We sat in our small tiny kitchen as the thoughts of what happened last night ran through our heads. No one had said a thing since waking up, the Ndau-son came to extend a marriage proposal to me, a black orphan. I was raised with the thought that I would never be chosen for marriage the highest offer I would ever get would be a sex slave or a child-bearing concubine.
I looked at my mom and her face was dull, disbelief washing over her face.
As we were both lost in thought Mrs Mandara walked in, her eyes said it all. The whole village had heard about the proposal. It was obvious that Ndau-son had to make a grand appearance and proposal.
"Tell me it's not true," Mrs Mandara said as she stood before us.
"It's true," I said making space for her to sit between my mother and me.
"Aah No, Ndau-son is a very bad seed. His intentions are not as pure as we think," she said. She was right, as much as Ndau-son was a man with status and wealth he was well known for his notorious evil ways. He had 5 wives already and 4 concubines and 2 of his wives died suddenly without warning. Everyone thinks he must have killed them because they didn't want to stay married to him.
Back then before the invasion, killing your wife was unheard of. People would cut you off from society and want nothing to do with you, it was because our life source was powerful when we appreciated, upheld, and created life. Taking a life weakened it hence, weakened people's powers but if the bad fruit was cut off it would affect the life source much.
Now, ever since the life source was destroyed people don't care about life anymore, life has become something that was valued by how much wealth and status you had.
"Tinoziva asi todi Vimbai, hatingarambi. Tikaramba they might kill us. ( We know but what shall we do Vimbai, we cannot refuse. If we refuse they might kill us)," My mother said, worry etched on her face. She looked at her friend desperate for a solution.
"I know but accepting the proposal is basically sending our daughter to die," Mrs Mandara said as she held my hand, she was my second mother, she was married to Mr Mandara but had been unable to conceive a child for all these years. The people have been unkind to her but she has never let her be bitter, instead, when my dad left she helped my mom raise me.
She was the steady boat my mom needed when the world seemed like an ocean with a storm. "I just want to know why he chose me, he didn't say he wants me to be his concubine but his wife. Why would he travel all the way from Vetory to our hometown to pass a marriage proposal to a black orphan like me?"
"Stop calling yourself a black orphan wena," Mrs Mandara said with a frown plastered on her face, she despised that word. She believed every child was a blessing even if the child is raised by a single parent, a child was still a blessing. She never liked the fact that a child raised by a single mother was called a black orphan but a child raised by a single father was considered a child of sympathy. People pitied the child but people hated me, the term black orphan weighed heavily on a single mother's child than a single father's child.
"If it were any other man I would have agreed but Ndau-son. He scares me, what if I find another marriage proposal and I get engaged before the Ndau-son returns that way I won't have to marry him," I said looking at both my mothers for confirmation.
"Where will you get a marriage proposal that quick?" My mom asked.
"Master Azondi did extend an invitation for the festival, if I attend his festival I could ask him to introduce me to men who need a wife or even a concubine," I said. If you think I would run away or fight the Ndau-son then you all thought wrong, they had control over all the places I could run to except the South. The South is ruled by a powerful royal family, no one can just go in and out as they wish, the Ndau family was nothing compared to the people of the South.
The people of the South rebelled against the Pindarwas, they refused to extend a hand of help to them and decided to close themselves off from the rest, they do travel around but they have become so powerful that not even the Pindarwas want to attempt to take over, they have so much wealth and power that if they decided to take over the rest of the planet it would be no problem for them but entering that side is not easy, you could be killed before you get to the gates of entry. And I wasn't about to run away and get killed before I even made it in or even get killed while attempting by the Ndaus.
"Master Azondi extended you an invitation?" Mrs Mandara asked surprised.
"Yeah something like that, he actually extended it to Charity but I happened to be with her too," I explained.
"Oh, makes sense. Charity is about to be his bride after all."
"WHAT?!"
"Didn't you hear? Master Azondi extended a marriage proposal to the Olive family, Charity will be engaged to him by the end of this festival," Mrs Mandara explained.
"What? But Charity had a suitor didn't she?"
"That was her suitor, anyway you need to go to the festival. You might get lucky, you need to get lucky. Wealth and status are nothing if the man is a shriveled apple that has stayed under the sun for too long," Mrs Mandara said as she squeezed my hand.
I hated the idea that the only way I could be free from marrying a murderer was by marrying another man. For the first time in a long time, I wished my black orphan status would drive the Ndau-son away from me, but it seemed like it wouldn't work in my favour like always.
The festival was in 2 days and I was helping my mother prepare for the festival for her Pindarwas, I hadn't been to Kunotengeswa and that meant I hadn't met Charity yet, I wanted to talk to her about her marriage proposal and also fill her in on the Ndau-son situation. Of course, by this time she would have heard the rumor, ever since the proposal people had been even more abusive towards my mother and me. They looked at us with disdain and disgust, they said harshly workda and some would come and confront us with a threat to beat us. It was funny how the proposal didn't make people less abusive but more abusive, "This proposal has magnified our problems can you imagine the people are refusing to sell anything to us," my mother said frustrated as this would affect our preparations more than ever.
"Why did he have to do this to us?" I said as I sat down in frustration, as my mother was about to speak I saw Charity walking towards us.
"Charity!" I said excitedly as I ran to her, her face brightened as soon as she set her eyes on me.
"Nemo," she said.
"What are you doing here?"
"I heard about the marriage proposal and I also heard people saying that the people in your village will punish you by refusing to sell or render anything to you guys, so I thought I should come and see if I could be of any help," she said with a bright smile.
"You are my favorite daughter right now," my mother said hugging her.
"Oh please she is just buttering you right now," I said rolling my eyes.
"No she is not," she said.
"So tell me what I can help with and then you can tell me all about this weird suspicious marriage proposal from Ndau-son."
"And you need to fill me in on your marriage proposal to Azondi," I said and her face scrunched in disapproval. "Ughh apa mai vangu varikuda kuti ndiende kuFestival yaAzondi (ughh and my mom wants me to go to Azondi's festival)," she said rolling her eyes as we started getting some work done.
"I am attending it, I need Azondi's festival to get me out of this marriage proposal."
"How though?"
"Find a suitor."
"That's too rash and too fast, you won't find one before Ndau-son returns for your hand," she said as she looked at me like it was the most obvious thing I overlooked.
"Ndau-son will he busy with festival celebrations, any man who will take me, as their concubine or second, or fifth wife will do," I explained to her but her face scrunched again, she disapproved.
"No," she said.
"Yes, Charity. Look Charity it's either this or Ndau-son and I won't go and die in that man's hands. If I die they won't even put me in a nice resting place instead they will discard me," I said to her and that's when her face turned soft. She came closer to me and gave me a hug , " I wish things were different," she said, her voice shaky.
"Me too."