Diary Of A Mafia King's Wife

I am sitting by the kitchen window sipping my coffee looking at the sunset thinking about how I went from single to married in a matter of 0.5 seconds. I still can’t believe my parents forced me to marry my sister’s fiancé because they are ‘scared of embarrassment’. The guy I married 9 days ago ignores me all the time, makes me wonder why he agreed to marry me. I wonder what made my sister disappear on her wedding day. I thought she loved this guy very much.  I decide to join everyone in the sitting room because I’ll come across as rude if I don’t join them. I can’t wait for them to leave. As if marrying my sister’s fiancé is not awful enough. I still have to entertain the guests because this is ‘also my house’. I don’t even know when this mall my husband Mlondolozi calls home was built. I wonder why he would build such a big house when he comes from a small family, 4 siblings, boys only. Apparently, all the boys have malls as well as their parents. I wish I could take out my phone but I find it rude to use my phone when there are people around me. Hubby dearest decides to grace us with his presence after spending the whole day in his office. There’s something about Mlondolozi, he walks into a room and everyone is suddenly quiet, he has the kind of presence that demands attention without saying anything. And he’s a man of few words.  He was probably working the whole time. It makes me wonder what he does for a living.  “Aren’t you going to give your husband his food?” my mom asks me after some time.  “Your food is in the microwave,” I tell him. Everyone looks at me, if they think I will go fetch his food then they are wrong. He wasn’t here when I gave everyone their food, so he’ll have to go to the kitchen to fetch his food. It’s been a long day. I love cooking but I wanted to relax and spend the day in bed, but my mom dragged me to the kitchen. And now I have to go fetch his food? His strange grandma maNgubane winks at me. It reminds me of the first time I met her when I said it’s lovely to meet you. She replied with a huge grin and said, “Of course it is, I’m a lovely person”. I just didn’t know what to say but I liked her instantly.   I’ve never really spoken with her but most people describe MaNgubane as the kind of person who could turn a harmless and sweetest person into a cold-blooded killer with her big mouth.  Mlondolozi doesn’t say anything he just takes one of the magazines from the coffee table and he reads. My mom keeps mouthing ‘go get his food’ I just look at her. If she’s so worried then she will go fetch his food, not me.  “I said go get mkhwenyana’s food” she shouts.  “He can go fetch his food, he wasn’t here when everyone was eating” I shout back. “I like this girl,” maNgubane tells Mlondi’s mom who is sitting there giving me nasty looks. If looks could kill, I’d be lying in the mortuary right now. Mlondolozi would be a widower to a wife of 9 days. Imagine.  “I’m not hungry,” Mlondi tells my mom. But she continues to say she didn’t raise me like that. I just wish they could leave, I need to be alone and I have something to do. I wonder why they didn’t postpone the wedding and go look for Owami. I know that culture and tradition don’t allow people to postpone a wedding even if there’s a funeral. But they really had to, the bride went AWOL. It looks like they don’t care about her. Or they know that she’s okay and safe. “Where’s Owami?” I ask my parents. My dad almost chokes on his drink. He likes free drinks this one. That’s how he spent his money after he was retrenched 10 years ago. He drank most of the money and ran around with young girls. When there was no money left the girls left him for people with money. And my mom took him back and provided for him. If that’s true love then no thank you it can pass me. I can’t be a fool because I love someone.  “We don’t know” my mom replies looking and sounding annoyed.  “It looks like you know”  “What makes you say that?” maNgubane asks me smiling from ear to ear. It looks like she had too much to drink. “They didn’t postpone the wedding when the bride went AWOL…” my mom opens her mouth to defend herself and my dad. “Yeah yeah I know culture or tradition doesn’t allow people to cancel a wedding. But the bride left hours before her wedding, you should have postponed the wedding. And I don’t remember you guys saying you are looking for her. It makes me think you know where she is”.  They don’t say anything which makes them look more suspicious. There’s a reason Owami disappeared and my mom her ‘partner in crime’ as she calls her, knows what happened to her. Mlondolozi’s family was going to ask for the lobola back so they devised a plan to sell me to this dangerous man. Like I said I don’t know what he does for a living but I know that it is something big and dangerous. I don’t have proof but I can tell by just looking at him. They probably spent the money on my dad, to feed his drinking habit.  We sit in silence for some time. Then my mom starts talking about her precious daughter. I look at the time. It’s 7 pm I get up and head to my room. Mlondi as everyone calls him and I sleep in separate rooms. I decide to lock the door just in case my parents decide to come and disturb my peace. I often wonder how life would be like if I had a different family. Maybe I’d be sitting with everyone right now, not tossing and turning in bed. Most people celebrate on the 25th of December with their families. That’s why Joburg is usually empty during the festive. But my family is not like any other family, we never celebrate this day together. It has been years since that stopped. And pity I don’t have a family to visit because my parents don’t get along with their families. At first, both families didn’t have a problem with me visiting but that stopped 4 years ago when I turned 18. I don’t know what really happened they used to send me cash but they didn’t for the past 4 years and I never asked. But I am planning to call them if they haven't changed their digits and then visit them. I really want to know why they stopped sending me money. I always wanted to go stay with my mother's family because my father's family is too strict. A little freedom can't hurt. I always felt loved when I visited the families and they are from the same area. But there's 15 minutes walk between the houses.