- The Day He Came Back
I never thought I would see him again.
Not in the same Shoprite where we used to steal bread because we were too broke to buy it. Not when I was holding the hand of the 2-year-old daughter who has his eyes.
"Sicelo?"
His voice. God, his voice. Still deep. Still the same voice that used to whisper I love you at 2am in our tiny shack in Soweto.
I turned. And there he was.
Lwandle.
But not MY Lwandle. This Lwandle wore a suit that cost more than my rent for a year. His watch shined. His shoes were clean. He didn't look like the boy who left me with nothing.
He looked at me. Then he looked down.
At Amahle.
His eyes went wide. "Whose... whose child is that?"
My heart stopped. My hands were shaking. I pulled Amahle closer.
"She's not yours," I lied. The first lie. "She's my sister's child."
He didn't believe me. I saw it in his face. Because Amahle looked exactly like him when he was small. Same dimple. Same stubborn frown.
He stepped closer, his expensive cologne hitting my nose. "Sicelo, don't lie to me. How old is she?"
"Two," I whispered.
He closed his eyes. Pain flashed across his face. "Two. I left three years ago."
Silence.
The whole Shoprite seemed quiet. Amahle, innocent, looked up at him and said, "Hi!"
He knelt down. Big, rich CEO kneeling in a Shoprite aisle for my daughter. Tears were in his eyes.
"Hi, little angel. What's your name?"
"Amahle," she said proudly.
He looked up at me, tears now falling. "You named her Amahle? The name we picked?"
I couldn't hold it anymore. "You left me, Lwandle! You left me pregnant and alone! You said you were going to Joburg for work and you never came back! Do you know what they called me? Do you know how I survived?"
"I know," he said, his voice breaking. "I know everything. And I came back to fix it. If you'll let me."
I wanted to slap him. I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to scream.
Instead, I picked up Amahle and walked away. But he followed me. All the way out of the store, into the taxi rank.
"Sicelo, please. I have money now. I can take care of you both. Just give me one dinner. One hour to explain where I was."
I stopped. My taxi was there. Amahle was sleepy on my shoulder.
One dinner. What could one dinner hurt?
"Tomorrow. 7pm. But if you lie to me again, I will disappear and you will never find us."
He smiled - that old smile I fell in love with. "Tomorrow. 7pm. I promise."
I got into the taxi and didn't look back. But my heart was beating so fast, I thought Amahle could feel it.
What I didn't know was, Lwandle wasn't just rich now. He was dangerous. And the reason he left 3 years ago... was to protect me from the very people who were now coming for our daughter.
