S’bus anger

Thandi saw S’bu coming towards her and could tell that he was not pleased with her. His eyes were so cold that she started shivering.

“You are flirting with another man right in front of my gate? Are you trying to embarrass me to my whole family?” he asked holding her wrist tight.

“I...I....” Thandi stuttered, she had never seen S’bu this angry before.

To S’bu Thandi looked guilty,making him angrier and held her wrist tighter.

“You hurting me” Thandi screamed in pain. Her fingers were becoming numb.

“Are you trying to embarrass me to my whole family?” he asked again not letting go of her wrist.

“If you don’t trust me, why don’t you let me go?” Thandi snapped also getting angry.

“Is that what you want?” he asked sneering.

“Yes” she said stubbornly. S’bu was the one flirting with girls all the time and she was the one faced by the abuse from those girls but he was angry with her for talking to her friend. She was tired of it.

“Okay, you free. I’m letting you go” he said angrily letting go of her wrist and walking away. Girls everywhere wanted him and were willing to do anything but Thandi had turned down his marriage proposal and did not even want to attend his family function. He had to make her come by talking to her mother and when she got here she would rather sit with his sister and flirt with someone else. He had reached his limit and was not willing to let her disrespect him like that anymore. Thandi also turned around and walked towards the gate. She wanted to get out of the Jobe home as fast as possible. She heard someone shouting something about a cow when she was at the gate and ignored it and kept walking. When S’bu turned around he saw one of his uncles bulls charging fast behind unsuspecting Thandi.

“Thandi!” he shouted very loud running towards her. Thandi heard him shouting her name, turned around and saw the bull right behind her. She was stuck between the bull and the gate. She ducked putting her hands around her head protecting it. The bull charged, its horns hitting the gate. The scene attracted a lot of attention from the wedding guests. It’s the red dress, that bull hates the colour, someone shouted. Mrs J who was not too far from the gate took off her white doek from her heard, threw it to Thandi telling her to put it over her dress. Thandi still trapped between the gate and the bull was trying to put the doek over her shoulders when the bull charged again strapping her arm. S’bu saw blood flowing from Thandi’s arm and ran in front of her without thinking. The bull kept on charging, its horn plunged on S’bu’s shoulder while his spear plunged deep on its neck and it fell on the ground dead. Satisfied that the bull was dead, S’bu removed the spear from its neck, placed it on the ground and hugged Thandi who was shaking uncontrollably. Once Thandi settled down and stopped shaking she noticed the bleeding wound on S’bu’s shoulder and pressed on it with her hand trying to stop the bleeding. S’bu put his hand on her bleeding arm and pressed as well.

“You saved my life” she said emotional.

“Are you okay?” he asked concerned.

Thandi looked at him and nodded. The cold eyes she saw earlier were now replaced with concern and warmth.

“You are going to need stitches” she said still pressing on his shoulder.

Thandi and S’bu were still looking at each other when they were snapped back to reality by S’bu’s great grandmother who was ululating around them.

“You are now married, what a miracle” she said shouting.

“Granny what do you mean?” Zake asked curious.

“Long before we became westernised, this is how couples got married” she said. “The man’s mother would place her doek on her daughter-in-law’s shoulders handing over the responsibilities of the household to her.

The man would put his shield down in front of her, promising to always protect her with it but to never use it on her” she continued.

“Then the couple would make a cut on their hands and touch each other’s blood, linking their souls forever” granny’s younger sister added agreeing with her sister.

“That’s right” S’bu’s great grandmother agreed ululating. “Jobe family welcome your second bride” she announced and everyone started ululating.

“S’bu say something, this is getting out of hand”Thandi whispered.

“It seems we just got married, What do you want me to say?” S’bu said amused.

“Wait, grandma. As a lawyer, I’m bound by law to make sure we are marring two willing people” Zake said joining in on the fun.

Thandi sighed with relief. At least now she would be able to tell them that she’s not ready to get married.

“Thandi do you love S’bu?” Zake asked.

Thandi was dumbfounded. She loved S’bu but was not ready to marry him. Zake was playing a trick on her.

“Are you going to deny me in front of my family?” S’bu asked pretending to be hurt.

“You know how I feel about you” Thandi told him.

“She says S’bu knows how she feels about him, since she’s shy we will let him tell us” Zake shouted.

“You all know that she’s crazy about me” he said proudly enjoying every moment. “Her exact words to TT the other day were that she was committed to me” he added. All the Jobe family youth soon joined in on the fun and started ululating making Thandi more uneasy.

“What about you S’bu, do you love Thandi?” Zake asked sounding like a priest.

“She’s the love of my life, when she’s ready I promise to leave all others and stick to her” S’bu said lovingly.

“Like grandma, I also pronounce you as husband and wife” Zake said.

Now the ululating was even louder and the Jobe youth was throwing confetti at them.

“S’bu please tell your family to stop now so you can get your wound stitched” Thandi whispered to him. She hated being on a spotlight and wanted to get out of there.

“Excuse us family, my wife wants to take me to an emergency room to get my wound stitched. Maybe we will go on a honeymoon after that” he said mischievously.

Thandi sighed when everyone dispersed leaving them alone.

“Let’s go to the emergency room now so I can be able to go home on time” she said.

“Let’s go to the emergency room but there’s no way that I’m spending our wedding night alone” he said charmingly.

“We are not married” Thandi said sharply.

“Do you want me to call my family back to witness us getting married again?” he threatened.

Thandi shook her head”let’s just go and get your wound attended to.”

“That’s what I thought” S’bu said laughing. He really enjoyed teasing her.

When they were about to leave, S’bu asked for few minutes, went inside to ask his great grandmother something and then left with Thandi.

“Are they really married?” Mr J asked his grandmother.

“If they consummate, then they will be regarded as married by ancestors” she responded.

“That’s what he came to ask, isn’t?” Mr J asked. He saw S’bu talking to his great grandmother earlier. His grandmother smiled and didn’t answer him.