XI:Single but not searching

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As Teliwe cried over her mother’s rejection, Lemba sat in the hotel’s restaurant with a curvy and beautiful woman, his blind date. Her name was Leah.

“So your sister tells me you have a birthday on Sunday. Can I crash the party?”

“How about I invite you instead?”

“That sounds better,” she nodded as she sipped her wine and studied the handsome man before her. He wore a snug-fitting penguin rev waffle shirt over a pair of jeans that showed off his long and firm leg muscles.

“What about you? Why are you still on the shelf?” he asked her.

Leah let out a throaty and amused laugh. “Oh, that is a story for another time—if you will ask me out again?” she said.

Lemba stuffed his mouth with the roasted duck they were eating. Leah smiled sadly. She had hoped there would be a second date. “I was joking, so take it easy. I know you just came out of a relationship, and I doubt a serious relationship is what you are looking for right now.”

“If it is okay with you, can we just be friends?”

“Sure,” Leah said even though she was a bit disappointed. She cut into her meat and looked up at him. “So what is she like?”

“Who?”

“The girl on your mind.”

Lemba chuckled and looked up at her guiltily. This was his sister’s idea of setting him up on a blind date, but he had tried his best to be polite even though all through the night, he kept thinking of Teli. There was nothing wrong with Leah. She was a great woman from what he had learned so far about her, but she wasn’t Teli.

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be. Whoever she is, she is a lucky girl,” she told him.

The two chatted like they were old-time friends as dinner progressed.

After dinner, Lemba waited with her in front of the hotel as they waited for the valet to bring her car.

“It was a wonderful night,” she said. “Take care of yourself.”

“Drive safely,” he said to her and kissed her on the cheek. She got in, and he waved her off.

Left alone, he looked up at the stairs that were above him. This was where he had met Teli almost two months ago. He sighed heavily at the thought of her. He had searched for her in every possible place, and to date, he had come up empty. As he drove home, he began to wonder if he would ever meet her again—or if he should just accept the situation for what it was: a one-night stand.

When he got home, he changed into his gym clothes, went out to the back, grabbed his basketball, and played some hoops. His mother, who watched him from the kitchen window, couldn’t help but sigh.

Edmond walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water. He followed his wife’s worried gaze. “I take it we are nowhere near finding this Teli.”

“No,” Edna said. “And it’s driving him insane. Do you think he will ever find her?”

“If it’s meant to be, it will happen. Don’t worry about him. He will be fine. Spoken to Chonta yet?”

“No,” Edna said. “It’s unbelievable that a mother can do that to her child.”

Chonta had narrated to them how Teli had ended up at the orphanage. Edna had been so angry and had shed tears as the tale unfolded. Her children were her everything. She couldn’t understand why any parent—a mother, for that matter—would just up and abandon their child.

And what she found so disheartening was the fact that even after all these years, Teli still held on to the belief and hope of seeing her mother again and rekindling the relationship they once shared.

Edmond put his glass down on the table and reached out to his wife of over twenty years. He pulled her close and kissed her forehead. “Have I ever told you how much I love you, Mrs. Zimba?”

Edna reached out and touched his face. She shook her head as she smiled. “No. I don’t think you have, Mr. Zimba.”

“Don’t you ever doubt my gratitude for all that you have done for me and the children. You, my dear, are and always will be the greatest treasure that this family will ever have.”

And he meant it. Hearing the heartbreaking story from his cousin about Teli and her parents had made him realize how lucky he was to have a wife that loved him and their children.

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The next morning, Teliwe sat in the corner of the white sofa in her chalet and stared out of the window as the workers worked. Chonta stood by the door and watched the girl.

“Teli, do you want to talk about it?”

Teliwe was quiet for a while, and Chonta thought maybe she had not heard her. “Teliwe?”

“Do you think I have changed that much?”

“No…”

“I think I have,” she answered her question as if Chonta had never spoken. “Maybe I look like a different person, so she couldn’t recognize me.”

“Teli,” Chonta said and hurried to her side. She sat next to her and took her hands. Teliwe stood up and went to the table that had pictures. She picked up one from her childhood, taken just after she had gone to the orphanage.

“If only I had this with me when I saw her. She would have recognized me.”

The wistful look on her face and the hopefulness in her voice broke Chonta.

“Teli, don’t do this to yourself.”

“When I see her again…”

“Teli…”

“She will know it is me then. She will recognize me. She just has to.”

Chonta shook her head sadly. Teliwe stared at the picture in her hands, then hugged it close to her chest.

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“I was hoping you would say more than just ‘fine,’” Easineya said to Leah as they walked to her office. The two worked for the same hospital. Leah was in the legal department. “Add a little flair, Leah. You can do better than ‘it was fine.’”

Easineya opened the door to her office, and the two walked in. She waved to the visitor’s chair for her friend as she went around the desk.

“I am sorry, Easi. It’s all I can say. Your brother may be single, but he is definitely not searching,” she told her.

Easineya was taken aback by the information. “What?”

“Come on, Easi. I didn’t get to be where I am by being gullible. You can tell your friend that he is still into her.”

“Leah…” she began apologetically.

“It’s okay. You are forgiven. I had fun. He is a nice guy. Tell your friend she is a lucky girl. I am sure she too is still in love with him.”

“I am sorry. It wasn’t my intention to deceive you.”

Leah brushed her apology off with her hand and stood up. “I will go ahead. I will see you on Sunday at the party.”

Leah left, and Easineya pulled out some patient files to work on, but her mind kept thinking of her conversation with Leah. Her brother was confusing her. If he was still in love with Nacilele, why did he break up with her?

A knock on her door pulled her out of her thoughts. Nacilele walked in before she could answer. Her face was swollen, and tears rolled down her face.

Easineya pushed her chair back and hurried to her friend. “Nasi? What happened?”

“I am not ready. I can’t let him go—I made the biggest mistake of my life. Please, you have to help me,” she cried as she gripped her friend’s hands.

“Nasi?”

“I shouldn’t have let him go. I shouldn’t have agreed to the breakup. You have to help me get him back. I still love him, Easi,” she cried.

Easineya wiped her friend’s tears and hugged her.

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Nsemiwe hurled the glass of wine at Pumulo, who ducked as it crashed behind him against the wall. Sibeso, who stood at the top of the stairs, watched in shock at the happenings in the lounge. She was witnessing and confirming the rumours that were circulating about her son’s troublesome and temperamental wife.

“Don’t you dare, Pumulo! Don’t you dare defend that floozy, sloven woman to me!”

“Teliwe a floozy? Really? That is you!” he yelled. “I will defend her with every ounce of blood in me. I will not let you hurt Teliwe. What right do you have? What?”

“Because I know you are still in love with her!”

“So what? Why should that surprise you? Don’t be a joker.”

Sibeso hurried down the stairs into the lounge. “Ah, kids…”

“What the hell did you think would happen, huh? Did you think I would just stop loving her just like that?”

”Yes!!!”

Pumulo rolled his eyes.”Unbelievable,” he muttered under his breath.

”You are married now. You should be loving only me instead.” Her outburst carried a note of plea.

Pumulo took long strides and covered the distance between them.”It will be a cold day in hell before I can ever do that.”’

”You bastard!” she yelled and hit at his chest.

He held her hands firmly.”Get a grip of yourself woman.” He hissed at her.

”I am your wife, you should be loving me and our child.”

”If you so much wanted someone to love that thing in you, you should have gone on and married the bastard who put it in there!” he hissed to her face, pushed her away and walked out. Sibeso stared from her son to her daughter in law torn with whom she should offer her help to first.

”Nsemiwe….”’ She began.

”You better talk to that son of yours,” Nsemiwe cut her off as she wiped her tears away.”If he knows what’s good for him and this damned family, he will be a little nice to me.”

Nsemiwe headed upstairs to her room. Sibeso hurried outside and found her son at the pool area. He stared into the water.

”Pumulo?”

”Leave me alone mother,” he said quietly.

”What is wrong? What happened?”

”What happened? Seriously mother. Are you asking me that? What happened?” he barked.

”I just don’t understand what’s going on.”

‘Since that woman reemerged in my life, my life has been a mess. I can accept my fate cause I made this decision. I chose to marry her, nobody held a gun to my head. I will leave with the consequences but I will not let her ill-treat Teliwe,”

”What did she do?” she asked as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.

”Isn’t it enough that the only person that ever made sense in my life is in pain now because of me but now she even has the guts to humiliate her in public? I won’t stand for that.”

Thinking of what his wife had done to his ex-girlfriend had his blood bubbling. When he had married Nsemiwe for her money to save the family company resulting in him breaking Teliwe’s heart, he had asked for one thing only, for Teliwe to be left alone. It was his only condition, he was ready to live a loveless marriage and accept her child as his but Nsemiwe had played a fast one on him.

”Son.” Sibeso began and reached for his hand.”You have to appreciate Nsemiwe’s situation. You are married to her, she is your wife but you still think of Teliwe. Your defending her is not helping things,” she tried to reason.

She knew Teliwe and had liked her for her son but life happened. She was guilt for the situation at hand and was sure, hell had a special place for her for causing an innocent woman pain as she had for money.

Pumulo pulled his hands away from her and glared at her. Sibeso flinched from the anger and pain she saw in his eyes.

“Appreciate what?What about Teliwe mom? What the hell do I care for Nsemiwe’s feelings? She means nothing to me. Nothing!”

”Don’t say that. Time changes things,” she said more to herself than him. She had been trying to convince herself since she had agreed to take Nsemiwe’s money in exchange that her son marries her and give his last name to her child that at some point, he would learn to love Nsemiwe.

”Time will never change anything,”’ he said to her in defeat.”That woman is vile and poisonous. You better talk to her mum, she knew what she was getting into when she agreed to this. She has no right to complain. None at all. Tell her to leave Teli alone or I swear, there won’t be a moment’s peace in this house.”

Sibeso watched him go hopeless. She looked up at the house and found Nsemiwe glaring at them from their window as she sipped from her glass of wine.