Chapter 13: When all fall apart
"Thank you for agreeing to see me, I know this is the last thing you wanted to see in your life"Katlego says to Sbu who sits on his swinging chair at his office. Few weeks have passed since Katlego found out that she was pregnant and these days she avoids being around a lot of people in case they discover her secret before she has solid story to tell them. Not knowing who exactly the father is between friends Sbu and Jabu is putting a lot of pressure on her. But the question is, for how long will she keep this a secret?
"Katli I thought I had told you before that you and I can never do this again" the uncomfortable Sbu says as he tries all he can to avoid eye contact with Katlego who is looking at him dead in the eyes. "I told you that you and I will never be together Katli and I thought you also agreed to it" as he raises his voice. "I won't let you ruin things between me and my wife, you hear me?"
But Katlego decides to cut Sbu off, "Look here Ndimande, that is not the reason I am here okay?" she says. "I'm here because there is something that you and I have to discuss. You may not really like it but nevertheless we have to discuss it" still looking at him in the eyes.
This statement seems to make Sbu curious, he is wondering what could she possibly wanting to discuss with him. Could it be about his wife? Did she see her with the MEC again? he is asking himself. But then he looks at her in the eyes as well as if to say Well, I'm all ears! He can read in Katlego's eyes that this is something serious. Suddenly he becomes a little nervous about it wondering if what he thinks is true.
"Katli, what is it?" he asks with a curious voice. Suddenly Katlego pulls away from eye contact as she tries to find ways of saying this. She sits on the edge of the chair that is opposite Sbu's across the table. She is a nervous wreck.
"Uhmm, okay" she says looking at Sbu with regretful eyes. "You remember the day I had come to see you here at your office at night and we ended up, you know, uhmm, doing..." she doesn't know how to put this but Sbu cuts her off, "Yeah, yeah, yeah...what about it?" he says impatiently. He wishes she could be out with it already. "Well actually just before then I had started dating this guy and..." Katlego doesn't finish as Sbu cuts her off, "What guy?" he says. "Just some guy okay?" Katlego says as she shrugs her shoulders. She seems irritated by Sbu interrupting her. "I was dating this guy even though we weren't sleeping together and..." she doesn't finish as Sbu cuts her off again, "Look I don't want to know about your *** life okay?" he says.
"Will you please just shut up for a minute?" Katlego shouts in frustration. "Please don't interrupt me again" as she looks at Sbu who shrugs his shoulders as if to say, Okay you got it, please continue. Katlego sits up straights once again as if she is trying to remember where she was with the story.
"Alright, so the night I came here you and I made love on this table right here" she says looking at Sbu with eyes of passion and a smile but Sbu, one more time cuts her off, "Just ***" he says. "We had *** Katli" as he looks into her eyes without showing much emotion. "Okay geez, we had ***, alright?" Katlego says as she throws her hands in the air in frustration. "The point I was making is that after you and I had...***, we had an argument and I left here very upset. And yes, I had a few drinks after but I then went to see this guy I was dating" as she says that she looks a little embarrassed by it as she tries to pull away from eye contact with Sbu.
"Me and this guy, uhmm let's just say we had very steamy and passionate *** at his house" she says much to Sbu's shock as he almost falls from his swinging chair. "You what?" he shouts. "So you had *** with both of us on the same night? Wow Katli, how low can you really get, huh?" he really can’t believe this.
"Listen I didn't come here so that of all people can judge me, okay?" Katlego says with a low and sad voice. "What I came here to tell you is that a little while after that night, I discovered that I was pregnant, so it could happen the baby is yours?" That statement sends Sbu tumbling to the floor as he falls off his chair. This is the last thing he needs in his life right now. "What? What did you say to me?" he shouts as he gets off from the floor to sit back on his chair. "I said, Sbu, that I'm pregnant and the baby could be yours or the other guy" Katlego says with a low and embarrassed voice. At this point she is really struggling to look at a furious Sbu in the eyes.
"You are going to abort this baby, right?" Sbu asks with wide eyes, much to Katlego's shock. "Hey look here Katli, I am not losing my wife over this, you hear me? I am not losing my wife over this. So you better abort that thing in there or else..." he doesn't finish as Katlego cuts him off with a rage, "Don't you dare talk to me like that, Ndimande" she shouts. "And don't you dare call my baby a thing.
Now listen here, Sbu" as she looks at him in the eyes. "I am going to keep my baby, whether it is yours or not okay? You will not tell me what to do about it" as she stands up to go stand by the window to look outside down at the road. Sbu follows her and stands next to her, "Katli look, I'm
begging you okay, please don’t do this okay?" he begs. "How will my wife, who happen to be your best friend feel about this, finding out that her best friend whom she trusted is pregnant with her husband's child? Don't you think that will kill her?" as he raises his voice. Panic is written all over his eyes. He is even sweating with dread. He can't believe his whole world is about to come crumbling down.
"Look Sbu, first of all we don't know if this baby is even yours" Katlego says as he goes back to sit down but Sbu follows her and pulls another chair to sit next to her. Katlego can see how this has really caused panic on this guy, "Look, the other guy also begged me to not terminate the pregnancy, okay? Because this baby actually be his as well"
At hearing those words, Sbu panics even more, "What, did you also tell him about..." he raises his voice, wide-eyed but Katlego cuts him off, "Don't worry I didn't tell him about you or who you were" she says calmly, "But I told him that the baby may not be his just like I'm telling you now. I also told him to not tell anyone, and he promised. But now that I have told you this, it's really up to you if you tell your wife or not Sbu" as she pulls away from eye contact, in shame. "I wronged Buhle big time. I will definitely lose her friendship and I can't really blame her. I betrayed her and I know that this is not a situation I can just fix like that. She deserves better" she is suddenly teary about it.
"But if I tell her this I will lose her Katli, what part of that don't you understand?" Sbu says in frustration. "Look, eventually my tummy will show and my friends including your wife will know I'm pregnant okay?” Katlego says calmly. "Of course I can tell them it's just a one-night stand kinda thing. Well if it turns out that the other guy is the father, then all the better for it. But if you end up being the father, then you think your wife will then forgive you for lying all this time?"
At hearing those words, Sbu goes to the door and opens it, "Please leave Katli" he says calmly much to Katlego's shock. But she doesn't say anything. She takes her bag and goes out the door without even looking at Sbu who closes the door and goes back to sit at his desk with his hands on his head.
He just can't believe this has happened to him. How does he even begin to deal with this? he looks around the office and then goes over to the side table and pours himself a double of whiskey.
***
Somewhere else Lumka is having dinner date with Bheki at a restaurant that is surprisingly not full tonight. It looks like these two can't help themselves as they see more and more of each these days. For Lumka, it is really about thrills as she really loves dating men with some sort of power, married or not. But for Bheki, this isn't as comfortable for him as he is a well-known government person who is also a tenderprenuer. But maybe most of all is the fact that he is a well-known married man whose wife was recently on the news after the recent shooting. So him being here may raise a few questions with the media about his marriage. does he really care? It sure doesn't look like.
"Are you sure it's okay be sitting and having dinner with me here instead of being with your wife?" Lumka says with a cheeky smile as she takes a sip of her wine. But this joke doesn’t seem to please Bheki that much as he says, "That's really not funny you know."
Lumka just smiles and not push that any further lest it spoils the lovely dinner. "Look, me and my wife are friendly okay? We, just like any couple are going through stuff but, I really dont want to talk about that okay? Why don't we just focus on us tonight?" Bheki says with a smile as he sips on his wine as well. At that, not wanting to drag this any further Lumka just nods with a smile and takes another sip.
While these two are enjoying themselves, someone was watching them from a distance. Lindiwe had come to this restaurent, seemingly by accident as it were, to meet a potential investor to her business. But as she was about to leave, her eyes couldn't believe what they saw. She decided to not go to them like a stalker wife but she stood there from a distance to observe.
***
Buhle is at the Hospital and as usual the place is so busy with patients needing her attention. Lately she manages though to make time for her family. Things couldn't be better between her and Sbu and she doesn't want anything to jeopardize that at moment. She also hasn't been talking to Tendai lately, let alone see him. Even though the MEC would call or text at times, she'd just ignore him. She figures, saving her marriage is more important than keeping a fling.
As she is busy with a patient a nurse comes to her in one of the cubicles, "Dr. Ndimande..." she says. "Yes nurse, can you please check this patient's vital signs and draw bloods so that we can run some tests" Buhle responds as she writes something on a patient chart. "Uhmm, doctor..." the nurse says nervously. "Doctor Dickson would like to see you in his office right away" as she looks away. "Oh, Okay" Buhle says curiously, wondering could that be about. She takes off her gloves, washes her hands and heads to Dickson's office. In the hall way she is wondering what this is about, trying to recall if she'd done anything wrong. Nothing comes to mind.
She knocks at Dickson's office and is let in. "Hi Dr. Dickson, I am told you want to see me" she says nervously. "Oh yeah Dr. Ndimande, please come in and sit down" Dickson says as he points to the chair opposite him across the desk. Buhle skeptically obliges as she sits down.
"Uhmm, Dr. Ndimande I wanted you to hear it from first that..." Dickson searches for words to say.
"Uhmm...Dr., your husband was in a car accident" as soon as he says those words, Buhle almost falls from the chair with shock, "Oh my God, what?" she screams. "Uhmm Dr., please try to calm down" Dickson pleads with her but she's not having it, "Oh no! Oh my God no! Not my Sbu, please no..." she's inconsolable as she starts crying. "Dr. Dickson, where's my husband? I want to see him, please!" she begs helplessly. "Uhmm, I'm sorry Dr. you can't see him right now and..." Dickson says but he doesn't finish as Buhle cuts him off, "What do you mean I can't? That is my husband, damnit" she shouts.
"Look Dr., Mr. Ndimande is in ICU. He was injured badly. Currently, he is in theatre going through operation so I can't let you in there. You know the rules Dr." Dickson says with a low voice understanding the pain that she might be going through.
"Dr Dickson I beg you please, please let me see my husband" Buhle says as he is crying uncontrollably. "I'm sorry Dr, I really am" is all Dickson could say as he stands up and head towards the door, leaving it open. Buhle remains seated there crying.
After a couple of hours Buhle's friends had come to the Hospital when they received a call from their friend. They find her sitting in the waiting area outside the ICU, she is besides herself. Her eyes are red; panic is written all over her face. The moment she sees her friends, she stands and goes straight to Lindiwe and hugs while tears fall down her face. She starts crying all over again. After a little while they break the hug and then Buhle turns to Katlego and hugs her. Finally, she hugs Lerato who says to her, "Shhh...It's going to be okay my friend, you hear me? It's going to be okay" as they break the hug.
Buhle then, begins to tell them what happened and all of them are shocked by this. "Do you know what caused it, my friend?" Lerato asks as she rubs Buhle's back. "Uhmm, no, no, no. I'm still waiting for the police report" Buhle says as she wipes her tears. At this point, Katlego doesn't even know what to say to her friend as the thought of her arriving at Sbu's office earlier bearing news that shook him to the core. Oh God, am I the cause of all this? she thinks to herself as she looks down. What kind of a friend am I, if any at all? Must I tell Buhle now what I’ve done? Oh no maybe that is not such a good idea. That would really send her over the edge, she thinks to herself. her eyes are starting to be teary and red.
"Excuse me you guys, let me head on to the ladies, I will be back just now" she says as she smiles at Buhle, who is oblivious about what might be happening with her friend. Katlego quickly walks out of the room leaving Lerato and Lindiwe who continue to comfort their devastated friend.
When Katlego gets into the loo, she starts feeling nauseous and throws up. This is becoming stressful for her. She goes over to the sink and washes her hands and face. "Oh God, what am I going to do?" she thinks out loud as she looks at herself in the mirror, but luckily for her, there's no one in the other cubicles. Maybe I should ask for a transfer and go as far away as possible from Buhle, Sbu or
Jabu, she thinks to herself. Oh, but what good will that really do, huh? as she throws her hands in the air and shrugs her shoulders. She decides to wash her face again before heading back to her friends.
***
A couple of days later, Lerato is at Ndoda's place. She hadn't been there since Sbu's accident and has been avoiding her man's calls. But today she has decided to come see him in the evening. She doesn't look happy at all.
"Uhmm, it's so good of you to finally show up. You have been ignoring my calls and texts, what is going on babe?" Ndoda asks curiously as he sits in the couch opposite Lerato's. He didn't feel like he was welcome to sit next to her. "Why are you avoiding me babe?" he asks with a low voice, as if he's begging her. Lerato first looks at him with eyes that show anger towards him before saying, "Ndoda, we agreed that no lies between us, right? Did we not promise that?" These questions seem to puzzle Ndoda who is confused as to what is that all about, but nonetheless he says, "Of course baby, yes.
What is this about?" as he moves to sit next to his upset girlfriend.
"Buhle's husband, Sbu was in a car accident. Do you know anything about that?" Lerato asks while looking at her boyfriend with eyes of suspicion. "What? That is really bad, is he okay?" Ndoda says in shock. "But why would I have something to do with it though?" he asks curiously.
Lerato takes a moment as she looks into Ndoda's eyes trying to read him but she's not getting anything from that. "Police report shows that Sbu's car breaks were disabled," Lerato says as she stands up and folds her arms looking down on her boyfriend. "It is obvious that this was done by
someone who wanted Sbu dead. So, I'm going to ask you again, did you do it?" as Lerato raises her voice. But this seems to make Ndoda very disappointed instead of being angry. "But why would I want to kill this guy? I don't even know him babe, for Christ's sake" Ndoda says as he also stands up and raises his voice a little bit but he is cut off by Lerato as she says, "Did you do it?" her voice is only getting higher.
"No, I didn't" Ndoda says with a low, disappointed voice as he sits down again. But at Lerato picks her bag and heads for the door without saying anything further, leaving Ndoda sitting there all by himself pondering over this.
***
At the Hospital Tsepo and Jabu had come to see Sbu who is still in a critical but stable condition. They find Buhle sitting outside in the waiting area by herself. She looks really down and helpless seeing her man in that condition. As per hospital policy, she wasn't allowed to be part of the team that operated over her husband so another doctor is assigned to his care. She can only see him as a visitor and has also been advised to take some time off from work as her mind is not in the right space.
"Hey Buhle, how is he?" Tsepo asks as he looks through the glass to see where his friend is lying. "Hey, it is really touch and go right now but he's stable today. Let us pray for better" Buhle says with a low, sad voice as she wipes her eyes. She really hasn't slept a wink since the accident. Over the past two days Grace had been looking after her daughter Naledi and helping her with things like
homework.
"Thank you guys for being here, for me and for him. It really means a lot to us. He will pull through; I know he will. He is a strong man." Buhle says as she stands up to look where her where husband's bed is. She is suddenly drawn into a deep thought. But she is interrupted by Jabu who say, "Hey, uhmm...Buhle, what really happened? How did this all happen?" At that Buhle turns around and comes back to sit down on the bench and she looks like she's trying to find words. "The police preliminary report reveal that..." as she looks around to see who's watching. "It shows that his car breaks were disabled" she says, much to Tsepo and Jabu's shock. This is not what they expected.
"Tempered with? But by who? And why?" Tsepo asks curiously. "I really don't know Tsepo" Buhle says looking down. But Jabu jumps in, ''Well, we know who could have done this, don't we?" he says looking at curious Buhle who turns and looks at Tsepo. Both of them are wondering what he is talking about.
"Hey, what are you talking about man?" Tsepo asks wide-eyed. "Yeah Jabu, who are you talking about?" Buhle jumps in there as she shows interest. "Well, MEC Tendai Lebese" Jabu says, much to the two's shock. Buhle in particular didn't really expect that as she says, "Jabu, why do you think it's MEC Tendai? Why would he do something like that?" as she opens her eyes wide. "Well, for starters he is your husband's business rival who, for the lack of better word despises him. These two have been rivals for a long time and Tendai is not a man who plays nice with his rivals" Jabu says as his facial expression changes. "Yeah man still, but I just don't understand why now, not before.
Something just doesn't add up with that. Maybe it's someone else other than Tendai" Tsepo jumps in.
"Yeah, Tsepo is right, Jabu" Buhle adds. "We don't know who did this, okay? Yes, Sbu and the MEC may have been rivals but I doubt he'd go that low" she says to which Jabu just shrugs his shoulders as if to say I rest my case.
But suddenly this conversation starts to bring many questions into Buhle's head, what if Jabu is right? What if it really was Tendai who tried to kill Sbu? she asks herself. I had been ignoring this guy's calls and texts. I have been focusing on fixing things with my husband lately, so what if that made Tendai angry and he put a hit on Sbu? Oh my God! Suddenly these questions make Buhle sweat under the collar. Her expression changes. "Excuse me guys, I need to go to the ladies" she says as she hurriedly leaves the two wondering what is going on now.
***
A couple of days later, Buhle's friends have come to see her at the Hospital but only this time it's just Lerato and Lindiwe. It seems Katlego is struggling with guilt over all this, so she didn't have the guts to face her friend Buhle. But if she only knew that she wasn't the only one suffering from guilt. Lerato herself is really struggling with coming here to look at her friend in the eyes, knowing that her husband is lying in that bed fighting for his life because her boyfriend. Atleast that's what she's convinced herself with. Even though Ndoda flatly denied that he is responsible for this, Lerato can't shake the feeling that her boyfriend is involved somehow. This has put her in a very difficult position. "Thank you guys for being here guys, it means a lot to us" Buhle says to her friends with a smile. She looks a lot better today than any other time. Taking some time off has probably helped as well to ensure that she gets enough rest and get time to look after her daughter.
"How is he doing?" Lindiwe asks with a with low voice as she rubs Buhle's back. "He is doing much better, responding well to treatment. His vitals are very good as well, so I think the worst is over." Buhle says with a face of relief. "That is really good news darling, that is such a relief" Lerato says as she jumps in, to which Buhle smiles as she looks around. She then notices that someone is missing, "Where is Katlego today? Working?" she asks curiously, but there's a little silence as Lindiwe and Lerato look at each and not knowing how to respond to that. Buhle notices that but she ignores it as she says, "You know guys, I was going to ask you, have you noticed something strange about Katli lately?"
This question puzzles her friends, "What do you mean?" Lerato asks curiously. "Well, I mean she acts weird around us, she just seems so uncomfortable even just to be around us anymore. Did we do something wrong?" Buhle asks as she shrugs her shoulders.
"Uhmm, Yeah now that you mention it. She really has been acting a little weird, trying to avoid us. I even noticed that even her WhatsApp isn't working anymore" Lerato says as she looks at Lindiwe who pulls away from eye contact, probably because she is feeling a little guilty about knowing the probable reason behind that. How do you even begin to explain to someone you call a friend that you knew that her husband was having an affair, with her best friend no less? "And you know, I actually heard from one of Katli’s colleagues that she hasn't been at work because she was always sickly and throwing all up the time" Buhle says, much to her friends' shock.
"But why would she keep that from us though?" Lindiwe says as she tries to think. "Wait, if you think about it, even when we went out, she didn't order alcohol anymore, she'd just go for juice." Lerato says as she looks up for a second before saying, "Is she pregnant?" as she raises her voice. With that question is suddenly dawns on everyone.
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