Inside Harare Alcatraz and Other Short Stories by Chatora Andrew

Author:Chatora, Andrew
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kharis Publishing, an Imprint of Kharis Media LLC
Published: 2024-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

Mai Rudo

The full picture of this much touted man became increasingly clear to me later in life. Somehow, it was all tied up to how Sekuru had this irrational, slavish, servile-like love for his wife, Greater, also known as Mai Rudo. She was an accountant at a leading commercial bank in Mutare and had a heftier salary and more lucrative perks than Sekuru’s math teaching job at Sakubva High School.

Perhaps it was because of this disparity in incomes between husband and wife that Sekuru felt inferior to his wife, and therefore prostituted his intelligence and self-worth when it came to dealing with Mai Rudo. By the time I was completing my undergraduate degree at Africa University, Sekuru and his wife Greater, Mai Rudo, had managed to buy a resplendent big house in posh Murambi suburb in Mutare and so moved away from Dangamvura hood.

Buying a house in residential areas formerly considered exclusively white was a significant milestone synonymous with the emerging middle-class elites in Zimbabwe, what Ngugi wa Thiongo called ‘‘The Wabenzi tribe’’. So, Sekuru and Mbuya Greater had really done well. Primitive accumulation was a sign of success that one had ‘‘arrived’’ and made it.

Mother, being exhibitionistic herself, stood on rooftops celebrating her brother’s big moment, buying a mansion in Murambi low density area, kumayard! As much as she derided her brother’s shortcomings, Mother never spared us any melodramatic moments like she did now with her theatrics, ‘‘Bhudhi Alfred watenga umba kumasabhabha;’’ loosely translated, ‘‘Look at me, my brother Alfred has sure made it. He’s bought a house in posh low density Murambi suburbs. Such a feat!’’

But there was an unsavoury stink to this whole Sekuru happy family’s façade. His wife Greater, Mai Rudo had no time for the extended family, and yet in Sekuru’s eyes, Mai Rudo was impeccable, an epitome of virtue, she could not do any wrong. Woe unto anyone who dared to express any reservations to Sekuru about his wife and Sekuru would promptly jump to her defence, his usual refrain being, ‘‘Haaa Mai Rudo hawadaro,’’ meaning “my wife is far more sensible and caring; she would never stoop so low as you are alleging.” Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. Mai Rudo was a clever manipulative woman who had somehow managed to school her four daughters, Rudo, Ruvheneko, Ruvimbo and Rumbidzai, not to have anything to do with their father’s side of the family, but everything to do with her side, the Bhasera family.

It beats me how Sekuru could never see this hogwash for what it was and call it out. For such a man of letters also, it was pitiful seeing Mai Rudo running rings round Sekuru. “Akadyiswa uyu, Alfred,” some within the extended family would whisper, a sign of frustration and capitulation by members that Sekuru Kongiri was a lost cause, as he would not hear anyone talk ill of Mai Rudo. The glaring double standards and hypocrisy of Mai Rudo were all too obvious for everyone else to

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.