It’s Very Easy To Kill Someone, It’s Very Easy To Eradicate Someone, It’s Very Easy To Eliminate Them But What Happens Is That It Becomes Hard To Wash Off The Dirtiness That Remains.
“Just Like Hector, I Had Began Filling In The Puzzles That Was Being Painted For Me By Someone Interesting, And Just Like Zimele, I Had Thought That I Was Painting A Beautiful Picture But Unfortunately Dirt Always Finds A Way, Despite The Fact That I Try And I Try, I Can’t Stop It”
Episode 3.
It’s 10 Minutes Before 6:00pm, Late In The Evening And A Man Walks In A Very Big Garage Of A Building And He Slowly Makes His Way To A Black Car And Enters It Immediately, Closing The Car Door Behind Him.
As He Enters, He Meets Face To Face, With None Other Than Nkosi Dlamini And After A Few “Unnecessary Pleasantries”, Nkosi Tells Him That.
Nkosi : Well Well Well, I Didn’t Think You’d Make it.
The Unknown Man : Well What Can We Say, Who Knows If I Pull This Up I Might Even Get A Higher Position After This?
Nkosi : Well, That Will Be Good For You, So Are You Up For The Job, Detective?
The Unknown Man : Well, If I Wasn’t Interested I Was Going To Stay At Home.
Nkosi : Good, The Taxi Will Leave At Exactly 7:15pm In The Evening, You Will Need To Be Inside When It Leaves (The Unknown Man Nods) And I Also Want You To Put This On (He Hands Over A Small “Recording Camera” To Him).
The Unknown Man : (He Holds It) I Am Sorry But I Can’t Accept That, We Have Our Own Devices As The SAPS (South African Police Services)
Nkosi : (He Smiles) What Type Of Devices? The Useless Ones That You Guys Have, Because The Moment You Will Enter With Your Own, It Will Immediately Be Found By My Younger Brother (Nganono) He Is A Tech Dude So Tell Me...Are You Really Going To Choose Such A Useless Device From The Police Or Will You Go With My Own (He Looks At Him, Deep In The Eye).
The Unknown Man : (He Clears His Throat) Fine I Will Take It... We Will Use It (Nkosi Smiles Showing His Deep Dimples) Now Listen... You Will Have To Find A Way To Get Out Of There, Before The Police Officers Come And Scope You And Your Brothers In One Bundle.
Nkosi Nods And As The Unknown Man Is About To Leave, Nkosi Quickly Holds His Hand And Tells Him That.
Nkosi : We Do Not Know Each Other And We Have Never Met, Understood (The Unknown Man Nods Whilst Looking At Him In The Eye).
During The Entire Conversation That Nkosi Had With The Unknown Man/Detective, It Turns Out That All The Conversation Was Being Heard By Bab’Dlamini And Mukuna In His Study.
He Looks At Mukuna And Tells Him That.
Bab’Dlamini : It’s A Good Thing That We Planted Those Devices In His Car And Around The Warehouses’ (Plural) With The Help Of Nganono Because In That Way, I Was Never Going To Find Out That My Own Son Is Planning Carnage, After The Meeting...Request Another One Before We Meet Masilo And Make Sure That Nkosi Does Not Attend....And Also Get Me Five Bullets From The Order That Was Made.
Mukuna : (He Bends His Head) I Will Do Exactly That Sir (He Immediately Turns Around And Moves To Leave)
On The Day Of The Heist, As Everyone Is Sitting In Their Positions Waiting For The Car Which Is Racing In The Streets Of Johannesburg To Get To Their Destination, So That They Can Ambush.
Nkosi Looks At Zimele With So Much Anger And Disgust, Making His Elder Brother (Mabutho) Notice The Glare Through His Mask.
Immediately, Zimele Talks Through The Phone And Tells The Person That.
Zimele : Move On, Ahead And Drop The Cargo At The Specified Location.
Everyone In The Van Looks At One Another, Except Mabutho, Mukuna And Zimele, Who Seem To Know What Is Going On And That’s When Nkosi Asks Them That.
Nkosi : What Is Going On Here, (Both Of His Brothers, Along With Mukuna Remain Silent) Can Somebody Answer Me?
Mabutho : (In A Deep Voice) Nkosi Can You Calm Down (Nkosi Is About To Talk) Shh... You Have Done Enough Already.
As They Change The Route, Nkosi Looks Around And Decides To Shut His Mouth Whilst Thinking About The Unknown Man Who Has A “Recording Camera”, Meanwhile On The Other Side The Police Vans Enter The Road And They Race Against Time To Get There.
Those Other 22 People, Who Are In The Vans Are Then Take To The Bank Where MmeMoichela Is.
Upon Their Arrival, They Immediately Get Pushed In By The People That Drove Them There And They’re All Locked In By One Of The Man, Who Shoots The Electrical Door, Immediately Blocking Everyone Inside.
They Quickly Abandon The Vans, With The Unknown Man Tied To Something That Looks A Bomb, And He Doesn’t Have The Camera Anyone But One Can See The Tracker On The Floor From The Camera.
Whilst On The Other Side, The Vans Open And Everyone (Mukuna, Sniper, Nkosi, Zimele, Mabutho And Others) Immediately Leaves The Van At The Voice Of Nganono Who Tells Them To Go And Upon Their Arrival, Nkosi Looks Around As He Removes His Mask And Only Sees Their Vans And Immediately His Worst Fears Come To Life, As He Finds Out That They’re Not At Legacy Investments But At The Golden Gate Brown Bank And The Van With The 22 People Is Not There.
The Police Vehicles Including The SWAT Vans Arrive At The (Legacy Investments) Bank, And As They Open Door Of The Van, The Place Immediately Goes Up Like “Diwali”, And When I Mean Diwali, A Huge Explosion Hits The Place (The Building) And Affects Almost Everyone Including Hector’s Mother.
On The Other Side, They Rob The Bank Clean And Make Their Way Out Of The Bank Without Any Hassle.
Meanwhile At Home (Around 6:30pm), Hector Is Busy With His Siblings, As His Prepares Supper With Morena Chopping The Onions And Kedibone Cutting The Meat That Was Fully Sponsored By Zimele Dlamini.
As They Prepare Food, Thato Comes Out Of The Living Room And Tells Hector Who Is About To Start Making Soup That.
Thato : I Really Like Uncle “Rich” Zimele, He’s Nice (Hector Smiles Whilst Looking In The Pot And Trying To Put The Onions That Morena Finished Chopping) Not Like That Misplaced Girlfriend Of Yours (Hector Turns Around In Shock And Looks At Him With Stained Eyes, And Looks At Kedibone And Morena Who Are Giggling, Telling Them To Stop By Just Looking At Them) I Am Sorry Papi But To Be Honest, I Meant What I Said And I Am Not Changing.
Hector: (He Moves to Thato) I Know You Are Not Changing But Please Respect Her... For The Fact That She’s Older Than You. Respect Her... Okay (Thato Nods)... Now Go Watch Some Cartoons.
Hector Moves Towards The Kitchen Area And Tells His Siblings That Since He Got Paid Already, He Will Be Taking Them Out Before They Start Their Exams And It Almost Erupts Into A Loud Commotion As His Siblings Express Their Joy And That’s When They Get A Knock On The Door And As Kedibone Goes To Open It, It’s Thandi Their Next Door Neighbour, Who Enters Without Greeting And Immediately Tells Them That.
Thandi : So You Guys Are Here And You Haven’t Heard What Happened, Where Is Your Mother...
Hector : (He Moves To Her) She’s Not Here Sis'Thandi And We Do Not Know What Happened, We Have Been At Home All Along...
Sis’Thandi : (She Claps Both Of Her Hands And Places Both Her Hands On Her Hips) Apparently They Was An Explosion At Legacy Investments Bank In Hillbrow.
Hector : (Hector Opens His Eyes In Shock) Mama!!
Meanwhile At “Another” Warehouse, The Money Is Being Counted And One Can See That It’s A Lot Of Money Being Counted By These Young Men And Women Including Zimele And Nganono, Who Are Still Wearing They’re Overalls.
Nkosi Enters Behind Mabutho, Talking As Usual With His Hoarse Voice And Try To Make Mabutho Talk About What He Clearly Doesn’t Want To Talk About And That’s When He Moves In Front Of Him And Asks Him That.
Nkosi : Why Didn’t You Tell Me, Why Did You Not Let Me Know That The Location Was Changed, I Thought We Were Brothers....I Thought We Were Close Man.
Before Mabutho Can Say Anything, Bab’Dlamini Enters And Immediately Silence Befalls The Room, It’s As If This Man Walks With The Devil Himself.
Bab’Dlamini : If You Know Fully Well That You Were Not Part Of The Heist Yet You Are Counting Money, Leave This Instant Before I Lose It.
Everyone Quickly Leaves, Expect For The Ones That Partook In The Heist.
Bab’Dlamini Immediately Stands At The Helm Of This Long Metal Table And Tells Them That.
Bab’Dlamini : I Have Given Each And Everyone Here What They Always Wanted From Money To Power But Today One Of You Decided To Betray Me And... Rob Me Of My Millions....A Whole 45 Million. (In His Left Hand, He Holds The Recording Device Now Deactivated, Which Makes Nkosi Shake).
He Looks Around And His Eyes Fall On Nkosi And He Tells Him That.
Bab’Dlamini : I Know That You Never Loved Your Siblings Most Especially The Ones That I Put To Lead You But What You Have Done Can Never Be Reversed... (He Looks At His Back And Raises His Hand For The Two Able Bodied Men To Come Forward) Take Him Away... And Make Sure He Suffers.
Nkosi Starts Begging His Father As These Men Drag Him Away From The Room And As His Voice Echoes Through The Corridor, Bab’Dlamini Clears His Throat And Tells Everyone That.
Bab’Dlamini : They Will No Longer Be Any Heist Of Any Sort... This Is The Last One... It Ends Today And Now... No More Heists.... We Were Lucky We Got Out Of This One Alive Before We Lost Our Heads.
He Turns To Leave, Following The Voice Of Nkosi, Leaving His Sons And Some Of The Members In Shock.
Meanwhile On The Other Side, The Police Surround The Affected Area And Begin To Remove Bodies Of People That Were Caught Up In The Explosion.
Hector Then Arrives At The Scene “Thanks To SisThandi’s Brother Driving Skills” And Begins To Look Around, Hoping To See His Mother But He Doesn’t See Her At All And Tears Begin Streaming Down His Face, He Looks Around And Asks The Police But They Choose To Ignore Him, Which Doesn’t Only Make Him Mad But Super Emotional.
He Looks Around And Checks At The Ambulance Vans’ But He Doesn’t See Anyone And That’s When Sis’Thandi Calls Him To Come.
He Quickly Runs To Her And Asks Her That.
Hector : Did You Find Her?
Sis’Thandi : No, But I Found Someone That Can Assist?
Hector : Who?
He Points Her To A Man That Is Standing At A Distance Holding A Book And As He Moves Towards This Man, He Turns Out To Be Mukuna Going By The Name Of Mr Tirhani Sibanda And Immediately Hector Tells Him That.
Hector : My Name Is Hector Masilo, I Am Sorry For Disturbing You But I Am Looking For A Woman Called Yvonne Moichela-Masilo (Mukuna’s Eyes Open And It Hits To Him That He Is Talking To Jerry’s Son) She Came To The Bank To Pay House Rent.
Mukuna (Mr Tirhani) : Yes (He Quickly Looks At His Notepad, As To How He Could His Accent And Language, From Simple French To Zulu, Man... This Man Is Skilled) Her Name Is On The Notepad, She Signed In At The Entrance But Never Signed Out (Hector Sighs With A Tear) I'm Pretty Sure That, She Might Have Sustained Injuries But Was Able To Be Taken To The Hospital But We Do Not Know Which Hospital Yet.
Hector : (He Puts His Hands On His Head, With Tears) What Am I Going To Do Now, May The Heavens Help Me?
Mukuna (Mr Tirhani) : You Can Write Down Your Number And When We Conduct Our Services, And Find Your Mother... We Will Contact You.
Hector Writes Down His Number And Thanks Him And Walks Away Slowly As Sis’Thandi Is Trying To Hold Him But Within An Instant Tears Begin Streaming Down Like A Tap Slowly Being Opened.
Mukuna Quickly Turns For His Heels, When He Sees That Hector Has Entered The Car And Is Already Leaving.
Upon Their Arrival At The Flat, Mukuna Parks His Car At A Distance And Watches As Hector Shows His Appreciation To Sis’Thandi And Takes A Seat Outside By The Steps.
Mukuna Tries To Come Out Of The Car But Stops When He Notices A Nice Convertible Car With A Plate Number Customized As Zimele Dlamini, Zimele Steps Out And Looks Around And Immediately Notices The Car Parked At A Distance, When Mukuna Sees That His Cover Might Be Exposed, He Quickly Does A U-turn and Drives Off.
Zimele Let’s Out A Sigh And Moves To Hector, Who Is Sitting By The Steps And When Hector Sees Him, He Quickly Wipes The Tears On His Face And Tries To Look Aside, When Zimele Smiles And Sits Down Next To Him.
Zimele : What Are You Doing Outside This Late Beautiful?
Hector : (He Blushes) What Do You Want Bhuti Zimele?.... Shouldn’t You Be At Home With Your Partner, Showing Them Love.
Zimele : (He Let’s Out A Sigh That Passes Through His Teeth) I Have No One At The Moment, I Have No Partner To Warm Up My Home, No Partner To Bring Me Love When I Need It And Besides Why Should I Look Further When The World Has Such A Beautiful And Handsome Human Being Sitting Next To Me.
Hector : (Hector Looks Away And Blushes) You Shouldn’t Be Saying Such Things.
Zimele : (Zimele Smiles With His Dimples Showing) I Know But I Can’t Stop Myself From Not Admiring The Smile On Your Face (Hector Looks The Other Way With A Fainted Smile) Now Tell Me, What Happened ?
Hector : Well Bhuti Zimele... (Zimele Immediately Stops Him With A Smile And Tells Him To Stop Calling Him Bhuti Zimele) Okay... Zimele (He Nods In Agreement) My Mother Went To The Bank And Was Involved In The Explosion At The Legacy Investments Bank (Zimele’s Eyes Widen In Shock As He Looks The Other Side And Back To Hector) I Don’t Know Whether She Is Alive Or Not, Because A Guy Told Me That She Was Taken To A Hospital But They Do Not Know Which One And It’s Killing Me... I Know She’s Not Perfect But She’s My Mother... I Don’t Want To Lose Her Because If I Do, I Am Practically An Orphan As I Don’t Even Know Where My Own Father Is.... Only If He Was Around, He Would Have Known What To Do And Who To Talk Too.
Hector Immediately Falls Into Zimele’s Arms With Tears And Slowly With A Heavy Heart, Zimele Pats Him On His Back And Tells Him That Everything Will Be Fine And He Will Assist Him In Looking For His Mother.
Zimele Pulls His Face Up And Immediately Their Faces Meet And As Hector Tries To Put His Face Down, It Gets Pulled Up Again By Zimele And He Tells Him That.
Zimele : We Will Find Her Tomorrow... Okay But I Am Hungry Now, I Have Not Eaten Yet And It’s Been A Tough Day, Can You Make Me Something To Eat.
Hector : (He Smiles) Fine But Only On One Condition (He Nods) That You Will Not Pick Up My Siblings From School Without My Permission... Understood.... And How Do You Know Malume, The One That Usually Fetches Me And My Workmates?
Zimele : Malume Works For Us And I Promise Never To Fetch Your Siblings Without Your Permission, Ma (Hector Raises His Left Eye Brow) I Never Told You This But You Are Just Like My Mother In Every Way Possible.
Hector Stands Up Smiling And They Move In The Apartment When They Stop At The Entrance Of The Flat, Hector Tells Him That.
Hector : My Apartment Is Too Small And It Will Not Accommodate All Of Us, So Please Manage (He Nods) And One More Thing Who Will Take Care Of Your Car?
Zimele : Now Don’t Worry About That Ma’ (Hector Raises His Left Eyebrow Again, Making Zimele Giggle) Nobody Will Mess With That Car As Long As I Am Still Alive And I Bear The Surname Called Dlamini.
They Move Inside And Hector Directs Zimele To The First Room (The Living Room) And Goes To Check In The Second Room And Finds His Siblings Asleep, He Smiles And Moves To The Living Room, Only To Find Zimele Watching The Uefa Champions League On Etv And He Has Already Made Himself Comfortable.
He Moves To The Kitchen And Finds Food Is Already Cooked By Kedibone, He Takes It And Warms It In The Oven And Then Makes Him Some Tea With Some White Albany Bread And Moves To The Living Room And Sets It Before Him And Tells Him To Eat That As The Food Is Still Warming In The Oven.
Zimele Begins Eating And One Can See That Brother Man Is In Cloud 9 With The Sudden Hospitality Treatment, After Finishing The Tea And The Bread, The Main Food Is Given To Him In A Traditional Way (Hector Kneeled Down And Gave Him A Small Lunch Box To Wash His Hands And Clothe To Wipe His Hands, All Of This Acts Surprises Him) And He Immediately Eats Like A Lion.
After Eating, He Looks Straight At Hector And Asks Him That
Zimele : Now You See Why I Call You Ma’ (Hector Blushes Again) You Know How To Take Care Of A Man Whilst Being A Man Yourself.... Thank You Again For The Food Ma.
Hector : Thanks For The Compliment, (Hector Moved To The Kitchen And Came Back To Give Zimele The Lunch Box To Wash His Hands Of Which He Did And When Hector Went To Kitchen To Fix Up The Plates, He Then Comes Back And Finds Zimele Sound Asleep) Now He Decided To Fall Asleep On The Couch, Eish... Taxi Drivers.
He Moves To The Room And Brings A Blanket, And Before He Covers Him, He Removes His Shoes And Puts Them Aside, And Helps Him Sleep Well On The Sofa, After Which He Covers Him.
He Moves To His Room And Prays Before He Sleep On The Mattress Near His Siblings Bed.
At Around 3:00am, Hector Walks Up To Find Zimele Knocking On The Bedroom Door, He First Checks On His Siblings And Finds Them Still Sound Asleep, He Opens The Door And Finds Zimele Trying To Push His Foot Inside His Shoe Whilst Holding The Other One.
Hector : Where Are You Going, It’s Still Dark Outside.... I Bet It’s Still...
Zimele : (He Cuts Him Off And Finishes The Sentence) It’s 3:00am On The Clock, I Have To Be There To See The Taxis’ Go.
Hector : (He Looks At Him Carefully Well) Fine, But Before You Go (Hector Moves To The Oven And Takes Out A Nice Lunch Box And Hands It Over To Zimele) They Is Your Lunch, You Were Super Hungry Yesterday, I Thought You Might Need This (Zimele’s Eye Open Wide And One Can See The Handsome Smile On His Face)... Now You Can Go.
Zimele : (He Looks At The Lunch Box) Thanks Ma’... Thank You So Much... (He Turns To Leave But When He Arrives At The Door, He Turns Around And Looks At Hector, Who Is Still Scratching His Eyes And Yearning)... I Promise That After Today...You Will Be Mine. Bye Ma’
And With That He Is Out Through The Door, Leaving Hector With A Smile.
Meanwhile At The Warehouse, Blood Is Full On The Floor As These Two Men Beat Nkosi Mercilessly Without Giving A Damn And When They Stop Bab’Dlamini Tells Them To Continue, And As For Nkosi He Looks Like He Is Out Of Life.
Mukuna Then Enters And Walks Straight To Bab’Dlamini And Stands Behind Him And Then Tells Him That.
Mukuna : I Was There, The Police As Usually Were Clueless And They’re Don’t Even Suspect A Thing.
Bab’Dlamini : (He Smiles) Good, (He Looks At Nkosi, Who Is Lying On The Floor With Bruises) At Least Now.. Half Of My Problems Are Solved.
Mukuna : You Won’t Believe Who I Saw?
Bab’Dlamini : Who?
Mukuna : Jerry Masilo’s Son Was At The Scene And It Appears That His Mother Was Involved In The Accident, And I Also Saw Zimele At The Boy’s Place (Bab’Dlamini Immediately Looks Angry, With A Look Like Who Let The Dogs Out) But I Have A Plan.
Bab’Dlamini : Well On With It.
Mukuna : Poor People Are Always Searching For Assistance, So Trust Me When I Tell You That, Money Will Make This Boy’s World Go Round And As For Zimele, You Can Handle Him In The Way You See Fit Because That Boy Is Loyal To You More Than Any Of Your Sons.
At The Last Word Said By Mukuna, Bab’Dlamini Immediately Green Lights The Entire Process To Use Money As A Way To Lure Hector Out Of His Shell, Unaware That The Room Has Been Bugged And At The Taxi Rank, Zimele Is Hearing Everything From His Car With Nganono Holding The Phone For Him To Hear, Leaving Both Of Them Shocked, Most Especially Zimele.
On The Other Side, A Hobo Is Going Around With His Trolley, Trying To Find Old Scrape Stuff, And That’s When He Comes Across A Black Plastic Bag Floating In The Small Pond, The Plastic Moves Near Him And He Quickly Rushes To Open It, Only To See Something That Will Leave Haunted For The Rest Of His Life.
©All Rights Reserved By George Osumba
2022