She arrived at her flat a little after 7 p.m. Gosh, traffic was horrendous!

To top it all off, that was a very long queue at the all-night convenience store. Phew! She was sweating and smelling like a pig. Eew!! She hastily put her grocery bags on the kitchen counter and went to take a quick shower. Once refreshed, she started preparing the light meal she had planned for her guest who was probably on his way right now. The meal was nothing fancy, just Mexican tortillas and some salsa – both store bought.

She didn’t expect that she would be so forward and end up asking Peello to come over to her place. She hoped she wasn’t being too forward. Once again, her mind drifted back to her ex, S’khumba. His real name, by the way, was Nkanyiso Booi. He was the love of her life and unfortunately he was and still is definitely not the “one”. Both her parents and his thought that she would be Mrs Booi one day and had high hopes for the young couple’s relationship.

Little did they know that their envisioned son-in-law would one day break their precious daughter’s heart. Zamo can remember that day very vividly as if it happened only yesterday. Her mother had asked her to go draw water from the community tap and also pass by Mam’Tolo’s spaza shop for a few slabs of red meat.

“Uthathe nokuba yeyiphi sana lwam. Uqiniseke nje qha ukuba intle kunezinye uyeva nontombi?” (Take whatever is there my dear. Just make sure that it’s nicer than the rest.)

As soon as she left the house, she decided to make a detour through the field where all those wild flowers grow throughout the year.

She was in a very romantic mood that day and besides it was their 2 year anniversary. She wanted to make the day so special for her man so much so that he never forgets it. Skipping along the pathway to the field, she saw two young people who seemed to be whispering sweet nothings into each other’s ears and interlinking fingers.

Zamo had visions of her and her man sharing the very same moment inside his small back room at his parent’s house. As soon as she arrived at the field, she started picking up random blooms but very careful to pick the bright, cheery ones. Once done, she carefully positions them inside a special wrapping paper planning to leave the bouquet outside her home while she deposits her mother’s goodies on top of the kitchen table and the bucket of water against the side of the kitchen door.

In her head, she had planned her route and how she will manage a five liter bucket, a bouquet of flowers and a slab of fresh meat. Having decided on her route and management thereof, she made her way to the spaza shop. On her way to the community tap, she saw the same couple she had spotted earlier. And lo and behold! It’s the Juan Don of the village! Zamo was livid and went straight up to the couple who were oblivious to the storm that was brewing.

“Nkanyiso Booi! Wenza ntoni apha? Ngubani lo? Uyajola ngoku Nkanyiso?” (What are you doing here? Who is this? Are you cheating now?) He was stunned into silence and his new girlfriend was so scared, she ran away.

If Zamo had an inherent violent bone in her body, she would have slapped the taste out of his mouth. She just stood there, tears streaming like a river down the valleys of her face and asked, “Ngoba, Nkanyiso? Why did you do this to me? Why?” she tearfully asked.

“Ndiyaxolisa s’thandwa sam. Bendingazimiselanga ukukukhathaza kangaka. Futhi lamntwana lowa andimthandi. Ndithanda wena qha,” (I’m sorry my love. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Plus I don’t love that girl, I love only you.) he pleaded. She looked away and started walking back towards her home. As a parting shot she shouted,

“Hlukana nam nja ndini! Andifuni ukuphinda ndikubone Nkanyiso Booi! Undophule intliziyo ngaphayana kokuqonda! Ngaphezulu koko, uyandonyanyisa maan sies! Nxa!” (Leave me alone you dog! I never want to see you again. You broke my heart beyond repair. Even more, you disgust me!)

He ran after her.

“Zamo baby, yima ndikucacisele. Ndiyakucela s’thandwa sam. Please. I’m begging you, let me explain.”

Zamo just carried on walking, hot tears streaming down her face, the path to her home getting blurry by the minute. Along the way, she couldn’t wrap her mind around what just happened. When she arrived home, her mom took one look at her and knew that it was boy trouble.

“Yiza ku mama, sana lwam. Thula sisi.” (Come to mama my baby, hush now) was all she needed to say and Zamo felt better already. Just those kind words only a mother can utter in the most compassionate and loving way. She made some tea and they sat sipping in comfortable silence.

“Sana lwam. Kufuneka umyeke lo mfana xa ezakuvisa ubuhlungu obungaka. Vula intliziyo yakho ulungiselele lo ozakuxabisa. Mthandazele mntwan’am; umcele umlingani Kuye uSomandla.(My child, you must let this boy go if he causes you pain like this. Open your heart up and prepare for the one who will appreciate you. You must pray for him, ask God for him.)

That was almost five years ago and she hadn’t forgotten her mother’s advice. Could Peello be the man she has been praying for? She didn’t know but would soon find out. Sure enough, the doorbell rang and she knew who it was. She decided to ask anyway, “Who’s there?”

“Hey Zamo, it’s me. That guy you like so much, Peello. Can you open please? The weight on my arms is killing me.” he said charmingly.

“Ooh, what do we have here? Two bottles of Moët? Are we celebrating something?”

“Just our first official date.” he chuckled lightly.

“Hear hear!”

“So, there’s something I have been meaning to ask you. Are we dating now?” he asked

“I really do like you and yes, I guess we are!”

“Can we seal it with a kiss?” he drew her towards him and they kissed.

Zamo felt like she was floating on the softest pillow of clouds and got lost in his chocolate cavern. Just the touch of his warm hand made her shiver like a leaf. She inched closer and closer, wishing this delicious kiss would go on forever.

“You’re so beautiful…” murmured Peello looking straight into her coffee coloured eyes.

“Thank you. You’re beautiful too…” she replied kissing his full lips. She felt she was quickly getting carried away and excused herself to fetch the snacks she had prepared and placed them on the dining table where she had setup for the light meal.

While having their light snack, he proposed another toast. “Another toast…”

All giggly, “Another one? To what?”

“Your smile…You should smile a lot more you know? It brings out your cute dimples.

They both chorus, “Cheers!”

“I’ll tell you what, let’s move over to the couch and I’ll put the movie on.” said Zamo.

“Which movie is it?”

She grinned, “It’s a surprise. Just sit back and relax.”

“Mmh. Okay, will shall see. I hope you chose well.”

“Never fear my dear Watson. I’m a GGM. A guru of good movies.

They both sat on the couch and soon the movie started. Indeed, this was a well-chosen one! He was enjoying the action immensely. He could watch Morgan Freeman and Nicolas Cage movies over and over again. Zamo was delighted to see how much he seemed to be enjoying himself.

No sooner than they had comfortably snuggled under the covers, the movie ended.

“Hey Zamo! Not bad. Not bad at all! I’m actually really surprised! I would have never penned you down for an action type of girl!” he exclaimed.

“Well, there’s a lot more you don’t know about me Mr Mikane.” she said smiling sweetly.

“I plan to find out. Right now though, I need to move. I have a meeting with my sub-contractors in about an hour. I’ll call you, okay babe?”

She stood up and cleared up the table.

“Okay babe, I’ll talk to you soon then. Come, I’ll walk you to the door.”

At the door, she leaned towards him, wanting to feel his lips crushing on hers. They kissed very passionately and both felt the same things moving in their nether regions.

“Bye baby, I’ll call you as soon as I’m done there.” He brushed his lips on hers one last time, gave her a quick hug and off he drove in his sleek motorcar.

Left alone in her empty flat, she wished he would come back and cuddle with her. She also wished she could just pop an IM to her friend, Samke but she couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. After that awful night, they did meet to try and resolve their issues. Samke refused to apologise. And her reason? She said she can’t nullify something that is true. She added as a parting shot, “It’s the reality of your sad love-life; you should own it!” And that was that. Zamo hadn’t heard from her since.

After all those months of debating with herself about her ex, the day finally came when she boarded a bus home to face S’khumba. That was her sole mission apart from seeing her family after such a long time in the city. She was hoping to find closure this time around. Travelling and sitting in one position for close to four hours was no joke!

She was sitting next to an old lady who wouldn’t stop talking about the good old days.

“Ewe, mnt’omkhulu. Akusafani nakukuqala. Yinyani le ethi izinto ziyezibiza ngokubiza kulemihla.” (Yes, gramps. Things are not the same as before, It’s true that things are getting more costly now) She decided to only give short answers. Hopefully the granny would get the message and let her be.

She started drifting off to sleep, making a point of facing towards the window but the old lady didn’t notice and carried on with her chatter. Zamo then yawned very loudly and pretended to be in a deep sleep. Still, the chatter continued relentlessly. Thankfully, the old lady disembarked soon after and Zamo was finally able to catch a few winks before her stop.

About an hour and half later, the bus halted at her destination. She collects her belongings and disembarked. She then hailed a taxi that would take her straight to her home front yard. Her arrival was welcomed with ululating aunts and cousins. Her mom and dad were just behind the small crowd and looked quite sad. She couldn’t understand why. All of these people were joyous yet they looked like somebody had died. What’s going on?

“Mama. Tata. Kutheni kubukeka ngathi nidakumbile nje? Kwenzeke ntoni? (Mom, Dad, why do you look so down? What’s going on?)

The parents looked at each other as if the one was daring the other to say something. Eventually, they both said, “US’khumba usishiyile. Uswelekile mntan’am.” (S’khumba is gone, he’s passed away.)

Zamo was stunned into silence. She sat down right there on the dirt and cried.

***

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