Messy dinner

"Are you sure this is a good idea babe? I mean, I don't even think I'm dressed properly..." a nervously looking Muzi says with a low voice as he pulls his car in the front gate of this huge mansion in the middle of Umhlanga's upper class residential housing. He and his wife Ntombi are honoring the dinner invitation from Nobuhle who wanted to get to know the couple after she and Ntombi met at airport a few weeks ago.

"Oh come on baby, you look great and you smell great okay?" Ntombi says with a smile as she rolls her eyes because she realises that her husband is just being silly. Muzi ignores that but says "Look at this house honey, it's so huge...are you sure you got the right address?" as he looks up to the house. It is hard to see all its beauty right now because it is already dark. "Oh baby, will you relax? Ofcourse I got the right address okay? What are you so nervous about?" Ntombi says she throws her hands in the air but her husband quickly cuts in, "Well for starters, look at this house, okay? Clearly these are rich and important people. I always love to know the kind of people I'm having dinner with, alright?"

"Oh come baby...really now?" Ntombi says as she rolls her eyes once more. "First of all, you are doing alright yourself okay, so that shouldn't be a problem? And secondly, that is the point of having dinner...so that we can get to know them better alright? Now please stop being weird on me right now because we are already at the gate. Now I just need to send her a text and tell her that we are at the gate"

Well, it seems Muzi isn't the only one who is uneasy about this dinner as Bheki seems a little nervy inside the house as well, but his wife Nobuhle is so excited about this.

"I really don't know why you look so nervous babe...you have dinner with colleagues all the time so why is this so different." Nobuhle says as she seems a little puzzled by her husband's behavior but Bheki quickly jumps in, "Exactly, colleagues are known to us babe so we always know what we are faced with. We don't know anything about these people. All I know is that you are excited about this new friend of yours who recently met at the airport but you know nothing about her husband or what he does. Your real friends, Ntokozo, Lindiwe and Zandile atleast I know but this couple babe?" he says as he shrugs his shoulders.

"Okay stop being silly alright? It's just dinner..." Nobuhle says with a smile as she comes over to fix her husband’s coat but a text comes through to her phone. She quickly picks it up from the coffee table, "Oh it's them...they are at the gate." she says as she goes to press the button next to the door to open the gate for her guests.

The next couple of minutes seem like a lifetime of anxiousness for the two gentlemen even though they don't know why themselves. But for the ladies, they just can't wait to see each other again after immediately hit it off at the airport a few weeks ago. Nobuhle is just staring at the door waiting for the doorbell to ring so that she can go open with a bright smile and that moment arrives without a moment's notice. She goes to the door in anticipation, but nothing in this world could ever have prepared her for what comes next as she sees who is standing on the other side of the door.

"Oh, no, no, no...what the f*ck?" she shouts as her eyes open wide with shock. "Muzi? What in the absolute f*ck?"

This is perhaps not the welcome Ntombi expected from her new friend as she looks at her husband wondering what in the world is going on, but without a moment's notice Nobuhle slaps the unprepared Muzi hard across the face which leaves a small cut caused by her wedding ring, leading to Ntombi to shout, "Buhle? What the hell?" as she comes in between them to defend her husband. "What's really going on here? Why did you do that?"

This has now drawn Bheki's attention who comes rushing to the door to see what's the commotion about, but this catches Ntombi and Muzi by surprised as they both look shock and it seems for different reasons.

"Bheki? What are you doing here?" Ntombi asks in confusion just as everyone else is wondering how she knows him but Muzi quickly cuts in, "Bheki? What? What the hell are you...What's going on here? What are you doing here?" Muzi shouts in shock as he hold his face to stop any possible bleeding from the cut.

"Oh my God, Muzi? Is that you? What's going on? What's going on here? And...Ntombi? What are you doing here?" an equally shocked Bheki says as his eyes open wide. "So you two know each other?" a confused Ntombi asks as she looks at her husband who is still holding his cheek. "Muzi honey, are you going to explain to me what's going on here? Why did Buhle hit you and how you know her husband?" She looks genuinely confused by all this but everyone else is trying to wrap their heads around it because what is becoming clear is that everyone knows each other here. All of this happening as Muzi and Ntombi are still standing outside the door.

"Well, let me help you there Ntombi..." Nobuhle says with an annoyed face as he looks at Muzi in the eyes. "Remember that nigga I told you about at the airport? The bastard that never sees his his daughter? Well...that nigga is standing right next to you and he happen to be your husband."

Ntombi can't believe what she is hearing a she looks at her husband who seem lost for words but Nobuhle continues, "Uhmm...and you know my husband, how?" she asks curiously with a raised eyebrow. Ntombi thinks for a second as she looks at Bheki who is standing behind Nobuhle with a shocked look on his face. "Uhmm...do you remember that nigga I told you about at the airport? Well he is standing behind you and happen to be your husband..." she says as she shrugs her shoulders, much to Nobuhle's shock as she turns around to look at her husband. "Is that true Bheki? You are Ntombi's baby daddy?"

Bheki seems to be caught off guard with the question as he looks at Muzi who is standing outside the door next to Ntombi. "Uhmm...yes babe...it's true." he says with a shaky and nervous voice, much to Nobuhle's shock who says, "Oh my God...this is absolutely crazy." as she puts hands over her head in disbelief. "And how do you know Ntombi's husband?" she probes as she looks at her husband in the eyes.

"Uhmm...actually, Muzi and I are old friends from high school...we just recently connected, but babe believe me, I didn't know that he was your baby daddy. This is just as shocking to me as you are at me being Ntombi's baby daddy..." Bheki says he seems a little embarrassed but Muzi quickly jumps in, "I also didn't know that Bheki was my wife's baby daddy and I'm also shocked by all that is unfolding here tonight." he says as he looks down but this seems to annoy Nobuhle who interjects, "You know what's shocking Muzi?" she shouts in irritation. "Is the fact that you are in the country all along and you haven't seen your daughter. That's what shocking. I actually thought you were dead because, what the f*ck Muzi?"

Muzi doesn't seem to know what to say to that but his wife intervenes, "Look uhmm...I think it was a mistake that we came here guys. Babe, I think we should leave, immediately." she says with a calm voice as she looks at Nobuhle who quickly adds, "Yes I think this was a very bad idea...I can't do this..." she says with a sad voice as she looks defeated.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa guys...don't you think we should atleast talk about this like adults? I mean, we are already here guys, can we just talk?" Muzi says with a begging voice as he looks at Bheki who nods and says, "He is right guys, I mean there's no turning back from this. It's all out there now...we have to talk about this." as he looks at his wife but suddenly Ntombi just walks towards the drive-way where their car is parked, leaving her husband with no other choice but to follow her to the car. The Celes watch on as the Mbathas get into the car and drive off the gate.

***

 

The following morning is a heavy one for both families as they are trying to come to terms with what transpired last night in what was meant to be a beautiful dinner, and how things were left hanging when Ntombi decided to leave doesn't help the two couples in trying to make sense of it all. Nobuhle is devastated after the efforts she put to make this dinner possible and at this moment she seems to be regretting even meeting Ntombi at the airport a few weeks ago. She also has a lot of questions for her husband because after the Mbathas left last night she didn't wanna talk to Bheki, and it seemed Bheki didn't wanna talk to her.

"Uhmm...can we talk please?" Nobuhle says with a calm voice as she comes to the lounge where Bheki is watching news on this Sunday morning. She sits down next to him and then switches off the TV without even waiting for her husband to respond. This does seem to make Bheki a little uncomfortable as he takes a deep sigh.

"Look, uhmm...we got to talk about what happened last night Bheki and I have a million questions okay?" she says with a more serious voice but Bheki quickly cuts in, "Babe, you do realize that I'm also confused by this and also have questions, right? You are not the only one that needs answers..." he says as calmly as possible. Nobuhle takes a second to think and realises that her husband actually has a point and suddenly this isn't as easy as she may have thought it is. "Yes babe, I know that alright?" she says calmly as she takes a deep sigh. "That is why I'm asking us to talk okay? So that we get everything off our chests before all of this explode in our faces..."

The next few seconds become so awkward as both of them don't seem to know how to start the conversation but Bheki takes a deep breathe and says, "So you and Muzi huh?" calmly as he pulls away from eye contact. He is wondering if that was a good starting point in these sensitive conversation.

"Yep, that's him...that's the baby daddy." Nobuhle says looking down while shaking her head as though she is in disbelief. "You know, I actually thought he and his 'wife' were overseas or something, so seeing him standing there at the door last night was a real shocker for me and to be quiet honest I'm still in disbelief. The man who hasn't seen his daughter in years was standing right there and he happens to be my husband's friend and a husband of the woman I was beginning to start a friendship with. Unbelievable...truly unbelievable all of this, it's so hard to process it all. This is stuff you see in movies..."

"But you guys never thought about making contact at all?" Bheki asks curiously with a calm voice. "I mean, how did you lose contact in the first place? And when Muzi didn't make contact you didn't think to try and contact him first to find out why where he might be? What about his family? Couldn't you have tried to find out from them what was going on?"

This makes Nobuhle to think for a second as she seems caught off-guard by all those questions her husband is asking. "Uhmm...out break up wasn't nice and his family hated me..." she says calmly but Bheki cuts in, "why?" she asks curiously. "I get into that right now but his family didn't want me near him after we broke up." Nobuhle says as she looks a little annoyed. "So uhmm...after we broke up we lost contact because he must have changed his number. I then heard that uhmm...he was dating this woman and they travel overseas together a lot. I couldn't get hold of him.

Just before he got married I went to his home looking for him but his aunt and sisters didn't want me there and made it clear that I wasn't welcomed to the wedding. I then heard that after he got married, he and his wife went overseas. I honestly assumed they moved there since he wasn't making contact. Honestly I felt that he didn't wanna be part of my child's life and I was not about to beg him. Yes I was angry and hurt so I stopped trying to make contact. "

This suddenly makes Bheki feel bad a little as he lifts his head to look at his wife. He can see how emotional this topic is making his wife but he also know ow this is something they really have to talk about. "I hear you babe and I think I think I can understand where you are coming from..." he says as he takes a deep sigh.

"Uhmm...and you? So Ntombi huh? She's you baby mama? And you and Muzi never talked about this? How? I thought boys talk about everything..." Nobuhle says with a calm voice as she also makes eyes contact. Bheki thinks for a second before saying, "Uhmm...look, Muzi and I only re-connected just recently." with a calm voice. "I think it was the same day you met Ntombi at the airport...I saw Muzi at the bar and we started talking about high school days. But our conversation wasn't too deep that we didn't discuss our marriages to a deep level. We talked about maybe having a braai one day as two families but it had not materialized then. So you can imagine my shocked when they were standing there last night."

"And you and Ntombi? I couldn't have imagined that she'd turn out to be the baby mama you go to see once in a blue moon..." Nobuhle says as she shrugs her shoulders while pulling away from eye contact. She is afraid how this conversation may just turn out but it's too late to pull out from it now.

"Yeah uhmm... she is the mother of my son..." Bheki says as she looks a little embarrassed. "After we broke up we didn't have good contact. And yes I didn't get to see my son as much as I wanted...no let me correct that...not as much as I should have. I should have don e more to see my son."

"But why didn't you Bheki?" Nobuhle asks curiously with a sad voice. Bheki thinks for a second and says, "Uhmm...look, Ntombi and I drifted far apart and the more that happened it became harder and harder to reach out to her so that I can see my son. I think even on her side she was a little reluctant. She didn't attend my wedding and I didn't attend hers and I think that just compounded things a little bit, you know. But look, I still see my son, even though not as consistently as I should and I know that I have to fix that situation baby. I know I haven't done right by my kid."

"Yes you have to fix this Bheki okay? Because you are here as a wonderful father to my daughter and this makes me look like a very terrible woman who encourages his husband to be a absent father to his child." Nobuhle says as her faces changes to being a little concerned. "And uhmm...Ntombi mentioned something that day...that your break-up was very bad. What happened between the two of you?"

Now judging from the change in Bheki's face, this question is making him very uncomfortable as he looks down but his wife looks at him and says, "Baby please talk to me because you know after this, we can't be keeping things from each other okay?" with a somewhat begging voice. Bheki takes a deep breathe before saying, "Uhmm...look, uhmm...I hit her once." as he looks away from his wife. "What? You hit her?" a shocked Nobuhle shouts in disbelief. "Bheki, are you saying to me you laid hands on Ntombi? And you are saying just once? You hit her only once? I really need to know Bheki okay?"

"Yes, yes, yes...I hit her once okay?" Bheki says as he takes a deep breathe to try calm himself down, which kind of scares his wife a little. "Look our arguments had never reached that point before but it would be just verbal exchanges...yes heated exchanges but I had never hit her before. One night I had a little to much to drink because of something that had happened at work, and I hit her. She called on the police on me and I was arrested but later she dropped the charges. We broke up and she filed a restraining order against me...that's how we drifted apart. Her mother and family don't want me anywhere near her."

"Oh my god Bheki, you abused her." a shocked Nobuhle says with a panicking voice as she covers her mouth in disbelief. "It may not have been physical at first but clearly it was an emotional abuse you put her through and then it escalated to being physical. Do you know what this mean Bheki? It means me and my child are living here with you, a woman abuser, do you know what that means?"

"Oh come on babe please don't say that okay?" an embarrassed Bheki says with a begging voice as he looks sad at what his wife is saying. "Look, that was a long time ago and I went to therapy to get help okay? I am not that man anymore, I'm a better person now and I have grown up a lot now. Have I ever laid a hand on you before or have I ever raised my voice at you and Mbali?"

"Look, this is too much for me to deal with right now Bheki okay?" Nobuhle says as she shakes her head in disbelief. She stands up but Bheki wants to hold her hand but she pulls away and rushes upstairs to the bedroom, leaving a sad Bheki glued on the couch wondering what has just happened. He knows better than rushing after his wife at this moment...it can only make things worse for him.

***

 

Things are just as tense at the Mbatha home after the embarrassingly failed dinner with the Celes. Ntombi in particular seems to have come off this the worst between the two. She has so many questions she needs answers from and she is not sure where to even begin the conversation. Muzi himself knows this is the conversation they must have this Sunday morning because there's no way of moving on before everything is cleared up.

"Uhmm...honey, can we please talk?" he says with a low and begging voice as he comes into the bedroom where his wife is still under the blankets. She looks very sad. He comes in and sit on the bed next to Ntombi who sits up as she puts a pillow on her back. This is a good start for Muzi because he actually thought he'd be rejected by his wife. But now suddenly he is feeling a little nervous as he doesn't know how to even begin the conversation.

"Uhmm...sweetheart, I wanted us to talk about what happened last night okay?" he says calmly, "Because I don't see how we can move on without talking about it first. I know that what transpired last night was a shock for both of us and I think we both owe each other some explanations. I promise I am willing to answer any question you may have about what was revealed yesterday and I am hoping that you can answer some of the questions you may have as well..."

"So is it true that you haven't seen your daughter in years? Why is that Muzi? Why haven't you seen your daughter? You are a good and ever present father to my son Mfundo yet you haven't even tried to make contact with your son? What kind of man are you Muzi? And do you even know how bad this makes me look to your family and to Nobuhle? She probably thinks I put you up to this, do you realize that?" Ntombi throws all these questions to the seemingly unprepared Muzi who clears his throat as he tries to think about how to respond to all of them. He tries to take Ntombi's hand but she pulls away.

"Uhmm...okay look baby, uhmm...I don't know where to begin with this..." Muzi says with a stutter but Ntombi doesn't say anything as she looks at him in the eyes waiting for him to continue. He looks to the ceiling as though he is searching for words to utter but he seems to be struggling. One thing for sure...there's no turning back from this conversation.

"Uhmm...when Nobuhle and I broke up we lost contact because I lost my phone when I went overseas for a little while." he says as he takes a deep sigh. "It didn't help that my family didn't like her very much and..." he doesn't finish as his wife cuts in, "Why didn't they like her?" she asks curiously with a calm voice. Muzi thinks for a second before saying, "Uhmm...for starters, when we broke up Buhle wanted full custody of my daughter and my family hated that but..." but again his wife cuts in, "Why did you guys break up?" she asks, again calmly but this one seems to make Muzi a little uncomfortable.

"Uhmm...in a nutshell, my family thought Buhle was not suited for me and she also just didn't get along with my family...my aunt and sisters in particular." he says with a sigh. "That put a strain in our relationship and that time it became clear that we were pulling in different directions. Buhle is an independent woman that won't be told what to do by a partner's family. She didn't wanna participate emicimbini yasekhaya(family functions) and my family didn't like that so they thought she'd never make a great wife for me. That further pulled us apart because we argued a lot about such stuff.

So, when we finally broke up because it just couldn't work anymore she wanted full custody of my daughter. That made things worse...but I then went overseas for a little while and that's when we lost contact, because my family didn't want her to come over to the house. When I was back, you and I started dating and eventually we got married. As you know, my family adores you...everyone at home loves you."

"But babe that's not good enough reason to abandon your daughter, especially since you could have reached out to Nobuhle." Ntombi says with a disappointed voice as she looks at her husband in the eyes. "Yes your family may not have liked her but you daughter is still their family for the love of God. It's different for Nobuhle because she actually thought you moved overseas with your wife and since your family didn't want her she couldn't reach out to them to try and make contact with you. She thought you did not want to be part of the child's life Muzi. Five years...five years Muzi. No, no, no...it can't be right"

"But ofcourse I wanted to be part of my daughter's life baby..." Muzi protests as he raises his voice a little bit. "She wanted full custody of my child and when I left for overseas that was till her position then. She must have had a change of heart along the say somewhere. When I was back, my family did not know where she was and I didn't know where she was. I tried to find ways of reaching out to her baby but ofcourse those efforts weren't good enough. It didn't help that after we got married we still travelled overseas a lot."

"Are you seriously going to use that as an excuse?" Ntombi says calmly as she shrugs her shoulders. "No sweetheart I'm not saying it's an excuse okay? But I'm saying that it's not like I didn't want my daughter...I did." Muzi says as he tries to calm himself down. "I just think that there was this huge miscommunication between us that led to this whole thing and I know baby that I have to fix it. I have to talk to Nobuhle and try to clear the air and make peace...if that's okay with you."

"Ofcourse babe, it's okay...I think you guys have to talk and perhaps find a way for you to re-connect with your daughter." Ntombi says with a calm voice as she forces a smile. "And I also need to sit down with your friend Bheki. I mean, even though he sees Mfundo once in a blue moon, I think he needs to properly connect with his son and maybe we can arrange that he sees him more regularly." She shrugs her shoulders. "Oh really?" Muzi says as he raises an eyebrow which makes Ntombi to let out a little smile as she rolls her eyes. "Oh come on baby...it's just about Mfundo okay? There's nothing that will ever happen between me and Bheki. He just needs to see his son more and more."

"But why wasn't he seeing his son more regularly though? I mean, it's even crazy that I had never met him...I mean, sort of. You know what I mean. Did you go to his house?" Muzi asks as he becomes a little curious. Ntombi thinks for a second before saying, "Well uhmm...to be quiet honest babe, you always seemed uninterested to talk about your baby mama so it didn't feel right to talk about my baby daddy." as she looks a little embarrassed. "And I didn't wanna bring Bheki here, it wouldn't have been right and your family would have seen it as disrespect. Bheki himself never seemed keen to meet you so I thought it's better we meet at the Mall if he wanted to see Mfundo. And no, I had never been at his house before, hence yesterday was such a shock for me."

This leads to a little silence as Muzi looks at his wife who is looking down.

"Uhmm...so are you and Bheki going to talk now? I mean, you guys are friends and you are finding yourself in this situation..." Ntombi says calmly as she makes eye contact. Muzi thinks for a second before saying, "Uhmm...yeah ofcourse we have to talk...we really don’t have choice." with a deep sigh. "It's just that at the moment I don't even know where to begin with this hey. I mean, he is my friend from high school but we kind of lost contact a while back, so to re-connect this way is very awkward. I'm involved in child's life and you he is involved in mine. It is super awkward and weird."

"Yeah I know babe..." Ntombi says calmly as she shakes her head in disbelief. "I feel the same with me and Nobuhle. Well, atleast we just met, me and her...we hadn't really got to know each other any deep level. But we connected immediately after we met at the airport and it looked like we were going to start a beautiful friendship."

"So you will not continue with that plan now? You no longer be friends?" Muzi asks curiously as he seems to feel sorry for his disappointed wife. "Uhmm...I really don't know hey." Ntombi says with a sigh. "We will have to talk first and lay everything on the table, woman to woman. From there we will then see if it's even possible to even get along at minimum."

"I hear babe..." Muzi says calmly. "Okay let me leave you to sleep okay? I will go take a walk." he says as he gets up and walks out the door leaving his wife to think about the conversation they've just had.