MILANI CELE
"Your package is on the way. The delivery guy should be there in a few minutes and Milani, don't call me after this. You have to lay low after this. The flight is booked for Friday night." he says and I just agree with and hang up. Now it's time to get dinner ready. I'm sure Nqaba will be home today. He has cooled off now. I decide on a meal, his favorite, butter chicken and coconut rice. This should soften him up a little. This should soften the blow. Just as I finish up I hear his car drive in. I hear the door open and keys dropping in the key bowl. His footsteps are heavy like he doesn't want to be here.
He walks past the kitchen but I stop him with a greeting and telling him that dinner is ready and I'll dish up soon. "You can freshen up so long. We need to talk Nqaba about what happened. You were not suppose to see me and Mnqobi like that, you were not suppose to catch us having sex. It just...." He walks away before I could finish what I was saying.
I feel a knot tightening in my stomach as I hear footsteps retreating to the bedroom. I know he's hurt, but he's being stubborn, refusing to see the bigger picture. What happened was a mistake during a moment of weakness, and now, here we are — standing on shaky ground, his shaky ground with his emotions teetering on a precipice. I take out the plates to dish up and I pull out the bottle of pills, I take out two and crush them.
Dinner simmers on the stove, and the aroma of spices has filled the air, but the warmth is lost on him. I take a moment, inhaling deeply, trying to summon the courage for the conversation that awaits us which is going to end with him passed out. The truth of what I am about settles in me like it has found a permanent home, but it can also be a destructive force that can destroy it all should it ever come out. I take a step toward the bedroom and knock lightly on the door. "Nqaba, please. I know you're angry, but we need to talk this out."
Silence hangs in the air, thick enough to cut with a knife. I turn back to the kitchen, pulling the plates and setting the table for two, pretending everything is normal when inside, all I know is that tonight will end exactly how I planned. What am I going to say? That I got tangled in a web I never asked to enter? That my choices now hang like a guillotine over our relationship? I wish I could turn back time — to before the betrayal, before the secrets that led us to this moment. I need to make him believe every word I say, I need him to have that little hope that I am actually remorseful about what I did. He needs to believe that. I need him to believe me.
The door opens reluctantly, and Nqaba steps out, his expression hardened, but his eyes betray a flicker of vulnerability. "I can't believe you would do this to me," he says, his voice low but cutting. Each word strikes like a dagger, and I feel heat rising to my cheeks as I summon that soft side of me that he once loved and believed. I want to explain, to cry out that it was never meant to happen, but the words catch in my throat. The words don't come out the way I intended. They are laced with arrogance and annoyance that I seem to hide. What happened, happened. He needs to get over eat.
As we sit down for dinner, the air is thick with tension. I try to coax him into conversation, but he barely touches his food. "You know, sometimes it feels like you put your needs above everything else," he finally murmurs, his gaze fixed on the plate rather than on me. My chest tightens, not because of his words, because he is not eating. I open my mouth to respond, but the true magnitude of my choices stifles me.
Eventually he takes a few bites of his food, "finally", I breathe out and watch him as he eats but he doesn't finish. That doesn't matter, it will still have the effect that I want it to have. The clock ticks in the background, counting down to the inevitable moment. He pushes his plate aside and gulps down the water. This is something different not what he is used to. He won't even know what's happening to him. I look at him feigning guilt, I reach across the table, grasping his hand, desperate for connection through the silence. "I'm sorry, Nqaba. I never wanted to hurt you."
He looks up, his eyes stormy, but I see a flicker of hope in his expression. "What about Mnqobi" He asks, the name striking a nerve.
"He doesn't matter," I say, my voice barely above a whisper. "What matters is you and me, right here and now. We can't let him or what happened decide our fate." The words hang in the air, a fragile bridge over turbulent waters, and for the first time, I am not sure of what I see in Nqaba's eyes. I don't know if he believes me. What I know is that by tomorrow he needs to understand that the only person that will always be there for him is me and no one else.
He gently lets go of my hand and walks upstairs. I gather the dishes and put everything in the dishwasher. I make sure everything is clean before going upstairs to check on Nqaba and when I get there, he is in his pyjama pants sprawled on the bed passed out. "Perfect." I mutter to myself and call Mnqobi.
"You need to get to my house now."
I'm already here. I've been parked out here for an hour." Is he crazy? Why would he do that. I doesn't matter now, what matters is that he is here. I press the remote opening the gate for him, he drives in, parks and walks to the door where I am already waiting for him. "That was stupid and reckless, what if someone saw you?" I ask frustrated by his actions. "I'm sorry ok. I here now. Let's get this over and done with." He walks and drops himself on the couch. If only he knew that he is part of this in a different way. I walk to the cabinet and pour him some whisky. He takes the glass and downs it one go and in seconds, he is out. "I quickly run to open the kitchen door and grab everything that I place there, take it to the Nqaba's room. I have to be quick about this. I go back downstairs and start dragging Mnqobi to the bedroom. It's a daunting and labouring task but I manage. I place on the bed and undress him and Nqaba is well. I position their bodies perfectly on the bed and put everything else that I need in place and the room looks exactly like I want it to.
I step back to admire my work, a twisted sense of satisfaction washing over me. The stillness in the room feels almost electric, a tension that hums between me and the two unconscious figures. But beneath the surface, anxiety bubbles—what if things don't go as planned? I shake my head, banishing doubts as I retreat downstairs, reminding myself of the stakes. I need what's on the line to fall neatly into place.
I glance at the clock; time is slipping through my fingers like sand. I grab my phone, pacing as I shoot a quick message: **He's asleep. Just wait for my cue.** The reply is instantaneous. **I'm ready. Just tell me when.**
A low thud from upstairs catches my attention. My heart races—was that just the house settling, or did one of them wake up but that is impossible. I pause, listening closely, my mind racing. Memories of Nqaba's warm laughter and the genuine conversations we used to share spin around me, contrasting sharply with the cold reality of the moment. The cold reality that I am Milani and I always get what I want. Did he really think I was just going to divorce him just like that? I have plans and those plans lead up to this moment.
But necessity is a powerful motivator. I refuse to let regret cloud my judgment. I return upstairs, the tension in the air thickening as I approach the room. The sight before me—a perfect tableau—bears the fruit of my design. I take a moment to ensure everything is in order, adjusting a pillow here, straightening a blanket there.
"Just a little farther, then everything will change," I whisper to myself, holding tightly to my resolve. I needed to usher in the narrative that would bond us again, even if by force. With one last look at Nqaba, vulnerable in his sleep, a small smirk of triumph plays at my lips.
I ease Mnqobi's unconscious form, ensuring he's lying just so, making it appear as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. A sudden creak from the floorboards jolts me, and I freeze. I can't afford to be discovered; the clock ticks louder in my mind. I gather all my courage and make my way back to the living room. A few more hours that's all. Just a few more hours and this will be over and it will all be worth it in the end.
I sit patiently waiting, the only sound is the clock ticking away to the perfect time. The wait is daunting but I have no choice. I've been patient this long, so what's a few hours. The silence is overwhelming, it makes every other sound in this louder than usual. I take my phone and send the text: **It's time.** The response is quick ** five minutes.** I quickly get up, go to my bedroom and change to something more appropriate. I hear the kitchen door open. He is hear. Great, we probably have a few minutes before Nqaba wakes up it's been hours. It's early hours of the morning now. He gets to the room, looks around and fixes a few things in this chaotic set up.
"Are you ready?" He asks. I nod looking at him. He smiles. He throws a slap and waits for me to recover. "Don't hold back." I tell him. He does what he needs to do. When he is done, he looks at me: "work of art. You look perfect." He walks over to the bed and gives Mqobi a few bruises and non-fatal stab wound. "My work here is done. Remember you have to lay low."
"I understand." He walks out leaving me to call the police. I have to gather my acting skills now because I have to sound like a battered wife. I make the call to the police and they tell me that they will be here in 10 minutes. I leave the gate open after making sure that nothing is out of place. My body hurts. This man did a number on me. I stand against the wall summoning the tears sliding down and busy my head between my knees. I watch Mnqobi stir, as he tries to wake up to the sound of sirens. I watch him look around looking confused not knowing what happened. He wants to say something but he is cut off by the police officers walking in.
"Ma'am, are you ok?" The officer asks while help me on my feet. "My husband killed him, he killed him." I say crying my all out. One officer walks to the bed and drags Nqaba. "Sir, you are under arrest." he snapping the cuffs on me and the other checks Mnqobi's pulse, "he is dead." He says. We hear more sirens outside and quickly the medics walk in.
NQABA CELE
I woken up by the sound of sirens, I look around. I have blood all over me, I am naked. How did I get blood on me, how did I get naked? There is a body next to me. What happened here. I look at my wife, who is looking at me with her usual cold eyes but this time, the look colder and the way she is so calm unsettles me. She looks like she has been beaten, she has bruises all over her. Who did that do her? Police flood the room. In a split second I have cuffs on me and being dragged away. "Milani what's going on here, what happened?" I ask as the officer grabs a robe behind the door throws at me to wear and snaps cuffs on me and tells me I am under arrest for murder. I hear the other officer confirming the death of the man on the bed and a female officer is busy fussing over Milani. The police officer pulls me out of the rooms taking me downstairs. My mind is blank, completely blank. I'm trying recollects my memory, searching for what could have happened that led to this. The house is full, cops all over the place. I'm thrown in the back of the police of van. My mind is all over the place. Who is the dead man on my bed? Why did Milani have so many bruises on her? Whatever happened, the police seem to think I did it. How, when?.
I watch as help Milani in another police car and both vehicles drive of. We park outside the police station and I am dragged out of the van into the station, straight to the interrogation room. The officer cuffs me to the table and walks out. After an hour of sitting here with no one saying anything, someone walks in dressed in formal navy formal pants and a white shirt. He sits across me and places folder on the table. "What's going on here? Why am I here?" He looks at me like I've instantly grown two heads. He slowly opens the folder and looks at me again. "I am Detective Mbhele. You are being charged with murder, rape and assault. The man found dead in your bed has been identified as Mnqobi Khumalo. The medical examiner also confirms that man was raped, which your wife has also confirmed. You also assaulted and raped your wife. I am going to need a DNA sample from you to be compared to the DNA found on both victims." Murder, Rape, assault, me? No this can't be true. I have never not once laid a hand on Milani. She has dispicable things to me and not once did I lay a hand on her. This is not possible. "are you sure you have the person? I have never laid a hand on my wife. Even after what happened yesterday, I walked away." I say, not knowing what else to say.
"Not according to your wife's statement. You found her in bed with another man and you lost it." What? I think I am losing my mind. Why can't I remember anything. Wait, I need my lawyer. I need him here. "I need to talk to my lawyer." I tell him and he nods asking for my lawyers number and I give it to him. He walks telling me he is going to come back when my lawyer is hear.
Something is not right here. Something is off with this whole thing. What annoys me more is that I can't remember anything. All I remember is eating and not even finishing the food. I went upstairs and slept. Oh no, she drug me again and she used a different drug this time because the effect are not the same. Could this have happened while I was passed out but the question is, who did it. "Ok Nqaba you to wake up, you need to be smart about this." I tell myself. I've allowed a woman to take advantage of me for years because I loved her and couldn't be hardcore with her. I need to bring my A game on this. One thing I know for sure is that I was drugged but I need to prove it. I can't wake up and not remember anything. Even when I am drunk I always remember everything. I need to talk to my lawyer to organize the test. Mnqobi is dead, Milani says I raped and beat her. No man, something is wrong. Could it be they staged this because I caught them. It looks like I am going to need more than a lawyer.