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Matrimony
The siren wailed so loud and made Mercy jump on the chair that she was seated on,it was Friday school out and that was every leaners favourite time.Mercy was so happy that day,since she arrived at school she couldn't wait for the last class of the day to be dismissed so that she may go home to finally see the surprise that her mother promised her in the morning before she left for school.Mercy loved surprises,more especially when they are her mother's idea.She knew her mom was very good with lifting up her mood and amazing her in a very sweet way.She had a hint that the surprise had something to do with her meeting the successful fashion designer around their area and that meant she will have a chance to hand over her designs and get to have them as real desighned clothes.
Mercy was a 16 years old young lady who was a grade 10 leaner,very ambitious and showed potential to fulfil her dreams.She was so talented,very artistic,she wanted to be a successful fashion designer that would be recognised the entire Africa and out of the continent too.Her dreams were accompanied by the incredible work of her hands,she always drew very amazing garments and sometimes sewed them when every she gets pieces of unwanted clothes.Sometimes she would save her pocket money to buy new fabrics to sew new clothes.
Mercy rushed home,she couldn't even wait for her friends plus she was also starving.That is how she was,she couldn't stand a minute for anything when she was hungry.She knew she was going to have some good home cooked food when she gets home,in the morning she left her mother kneading dough and cow heels were already on the sunny spot outside the house defrosting,so she knew they were going to have dumbling and cow heels stew for luch and supper.She was extremely longing to taste her mother's palatable food,she knew she was the beast in the kitchen,you could swear that she is the one who came up with all the recipes.Even the neighbours knew her very well.Eveytime when they had special occasions they would ask her to come over and take over the kitchen with her excellent cooking skills.Everything that she touched with her hands turned out to be so magical.
She finally turned left from the cross road,her fast feet leading her home.She saw smoke rising to the sky from the back of their house and she knew she was going to be served a hot plate of her favourite food,just when she was about to push the gate she saw two cars parked outside the house then surprisingly she wondered who could it be.Anyway she continued walking to the house,a plate of food was what was roaming inside her head.Two steps inside the house her eyes glanced all over the place to the faces of eveybody seated on the couches.She saw four strange faces of men who looked like they were on an ongoing trauma felief counseling then there was seated her mother next to her father.She kneeled down to say her greetings in a respectful manner the way her parents taught her after that she went straight to her bedroom to take off her school unifrom.
When she was walking down the corridor,she started feeling terrified with a void reason to that emotion.The situation was so solemn than it seemed.Her parents were dressed in clothes unsual to find them wearing on daily basis and their guest were also dressed neat in their jackets and shirts.She got inside her bedroom and closed the door behind and received the first surprise she never thought she was going to get.There were bags packed next to her closet and on top of her bed.Her eyes got wide open and her face full of confusion.She ran to her closet,pulled the doors nearly striking her eye with a fist.The whole closet was empty,no garmet that she owned was left hanged or even folded,her heart started beating fast she couldn't stop asking herself why her clothes were packed in bags then suddenly she heared her father's voice calling her name loud and calm.
She relaxed her face first then went to the sitting room,sat down on the grass mat and kept quite."I know you must be asking yourself that what is happening as you can see we have visitors that you've never seen here before.These men here are now our in-laws because one of them is already your husband,the bride price has been paid for you my daughter.You should prepare yourself for a long journey to Kwa Zulu Natal where you will be starting your new life as Mrs Luthuli.Now go to your room and change your clothes"said Mr Dandala,Mercy's father.Mercy mist eyed she fastly stoop up and rushed to her bedroom.It was too hard to digest what she had heared.Now what her father just said made sense to the bags she saw in her bedroom.She wasn't anticipating to be sent off for marriage so young to someone who is a total stranger.She sat on her bed with her face miserable,crying like her mother just died in her arms.Her mother walked inside her bedroom sat down next to her and began comforting her."I know it's sad my child but you have to"said Mercy's mother.
"No mom I don't have to.I'm still young and that man way too old to be my husband,I don't know him and I can't go to KZN with him,infact I won't"said Mercy crying
"You know we can't argue with your father and your lobola has already been paid"said Mrs Dandala
"Today we'll have to argue with him,you can't protect him for what he has done mom"wailed Mercy
"I don't like this too but I don't have any power to control the situation,the same thing happened to me 40 years ago and that is how I got married to your father.Just accept there is nothing that I can do"said Mrs Dandala
Then a loud knock on the door disturbed them,Mr Dandala was here to take her daughter and hand her over her husband.She got dressed in her IsiXhosa traditional attire and got handed over her husband,after that they left to KZN.They arrived in a township called Kwa Mashu where this man was living.She found her in-laws waiting for her,very happy and even made a celebration for her then later that evening she went through another heart break,she met three big woman who were his husband's wives.She was never told that she was committing into polygamy,she knew her life was going to be very hard from there.She called her parents and informed them but still they never bothered to show that they care,they told her to endure for that is what will make her marriage sustain.
Mercy found out that Archie,her husband married her only for one purpose which was to bear kids for him because all his wives were unable to bear kids for him and now because Mercy was the youngest in the family she was being over worked,she had to do all the duties alone while her sisters in marriage command and bully her together with other family members.Everytime they would scold at her when they had to teach her something new,they always had harsh words,giving her a rude treatment everyday.It wasn't easy for Mercy,she cried everyday thinking that her pain was going to get better instead the treatment got worse.
A month later Mercy fell pregnant and finally delivered twin boys.The hatred became even worse.The wives planned to kill Mercy because they saw that she managed to fulfil her purpose in just a month after being married.They poisoned a plate of food hoping that Mercy would eat it but in accidentally fell in the hands of a wrong person,their sister in law ate the food and died.After the kids were born Archie started giving all his attention to Mercy,he sleeped in her bedroom everyday,got her gifts,gave her money and made sure that she got a special treatment ever.That made his three wives even more bitter and they decided to kill one of Mercy's baby.The first wife planned that on her own and her plan got messed up after being caught trying to strangle a baby.She got kicked out of the house thus leading to the end of her marriage.
A year later Mercy fell pregnant again and she was told that the child she was going to give birth to,had to be given to the second wife.Mercy couldn't agree to that,she argued with her husband but that never changed anything.After she gave birth the child was forcefully taken away from her and Archie began getting distant from her,he no longer seemed to care.He started being cold towards Mercy treating her like unwanted piece of dirt.Now they started giving her more pressure to bear more children in the family.One pregnancy after the other she had to get pregnant for other wives.
After her fourth pregnancy she couldn't fall pregnant anymore.She went to different doctors and specialists,they all claimed the same thing that she won't be able to bear children anymore.Than made Archie's two wives happy because it pained them that Mercy bore sons for them.Mercy wasn't just unable to bear kids anymore but she had problems with her womb,she started to find in difficult to do chores just like collecting woods,bending to cook with fire and kneeling down when cleaning.Archie went cold and rough for her,he no longer cared.He would call her a good for nothing wife,a barren and a lazy thing.When ever he felt angry he would beat her up for no reason.
Two moths later Mercy found out that she is pregnant,she was blown away because she thought she was never going to have a child again.The doctors claimed that it was a very risky pregnancy to keep so Mercy had to terminate the child for the sake of her life but Archie refused because he wanted the child to be given to his second wife as her second child.Mercy was forced to keep the pregnancy but however the child couldn't survive,she miscarried on the third month.After that the bad treatment went beyond borders.Archie would swear at Mercy claiming that she killed the child untill one night,he tried to kill Mercy in her sleep by strangling her.
Mercy began to see that there was no life for her anymore and came up with an idea of making life safe for her.One day she asked for all her four sons to sleep with them at the cottage outside where she was sleeping,she said she just wanted to bond with them as she was badly missing then.All the women agreed to give Mercy the babies for one night.That very same night when everybody was sleeping,Mercy went outside and set the main house on fire,including her cottage after she had taken out her luggage and all the baby's stuff.When the house started burning she had already organized a private transport to drive her very far,away from KZN.By the time everyone woke up the house had already catched fire so badly,Archie died in the house.After the fire was put off,the wives wanted to check for the babies at the cottage but it was burned to ashes and no ash of a human was found there.They assumed that Mercy ran away trying to escape the fire.After burying Archie they never bothered to look for Mercy not even to inform her family that she ran away from their home.
Mercy ran away with her sons and never looked back.She went back home ready to explain to her parents the hell of a life they sent her off to live.
@PromiseZane
© All Rights Reserved
Mercy was a 16 years old young lady who was a grade 10 leaner,very ambitious and showed potential to fulfil her dreams.She was so talented,very artistic,she wanted to be a successful fashion designer that would be recognised the entire Africa and out of the continent too.Her dreams were accompanied by the incredible work of her hands,she always drew very amazing garments and sometimes sewed them when every she gets pieces of unwanted clothes.Sometimes she would save her pocket money to buy new fabrics to sew new clothes.
Mercy rushed home,she couldn't even wait for her friends plus she was also starving.That is how she was,she couldn't stand a minute for anything when she was hungry.She knew she was going to have some good home cooked food when she gets home,in the morning she left her mother kneading dough and cow heels were already on the sunny spot outside the house defrosting,so she knew they were going to have dumbling and cow heels stew for luch and supper.She was extremely longing to taste her mother's palatable food,she knew she was the beast in the kitchen,you could swear that she is the one who came up with all the recipes.Even the neighbours knew her very well.Eveytime when they had special occasions they would ask her to come over and take over the kitchen with her excellent cooking skills.Everything that she touched with her hands turned out to be so magical.
She finally turned left from the cross road,her fast feet leading her home.She saw smoke rising to the sky from the back of their house and she knew she was going to be served a hot plate of her favourite food,just when she was about to push the gate she saw two cars parked outside the house then surprisingly she wondered who could it be.Anyway she continued walking to the house,a plate of food was what was roaming inside her head.Two steps inside the house her eyes glanced all over the place to the faces of eveybody seated on the couches.She saw four strange faces of men who looked like they were on an ongoing trauma felief counseling then there was seated her mother next to her father.She kneeled down to say her greetings in a respectful manner the way her parents taught her after that she went straight to her bedroom to take off her school unifrom.
When she was walking down the corridor,she started feeling terrified with a void reason to that emotion.The situation was so solemn than it seemed.Her parents were dressed in clothes unsual to find them wearing on daily basis and their guest were also dressed neat in their jackets and shirts.She got inside her bedroom and closed the door behind and received the first surprise she never thought she was going to get.There were bags packed next to her closet and on top of her bed.Her eyes got wide open and her face full of confusion.She ran to her closet,pulled the doors nearly striking her eye with a fist.The whole closet was empty,no garmet that she owned was left hanged or even folded,her heart started beating fast she couldn't stop asking herself why her clothes were packed in bags then suddenly she heared her father's voice calling her name loud and calm.
She relaxed her face first then went to the sitting room,sat down on the grass mat and kept quite."I know you must be asking yourself that what is happening as you can see we have visitors that you've never seen here before.These men here are now our in-laws because one of them is already your husband,the bride price has been paid for you my daughter.You should prepare yourself for a long journey to Kwa Zulu Natal where you will be starting your new life as Mrs Luthuli.Now go to your room and change your clothes"said Mr Dandala,Mercy's father.Mercy mist eyed she fastly stoop up and rushed to her bedroom.It was too hard to digest what she had heared.Now what her father just said made sense to the bags she saw in her bedroom.She wasn't anticipating to be sent off for marriage so young to someone who is a total stranger.She sat on her bed with her face miserable,crying like her mother just died in her arms.Her mother walked inside her bedroom sat down next to her and began comforting her."I know it's sad my child but you have to"said Mercy's mother.
"No mom I don't have to.I'm still young and that man way too old to be my husband,I don't know him and I can't go to KZN with him,infact I won't"said Mercy crying
"You know we can't argue with your father and your lobola has already been paid"said Mrs Dandala
"Today we'll have to argue with him,you can't protect him for what he has done mom"wailed Mercy
"I don't like this too but I don't have any power to control the situation,the same thing happened to me 40 years ago and that is how I got married to your father.Just accept there is nothing that I can do"said Mrs Dandala
Then a loud knock on the door disturbed them,Mr Dandala was here to take her daughter and hand her over her husband.She got dressed in her IsiXhosa traditional attire and got handed over her husband,after that they left to KZN.They arrived in a township called Kwa Mashu where this man was living.She found her in-laws waiting for her,very happy and even made a celebration for her then later that evening she went through another heart break,she met three big woman who were his husband's wives.She was never told that she was committing into polygamy,she knew her life was going to be very hard from there.She called her parents and informed them but still they never bothered to show that they care,they told her to endure for that is what will make her marriage sustain.
Mercy found out that Archie,her husband married her only for one purpose which was to bear kids for him because all his wives were unable to bear kids for him and now because Mercy was the youngest in the family she was being over worked,she had to do all the duties alone while her sisters in marriage command and bully her together with other family members.Everytime they would scold at her when they had to teach her something new,they always had harsh words,giving her a rude treatment everyday.It wasn't easy for Mercy,she cried everyday thinking that her pain was going to get better instead the treatment got worse.
A month later Mercy fell pregnant and finally delivered twin boys.The hatred became even worse.The wives planned to kill Mercy because they saw that she managed to fulfil her purpose in just a month after being married.They poisoned a plate of food hoping that Mercy would eat it but in accidentally fell in the hands of a wrong person,their sister in law ate the food and died.After the kids were born Archie started giving all his attention to Mercy,he sleeped in her bedroom everyday,got her gifts,gave her money and made sure that she got a special treatment ever.That made his three wives even more bitter and they decided to kill one of Mercy's baby.The first wife planned that on her own and her plan got messed up after being caught trying to strangle a baby.She got kicked out of the house thus leading to the end of her marriage.
A year later Mercy fell pregnant again and she was told that the child she was going to give birth to,had to be given to the second wife.Mercy couldn't agree to that,she argued with her husband but that never changed anything.After she gave birth the child was forcefully taken away from her and Archie began getting distant from her,he no longer seemed to care.He started being cold towards Mercy treating her like unwanted piece of dirt.Now they started giving her more pressure to bear more children in the family.One pregnancy after the other she had to get pregnant for other wives.
After her fourth pregnancy she couldn't fall pregnant anymore.She went to different doctors and specialists,they all claimed the same thing that she won't be able to bear children anymore.Than made Archie's two wives happy because it pained them that Mercy bore sons for them.Mercy wasn't just unable to bear kids anymore but she had problems with her womb,she started to find in difficult to do chores just like collecting woods,bending to cook with fire and kneeling down when cleaning.Archie went cold and rough for her,he no longer cared.He would call her a good for nothing wife,a barren and a lazy thing.When ever he felt angry he would beat her up for no reason.
Two moths later Mercy found out that she is pregnant,she was blown away because she thought she was never going to have a child again.The doctors claimed that it was a very risky pregnancy to keep so Mercy had to terminate the child for the sake of her life but Archie refused because he wanted the child to be given to his second wife as her second child.Mercy was forced to keep the pregnancy but however the child couldn't survive,she miscarried on the third month.After that the bad treatment went beyond borders.Archie would swear at Mercy claiming that she killed the child untill one night,he tried to kill Mercy in her sleep by strangling her.
Mercy began to see that there was no life for her anymore and came up with an idea of making life safe for her.One day she asked for all her four sons to sleep with them at the cottage outside where she was sleeping,she said she just wanted to bond with them as she was badly missing then.All the women agreed to give Mercy the babies for one night.That very same night when everybody was sleeping,Mercy went outside and set the main house on fire,including her cottage after she had taken out her luggage and all the baby's stuff.When the house started burning she had already organized a private transport to drive her very far,away from KZN.By the time everyone woke up the house had already catched fire so badly,Archie died in the house.After the fire was put off,the wives wanted to check for the babies at the cottage but it was burned to ashes and no ash of a human was found there.They assumed that Mercy ran away trying to escape the fire.After burying Archie they never bothered to look for Mercy not even to inform her family that she ran away from their home.
Mercy ran away with her sons and never looked back.She went back home ready to explain to her parents the hell of a life they sent her off to live.
@PromiseZane
© All Rights Reserved
