The aftermath

1993, the Zulu household’s arrival of a healthy strong boy. Janet had never seen her husband so excited, continuously staring at his son’s little self from his first smile to him learning to hold his posture in the bucket sitting training. Kaya’s presence was a glimpse of hope she lusted for in the hope to save her marriage.

As the months passed, so did the fantasy she Janet created for his marriage. Things were different now; the era had taken its toll on her family, yet Kaya blossomed under the supervision of his guarding angels, his sisters. However, Mandla, his father was struggling to adjust to the socio-economic changes, unleashing his wrath on his ever-loving spouse more than allowed, shattering her already fragile hope and heart.

That Thursday afternoon, Kaya rushed home enthusiastically eager to show his medal to the soul that meant the world to him, his loving mother. Returning home to the image Janet slouching over the kitchen sink bottling up the aftermaths of the Mandla’s misunderstanding, quietly he approaches his mother, silently restraining his boiling blood rush from his head to his fist and back to his heart, composedly he holds her hand slowly laying his head on her hip.

Scarred from trauma, he took a vow to be the lover his mother never had, the protector she needed, the provider she longed for, but life had other plans in store for him…