The Treasure of My Heart

By Nonhlanhla Zwane

Nonzwakazi Sithole age 20 lives at Umlazi with her mother and older brother Langelihle, her father past away. She finished school two years back, she couldn’t go to tertiary because of finances not that her family couldn’t afford to pay for her study fees but because of the disagreement between her and her mother who wanted to marry her off.
She decided to find the money for herself by working part-time at Roma Revolving Restaurant trying to raise registration fees for herself at tertiary Institution. While working at Roma she was noticed by a guy named Linda Mfusi who used to have dinner at this restaurant. Linda fell in love with her first day he saw her, but it was not easy to talk to her. One day when he was walking by the beach with his friends, he saw her sitting alone on the promenade, looking lonely and deep in thoughts, he approached her. She was not interested on anything he said. All of a sudden, the weather got so bad it was dark and windy. In the wink of an eye a huge massive wave over shadowed them. He managed to grab her in the mist of those angry waves because he said to himself, “I will not let her die.” Few months later, they fell in love even though Nonzwakazi was expected to marry a man she do not love. She had to fight for her love and Linda. The interference of her family to her relationship with her own chosen man got them separated. When Linda heard that her family were determined to marry her off, he decided to leave her and moved out of town. She was devastated, she managed to get herself to the University to study, and life was not easy for her because at her home they never stopped persuading her to get married. They kept on saying to her “you will learn to love the man.” and they threatened to disown her if she do not agree. Her refusal made the man she was supposed to marry also to be so stubborn saying I will wait for her, hoping she will changed her mind as she grow older. He also paid the bride price to her family without her knowing. When she discovered that, she was so broken, thinking her life as unhappy wife. She thought of escaping or committing suicide. Twenty-four years later she receive a message, it was coming from Linda. After he decided that he could not live without her, he searched for her. When he found her, she was engaged to marry and she was not happy about it. He was hurting but he was not prepared to give up without a fight. He was determine to get her back and save her from the man she was supposed to marry. They reunited but she had no idea how was she going to escape, on the other hand, Linda had a plan of taking her away without her knowing. He promised her his life, saying I saved you once I will saved you again for one good reason. You are my eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nonhlanhla Zwane
• Release date: Oct 2, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463516294

Nonhlanhla Zwane

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHYNonhlanhla Zwane is a wife and a mother. She is a Science teacher. She finished schooling at Zwelibanzi High School at Umlazi Township, where she developed her love of Sciences and helping learners having difficulties in science. During 1998, she obtained her Senior Primary Teacher’s Diploma in Education at Edgewood College, studying Natural Sciences and Mathematics. She further her studies at University of KwaZulu-Natal studying Physical Sciences. Teaching in different schools made her realised that learners have problems in science, their problem started during early years of schooling, so she decided to do Honours in Natural Sciences at University of South Africa, where she was engaged in developing curriculum by comparing her country’s curriculum with other country’s curriculum. She is a former athlete and in 2006, she was a member of the Township Athletics developmental Team called Four Nations.After joining a Non-Profit Organisation, she saw a need to take a course on Community Development at University of South Africa where she obtained her certificate on Community Development. Working with different groups of people made her develop love of reading and writing.

Book preview

NONHLANHLA ZWANE

THE TREASURE OF MY HEART

Copyright © 2018 Nonhlanhla Zwane

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Behind the success of every project are many busy hands. I, therefore, would like to express my sincere gratitude to my family, my husband, my children, friends: Mari Clark, B.V. Masinga, N. A. Msimanga, P. Bere and to all those who provided support and information through interviews, assisted in the typing, editing, proofreading, and design.

A thank-you would never be enough.

God bless you all

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

CHAPTER 1

My name is Nonzwakazi Sithole. I am a young woman, 20 years old. My name means The Most Beautiful Lady. I am beautiful, tall, dark, smooth-skinned, long face with brown eyes, a small pointed nose, and I have a long black shiny hair. I have a smile that completes my beauty, it’s perfect. I am a brave young woman. I live at Umlazi Township in Durban. Umlazi is the township on the east coast of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. It is located south-west of the eThekwini Municipality. It is the fourth largest township in South Africa, after Soweto, Tembisa, and Katlehong. Umlazi is the only township in the country that has its own registration plate, which is NUZ. It is a place plagued by poverty, unemployment, and a range of social ills, but it is also a place with a strong sense of community. It is divided into 26 sections. I live in one of these sections, known as F-section.

I finished school in 2007, during this year it was difficult for learners and teachers alike to make it to school because of ongoing strikes, but the longest one was of public service strike in South Africa. That was called off by the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) after 28 days. The dispute began on June 1, when workers from 17 unions took all-out strike action in support of a demand for a wage increase of 12 percent across the board. The strike involved 700000.workers – professionals, skilled and unskilled. It received widespread support amongst the rest of the working class in South Africa. Hundreds of municipal workers took part in a one-day solidarity action in support of the strike. They included taxi and bus drivers, electricity and cleaning workers, and administrative workers from border posts and airports. On that day, all the major cities in South Africa were brought to a standstill because of mass demonstrations in support of the public service workers’ strike.

During the course of the dispute, striking workers faced violence and intimidation from the forces of the state. Picket lines were repeatedly attacked by police using tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades and batons. Thousands of soldiers were deployed as strikebreakers in hospitals and schools and near protest marches. It was not easy going to school, teachers were assaulted those who tried to assist matric students.

These disturbances left the majority of learners not meeting requirements for bursaries. As all learners, I applied to tertiary institutions for two years, but failed to pay for registration. Having no money to go to tertiary institutions, I decided to seek for a job in town.

After two months of searching, fortunately for me, I got the job at Roma Revolving Restaurant, in Durban central. The restaurant situated on the 32nd level of the John Ross House, overlooking the whole of Durban. The restaurant is surrounded with excellent sea and bay views. Roma Revolving Restaurant is the only revolving restaurant in the Southern Hemisphere, also boasts the unique feature, as two others do, of a revolving window and floor area! The rotation of the restaurant takes about one hour to complete and you have the view to savor with the meal.

One day, Friday night. It was one of those busy days of the month, month-end. We were running around like headless chickens preparing for customers who made the bookings and serving those who just came to have dinner as usual, Table number five is not attended, said the supervisor to me. I went to that table.

Good evening my name is Nonzwakazi I will be serving you tonight, here are the menus. Is there anything you would like to have while you are deciding on your meals? The guy just looked at me with his mouth and eyes wide opened, as if he just saw a ghost. That puzzled me, because he was with a woman, the woman looked at me and to him looking pissed off.

Sir, is there anything wrong? I asked.

What? Ooh no! I am sorry, I am just thinking. What did you say? He said. He was breathing fast as he was talking. The woman just stood up and left, leaving him sitting alone. Just bring me a glass of water with ice. Please. He said.

I quickly got the glass of water for him. What is your name again? He asked. I was pissed off too, but I maintained that fake smile. My name is Nonzwakazi, can I take your order now, sir?

I will have Chicken under the Bell, He said.

Chicken under the Bell are the fried chicken breasts, cooked in a creamy mushroom sauce and served with rice, topped with Mozambican prawns.

Anything to drink? I asked.

I will have passion fruit juice. He said.

The way he was looking at me, made me felt uncomfortable to a point that I failed to keep eye contact with him. It was as if he was looking through me.

Here is your food. Should you need anything, call me. I said.

Bring the bill after 15 minutes. He said. I left him while he started eating.

I continued serving other customers, completely forgetting about the bill after 15 minutes.

Nzwah! Nzwah! Please attend table five. That was one of my colleagues. I collected the bill and headed straight to table five.

I am sorry to keep you waiting, here is the bill. I hope you enjoyed your food, I said, handing him the bill. He just looked at me and said it’s fine. I can stay longer just to watch you moving around if you permit me do so. I just looked at him with that fake smile, as I was taking the bill leaving him still staring at me.

At home that night I soaked myself in a hot bath, my feet were killing me. If I had a husband would have a foot massage. After having supper, I decided to go straight to bed after saying goodnight to mom and my older brother Zipho. When my father died, it was three days before my 9th birthday. I miss him a lot, I once heard that we have relatives at Kranskop, but I had never met them. While I was reflecting on my day at work, I remembered that strange thing happened at work, that look, which made that woman to leave her boyfriend alone. What was wrong with him? How can you have an eye on another woman while you are on a date? That was rude, if it were I, I would give him a slap across the face. I switched off the light and tried to sleep.

Mom woke me up when she was about to leave to attend her social club meeting. I had to be at work at 12 o’clock. I was getting late. I took a bath quickly, dressed, took my bag and I grabbed an apple before leaving for the bus. I nearly missed the bus.

When I arrived at work, Thully called me and said, Table five needs your service.

What? I asked. Table five needs your service. She repeated.

Are you allocating me now? Are you the manager now? I said pissed off.

Hey, hey, hey! Relax! He asked you to serve him! She said.

He? Who? I looked at table five and to her not believing what she just said. Really, Nzwah, he asked you to serve him.

Table 5 is not for me this week, I said.

Fine, go to him, and remember customers are always right! I went to table five with that fake smile, as usual. Good afternoon sir, my name is Nonzwakazi. What you need me to prepare for you today? I asked with a smile giving him the menu.

Good afternoon Nonzwakazi, I am glad to see you again. He said with a smile.

Just give me a glass of water with ice; please. He said looking me in the eyes. I quickly moved away from him to get water, when I came back he was still staring at me as if I was on a television screen. I gave him his water, Can I take your order now sir? I asked.

Ooh yes, but I’m not sure. What is there that is special on the menu?

There is Iberico Lamb Ribs served with Tangy Salad and Tomato Salsa and chips. It comes with ice cream as pudding." I said.

Okay, I will have that. He said, giving me that look, I walked away. I brought his food after 10 minutes. He asked for the bill, I put it on the table. As he was writing he asked, Do you mind if I stay a little longer? I kept quiet. He raised his head looking me in the eyes.

No, no, no! You can stay. We don’t chase out our customers, I said with a smile. I took the bill and left him still staring at me. I could feel his eyes on me as I walked away. Later when I looked at table five, he was not there, he had left.

He came every Friday, but what puzzled me was that he was always alone, maybe I was wrong about him with that woman, who left him alone that day. He kept on coming at the same time every Friday. I thought he came in town to do business or whatever. I’m sure he was the reason for me getting more tips on Fridays. I didn’t mind serving him. Everyone knew that he was my guest -that was what other waiters called him, especially women because women can see things before men see them. The way they are, they can even tell what you are thinking and also scan the future. Unfortunately for me, I am not that gifted. I ended up seeing no problem with this fellow. After all, I seemed to be more appealing to males than females. Always when I am serving a female there would be a problem. Sometimes they would say, I’m not friendly or I’m having attitude, or complained about food not well prepared. Of course, I hated it when the customers kept on changing orders while I have already taken the order. I was pissed off one day when the woman accused me of giving her food with a hair strand in it. She said, You should cover your head properly, you see? She said pointing and pulling a long hair strand beneath the steak. Furious as I was, I simply said calmly I am sorry mama about that, but my hair is not that long, and I am not the one who prepared your food. Before you accuse anyone just think first. I can take it back if you are sure that hair does not belong to you because all the staff at the kitchen are males and they have short hair, I said looking her in the eyes.

She grabbed her bag and left. I received a written warning that day because you know the customers are always right.

I saw him coming in, I quickly attended him.

Good evening sir, your table is ready, come this side. I said with a smile leading him to the table. Good evening Nonzwakazi," He said with a smile as he was sitting down. His smile shocked me, it’s like I was seeing him for the first time. His got big brown eyes, but they looked nice on him.

What can I prepare for you today? I asked.

Actually I am not hungry today I don’t know why I’m here. I was just passing by, the next thing I found myself inside here and you in front of me. He said looking at me. I looked at him thinking, why he came here and waste my time while I am busy working. After a while I said, But sir you can’t just sit here if you are not here to have something to eat or drink.

I know but I already told you I don’t know why I’m here. He said. I am getting pissed off but I tried to calm myself.

Ok, you can sit and think of something you would like then. Something light since you said you are not hungry. I suggested opening the page with light food to show him, Maybe you can find something you might like here. I said giving him the menu.

I don’t eat when I am not hungry. Unless you would choose something for me, then I would eat. He said.

I felt like screaming, he was driving me crazy on purpose. I decided to play even, since he came to give me a hard time. I took the menu and said, Just wait I will bring something light for you."

Few minutes later I came back, Here is something light for you, Seafood Platter for One I said putting it down. It has Fresh linefish, 1 Crayfish, three langoustines, 3 king prawns, calamari, mussels, rice, lemon, and garlic butter. I hope you will enjoy it and I am sure it will keep you here until 22:00. Anything to drink? Can I choose it for you? I asked with a smile. Yes please. He said with a smile. I wanted to give him something strong, but I did not want to give him the wrong impression about me. I ordered White Wine instead.

Here is your drink for tonight. It’s a White Wine Flat Roof Manor, Fruity, Smooth, and Versatile Food wine, I hope you will enjoy it.

He burst out laughing and said, Have you tried it?

I just stare at him and said I only drink water and tea. He looked at me and said, Thank you. I don’t drink wine or anything alcoholic, but I will try it because it’s your choice, bring the bill please. When I brought the bill after two hours, I found him sitting and looking restless.

I hope you enjoyed your food, I said handing him a bill.

I really enjoyed it. He said writing.

Nonzwakazi, can you join me for dinner sometimes? Not here. He added.

I don’t think that would be necessary, but you can come here every day if you want. I said with a smile. He looked at me and smile.

Goodbye sir, I said.

Goodbye Nonzwakazi, thank you for the dinner.

CHAPTER 2

I woke up feeling lazy on a Saturday morning, for some reason I did not know, I did not go to work. I decided to go to South Beach. Watching the sea waves used to lift my spirit and somehow it stimulates my brain cells and allows me to think deeply about my life and future. Sometimes I would sit on the sand reading my novel Loves Music Loves to Dance. by Mary Higgins Clark.

I heard a familiar voice behind me, saying, Can I join you Nzwah? I looked up, I could not believe my eyes. I just stared at him, he was wearing a white vest and black short, handsome, well built and one of a kind. Can I? He asked again. I looked around, there were other people, males, and females standing at a distance from us and they were watching us.

Don’t worry about those, they are my friends. They can go. He said that signaling them to go.

Hi sir, if you don’t mind, I would like to be alone. I said. He sat next to me and said, My name is Linda. Linda Mfusi, at Umlazi G-section.

I am glad to know you. With due respect sir, may I have my quiet moment alone. Please!

He just looked at me with a concerned face and said, No, no, no! Forgive me, but I can’t leave you here by yourself. What if these waves take you and I don’t see you again? I am going to sit here next to you and keep an eye on these waves not to take you. I will not take that risk! Haah! Never! The way he said it made me to laugh, I quickly looked away so that he won’t see that he was getting into me.

You want me to go to jail? Forget it, my dear, I won’t leave you alone, he said.

You know what Nzwah? Today I will take you home, I mean your home. He said when he realised that I was shocked by what he said.

I just kept quiet, watching the waves, thinking that sometimes in life you meet all kinds of people with different personalities. Others think they know better about everything, even about what women need. Others annoy you to the core by trying to get into your heart. Not knowing that you do not have a heart or its hidden somewhere in someone’s heart.