The Price of Deception

© 2013 by Simangele Kekana. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/16/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8132-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8131-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4817-8133-6 (e)

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Contents

Acknowlegements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

About The Author

Acknowlegements

I sincerely thank my mother Sesi Kekana who supported me all the way when I was writing this book and believed in me. I would like to extend my gratitude to my father Senanya Kekana who loved me unconditionally and trimmed my wings when I flew too far from the safety of the family nest. I would also like to pay tribute to my son Monde and my daughter Kabenziwa who showed a lot of patience and understanding when I sacrificed some of our quality time to complete this book. I would also like to thank the multitudes of readers of this book and hope they will enjoy it and sincerely thank the staff of author house for making my dream of publishing a book a reality.

Chapter 1

Naledi was already awake at dawn; she woke up before the first cock’s crow, for today she was jubilant. Today was a day she had been waiting for, for most of her life. It was the coming of age of Naledi and her identical twin sister, Noko. They had just completed grade 12, passing with flying colours.

Naledi and Noko were the only children of King Lerole, the ruler of Dipororo, a country in southern Africa. Queen Dudu, their mother, had organised a party for her twin daughters. She was known as Queen of the Deep Waters, Queen of the Crocodiles, the One Who Says Die and You Die, the One Who Says Fly and You Obey; dignitaries from far and abroad had been invited, hence Naledi’s excitement. She was looking forward to showing off her new clothes and couldn’t wait to open the presents that she received from the villagers and dignitaries who were attending the party. She also hoped to catch the eye of a suitable partner, a man she could introduce to her father, a man who might one day be the father of her children, a man who would love her unconditionally like her father did.

Naledi took a cold shower because it was summer; she washed her kinky hair with African herbs and oiled her body with most expensive oil; she smelled like a blossoming spring rose. When she went into Noko’s bedroom, what she saw shocked her. Her sister was asleep under a duvet, curled up in the foetal position. She believed this to be a bad omen; she felt that only a foetus still in its mother’s womb should lie curled up like that. She didn’t expect a fully grown woman to lie like that. What an abomination! She thought to herself.

Naledi crept over to Noko’s bed and shook her awake. Her sister slowly stretched herself like a wild cat. Noko looked at Naledi with disdain; she didn’t appreciate being woken so early. Naledi noticed the bags under her red, swollen eyes, and she immediately concluded that her sister had a bad night. When she asked Noko why she had been crying, her sister mumbled incoherently and went to the shower. She scrubbed herself until her skin was raw; she scrubbed and scrubbed until she could no longer bear the pain. She went back to bed, still dripping water, and curled under the duvet. Naledi sat on the bed and massaged Noko’s back; she begged her to tell her what was wrong. Noko whimpered like a wounded animal; she cried tears of sadness, tears of frustration; Naledi didn’t know how to comfort her. She was confused because today was supposed to be the happiest day of their lives.

Naledi waited for what seemed like forever for her sister to calm down. When Noko stopped crying, she asked her again what was bothering her and if she could be of any help. Noko shook her head; she believed that no one could save her from her predicament. Eventually, Noko opened up to her sister. She told Naledi that she did not want to pursue the career their mother had chosen for her; she did not want to leave her rural home to study medicine in Johannesburg. She did not like the disorder of big cities, and she didn’t understand why their mother insisted on living their lives for them. Noko felt hopeless; she was in despair and was afraid to disobey her mother. The queen had a temper, and she did not want to ignite it. She did not want to be at the receiving end of her mother’s wrath, for when the queen was angry, mountains trembled; when the queen was angry, lightning struck indiscriminately; when her majesty was angry, volcanoes erupted, and no one near her at that time would be left unscathed.

Noko had a flashback of when she was a little girl; her mother caught her stealing jam, and all hell broke loose. The mean woman forced her to finish the whole jar, standing in the scorching African sun until her coffee coloured skin was burnt. She remembered vividly the painful blisters, the pain that she endured when herbs were applied to them, and she wept.

Naledi empathised with her sister; she saw it as her duty to make Noko understand the circumstances surrounding their birth. She told Naledi what she had never told anybody before: their mother had a secret, a secret that she kept from her best friends and even her husband. If this secret reached the wrong ears, it could blow their world to pieces, it could make the sun set in the east and rise in the west. Naledi made Noko swear that she would keep the secret, and then she narrated the circumstances surrounding their birth. She told Noko that their mother had conceived them at the age of forty-seven, after she had been married to the king for twenty years. Traditionally, a woman is expected to bear a child within a couple of years after getting married. When that does not happen, the family usually seeks help. The queen was taken to different doctors, traditional African doctors and Western doctors, but none could help her conceive.

Her in-laws and the king’s advisors told him to marry another wife, one who would bear him an heir to the throne. The queen was fortunate, because the king didn’t want to practice polygamy. He was not against polygamy but felt that it did not suit him. He believed that love was the foundation of a happy marriage and he could not divide his love equally between two women. He did not want his wife to share him with anybody. He believed that the recipe for a happy marriage was respect and acceptance of one’s spouse’s weaknesses and strengths. The king also believed that children were not the foundation of a good marriage but a blessing from God and the ancestors.

When the villagers realised that the king was not going to change his mind, they started pressuring the queen to have a child. They called her all kinds of names and said that she had bewitched the king, for no one, according to their belief, could remain married to a king whilst childless. The queen consulted a gynaecologist from Johannesburg, who did not find anything wrong with her; obviously the fertility problem was with the king. The queen did not have the courage to suggest to the king that he be tested; how could a rural African woman tell her husband to undergo fertility test? That would be an insult to him and the whole nation. After 10 years of marriage, she decided to seduce King Lerole’s younger brother, in the hope that she will conceive, unfortunately she ended up sleeping with him for many years and did not conceive. So queen Dudu, at the ripe age of forty-seven, decided to not take the insults from the nation anymore; she unilaterally decided to become artificially inseminated, using an anonymous sperm donor. Fortunately, she conceived and gave birth to twins.

That was the reason why the queen wanted her daughters to study medicine; she had been impressed by the professionalism of her attending doctor. For years, the queen was afraid that the doctor from Johannesburg would spill the beans, but he reassured her and explained about professional secrecy. Naledi believed that they owed it to their mother to do as she wished. She said that a medical qualification would repay those people who hated their mother, who tried to drive her from the village. They would be green with envy when they realised that the queen’s daughters were ten times better than their good-for-nothing sons. Naledi wanted to make her mother proud, and she felt that even though the king was not their biological father, they had a duty to make him happy, to make him proud. Getting a medical qualification was the only way to show their gratitude. The queen and king deserved to have highly successful daughters. In Naledi’s immature mind, a successful daughter was better than ten sons put together.

Noko was shocked to learn that they were not the king’s biological daughters. She was more shocked by their mother’s deception; she could not understand how a woman could keep such a secret from her loving husband. She felt that their father deserved to know the truth, and she vowed to tell him. But she also thought about the consequences of telling the king the truth. She agonised about being stripped of the title of princess. She agonised about the pain this would cause their father, the shame it would bring to their family, and worst of all, the gossip that the villagers would have at their mother’s expense.

Noko was used to the high life, the life of having servants at her beck and call; she could not imagine living without all the luxuries that come with being a princess. She faced a dilemma: if she told her father, she would hurt not only him but the person she loved most, her twin sister. She decided to keep the secret. What the king did not know wouldn’t hurt him.

With the help of her sister, Noko got up and started to prepare for the party. She summoned the maid to help with her kinky hair. She applied makeup and got dressed; though she was not happy about the party and the deception, she decided to go with the flow just to please her parents, particularly her father, who she had believed, until recently, contributed 50 percent of his genes to her.

By noon, all the villagers and the dignitaries were gathered at the palace. Noko and Naledi, followed by their parents, joined them, and the master of ceremonies thanked everybody for attending and introduced the speakers. The first speaker was the twins’ former school master, who praised the king and queen and thanked them for raising such humble children. He said that Naledi and Noko had made his school proud because they were amongst the top five learners in the region, year after year. He wished the twins good luck in their studies and went back to his seat. The master of ceremonies called upon the king and queen to give their testimony.

Queen Dudu rushed to the stage, overtaking her husband, who needed to be assisted out of his wheelchair by his aides. When he realised that his wife had come forward before him, he decided not to rock the boat and let her take over. The villagers, who thought that the king was henpecked, disapproved loudly of the queen’s conduct, but they were called to order by the master of ceremonies.

Queen Dudu was in seventh heaven and did not notice the crowd’s reaction. She began by blowing her own horn, telling the gathering that she had given birth to beautiful twins who had inherited her intelligence. She knew many people in the village hated her, and she asked them how they felt today. Without waiting for an answer, she continued and bragged about being married to the most influential man in the region. She boasted about her wealth and said that her daughters’ successes were her own accomplishment; she did not give anybody credit but herself.

King Lerole was aware that his wife was a rough diamond, and even though he was embarrassed, he decided not to interrupt, which would cause a storm in a teacup. He told one of his aides to have the master of ceremonies cut the queen’s speech short.

Naledi was walking on air, oblivious of the queen’s speech; in her head, she was already visualising herself as Dr Naledi. Noko, who was more sensitive, felt like a fish out of water; she wished that the earth could open and swallow her. She could not believe that her mother could stand in front of the whole nation and be so arrogant; she knew that her mother was a peacock, but today was her lowest point. Noko knew they were in the spotlight, and she imagined that the whole nation was laughing at her. She did not want to be part of this barbaric ceremony and excused herself and left the party.

When the master of ceremonies tried to cut the queen short, all hell broke loose; she screamed at him, called him all kinds of names, and staggered back to her seat. It was an open secret that the queen suffered from alcoholism, but no one expected her to be so drunk, especially today, a very special day for the king’s family and the whole nation.

After the speeches, music blared from the speakers and guests started to dance whilst waiting for the food to be served. Naledi took the opportunity to follow her sister; she found her again curled up in bed, crying like a baby. Naledi was at the end of her tether; she had tried everything in her power to convince her sister to accept the career that their mother had chosen for them. Naledi was now anxious and afraid that her sister would spill the beans. She initially believed that telling Noko their mother’s secret would make her understand their mother and appreciate the hardships she went through and all the sacrifices