Tawana woke up early. Still, Wilfred wasn’t back home. She called him on her phone. It was ringing.

“Baba, where are you?” she asked after hearing him answer.

“Woman, I will return. Do I have a care fee?” he asked rudely.

“Baba, I was worried. I thought…” she said calmly.

“You thought wrong. I’m good and fine,” he said. “See you when I get home,” he snapped and cut the call.

Tawana was feeling better even though Wilfred was rude. Being married to him, she knew that he was always rude when she asked questions. She got up and bathed. After dressing in her two-piece viscose, she went to make breakfast for the twins. She could hear Angela singing in the shower. Agrippa came and sat, dressed in uniform.

“Ma, is Baba gone?” he asked, dishing himself mealie meal porridge.

“No, he didn’t come, but he will come tonight,” she answered smiling.

Angela came in fixing her tie. She was feeling happy and had a glow on her cheeks.

“Why are you smiling today? Is it a boy?” her mother asked sitting down and drinking tea.

“Ma, a boy? No, it’s my commerce test. I passed,” she said excitedly.

“Wow, my daughter, you make me proud,” her mother said in delight. They ate their breakfast in silence. Angela and Agrippa went off to school. Tawana swept her home as usual and sat to read her book. She dozed off and woke up when she heard a car outside. It was Wilfred. He looked different, dressed in clothes she had never seen before.

“Baba, welcome. You never told me where you were,” she said as he sat on the sofa.

“Why would I tell you? I can do what I want. I am not your child,” he hissed as he went to the bedroom.

Tawana was shocked by the way her husband spoke to her. She couldn’t digest what had happened. Wilfred came out with a suitcase. Tawana stood up wanting to know what was happening.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Where I want to go,” he answered rudely.

“What about the money?” she asked, following him.

Wilfred went out and packed his suitcase in the boot of his car. Tawana followed her. She got hold of his hands, but he pulled it off.

“Am I paid yet? I will bring it. Back off! I will be late,” he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Where are you going?” she asked calmly.

“That’s none of your business,” he shouted, pushing his wife. Tawana fell on the ground.

Wilfred was changed, and he never even looked back. He got in the car and drove off. Chipo, their neighbour, saw Tawana fall and came to help her stand.

“Are you OK?” Chipo asked.

“Thanks, I will be fine,” Tawana answered, before walking into her home.

Chipo looked at her and shook her head, sighing.

Tawana sat on the sofa crying. She knew her husband had a ‘small house’ somewhere. There is no way he packed his clothes and changed just like that. She soon cried herself to sleep. She thought about their good and bad times, about what could have made Wilfred want another woman, about the children. Even money, he wasn’t going to finance them anymore.

This woman is a very big witch, Tawana thought when she woke up and checked the time: it was only after 3.
She stood up and went to the kitchen to cook lunch for the twins. She felt sorrow and agony overcome her. She cooked sadza and Matemba as it was all she had in the house.

Angela came back smiling as usual. Tawana didn’t eat, but she dished up for the twins.

“Ma, I passed my Business Communications too,” she said excitedly.

“Great. I wish your father knew you passed,” she said sadly.

“Ma, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“It’s your father. He has changed,” she answered, trying to hide her tears. “He didn’t come home last night. He has a woman, I think,” she said sitting down.

Angela came and held her mother. Tawana sat crying and hugging Angela. Angela couldn’t bear seeing her mother cry.

What has happened to our loving dad? Now Mom can’t stand alone. I will have to help ma, Angela thought. Tawana told Angela what had happened in the morning.

“We will be together in this, Ma,” she said softly.

“I have to work hard. I will pay fees with the money I had and then we will buy and sell stuff. That’s how we will survive,” Tawana said mutilated.

Agrippa came in the door to find his mother and twin resentful.

“Did someone die?” he asked concernedly.

Tawana told her son about their father. Agrippa went straight to his bedroom. He was ballistic. When Angela and Tawana cooked dinner, Agrippa sneaked and left the home quietly so that no one saw him. At dinner time, Tawana called and found no one in his bedroom.

“Ma, Agrippa is very angry,” Angela said, amazed.

“Yes, I know. He could have told us where he was going,” she answered, perplexed.

They ate their dinner quietly, bewildered with everything that had happened.

“Baba is cruel, Ma,” Angela said while washing dishes.

“Maybe I deserve it,” she said, beginning to cry

Angela sat down with her mother. She comforted her mother and wished Agrippa could do the same. He just disappeared. They thought maybe he went for some air. Their home was unpleasant. Funny how everything changed in a blink of an eye.

***

Tell us: What do you think will happen to the family?