My Grandmother's Secrets
Growing up, my grandmother was a mystery. I loved her kindness, patience, and warmth. She was always there for me, unlike my busy parents.
One strange thing she did was hide meat. She'd cook a big pot full of meat, then take half and hide it in her room. We'd sleep next to her, but never see her eat it. The next morning, the empty container would puzzle us.
There was also a forbidden drawer. It was huge, like a small room, and always kept in the dark. Sometimes we'd hear strange noises or feel it moving. Grandmother would quickly distract us, changing the subject.
Grandmother didn't have friends outside family, but that was okay. People thought she was weird, doing strange things. The truth shocked us: her late husband's spirit lived in the drawer. He needed meat or would get angry. She'd send him on nighttime missions.
Villagers shared bizarre stories: seeing Grandmother walking with a snake wearing a plastic bag and a cat in stilettos around 1 or 2 am. Many witnesses confirmed these sightings. I remember another one once said he saw my grandmother at the graveyard at 4 AM bathing on top of a grave. The man who saw this lived near the graveyard. He saw this while driving out at 4 am to attend a funeral at a village from our, so he needed to leave early to make it there on time.
He said he brightened the grave to see who it was and he was my grandmother surrounded by monkeys,she also jumped and ran like those monkeys. A couple of days later after that man shared his encounter,he passed away. No sickness, nothing. He just slept and that was the end of it.
Others saw her husband's spirit entering our yard at odd hours, wearing shiny white shoes and a belt on his naked waist. Afterward, strong rains and winds would blow away the roofs of those who spotted him.
There were too many stories going on. Some say she used to attend a certain big church that did not allow members to drink alcohol,but she drank alcohol. Since she didn't have friends she'd buy and sit alone at the corner of the yard where they sold alcohol and drank quietly until she leaves. She'd never bother anyone or try making conversations with anyone.
She preferred being alone by herself or being with her grand children. She loved us very much and her face would always light up whenever we went to visit.
Grandmother bathed only after midnight, under the stars. One night, while bathing, a man cried from the drawer. She said it was just a radio to scare us. We believed her, being kids.
Also her bedroom was filled with different bottles of muti,she used to say her parents were both sangomas and that's where she learned how to make muti. She'd never allow anyone to enter her room except for us. Her children were also forbidden from entering her room.
She always kept it looked even if she was just going to the toilet she made no mistake of not locking her room. Even when we were around she'd never leave us alone in her room.
On her deathbed, Grandmother confessed everything. She gave my dad the keys and said there's a log, saying, "Bury me with this, or our family will be haunted. My husband's spirit will rest only if you do." So it dwelled on us that indeed she had been keeping my grandfather's spirit in that log. So maybe the villagers were not just making stories about her.
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