Memoirs – Chapter Sixty

It was over for me. There was no turning back. Khanyi looked at me in horror. She asked her what she meant by that and Lindiwe immediately said that she was not stupid. She knew when two people had slept with each other and this was one of those moments! Khanyi immediately said, eh sisi you don’t know me! Lindiwe argued that she can smell it. She said I had no shame in bringing my mistresses to my wife’s house. Khanyi said she was not a mistress and asked Lindiwe if by the look on her face she looked as though she was here to play. Khanyi’s face was still quite swollen even now. Why was Lindiwe so insensitive? Could she not see that I was not joking when I explained to her the situation. I told her to shut up or leave because she was being rude to my guest but the woman would not listen. Lindiwe said as a lawyer it was her job to know when someone is bullshitting her! Lindiwe then said,
“Do you know that he also slept with me when I was drunk?”
The way the story turned! Wow now it was me who had slept with her at her moment of weakness. Khanyi said that was not any of her business and that should be reserved for my wife. Lindiwe replied,
“Is that what you were thinking when you were sleeping with him?”
Xhosa woman don’t take shit and before Lindiwe said anything more Khanyi hit Lindiwe so hard she fell backwards! It was like a truck had hit her because for a moment she did not move. Khanyi had hit her with a closed fisted and I actually felt the swoosh of her arm as it pierced at such pace through the air and hit her square on the nose! I am certain she broke it with that one motion!
“When she wakes up, tell the lawyer that she can sue me!”
Khanyi said and walked away!

I did not know whether to run after Khanyi to hug her for what she had just done or help Lindiwe up anticipating what she was about to do as revenge! This was escalating into something that will destroy me. I decided to go to Lindiwe because I did not want her to go after me. She was more volatile than Khanyi. I helped her up. She was crying and had broken lip. At least she was alive!
“I probably deserved that!”
She said rather too calmly.
“I should not have poked her like that and I am sorry!”
She added! Was this woman normal though? Like seriously! She carried on so casually and said,
“I have a problem I need your help on. I think I know what they are talking about though clearly it was misinterpreted! The only way I can win this is if I say we were together and agreed on it as a strategy! Alone it will seem as though I tried to strong arm them as well as tried to score points. You know that the bosses don’t like that!”
She was right about one thing though, very right in fact, when you work for a white company. Much as they say they want you to show leadership they also believe in team work! She had messed up alright!

I told her that I could not help her at the moment because I had to think about this. I was not playing hard to get. She had made her bed meaning that she had to take more responsibility than this. She said she was leaving because she had to go get her nose checked. I offered her my bathroom but she said no proudly out of fear of Khanyi. Speaking of Khanyi, I now had to go and face her! This was not turning out to be a good day indeed.

When I got into the house I found Khanyi had put on her clothes and her bags were next to her! She was ready to leave that much was obvious!

“Where are you going?”

I asked in a panicked state. Imagine, my wife had asked me to go pick her up and if she came back to find that even before she came back from work she had left already she would be suspicious! Khanyi had to stay!

“The way you let your girlfriend disrespect me! I can’t be treated like this!”

Immediately I told that Lindiwe was not my girlfriend. I explained to her our suspension and tried to tell her why she was talking such nonsense!

“Did you sleep with her?”

She asked me and immediately I said,

“Hell no!”

Again I explained how she is claiming I slept with her and I cannot remember for the life of me. I told her I even thought something had been put in my drink but such things don’t happen to guys so there was no way in hell. It’s weird though that speaking to a mistress is sometimes easier than speaking to your wife. I am certain there are a lot mistresses who will testify that usually the married men they cheat with just want to talk.

Khanyi then stood up and said she had called a cab already she was leaving. I begged her to stay saying that it would look wrong. She said she could not stay in such a hostile environment of which I asked what on earth she meant. This place was not hostile. She then burst out and said,

“How do you expect me to stay here? Your wife is my friend and I am in love with you! When we slept together it felt so right and you know it!”

This is why you never have a mistress or sugarbaby! For some reason they fall in love and irony is they already know you are a cheat! Before I could respond I heard,

“Ahem ahem!”

From the direction of the door! It was Zimasa! What had she heard?

****The End****

@diaryofazulugal
Mikeatdiary
Michael Nkululeko Maphoto

Dear Mike

Thank you for allowing us to share our stories this Woman’s Month.

I was abused from the age of thirteen by my step father. I don’t know where my mother found him but I remember when I was young we were very poor and we lived in a shack in Khayelitsha. Life was very tough. My mother was a domestic worker for a foreign family. The man’s wife and two children were killed in a car accident. In time he married my mother. She came from being a domestic to staying the suburbs (Newlands). When I was 13 my stepfather started touching me. At this stage my mother was pregnant with my brother. I remember it was a complicated pregnancy as she was in and out of hospital. I was scared to tell her because she always reminded me of how far we had come and suffered. When she gave birth he started demanding more and more until I told my mother. She cried with me and asked me if I wanted to go back to the shacks because that was what was going to happen if we reported him. I felt so betrayed by her words but at the same time I felt powerless. I started having sex with my stepfather from when I was 15. It was not like he was forcibly holding me down or anything but I felt I could not say no. He never did it when my mother was there though! My escape came when I went to university. He was paying for everything there as I only managed to get financial aid in my third year. As soon as I got my engineering degree I left home and I have never gone back! I don’t call, I don’t write. It’s been seven years now since I left.

That’s my story of abuse.

Thank You

Anonymous