Umendo Chapter 17

Umendo Chapter 17

I decided to go back to work the following day. I applied for a company car which I could use until I got myself another one. I spent a good hour catching up with Langa and Mike. They always manged to cheer me up and surprisingly had more drama in their lives than me. That afternoon Siya came to pick me up so we could go testing for STIs and HIV. We tested for every or most STIs and HIV. I asked to get all our results at once, because I didn't want to be told I'm negative there and then, then to be told that I was positive after the window period. So we had to come back  after after two weeks for our results. I didn't speak to Siya most of the time because I was so angry at him for putting me through all this. I knew I wouldn't be able to forgive him if he had infected me with HIV.  

I told my mother about what was going on and she told my father. I didn't tell them about the car, I decided to tell them when I went over to visit. They were both worried about me. My father doesn't like Johannesburg, so everytime I told him something bad had happened, he always said "Ayilunganga indawo leyo mntanami. Kusiya ngami nga uyabuya uzozihlalela ekhaya. Khona ngizokwazi ukulala ebusuku". So he called me when he found out about imshikashika kaSiya and said "hanti uyabona into engihlala ngiyikhuluma ngayo Meme mntanami, nampo onondindwa baseGoli sebemyengile umkhwenyana". They wanted me to take a break and come home, I told them that I was going to come at once with Siya when he comes to apologise to them. Siya called one of his uncles and explained what he had done and that he wanted to apologise to my parents. His uncle agreed and told him he would get back to him. 

Over the next couple of weeks, I got calls from friends and family checking up on me, it was all too much really, but I know they just wanted to show their support. Siya's sisters called as well, even his father, the only person who never called was his mother. I'm sure she was overjoyed by the thought of having her prayers finally answered. Siya's father is is very quiet, he only speaks when necessary,he is very kind and down to earth. So when he called, there was an awkward silence for a while. I'm sure he didn't know what to say either, but the little he said was more than enough for me. He apologised for Siya's actions and told me that nobody would blame me if l walked away, but asked me to stay strong and not give up on his son. He said that ever since I came into Siya's life, his life had more direction and he knew that it would spiral all the way down if l left him. That's the thing with cheating, you tell yourself that it's just between you and your makhwapheni, but if your secret comes out, not only do you hurt your other half, you hurt the both families and indirectly bring them into your marriage.

I met Siya when I was in university. I met him at a coffee shop where we were doing a marketing project. Me and my two project buddies had gone to meet the shop manager to discuss promotions for the shop. Siya served us coffes while we waited to start our meeting with the manager. He got my order wrong, I ordered a cappuccino and he brought me hot chocolate. He later told me that he had done it on purpose, he had seen me walk through the door and knew he had to find a way to talk to me. Unfortunately for him, I didn't complain, I just drank it and kept quite. He kept coming to ask us if everything was ok, I know you are supposed to check up on your customers, but his was over the top. Anyway, when we were leaving after our meeting, Siya ran up to me and said "excuse me ma'm, I think you dropped something". He gave me a piece of folded paper, I looked at him confused, he smiled and went back to the shop. I opened the piece of paper and it was his number with a note written "Please call Siyabonga Nkomo on this number to discuss your future :-)".  Hahahah, I thought it was cheesy but sweet. I never called him though, I chucked the paper somewhere and forgot all about him. A month or so later, I received a call from him, he introduced himself and told me to remember his name and surname, surname especially because we would share it in the near future. All I could think was, "this boy is crazy". He told me that he had stolen my number from his manager's file, he knew that our numbers would be written down on the promotions file since we were doing their promotions. He told me that he took all three of our numbers, but he thought that I looked like a Meme, so he called me first, and lucky him, he got the right person. Ever since then, Siya would call, text, wake me up with lovely messages, update me on what was going on with his everyday life, tell me jokes, some funny and some just plain cheesy. I told him that I couldn't date him because I wanted to focus on my studies. He told me that he understood and that he would wait until I was ready. He invited me to his church, so our first date was in church. He would call me to wake me up in the wee hours of the morning so I could study, send me motivational messages to keep me going. We went out for cheap meals and movies every now and again if I had a few hours to spare. One day I asked him if he wanted to be make tea and coffee for the rest of his life. He told me that he wanted more out of his life, he just didn't know where to start, and with the money he got, he wasn't sure he could do anything else besides paying his rent, food and transport. I told him that he could do anything if he wanted to, he just had to make a few sacrifices here and there. I advised him to start by getting himself a driver's licence. After he got his license, he asked one of his friends who owns a couple of metre taxis to work for him on his two off days. He initially mentored him, then he worked for him one day a week, then whenever he was off and when he worked half days. I graduated and our relationship started to be serious. I still refused to sleep with Siya, I told him that until I had a ring on my finger, he wasn't getting any. He didn't know I was a virgin, I didn't tell him. 

One day when I was coming from work, I found Siya waiting for me at my place, I lived in Bedfordview then. I was surprised to find him there, he seemed nervous and was a little sweaty. I asked him if everything was ok? He took my hands and said 

"Meme, my sweet Meme. I know ngingumasaka, I dont have much to offer you right now. Ever since I met you, my life changed for the better, I stand here before you with so much gratitude. I am a much better man today because of you. I cannot imagine living my life without you. Please be my wife and I promise you that I will be the greatest husband you could ever ask for and the best father to our children." I stood there frozen, I was in shock, I hadn't anticipated it at all. I mean, he was always talking about what life would be like together in the near future, but I didn't think the future would come by so quickly. My mouth went dry, I forgot to blink, so my eyes became teary. His hands started to shake, then he knelt down and removed a ring from his pocket. "Please say something, please say you will be my wife". I cried and laughed, told him to stop embarrassing me and get up. He said that he would only get up if I agreed to be his wife, and I said, "Ofcourse I will be your wife you silly silly guy, now get up before anyone sees you". The ring was nothing expensive, but it was a perfect fit and special to me.It is inscripted, "My Sweet Meme. Love Siya". So now he jokes that I only agreed to be his wife because I wanted him to stop embarrassing me. I told him that if he had asked me to be his wife hoping that he would get laid there and then, he should forget it because it I wasn't born yesterday. I could tell he was a bit disappointed but he said that he had promised me that he was going to wait until I was ready, so he was going to stick to his words. Two months later we went home for ukuyovela and amalobolo. His father was more than delighted, he said that he was happy that all this had happened whilst he is alive. Siya only paid for ukangaziwe, his father sold his cattle and bathumela abantu ukuba bahambise ezinye inkomo zamalobolo kithi emakhaya. It was only when we got back that I slept with Siya. His shock when he discovered I was a virgin was priceless. My shock when I discovered how painful it is to lose your virginity was priceless too. We moved in together and started to plan our wedding. We had a small wedding with family and friends less than a year after ukulotsholwa.A lot of people were angry that that they were not invited, oh well, you can't please everyone. We took some of the money that we got got from our wedding,some of my savings and Siya's and invested in their first car for their business. Things took off from there and Siya quit both the coffee shop and the taxi driving to focus on their driving school.

My application was approved, I received a company car two days before we left for ekhaya. We flew out on a Friday. Siya, his aunt and two uncles came over the following day. Siya said his apologies, so did his uncles and aunt. He was charged two cows. I know it's tradition, but now his father had to lose two cows because of his son couldn't keep it in his pants. He said he was going to pay his father for one cow, which is understandably but it angered me because we could have used that money for something else.