‘Relax, Ronny. It’s just a little bit of innocent fun. Tomorrow we’re out of here and we’ll never see them again.’ Ronny turned from her in anger and began talking to Wouter and Josh. Susan turned towards her new friends. ‘So, what do you boys like to do for fun?’
***
‘We’d never seen anyone like her before. I mean, it was obvious she was one of those ... hippie girls. You didn’t see anything like that in Coffee ... or Bloemfontein.’ Trudouw’s eyes remained fixed on the floor. ‘Lloyd said he could see her nipples. De Wet said she was sluttish, for sure. Whatever the case, we were all ... every single one of us ... we were all like dogs ... chasing a bitch in heat.’ Someone behind Trudouw gasped. Trudouw remained motionless. ‘Alistair’s dad had one of his offices in town. In the back was a really nice lounge area, with a couple of couches, a fridge ... and a stereo. There was also a little bar with tonnes of booze. We invited them to come for a few drinks. The two guys with her weren’t very keen but she liked the idea. Eventually they all agreed anyway. So they joined us. Except Wouter of course. Nobody wanted to hang around with him.’ Johann Trudouw sighed, frowning deeply. ‘We weren’t planning a party, you see. There was something else on our minds.’ He looked up at Hertzog, shame in his eyes. ‘And we knew ... if we could get her two friends plastered enough ... we were going to get it.’
***
Susan swayed sensually to The Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel, her eyes closed, a vodka and orange juice in her hand. On the couch Josh was snoring loudly, drool dripping from his open mouth. A half empty glass of rum and coke stood next to him. The teens sat on the other couch, watching Susan dance. Like hungry predators they watched her. Never taking their eyes off her. Dawid Bismarck bit his lower lip, a cold glint in his eye. Ronny sat at the end of the couch, also a strong glass of rum and coke in his hand. His eyes began to droop and his head started swaying back and forth. He moaned softly through half-open lips. Alistair Rockcliff nudged Dawid Bismarck in the ribs. They both looked at the sleepy man next to them. And exchanged knowing smiles.
A few minutes later Ronny sank onto the arm rest of the couch. Shortly thereafter he was fast asleep, the contents of his glass spilling onto the cheap carpet. Alistair looked at Dawid. Dawid looked at Johann. Johann looked at Lloyd. They nodded slowly. And began to rise in unison.
In the middle of the room Susan was dancing to the next track, Love is a Hurtin’ Thing by Lou Rawls. Her eyes were still closed. She was completely unaware of what was about to happen.
***
‘Dawid went up to her. He danced with her for a while. And then he put his hand on her behind. She pushed it away. But not like she really minded, you know. In that flirty way she had.’ Johann Trudouw paused. ‘And then he tried again. This time she told him it wasn’t going to happen. I could see he was getting angry. He grabbed her and tried to kiss her. She slapped him.’ Trudouw exhaled slowly. ‘I mean, I don’t blame him. She had been leading us on the whole damn night. She was a bloody cockteaser.’ A woman behind Trudouw exclaimed in shock. ‘Or at least that’s what we thought.’ He swallowed hard. And paused for several seconds. ‘There was a little room adjacent to the lounge, equipped with a single bed. Dawid grabbed her, his hand over her mouth, and dragged her inside. We followed.’ Johann Trudouw had been standing this whole time. Now he sat. He remained silent for a very long time. ‘Dawid went first. She struggled ... and fought. It took another two of us just to hold her down.’ He glared at a slender man next to him. ‘Just because a woman says no it doesn’t mean she doesn’t want it.’
‘Dear God.’
‘That’s what we were thinking, goddamit,’ he said, growling. He breathed in short uneven breaths for a while. ‘I went next. And then Lloyd. And then Alistair. By that time she wasn’t struggling anymore. She just lay there, sobbing and moaning.’ A number of women began crying. ‘For some reason, De Wet wasn’t into the whole thing.’ He glanced over at the doctor. ‘Now I understand why.’ He turned his troubled gaze towards the floor. ‘But we forced him. We said, “If one of us is involved ... then all of us are”.’ Once again Trudouw paused for what seemed like an eternity. ‘While De Wet was busy ... when he was on top of her ... that’s when it happened.’
***
The door burst open.
Ronny stood in the doorway, staring with horror at the scene in front of him. De Wet Bismarck pushed himself away from the girl and stumbled into a corner.
‘What the fuck are you redneck cunts doing?’ Ronny screamed and ran at the nearest of the teens. Johann Trudouw. With features twisted by rage and blind hatred he clawed at the burly youth. For a moment they struggled in titanic violence while the others looked on with shock. Their fierce wrestling knocked a small cabinet over. Ronny kicked Trudouw in the groin and managed to pull his right hand free. He gouged deep claw marks in Johann Trudouw’s face. Trudouw went down. And reaching blindly grabbed hold of a heavy candlestick. He reached up and with all his might struck the hapless Ronny on the temple. The long-haired man went limp and fell to the floor.
For a moment everyone stared in horror. No-one said a thing. Trudouw’s chest heaved with the exertion.
‘What the –’
‘We need to get them out of here,’ Johann said, interrupting De Wet. He looked at the others, his eyes huge with shock. ‘We need to get them out of here,’ he said, shouting to break through the paralysis that gripped everyone.
‘Yes,’ Alistair Rockcliff said, shaking his head in disbelief. ‘We can take my dad’s bakkie. Let’s just drop them at the Petrusburg turn-off.’ He stared at the others. ‘This has gone too far.’
‘Come, let’s do this,’ Trudouw said. ‘Come!’ Johann reached over and grabbed the comatose Ronny by the shoulders. Shock washed over his face as he heaved him up. He immediately let him go. With a sickening crunch Ronny fell to the floor. The position of his head revealed the serious nature of his injury.
‘What now?’ Rockcliff asked.
Trudouw stared at the others in horror. ‘He doesn’t feel right.’
‘What do you mean he doesn’t feel right?’
‘I don’t know. He just doesn’t fucking feel right.’ Trudouw glared at De Wet. ‘De Wet, feel his pulse.’
‘What?’ De Wet cowered in a corner.
‘Feel his pulse, fuckit.’
‘Why must I feel his pulse?’
‘You’re the doctor.’
‘I’m a fucking high school student, Johann.’
‘Go feel his pulse,’ Alistair Rockcliff ordered, pointing at the prostrate Ronny.
With great hesitation De Wet Bismarck walked over to Ronny. He knelt and felt his pulse. He frowned. And placed two fingers on his neck. Then he leaned into his face and listened at his mouth.
***
‘He was dead.’
Hertzog glanced over at Jools. They both nodded imperceptibly.
The entire hall was silent.
‘I killed him.’ Trudouw stared sightlessly at the floor. ‘I had just killed a man.’ He inhaled slowly then expelled the air in a titanic sigh that expressed all of his inner turmoil. ‘Everything after that is a blur. I can’t remember what we said to each other ... or if we even spoke. I just know we stayed in that little room for what seemed like hours. Eventually we realised we had to act. And we knew we couldn’t do it on our own. So we locked the door and we went to the front office. There was a phone there. So Dawid phoned his father. He was the station commander. We didn’t tell him much ... just that we were in trouble. Big trouble. And that we needed his help. About twenty minutes later he showed up. That’s when we told him everything. I remember him slapping Dawid, really hard. He reprimanded all of us. Gave us a real tongue lashing. He told us how utterly stupid and reckless we had been. It was then ...’ He swallowed hard. ‘... it was then that he told us what we needed to do.’ Johann Trudouw looked at the detectives with desperation. ‘You must understand. We were young. We had our whole lives ahead of us. We all ... all of us
had big futures ahead of us. We were going to conquer the world.’ He began to sob. ‘We couldn’t sacrifice that. We couldn’t lose all of that. If ... if this thing came out, we would be ruined. Everything we had worked so hard for ... everything would be ruined. No university would accept someone with a criminal record. Nobody would respect us ever again.’ He glared at Hertzog. ‘Nobody respects a rapist ... and a murderer. We just couldn’t let it get out. So ...’ He bit his lip. ‘So we had to fix it.’
Hertzog sighed with melancholy.
Johann Trudouw wiped the tears from his eyes with his sleeve. His eyes were once again focused on the floor. ‘We had to take care of the three of them. We had to end it right there.’ He exhaled loudly, his stuttered breath evidence of the deep anxiety he was experiencing. ‘We unlocked the bedroom door.’ He looked at Hertzog. ‘And that’s when we discovered it.’
***
The girl ran, bent over, clutching her abdomen. Her breath was ragged. Her chest was constricted by rising hysteria. The blood seeped down her leg as her empty feet struck the coarse tarmac.
She had been running for ever. And ever. Inside her crazed mind there had been no plan. Only a desperate need to escape. She wanted to hit the main road and seek help outside this sick place. But the darkness combined with her crazed state confounded her.
Susan was lost.
All around her were residential houses. But she didn’t dare seek refuge in any of them. Their mute middle-class facades had somehow become complicit in her horror. Behind her, to her right, a church steeple rose like a column of darkness against the starry sky.
She was lost. But she didn’t dare stop. Even though the loss of blood made her feel weak and tired.
A sudden bolt of pain shot through her abdomen. Those boys had hurt her. Badly. Now, as she gripped her lower abdomen, she knew that something was terribly wrong inside her. The continuous flow of blood only confirmed that.
And yet, she didn’t dare stop.
Abruptly the landscape changed. She was no longer within a residential area. Instead she was surrounded by veldt. Maybe she would escape. Maybe there would be hope.
In the distance she saw a mountainous mine dump. She instinctively headed for the large mound of dirt, hoping that this and the mine beyond would provide her some cover.
She prayed that Ronny and Josh were alright.
Dear God, let them be alright.
***
‘The girl had escaped. In our state of shock we hadn’t taken into account the window. Our big problem had suddenly become a massive problem.’ Trudouw stared at the back of the chair in front of him, seemingly in a trance. ‘After cursing us for what felt like an hour, Brigadier Bismarck went to the front office and made a few calls. About half an hour later some of his uniformed policemen showed up. They in turn made telephone calls of their own.’ Trudouw paused. ‘You see, we couldn’t let her get away. That just wasn’t an option. In another half an hour or so about fifty of the town’s men showed up. It was pointless lying to them, so Dawid’s father told them everything.’ He closed his eyes. ‘They knew what they were doing.’
Hertzog’s eyes met those of Dominee Joubert.
‘... death came to all people ... because all had sinned.’
‘You see, it wasn’t a search party. They were all carrying guns. We were going to hunt her.’ His head lolled forwards. ‘We were going to hunt a human being.’ Trudouw raised his head and looked at his fellow citizens. ‘I don’t blame them for going along with our plan ... for helping us. I don’t. My family and the Rockcliffs and the Bothas together employed more than half of the town’s people. At the end of the day, no-one had a choice. We were all going to track down an injured girl ... and take care of our problem.’ He bowed his head. ‘My father showed up around this time. It was the only time I ever saw him cry.’ He clenched his eyes shut. And said nothing for a moment. He slowly opened his eyes and nodded as if responding to a question in his head. ‘Using 4x4 bakkies and searchlights the search party ... the hunters ... scattered throughout Coffee and the surrounding area. Most of those men were experienced hunters. So it didn’t take them long to find her track. She was heading for the mine.’
***
Susan fell to the ground. Bright explosions of noise filled her vision. Fresh blood spurted from her head in sync with her frenzied heartbeat. ‘No ... no ... no ... no ...’
Blind panic gripped her. She tried to scurry away. Tried to escape the dark shape that loomed over her. The man cradled the shovel in his hand and stepped towards her, gravel crunching beneath his shoes. Brigadier J.R. Bismarck planted a heavy boot in the small of her back. The impact forced the air out of her lungs. She lifted her head. ‘Please don’t ... please ... I beg you ... please don’t ...’
He lifted her from the ground and forced her onto her knees. She could see dozens of shapes around her, silhouetted against the glare of automobile headlights. They stood in a semi-circle, their features obscured by the sharp headlights behind them. From behind them she heard the sounds of struggle, the frenetic scrape of shoes on gravel. Moments later someone was thrown into the semi-circle. He immediately jumped up, hands in front of his face.
It was Josh.
‘What are you doing? What do you want from me?’ Josh was sobbing uncontrollably. ‘Please, I didn’t do anything. Please let me go.’
Susan grabbed him. ‘Josh, where’s Ronny?’ Josh stared at her as if looking right through her. ‘Josh.’
Josh turned to the dim faces. ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me.’
Susan couldn’t possibly know that Ronny’s corpse was lying on the flatbed of one of the bakkies. Yet, from Josh’s words, she deduced their fate. ‘Please ... Oh God ... please don’t hurt us. We won’t say anything. We won’t tell anyone.’
Brigadier J.R. Bismarck turned and motioned for the teens to step forward. As the youths came forward Susan recognised the boys who had violated her. She began sobbing. Bismarck took his service pistol and handed it to one of the boys. ‘You know what you need to do,’ he said without a hint of emotion in his voice.
***
‘We knew what we needed to do. It was as simple as that.’ Johann Trudouw looked like a haunted man, hollow eyes staring into empty space. ‘The Brigadier gave his gun to Dawid. He told him to make it a clean shot. In the back of the head.’ The hall was silent, filled only with the low drone of Trudouw’s voice. ‘The man and the woman became hysterical. It took a couple of men to hold them down. Dawid walked up to the man. He aimed. And fired a single shot. The man fell forward while the woman screamed.’ Like a zombie Trudouw narrated the events as if he were reciting a multiplication table. ‘Next the Brigadier gave the gun to Alistair. His dad was there. And he protested fiercely. But the Brigadier said everybody needed to share the guilt. Mr Rockcliff wouldn’t allow it though. Then the Brigadier said he was going to open a case and arrest all the boys. Mr Rockcliff kept on protesting. He said he would rather take the shot but the Brigadier refused. It took a while but eventually Alistair’s dad gave in. Alistair took the pistol and walked up to the girl. She begged for her life. Oh God, she begged for her life.’ A whimper crept into Trudouw’s monotone. ‘Alistair pulled the trigger and she fell onto the dirt, dead.’ He paused. Hertzog saw that Marike was now also crying, sobbing uncontrollably. ‘And that was it.’ Hertzog shook his head, a rueful expression on his face. ‘Our fathers made a decision. Wouter Bredekamp owed Alistair and my dad a whole bunch of money. They transported the corpses to his smallholding. They told him if he buried the bodies on his property they would scrap the debt. Wouter was horrified. But what could he do?’ Johann Trudouw stood, bent over. ‘Afterwards we went home. We never spoke about the matter ever again.’
Hertzog moved through the line of soldiers and walked over to the row where Trudouw stood. The burly farmer swayed slowly. ‘Johann Trudouw I am placing you under arrest for rape and murder.’ Hertzog moved into the row and took the farmer’s hands behind his back whe
re he cuffed them. Trudouw didn’t resist. ‘You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say will be used against you in a court of law.’ Hertzog indicated for his men to do the same with the others mentioned in the confession. ‘You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, an attorney will be provided to you.’ Hertzog led Trudouw down the row, through the rank of soldiers and down the aisle towards the exit. Outside the exit, in the hall foyer he stopped in front of the SADF (South African Defence Force) sergeant. ‘Sergeant, I thank you for your help. You can withdraw your troops.’
The Sergeant barked an order. In neat movements, the soldiers inside moved into marching formation. Performing the drill in reverse, they now marched out of the town hall. Soon they were in platoon formation on the lawn outside the hall. Hertzog waited until they were done. He led Trudouw to the lead Defender while he instructed Dog, Chaz and Jools to take their own prisoners to the rear vehicle. ‘I’m going to get you for this,’ Lloyd Botha said to Trudouw as Chaz marched him to the Landy.
Hertzog placed Johann Trudouw in the back seat of the Land Rover and locked the door. He walked past the soldiers and entered the town hall again. ‘You are all free to go,’ he said to the stunned townspeople inside. Dazed and silent the people of Coffee slowly exited the town hall.
As Marike passed she shot the detective a quick look. ‘Wow,’ she said in a whisper, meant for his ears alone. Hertzog smiled imperceptibly as Jack Strydom glowered at him in passing. When Dominee Joubert passed them Hertzog nodded at him in greeting. But the town vicar only stared ahead, a strange glint in his eye. Hertzog gazed at him oddly.
Outside Hertzog met his men at the front vehicle. Inside Trudouw sat silently, head bowed.
The Man in the Wind Page 24