Taken By a Mafia King by Hlengiwe Mathebula (best way to read books txt) 📕

we’ll see and he walks out. The driver or bodyguard walks towards me. He tells me that what his boss wants he gets. I got the same impression about him but he won’t get me. I look at the time it’s 2 in the afternoon. Two more hours to go. I’m not in the mood to see my dad, but I have to go home. I keep working and before I know it it’s 6PM. I close the workshop, I’ll have to walk home. I check my phone there are no missed calls or messages, is Bonga dead? I know I’ve been ignoring my dad but the fact that I should be home by now and I’m not and he doesn’t call to check up on me doesn’t sit well with me. When I turn to the road he’s waiting for me. Now that he’s waiting I’m mad at him and I pass the car and I walk home. He drives behind me, I’m grateful. As soon as I get home, I shower and head to bed not without locking the door. I’ve been sleeping for like what 5 seconds when my phone vibrates under my pillow. Who’d text me at 11PM? Maybe it’s Bonga. I have an MMS from an unsaved number. Who’d text me during this time? Because I’m curious I open the message. There are photos with the following caption: If you say no one more time your dad is next. And you’ll be watching.

Watching what? I download the 2 pictures. What I see next has me screaming my lungs out. Bonga is cut into pieces his head is placed in his chest. I hear my dad yelling telling me to open the door. I’m too numb to even walk to the door. This is the first time I hear my dad yelling. I don’t know how long I’ve been screaming. I stop screaming when I see my door on the floor. My dad and some of my neighbours are standing here me looking with worry written on their faces. Momo suggests they look at my phone but I take it before they do.

“What’s wrong?” my dad asks me looking all worried. I don’t want to tell him they will want us to go to the police and the guy probably has the justice system on his payroll. I’m raking my brain trying to come up with an answer.

“I had a nightmare” I just tell them. I see them sighing. They are relieved but my dad can see right through me. I apologise for waking them up. They apologise for the door and they leave with the promise to check up on me the next day. I try to sleep and I can’t. My dad decides to take a chair and he sits in my room looking at me with so much worry.

I toss and turn for 5 hours. At 4AM I eventually fall asleep. My dad left 2 hours ago, he looked tired. I told him to go sleep he didn’t want to at first but he kept falling asleep so it was pointless. I wake up at 11AM there’s an incoming call it’s Bonga’s mom.

“Yebo sawubona ma” I answer.

“Zeh, it’s Bonga. His wife found him slaughtered when she came back 10 minutes ago” she tells me crying. Bonga had a wife?Surely Bonga’s mom is distraught. I’m too tired and emotional to talk so I tell her that I’ll come by later and I hang up. I fall back asleep. My dad wakes me up at 1 in the afternoon. He made me lunch, I thank him and I head to the shower. I take a quick shower. I wear a red knee length dress and I walk to Bonga’s house, it’s 4 streets from my house. There are so many people, his sister tells me that his mom is in her room. I walk there and she cries when she sees me. I hug her, I can’t help but cry. I’m hurting and I feel super guilty. If I didn’t say no to that guy, Bonga would’ve lived.

“No, it’s not your fault” she tells me wiping my tears.

“Yes it’s not your fault. You didn’t kill Bonga”

“What?” I ask them confused.

“You just said it’s your fault” his mom tells me. I freeze for a minute. I don’t remember saying that. We don’t say anything else to each other. I sit with his mother for some time, when more neighbours come in I go to the kitchen to help his sister Thobeka with whatever she’s busy with.

“Bonga had a wife?” I ask her and she chokes on her drink.

“Yes he paid lobola for her late last year.”

“And I didn’t know?” I ask her getting angry.

“It wasn’t my place to tell” she tells me looking anywhere but my face.

                        ******

Bonga’s wife got here while I was still helping his sister in the kitchen. Yesterday was his funeral. Everything went well. I was introduced to his wife as his childhood friend and she has heard a lot about me. And I didn’t want to cause any drama I just got along with her and I was one of the many speakers. It was so hard but I did talk and I cried throughout the service. It was very sad. I’m taking a break today, I’ll go to the workshop tomorrow. I took a leave since Bonga died and I’m glad to say my customers have been very understanding.

 

My alarm rings at 5am. I need to wake up and for the first time since I started working at the workshop I don’t feel like going to work. But I have to. My clients have been understanding for the past week and I can’t take advantage of that. They need their cars today or tomorrow. I can’t stop thinking about Bonga. I can’t believe he had a wife and I didn’t know. God I’m so stupid. I wake up, take a shower. When I walk out the door my dad is sleeping on the couch he has been watching me all night since the day I received the pictures. I wake him up so he can go sleep on his bed peacefully. I take his car and leave. I get at the workshop at 6:45 and there are 5 people waiting for me. I greet everyone and I open the roller door. I do all the administrative work after 30 minutes I start working on the cars it looks like I’ll be able to finish today before 5PM. My stomach grumbles after I finished working on the 5th car. I look at the time it’s still 9am been up for so long in my mind. I thought it’s already mid-day. My body is tired but I have to work to keep my mind off things. Bonga’s betrayal cut very deep. A whole wife and I didn’t know. It doesn’t add up we always talked at 8pm and we always said love you before we hung up. Where was the wife then? I’m so deep in thought with the spoon half way through my mouth when Mr. Deep voice decides to grace me with his presence. He’s all smiles like he didn’t kill my boyfriend and sent me the pics of his chopped corpse and threatened to kill my dad. Bustard. I ignore him, that’s probably the dumbest thing but guess what? I don’t care.

"How have you been?" He asks me smiling. Such a beautiful smile if he wasn’t a murderer I’d be charmed and I’d definitely smile back.
"What do you want?" I ask him annoyed.
"We need to discuss our wedding that’s in a month" he tells me looking very serious I choke on my food. What?
"I can’t marry you" I tell him getting emotional.
"You can and you will. Unless you want your dad to follow your unfaithful boyfriend" he tells me dead serious. I don’t answer him instead I walk to the next car that needs to be fixed. I’m trying to see what the problem is when he walks over to me. I’m trying to work here I feel like screaming. My phone rings it’s my dad.
"Hello" I answer.
"Zeh I just got a letter from the Khumalo family. Why didn’t you tell me the good news? Are you that angry at me?" He asks seriously but I know he’s smiling judging by the way he’s talking.
"Khumalos? I don’t know anyone by that surname may..." I don’t get to finish that sentence when the guy chokes me.
"What did I tell you" he asks me.
"How would I know your surname? This is a bad idea"

“Are you okay?” my dad asks. I nod forgetting that he can’t see nodding so I tell him and we’ll talk later today. I apologise for not telling me sooner I wanted to surprise him. I hate lying to my dad and I did twice already.

“I don’t even know the little things about you. My dad is going to ask me questions” I tell him.

“I’m Zwelibanzi Melusi David Khumalo” that’s all you need to know. “Don’t bother telling me about you. I know everything” he tells me smiling.

“What exactly do you know?” I ask him, actually I’m challenging him.

“You’re Zekhethelo Zethembiso Mazibuko. You turned 24 on September the 25th. You live with your dad your mom left 20 years ago with Joe your father’s best friend. Your favourite colour is black. You just finished your BA in Literature at the University of Johannesburg. You dated that bf of yours for 4 years though you’ve known him all your life” he tells me smiling. My God if he wasn’t a murderer I was going to fall for him. I want to ask him so many questions but it doesn’t look like he’ll answer me so I just continue working on the cars and he keeps trying to help like he cares. Maybe he does. Stop lying to yourself. A girl can dream right?

“Look I need all the information I can get about you. My dad is going to ask me questions so if I don’t even know the smallest things then he won’t allow me to marry you. I know you said he’s next. I don’t want to lose him so I’m marrying you so my dad gets to live not because I want to. I hope you remember that” I tell him looking around my tools for a screw. He doesn’t say anything.

We talk the whole time trying to get our story together for the sake of my dad. I work until 6PM. I thought today wasn’t going to be a long day. I need to walk home and Zwelibanzi won’t let me. I don’t feel comfortable with him dropping me off, it’s disrespectful and I know my dad won’t like this one bit. I agree because every time I say no he keeps threatening to kill my dad and I can’t take that chance. So I agree. Ten minutes later I’m home and the whole family is here my grandparents, 7 aunts and 4 uncles, they hug and kiss me. My grandma tells me how proud she is she thought I was going to die single. It’s a beautiful night. My dad didn’t tell them about my mom or they don’t want to talk about it.

“Did baba tell you that Nonhle came by twice with her family?” I ask them looking at my grandma. Judging by the look on her face, my dad didn’t tell them and I wonder why. All eyes on my dad, my granddad looks super angry if he was still a child I bet he was going to give him some serious hiding. I continue eating. Don’t get me wrong my dad is a very good cook by my grandma is the greatest. I enjoy her meals more.

“When did Nonhle come here?” my granddad asks me. He’s too mad to talk to my dad, I think.

“Few weeks back” I tell him. I start