by Quig Shelby
Time had flown since they had first met in Oxford. Joost had failed an interview for personnel manager, and the winter’s night had quickly drawn in. On a tight country lane he and Dilwood collided. But they’d also hit someone on a push bike. After deliberating they’d agreed to leave the young woman to her fate.
Joost towed Dilwood’s car to the nursing home he’d just bought, Greenpastures. Then, later that night, after they’d both drunk way too much, Joost was given an offer he couldn’t refuse; the cash to start a nursing agency. They became partners in crime.
The phone rang.
‘Are you still picking me up?’ asked Bheki.
‘I’ll be there in half an hour.’
‘And what if I don’t like it?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll leave,’ and he put down the phone; he wasn’t in the mood to reassure her again.
Bheki rang him back, and slammed the phone down. Joost smiled.
Bheki was wearing a full length cream dress, and Joost, eager to please, wore the red and cream checked suit Bheki had bought him. He felt like a clown, but perhaps she wanted him to look as uncomfortable as she felt.
The electronic gates opened, and the driveway was as long as a street. In front of the house was a large drained ornamental fountain.
Dilwood greeted them at the door, and they were ushered into the lounge. Bheki looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her, and she had never fully seen his face in the gloom.
Dilwood was well groomed. He had a goatee beard immaculately trimmed, but was going bald and combing his hair over to disguise the fact, or so he thought.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Dilwood’s young Thai bride.
Dilwood was forty-nine, and Mai was at least twenty years his junior
There was an immediate empathy between Bheki and Mai, perhaps because they’d both been hookers.
The small talk helped break the ice, although Dilwood was a little staid, though Bheki sensed something was wrong.
‘Would anyone like a drink before dinner?’ asked Dilwood.
‘Tea please,’ answered Bheki.
Mai immediately went to prepare the silver tray.
‘Are you still drinking the absinthe Dilwood?’ asked Joost.
‘What would life be without it,’ he replied. ‘I’ll make us both one,’ and he disappeared behind his bar.
No one made absinthe like Dilwood, and he loved the ritual. He took two crystal reservoir glasses down from the mirrored shelf, and filled the bubble with the emerald liquor. Then on each glass he sat a silver perforated spoon, and balanced a sugar cube. Pouring ice cold water over the glasses the drink turned into a milky opalescence - ‘the louche’.
Everyone was on the sofas as a curious Dilwood looked at Bheki; he knew an albino once, but perhaps a little shorter, and certainly not as well turned out.
‘So where did you two meet?’ he asked.
‘At the agency,’ replied Bheki.
‘You see I told you it was a good move,’ said Dilwood to Joost.
Bheki was warming to him.
‘And you two?’ Bheki enquired.
‘On holiday,’ said Dilwood.
He was wearing one of his short sleeved silk Thai shirts tonight. Like the shirt, Dilwood was short and thin.
Bheki wasn’t shocked by the large age gap, or at least didn’t show it, and Mai who was initially nervous was appreciative. When she went to prepare dinner Bheki followed her into the kitchen.
‘Let’s have some girls talk,’ said Bheki.
Had she found a friend at last thought Mai, and tired of being stuck in an ivory tower; she hoped so, she desperately wanted to be herself.
Bheki helped Mai serve dinner, and it was no surprise to anyone that it was Thai cuisine.
A large crystal chandelier hung over the dining table, and along the back wall ran glass cabinets stuffed with artefacts; Meissen porcelain, oriental glassware, and some wooden carvings.
Eventually Bheki’s eyes rested on the third cabinet from the window, and she nearly choked on her hot and sour soup.
‘Are you alright?’ asked Dilwood, genuinely concerned.
Her head was spinning, but on his right forearm she noticed the scar of a removed tattoo.
‘Here drink this,’ said Mai seated directly across the table, offering Bheki a small glass of water.
She downed it in one, but was still coughing.
‘I need the bathroom,’ spluttered Bheki, grabbing her bag.
‘I’ll show you the way,’ said Mai.
At the top of the stairs Bheki was retching.
‘Here use ours, its closer,’ said Mai, opening a door at the top of the landing.
There were two sinks in the bathroom, his and hers, and next to each one a cabinet; on one were several bottles of aftershave, and a box of dark brown hair dye. Bheki drank more water from the tap, and splashed her face.
Reaching for a towel on a corner shelf she noticed a simple wooden box that looked lost amidst the opulence. On the lid the letters OSY were carved; the voodoo symbol for special protection. Bheki was intrigued, and looked inside. Amongst Dilwood’s watches was a familiar gold medallion. She picked it up, and recognised the talisman immediately; a goat horned dog. The last time she’d seen it was around Kofi’s neck.
‘Are you alright?’ asked Mai through the door, hearing Bheki spluttering once more.
‘I’m fine thanks, I’ll be down in a moment,’ Bheki shouted back, and Mai traipsed down the stairs to re-join the men.
Bheki checked her clutch bag, the knife was still there, and composed her thoughts. She sent Eudy a text message, and calmly made her way back down.
‘Feeling better my dear?’ asked Dilwood.
‘Yes thank you,’ replied Bheki.
Halfway through the main course and right on time Eudy phoned on her mobile.
‘Sorry,’ said Bheki before taking the call.
‘Not at all,’ said Dilwood ‘you’re not a prisoner.’
Eventually Bheki put the phone away, and, knowing no one had understood a word, she did her utmost to look apologetic, before turning to Joost.
‘It’s Eudy. Themba’s had a car accident, and she wants me at the hospital with her’.
She also kicked Joost’s leg under the table for good measure. He got the message.
‘Sorry Dilwood but we’ll have to cut it short,’ said Joost.
‘What a shame,’ said Dilwood ‘we were just getting to know one another; and the pudding is sublime.’
‘Another time,’ said Joost.
‘I’ll take you up on that,’ said Dilwood. ‘I hope your friend is alright Bheki. I deplore traffic accidents.’
Mai looked the saddest of all, and already she could feel the crushing loneliness all around her, like the bottom of the deep blue sea.
‘Nothing too serious I hope,’ shouted Dilwood as they got in their car.
‘What’s really the matter?’ asked Joost, as the high walls disappeared behind them.
Now was the time for Bheki to discover if she could trust Joost, although Pastor Goodyear had said he was a good man - at heart.
‘He’s got my other statue in his cabinet, the one I gave to Lilu.’
‘So, he could have bought it from anywhere,’ said Joost. ‘If it is the one you lost’.
‘He’s also had a tattoo removed that I think were a pair of scales. That’s all I know about the last man to have seen her alive,’ said Bheki feeling sick, and opening the window for some air.
‘That doesn’t make him a killer Bheki.’
‘Joost honey it doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me, but my pimp always wore a particular gold medallion, and it’s upstairs in Dilwood’s bathroom. He was killed too.’
Though she didn’t say by whom, just as Joost didn’t mention the real reason that brought him and Dilwood together.
Joost paused for a moment.
‘When I first met Dilwood he had a zodiac tattoo, and you’re right it was Libra.’
There was one man or Spirit thought Joost who would know the truth - John Lacey. It was time for Bheki to meet him.
Mai cleaned up, and then spent the next hour doing what she’d been bought for, and as happily as she could.
Just before he closed his eyes Dilwood remembered the way Bheki had stared at his third cabinet. He went downstairs to take a look at it. On the middle shelf was the African statue he’d taken from that whore’s bedsit after killing her.
‘Well I never,’ he said under his breath ‘Tendai Mathebula.’
Perhaps he should have listened to Din after all, and had them both killed on their visit, even if Joost was an old friend. Of course it would have been inconceivable for the slaughter to have gone unnoticed, but Mai’s ungrateful bleating was becoming a trifle boring, and already he’d envisaged wrapping his gloved fingers around her neck.
But Din couldn’t chastise him too much; it was Dilwood’s drugs trail that was helping them enjoy a lifestyle to which they had become satisfactorily accustomed. Kofi’s haul didn’t last forever, and Dilwood was now a businessman who pursued more than one line of profit; Mai wasn’t his only Thai import.
Chapter Twenty Three
Fortunately when he’d gone to collect Bheki, Joost had left his heating on full blast, and at least their shivers were quelled. But understandably there was a coldness that would not go away.
Joost poured them both a piping hot rooibos, he’d suddenly lost his taste for alcohol. Was Bheki right? And had Dilwood also recognised her? He must admit that even to him Dilwood looked creepier than usual. He could see the Caring Hands Nursing Agency slipping from his grip; for what it was worth.
Bheki didn’t have time for Joost’s procrastinations, and let him know it.
‘Well let’s see it,’ she said, and for once she wasn’t alluding to the bedroom.
He might have been in a quandary, after all he’d forgotten to mention his drug habit to Bheki, but events had overtaken them. He gently slid the crocodile mask on its hook along the wall, until most was suspended over an old chimney breast. Gingerly his free hand delved into the back, and he retrieved a brownish parcel wrapped in plastic, leaving just three behind.
‘You’re certainly not short of surprises,’ said Bheki recognising the scene all too well.
‘And I thought I had all your secrets,’ she sighed.
‘It’s just an occasional habit,’ said Joost.
‘Of course,’ said Bheki.
Joost ritualistically laid out his narcotic devices on the table.
‘So no wonder the crocodile comes alive,’ said Bheki sarcastically.
But that still didn’t explain how Joost knew her grandmothers name. She’d give him a chance, besides she didn’t fancy going back home in the pouring rain.
‘I really hope we don’t see a change in personality Joost,’ she said, taking the knife out of her bag.
‘You won’t need that I promise,’ he said ‘not this time.’
But she felt fluttering in the pit of her stomach.
Joost began to inhale the smoke, and Bheki checked both the clock and the door; at least it wasn’t bolted.
Joost took a few more puffs, and hoped he’d inhaled just enough to see his dragon without losing sight of Bheki.
There was no doubt Bheki Ncube had seen enough in her life to turn her hair white, but there was nothing like the sight of a pint sized crocodile looking up at you to shatter the calm; especially one that spoke.
‘Don’t worry,’ said John ‘I don’t bite.’
Bheki said something in her mother tongue, and John laughed.
‘We all speak the same language over here,’ he explained.
Bheki laughed too, albeit a little worried.
‘He is real,’ said Bheki turning to Joost.
Joost stroked his chin and nodded, but John was becoming translucent. He clicked his lighter one more time, and smoked the rest of the powder. And he was mightily relieved; Bheki could see John too - he wasn’t crazy after all.
When Joost finally joined them they were chatting like long lost friends catching up.
‘Shall I tell him?’ asked John.
‘I think so, he might not believe me,’ said Bheki.
‘Dilwood murdered Lilu, and several other call girls. He’s stopped for the moment because his sins are more organised - with Dela Eden Obi.’
That name again thought Joost, it was beginning to haunt him.
‘And Joost, he recognised Bheki - eventually,’ said John.
‘So what do we do now?’ asked Joost.
‘You could run,’ said John ‘but you’ll never be able to...’
‘Hide’ they all said together.
‘You need to think about that,’ said John ‘but first let me save you both a lot of heartache.’
They looked at each other and half smiled, wondering what was coming next.
‘Joost; Bheki killed her pimp Kofi, but I guess you could say it was self-defence,’ said John. ‘And Bheki when Joost met Dilwood ...’
‘Oh no,’ interrupted Joost ‘not that,’ feeling his own guilt rising.
He’d always hoped to look chivalrous to Bheki, and that night was far from gallant.
‘At least the girl survived Joost,’ said John.
Both Joost and Dilwood knew that from the local papers they religiously scanned days after the accident.
‘And you never hit her,’ said John, leaving time for the news to sink in before continuing.
‘Dilwood had already run her over when you turned the corner. You just hit the bike thrown into the road.’
‘And Dilwood knew this?’ asked Joost rather naively.
John just grinned, and he had plenty of teeth to do so.
Joost smiled. One mill stone had been partially lifted from his soul. Only partly because he still wished he’d called for an ambulance, in spite of Dilwood’s protestations.
‘Can you think why he so desperately wanted to flee the scene Joost?’ asked John teasingly.
Joost looked blank, but Bheki suspected.
‘He’d killed someone else that night,’ she said.
‘Precisely,’ said John ‘and the poor girl’s body was in his boot.’
Joost felt uncomfortable, but he’d been quickly reminded of another burden, and even with Bheki sitting next to him he couldn’t help but wonder.
‘Have you seen them?’ he asked.
‘Yes I have,’ said John.
Joost nearly jumped out of his skin, and John answered his next question even before it was asked.
‘They’re fine.’
John didn’t want to hear a long list of questions, in part because he thought it was impolite to Bheki, who he knew was smitten with Joost, so he got in ahead of him.
‘They’re staying with relatives. You remember Stella’s aunt and uncle from Bloemfontaine?’
‘Yes,’ said Joost.
Life was full of heartache; Kobus and Tilly Jonker had been murdered on their homestead.
‘They’re having a ball,’ said John.
Joost couldn’t hold back.
‘Can I see them?’
‘That’s not an easy one, although I will try. But Joost I suggest you tell Bheki about Stella and Hildy. It’s a long time since you told anyone.’
Joost sighed. It was going to be a tearful night.
Outside the wind was blowing up a storm, and leaves could be heard rustling down the street.
‘Look Joost I
know this might be difficult for you, so in spite of what John said you don’t have to tell me anything,’ said Bheki.
But Joost began.
‘We were driving to Stella’s sister’s house in the Western Cape. We were taking her a birthday present and Hildy was looking forwards to seeing her cousins again, two boys; they would always tease her.’
He paused and held a hand to his mouth for a moment, as though he was about to mention the unspeakable.
‘It was my fault, I stopped at an accident, or at least I thought it was.’
Bheki could see the hurt in his eyes, and it was difficult to watch.
‘We were carjacked. I killed one in the car causing a crash, and the other got away.’
‘Is this the guy now in London?’ asked Bheki.
‘Yes,’ answered Joost.
Joost had gone silent, so Bheki had to coax him.
‘And your wife and daughter?’ she asked.
Joost could barely speak.
‘Both killed in the crash,’ he said ‘burnt alive.’
Bheki had never seen a man cry before, not like this; deep from within his soul. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and she wiped them with a tissue from her bag.
She wasn’t quite certain what to say, as Joost went to a wooden trunk in the corner of the room and lifted up the lid. He removed a photo album and placed it on Bheki’s knee; they flicked through the pages together.
Finally, after Joost tried to hide his grief, and another cup of rooibos, Bheki had to say it.
‘I’m not Stella, and I never will be.’
‘I don’t want you to be,’ he said.
‘But I also don’t want you to hate me for not being her.’
Joost gulped. Is that what he’d been doing? And not just with Bheki?
Bheki felt a little guilty for turning the focus onto her, but she couldn’t help it.
‘Can you really love anyone again?’ asked Bheki.
‘Don’t get me wrong Joost I can just do sex, for now at least, but I want to know the bottom line,’ she said.
‘I’m not sure’ said Joost ‘can you give me some time on that one?’
‘Why not, but don’t take too long,’ she said smiling gently.
Joost kissed her hand, and led her into the bedroom. There was no deviance to set the mood or perversion to heighten the thrill, just honesty and tenderness as their bodies entwined.