Chapter 14: Confrontations
A week a so later, Katlego is relaxing on the couch in her apartment on a Saturday morning. She is trying by all means to avoid any stress since she is pregnant, hence she has really distanced herself from many people, including her friends.As she sits on the sofa, the doorbell rings. Who could that be? she wonders and she goes to the door. Lindiwe is the last person she wanted to see standing on the other side of the door gate. She is the only person who knows she was sleeping with her best friend's husband so being reminded of it everytime she sees her face doesn’t sit well with her. So ordinarily there'd be that moment of awkwardness when their eyes meet. "Hi Katli, may I come in please?" Lindiwe says with a low voice as if she is begging her friend. Katlego reluctantly opens the gate and lead her friend into the lounge.
Lindiwe comes in and sits opposite her friend. The tension between the two can be sensed.
"Uhmm, I just came to check on you, girl. I mean we can't seem to get hold of you these days. How are you doing Katli?" Lindiwe asks with a low voice trying to establish eye contact. This question makes Katlego give a huge sigh, as if she is trying to find right words for an answer.
"Look, you Lindi, of all people know exactly why I have kept my distance." Katlego says. "You know why. How am I supposed to look at Buhle everyday knowing that..." she is lost for words for a second. "Knowing what I have done to her. I can't Lindi, I just can't" as she is starting to sound sad.
At that Lindiwe doesn't say a word but just continues to look at her friend in the eyes. "So I think it's better this way, that I keep my distance and..." Katlego doesn't finish as Lindiwe cuts her off, "But exactly what were you thinking Katli? Huh?" as she raises her voice. "Your very own best friend's husband? Were there no other men you could cheat with besides your best friend's husband? And you think this was hard for you? What about me Katli?" her voice is only getting higher.
"Do you realize how this has made things even difficult for me? I can't even look at Buhle in the eyes, keeping this secret from her. She trusted me, she trusted you also. Now I am an accomplice to this betrayal" she is beginning to get emotional about all this.
"Lindi I'm really sorry" Katlego says with a voice of shame, "And I know that..." she doesn't finish as she is cut off by her friend, "No, Katli. I don't think you quiet know" Lindiwe shouts. "When Buhle finds out about this, you are not the only one who will lose a friend, I will lose a friend also. Because I participated in this disgusting betrayal of friendship. And this..." she doesn't finish herself as Katlego cuts her off, "Have you never made a mistake yourself Lindi? Have you never not cheated?" she shouts, much to Lindiwe's irritation who says, "Oh yes I make mistakes, all the time. I have cheated yes, but not with my best friend's husband. That is the difference, Katli" she shouts back at her.
At this point, tears are rolling down Katlego's eyes. She is inconsolable, not that it helps much as it doesn't look like it is moving Lindiwe. There is a moment of awkward silence as both ladies clearly need a moment to cool down. They are realizing how this shouting may lead to neighbours hearing in.
"So whose baby is that, that you are pregnant with?" Lindiwe asks calmly without really looking at
her friend. But Katlego almost falls off the couch at hearing that. She really didn't expect it. "What are you talking..." she says but doesn't really finish as Lindiwe irritably cuts her off, "Oh cut it out Katli, okay?" she says. "We are not stupid okay? You think we wouldn't figure this out? Well we did" as she re-establishes eye contact. "So is that Sbu's baby?" she asks curiously with a little be of shock in her face.
"Oh no, it's not Sbu's baby okay?" Katlego says as she looks really embarrassed. "I was seeing this guy that..." She doesn’t finish as Lindiwe cuts in, "Who?" as she asks. "Some guy Lindiwe okay" Katlego answers as she throws her hands in the air in irritation. "When I slept with Sbu I was seeing this guy. So this baby is his" as she brushes her tummy. "But how can you be sure of this Katli? Huh? How can you be sure of that? This baby could be Sbu's?" Lindiwe says as she starts to shout again. She stands up and starts to walk up and down the room as she can't believe this. She herself is becoming teary over this. She goes by the window to look down at the people walking the streets. She comes back again and starts walking up and down.
"You have to tell Buhle about this Katli and..." she says but Katlego cuts her off as she also stands up and follows her, "No Lindi, I can't" she shouts. "We don't even know this is Sbu's baby, okay? Lindi
please..." she doesn’t finish as Lindiwe cuts her off, "Look, I said you better tell Buhle the truth okay? Or I swear, Oh God I swear Katli, I will tell Buhle myself. I have already lost her trust and friendship because when she finds out I knew about the affair I will lose her. I am not helping you keep this again. So you better tell her the truth, or I will" she says as she picks her bag and walks out the apartment in rage, leaving Katlego standing there with her hands in her head.
***
Buhle is at home, getting ready to go back to the Hospital to see her husband when suddenly the doorbell rings. Who could that be? she asks herself because she is not expecting anyone. It can't be Sbu's friends or colleagues because they all know that he is in hospital. And again, it can't be any of her friends because she just spoke to them on the phone except Katlego and none of them indicated that they'd be coming here. She looks at herself in the mirror one more just to see if all is in order before she goes and open the door. As she climbs down the stairs she thinks, it could possibly be
Grace, otherwise who else? She gets to the door and opens it, her eyes can't believe it, It's Tendai.
"What are you doing here MEC?" she asks irritably. "Oh, so it's MEC now?" Tendai says, "How quickly things change" as he looks at her in the eyes to try and read where she is. "Yes how quick things change. I asked, what are you doing here??" Buhle looks back at him, with upset eyes.
"Well, I thought I should come and check on you since you are ignoring my calls and my texts" Tendai says. "So are you going to invite me in or what?" as he smiles at the irritated Buhle. Against her better judgment she lets her in because she feels keeping this one standing outside may draw attention of the neighbours. "So why are you ignoring me again Dr.?" Tendai says as he looks around the house, all the pictures on the wall in this beautiful home. "You know as well as I do why I'm
ignoring you Tendai" Buhle says, "You and I agreed that we shall not see each other again, didn't we? I'm fixing things with my husband and you were meant to be fixing things with your partner. Oh and in case you haven't heard, my husband is in the hospital" as she looks upstairs trying to make sure her daughter Naledi doesn't hear this conversation. " So I don't have time to be entertaining you" she comes and sits down on the couch opposite Tendai.
"Oh yes I heard about that" Tendai says as he also looks upstairs. "I'm sorry about what happened to your husband Dr, how is he doing?" he looks at Buhle with a smile, which really seem to annoy her very much. She can't believe this guy feels amused about all of that and she has a good mind of throwing him out.
"Did you try to kill my husband Tendai?" she asks with a more serious voice. You can tell from her eyes that she is really furious. "Uhmm, excuse me?" Tendai says, looking confused at the question. "I said, did you try to kill him?" Buhle asks again, only with a raised voice this time. "Police report show that Sbu's breaks were tempered with. So obviously someone wanted him dead, I ask you. Did you have anything to do with it?" her eyes are becoming teary.
"But why would I want your husband dead Dr.?" Tendai asks with a low voice. "Is it not possible that he had enemies elsewhere? I mean yes, I was not his biggest fan and he wasn't mine. And yes we are business rivalries but it doesn't mean i wanted him dead, that's not the kind of man I am" as he fixes his eyes on Buhle.
"Oh yes, we know what kind of man you are Mr. MEC, don't we?" Buhle says as she looks at Tendai with eyes of rage and anger. "Oh you mean the man you couldn't have enough of?" Tendai responds as he looks back at her, only with a smile. "You mean the man that made you feel thrills you have never experienced in your life? That made you scream passionately and..." he doesn't finish as Buhle stands up and goes for the door and opens it. "Please leave my house Tendai" she says. Tendai stands up and heads towards the door. When he is about to step out he turns and looks at Buhle and says, "Call me when you need anything" with a smirk on his face and walks out.
***
Back at the Hospital, Sbu who is now awake and recovering well is visited by his friends who are happy to see him alive. Movement is still difficult but he now can talk albeit slowly and with a little discomfort at times. He is just as happy to his friends. Sbu's injuries were largely on his body, especially the back, it will take a lot of hard work for him to walk normally. Luckily for him, his face was not scratched.
"Hey guys, it is really good seeing you. I really appreciate you guys coming to visit me from time to time" Sbu says to his friends with scruffy voice. " My wife tells me that you've been coming here a lot. I really appreciate you" as he tries to move a little bit from the bed but Tsepo comes over to help him, "Be careful man," he says as he fixes his friend's pillow.
"There you go. Yeah man, we are really happy to see you on the mend man. We were worried sick" as he looks at Jabu who also comes closer and says, "Yeah my brother, we are happy to see you okay" as he taps his Sbu's shoulder. "So do you have any idea who was trying to kill you?" he shoots right ahead which causes Tsepo to look at him as if to say, Dude, did you really have to be so blunt about it?
"Honestly I can't really say for sure" Sbu says with a worried voice. "But I think we can all hazard a guess. I mean, who else can it be besides MEC?" as his face changes to being upset. Jabu looks at Tsepo as if to say What did I tell? Did I not say this?
"Oh come on Sbu" Tsepo jumps in, "Why would you say something like that man? I mean how can we be sure it's the MEC? Just because you guys are business rivalries doesn't mean he can..." but Tsepo doesn't finish as Sbu cuts him off, "Bro, I'm telling you okay?" He is upset.
"That bastard has been trying to get rid of me for a little while now so that he can take what is mine and..." but he himself doesn't finish as Tsepo cuts him off, "My brother come on man, you think he did this to grab your business?" as he throws his hands in the air. But at this Sbu looks at Jabu before saying, "Look man, you probably don't know this but Jabu does. Do you remember that incident where I punched the MEC at the restaurant? Well, that was after I found out that he was having an affair with my wife"
That statement shocks Tsepo so bad that he almost falls to the floor. "What?" he shouts but Sbu just nods as he looks at Jabu. "But why you never told me this man? Seriously, I thought I was your boy man, what's up with that?" says Tsepo who is a little disappointed as he feels left out.
"I'm sorry man, I needed to contain that situation okay?" Sbu says. "Jabu here knows because he represented the MEC over the case that was related to that incident, he too was bound by confidentiality clause. Otherwise he wouldn't have known this as well" as he tries to fix the pillow once again. "Alright man, it's okay" Tsepo says with a low voice. "So you think this accident is related to that? I don't know man; I don't know" as he looks at Jabu. "Look, I don't have proof, but I know it's him." Sbu says with a sad voice. There's moment of awkward silence that passes as the three friends seem to be in thought. Sbu start to think to himself, Maybe I should tell these guys about the Katlego situation before they heard from someone else.
"Uhmm, you guys..." he says as he breaks the silence, "Look I think there is something you guys must know. And I would rather you heard it from me than from anyone else, okay? And it's something I'm not proud of, something I'm ashamed of" he begins to be sad which makes his friends look at each other wondering what their friend is talking about. But as Sbu is about to utter the words, Buhle comes through the door, "Hey guys" she says with a big smile on her face. "Oh hey Buhle, how are you?" Jabu says with a smile too. "I'm okay thanks. How is our patient today?" she says, coming to stand on the bedside next to Sbu. "Can you guys excuse us for a minute, please" she begs Sbu's friends who oblige and leave the two alone.
***
Lerato has come to see Ndoda at his home to discuss Sbu's accident and get clarity. When she left in shock the other she never came back and the two haven't been in contact ever since. Lerato has been consumed by guilt of knowing who could have almost killed her best friend's husband on top of knowing who almost killed her other friend Lindiwe. She is beginning to feel that this relationship is costing her important things in her life, like friendship with Buhle and Lindiwe as she has to keep secrets from them. But dilemma she finds herself in is that she really loves Ndoda. No other man has ever made her feel this way. She feels safer and content with him.
"So what allegations have you come to level against me this time?" Ndoda says as he sits on the couch opposite the one Lerato is sitting. "Because to be quiet honest, I'm seriously not in the mood for it plus there is a lot of work to do here as you can see for yourself" as he moves to stand by the window to look outside.
"Uhmm, I didn't come here to fight with you, okay?" Lerato says with a soft voice she goes over to Ndoda by the window. "Look, this thing with Sbu is troubling me and it has been so difficult to face Buhle every time we meet, guilt is overwhelming..." she says looking down but Ndoda cuts her off, "What guilt? You didn't do anything wrong." he says as he raises his voice a little bit. "And I have already told you that I had nothing to do with this guy's accident, so I don't understand..." he doesn't finish as well as Lerato cuts him off, "You really have nothing to do with this?" she asks softly which seems to annoy Ndoda who goes back to sit on the couch but Lerato follows and sits next to him this time.
"Look, babe you got to at least know people you can contact where you can find out" she says as she stands up. "Well I got to run. Thank you for seeing me" as she turns to walk towards the door, but this makes Ndoda think for a second, Maybe I should just tell her what I know because I really didn't do anything wrong.
He tries to find words but they are hard to come by but he says, "wait" which makes Lerato turn around. " Are you going to come back to work?" he asks curiously. "Uhmm, I don't think I can for now. I just need a little bit of time to figure things out okay?" Lerato says as she turns around without really making eye contact. Ndoda watches as she walks out the door.
***
Somewhere else Tendai has come to see Bheki at his house to discuss business. They haven't seen each other since the day Bheki had gone to Tendai's house where they discussed Sbu. They always try to not conduct their business in public as many stories have been written about their dealings suspected to be corrupt.
"Hey man, are you sure it was okay for me to stop by? I have been here for at least two hours now; your wife will be home soon" Tendai says as he looks around the house while sitting g on the sofa drinking whiskey. "No man, relax, she won't be home anytime soon that one. She's probably at her friend's" Bheki says as he puffs a cigar. "Besides, I think it's not a good idea for now that we conduct our business in public. Too much has been written already" as he pours himself a double of whiskey. "Yeah I guess you're right my friend. Imagine if that journalist ended up writing that story, you and I wouldn't be sitting here this comfortably" Tendai says looking at his friend who seems discomforted by that statement.
"Speaking of which, no success this time around on Sbusiso Ndimande huh? He is still breathing" Bheki says as he takes another sip of his drink trying to avoid eye contact. "I don't know what are you are talking about" Tendai responds, looking away as well to avoid this topic.
"Come on man, don't disrespect me like that, okay?" Bheki interjects, "You think that wouldn't become known? Your guy failed, now let's hope Ndimande won't come out and point at you" as he takes a sip, now looking at his friend. "No man, nothing leads back to me okay?" Tendai says in frustration but something inside him is making think about what his friend is saying.
"But why didn't your guy go to the hospital and finish the job?" Bheki asks curiously. "Because I told him to abort" Tendai says as he pours himself another double. "You what?" Bheki asks in shock. "No man, this was becoming messy" Tendai says softly, "Already this guy's wife is suspecting me and I'm sure his friends as well. We are well known business rivals so I'll always be the first suspect, right?
That incident at the restaurant a while ago would surely resurface if anything happened to him. This whole thing is not worth it. So I told my guy to abort" he really sounds upset over this. "Well, I actually did warn you about this my friend but did you listen? Nope" Bheki jumps in there as if he's rubbing it in.
"Look, this is not the time okay?" an irritable Tendai says as he looks unimpressed with that comment. "Yeah, well it was a very sloppy job. My normally go to guy turned me down, so this was a plan B" as his facial expression changes to being upset. "Well it's not like your super guy wasn't sloppy. He shot my wife, remember that?" Bheki says as he looks at his friend as if he is also getting
a little upset. "By the way, why did your super guy turn you down?" he asks curiously. “I don’t know man, I don’t know what has gotten into this guy, he never really turns down a contract” Tendai says with a worried face. “I really have to find out why. If it has anything to do with a woman, then I will have to deal with that immediately” as he downs whatever was left in his glass.
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Bheki asks curiously even though, having known his partner for a long time he can tell this is going. “I mean that I can’t have him risking me for some girl” Tendai says with an upset face. “I have someone tail him. I need to monitor his movements, and then I will take it from there” he says, to which Bheki just nods as he shakes his head.
***
In a less toxic environment, Grace is meeting Lumka at a restaurant for dinner just to catch up. They don’t get to hang out a lot these days as both of them get to be busy lately. Grace and Tsepo’s relationship is doing really great, while Lumka is still searching for Mr. Right while she’s busy dating rich and famous guys.
“Thank you for this my friend it’s like you knew that I really needed it” Grace says as she sips on her coffee. “Arg, it’s okay girl I actually need this too you know” Lumka says as she sips on her wine. “But I think we will have to change restaurants girl before people who work here think I’m always here looking for a job or something” as she looks around to see who is listening.
“Hahaha, don’t be silly. Who would think that in here and why would they think that? It’s not like you and I are always here” Grace says as she continues to sip on her coffee. “Well I was here with Bheki the other weekend” Lumka says as she winks at her friend. “Bheki as in Bheki Khuzwayo, Lindiwe’s husband?” a wide-eyed Grace asks Lumka who just smiles and nods. Grace looks like she was given a hot smack in the face.
“Girl I thought that was just the Milan fling thing that ended there, are you still seeing this guy?” she asks and she is less than impressed by this. Lumka once again nods with a naughty smile without uttering a word. But seems to just annoy Grace.
“My friend, look I love you and you know that, but this that you’re doing…that man is married Lumka” she says as she raises her voice a little bit. “I’m sure you could have had any other man you want that is not married and…” she doesn’t finish as Lumka cuts her off, “Oh come on friend” she says. “Bheki and I aren’t an item, we are just fooling around okay? We hook up when there are big functions that’s all. We enjoy each other’s company, nothing harmful” as she takes another sip of her wine. Grace just shrugs her shoulders as if to say I give up. But this conversation is interrupted by a waiter to brings them their order.
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