While Mpumi lost all hope, the remaining days of her life were spent fighting with Dion. Dion kept pushing her to eat, get out of bed, and socialise. He even left the company to his father so that he could take of the woman. She would cry all day, scream at night, and pinch whatever she found reachable when in pain.
It was becoming too hard on the kids. Vincent was falling behind academically; he was always destructed. He would forget writing homework; he would forget study groups—of which he had started to help others.
The other students were starting to get worried about Vincent’s consistent absenteeism. They started hovering around rumours. They were left guessing his situation. They saw how distant he had become. “Gift is giving him a hard time,” they said among themselves.
“Gift doesn’t like him. He doesn’t like anyone above him.”
“I saw how Gift talks to Vincent. Disgusted, and grudging.”
“Vincent’s mother.” Sphesihle said, “I hear she is battling cancer. You feel pain. In fact, it is the first thing I saw when you opened the door for me. Now, I may not know the extent to which your pain goes, but I do know what pain is. Pain is pain. One of the most brutal punishments to humans, it cannot be avoided, and it cannot be blocked.”Dion had nothing to say. He started walking up. Vincent appeared, immediately. He was standing with her, facing her. Not so welcoming of her.“I brought your scripts. Marked and moderated.” Sphesihle spoke, “I figured the teachers couldn’t email them, so I took them myself.” She stretched them out for his reach, but he only looked. Not responding. She saw the table near them, she went and put them there. “I will go now.”“They didn’t email the work or the notes either,” he said.She turned back to him, “I have notes!&rdqu
Dion was determined to torture the woman emotionally. He wanted her suffering in a way to compare with his. He knew the best way was to ignore her and avoid her. Unfortunately, he was doing good thus far.Mpumi woke up each day to try and reason with him. Each day she destined to grovelling to him. She was dedicated to make things right.“Dion,” she stood at the door. It was in his study (at home). He was busy with some papers. As soon as he saw her, he got up. He walked past her and out of the office.At the dinner table, she went and grabbed a chair. Before she could sit, Dion pulled out of his, carried his plate, and walked out—he wouldn’t eat at the same table with her. It had become obvious to every person in that house that there was a serious conflict between the two.In the morning, Liam was driving the children to school, and Dion to work. The four people were ready to go, until a door opened. It was Mpumi. She got it. The
Dion had a long day out with Emilia. At the end of it all, he was tired. He needed a shower and to go to bed. He opened the door to his room. He met a whole mess. His room seemed turned upside down. Broken vas, torn sheets, ruptured curtains, thrown table. //--What on earth— --// He saw Mpumi at a corner, chucking down a bottle of alcohol in her hand. She too was a mess as the room. Case closed; she was the culprit. //--Alcohol? I thought the doctor told her not to have any of those. I thought she was working on herself. Who was I kidding? She will never change. --// Without saying a word, he turned back and walked out. Immediately, Mpumi felt like she messed up. She got up, empty handed and ran after him. She felt bad about what she did to his room. She was infuriated earlier, but now she was calmer and back to her senses. “Dion?” He did not stop for her. “Dion, please!” she chased after him in the passage. “Dion, I’m sorry!” she finally managed to grab his elbow. He did not ap
“Dion, what do you think?” asked Emilia.“Mpumi, I think that you should not carry a load alone.”“What?” Emilia was amazed.Dion was back, “What? Where? How? Um…” he got up. “I was in my thoughts, sorry.”“You’re always in your thoughts. You’re like a zombie around me. Do you even enjoy my company?”“Um, yes. I do.”“Um, no. You don’t!”“Emily—”“You don’t know my name anymore?!”“Emily… Emilia.”“Wow.” She took her bag and walked out. She was headed for Mpumi. She found her in the department office alone.She shut the door walking in, “Listen here, black barbie.” Emilia was firm, “I don’t know of your little history with Dion. But here’s the thing, h-i-s-t-o-r-y. That’s what it is. Now
Dave opened the evening with a piano. He gave a soft music to welcome the guests and calm them down. “Your son is great,” said Mr Jenner. “Thank you,” Dion. He was sitting at a table with a few more people, one being his father and right by his side was Emilia. Mrs Jones was there as well, at that table. She loved seeing her daughter on Dion like that. She was glad that Dion did not push her off. She thought there was progress. Applause went as soon as Dave gave a bow. He went and sat at a table with Vincent and a few of Vincent’s friends. Michael was happy to have been invited by Vincent. Sphesihle too felt privileged to be around. Gift was fortunate to have been brought by his father who held a contract with ITSU—his father had every right to be there. “You keep amazing me, Dave.” “Thanks, Vincent.” “That was amazing, kid,” Michael cheered. “I practise all the time.” Gift sat at that table too. He was grounded that night. His mind was a bit chaotic—a mix of family issues and
Finally, Dion was fed up, he shoved her off and marched away. She followed him, grabbed his wrist but he ripped it from her. Angrily, she pushed him off, and he tumbled over a fountain of glasses. Everything stopped in the room. People were curious. Bowman was disappointed. His suspicions of the woman were confirmed. He considered her ungrounded, and ill-mannered.“Dion?” Mpumi tried going down to him. He managed to manoeuvre out of her grip. Embarrassed, he walked out, leaving the party.Mpumi entered shortly the home of Dion Hill. She was hoping she would talk to Dion but Bowman would not let her go anywhere near Dion’s room, “My son is out of limits for you, little woman.”“I just want to talk to him.”“He is bleeding, you pushed him over glasses.”“Please…”Bowman stood still. Mpumi quickly gave up. She went back to her room only to pack out the next morning. Dion d
……………..in Dion’s office……………..“And Fortunate, please tell Philip Moore to send me the draft! God, how did I trust him with it?”“Yes, sir.”“Also, get my designer to prepare for me the best suit, I am going to wear it when I am meeting with Mrs Wong and her associates for the deal. She loves good things. Speaking of good things, get Liam to get me a present for her. I trust Liam’s taste. God, I’m so nervous.”“And there is nothing to be nervous about, sir.”“Are you kidding me? I am going in three days. This trip will either seal the deal or kill the deal. My life depends on it.”The PA laughed, “No, silly. Your life is well off either way.”“Oh, I guess so.”A silence.“Hey,” she was concerned. “What’s the matter
Kefentse was always glad to have Dion’s time. Dion was more sparing of his time when it came to Shannon, not so much with Kefentse. This did sting a little for Kefentse—it’d hurt him sometimes to find out that those two hang out without him.Kefentse was always happy to catch up on Dion’s love life, he quickly learned that Dion was stuck between women. He was starting to believe that Dion would be choosing Emilia. Kefentse would rather Dion chose none of those women. None of those women knew Dion longer that he had. Kefentse had been friends with Dion since they were children. None of those women deserved Dion, not as much as himself.“Brother, listen.” Dion said, gently, “I recognize all of you, and I am grateful. I will be fine, I promise.”“What’s that supposed to mean?”“Huh?”“It’s like you saying that you will be better off with her. Are you planning to