Who to tell?

Zamantungwa spent the sleepless nights, tossing and turning and found it hard to handle was she saw the other night. There were moments she thought she made a mistake. Maybe her eyes were deceiving her, she would think. How can her brother, her only brother, her father's only heir do such a thing? She was asking herself those kinds of questions that no one would be able to answer unless she could be able to grab to he bull by the horns and face her brother to fish for answers. What she saw the other night make her shuddered at the thought of it.

Zamantungwa was Romeo's sister. She and her brother were so close. Romeo was her elder brother. They could talk about anything and could vouch for each other when they were in troubles that could make them face the wrath of their parents . They would protect each other by any means so that their parents would not punish any of them. There were several times that she (Zamantungwa) would lie so that her brother could get out of trouble. What she saw the night she walked in on Romeo and Julius while they were in the old mini bus made her doubt that she ever knew and trusted him. He suddenly became a stranger to her. How would she tell her mother and father that their only heir was a gay? She would think. She spent sleepless nights thinking about what she saw. The images of her  brother and his friend kissing each other were replaying in her mind. 

She could not even face Romeo and ask him about what she saw. She knew exactly what Romeo could face, should she decide to divulge the news to the elders. She decided to keep the secret to herself. She waited for a moment to catch them doing the act again so that she may be sure what she saw was really happening. She became so edgy and inquisitive. Every time she saw Romeo together with Julius she would sneak and peek on them. 

One night she decided not to go to bed early as she usually did. She knew that her brother had invited his friend to their home. She waited until the late hours of the night. She heard their footsteps and decided to sneak behind their backs. What she saw make her weak at the knees. No wonder Romeo had not had a serious relationship with  the girl he once dated in their village. Nomusa was a beautiful and perfect young girl. She had beauty and brains. Zamantungwa knew that Nomusa could make a perfect wife one day. She was also coming from the royal family. She and Nomusa were getting along so well and she knew that they could be perfect sisters-in-law. Sometimes she would be a messenger between Romeo and Nomusa. She would bring Nomusa' s messages to Romeo and Romeo's vice versa. What she was looking at that particular night gave her the creepy feelings. She stood there dumbstruck as she watched them kissing and fondling each other. "Romeo", she tried to call Romeo but her voice could not come out. She ran back to her room to sleep. 

She tried to sleep that night but every time she closed her eyes she would see the image of her brother kissing another man. It is true that there is nothing that is hidden that cannot be revealed, she thought. Who knew that she would find Romeo doing things she did not wish to see him doing. The truth has its ways of revealing itself Zamantungwa remained with the burden of keeping the secret about his brother's sexuality. Deep down she knew that she could not do anything since it was his choice to date whoever he wanted to date. Her concern was the reaction of her parents and the community when they find out about their relationship. She knew that it would be like pouring a petrol to the fire when the news reached the other side of the boundary. Romeo and Julius were from the villages that were already in a battle. How much it would affect their families if their communities found out about the this? Zamantungwa wondered.