I woke with a faint gasp . My hands instantly flew to my neck , it was there , the bead necklace . That means what I thought was a dream was actually real , I really met Sthe’s grandma .
I saw my very first ghost , this realisation was kind of creepy once I thought about it carefully . I sighed knowing nothing will come from me overthinking what had happened.
I took a warm shower lost in my own thoughts . Just when I was almost done with my breakfast , my door was opened roughly . I rolled my eyes seeing it was just Mariam .
“Brake the door won’t you and also give me a heart attack , let’s see how you will explain to Sthe, how his fiance died”.
Mariam, laughed at that ,”oh my, my scared baby has finally grown some claws” . After her words ,she suddenly turned serious . “I will teach you all about what is expected of you at your umabo( wedding ceremony)” .
I nodded and listened to what she had to say . “There are a couple of things that are expected of the bride during their wedding ceremony . First it’s the gifts that are given to the groom’s family that are written on the list” .
I was confused , “what list?”, “A list ,is the names of the family members that are supposed to receive gifts” .
“What kinds of gifts are expected from the bride?” I asked a bit worried , “it’s actually simple things like , blankets , beer pots , grass mats and some furniture”.
Mariam, gave me a peace of paper with names written on it , “this is the list” . I looked over the names and to be honest I only recognised a few , Mariam , Lebo and their husbands’ names .
I nodded at the list since the names were only twenty , with how the queen mother was out for my blood I thought the list would have a hundred names and ridiculous demands.
“There’s one problem though dear” , I looked at her , “what is it ?”, “Your family , there is a ritual your father needs to perform to show he agrees to give his son to our family” .
I nodded then sighed , “me and my family are not on good terms , especially me and my father”.
“You have to think of something Ajax, because mother is serious and wants to sabotage your marriage to brother in law” .
I sighed once again at what she said , then suddenly a name came to my mind , Allen Tailor , my grandfather. “I have one person I can asked” , Mariam, nodded , “call them now dear”.
I took out my phone and scrolled through my contracts . I could not remember exactly when was the last time I had seen or spoken to my grandfather.
I think I was about eight or nine , the whole point was it was a long time ago. My grandfather stopped coming to our house after him and grandmother divorced , to tell the truth I didn’t even know the reason for their divorce.
The phone rang three times before he picked up. “Hello” , his voice sounded deeper than I remembered it to be .
“Hello grandfather” , “grandson?”, He asked his voice sounding a bit emotional , a ping of guilt grew inside of me . “I’m sorry i haven’t been in contact , I’ve been busy with work” .
“Who is that bear?” A voice of a man I did not recognise asked . “Ajax , my grandson” , grandfather responded . “Oh little Ajax” , the man chuckled , his chuckle was pleasing to the ears.
They seemed to have forgotten about me though as they were lost in their own convesation . “Grandfather did you forget about me ?”, I had a pout on my lips at this point .
“Oh sorry grandson, so anyway let’s get straight to the point , I don’t mean to be rude but why did you call?” . “I need a favour”, “what is it ?”, “Can you stand in place of my father at my wedding ceremony? I need you to give me away”.
“Your getting married?”, He asked sounding a bit surprised , “yes grandfather”. “Why do you need me to give you away though, is it not the bride that needs to be given away?”, “I’m the bride grandfather”.
At my response grandfather went quite for a few moments , just as I thought he would hang up on me he laughed. “Why are you laughing ?”, I asked sounding concerned , thinking the news I had just dropped on him drove him insane .
“It’s funny how my son kicked me out of your life so you won’t catch the so called ‘gay disease’ only for you to catch it all on your own”.
His words made me come to a realisation, my grandfather was gay , I was not the only one so a feeling of happiness overcome me .
“So are you going to come grandfather?”, “I would not miss your wedding for the world . I’ll bring along my family, my husband Titan and our son Sona” . After we hang up I looked at Mariam , “my family is coming”.
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