with a sigh, and then he gave Melody a weird stare. His fingers were running on his moustache back and forth.

Melody was dishing up pap and African cabbage. Lovemore was in his bedroom, and Martha was nowhere to be found. Gerald could not believe what he had heard, and he was still digesting the news. Martha, on the other hand, had taken a walk after she noticed that her father was furious about her marriage. She took a walk to avoid him telling her about how wrong she was had been to get married.

“How could she get married without lobola?” Gerald asked, shaking his head in disbelief, but Melody just looked at him and continued dishing. He stared at her, wondering why she was not responding. “Hey … My wife … What is going on? You knew about this?” he asked, jumping from the chair furiously and pointing at her with his index finger. It swung to-and-fro at her, and he licked his mouth and rolled his eyes fuming.

“Sorry baba, I did not know how to tell you,” Melody responded sadly in remorse.

Gerald grabbed her hand, and she dropped the wooden spoon she was holding. “Woman, what did I tell you about secrets?” he hissed.

“You also have secrets we don’t know about,” Melody fired back.

Gerald frowned with his mouth, as if he was going to bite her to punish her. He did not like being talked back to. Melody could see the anger in his eyes, and she knew that if she were prey, he would have eaten her alive.

“The dowry was not paid,” Gerald shouted.

Lovemore got alarmed by the noise so he stood up and rushed to the kitchen. He then suddenly felt a sharp pain in his bum, and something warm came from his anus. He thought he had messed his pants, but he saw the red colour and knew it was blood. He fell with a thud on the ground. Martha was coming in through the door, so she rushed quickly to check on him, but he was already unconscious.

Martha rushed to the door, and Melody noticed something was on door. She could not speak, but her mouth was open and she was breathing hysterically. She had never seen something like that in her life. She made a thud loud noise with her hand, and she heard her mother talk and made another thudding noise with her hand on the door.

“Baba, I’m sorry! I knew you would be like this, that is why I never told you,” Martha pleaded, hoping he would let her go.

Gerald finally let her go, but he strolled left and right with his hand on his chin, as if it was going to help him solve the issue.

“Baba,” a voice yelled from outside. Martha banged the door again. “Baba,” she said, looking back at her brother and realising he could be dead. He was not breathing or moving. She cried silently, and her tears were escaping from her eyes slowly.

A loud scream echoed, and Gerald quickly removed the chair from door and he was shook by what he saw. Lovemore was bleeding from his back, lying on the ground.

“What happened?” Melody asked, panicking, and she knelt down beside her son.

“I found him like this,” Martha responded, hyperventilating. She did not look back because she wanted to puke. Melody checked Lovemore’s pulse, and she shook her head firmly.

“I will call the ambulance,” Gerald said, searching for his phone in his pockets.

“Baba, that will take long. Look for a car. Mthembu has a van. Quickly go to him,” Melody said in a shaky voice. She then dragged Lovemore’s head on her thighs. She saw blood on his back and sobbed.

“Martha, don’t just stand there, do something,” Gerald shouted as he stormed off in a hurry to seek for help.

Instead of responding, Martha fell on her knees and wailed, alerting the neighbours. Her cry made Melody cry louder, and the neighbours were convinced it was a cry for the loss of a loved one. They all came rushing and stood around Melody and an unconscious Lovemore, muttering to themselves. Some of them were disappointed and other had empathy. The crowd grew in a few minutes, and loud sighs, cursing, and disgruntled mutters echoed

“I knew he would die,” one neighbour said.

“He deserve it! Did he think he would live after what he did?” another neighbour said.

“Whether good or bad, he was a son to them,” one neighbour said.

There was a moment of silence for a while when Mthembu’s van glided inside the gate. The sound of Lovemore’s sins rose up in a chorus as his body got carried into the van. Melody had her hands folded and Martha hung her arm around her shoulders while getting into the van.

***

Tell us: What do you think is going to happen next?