So our second stint at married life in Johannesburg began. It was a bewildering mix of emotions. On one hand, there was absolute ecstasy that we were back together as a family. On the other, sheer panic—I had a business in Lydenburg and couldn't possibly commute there every day.
I needed an income in Johannesburg. Knowing I had a talent for computers, I signed up for some course at a tertiary institute. After one day, I realized I knew more than the qualification would ever teach me. Complete waste of time.
So I decided to take Clinton up on his offer. I called him and said, "Let's get together and discuss it. You can buy into the business."
Meanwhile, we were settling into 84 Galway Road. Mikey was at St. John's and had made a friend who lived just two houses down—a boy in his class whose house had a trampoline. Mikey loved that trampoline. At this point, he was old enough to be really affected by what was happening around him. I knew from my own childhood how deeply disturbing the undercurrents of marital instability could be for a kid. I was trying desperately to shield him from that—and trying to convince myself that Terry was serious about making our marriage work.
By then, Kim was dating Dave Reunert. The Reunert family are Johannesburg aristocracy—seriously wealthy. Dave was lovely but the black sheep of the family, running his own car mechanic business with fierce independence.
Come July, we were all invited to stay at Dave's parents' place in Durban for the Durban July—the big horse race and social event. We flew down without the kids; Mary stayed to look after them.
The night before the race, we went out partying. Early that morning—I'm talking two or three a.m.—Terry woke me up.
"I've got to speak to you."
"Yeah, what is it?"
"I'm in love with Mike."
Mike Hutchinson. He'd been there the day before.
I just looked at her. "Terry, you've got three kids in Johannesburg. What the fuck? You going to live in a trailer by the sea with Mike?"
The next day, they went off to talk. Eventually she came back, having decided it was silly—she was going to be a mum again and come back to Johannesburg with me.
Can you imagine what this was doing to my self-esteem? This woman kept falling in love with other people. What was I? Chopped liver?
We returned to Johannesburg and life progressed. Then came Terry's birthday on August 4th. We'd been playing bridge at Dave and Kim's parents' house—a massive mansion in the northern suburbs. When we got home, Terry said, "I'm just going to wrap some presents in the lounge."
I went to bed, but lying there, I could hear muffled conversation. She was definitely on the phone.
I walked quietly across the hall and barged into the room. She quickly shoved her mobile under the sofa cushion. I picked it up.
"Hi, Mike. Why don't you just get the fuck out of our lives?"
I threw the phone against the wall and smashed it.
I went to sleep in the spare bed in Mikey's room. Ten minutes later, she climbed in beside me, all apologetic. I told her to get out.
The next morning, I got on the internet and tracked down Hutchinson's parents' number in Durban. I got his mother on the line.
"Do you know what's going on?" I told her the situation. "Would you just tell him to get the fuck out of our lives? I'm trying to keep my family together here."
That put a stop to it for a while.
Looking back, trying to understand why I let myself be abused to this extent—it was all out of love, trying to protect my kids. I didn't understand what I was doing wrong. I remember putting my arm around her and saying, "Terry, what can I do to make you happy?"
She turned and looked at me. "You're too good for me."
What was I supposed to do with that?
Life limped on. Clinton got involved with the business and immediately instructed me to fire half the workforce—which I had to go down and do, of course. He didn't. He also went through the place like a whirlwind, selling off the old spin-casting equipment. The guy was a seriously good businessman, way better than I could ever hope to be.
Not long after, he told me he was approaching venture capital partners to put proper money into the business—to take the Fly of the Month Club to the next level in America and launch it there.
That became incredibly exciting. Now it looked like we could really make the big time.
But that was still a little while away.