 
### Confessions of the Black Sheep

Copyright 2016 Tebogo Maimane

Published by Tebogo Maimane at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Beyond the Sheets

After the Dungeon

The Circle

About Tebogo Maimane

Other books by Tebogo Maimane

Connect with Tebogo Maimane

Acknowledgements

I would like to give honor to God for the talent He has given me.

I would also like to thank my family for being my great support and giving me space to pursue my vision.

Beyond the Sheets
Chapter 1

Along the majestic Drakensburg mountains, in the village of Mount Frere there was a pretty girl by the name of Neo. Her mother Mampho was from Matatiele, she met Jonas whilst he used to work at BP garage in Matatiele. After they were married, they relocated to Jonas's hometown of Mount Frere. Jonas and Mampho had three children of whom the eldest and only daughter was Neo, her siblings were Tony and Jeff.

Neo was so beautiful that everywhere she went she would be complimented on her looks, from the time she was in puberty. Elderly ladies would always tease her by saying they wanted her to be their daughter in law so that they can have beautiful grandchildren. Neo didn't only have the looks, she was also a brilliant student, always being top of her class.

Jonas and Mampho loved their family dearly, however irrespective of how hard they tried they were not financially stable. Jonas continued as a petrol attendant however this time around it was at Caltex garage, he got the job soon after they relocated from Matatiele. Mampho did not have a stable job she did odd jobs, sometimes she would do laundry for a certain teacher in their area, sometimes she would sell vegetables at the street corner, she was the type of mother that would always make a plan to ensure that her family had food and never went to bed on an empty stomach. They brought up their children in a small family home made up of three rooms. It was the kitchen, one bedroom for the parents and a family room which doubled as a bedroom for Neo, Tony and Jeff.

Even though Jonas and Mampho were not well educated they encouraged their children to dream big, and that the only way to achieve their dreams was through being well educated. As parents they sacrificed a lot to make sure that their children had whatever was needed at school. Mampho would wash and iron the children's uniform, Neo, Tony and Jeff were encouraged to look immaculate when they went to school. Mampho instilled the discipline and confidence in the children, Jonas played his role as the head of the family.

Mampho had a younger sister by the name of Ntebeng. Ntebeng was fifteen years younger than Mampho and five years older than Neo, Mampho gave birth to Neo when she was twenty years of age. Because of this age difference, Ntebeng considered herself more of a friend to Neo rather than her aunt. Whilst she was growing up she used to visit Mampho and the family every school holidays and as such Ntebeng and Neo became very close.

When Ntebeng finished high school she enrolled to study internal auditing at Witwatersrand University of Technology. She was fortunate to get financial assistance through TEFSA. Every school holidays she had new stories to tell Neo about the life in a big city. In her second year of studies at Wits, Ntebeng befriended Mel. Mel was a socialite on campus and because of her popularity Ntebeng was excited about their friendship. Mel dated a popular club DJ so Ntebeng got introduced to life in the fast lane where it was partying and clubbing minimum of four days in a week, sometimes it would be from Thursday to Sunday whereas other times it would be spontaneous parties any day of the week in addition to the usual Thursday to Sunday routine. Ntebeng loved the new lifestyle, more so she was glad because she became part of the "it" girls on campus. On Mel's 21st birthday her boyfriend decided to throw her a surprise party and asked Ntebeng to help with the logistics by organizing with the club owner who was also its manager. The venue of the party was an exclusive night club in Melrose Arch. When Ntebeng went to meet with the club owner she didn't know what was in store for her. She had been given the details of the club owner, as soon as stepped into his office after being escorted by one of the waiters, her heart lipped because she didn't anticipate she will be arranging the surprise party with such a handsome guy. She contained herself as much as is humanly possible because she didn't want to act like a fool and embarrass herself. After their first meeting she couldn't wait to get back to campus to go tell Mel about the guy but she couldn't tell Mel because it was going to lead to her spilling the beans about the surprise. Ntebeng decided to start hanging around with Rose up until the party had passed, all she wanted was someone who could listen as she spoke about Nick the club owner and how she had a crush on him. Ntebeng told Mel she was hanging around with Rose because she was helping her prepare for the upcoming semester test since she had missed out on a lot of classes she needed to catch up.

The big night of the party arrived, which was two weeks from the time Ntebeng first met Nick. Mel was so happy that her man and best friend had organized such a lavish birthday party for her. During the party Nick started making moves on Ntebeng and flirting with her. Ntebeng felt like it was icing on the cake, not only was her friend enjoying her party but Nick was giving her undivided attention, what more could a girl ask for she thought. By the end of the evening Nick offered to drive Ntebeng back to campus, and she agreed. Whilst on the way he told her that he wanted to spend some more time with her so they should go book into a hotel in Sandton. Ntebeng said yes because she had heard other girls on campus talking about spending time in Sandton hotels yet she had never had anyone take her there. To her it was like she was in a fairytale, she got the guy she had a crush on and in addition he was taking her to a five star hotel. When they got to the hotel Nick ordered room service and an exclusive champagne. He told her they were toasting to a life of exciting times ahead. In the morning he went and dropped her off at campus, which was the beginning of their relationship. When she got on campus Mel was not yet back from her boyfriend's place so Ntebeng went to Rose to tell her that she caught herself the biggest fish in the ocean, meaning that she got herself the man to whom she had a crush on just a few weeks prior.

Since Rose was also at the party and saw Nick, her response was that she thought Nick was too old for Ntebeng but Ntebeng said age ain't nothing but a number. Nick treated her like a queen and no man had ever treated her that way so she didn't mind that Nick was twelve years older than her. Once a week Ntebeng would go spend the night with Nick but the puzzling thing was that he never took her to his place, he told he preferred going to a hotel because he also wanted to be pampered because his job entail taking care of his customers so it was his way of unwinding. Six months after they were in a relationship, Ntebeng was around Melrose Arch so she decided to pop in to see Nick at the club, she had sent him a text message to let him know she was around but he didn't reply. She went regardless of the fact that he had not responded to her text message. When she got to the club the head waiter said Nick was not around, he had taken two days paternity leave because his wife had given birth to a baby girl. Ntebeng was in such a shock, she looked for the nearest seat and asked for a glass of water. Things started to add up as to why Nick had never let her come to his place, she had a hunch that it wasn't normal never to be invited to her man's place but she decided to ignore her instincts. She was so shattered that when she got to campus she stayed in bed for a full day crying, Mel tried to console her but she was inconsolable. What was she going to do because Nick was the man who broke her virginity? What was she going to do because she fantasized about the fact that the man who broke her virginity was going to be her husband? What was she going to do because she never considered herself to be in an adulterous relationship? The more questions came into her mind the more she sobbed uncontrollably. She kept on calling Nick but he wouldn't answer his phone.

One week after the incident Nick finally called Ntebeng, it was Thursday around seven o'clock in the evening, he was on his way to come pick her up so that they could iron things out. He picked her up and told her that he is a man of actions more than a man of words so she should just enjoy their time for the next seventy two hours then afterwards she can make up her mind as to whether she wants to continue being in a relationship with him or not. After he picked her up they went straight to Lanseria airport, they boarded a plane to Durban. When they got to Durban, Nick had arranged with one of his friend's sister to keep her boutique open until he came. Ntebeng had left Johannesburg without anything all she had was her handbag, now here she was being treated to a private shopping at one of the high end boutiques. Nick told her to choose whatever she wanted, clothes and accessories. Ntebeng was so excited like a child given a free reign in a candy store. After shopping they went to an exclusive restaurant where he had booked a private room for the two of them. During their stay in Durban they spent three days together in a private yacht he had hired just for the two of them. He told her that though he is married it doesn't mean he cannot treat her like a queen because he cared for her but because of the children could not leave his wife. On Sunday evening when he dropped her off at campus she had decided to continue being with him. When Mel saw all the new things he bought for her she was jealous because her boyfriend has never done that for her, from that time Ntebeng and Mel were no longer friends because they started competing with each other about material things. On the other hand Rose told Ntebeng not to go back to Nick because of his marital status but Ntebeng said everyone deserves a second chance.

The weekend after coming back from Durban it was school break so Nick said to show how much he loved her he wanted to know where she grew up, he took Ntebeng home to Matatiele in his sports car. On the same day the schools were closing in Mount Frere so Ntebeng sent a message to Neo to tell her parents she was going to visit the grandparents in Matatiele. Immediately when she got back from school that Friday afternoon she took a bus to Matatiele. Around ten at night Neo heard a sound of a car outside her grandparents' home, when she peeped through the window she saw a car she had never seen before, then she saw her aunt Ntebeng come out of it and kiss the man who was driving. She was excited to see her aunt because she had not seen her in a while, so she got out of bed to go be the one that unlocks the door for her. They were screaming and hugging when Ntebeng entered the house to a point where they woke up everyone who was asleep.

The following day Nick sent a message to Ntebeng to come meet her at the bed and breakfast he had stayed at overnight. Ntebeng went with Neo to meet with Nick, when they got there Neo got to see that the car she saw the first time the previous night was called Porsche Cayenne Turbo S , it was black in color with red interior. Ntebeng introduced Nick as her boyfriend to Neo. Neo noticed that Nick was older than the guys Ntebeng had dated previously but was impressed about how handsome he was. By the end of that afternoon Neo could see why Ntebeng was head over heels in love with Nick, he had asked the girls to show him around their town so whilst they were chatting he noticed that Neo didn't have a cell phone so whilst in town he told her to pick any phone she liked and he paid for it, it was Neo's first experience of receiving a luxury gift.

When Ntebeng got back to campus after spending three weeks at home, she met Mel who was quick to inform her that she saw Nick with another lady whilst on school break. Ntebeng didn't take Mel seriously because she knew how jealous she was of her relationship with Nick more especially because her DJ boyfriend had dumped her just before school break. That night when she got to the club she noticed that there was another lady seating at a spot which is usually reserved for her, immediately she remembered what Mel had said. Nick was not at the club and they had a rule that she doesn't call him at night so she decided to stick around hoping he will come but he never did. The way the waiters were behaving she picked up that they were nervous about having her and the other lady present at the club at the same time. Ntebeng managed to contain herself and not to cause a scene. The following day when Nick called her she confronted him about the lady at the club and what Mel had sad, to her astonishment Nick didn't deny it he said it was just a temporary thing whilst he was waiting for Ntebeng to come back from school break. Ntebeng was so upset that she told Nick she wanted to break it off but Nick told her he was the one who will decide when the relationship was over. For the first time it dawned on Ntebeng how possessive Nick was, from that time she was stuck in an emotionally abusive relationship. Ntebeng convinced herself that things were not bad because Nick continued to buy her luxury gifts as he had been doing before the other lady came into the picture.
Chapter 2

In her third year at Wits, Ntebeng continued to be in a relationship with Nick. Unbeknown to her Mel had met Nick with his wife during the Christmas break at a fundraising event. While Nick went to the bar to fetch drinks, Mel told Nick's wife Liz that she had something to tell her so they must go to the restroom to talk freely. Nick's wife was puzzled as to what this young girl would want to tell her that needed privacy but she decided to go with her to the restroom anyway. When they got to the restroom Mel didn't waste any time about spilling the beans regarding Nick and Ntebeng's affair. Mel even went to an extent of giving Nick's wife Ntebeng's cell phone number. When they got back from the restroom Nick could see that something happened but when he asked his wife she just kept quiet and didn't mention anything about what Mel had told her. The thing is various people had mentioned to Liz about his ways at the club but she just shoved it off because she said flirting with customers was part of his managing style. For the first time since they were married for five years, she had potential evidence of his shenanigans. At the same time it didn't seem like it could be true because of the way Nick was treating her and the kids. He was the type of father who played with his kids and a husband that spoiled his wife, whatever she wanted she got it. Two days after meeting Mel the family were going on a trip which was planned by Nick, he was taking them on a cruise in Italy, he had even arranged for the nanny to come with them so that he could have time to spend with his wife. Liz decided not to call the number given to her by Mel until needs be.

In her third year Ntebeng was going to be turning twenty one so she remembered how she met Nick, it was when she was helping to organize a surprise party for Mel's twenty first birthday. Ntebeng brought it up in one of her conversations with Nick, and then he asked her what she considered to be her dream twenty first birthday party. Her answer was that she wanted to go to New York to go paint the town red, she also mentioned that she wanted to take Neo along as she will be also celebrating a milestone of turning sweet sixteen. During the Easter holiday Nick took Ntebeng and Neo to New York for one week. The first time Neo met Nick he bought her a luxury gift and the second time he gave her an exposure to high end lifestyle, even though she couldn't join them at night when they went clubbing she was content with staying back at the hotel ordering room service and watching movies. After the experience in New York Neo had made up her mind that she was also going to relocate to Johannesburg to find herself a man like Nick. What her aunt Ntebeng had not told Neo was that Nick was a married man.

In May of that same year the youngest child of Nick and Liz became very ill in the middle of the night. Liz called Nick's cell phone but it was off, she called him at the club and she was told he was not there. She decided to take the child to the emergency unit in the nearest hospital, whilst the doctors were busy with the child and she was pacing around in the emergency room, Liz remembered the number which she had stored in her phone but she never had the guts to call it. On this night when she was looking for her husband and didn't know his whereabouts she decided to call that number, it was the number she was given by Mel at the fundraising event. When the phone started ringing on the other side, she became more anxious and her hands were sweaty. A voice of a lady answered, at that moment it was the point of no return she just had to gather enough courage to state her reason for calling. She started off by asking the lady if she new Nick and the lady said "why do you want to know who am I speaking to?", as the lady was asking her questions she heard a voice in the background and there was no mistaking that voice it was definitely Nick's. Liz didn't hesitate anymore she introduced herself as Nick's wife, and told Ntebeng she was looking for Nick because the child is in hospital. Ntebeng was in such a shock that she dropped the phone on the bed and pointed it to Nick for him to answer. When Nick picked it up he was also as shocked to hear his wife's voice on the other side.

As from one year after they were married, Nick started having extra marital affairs but up to this point in their five year marriage he thought he had successfully covered his tracks. As he was driving to the hospital he realized the magnitude of the mess he was in, how was he going to deny it because Liz found him via Ntebeng's phone, on the other hand he was curious as to how long Liz had known about Ntebeng, then he was wondering how she got Ntebeng's phone number, as all these questions were going through his mind a cold chill went down his spine as he remembered the night of the fundraising event. As Nick arrived at the hospital the doctor was also coming to meet with them at the waiting room to tell them he needed to run some more tests therefore they will be admitting the baby who was eleven months old at that point. The tension between Nick and Liz was so thick in that waiting room, Nick didn't know where to start explaining whereas Liz felt it was not the place to discuss their private business. After twenty four hours the doctor discharged the baby because the fever had gone down and all tests they ran came out inconclusive.

In the meantime during that twenty four hours whilst Nick and Liz were in hospital with the baby, Ntebeng was also having a meltdown. She was still in shock of the fact that Nick's wife new about her existence and not only that but that she also had her cell phone number. She had many questions running through her mind and didn't have any answers and when she sends text messages to Nick he didn't give her any clear answer. How was she going to get out of this because the last time she tried to call it off Nick told her he was the only one who will decide when to break it off.

When they got home Liz put the baby in her nursery as she was asleep, she asked the nanny to take over as she was also exhausted after spending twenty four hours in the hospital waiting room. After Liz took a shower she went straight to bed, she was so numb emotionally she had blocked out everything that had happened the day before. Nick also avoided the situation at home by going to the club pretending as if everything was normal. When she woke up the following day Liz realized that she couldn't continue living in denial of what had taken place. When she confronted Nick he didn't deny having an affair, he told her that he thinks its best that Liz knows but she must know that she is the only one who holds a special place in his heart because she is the mother of his children. He told her that he realized that he was not the monogamous type of guy. When Liz told him she wanted a divorce because she didn't sign up for this type of marriage, he threatened to strip her off of all the assets they owned. Liz found herself to be in a predicament because she was a housewife and she didn't want to go back to the dusty and over crowded streets of Diepsloot. Liz decided to stay in the marriage because she was depending on him to provide for all her needs.

In September of that same year Nick was arrested, it was revealed that he is one of the drug suppliers in Johannesburg, and that the club was used as a fronting business. He was released on bail of one hundred thousand rands whilst awaiting trial. One night on his way home from the club he was shot dead because other members in the drug cartel considered him to be a high risk to their business, and they were also afraid that he might turn into state witness.

Chapter 3

Ntebeng had to come back to Wits on the fourth year because with all the things that had happened the previous year, she had failed her exams and had to come and repeat her final year in internal auditing. She told Neo that Nick had died but she didn't tell her the full details, Neo was heartbroken because she had idolized Nick, she saw him as the perfect man.

The problem that Ntebeng was faced with is that she was known to be the "it" girl on campus and now the one who used to provide for all her material needs was no longer alive. She decided that the only way to maintain this lifestyle was to get another wealthy man. One Sunday afternoon she went hunting for a man so she went and sat at the bar in Michael Angelo in Sandton. After she had been sitting for about an hour at the bar, a waiter brought her a drink courtesy of one of the gentlemen who wanted to come join her, she sent the message with the waiter that the gentleman is welcome to join her. That day she met a man who introduced himself to her as Roy, he was very charming and she thought to herself that she got another great catch. Roy asked if she would mind moving to a more intimate area and when she agreed he treated her to a candle light dinner for two. By the end of dinner when Roy invited her to join him in his room she didn't hesitate because he had been a gentleman throughout their interaction.

Ntebeng decided to go to the restroom first, when she came back she finished what was left of her drink and went with Roy. When they got into the elevator Ntebeng started to feel drowsy and her vision was blurred. When they got to Roy's room as soon as they got into the room she could hear people talking and when she looked around she could make out about five human figures but she couldn't see their faces. They started undressing her as soon as she entered that room. In the morning when she woke up she couldn't remember what had happened but she was naked. There was a note on the table saying "thank you for showing us a good time" and it had six different signatures on it. She was so distraught because she had been raped yet she didn't know who the perpetrators were, how was she going to report this to the police when she didn't have any evidence of what had happened other than the note. Her plan of going to hunt for a wealthy man had backfired beyond what she could have imagined. She decided to take a shower and go back to campus and not to mention to anyone what had happened.

Ntebeng started to resent men because of what had happened, she decided that from that point on she was just going to milk men of what she could get and as soon as she gets it she dumps them. She became promiscuous, she no longer had any moral grounds, and she dated multiple men at the same time. After she graduated at Wits she got into a learnership program at Investec. She hired a room in Alexandra as it was what she could afford which was closer to her workplace since she was working in Sandton. Ntebeng was now a bitter twenty three year old lady who was just going through the motions of life, externally she looked like she was on top of her game because she was an immaculate dresser, but deep inside she was a mess. She became a heavy drinker and a chain smoker, she said it was her expression of being an independent woman.

One Thursday evening whilst having drink with her colleagues at one of the restaurants in Sandton, she met a certain lady by the name of Thelma. Thelma was sitting next to her at the bar so they started having a conversation, by the end of the evening they had exchanged phone numbers. The following day Thelma didn't waste any time to invite Ntebeng for Friday night drinks and so they met again. Ntebeng liked Thelma's personality, she was very bubbly however Ntebeng couldn't shake the feeling that Thelma looked more masculine than her former friends. They became so close that they started hanging together minimum of twice a week. One night after drinks Thelma told Ntebeng that she was too exhausted to drive her back to Alexandra so she asked her to come spend the night at her place in Wendywood. In the morning Ntebeng woke up to an aroma of freshly baked muffins, when she went downstairs to the kitchen she found a table set with a hearty breakfast made by Thelma. She was so impressed that not only did she have a great place but she also knew her way in the kitchen. It was the first time Ntebeng got to experience this type of treatment, and she liked it immensely. Since it was a Saturday she was not in a hurry to get back to Alexandra so they spent the whole day together watching movies. During their chat Ntebeng finally had the courage to ask Thelma why she always dressed up masculine. Thelma told her that she used to dress feminine but after her experience of being raped twice her coping mechanism was to dress less attractive. This led to Ntebeng also opening up and sharing her incident at the hotel, neither of them had reported the case at the police nor been for therapy. So Thelma said she had been exploring the idea of being in the same sex relationship and felt that Ntebeng was the one she wanted to have as her partner. At first Ntebeng was shocked because she had never thought of being in the same sex relationship, she was frank with Thelma and said she needed time to think about it. The following week when they met for their usual after work drinks, Ntebeng told Thelma that she was willing to be in a relationship with her. So three months after they had met, Thelma and Ntebeng became a couple. One month after that Thelma asked Ntebeng to move in with her so they started staying together.
Chapter 4

Neo was now in matric and she was excited about the year ahead, she continued to be a hard worker in her studies because she was aiming to get distinctions in mathematics and science which were her two favorite subjects. Neo knew that her only hope in getting out of the poverty cycle was to obtain a scholarship so that she can go study at one of the best universities in the country. In July their school had a trip to East London to go to a career expo, it was for grade eleven and twelve students. Since the previous year she was not able to go as her parents could not afford it, this year she had asked her parents to start paying in installments as from the beginning of the school term. Mampho and Jonas did their best to grant their daughter her wish, by the time the month of July came she was on the list of the students who were going to the career expo. The night before the trip she could hardly sleep as she was too excited about the trip, due to her family's financial situation Neo had not been able to go on any school trip and this was going to be her first.

When they arrived in East London, Neo couldn't shake the feeling that something good was going to happen that day, it had started great and was looking forward to what else the day had in store. She was amazed to see so many people from different schools and diverse backgrounds. In one of the presentations she sat next to a group of boys and by the look of their uniform it was evident that they were from an affluent school. When one of them caught a glimpse of her cell phone he started making fun of it saying it's an old model. Neo couldn't understand what the fuss was all about because she was one of the few people in her school who had a cell phone, she didn't care that it was almost three years since she got it, to her it was something that she still cherished so she chose to ignore the boys who were laughing at her, she continued to speak to her school mate as if nothing had happened. After the presentation the boys continued to make fun of Neo but this time around, one of their own reprimanded them and came to Neo's defense, he said he was embarrassed by their behaviour and for not knowing how to treat a pretty girl like that. So when they stopped Neo was relieved that those mischievous boys were no longer on her back. She was determined not to let that incident spoil her day.

The boy who had come to her defense was intrigued by Neo, in previous occasions when his fellow school mates would make fun of girls they would usually have some sort of a meltdown for being ridiculed but this time around this girl kept her composure. So for the rest of that day he started following her at a distance so that she didn't notice him. Towards the end of the career expo he had gathered enough courage to approach her, he went and introduced himself as Dumisani. Neo was polite and introduced herself too as she held out her hand to shake his, then she introduced her school mate Nelly whom she was with. Dumisani said he would like to get to know her better so he asked her for her number so that they could keep in touch and she gave it to him. So for the rest of the career expo Dumisani spent it in Neo's company, even though they had just met that day it felt as if they had known each other for long, they enjoyed each other's company. By the end of the day Neo was delighted because of the day she had, she made a new friend, had learned and gathered information about various scholarships available on offer, she had hope that her dream of studying at one of the best universities was feasible.

When she got home she thanked her parents for making it possible for her to go on the trip, she showed them all the material she had collected from the career expo. Mampho and Jonas were also delighted to see their daughter so excited. The very same evening Dumisani send her a text message to check how she had travelled but she didn't respond. The following morning he sent another text and still she didn't respond, his feelings were hurt thinking that she is ignoring him. That afternoon he decided to make one more attempt but this time around he opted to call her rather than send a text. When she answered he was relieved because his fear that he was being ignored was averted. They had a nice chat and at the end of the call he had discovered that she had not responded because she had no airtime. From that day on Dumisani took it upon himself to call her once a day. Mampho noticed that her daughter was getting calls on her cell phone more often than before she had gone on the school trip. As a concerned mother she sat her daughter down to find out what was happening, she didn't want anything that could destruct Neo from her studies, even though Neo was nervous she came clean to her mother and told her about Dumisani and mentioned that they were only friends. Mampho said it was okay as long as it was just friendship and nothing more. During their conversations Neo and Dumisani discovered that they shared similar ambitions with regards to their careers, they both wanted to be doctors specializing in neurosurgery. In August after one month of knowing each other Dumisani asked Neo to be his date to the matric dance which was going to take place in October, Neo indicated that she had no clue what that was as they didn't have it at their school. For the first time Dumisani started realizing how different their backgrounds were but that didn't deter him, he explained the whole concept to her and what would be required from her. By the time Dumisani finished explaining to her all these things her heart was sore because she realized that she didn't have the means to afford all those things. She was very open with him and told him that she was delighted he asked her but she would unfortunately not be able to be his date due to financial constraints. Dumisani was adamant, he asked her if it was not for the finances what would her answer be and she said yes depending on whether her parents gave her permission to go to the matric dance.

The matric dance was going to be held in Durban. Dumisani requested Neo to ask her parents for permission to be his date and he will take care of all financial obligations. Neo's parents agreed on condition that Mampho was going to accompany her to Durban. Dumisani was delighted and he arranged for their accommodation at his aunt's place since she was staying by herself. Dumisani used his allowance to send to Neo so that she could get a dress made for the occasion, he sent her samples of the type of dress which would be suitable to help her with ideas and to ensure that she doesn't feel out of place on the night. When the day of the matric dance finally came, they were both excited to be seeing each other again since the career expo. When Dumisani saw Neo when he went to pick her up, he was beyond words as she looked stunning and he couldn't wait to show her off especially to the guys who made fun of her at the career expo. As they were enjoying themselves at the matric dance little did they know that things were not as rosy back home.

As soon as they had left for the matric dance, Dumisani's aunt had called his mother to come to her place. So the two of them were interrogating Mampho about her family background. By the end of the conversation they had agreed that they were going to put an end to their children's future dating as it was evident that they were from different social status and as such were not suitable for each other. The way Neo was so beaming with joy when she came back from the dance, Mampho couldn't bring herself to tell her of the conversation she had earlier that evening so she waited for an opportune time. First thing in the morning the day after the dance Mampho decided that they had to go back home as she no longer felt welcomed. Whilst in the bus on their way back home Neo asked Mampho the reason why she insisted that they went back so soon after the dance to a point where she didn't even get the chance to go attend the picnic which was arranged by Dumisani. It was at that time that Mampho had to explain to Neo that she will no longer be allowed to see Dumisani as his family didn't regard her to be suitable for him. Neo was so heartbroken to hear that she started crying and all that Mampho could do was to console her. Mampho emphasized the need for Neo to get into medical school as it was the only way she was going to get out of the cycle of poverty and being labeled poor.

When Dumisani called to pick her up for the picnic he was astonished to discover that she was already on the bus on her way back home. She told him all that had transpired, he was shocked to hear what his family had said and persuaded her to ignore them. So they continued with their daily telephone calls when Neo was back home however that did not last long. When Dumisani's mother overheard him talking to her she confiscated his cell phone for a month and told him that if he continued with Neo she will no longer be giving him his monthly allowance. When Neo didn't hear from him she decided to concentrate on her studies as it was exam time and she didn't want any destruction, she concluded that he sided with his family. By the time Dumisani got hold of his phone after the exams, when he called Neo she said she was too heartbroken to give him another chance. Dumisani told her he will not give up on them and hoped that at the right time they will be able to reconcile.
Chapter 5

During the school holidays Neo decided to go visit Ntebeng in Joburg as she wanted to be as far as possible from Dumisani. She thought also that it will be the perfect time to get acquainted to the city where she had dreamed to come study at. During her visit she got to meet Thelma whom she thought was Ntebeng's co-tenant however one week into her visit she could perceive that there was something more. Neo confronted Ntebeng about the nature of her relationship with Thelma so Ntebeng used that opportunity to inform her that they are a lesbian couple. Neo was confused because Ntebeng's previous relationships were with men, and she told her as such. Ntebeng's response was that things have changed and she had different interests now but she told Neo not to tell any of their family members.

Neo went back home the day before the matric results were out because she wanted to go fetch them herself from her school. Mampho and Jonas were so delighted when the matric results came out because Neo got six distinctions and was featured in a local newspaper and also appeared on television news as one of the top students in the province. When Dumisani saw it in the news he called her to congratulate her, he had also passed and got two distinctions. She thanked him for the call but told him not to continue calling her as she didn't want him to disobey his mother's wishes.

Due to what had transpired during her visit to Ntebeng, Neo decided that she didn't want to study in Johannesburg anymore. She feared that being in the same city with Ntebeng will make people from home to ask her more about her wellbeing and she might end up telling the secret so she decided to rather study in Cape Town at UCT. During orientation week she felt someone tap her on the shoulder and when she turned to look as to who it was she was surprised to find a familiar face smiling at her, it was Dumisani. Just as they had shared their common interests in the field of study, now they were going to be classmates. To her delight she was happy to see him once again, it even brought back the memories of the time they spent together at the matric dance. Dumisani asked her to give him another chance to prove that he sincerely cared about her, and wanted her to officially be his girlfriend. They decided that they will keep their relationship a secret from their parents. Neo figured that since she already is keeping Ntebeng's secret she might as well add another. So were their days on campus, they were inseparable and motivated each other as they were study partners. The only time they were not together was during school holidays, they didn't mind it as they spent most of the year together.

In the final year of their study they got engaged so the time had come for the secret to be revealed. Mampho at first was angry that Neo had kept such a secret from her for so many years but in time she warmed up to the news and started advising Neo on what needed to be done to prepare for the lobola. Dumisani's mother was in shock to discover that the girl she had rejected had been his son's girlfriend for all those years, after she had recovered from her shock she was embarrassed about how she had treated Mampho and the things she had said to her about her daughter. How was she going to become in-laws with people she had belittled? So before they could send a delegation for lobola negotiations Dumisani's mother travelled to Matatiele with her son to go meet with Neo's family. The aim of the trip was to go apologize and ask for forgiveness because she realized her past mistake, it was evident that their children loved each other so she didn't want anything to stand as a hindrance to their marriage. On that day both sides of the families gave their blessing to their marriage. One year after their graduation from medical school they celebrated their wedding.
Chapter 6

At the wedding Ntebeng came with two kids, five and three years in age. Ntebeng had not been home in eight years and none of the family members even knew about the children. She was not in good health and decided that for the sake of the children she had to come back home so she saw the wedding as an opportunity for reuniting with her family.

Three months after coming back home, Ntebeng was admitted in hospital with pneumonia. When Neo went visit her she told her about the years she stayed in Johannesburg, starting with Nick, she came clean about the fact that he was a married man and how he died. She told her about the hotel incident and how it left her hating men which is why she went into a relationship with Thelma but Thelma became too possessive which led to their break up. Shortly after breaking up with Thelma she met Myles who was twenty years older than her so since he didn't like where she stayed he bought her a townhouse in an area where he felt safe to visit her. In their second year of their affair she became pregnant with Gail, when she refused to have an abortion Myles broke off the affair and sold the townhouse. So she moved back to Alexandra since her salary was not enough to maintain the same lifestyle. So one day when she took Gail to the zoo she met Thabo, after a few months of getting to know each other he told her he was bi-sexual but wanted to have kids so that was when Freddy, Ntebeng's second child was born. After one year of being together Thabo decided that he was no longer bi-sexual but gay so they broke up. So since she was not lucky in relationships she decided to have friends with benefits and one night stands. She thought that will keep her from further heart breaks and disappointments. After two years of that type of life she decided that she was going to turn her life around. After years of hopping from one relationship to another seeking to be loved she discovered the unconditional love of God. She was glad to know that He was willing to love her as she was and that His grace was all sufficient. That was after she went to church and heard a sermon about a woman who had been in five failed marriages, she was an outcast in her community but Jesus Christ reached out to her and shared with her God's love.

One day when she went for her annual medical checkup, she discovered that she was HIV positive. She made up her mind that the latter part of her life she was going to use it to do good so she is currently studying psychology through Unisa and had started a support group for teen mothers in Alexandra. She wanted to encourage them to make better decisions than she did and learn from her mistakes. So she was telling Neo all of this so that should anything happen to her, she wants to know that the kids will have someone who will take care of them.

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After the Dungeon

Chapter 1

In the township of Soshanguve there's a handsome guy by the name of Sydney. He was brought up by his mother Sibongile, and he loved her so dearly. Sibongile worked at one of the retail shops however it seemed she struggled to afford all their basic needs. Ever since he was young he vowed to take care of his mother, he didn't want to see her suffering any longer. He would always tell his mother about his dream of owning a big house like bra Zakes, and every time Sibongile told him that it meant he should study hard at school so that he will have a job that pays well so that he can reach his goals. Bra Zakes lived in the neighborhood and had this double story house which Sydney admired and he drove expensive cars.

One Saturday afternoon as Sydney was taking a walk in the neighborhood, as he passed at his favorite house he saw bra Zakes and his friends sitting and having a braai as they usually did on weekends. So Sydney gathered enough courage, greeted them and started having small talk telling them about how much he loved their cars so they just laughed and continued with their conversation. Sydney was disappointed that they didn't invite him to stick around. One month later he saw them again so this time around he used a different tactic, he offered to wash their cars and they agreed. He did such an excellent job washing those cars that when he was done they gave him some money. It was his first experience of having his own cash and that experience delighted him. As from that time he spent his late teenage years hanging around at bra Zakes house, washing his cars and doing other odd jobs he would be asked to do. He liked the attention he received from bra Zakes and his friends as they treated him like their little brother. His relationship with bra Zakes drew so close, he started teaching Sydney how to drive.

Meanwhile there was also Charles, he was the same age as Sydney, and he used to come with one of bra Zakes friends to their usual weekend chill sessions. At first Sydney didn't get along with Charles because he considered him to be a snob as compared to guys in his neighborhood. Charles was from the affluent suburbs and had the latest smart phone, which made Sydney jealous of him. So they would sit close to each other but would never say a word because Charles was always on his phone. As time went by they started to warm up to each other because they were regularly left by themselves when the older guys will go and have a private meeting. When they got to know each other better Sydney discovered that the person who Charles came with was his father. Sydney told Charles that he envied him because he seemed to have all the things which Sydney desired but didn't have.

Seeing Charles with his father reminded Sydney of a void that he had in his life. Since primary school Sydney had a longing to have a relationship with his father but the unfortunate part was that his father rejected him from birth because he was married when he had an affair with Sibongile. His father didn't want his wife and his other children to find out about the affair so he ended his affair with Sibongile. As much as Sydney loved his mother he couldn't get rid of that void which was left by having an absent father. Even though he never met his father, he was angry at him for not wanting to be part of his life.
Chapter 2

When Charles turned eighteen he invited Sydney to his party, the problem was that as much as he wanted to go, there was no public transport that went to where Charles stayed. It happened that one Saturday afternoon as he did his usual chores he mentioned it to bra Zakes. Since bra Zakes was not going to be around on the day of the party he couldn't take him either but he decided to allow Sydney to use one of his cars to go to the party. Sydney was overjoyed about the prospect of him arriving at a party in one of the top of the range BMW. For the next two weeks he could hardly sleep, looking forward to the day of the party. Though he had permission to go to the party, he had not told his mother the whole truth because there was a chance that she would not allow him to go since he had no driving license.

Finally the day of the party arrived, his mother bought him the latest pair of designer jeans which made him even more excited. When he got to the party, it made him feel good to see how people were looking at him in admiration so he also acted like it was his car. On top of everything when he got inside he found out that there was a special place set up for Charles' closest friends and he was also part of the VIPs. At first he felt a bit intimidated since all others seemed to know each other because they went to the same school but the way Charles welcomed and introduced him to the others made him feel at ease. It was Sydney's first experience at high end lifestyle, he felt like a celebrity. Around three in the morning Sydney decided to drive back home, he had an awesome time, made new friends and exchanged his number with some pretty girl.

Whilst he was in high spirit driving back home as soon as he joined the highway to Soshanguve, he found a road block and he knew he was in trouble because he had no driving license. It went from being the best days of his life to a nightmare because he got arrested. He was afraid to call both his mother and bra Zakes so he opted to call Charles but he was not answering his phone. When he had gathered enough courage he chose to rather call bra Zakes so when he got hold of him he explained his predicament. He was surprised at how calm bra Zakes was instead he promised to sort it out. The next morning he was free to go home, some guy came told him he was his lawyer sent by bra Zakes. When he got home he told his mother he had slept at Charles place.

The way bra Zakes handled the matter of his arrest made Sydney curious as to what type of influence he had that at a phone call he gave instructions and things were sorted. The next time they met all that he told Sydney was that he should know that he owed him a favor. Sydney didn't think too much of it and agreed that he was willing to ask whatever bra Zakes asked him.
Chapter 3

After passing his matric Sydney couldn't get a bursary and dint want to put a burden on his mother's shoulders anymore so he opted to take a gap year whilst he figured out his next move. This concept he learned from Charles as he had indicated that he was going to take a gap year to do some travelling. He felt that life was unfair because of his struggling and he had a weakness of comparing his life with that of Charles. On his eighteenth birthday not only did Charles have a great party but he was also given a brand new car as a gift.

One day bra Zakes told him it was time to cash in on his favor, he wanted Sydney to go on a business trip. For the first time he got to know what type of business bra Zakes was involved in, he was part of a drug cartel so he wanted Sydney to go deliver some merchandise in Thailand. Sydney couldn't sleep, he was so nervous but didn't have a way out. He felt trapped but had no way of telling his mother because she didn't know about him being arrested when he came back from Charles' party. In a week's time bra Zakes called him to tell him his passport was ready so he was to leave the following day. It was going to be a short trip, he would be back in forty eight hours so he told Sibongile he was going to visit Charles.

Bra Zakes drove him to the airport, gave him all the do's and don'ts and told him that if he ever got caught he must not mention his name. The way Sydney was so nervous whilst waiting for the plane to board, he spent most of his time in the toilet. Finally when it was time for the plane to board he came out of the toilet and decided to act brave. So when he checked in he told one of the cabin crew that it was his first time flying so he didn't know what to expect, as soon as he had found his seat, one of the most beautiful lady he had ever seen came to him and gave him a brief orientation on how the equipment worked. He started charming her telling her how beautiful she was and that she the woman of his dreams, she just smiled at him and told him he was too young for her. Sydney decided to enjoy his first time on the plane because for all he knew it could be his one and only flying experience should he get caught because when he googled about the country he saw that sentence for the merchandise he was carrying was death penalty. He watched movies and had a few drinks to ease his nerves. The next moment he opened his eyes at the sound of an announcement, it was the pilot announcing their arrival at their destination.

He was still drowsy when he got off the plane and waited for his luggage. When he got to immigration, they processed his documents and stamped his passport without any delay. Sydney was so relieved all that was left to do was to go to the hotel and wait for his contact to come and pick up the merchandise. About two hours after he had checked in at the hotel, the person came to collect the merchandise and his mission was accomplished. He had twenty hours before getting on the plane back home so he did some touring and tried some weird looking food, he used the credit card which bra Zakes gave him for any expenses. He enjoyed himself because he liked the atmosphere of being the centre of attraction because in all the time he spent there he only saw one other African person since he got from the airport. Time went by so fast by the time he got to the hotel he realized he had to check out and heard back home.

By the time he touched the ground of his beloved motherland he was on cloud nine, he was confused by his feelings because he no longer felt any guilt of being involved in an illegal task like the way he did when he left. This time he had to use public transport because he didn't have any luggage with him so he used the opportunity to get onto gautrain, another first time experience. In a space of forty eight hours not only had he been to a foreign country but he also used two new modes of transport. Instead of going straight home he decided to go tell bra Zakes about his trip face to face but he wasn't there. Later that evening he got a call from bra Zakes he was waiting for him outside his home, when he got into his car they had a brief chat then afterwards bra Zakes gave him a shoe box and told him it was his share because of the job well done. When he got into the house he went straight to his bedroom to go try out his new shoes, to his shock and surprise there were no shoes in the box but cash. He was trembling when he saw it because he had never seen so much money before in his life. When he counted it the amount was ten thousand rands, to him it felt like he had struck a jackpot. On that day he decided that he was no longer interested in furthering his studies because he had found another route to make money.

He made arrangements to meet with Charles the following day because he wanted to go celebrate. When Charles came to pick him up from town, he was with his girlfriend. Since Sydney didn't want to feel like a third wheel he decided to call the girl whom he'd been chatting with, that he met at Charles' party, so they went on a double date. They asked the girls to choose where they wanted to go so they said to one of the restaurants in Lynwood Bridge so when they got there they settled on Rhapsody's. When the bill came Sydney told them not to worry as he will take care of it, to his shock it was almost eight hundred rands, he didn't anticipate that he would have to part with so much money but at the same time he loved the thrill of being able to afford it, it gave him a sense of power. Even though he spent all that money unfortunately it didn't score him the girl, she told him she doesn't date guys from the township.
Chapter 4

Charles went to Europe for three months and Sydney started working for bra Zakes on a full time basis. The next phase was for him to start selling drugs at the night clubs, bra Zakes introduced him to Peter who was going to show him the ropes. From the time they met they just clicked and started to always hang around together. They almost had similar backgrounds, they were both brought up in a single parent household. In the case of Peter he was brought up by his father because his mother died in a car accident when he was only five years old. His father never remarried but the loss of his wife made him to become an alcoholic. Even though his father had a job and did his best to provide, Peter however had a sense of neglect because his father spent most of his time drunk. Because of his father's alcoholism Peter vowed never to touch alcohol.

When his uncle, one of bra Zakes friends, approached him with a business proposal, he saw it as a way of financial freedom and a chance to get his own place. Peter was twenty one and already had his own flat and a car. Meanwhile Sibongile started sensing that something was not right, her son spent most of his time away from home and he was buying expensive clothes. When she attempted talking to him, he assured her that she had nothing to worry about. He came and introduced Peter to her and told her that he's the person he was spending most of his time with. Even though Sibongile was still not at peace even after his explanation she decided to ignore her instincts and let it go.

One night whilst Peter and Sydney were in one of the clubs in Hatfield, the police came to raid the place and they were both arrested because they were found in possession of illegal substance. They only spent two days in jail because their lawyer succeeded in getting bail for them. When he got home Sydney told his mother he was at Peter's place but there was a stench in his clothes that convinced Sibongile that her son was lying to her. This time around Sibongile chose not to ignore her gut feeling, the following day after Sydney left she went into his bedroom to search for some form of evidence and she found it. When Sydney came back home that night, his mother was waiting for him sitting with a box of shoes in front of her. The minute he stepped into the house and spotted the box he knew that he was in trouble. He had thought of opening a bank account but never got to do it so he always had cash hidden in the shoe box. He tried to come up with a good excuse but none could come to mind. It broke his heart to see the look on his mother's face, she was crying uncontrollably. She told him that she had tried her utmost best to bring up a son with good morals but she seemed to have failed. She told him that she had heard rumors about bra Zakes type of business but because he had been so good to him she had decided to treat it as township gossip. She asked him to quit and he said yes even though in his heart he knew that what his mother was asking was not possible in the line of business he was involved in. The following day he told bra Zakes what had transpired so they agreed that Sydney will refrain from selling for a few months just to make Sibongile think that he had stopped.
Chapter 5

When Charles came back from Europe he had been introduced to heroin and was now addicted to the drug. When Sydney saw him, he knew that his friend was in trouble because he had seen how this drug destroys lives. His parents tried to intervene by stopping his monthly allowance but he went and sold his car. When he had finished the money he decided to sell the drugs as a way of maintaining his habit. When he arrived at the place where he was told to come collect his merchandise he was in for a major surprise. He found his father and all the people he had known to be his father's business partners. He didn't know whether to cry or scream, he never had a clue that his father is involved in the drug business. He wondered if his mother knew or if she was just as clueless as he had been.

On that day Peter and Sydney were on their way to Port Elizabeth to go drop off some merchandise so Charles went with them. Unfortunately the person they were going to deliver to was an undercover police man. When they arrived in Port Elizabeth they were arrested. Unfortunately this time around things were not going to be easy as their previous encounter with the law, they were denied bail and had to await their trial whilst behind bars. When Sibongile heard the news of her son's arrest she fainted because she was under the impression that he had stopped. Their case took one year to conclude and they were sentenced to fifteen years in prison. After serving seven years they were released on condition of good behaviour and were going to serve the rest of their sentence under house arrest.

After being released from jail, Charles had a hard time adjusting into society, all his peers that he had gone to school with were now graduates and had started working. People he had considered friends ignored his calls and emails. He heard that his girlfriend was engaged to be married to one of his ex school mates. This was too much for him to handle, he became depressed, and he felt that he had let down his parents by not living up to their expectations. His mother suspected that something was wrong but thought he will improve as time went by. One day whilst at work she received a call from her husband to come home urgently, she had never heard that tone in his voice before, she grabbed her bag and ran as fast as she could to her car, she didn't even alert her colleagues that she was leaving. When she entered the gate of her home there was an ambulance in the yard and behind her was a police van. She got out of the car her knees started shaking, when she got into the house she saw her husband sitting on a couch with his head in his hands crying, on the floor was a body covered. She felt like she was dreaming, she wanted someone to wake her up from the nightmare she was having unfortunately it was not a dream but reality, her beloved son Charles had committed suicide.
Chapter 6

Now that one of his closest friends was no more, Sydney started making an introspection of his life. He recalled the material they used to get whilst in prison which was talking about the forgiveness of God. he started to wonder if God was willing to forgive him all the things he had done but he convinced himself that he had done too many bad things to be worthy of forgiveness so he dismissed the idea.

As he continued doing community service at a local rehabilitation center, which was part of his parole condition he met Elise who was one of the social workers there. When he saw her he understood what they meant when they said love at first sight. From that day he decided that he had to pull his life together to be able to get a woman like Elise to be his. When he got home he went online and researched courses he could enroll for and study long distance. He decided to register for a diploma in business administration. For three years whilst serving his community service he never mentioned anything about his feelings to Elise. When he had finished his sentence, he continued to be a volunteer at the rehabilitation center, he was also part of the team that went into schools to warn the students not to be involved in drugs, he told them his story as well as how he lost his closest friend as a result of bad decision taken due to being addicted to drugs.

A year after he was volunteering at the centre there was a vacancy available for an administration officer. Sydney took courage and applied for the job, he felt it was his best shot since they already know about him being an ex convict. He was delighted when a month after he had applied for the job he was called in to be told that he was offered the position. That day when he showed Sibongile the letter of appointment he saw a facial expression that he had not seen in years, his mother was rejoicing and calling all the relatives to share the news with them.

From the first day in his new job, he made sure that he took his lunch break the same time as Elise so that he could spend some time with her in the staff lounge. He discovered that she didn't have a boyfriend which was to his advantage. So one day he overheard her talking about the conference they were going to be having at her church and she was going to be serving there. So he made a point to find the address to her church so that when she sees him there it will work in his favor. When he got to the church he discovered that it was a men's conference and couldn't see Elise anywhere, he decided to stay since he was already there. The message they shared on that day it was as if it was directed to him, it spoke about the love of God and how it is available to everyone who wants it for there was nothing that an individual can do that can separate them from this unfailing love of God. The person said if anyone wanted to open their heart to receive this love of God must make their way to the front so that they can be prayed for, Sydney found himself walking to the front because he desired to experience such love. On that day he experienced peace that he couldn't explain and felt as if a burden had been taken off his shoulders.

As they went for a lunch break, he finally saw Elise, she was part of the team that was in charge of catering. When she saw him she was surprised, after she was done dishing out to all the delegates she went to sit with him as he was by himself. He told her that he had come following her after overhearing her phone call but instead he encountered something special during the conference. Sydney started attending church regularly and after a few months he also started serving in the church. Elise at the same time recalled what he had said to her the first day he started working as official staff at the rehabilitation center so she started seeing him in a different light. Exactly two years after he had followed her to church, they got married.

###

The Circle

Chapter 1

In the village of Mmakau there was a well known family in the community, this family was highly esteemed because everyone from that family was a medical doctor. This family of the Moropa's consisted two generations of medical doctors. The father was a surgeon and the mother was a psychiatrist, their three sons Levi was a pediatrician, Mike was a general practitioner and Tim was a dermatologist. They were the envy of the community. From the time Levi, Mike and Tim were still young their parents groomed them for being in the medical field. They were the type of family where you did as you were told, the children had no choice but to abide by what their parents instructed them to do. By the time they completed their matric, each was told which field they will be specializing in. As sons who wanted to please their parents they put all their effort in ensuring that they reached the goal set for them. So from the time the first born Levi matriculated they had a plan on how they were going to tackle this challenge. As the parents had met at university, they had decided that their sons were all going to go to the same university, UCT.

The parents knew that all their sons were going to have to spend years in a city far from home so they bought them a three bedroom flat within the vicinity of the university. During the December holidays, two months before Levi was due to start at UCT, the whole family went to Cape Town for a vacation. During their stay there, they also set time apart to go buy all the necessities for the flat and to decorate it to ensure their sons were going to be staying in the best place they could afford.

Finally the time came for Levi to leave home and go start his studies at UCT. The first month went smoothly because his mother had gone with him and had stayed two weeks to help him ease into his new environment. By the second month he started being home sick, more so because he was finding it hard to have to be in charge of things such as buying groceries and keeping the place tidy. By the third month the place looked like a pig sty so he cried out to his mother and she advised him to look for a domestic helper who would come once a week. That was how aunty Gugu came into the picture, Levi respected her a lot because she was the same age as his mother, and her wages were paid directly by the mother.

In the first year Levi was a model student and did well in all the courses. In the second year he felt that he had adjusted well to the university lifestyle, the only thing was that in the first year he never accepted any invitations to events from his fellow class mates and he decided that in the second year he was going to be more social. Unfortunately it didn't work out well for him because by the end of the semester he had failed most of the courses so he couldn't continue to the second semester. There was no way of hiding it from his parents and he was afraid to go home so he decided to stay in Cape Town until the parents had received the results by post. Finally the call to command him to come home came, on his arrival he received the wrath he had anticipated from his parents. They were so angry at him, he felt like there were flames of fire on top of his head. His negligence in his studies caused aunty Gugu to be without wages for a period of six months because there was no one at the flat. The parents didn't feel comfortable to give her the key to the place as they had not met her before, they only knew her through a few telephonic conversations they had when they would call her to verify that she had received her wages. That experience was a turn-around for Levi, he vowed not to find himself in a situation where his actions negatively impacted another human being. He sincerely apologized to his parents. The parents contacted the university and it was agreed that the following year he could come back to repeat the second year curriculum.

The following year it was not only him who was going to Cape Town, Mike was going to start his first year. As they were leaving their parents has an intense discussion with them, telling Mike not to follow in the wrong footsteps of his brother from the previous year. As much as they had told him how to behave it was as if his parents instruction had fell on dumb ears, as soon as he reached Cape Town Mike was so excited about being away from his parents control that he planned to maximize his time of independence. He made new friends at the first years' welcoming party, and every weekend they went club hopping. Levi didn't have a problem with it, he told Mike that he should just make sure that he balanced his partying with studying. Mike knew that his brother was right, doing well in school meant happy parents so he didn't neglect his studies. At the end of the year the parents were pleased with their sons' school results. Two years down the line their younger brother Tim joined them and he was a model student, his brothers always teased him that he was a nerd. So that was how the brothers achieved the goals set by their parents, and all became medical doctors.
Chapter 2

In the meanwhile whilst the Moropa's were bringing up their boys and things were going according to plan, in the neighboring township of Ga-Rankuwa there was the Sekete's. This was a family of a single mother with six kids and all of them had different fathers. Angie, the mother, worked at Shoprite as a cashier and she was struggling to put food on the table. The children's fathers absconded from their responsibility of catering for the needs of the children and the kids grew up with the bare minimum. In the morning they would have one slice of brown bread each and a cup of black tea, for lunch box each got two plain brown slices, the next meal will be supper and most of the time it would be pap and tomato gravy.

Paul was Angie's third child, and when he saw his mother struggling financially he made up his mind that he was going to help his mother. From the age of thirteen Paul started selling snacks at school, the profit he made was enough to buy them vegetables every week so that they could augment their supper. When he was sixteen he expanded his business by starting a vegetable stall which he set up every weekend. He woke up at five in the morning every Saturday to go to the vegetable market in Marabastad with Mr Noko who was also selling vegetables in another part of the township. As the eldest son in the family, he had paved a way for his siblings so two of his brothers also followed suit by selling snacks at their schools since they attended different ones. The household income improved, Angie was very proud of her sons because their help ensured that they were food secure, there was no longer scarcity and the children could eat to their contentment, they could also afford to have meat on weekends and on special days like birthdays.

When Paul matriculated there was not enough money to send him for further studies, he had applied for bursaries and study loans but none of them came out favorable. In the first few months after his matric he felt very discouraged when he saw people he used to go to school with telling him about how fun it was to be in tertiary and he wasn't able to be part of the experience. He went through a dark season of thinking that his life was doomed to being Mr Vegetables, as some used to call him in the community. When his mother saw that his son was no longer himself, she set him down to find out what was troubling him and he coughed out his lungs to her. So from that time when Angie saw an advert about bursaries in the newspapers she would cut it out and bring it to Paul and helped him fill the application forms. She encouraged him not to give up on applying for funding until one of them became successful.

Paul got his breakthrough two years after he had matriculated, he received a full bursary that covered his tuition, study material and allowance. In the two years he had stayed home, he expanded his business to include household cleaning materials. He had options to go study at any university but he chose to go study civil engineering at the University of Pretoria so that he could be close to home. In the first year he went home every weekend to go take care of the business. When his two younger brothers saw how much Paul was sacrificing for the family they asked him to train them on running the business so that they could take over from him. This expanded into a family business and they built a spaza shop in the yard. The spaza shop flourished to a point where the studies of the three siblings that come after Paul were financed by it. The two brothers enrolled at Tshwane University of Technology so that they could also be close to home, the youngest sister went to University of Free State. Paul completed his studies in record time and with cum laude. He got a two year internship at the company that was financing his studies. After two years he was appointed as a consultant, after five years in the company he became a department manager, ten years with the company he became part of the executive board member as a general manager of operations.
Chapter 3

In Seshego was Alfonso's family, he was an only child, his mother was a teacher and father a clerk in one of the insurance companies. His father was not liked in the community, he was full of pride because their house was the biggest in their area. He didn't allow his wife to socialize with their neighbors saying they are of low class. His friends stayed in the suburbs so every weekend he would go visit one of them there, when he came back he would always be telling his wife that they should move out of the township to go live amongst their peers. Alfonso's mom was very wise and she was the one in charge of the family's finances because her husband was not good at keeping the budget, he was a big spender. So from earlier in their marriage they had agreed that Alfonso's mom would be the finance manager in the house. So Alfonso grew up in a stable family but things changed when he turned fifteen. The company where his father worked went through a merger which resulted in retrenchments and his father was unfortunately one of those who lost their jobs. This couldn't have happened at a worst time, Alfonso's dad had just bought a new car, the other car which was now used by his mother still had one year before it could be paid off, and they were only five years in the new house which was bought on a twenty year mortgage. Things started being tense at home, and his father started to drink heavily.

One evening Alfonso's mother was speaking to her husband to discuss the issue of downsizing as one income could no longer afford their lifestyle. So when she mentioned that the husband had to sell his car, before she could give the reason why her husband slapped her across the face. She stood there frozen not knowing how to react because it was the first time such a thing has ever happened in their seventeen years of marriage. The husband stormed out of the house and came back after midnight drunk. When he came back he woke up his wife telling her that he was sorry for his earlier behaviour so she forgave him. A week later she explained to her husband that it will be cheaper and faster to pay off the older car than keeping the new one but the husband was not willing to listen to her view point, saying she was disrespecting him and wants to make him a laughing stock of the community. His selfishness led to the wife selling her car, and Alfonso had to be moved from the private school to a public school.

One day Alfonso's father was coming back from visiting his friends from the suburbs and he was arrested because he was driving drunk. When he called his wife it was around two in the morning, she couldn't reach any of the people she called looking for transport so she decided that she will only go bail out her husband after sun rise. When she got to the police station where they had detained him it was nine o'clock because she had to catch two different taxis and since it was a Sunday they were slow to have a full load. They processed his bail and released him, on the way home he was quiet he didn't even thank his wife for coming to his rescue. When they got home as soon as they entered the door, he started beating her saying she left him too long in jail. He beat her so hard she had a broken rib, and her face was bruised as though she had an allergic reaction. Alfonso had gone to his friends place for a sleep over, when he got home he was shocked to find his mother in that condition, when he asked what happened he was not given a satisfactory answer. His mother spend one week not going to work because she was ashamed of how she looked.

That month there was not enough money to buy the usual groceries because it was used to bail out Alfonso's father. When his mother presented a plate of pap and spinach, Alfonso's dad through it at her saying he does not eat any food that doesn't have meat. When Alfonso saw that he stood up to go defend his mother, and that was the first time his father beat him with his bare fists. That night Alfonso's father threw his wife out of their bedroom telling her to go sleep in her son's bedroom since he thinks he is the man of the house. This time Alfonso's mom felt that she couldn't take her husband's behaviour anymore so she went according to custom protocol to go seek help from her husband's family. At the family meeting Alfonso's father was reprimanded for his actions and told to go seek counseling, he said he didn't need any counseling and promised that he will change and no longer abuse his family. The family told Alfonso's mother to let them know as soon as he broke his promise.

One year after this incident Alfonso's father was coming back from a soccer match and he was involved in a car accident but he was not injured. He called one of his friends and they came to fetch him from the accident scene. When he got home and told the wife what had happened she immediately had a knot in her stomach because that month she had not paid for insurance but didn't mention it to him. A week later the insurance called to let them know that they will not be covering the accident damages because their insurance policy had lapsed. Alfonso's dad went into such a fit of rage, he grabbed his wife by the throat and started banging her head on the wall for about ten minutes, when he stopped his wife fainted. He called an ambulance after seeing that she was not waking up where he had left her. When she was admitted in hospital she was already in a coma, the scan showed that she had swollen brain caused by concussion. Two days after that she passed away as a result of brain aneurism. Alfonso lost his mother at the age of seventeen, he knew that his father was the culprit but did not have the courage to get him arrested. He was forced to stay eighteen months in the same house as his father because no other relative understood why he wanted to move out of home. So he resorted to studying hard to ensure that he was going to get a sponsor for his university studies, his way of escape. When his matric results came he was ecstatic that he got distinctions in all his subjects. Alfonso moved out of home at the age of nineteen when he went to university and that was the last time he spoke to his father. He was also angry at his relatives from his father's side because he felt they knew he was responsible for his mother's death and no one did anything about the matter so he also didn't have any contact with them. Since his mother was an only child and her parents had also passed away, Alfonso no longer had anyone he called family.
Chapter 4

In Imbali a township in Pietermaritzburg there was a charismatic church with about two thousand members, it was the largest in that community. It was led by senior pastor Nkosi and his wife was a professor at UKZN, they had two children who were twins, Sandra and Alfred. The parents had such high demanding jobs that the only time they spend as a family was on Friday evenings. So Sandra and Alfred grew up being baby set by various members from the church. When they got to high school they were sent to attend boarding school in the Midlands at Treverton College. As much as their parents worked hard to provide a comfortable life for them, Sandra and Alfred felt like strangers around their parents. They didn't even get excited to go home for school holidays, they preferred to go visit their friends except that they were not allowed. The type of environment Sandra and Alfred grew up in was a closed community, the only people they were exposed to were those from school and church.

After matric Alfred being the introvert decided to go study Bachelor of Science at UKZN but Sandra saw it as an opportunity to go experience other cultures so she enrolled for drama in London. For the first time Alfred was on his own, he was used to being in the presence of his twin who was more of an extrovert and she made friends easily. In the first semester he was a loner, struggling to adjust to university culture. One day during the exams he saw a beautiful girl in the library, she was so attractive he couldn't stop thinking about her for the whole school holidays. In the next semester he made it his mission that he was going to befriend her. Fortunately for him, he bumped into her at the cafeteria in the second week of the second semester and she was sitting by herself. Alfred knew that he had to maximize that opportunity, carrying his meal he went where she was sitting and like a gentleman requested to share the table with her and she agreed. As soon as he sat down he introduced himself because he knew that if he procrastinated and started by eating he might lose his courage. She was so polite and he got to find out that her name was Melissa and she was studying journalism. After that Alfred made sure that every week he was at the cafeteria at midday on Tuesdays so that he can run into her again. For about two months he couldn't find her but he kept on, until one evening in the library when he least expected it, he felt a tap on his shoulder and it was Melissa. There and then he decided to take a break from studying, as they walked out of the library he invited her to join him for a cup of coffee and she accepted. By the end of the coffee session they had agreed on a date to the movies the following Friday.

Alfred and Melissa started dating in the second year. After they graduated Alfred got a job as a laboratory technician and Melissa got a job at the Independent newspaper, and a year after graduating they got married. Sandra came home for the special occasion and was thrilled to meet her twin's choice of spouse, and they clicked from the onset. Alfred's parents also approved of Melissa as they considered her to be coming from a good family. They went to Seychelles for their honeymoon and spent seven nights and six days.
Chapter 5

When Mike graduated from UCT, he went to do his two year internship at Potchefstroom Provincial Hospital. Then Mike went to serve his community service in one of the clinics in Kuruman. He started suffering from depression, he was far from his friends, didn't like his job, the only reason he was a medical doctor was because his parents had chosen that career for him. So he started drinking every night after work and it escalated to a point where he started taking prescription medicine. He continued like that for the year he was in Kuruman. When he completed his community service he started his private practice closer to home, he was delighted to be back to his familiar surroundings. Unfortunately for him he was already addicted to alcohol and drugs but he continued to keep it a secret from his family and friends.

One evening a friend invited him to a club in Brooklyn, that night he had his first encounter with cocaine and he got hooked from the first shot he took. On one of his visits home his mother saw that he was emaciated and she suspected that something was wrong. His mother started calling his siblings to find out if they knew what wrong with Mike, thinking he might have confided in one of them but the brothers knew nothing. When they came for the annual family gathering on Christmas, Mike's mother had decided that she was going to use that time to find out what was eating her son. She tried talking to him but he denied that there was anything wrong with him so she sat the whole family down and all of them expressed their concern for him but he insisted that he was fine. On New Year 's Eve whilst they were out partying, Levi saw Mike giving money to some guy and quickly shoving something into his pocket. His instincts told him that Mike was using drugs, as much as Levi had kept Mike's lifestyle at university a secret from his parents he knew that keeping quiet about this might lead his brother to an early grave. For the next month Levi made it a point that he spends time with his brother every weekend and slept over at his place to get more proof. One day as he was going to the toilet in the middle of the night he saw the light in Mike's bedroom on, as he opened it he found him inhaling some white powder. He was so upset with his younger brother, they started having an argument. Mike told him he was not addicted he was only using it recreationally like some people use alcohol, and pleaded with him not to tell their parents. The following day Levi didn't waste any time but told his mother, she was so devastated to hear such a report about one of her children. So it was decided that they needed to have some form of a family intervention.

Levi, Mike and Tim usually met at least once a month, they called it "brothers hook up". The following month they were going to be meeting at Tim's place for a braai so Levi told their parents the day on which it was scheduled. Tim was surprised when he had a knock on the door and found his parents instead of his brothers, ten minutes after their arrival Levi and Mike arrived one after the other. After everyone had greeted each other, the father told them their reason for being there. Tim was shocked beyond words, at that point he was the only one who didn't know that Mike was on drugs as his father was told by their mother. Mike had always attributed his weight loss to work stress so Tim had taken him at his word. So the parents gave him all the pamphlets they had collected with information about rehabilitation centres in the country, they told him how much they loved him and pleaded with him to agree to book into one of the centres. They told Mike that as much as they would like to force him to go they resorted to leaving it in his hands to make a choice. His brother told him they will be there to support him, and as soon as he has made up his mind on which one to book into they will drive him there. One month after the family intervention, Mike overdosed and just before he got a blackout he managed to press his phone to speed dial Levi. Levi's guts told him that something was wrong when no one was speaking on the other side, as he rushed to his brother's place he simultaneously called for an ambulance. When he got to Mike's place, Levi found him fainted on the ground and bleeding through his nose, five minutes later the ambulance came and he was rushed to hospital. When Mike opened his eyes the first glimpse was his mother crying by his bedside, he had drips in his hands and couldn't recall what had happened. His mother narrated to him what Levi had told her and how he got to be in hospital. Lying on that hospital bed and watching his mother crying was a wakeup call for Mike, he decided that he needed to go straight from the hospital to the rehabilitation centre.

Meanwhile Paul had just bought a house in Bryanston, he had married Zanele and they had two children. All his siblings were in good jobs, and they had renovated their family home. They were grateful that they had made something of their lives despite their humble beginnings, Angie was requested by her children to take an early retirement and all her monthly necessities was taken care of by them. Paul was now a CEO, six months into his promotion the company started feeling the effects of recession, a year later they couldn't come up with any solution other than retrenching twenty percent of the work force. Paul was struggling to handle this work stress, he was used to making people's lives better not being the carrier of bad news, and he couldn't stop thinking about all the families that will be affected. One night after having drinks with his colleagues in Melrose Arch one of them told him about a certain pill that helps reduce stress, thinking that he was referring to a prescription pill and asking him to tell him which doctor to go to, the colleague just lifted his hand and signaled to someone, a certain gentleman joined them at the table, a transaction took place and the pills were there. So that was his first exposure to drugs, he liked the sensation it gave him as he would go a few hours without any form of worry nor stress about work issues. After a year of taking them they no longer worked so he was told he needed to take a stronger drug so he was introduced to cocaine. His behaviour at home started to change, he hardly spent time with his family as he previously used to do. The wife started suspecting that he was having an affair. After two years of being on drugs, his relationship with his wife was so strained that she decided to move out with the kids. Zanele had tried all avenues of involving Angie and other relatives as is customarily done but things were not improving. One night as he was coming from work he found the home empty, the wife and kids were gone, he dropped to his knees and started crying. He never envisioned that in his life he could be into drugs and let alone lose the most precious thing in his life, being his children. He called the wellness hotline from work, spoke to a counselor anonymously and was given information of a rehabilitation centre. The following week after he had arranged an interim person at work, he packed his bags and off he went to KZN.

Alfonso enrolled at AFDA for a course in film, television and entertainment production. He was passionate about entertainment industry and his focus was on being a DJ and a movie producer. His plan worked out smoothly, he started getting gigs to DJ whilst still a student so he never had any financial lack so he was truly independent from his father, he figured he didn't need him for anything. His life revolved around friends and his gigs, he was a popular guy on campus. When he completed the course he received an award and part of the price was to go to Hollywood for six months to go learn movie production. He received a lot of media coverage before he left and when he got back. His fame made a lot of girls to start sending him love message via social media, he started having groupies following him in all the gigs he went to. He became a womanizer because he said he didn't have time for relationships, he was only focusing on building his brand. On his twenty fifth birthdays, Alfonso bought himself a brand new car, booked a night club exclusively for him and his friends. They partied so hard for the whole weekend, unfortunately for him he was not aware that the smoke that was being passed around was nyaope. Most of his friends from tertiary had not yet succeeded in getting well paying jobs so he had decided to treat them to a fun weekend but the repercussions were major. As a DJ and movie producer he had always seen people doing drugs because it was common in their industry but he had vowed that he will not become a statistic of drug users. He managed to avoid it whilst in Hollywood where he was under peer pressure because drugs were almost at every party he attended, and he thought he had escaped it. The week after his party, he could hardly function without having a drag of the stuff they were smoking with his friends. That was how he got hooked on drugs and it didn't seem a big deal because most people in the industry that he knew were already using. One day his cousin called him to inform him that his father had died from sclerosis, which reminded him of how he had vowed never to be like his father who was a woman abuser and an alcoholic. He started remembering his mother and wondered if she would be proud of the life he was living, and his answer was that she would not be proud. After he came back from his father's funeral, he booked himself into a rehabilitation centre.
Chapter 6

After Alfred and Melissa had been married for two years, Alfred started discussing with Melissa on starting a family. Melissa told him she was keen to have children however the timing was not right because she was still building her career. Alfred was very understanding because he wanted what was best for both of them. That very year Melissa was appointed as an investigative journalist at the newspaper and she started working longer hours than previously, Alfred could indeed see for himself that the timing was not right to start a family. The only problem was that they were being pressurized by family, every time there was a gathering the relatives would always drop a hint that they were waiting for grandchildren from Alfred's side. In their fourth year of marriage things had not yet slowed down on Melissa's work load but Alfred was running out of patience, he felt he had compromised long enough. The pressure had now extended from family to church, almost every Sunday someone would hint to him that they had expected that he would be having a child by now. Alfred and Melissa started having arguments more frequent, things were so tense at home that Alfred will only go home around bedtime. Things continued like that for about six months, then Melissa felt she could not handle the tension in the house so she arranged that they go for marriage counseling. Alfred refused to go and said he didn't need any counseling, all that he wanted was to hear her saying she was ready to have a baby. Melissa didn't know what to do, especially because she overheard someone saying Melissa was barren hence there was no child yet. She loved her job and she had heard that most women when they go for maternity leave, when they come back they have to start earning their position once again. She was caught between a stone and a rock, finally in their fifth year of marriage she decided it was time to focus on building a family. Alfred was so delighted to hear the news, he prepared a candle light dinner for them the following evening.

Three months after Melissa had stopped taking birth control pills she became pregnant. Alfred took her that weekend to Zimbali lodge to celebrate the greatest news he had wanted to hear for so many years. At the end of the first trimester, Melissa was woken up by a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She woke up Alfred because when she was in the toilet she saw a blot of blood on the toilet paper, they drove to the hospital emergency unit at three in the morning. By the time they arrived the pains had gone more severe and Melissa could hardly walk, fortunately there was only two other patients so they could be attended to immediately. After the doctor had assessed her it was decided that she was going to be admitted so that they could observe her for a day. Alfred was praying so hard on his way back home that nothing happens to the baby, the following day he could not even concentrate at work so he knocked off early so that he would go be by Melissa's side at the first visiting hour. As he walked into the hospital carrying a bouquet of roses he found Melissa not on her bed, when he went to enquire from the nurse's station he was told she had to be rushed into theatre, they had called him an hour earlier but his phone was off and it was an emergency so Melissa signed for the go ahead of the operation. Alfred was so absent minded that didn't even notice that his phone battery had gone flat to a point where it switched off. When Melissa came out of theatre she was deeply sedated, when Alfred asked for the report the nurses told him to wait for the doctor. At that moment Alfred knew that something was wrong, about thirty minutes after Melissa was wheeled back into her room the doctor came. The first words that came out of his mouth were 'I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Melissa had suffered a miscarriage. When Alfred heard that it was as if someone had stabbed him deeply in his heart and tears started coming down his face, he could hardly believe what he was being told. The doctor excused himself and left the room, Alfred sat there in numbness, when Melissa woke up he had to be the one to tell her that they had lost the baby. She screamed so hard, it was heart wrenching to hear her crying uncontrollably, the nurses came with an injection to put her to sleep. That night Alfred felt so lost, he called his parents and all they could do was console him over the phone because his mother was away in Australia for a conference and his father was in Zambia to go preach. His sister was still staying in London so Alfred didn't know where to turn to because he didn't want to go home.

For the first time in his life Alfred found himself in a bar, in the middle of the afternoon, drinking whiskey. He stayed there until sunrise, he called work to take a day off. When he went to hospital he was looking so shabby, Melissa had not seen him in that condition ever. The doctor had discharged her so she was waiting for him to come fetch her, they drove home in silence and when they arrived Melissa went straight to bed. Alfred went out to go buy some food and when he went out of the shop, there was a bottle store next to it and he went in to buy a bottle of whiskey. By morning he had finished the entire bottle, and that day Melissa's mother was coming for a few days so he tidied up the place and put the empty bottle in the car boot so that no one could see it in the garbage. After a short while after his mother in law had arrived Alfred decided to excuse himself to give them some space to have mother daughter bonding session. He went straight to the bar because he felt like drinking was the only thing that helped him numb the pain he was feeling. When Sunday came he left Melissa in bed because she was still recovering and one of her friends had come the night before so he saw an opportunity to go to the bar. It was a good cover up because Melissa would have thought he went to church, he spent a few hours at the bar then went via quick shop to buy some breath freshener and a mouth wash. He rinsed his mouth before he got in the house then popped a breath freshener. After greeting Melissa with a kiss, he went to watch soccer by himself in his man cage. The following Sunday Melissa was at work, she had decided to drown herself in work to blot out her pain, Alfred went to his usual bar. The next time they went to church everyone was looking at them with such eyes of pity that it made Melissa uncomfortable, whereas Alfred didn't want to be there because he felt that God had turned his back on him by not rescuing his unborn baby. As off that day they stopped going to church, Melissa became a workaholic and Alfred an alcoholic.

One day when Melissa came back from work she found Alfred fast asleep on the couch with an empty bottle of whiskey on the coffee table, something told her to go look in his man cave, she found a stack of empty whiskey bottles, by the look of things it seemed as though Alfred drank a bottle per day. She was so immersed in her work and that had made her to be hardly home that she had not even seen any change in behavioral patterns of her husband. When he woke up Melissa was sitting next him, with hands folded and he knew he was in trouble because his secret was now exposed. He confessed to her that he didn't know how to cope with the loss of their baby and he only felt better when he drank. Alfred wanted them to try again for another baby but Melissa said it was too soon she was not emotionally ready. Alfred said that the only thing that was going to make him stop drinking will be the day his baby gets born, the only way he was going to be consoled was to have his own baby in his hands. The arguments began again because they couldn't agree on when it would be feasible to try for another baby. Six months down the line Melissa told Alfred that she was too afraid to try for a baby because she didn't want to undergo the pain she felt when she miscarried so she decided that she doesn't want children anymore. For the first time Alfred heard himself uttering the word divorce, he told her she had a month to rethink her decision or they part ways. Melissa remembered that she had vowed not to be a statistic of divorce and at that point told Alfred she didn't want to lose him so she will do as he wanted to keep their marriage. A few months after they had started trying to get pregnant nothing was happening so Melissa went to consult a gynecologist. She discovered that there was scaring that took place as a result of the procedure they had done on her after the miscarriage so she could no longer fall pregnant. When Alfred came back from work he found his wife in tears, she told him the doctor's diagnosis and he stood there in shock for he didn't anticipate such news. After Melissa had taken some sleeping pills Alfred went to the bar and that day he wanted something stronger so he asked the bartender to recommend something so he pointed him to a certain guy that he usually saw there. So he got introduced into heroin and was hooked immediately.

This new habit of his made him to be financially irresponsible, he neglected paying the household bills. One day when Melissa came from work she found there were no lights and water, when she called the emergency number she was informed that their account was three months in arrears. The following day a person came from the bank to come repossess Alfred's car. She pleaded with Alfred to tell her what was going on but he didn't disclose anything. Melissa was so unhappy in that season and she remembered the peace that she used to feel when she went to church so she decided to start praying about her home situation. Shortly after that she started going back to church but Alfred refused, she felt like she was staying with a stranger in the house. One day Alfred's mother was in town so they arranged to meet for lunch, Alfred called to say he was going to be delayed so Melissa had about an hour with her mother in law. As much as Melissa didn't like talking about her issues with anyone let alone her in laws, she knew at that moment that she needed to cough out what was happening in her household. Alfred's mother couldn't believe her ears, the things that Melissa was saying didn't sound like something her son would do but that was short lived because as soon as she caught a glimpse of her son she knew something was wrong, he was about fifteen kilograms lighter in weight. The mother extended her stay by two days because she wanted to get to the bottom of what was eating her son. As much as Alfred tried to avoid his mothers questions after two days of being pestered he came clean. He told his mother that he felt God had forsaken him and the only solace he got was from drinking and drugs, he dropped on his knees crying confessing that he didn't know how to get out of the cycle. That night as Sandra called her mom for their weekly chats so she was told of her twin's predicament. A week later Sandra came to visit Alfred, she had researched all the rehabilitation centres and she came as a source of support to both Alfred and Melissa. When she stepped into their home it was as if she was looking at strangers, she was so happy with her decision to come in person rather than address the issue via skype. That night they stayed up catching up, by the time they went to bed it was four in the morning. As they sat around the table having late breakfast, Sandra brought up the subject of rehabilitation and Alfred agreed to go.
Chapter 7

In the coastal town called Muizenburg there was a rehabilitation centre for the elite. They had an onsite one year program for their patients. They only took in twelve patients and grouped them in fours so that each had a support group throughout their treatment. The time had come for their new arrivals, after their weekly Monday staff meeting the team was ready to receive the patients.

On the first flight to Cape Town from OR Tambo was Paul in business class dressed in a suit as if he was going on a business trip, Alfonso was also in business class dressed in top designer clothing all cocky and arrogant. In economy class was the Moropa brothers, Levi and Tim had kept their word of being by their brother's side as he took steps towards recovery. Meanwhile in the second flight of the morning from King Shaka airport to Cape Town were Alfred, Melissa and Sandra. On arrival at the Cape Town international airport, Paul overheard Alfonso arguing with the representative at the car rental because he was told they no longer had any cars available. Paul happened to have heard that they were going to the same place so he approached Alfonso and offered that he could catch a ride with him. As they introduced each other and started chatting they discovered that they were actually going to the same destination. The staff at the rehabilitation centre was very professional but when they caught the glimpse of Mike and Alfonso standing in the reception, they couldn't help but chuckle a bit inside. The sight of Mr executive and Mr snob was very funny, one was dressed as though he expected to be given a personal assistant whereas the other looked like he expected to have a butler appointed to take care of his needs. Each was appointed a staff member and they were taken into separate arrival rooms, that is where everything of theirs were checked to ensure that they didn't bring any drugs with them.

The Moropa brothers had pre booked a convertible Mercedes, they wanted to have fun as they drove down to the coast. They keyed in the coordinates to their destination on the GPS and off they went. The Nkosi's decided to stop for breakfast because Melissa didn't like being on airplanes so she had not eaten what was served. She also had mixed emotions, as much as it was necessary for her husband to be booked into the centre she couldn't help but worry about having to spend the year apart and how it was going to affect their marriage. The Moropa brothers dropped off their brother, they were only allowed to go as far as the reception, Levi and Tim gave Mike a hug and left. They were given a pamphlet with all rules pertaining to interacting with patients in the next year. Shortly after the Moropa brothers had left came the Nkosi's, they also went through the same process. Melissa was in tears when she kissed her husband good bye, Sandra also couldn't help but have teary eyes as she hugged her twin brother. The rules were that for the first month none of the patients were allowed any interaction with the outside people, the second month they were allowed a thirty minutes telephone call twice a week, from the third month they were allowed visitors once a month.

The first month was difficult for all of the guys as they underwent withdrawal symptoms which included sleepless night, trembling, excessive sweating and hallucinations. It was only in the second month that they started with the group therapy sessions. They had seen each other in the dining and TV area but didn't know each other's story of how they landed in the rehabilitation centre. In the first group session each had to introduce their name and how long they had been using illegal drugs. Paul being the leader in every aspect of his life went first and disclosed that he had been using for two years, Mike for four years, Alfonso for a year and Alfred for eighteen months.

In the third month the guys were excited as they anticipated their first visitors. Melissa came with a basket of her husband's favorite dried fruits and nuts, after it was processed at reception it was approved as an acceptable gift. Angie, Paul's mother brought him two biographies, Levi and Tim brought the latest music because that was what Mike liked most. Alfonso had no visitors, not that he expected any but it took his support group mates by surprise. In the following months Melissa faithfully visited her husband, the Moropa brothers alternated with their parents, Alfonso continued having no visitors. On his mother's second visit Paul had given her a letter to give to Zanele his estranged wife because every time he saw Alfred and Melissa sitting in the garden holding hands it made him long to see his wife. In the sixth month Paul was pleasantly surprised when he received a telephone call from Zanele, the calls became frequent and on the eighth month Zanele came to visit him. Meanwhile it had dawned on Alfonso how lonely his life was, on the outside he was always surrounded by entourage when he went for his gigs but now no one paid him any visit, he had called a few of his buddies they had promised to come but didn't keep their word.

Their therapist had asked each to write in a journal the reasons that led them to start using drugs and each had to come share their story in the next session. Paul told them about his humble upbringing and how he didn't have much of a childhood because he started taking responsibility for the wellbeing of his mother and siblings at an early age. All that he had known was taking care of people's needs so it was a shock to his system when the company he led had to retrench people. He didn't know how to deal with the emotions of not being able to come up with a solution that could have ensured that everyone kept their jobs. He knew what it was like to be lacking and he didn't want to be the cause of anyone's lack. Taking drugs made him forget but since the effect was temporary he had to retake on a frequent basis to sustain him. What made him want to change the habit was that the emotion he felt when he found his wife gone with their children, it superseded the one that drove him to start using drugs so he decided he wanted to come clean so that he could regain the trust of his wife and hopefully restore his marriage.

Mike told of his upbringing and how their family name was a brand in their community so he suffered from depression the first time he had to be away from his family because he had his brothers with him throughout his university days. Furthermore his life was dictated by his parents from childhood to a point where he found himself in a career that he didn't like but was trapped in it because he didn't want to disrespect his parents. He found himself in a trap of having to keep up the front as though everything was well whereas he was slowly dying inside. So for him taking drugs helped him to function in the environment he didn't want to be in. But after he had overdosed he decided that it was time to be courageous and tell his parents that he didn't want to be a medical doctor anymore. He felt that he was given a second chance and wanted to live and not just exist.

Alfonso told of his upbringing and how his mother died as a result of his father's abuse which led to him hating his father and being estranged from him until he died. He had vowed not to be anything like his father so he didn't want anything to do with alcohol. But a time came where he found himself with a wrong crowd, fell into peer pressure and lost his moral compass. On his twenty fifth birthday his friends were teasing him of not being cool, how could he be in the industry he was and not drink or smoke. So in a way of trying to fit in for just that day he agreed to take a drag on what they were smoking. Unfortunately what he thought was just going to be a day's fun made him to fall in a cycle he tried avoiding for so many years. But the memory of how his mother had invested so much into his wellbeing and how he wanted to make her proud superseded the urge of wanting drugs. Since he was an only child he wanted to give her a good legacy. Also whilst in the rehabilitation centre he got to realize that those he thought were friends were actually not so he needed to start building relationships that will last.

Alfred told of how they had lost their baby through miscarriage and at the lowest moment in his life there was no one to run to because he felt the God he was brought up believing that answered prayer had disappointed him by not saving the life of his unborn baby. So the first time he drank it helped him numb the pain that he felt but as time went by he started wanting something stronger and that was how he found himself using drugs. But the shame he felt when he looked in the eyes of his wife disappointed in him for absconding from his household financial duties and his car being repossessed made him realize that he needed to change. He also felt shame that as a son of a pastor his life was denigrating the image of what his family stood for. He wanted his life to be transformed so that he could be a husband that his wife could be proud off as well as a son that his parents raised him up to be.

After that session they felt a tight bond forming amongst them, they had exposed their emotions and no one judged them and they felt accepted just as they were.
Chapter 8

In the previous visit Melissa and Zanele were introduced to each other by their husbands. They had exchange contact details and had kept in touch as each other's support system. In the next month they arranged to arrive the same time at the airport so they could share a ride as they went to visit their husbands. Amongst the many things they spoke about they discovered that their husbands shared a birthday month. Since they were still going to be in the centre when their birthdays came this triggered the wives to think of a mini project on celebrating. When they proposed the idea to the centre management they found out that both Mike and Alfonso were also of the same month.

When it was time for the November visit, the guys were in for a surprise. The management had agreed to let them have a day passport, they encouraged it because it was only a month before the end of their rehabilitation program. Since it was Paul's fortieth birthday Zanele wanted him to celebrate in style. They were picked up by a limousine from the centre, when they arrived at their destination it was an up market restaurant, they had booked a private dining room. As they entered, there were all their loved ones. All of Paul's siblings and their partners, his mother Angie and his two children. When the children saw Paul they ran to him and hugged him for they had not seen him in a long time and Paul was crying with joy kissing each on the cheeks for almost five minutes. Mike's parents, his brothers and Levi's fiancé Lerato, they were waiting for Mike to come out of the centre to celebrate their traditional wedding. Alfred's parents and his twin sister, he had not seen his parents ever since being in the centre but had spoken to them telephonically so he was delighted beyond words. Alfonso was by himself as always, Melissa and Zanele were the hostesses for the event. They had a fabulous time, after the meal each person around the table gave a toast with non alcoholic champagne to the celebrants, motivating them to continue with their journey to recovery. When the time came to open presents, Alfonso cried when a wrapped box was placed in front of him, the last time he had anything he didn't buy for himself was from his mother on his seventeenth birthday. It made him feel a sense of belonging which was something he was silently yearning for, he went into the rehabilitation centre a lonely person and now had found himself a family. At the end of the evening they were grateful for the love they were showered with and couldn't stop talking about the celebration on their way back to the centre.

The last month in the rehab centre felt like it was dragging, the guys couldn't wait to be out of the place and going to their familiar places. In their last session they pledged to be each other's support system when they got out so that none of them relapsed. Two days before Christmas they bid goodbye to the rehab centre and the staff there and headed to their respective homes. Everyone had wanted Alfonso to come with them because they didn't want him to spend Christmas season by himself so they tossed a coin and he went home with Paul. When Paul got home he was delighted to find that Zanele and the children had moved back and had an intimate welcoming party for them. On Christmas morning Alfred woke up and made breakfast for his wife and got ready to go to church, Melissa was delighted for it had been a while since her husband had been to church and had been praying for him to come back. At the Moropa's after a heavy Christmas lunch Mike took his parents aside and informed them of his decision to leave the medical field as it was one of the triggers that led him into using drugs, they gave him their blessing to do as he wanted.
Chapter 9

At the beginning of the year Mike enrolled to study architecture and became a full time student at Wits. Alfonso decided that he wanted to take a break from his work as the environment could make him relapse so he took three months to go tour other African countries where there was no war. Paul started a social investment program at work so that they could support needy communities, based on his background the first project was a food bank to support orphanages around Gauteng and families below a specified income threshold. Alfred began a new hobby of surfing, every time he had an urge to go to the bar he went surfing.

During the Easter weekend all of them met at Levi's traditional wedding. It had been about four months since they had seen each other and were excited to spend the weekend together. Alfonso picked up Alfred and Melissa at the airport and they drove together to Mmakau. When they got to the wedding they had a table reserved for them, Paul and Zanele had already arrived. When they greeted each other you might have thought they had not seen each other in years, it was excitement all around the table. So when Paul earlier received the invitation to Levi's traditional wedding it gave him an idea to renew his wedding vows so when he told Zanele she loved the idea. At the end of spending the weekend together as they were saying their good bye, each received an invitation to the marriage renewal ceremony for Paul and Zanele. So they knew they were going to be seeing each other three months down the line.

At the first wedding celebration Paul's brothers were his groomsmen and this time around he asked Mike, Alfonso and Alfred to do him the honors and they agreed. On a winter Saturday afternoon the gentlemen were geared up in their designer tuxedos, the bridesmaids were their two children and Melissa was the matron of honor. As Zanele walked down the aisle she looked so stunning that Paul was both smiling and shedding a tear at the same time. As he looked at his girls and wife, he was silently counting his blessings. He couldn't believe how close he had come to losing all of this because of his stupidity by allowing himself to be involved in drugs, something he had never ever thought he could fall into. He was glad that things were looking up and he was going to do everything possible to keep his family happy.

When they parted ways it was agreed that they will be meeting next on their birthday month at Umhlanga, Alfred and Melissa's place. Zanele had noticed that Melissa had gained weight but didn't know how to address the issue because it was a sensitive issue amongst a lot of women. Finally when she gathered the courage to ask her she was ecstatic to discover that Melissa was actually six months pregnant so she offered to throw her a baby shower. But because of the miscarriage with the first child Alfred and Melissa had decided that they were only going to have a baby shower after the baby was born not before. Three weeks before their scheduled get together, the Nkosi's were blessed with a bundle of joy and named him Sibusiso. Alfred had reconciled his relationship with God because despite the doctor's diagnosis they were able to have the child they had so longed for. He remembered what his parents used to encourage him with, telling him that there was nothing too hard for God and he had seen the goodness of the Lord and was no longer bitter towards God. When the team came for their birthday month it was combined with a baby shower that Zanele had offered to do.

As they parted ways they knew it was only a matter of time before they saw each other again. They began a tradition that irrespective of how the year went, they at least had to meet once a year on their birthday month. What had started as being the lowest point of their lives ended up with a beautiful bond of brotherhood.

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About the Author

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Other books by this author

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Total Surrender

Diligent Ambassadors

Singles Corner

Diversity in Christ

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