Dynamics
It’s been few days since Julie had come to visit Lee-Ann where things didn’t really go according to plan since she was shown the door. As Lee-Ann is deep in thoughts, she is disturbed by someone turning on the key at the door gate. It’s Simo walking in, accompanied by his Mlu and JB, and his aunt Zandile. She didn’t expect them so soon. She knew Simo would be out soon but she didn’t expect it to be today and so early. Quite frankly they also didn’t expect her to be here in this place. So there’s an awkward moment of silence in the room as no one seems to know what to say to another.“Well, I think we should give you guys a moment to talk, alright?” Zandile breaks the silence as she indicates to Mlu and JB that they should go outside as they leave Simo’s bags right there by the door. They leave Simo there confused and not knowing how to approach all this. A lot has changed since he had that accident.
“Well, forgive me I didn’t know you were coming today” Lee-Ann says nervously. “Otherwise I’d have fetched you myself” she lets out a nervous smile which Simo also returns as this is just as nervy to him as it is with Lee-Ann. “Nah, it’s okay thanks, the guys had that covered” Simo says as he looks down.
There’s another awkward moment of silence.
“Excuse me for a second” Lee-Ann breaks it as she leaves Simo standing there and goes to the bedroom for a moment. She comes back with her suitcase and a bag, much to Simo’s shock. He didn’t expect all that. Lee-Ann comes over and stands in front of him, her eyes locked on his. Another moment passes by as they look at each other.
“Look, I will just get out of your way so that you can have the space that you need, okay” Lee-Ann says with a trembling voice, still with eyes locked on Simo. They are now teary as this moment is very tense and emotional. She breaks the eye contact as she grabs her bag and suitcase and turning towards the door, but Simo holds her hand. Lee-Ann stops and look at the hand that holds her back and then looks at Simo, who looks like he has a teary eye himself. He lets go of her.
“uhmm, you don’t have to leave” he says nervously. “I think we can try to find...” but he Lee-Ann cuts him off, “Nah, it’s okay” she says. “I think it’s better this way. It will allow you time to heal good okay. So I’ll be out of your way” tears drop from her eyes. “Where will go?” Simo asks. “I mean like I said, it’s no trouble if we shared….” But Lee-Ann cuts him off again, “Yeah I’m sorted thank you” she says boldly. “My friend Melissa has sorted me out so I’m good” she says as she picks up her belongings and walks towards the door leaving Simo standing there with mixed emotions, not knowing what to make of all this. It is not what he expected at all. But Lee-Ann turns around just before she opens the door,
“I’m really sorry about everything that has happened” she says with teary eyes. “it was never my intention. None of it was my intention. I never meant to hurt you. But I truly meant to love you” she concludes as she turns around to open the door, leaving Simo with no words to say. He rest does want to say something but words can’t seem to come out of his mouth. But then Lee-Ann turns around just one more time, “Oh and please tell Mlu and JB that I’m sorry. And that Mlu should see Julie urgently.
She may have something to tell him” she turns around and walks out. As she walks outside she goes passed JB, Zandile and Mlu who are all surprised to see her carrying her bags. As soon as she gets in the elevator, they head inside the apartment.
They find Simo still standing there in confusion. “Hey man, what the hell happened?” JB asks curiously. But Simo doesn’t respond to that. Zandile comes closer to him as she feels sorry for him, “Son, are you sure you don’t want to go after her?” she asks with a low voice. But Simo doesn’t respond to that as he sits down. They all come and sits down to hear him out.
“Well, she said I should tell you guys that she’s sorry about everything” Simo says, much to everyone’s amazement and confusion. But Simo continues, “Oh and she said I should tell you young man” as he looks at Mlu. “That you should go see Julie urgently. That she may have something to tell you?” he says to a wide eyed Mlu who is confused by that. “She said what?” Mlu shouts as she goes over to the window to see if Lee-Ann’s car is still in the parking but he discovers that she’s gone. He comes back and sits down. “There’s no way in hell I’m going to see that bitch, okay?” he shouts “did she forget what that woman almost did to me or did to you?” as he looks at Simo. He’s furious.
“But what could she want to say? Don’t you think you need to find out bro?” JB jumps in to calm his friend. “You know what, I really miss the old JB who would have told me to not entertain that girl,” Mlu says in frustration. “Not this JB that is suddenly becoming a mediator” but at this JB only just laughs.
“Well at least Lee-Ann kept this place clean” Zandile says as she looks around the place. “Look, boys let me make you something to eat and then we can figure this out okay?” she says as she goes over to the fridge, “Ncoh the poor girl did try you know” as she looks inside. “She knew you were coming and she packed the fridge with food. Simo you got to give her that you know?” she says but Simo just ignores her. He’s still confused about this whole situation that has just happened this morning.
Over at the Stain house Julie’s parents Ben and Stacey have come to see Morgan and Debra, concerning Julie’s pregnancy. They are sitting outside on the lawn under the tree as it a scorching hot day this noon. “So Julie is not terminating the pregnancy?” Debra asks Ben and Stacey, who look at each other, which creates an awkward moment.
“Well, she doesn’t want to terminate the pregnancy” Stacey says with a worried voice. “She thinks that’s not her decision alone. She hasn’t even told this boy that she’s pregnant so she can’t just have an abortion” she looks sad. “But why does she care? She doesn’t even like that boy so why does she care if he knows or not?” Debra jumps in as she looks at Morgan to see his reaction to that but Morgan just keeps quiet. “Well I really don’t know what’s going on with my baby girl Debra” Stacey says with a trembling voice. “This pregnancy seems to have changed her. She’s quiet all the time. She hardly ever talk to us, always locked in her room. The person she seems to talk to is her brother, David” now she’s sad.
“But what do you guys think of the pregnancy itself?” Morgan jumps in as he looks at Ben. There’s a moment of silence as Ben sighs. “Well if she wants to keep the baby, we can’t stop her, can we?” he says. “I don’t think we mind being grandparents, do we?” he says as he looks at Stacey who feels cornered with that question. But Ben continues, “It doesn’t matter how we feel about that boy but Julie is our daughter and she’s carrying our grandchild. We can’t change that. So whatever Julie decides we shall support her 100%, isn’t that right darling?” he says as he looks at his wife again. But Stacey takes a moment to think and then says, “Of course. We have to support our daughter throughout all this” as she looks away as this brings another moment of discomfort.
“Okay so what can you tell us about this boy though?” Ben asks curiosity. “I mean how did this come about? How does he know Julie?” he looks at Morgan and Debra, who in turn look at each other. “Well, his name is Mlu” Morgan says. “he is friends with Lee-Ann’s fiancé, ex fiancé or ex-boyfriend or whatever the case is at the moment” as he looks at Debra. “To our knowledge, they weren’t in a relationship or anything like that. They just had a mutual friend in Lee-Ann, so…” but Morgan is cut off by Stacey, “So what? Our Julie was going around the townships having one night stands with black men and ended up getting pregnant?” she asks seemingly annoyed at this whole thing.
Morgan looks at Debra, not knowing how to respond to that but his wife jumps in, “We don’t know really?” she says nervously. “Julie would normally go with Lee-Ann to these parties where Simo, her fiancé would invite her. So probably that’s where Julie and Mlu met” she says much to Ben and Stacey’s shock. There’s another awkward moment.
“I think you should give Julie some time to go talk to this man and then whatever comes out if that you can decide what to do” Morgan says to Ben who looks at his wife and then nods. They then go on to enjoy drinks to cool down in this crazy heat.
***
Over at Ben and Stacey’s house, Julie hasn’t been the same since she found out she was pregnant. She keeps to herself a lot, she hardly ever leaves her room. Her parents are worried sick for her and the baby but she just doesn’t like talking about it.
“So, have you decided what you are going to do with this situation sis?” David asks a dejected looking Julie who has been in bed under blankets most of the day. In fact, it’s been like this for her most days than not. “It’s not a situation bro” Julie says as she sits straight in bed. “It’s pregnancy. It’s a baby okay?” she touches her tummy. “But to answer your question” she sighs deeply as she looks at the ceiling. “I have decided that I am keeping the baby” she says, much to her brother’s shock, who comes to sit next to her and her hand. But Julie continues, “and I don’t care what Mlu decides to do but I am keeping my baby” she touches her tummy again and this time she becomes sad. “But of course I will tell Mlu about it. He has a right to know about this” she concludes as she looks away.
“Is he taking your calls now?” David asks. “I thought he blocked your number. And what are you going to say to him?” he is curious but Julie takes a second to think about it. She gets out of bed and goes to stand by the window to look down at the lawn.
“Yes he blocked my number” she sighs deeply. “But I have to find a way to get to him. He needs to know about his baby. I can’t ask Lee-Ann, Simo or JB to help me with that, so I really don’t know D but I have to find a way”
She says as she comes back to sit next her brother. David looks at the pain in his sister’s eyes and feels bad about it, “Okay sis, I got to ask you something and please don’t be mad at me, okay?” he says, much to his sister’s curiosity who keeps quiet and listens to what he has to say. “Look, why is it so important to you that Mlu finds out about this? I mean, you could just go on with your life without telling him and let him find out his own way. After all, he’s the one who blocked you, so why must you be the one going through the trouble of letting him know?” he is curious but Julie senses there’s more to what her brother wants to say,
“So what’s your point exactly, D?” she’s impatient. David takes a second and try to find words, “I guess what I’m asking is, are you hoping that Mlu will be happy about this pregnancy and want to raise it with you?”
David’s question is followed by awkward silence. Julie is trying to find an answer to David’s rather unexpected questions. “Julie, are you in love with Mlu now?” he folds his arms and looks at his sister right in the eyes but Julie tries her best to avoid eye contact. If there’s one person who knows when she’s lying, it’s her brother. Julie stands up and goes by the window again.
“Look, I’ve done wrong by Mlu” she says with a regretful face. “I accused him of rape. I laid charges. I blackmailed his best friend to break up with my cousin, which resulted in him being in a car accident. But this,” as she touches and looks at her tummy, “This has changed things. It has taught me something about life that there’s more into it than anger” she comes back to sit next to her brother who hadn’t moved an inch from the bed even though he was paying attention.
“I don’t condone what happened to mom and dad D” she continues. “but I’ve been so caught up in rage that I didn’t care who I was hurting. All I wanted was revenge. But this baby, D….” she looks to the ceiling as if she’s looking for words as her eyes brighten up, “This changed my life. How I see things. How I feel. Now all I care about is the love I have for my baby and how much I’m committed to loving him or her”
At this, David is sort of feeling emotional himself as a little tear fall down his face as he smiles, “Wow sis, listening to you saying all this just warms my heart. I’m really happy for and I’m happy that you have given me a chance to be an uncle” he grabs Julie and hugs her for a moment. At that the moment becomes emotional as Julie herself starts crying. But eventually they break the hug.
“Well that moment was good but you still haven’t answered my question,” David bursts the bubble. “I asked if you love Mlu?” as he looks at his sister in the eyes. Julie is not impressed by this, “Look, it doesn’t matter how I feel about Mlu but we share a baby now and that connects us. So yes, I suddenly feel a certain way towards him as a result. He probably despises me at the moment and he has every right to. He didn’t deserve what I did to him. So how I feel about him now doesn’t really matter I guess” she says as she looks down in sadness. “But all that matters now is my baby that I love very much” she smiles at the thought and David smiles back at her.
“Okay, let me just say this, okay?” David says. “I’m behind you 100% sis okay. I will be with you all the steps of the way. I’ll be part of this pregnancy journey. Whether mom, dad, Lee-Ann or Mlu decide to not be part of this, but I will be and I promise to be the best uncle in the world” as he says that, tears fall from Julie’s face as she leans on her brother’s shoulder.
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