The Queen's Arrival

13 May 2058, 3:50 in the morning

Anati: Thando, can you keep a secret?

I lay in bed, my dry eyes staring blankly at the ceiling. No matter how hard I tried last night, my mind just wouldn't let me sleep. I waited all night for Anati to respond back to my messages, but unfortunately, I had no luck.

Me: Secret? Of course you can tell me (22:50pm)

Me: I'm ready to listen (23:00pm)

Me: Anati, are you still there? (23:05pm)

Me: Anati? (00:25am)

Me: I'm here for you. You can tell me anything (2:48am)

Me: Anati? (3:00am)

Okay, maybe I was foolish for texting her past midnight, but she couldn't just leave me hanging like that. She asked if I could keep a secret, I responded, then she just went silent? Did she do that on purpose to make me die of curiosity? Or did she rethink her decision of telling me her secret?

It was strange that Anati had a secret to begin with. She never kept secrets from her friends, not even Juliet. I found it strange how she texted me that message and not Juliet. I seriously wondered what was going on with Anati.

I took my phone and texted her one last time before forcing myself to get at least two hours of sleep.

Me: Can you at least tell me when we get to school?

I put my phone back on my bedside table and closed my eyes to sleep. A few seconds later, my phone vibrated, causing me to jolt up and grab it. I checked my messages and found that Anati finally responded to my message.

Anati: Promise me with your whole life that you won't tell anyone?

I typed with the speed of lightning.

Me: I promise I won't. Talk to me.

Anati: Not even Juliet can know about this. I don't want her to die.

Me: Die? Are you exaggerating?

Anati: No. I'm dead serious.

Me: Okay...are you ready to tell me now?

Anati started typing, but then she stopped. She kept typing and stopping each time. I waited a few seconds for her to send her message. Just as the message came in, my phone battery died.

"Bloody phone!" I exclaimed, a bit too loud for the morning.

Dorcus, the sister I shared a room with, jolted upwards with her sleeping mask still on her face. She had an avocado facial mask on her face as well. Most of it was smudged on her pillow.

"Thando," she muttered, half-asleep, "Are you mad? It's still so late at night, yet here you are shouting at the bedroom walls. What drugs are you on?"

She thought it was late at night because she was wearing the sleeping mask over her eyes. She was as dumb as a donkey, yet she dared to tell me that I was on drugs? In any case, I kept my mouth shut, because what I wanted to say to her would have violated her existence. I grabbed the charger which was lying on the floor and charged my phone. I climbed back into bed and waited, hoping that once I opened my messages, my questions about Anati would be answered.

++++++++++

(7:00)

"She's coming!"

"I can't believe she's really coming!"

"She's finally coming!"

My sisters were buzzing around the hallways with toothbrushes in their mouths and facial masks smudged on their faces. They kept exclaiming "she's coming!", which made me feel like I was missing something for that day. Were we expecting any visitors?

"Ayanda, hurry up in the bathroom! I need to brush my teeth." Nobomi whined, slamming her hand on the door

"Nah uh! I'm supposed to be after Ayanda. I asked her first." Dorcus argued, her toothbrush sticking out in her mouth.

"Morning," I greeted, approaching them.

They both looked at me for a split second, then carried on with their argument.

"I'm next!" Nobomi shouted

"No, I'm next!" Dorcus yelled back

"No I am!"

"No, I am!"

"Guys!" I budged in

"What?" They yelled at me in unison

"Are we expecting a visitor today?" I asked

"Thando, are you that slow?" Dorcus questioned, shaking her head

"How do you not know that the she is coming?"

"Who's she?" I asked

Just then, Ayanda opened the door, a gruesome stench following her as she walked out of the bathroom.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you." She said, smirking

"Ayanda!" All three of us exclaimed, pinching our noses due to the horrid smell in the bathroom

"What? I'm human. We all pooped!"

++++++

(7:15)

When I arrive to the dining table, my sisters were standing behind their chairs instead of eating breakfast. What on earth were they waiting for?

"What are you guys doing?" I asked

"Shhh! She's coming."

"Who on earth is coming?" I asked again, getting annoyed

"Thando, today is the 13th of May. We were all reminded to be ready for this day since April." Ayanda said

13 May? I tried to recall what was supposed to happen on 13 May.

13 May...13 May...mhmmm. *gasp*

Oh no.

Please don't tell me...

"Mother is here!" My sisters all exclaimed in unison

Of course! How could I forget about such a day. The day our mother was coming to see us after so many months of being away. I wished I didn't forget, for if I didn't, I would have known to leave the house early before our mother arrived. I couldn't afford to see her face, and I didn't want her to see me either.

Queen Dlamini, ruler of South Africa, mother of four daughters, and killer of all men. I despised her for her evil deeds. It was a shame my sisters couldn't see how evil she was, even after she sent women to kill our father and all the other men in South Africa. She was a women with a selfish heart and high ego. She cared for nobody, but herself. She only came to visit just so that she could show people how much of a motherly figure she could be. I bet she brought a whole load of paparazzi to take pictures of her as she joins her four "beautiful daughters" for a "warm and welcoming" breakfast.

"I can't stay here." I panicked, my breathing becoming uneven, "I have to leave. Bye."

"You can't leave, Thando. Mother wants to have breakfast with all of us." Dorcus argued, placing her hands on her hips

"I...um...I just remembered that I have to be at school early to finish my history project."

"That's a lie! The 12th graders don't have a history proje--"

"Bye!" I grabbed my bag and ran out the house through the backdoor. When I walked towards the main road, I saw a white limo approaching the driveway of the house, four other cars following it from behind. I hid my face with my hand and quickly ran in the opposite direction to not be seen.

"That was close," I sighed in relief.

My relationship with my mother was more complicated than anyone could imagine. My love for her died 10 years ago, and was buried alongside the other bodies of the millions of men who died. Her reasons for deciding to send women to kill men were still unknown to me. There were so many innocent men out there who did nothing to her. She didn't even know them. And my father... He did nothing but love her. He never laid a hand on her, yet she still went ahead and killed him. I didn't understand how women could respect such a woman. How her own daughters could still call her a mother. How she could still be loved.

I realized that there was no point in whining over the fact that she was in the glory for her evil ways. All that mattered was that I wasn't her daughter anymore. Even though we shared the same blood, she was nothing to me. The only parent I had was my father. He was there for me more than she ever could be. I still treasured his Daffy duck key. It was the only thing I had left of him.

Just then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I checked it and saw that Amara was calling.

"Hi Amara, how's it going?"

"Thando! You need to get to the school fast. Something bad has happened!" She panicked, breathing heavily

"What? What happened?"

The line dropped.

"Hello? Amara?" No one answered

I started running down the street, my worry levels escalating by a second. The first person that popped up in my head was Anati.