Melokuhle continued staring into space with his fist against his mouth, befallen by utter shock and disbelief. Something in his brain snapped and he grabbed his phone in that very moment and dialled Busi's number. The phone was off. He dialled again and again, and again. It was still off. His heart was struggling to accept what his brain already knew. His memory jogged itself back to everything she had said that afternoon. The more he processed her words, the more they became easily synonymous to goodbye. Why didn't he see it then? He questioned himself as regret engulfed him whole. Manqoba walked in and slowly dropped himself on the bed next to him.
"I'm guessing you've already heard?", he cautiously asked and kept his eyes on the unresponsive Melokuhle. He was still exchanging a stare with the wall in front of him. Manqoba wrapped his hand around him.
"Khala mfan'wam"(Cry it out). Melo bent his upper lip and shut his eyes. Her face was all he could see. He always told her how he felt her ancestors hand carved her facial features. How he felt they took their time with her. He could see her. He could see her nose getting sharper and pointed as her smile travelled to reach her ears. He could see her eyes, the colour of a ready and ripe hazelnut. How she would flutter her natural long lashes in an attempt to roll her eyes at his silly jokes. She did a bad job at it because she would laugh eventually. He got lost in their memories together. He was having multiple flashbacks all at once. He then shot up like a rocket in a very brusque manner and asked to be excused. Manqoba immediately grabbed him by the arm.
"I know you're hurting but I have a feeling you're to do something stupid. Sit down son"
"They killed her MQ!"
"Who killed--"
"I failed her!", he shot out emotionally.
"There was nothing you could--"
"I shouldn't have allowed her to go back there. I felt it in my gut that something wasn't right but I still didn't try hard enough to save her...", he sobbed as the tears ran a salty race down his cheeks.
Manqoba placed his heavy palm on Melo's shoulder and forced him to look him in the eye.
"I won't allow you to sit here and blame yourself for something you had no control over. Death is blinding. Even if you did feel it as you say you did, there was nothing you could do if she was meant to die. Trust me"
"She wasn't meant to. I'm telling you they killed her!"
"Is there more to this?", Manqoba asked and Melo's haggard self dropped and sat on the bed. Manqoba did the same.
"They abused her MQ"
"Who? Her parents?"
"They're not her real parents"
"She was adopted?"
"Not really. That woman is her aunt. She just called her mom. Same goes for her husband"
"Okay. You said she was abused?"
"Nothing she did was ever good enough for them. The last time I saw her, the scar... I should've--"
"Stop it. Makhosonke there was nothing you could've done to save her if she didn't want to be saved", Manqoba said before pulling him by his shoulder so he could comfort him.
"It all feels so unreal to me"
"Give it time. It'll hit you when it should and even then, don't be afraid of feeling it so you can move past it", Manqoba stated and Melo did not respond. Manqoba pondered over what Melo told him about his late girlfriend's guardians.
...
Betso arrived at the police station 15 minutes later after Mxo was allowed a single phone call. Lwandile explained everything to her the time Mxo left the house.
She got there running out of breath and found Detective Mbele certifying documents from behind the counter.
"Hi. My son was arrested for assault for today . I'm here to bail him out", she said fervidly. The detective raised his eyes and dropped them back on the papers he was signing. He shuffled the papers, thumped the stamp and signed some more. He then handed them to the owner and told Betso to follow him.
She held onto her bag and followed him. He opened the door to one of the interrogation rooms with just a table and a chair. Betso left the door wide open after walking in, suspicious.
"Mrs Khumalo the second", he asked as she walked in.
"Yes?", she affirmed dubiously.
"Don't look so surprised. Your family is quite famous on social media", he mentioned. "Please take a seat", he said and gestured with his hand, leading her towards the chair. She hesitantly placed herself on the four-legged plank.
He also did the same across her. She could hear the laughter-infused noise flactuating in volume in the corridor. Her ears caught that two of the officers were discussing magwinya and something to do with Supersport.
"Your son is quite problematic", he mentioned, calmly. He had the sleeves of his shirt folded up his arm and his 'gun-holding' belt strapped across his body.
"This is his first arrest"
"Exactly. And I'm very certain you wouldn't want a criminal record tagged to his name. Correct?", Betso angled her head in doubt.
"Of course. But what are you saying?"
"Look, this can be very simple and straightforward. Mzwanele is my nephew. These charges could be dropped, right here, right now but of course at a price"
"A price?"
"Don't act so obtuse. We're both adults. I have kids too, including naye lo Mzwanele. I for one wouldn't want them to be going in and out of court whereas they should be focusing on getting into university", he said in a manipulative yet velvety tone of voice.
"Look. I'm not asking for much. R20K is no different to R5 to you. Drama free", he mentioned persuasively and fell back on his chair waiting for her to absorb all that he'd said. She thought about Lwandile and how it wouldn't be fair on him that his father would find out this way about his sexuality. She'd wished that he be the one to tell him, at his own time. Not to be ambushed into it.
"Your nephew had no right to do what he did", Betso sternly stated.
"Your son also had no right to attack him the way he did. I could keep him here overnight if it suits you?", Mbele said with absent regret. They shared a challenging stare before Betso could give in. She signed him a cheque and he walked out with a satisfied smile. He came back with Mxolisi with Mxolisi and uncuffed him in front of her.
"You had him cuffed all this time?!", she shot out in exasperation. Mxolisi rubbed his wrists.
"It was nice doing business with you. Wena, behave mfana I might not be so lenient next time", he said with the toothpick sticking out in between his dry lips. Betso inspected his apathetic face.
"Did they hurt you in there? What happened to your lip? I'm taking you to the hospital", she panicked as her hands travelled his face and upper body at Sonic speed. He pulled his head away when she wanted to touch him on the mouth.
"Mom I am tired. Let's just go home"
"Kopano your neck is red. Your lip is ripped. You need to get checked"
"This is what happens when two people fight. I'm not dying. Can we please, can we just go home now?", he begged from exhaustion and Mbele came back with his cellphone and car keys". He placed them on the table and checked Betso's body out. Mxo stopped rubbing his wrists and shot a death stare at him, ready to pounce. He noticed this and cleared his throat. Betso was worried and focused on her son's lip. Mbele left. Her phone rang and she took it out of her bag. Mxolisi noticed that it was his father calling.
"Don't answer it", Mxo commanded. Betso looked confused.
"Why not?"
"We haven't planned our story right"
"For all we know, Lwandile could've already confessed to him. I hate lying to him le ntira eng mara lena?"(...what is it that the both of you are doing to me?), she dropped the hand with the phone in it and Mxo put his hands on her shoulder.
"Look, we both know it's not fair for Lwa to be outed like this. You're don't have to lie to him. You just have to decorate the truth a little bit", he persuades and she laughs.
"Decorate?"
"Yebo. You can tell him that Mzwanele and I fought but don't include the part about the police. We wouldn't have to tell him if I didn't have bruised but here we are", he said and the phone rang again. Betso shook her head and got it.
"Hubby?"
"Hey baby. I'm home and there's no one here. Your shoes tell me that ubuyile emsebenzin manje nikuphi?"(You're back from work... where are you guys?), he said in a relaxed tone sounding like he was chewing on something. Probably biltong, she thought.
"I don't know where Lwandile is. I'm here to fetch uMxo"
"Umfetcher kuphi?"(Where exactly are you fetching you?)
"From some other boy's place. I'll tell you all about it when I get home okay?", she said and cut the call. She then called Lwandile, immediately afterwards.
"Where are you?", that was the first thing she asked when he picked up.
"I'm in the house", he said.
"Don't lie to me Boikanyo"
"I swear I'm in the house. In the entertainment room. O kae Kopano?"(Where's Kopano?)
"He's fine. Have you told your father?"
She asked and he kept quiet.
"You cannot hide this forever Lwandile wa bona le wena gore it's spinning out of control"
"I'll tell him when I'm ready mom", he quickly said and she exhaled.
"Fine. We're on our way home", she alerted and cut the call.
