Albeit prisoners parted ways with freedom, their basking in sun days provide a taste of something a little similar. Some played soccer whereas some just stood and exposed their skin to the warm sun. Gugu sat by herself, reading the second chapter of the new book she had just received from Bongiwe. Each time she's done with a book, she hands it in to the delivery man for a new one. She sat on her crossed heels with her back against the rays of the sun, in her orange prison suit. Just when she was about to turn a page, her disreputable cellmate dropped herself too close to her that that Gugu felt the harsh rub on her shoulder. She hemmed Gugu in with the rough cut wall. Gugu rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Spinach, do you mind?", she complained in an undertone.
"Ah. I thought you needed company, slayqueen", Spinach jeered at her. Gugu sucked her teeth and continued reading, or at least tried.
"You're very special do you know that?", Spinach remarked.
A flat "Oh?" floated off Gugu's tongue.
"After all these years I thought you'd have given up on being a snob. I guess it's in your blood", she said and glared at Gugu for a reaction. Gugu did not respond.
"Or is it because you think this prison is your castle?", she continued to taunt. Gugu raised her eyes ahead and let out a sharp sigh.
"Nah nah I'm not fighting waboh? I actually have a proposal for you Elizabeth", she said with minor enthusiasm.
"Elizabeth?", Gugu did not understand where this sudden name was coming from.
"Queen of the castle. Nestum baby", Spinach said and gave her a double wink. Gugu rolled her eyes and shut her book.
"So? Are you not going to ask me what I have in my brilliant mind?"
"I'm not sure I want to know", Gugu said before collecting herself to stand. Spinach pulled her down quickly and held her in place, tightly locking her fingers around Gugu's upper arm.
"You're hurting me", Gugu hissed through her gritted teeth, lowly so they don't cause a scene for the warders to pick up.
"Stop being stubborn and listen to me. I have a way that can get us both out of here", she whispered and darted her eyes around to ensure that there were no unsolicited extra pairs of ears spectating the conversation.
"What?"
"You have all these fancy bathing products but you don't wash your ears"
"Why are you telling me this? If you wanted to escape you would've. So what do you want from me?"
"I get us out of here and you fund our freedom. I know you have the money. I have no where to go from here", Spinach explained.
"Huh?"- Gugu
"So you do have wax in your ears?", Spinach said impatiently and placed her hands over her raised knees.
"When you say I fund our freedom you mean I should take up the responsibility of supporting you?"
"Not forever man. Just until I find my feet"
Gugu dropped her chest and bent her lip thoughtfully.
"Even if I wished I could, I can't"
"What do you mean? You live like the magistrate's wife in here I know you definitely have the money"
"It's not that simple"
"Now you want me to beg you to explain?"
"Spinach I do not owe you anything"
"Suit yourself", she shot out irritably and stood up.
"Okay WAIT!", Gugu said then cleared her throat. One of the two warders sitting on the black plastic chairs with steel legs by the entrance grew suspicious. Spinach sat back down.
"Open the book and pretend as though you're explaining something to me", Spinach instructed. Gugu did just that.
"Look, I should've been out of here a long time ago but my husband insists on making my life hell. If I get out of here, I'm going to lose everything. Including the privileges you think I have"
"Wait. You mean to tell me that he's the reason why you're in jail but he's also the reason why you're comfortable in here?"
"Yes"
"Make it make sense"
"I also don't get it"
"A ruthless sweetheart?"
"Something like that"
"He sounds like an influential someone. What did you do to the man?"
"It's a long story"
"Does he ever come here?"
"No. He sends people"
"It sounds to me like this man still loves you. He just won't forgive you for whatever you put him through", Spinach said and Gugu looked away, slowly getting consumed by her own thoughts, and regret.
...
Muzi and Manqoba arrived in Gezisoka to clean up their mess. The hut was secluded, making it easier for the job to be done during the day. The house was still wide open, just as they'd left it. Manqoba walked in first while Muzi inspected the outdoors trying to figure out how living in that place could be normalcy for a person.
"Muzi!", Manqoba called him into the hut. He went in running.
"What's going on?", he asked as Manqoba inspected a jar while squatting on the floor.
"Is that...?", Muzi incompletely asked as he got closer. They inspected the jar and saw the small foetus floating innocently in the transparent container with a rusted gold lid.
"Should we even be touching the things in here?", Muzi asked.
"I wasn't until I saw this"
"Think we should take it home with us? To bury it?"
Manqoba sighed.
"I don't know yaz"
"Let's just hold on to it and burn everything else. It's our blood at the end of the day", he said and threw his eyes around to see what else was in there. His sight bounced on a ton of jars on the wooden shelf at a corner. Tails of different wild animals bedecked the wall painted with dung. Manqoba stood up with the jar and walked to the enclosed van. He came back with twenty litres of petrol, a roll of black refuse bags and duct tape. Muzi was digging up the grave. He found the spade right where they'd left it. Manqoba went round the house to help him. When a hand appeared he stopped digging and yanked Khuzwayo out of the soil. Manqoba pulled three bags over Khuzwayo's upper body and and did the same for the lower body. They sealed him up with the grey tape on several parts of the corpse. He placed him over his shoulder and walked to the van while Muzi covered the grave to hide the soil that had blood on it. He went back to the front and emptied the petrol into the hut and around it.
"Uphi umatches?!"(Where's the match box?), he yelled to Manqoba who was on the phone. He continued with his phone call as he opened the door to the passenger seat to look for it. He found it and walked toward Muzi, with the intention of being at a distance close enough for the projectile to reach him when he threw the yellow box. Muzi picked up from the ground and set the house alight. They then drove to their trusted morgue so they could get the corpse incinerated, dodging the traffic cops.
