Outcast

The following day, Thandi dropped Amahle at school and went back home. She did not feel like working at all. She could not find any reason for Jane to tell such a horrible lie about her and furious with S’bu for believing it. She felt like she was loosing her mind and needed to talk to someone but Mandy was not answering her calls and Cindy was away on her honeymoon. S’bu woke up in his old bedroom at Jobe home and decided to greet his Mother. He was too upset when he arrived last night and went straight to his old bedroom without talking to anyone. When he walked into the lounge, he found Mrs J , Mandy and Jane talking.

“S’busiso, why did you not tell me that your whore wife has something to do with my husband’s disappearance?”Mrs J asked.

S’bu gave Jane a cold stare.

“I’m sorry S’bu, I just came to check if you are okay and I could not lie to Ma”Jane explained.

“I still can’t believe that Thandi and Menzi would do such a thing”Mandy said disgusted. She would not have believed it if someone told her but she saw with her own eyes the video and the photos Jane took.

“She fooled all of us”Mrs J said. “Thandi has won every Jobe family member’s heart except Lungi. Some Jobe man would die for her if there was ever a need.”

“Thandi is very smart, it was very easy for her to fool everyone”Jane said.

“That she is”Mandy said. Thandi was ranked among the smartest people in the country and having been her best friend she knew it first hand how smart Thandi was.

“What bugs me about all of this is that I relentlessly persuaded her to be my girlfriend. Menzi was the one giving me advices throughout until now. When she wanted a contraceptive, she asked Menzi and he made all her appointments. I asked Menzi to tamper with her contraceptive and that’s how Sipho was conceived. When she was in ICU, Menzi insisted on taking leave and coming with me. All this time, I thought he was a very loyal supportive brother. It turns out he was being there for his lover. I loved Thandi so much that I spent my time, a lot of money and invested my whole future on her”S’bu told them what has been piercing through his heart the past two days.

Mandy and Mrs J were already sobbing listening to how Thandi had hurt S’bu.

“I know it hurts so bad because I have been there and I am still not over the betrayal but you are still the most handsome and successful businessman around and you have your whole life ahead of you”Jane said, consoling S’bu.

“When you went missing long time ago, we found you because Thandi had a dream. That is how she won all our approval and hearts. Is it possible that she planned the whole thing back then?”Mrs J asked. Up to this day, no one could explain how Thandi could just have a dream and know where S’bu was.

“I don’t know Mom, she was just 17 at the time”S’bu said.

“The smartest 17 year old in the whole country”Mandy reminded him.

“If she could plan that back then, maybe she did it again with your Father”Mrs J suggested.

“Menzi was the last person to talk to G and he has access to the hospital. It would be very easy for him to sneak him out”Jane said.

“I will ask the investigators to look at it”S’bu said. Was is possible that his wife and brother were so calculating and deceitful? Would they go to an extent of kidnapping his Father and G? he wondered.He was grateful to have Jane who understood exactly what he was going through and spent a night with her that evening and the weeks that followed.

The following day Thandi was questioned by detectives about S’bu’s disappearance years ago and Mr J’s and G’s disappearance. The detectives looked at everything including her phone records and GPS locations of her cars. In the end, the detectives did not find anything linking Thandi or Menzi to the case. Thandi was even more angry with S’bu for suspecting her of such a horrible thing. She loved Mr J like a Father, how could she even think of kidnapping him?

Three weeks later, the video of Menzi and Thandi making out was posted on social media anonymously. Lungi made a statement on behalf of the Jobe family confirming the allegations and disowning both Thandi and Menzi. The Dlamini’s also made their statement disowning Thandi as their daughter.

Thandi was hunted by journalists everywhere she went. The atmosphere at work was also awkward as Mandy was not talking to her and most of JC employees looked at her with disgust. She eventually decided to resign from JC and barely left her home. She stopped logging into social media because of horrible things that were being said about her. The only people who believed her were Amahle, Cindy and Tsepo and she was very grateful for their support.

Menzi was fired from Fountain hospital as the hospital management did not want to go against the powerful Jobe family. His own parents refused to have anything to do with him. He was jobless for two months and was very grateful to be offered a job in Hope hospital, two hours from his home.

Thandi had not seen or spoken to S’bu since the day she chased him away, four months ago. It was Sipho’s fifth birthday, she wondered if S’bu would show up or at least call to wish his son a happy birthday. She was baking the cake for Sipho when Cindy called and everything turned for the worst. Apparently Menzi had admitted to the affair and claimed Sipho ad his child. Now Cindy called to cut ties with her and banned Thandi from ever speaking to Tsepo. Cindy knew that Tsepo was very kind and had a soft spot for Thandi, she no longer trusted Thandi around her husband. Thandi turned on the television to find out why her last friend was suddenly turning against her and asking her to turn on her television, her heart broke into tiny pieces. She thought things would not get any worse but they just did. Sipho’s paternity was being discussed because apparently Menzi had confessed on his social media account that Sipho was his son while wishing him a happy birthday. S’bu had responded by saying he had suspected it all along and has removed Sipho as his heir. He announced that he was over the moon by the fact that he and Jane were expecting his rightful heir. Menzi called to tell her that he also had decided to stay away from social media and did not realise that his account was hacked and only found out today about the stuff that he supposedly posted. He posted on his wall once he gained access explaining that he was hacked but no one believed him. Thandi suddenly felt alone in the world and missed her Grandmother very much. If her Grandma was still alive, she would know what to do, Thandi thought, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her dear Grandmother died of old age when she was 97 years old. S’bu was with her and refused to leave her side the whole time until the funeral. Now she had no Grandma, no family, no friends and S’bu had deserted her.

“Oh, Grandma”she cried bitterly. “Is this what you meant when you said everyone goes through trials?”she asked, on her knees sobbing. Thandi sobbed for a long time and was brought back to her senses by Sipho who was tugging on her shirt. Not wanting her son to see her in that state, she quickly stood up, wiped her tears and forced a smile.

“What is it Mommy?”Sipho asked.

“Nothing baby, Mommy was just praying”she lied.

“Prayer is good”he said nodding.

“Prayer is very good”Thandi said, also nodding.

“Is Daddy coming for the cake?”Sipho asked excited.

“Daddy is working till late again but he will have the cake when he gets back”Thandi lied again. She was getting good at lying to Sipho about his Father but knew that soon enough she will have to break the news to her son that his Father might not be coming back.