Nothando runs up the stairs and bursts into the flat.
“Precious–” she says, then stops in surprise. There’s a man sitting on the couch next to Precious. She can’t see who it is because Precious’s head is blocking the man’s face, but she presumes it must be the blesser.
As she comes closer to them, she gets the shock of her life. The man looks just like her foster father, Mr Ntuli.
No, what I’m seeing cannot be true! she thinks, wiping her eyes to make sure they’re seeing properly. She looks again, and it really is her foster father.
“Dad! What are you doing here? Dad – you were kissing my friend … I just cannot believe this!”
Mr Ntuli says nothing, just sits there staring at her with a look of shock on his face.
“How long has this disgusting affair been going on?” Nothando asks him. “Does Ma know about this?”
Mr Ntuli tries to answer her, but he is still too shocked to speak. No words are coming out. “Aaaah ahh,” he mumbles.
“Nothando! What are you doing here?” he finally says, his eyes all over the place with panic. He is doubly dismayed that Nothando, who knows him as a loyal and loving family man, should be the one to find him out.
Precious is also confused. “Do you guys know each other? Tell me what’s going on,” she says.
“Mr Ntuli, your blesser, is my foster father, Precious.”
For a moment nobody speaks.
Nothando cannot hold herself back, she is so angry with Precious.
“Ma Ntuli accused me of dating her husband – she threw me out because she thought it was me – but it was you all along! You are a slut, Precious. I cannot believe you did this under my nose.”
“I’m sorry, friend, I did not know it was your foster father.”
“You are sorry?” Nothando goes up to her friend and slaps her hard.
“Nothando – what you doing?” cries Precious.
“I’m slapping some sense into your head!”
“Stop it, ladies!” Mr Ntuli tries to separate the girls and stop their cat fight. But they are both too angry.
“Nothando, you have no right to call me a slut, because you are no better yourself. Are you forgetting about your blesser Mr Khumalo? Hhe!”
“This is shocking, Nothando – you have a blesser?” says Mr Ntuli angrily.
Precious interrupts him. “Is it true? You are really Nothando’s foster father?”
“Yes, she is my foster child.”
He takes up his blazer and cellphone and heads for the door.
“I will call you, Precious,” he says. “And wena Nothando – you shut your mouth about this, you hear? It’s none of your business. I will fix it on my own.”
He walks out, leaving an awkward silence in the room. Neither wants to talk first. After a few moments Nothando speaks: “I am going for a walk, I need fresh air.”
***
Tell us: Do you think Mr Ntuli is a hypocrite? Why?