Akhona

er permission, and as my final exams approached, the days slowly passed by. I reached out to Zuko to explain what had happened, and he understood everything. He promised to help me find a way

ingly bitter. She no longer responded to my greetings

me sneak out through a bush path instead of the main road, to avoid being seen. I locked my room from the inside and arranged my bed to make it look like someone was sleeping under the sheets. My mom would be back by four, and the exams wou

r later in the afternoon, but it was delayed. A fellow student asked me to pick up a piece of paper for him, unaware that it contained answers to the questions we were answering. Just as I took the paper, the invigilator approached me. He took the paper

ndred rands in cash, which was a significant amount for me at that moment. I begged him to give me some time, as I couldn't provide the money immediately, but he refused. Fortunately, Zuko came to my rescue and gave me the exact amount needed to pay the invigilator. Finally, the invigilator handed me back my answer script. After the exam,

s already too late. My mom had discovered that I wasn't at hom

eded to write my final exams. I told her how I had registered myself for the exams with the help of a friend and had been sneaking out to go to school. Part of me felt that she believed me, as she calmed down and sat in a chair. She said, "I knew, but I'm angry that you didn't

ith every man in the city..." Before he could continue, my mom interrupted him, shouting back, "I think I know my daughter better than you. She would never stoop so low for money. I didn't say anything when you claimed you caught her with a boy. I chose to ignore it because I didn't think it was her fault, and the boy might have deceived her. But now, you're making such baseless accusations about my daughter. I might actually start believing what she accused you of last time." With that, he angrily stormed

ed over trivial matters, and my mom refused to share a room with him. My stepdad had stopped pressuring me to fulfill his sexual desires, fearing my mom's wrath. Their marriage was on the verge of breaking ap

saying they treated me like a sister-in-law. I offered to help his sisters prepare dinner in the kitchen. Visitors were comi

m. The sisters were seen as women who couldn't get married due to their promiscuous reputation. Themba's marriage was seen as an opportunity for the other sisters to have a chance at married life, so they took extra precautions to ensure everything went smoothly. Zuko

sed to leave earlier, but I stayed to help you prepare for your exams," he finally revealed. I hadn't expected that he would one day leave and go far away. I had heard stories of people leaving the country and never coming back, settling down and starting families elsewhere. Tears began to flow down my cheeks, and I felt a gentle hand wiping them away. "Please don't cry. I wish I could take you with me, but it's not possible," he said, trying to comfort me. Nothing he said could ease my pain. I was once again losing someone very dear to me. First, it was my dad, and now Zuko. I couldn't stop my tears as I remembered all the moments I had shared with him. He p