After Tears

Twenty-Eight: Friday, March 3

206 tweNtY-eIght Friday, March 3 the taxi dropped me at the corner of Bree and harrison Streets at about ten in the morning. the hawkers along harrison Street’s congested pavement looked at me with envy as I was wearing my formal black suit, a black tie and a white shirt. Before I could even enter the home Affairs building, at the corner of plein Street, a couple of hawkers flashed their cameras in my face in an attempt to strike a photo deal with me. I ignored them and entered the building , groping inside my jacket pocket to make sure that my identity document and birth certificate were still there. My marriage ceremony with Vee was only due to begin at half past ten, but I knew she had been waiting for me since quarter to. I passed the security staff at the entrance and stopped at the steps for a while to take a breath. My mind was still split over whether I should go through with the marriage. As I weighed my options my cellphone rang. It was Mama. “where are you, Bafana?” she asked, sounding angry. “ehh . . . I’m in the city.” “I know you’re in the city, Yomi told me. where in the city?” “ehhh . . . I’m here on plein Street.” “why are you hesitant? Don’t you even know where you are?” “I’m at home Affairs and I’ll be back in about an hour, Mama.” For the first time in my life Mama clicked her tongue and dropped the phone on me. I looked at the time as I put my phone on vibrate. It was already twenty minutes past ten. Vee must be panicking up 207 there, I thought, as I walked towards the lift on the ground floor. I pressed the button to call the lift, waited for half a second, then quickly used the stairs to the first floor. Vee was waiting for me on one of the benches outside a large room and, as I came up the stairs, she smiled joyfully at me. I couldn’t resist the pleasure of eyeing my bride. She looked gorgeous in her striped black pants, yellow shirt and puffy black jacket. we hugged each other before we walked into the large room where our marriage would take place. Mr khumalo, our marriage officer, had just come in, having just finished officiating at another couple’s marriage. It was twenty-five minutes past ten and our marriage ceremony was due to start in five minutes. “Do you have a ring on you?” he asked after Vee had introduced us. Vee looked at me as I pretended to be searching my pockets even though I knew that I didn’t have a ring on me. “No problem,” said Mr khumalo in a sympathetic voice. “It’s not compulsory to have one, but I recommend it. I can give you five minutes to get one. If you go down the hall to room 107 you’ll see a lady selling rings there.” As I paid for the ring, which cost me r250, I was thinking about the r15 000 Vee had promised me. I needed it to add to the r7 000 that was all that was left between me and poverty. when I came back to the large room where the marriage ceremony was to take place, Vee had already organised two witnesses. they were the couple that was to be married immediately after us. At exactly twenty-four minutes to eleven, Mr khumalo began the 208 ceremony. As he did so, my phone began to vibrate inside my pocket and my guilt at what I was about to do began to grow to an alarming size in my mind. A second later I heard a familiar voice shouting at the door. It echoed throughout the hall and disturbed the proceedings. “what do you think you’re doing, Bafana?” Mama shouted as she burst into the room, a fiery rage in her eyes. “I’ve been looking for you all over the place and then they tell me that you’re in here! Marrying someone without my knowledge? You’re evil, Bafana! A demon!” the marriage office suddenly became very hot as I saw Mama waddle through the door in the company of Yuri and sis zinhle. By now she was seven months pregnant, but at that moment she...