Her Husbands

By Thabi Majabula

Martha’s in-laws accuse her of murdering their son, her late husband. Nothing she says stops them. At the end of her tether, she accuses them of the crime, and they are shocked that she would dare to do so.

She starts to fear that they will hurt her and moves out of her home, which they have lived in, since their son died. She goes to their home and finds a piece of paper with information that she finds suspicious. She follows it up, and as a result, her in-laws are arrested.

Their son is very upset. After they get bail, he brings them to Martha and they discuss ways for her to drop the charges. After that, she knows that all ties to her late husband are gone.

She’s weeping in her car about that, when her late husband’s friend, Daniel, turns up. She wakes in his home, and he insists that she stay with him.

He is upset when she tells him that her in-laws that he was her accomplice in killing their son. He declares his attraction to her, shocking her speechless.

After making some discoveries about her late husband, she decides to marry Daniel. At her wedding, she meets someone from her past, and that changes her whole outlook about her first marriage

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thabi Majabula
• Release date: Jan 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301393022

Thabi Majabula

Good romance stories are mood enhancers. I am thankful to all the romance writers who improved my mood many times. I am also thankful to be among romance writers, and I am thankful to all entities, physical and spiritual, who make it possible for me to write. I am thankful to you, reader, and I am thankful for every single person who has read any of my stories. I hope reading the stories gave you as much pleasure as writing gave me. Best of all things, Thabi

Book preview

HER HUSBANDS

By

Thabi Majabula

Published by Thabi Majabula at Smashwords

Copyright 2013 Thabi Majabula

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this free ebook. Although this is a free book, it remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed, this book, please encourage yourfriends to download their own copy at Smashwords.com. Thank you for your support.

This is a work of fiction. The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarities to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ONE

Martha was very pleased with the car that she had bought for herself. She put it through its paces and it did not disappoint.

She returned home, to her in-laws. They were standing at her front door, looking at her in disbelief.

How can you even think of spending money when my son just died? demanded Mme Mokoena, her mother-in-law.

Hello, Mme, hello, Ntate, said Martha as she walked past them into the house. She could feel them watching her as she put the car keys on the table and went to the kitchen.

She put music on and sang along as she started to cook. The music stopped. Martha looked at the radio socket, everything seemed intact. She looked at the stove, it was still on. Only then did she realise that her mother-in-law was in the room with her. Her hand was on the turned off plug switch at the mains.

Mme? What's the matter? Why did you turn the music off? she asked.

How dare you spend my son's money! Aren't you even shy to show people that you killed him?

I didn't kill him, we all know that, said Martha, as she went to stir the pot that was hissing on the stove.

We don't know that you didn't kill him. My boy was fine, then he died suddenly. It's obvious you planned to kill him for the insurance money.

I didn't do that, Mme.

Don't call me Mme! I'm not a mother to someone who kills my child. You're going to be arrested, and you'll rot in jail, murderer.

I am not a murderer!

As if we'll believe you! I told that boy not to marry you, but would he listen? The one time he didn't listen to me, and he paid the price.

Why would I kill him after being married to him so long?

Because you're a whore who can't wait to get together with her next victim.

How can you call me that?

We've all seen how Daniel looks at you. It's obvious the two of you can't wait to get together. Martha looked at Mme Mokoena out of hurt eyes, then she looked away, blinking rapidly.

Well, aren't you going to deny it? demanded Mme Mokoena.

Would you believe me if I did?

Of course not.

Then why should I bother?

Don't. The only hope of joy I have is that of coming to see you when you're locked up for life. You won't get away with this, said Mrs Mokoena, and she left. Martha took a deep breath and switched on the music to stop herself from crying. Neo would not want me to be miserable, she told herself, trying to forget the unkind words that she had been subjected to.

Why are you singing? You should be in mourning! shouted Mr Mokoena. Martha continued to work.

I'm talking to you, said the man.

I heard you, Ntate.

Then switch off that noise. Martha looked at him, considering doing what he said, then she returned to work.

I said... shouted Ntate.

Hi, Ousi. How are you? asked Victor, Neo's brother. Martha smiled.

This woman is partying, now that your brother's died, said Ntate Mokoena.

What would she have to celebrate, Ntate? You are the trustee of Neo's estate.

Then where did she get the money to buy that car?

She works.

Lies! She's sleeping with some insurance agent, and she's gotten him to give her your brother's money.

Ntate! How can you say that? You know that Neo hadn't been able to find work for over a year. How could Martha be using his money? He'd probably spent it all on living expenses.

She killed him for the insurance money.

If she has access to insurance money, it will be at your discretion.

How can you defend your brother's murderer?

She didn't kill him.

How do you know that? Were you there?

No, were you? Did you see her kill him?

How dare you ask me that!

She's suffering enough as it is, Ntate, we should be kind to her.

Kind to a murderer? Never! said Ntate, then he left the room.

Sorry, Ousi, said Victor. Martha shrugged.

How are you? How's your family?

We're all well. Dimpho's worried about you, she said I should check on you.

That's very sweet. I'm fine.

It can't be easy on you.

No, it isn't, but I'm not the first widow, and I won't be the last. Many women survive, and I will too. Victor moved closer to her.

Why are my parents still here? You should send them away, he said.

How am I going to do that? Every woman knows better than to send her in-laws away. That's the best way to be even more hated.

They already hate you, sending them back to their home can't make it any worse than it is already.

I can't do it, I won't.

Neo wouldn’t like this.

He's not here anymore. I hate him so much for dying.

Martha!

We had a good thing, Victor, you know that. We had no children, but we had each other. I knew that no matter what happened, I had someone in my corner who would stand by me and support me, even if he didn't agree with me. And I provided the same support for him. Now, I have no one to talk to, and no one to laugh with.

Then stop working, said Mrs Mokoena.

Hi, Mme, said Victor.

Your father tells me you support what this woman did when she murdered your brother.

She didn't do it.

Can you prove it?

Can you prove that she did it?

How dare you question your parents! We know what happened to our son!

No, you don't. No one does.

Wena Victor...

The autopsy says he had a heart attack.

Because of what this witch fed him.

I am not a witch! gasped Martha.

What witch admits to it, except to other witches? We've filed a murder charge against you, Martha, and we're here, in our son's home, so we can look after it when you're taken to jail. Victor, come, we want to talk to you. Victor looked at Martha and followed his mother out of the room. Martha stopped cooking and sat down.

Her in-laws had always hated her, but in the last four months since Neo had died, they had become the guardians of hell. There was no insult that they had not heaped on her. She was just relieved that the house was in her name, otherwise, they would have sent her out of it, she did not put it past them to try it any day.

She was glad that she worked. It gave her time out of the house.

She took her car keys and went to Neo’s grave. That was where she did her crying. She did not want her in-laws to see that they hurt her with their words.

Why? Why? Why? That was the only word she had said to Neo since his death. Typical of him since his death, he did not respond. When she was done crying, she returned home.

She sat almost an hour in the car outside her home, pulling herself together. She had had a brain wave for a project at work, and there was no Neo to discuss it with. Although he had not worked for the last year of his life, he had not been jealous of her for working, he had been her chief cheerleader. Now, she had no one, and it felt awful.

When she returned to the house, the food she had started cooking had been tampered with, she could see, because it had become a greenish colour, and smelt different. She decided not to make an issue of it, and went to bath.

After her bath, she lay on the bed she had shared with Neo, and decided to get a new one. That one had too many memories, and it smelt of Neo, making her more lonely for him.

She was woken by incessant and loud knocking on her bedroom door. She knew that it was her mother-in-law. She had taken to waking her that way, at four, every single morning. She would demand that Martha cook, then she and her husband would refuse to eat the food that she had cooked, claiming that she had poisoned it. She put her ear phones on, and listened to her ipod.

Her alarm clock woke her by vibrating in her hand. She freshened up and dressed, then she stood infront of the mirror, priming herself to face her in-laws. She was five foot six tall, of medium build and complexion, and she admitted to herself that she had been blessed with good looks. I am twenty eight years old, I am an adult, and I can deal with other adults, she repeated to herself.

She took a deep breath, and opened the bedroom door. Her mother-in-law looked at her, surprised. Martha herself was surprised that the woman had still been knocking, it had been over ninety minutes since she had first heard her.