“Let’s go man,” Dumani said.
“Go where?” Thabang said.
“To find the guy in the wig.”
“But the doctor is coming back.”
“Screw the doctor. We’ve to find this guy. And
this is more important than the doctor. We have five days left.” “It’s easy for you to say that. I just had an accident and I’m in a lot of pain. Besides, I think she likes me.”
“Who likes you?”
“The doctor.”
Dumani looked at Thabang and laughed. Thabang wasn’t so sure about sticking with
Dumani anymore. He suspected the guy hadn’t been joking like he claimed when he said he was going to kill him.
“Look man, I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but there is no way any woman can be interested in you right now. Not even village women. Not until you at least have your teeth fixed. Besides, the last thing you should be thinking about is a love affair.”
Thabang was getting annoyed with Dumani’s attitude, which was all the more reason it wouldn’t be a good idea to hang out with him.
“It’s not an affair. She…” The doctor in question walked in just then. Thabang winked at Dumani. Dumani looked jealous and confused because the doctor was smiling at Thabang. Thabang gave Dumani an I-told-you grin. Now you can see for yourself. She was preparing to check his blood pressure, for the fourth time.
“Was this guy involved in the accident too?” the doctor said, referring to Dumani.
Dumani was about to say something but Thabang didn’t allow him. He feared Dumani may say the wrong things and ruin everything for him.
“No. He is a friend. He just came in to drop off my wallet.”
“Okay. I organised a bed for you. We shall observe you and if you’re okay in a couple of hours or so we will discharge you,” said the doctor.
Thabang winked at Dumani again. Dumani looked angry. Thabang thought it was because he was jealous.
Again Dumani was about to say something but Thabang didn’t allow him.
“Okay doctor, I could do with some rest.”
“No Thabang, we’ve to go,” Dumani protested.
“Sorry man. You heard what the doctor said. Thanks for dropping off my wallet. Keep your phone on, I’ll call you as soon as I get discharged if I get discharged.”
“Are you two related?” asked the doctor. “No, he is…”
“We’re brothers,” Dumani said quickly.
Brothers! No way could Thabang have a guy like Dumani for a brother. He was about to say no, he wasn’t related to him in any way, but then he thought of the repercussions. He needed Dumani. They had to finish the deal, and then he could come back for the doctor and clarify to her that he is not in any way related to Dumani and never will. She wasn’t going anywhere anyway. Although he had thought he could complete the deal with just Eric, he needed Dumani now more than ever. Things would have been risky if he had gone ahead and worked with just Eric. Damon would have become suspicious. And the deal would veer off the tracks. Besides, Eric was dead. He was going to have to stick with Dumani. If he pissed himself, he would take that as a sign of imminent betrayal and take action.
Thabang stood up, towered over the little doctor and said, “Look doctor, maybe I’ll come back another time. Do you work here all the time?”
“So you’d like to discharge yourself against medical advice?”
“I’ve to go. I’ll see you some other time.”
The doctor smiled and said, “Okay Thabang. But understand that if anything happens to you, the hospital will not be held responsible.”
She knew his name.
“I understand that. I promise I’ll be back.”
“Okay,” said the doctor with a smile.
Thabang gave her a surprise bear hug, squeezed her soft body real hard. He developed an instant boner. He could imagine what he would do to her when they got a chance to be alone in a room. She disengaged and walked out.
“You see what I mean?” Thabang said proudly as soon as she’d walked out.
“You scared her. Let’s go.”
The two filed out from behind the curtains.
“Eric is dead,” Thabang said.
“Are you serious?”
Thabang wondered if the hospital could be involved in some ritual use of dead bodies. “Yes. I wonder what they’re doing to his body. They just wheeled it in here a little while ago, covered in a sheet. They seemed to be in real hurry. I wonder if they were hurrying to remove his body parts and sell those to a traditional doctor.”
“Where?”
“Into the hospital. I’d have thought they’d take him straight to the mortuary.”
“Don’t worry about Eric. I never trusted him anyway. Good riddance.”
Thabang was tempted to tell Dumani that he never trusted him anyway. That he was full of shit. That he suspected Dumani was out to swindle him. But then Mothusi walked in on them.
“Hello guys. It took me a while to find you,” Mothusi said, panting. He’d been running. The pain in his foot had intensified. He hadn’t really thought he’d be able to find Dumani. Or Thabang. He’d thought Dumani was going to ICU to kill the guy in the wig’s mother. But then fate led him here, where he found Dumani and Thabang.
“What are you doing here?” said Thabang. “He is with us now,” Dumani said, draping an arm over Mothusi’s neck.
“But this is the guy we kidnapped the other time,” Thabang said indignantly.
“Yes, I know. But now he is with us. He is working with us to get the guy in the wig. He has a lot of information. He knows someone who knows the guy in the wig. He is more valuable than your dead friend.”
Thabang looked confused. He looked at Mothusi, then at Dumani, then at Mothusi again, then back at Dumani. He said, “What’s going on here, guys?”
“I don’t know what’s so difficult to understand. Mothusi is now our friend. He has been hired to look for the guy in the wig, but for a different reason. We came up with a plan. We’ll tell you about the plan shortly.”
“Dumani, I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Of course I do. Let’s go. The way you feel is exactly the way I felt when you recruited your dead friend.”
When Mothusi walked into the Emergency Department, he had had his hand on the knife. He had expected a scuffle. He had thought Dumani was trying to betray him by luring him into an attack that would require self-defence mechanisms. And the only mechanism at hand was the knife. That’s why he had had his hand on it. He had reckoned that there was no better place for such an attack than the Emergency Department where there would be witnesses in there and doctors who’d take care of whatever wounds may be incurred during the attack. He had intended to plunge the knife deep into whoever would attack first. Plunge and twist, damage organs and reduce his attacker’s chances of survival. That way he’d be left with only one fool to deal with. The third one was dead. Mothusi had seen his body being removed from the van. There was no way he could still be alive.
The two fools he was with were gullible enough. He would find a way of killing one then convince the other to work with him.
He could even deal in body parts, cut out the private parts and sell them to a traditional doctor for good money.
And once the deal was over, he’d convince the surviving fool to surrender his wealth to him.
But things were not working according to plan. No one attacked him. Dumani was telling his ugly friend that Mothusi was now part of their team. You don’t attack someone who is telling his dumb friend that you’re part of their team.
“Okay my friend,” said Thabang, patting Mothusi on the shoulder with his left hand while pulling out his underwear from the crack of his bum with the right one at the same time.
“So where do we begin?” said Dumani.
“Don’t worry. I’ve the plate number of the taxi the guy in the wig took,” Thabang said proudly.
“And how is that going to help us?”<
br />
“At least we know what taxi to look for.”
Dumani shook his head and said, “That’s useless. It’s too late. We won’t find the taxi. Besides, even if we did, by the time we do the taxi might have dropped the guy off.”
Thabang smiled, exposing gums that would have sent a dog packing, and said, “We could find the taxi driver and ask him where he dropped the guy off.”
Mothusi’s phone rang. He retrieved it from his left pocket, looked at the screen and said, “I’ve to take this one, guys.” He retreated to the corner of the hospital and answered his phone.
Confusion and shock kept me frozen. I couldn’t believe who I was staring at. I hadn’t expected to find her. She was my aunt, whom the family had alienated because she was believed to be a witch. She was considered to be responsible for the deaths of some family members. I hadn’t seen her in years. Personally I had never really had any problems with her but I wouldn’t say I was ever close to her either. I didn’t want to jump to any conclusions, but there was no way this could be a coincidence.
She, too, seemed frozen. She had her mouth agape, obviously as surprised to see me as I was to see her. I decided it was best if I broke the tension.
“Aunt,” I said. “Ngano. What are you doing here?” I could hear her heart beating away.
I didn’t know how to answer her question because, honestly speaking, I didn’t know what I was doing here either. Despite not being close to the family, I couldn’t be 100% sure that she hadn’t heard the false news about me being a murderer.
“Somebody I know used to stay here,” I said.
“What’s their name?”
“Vusa.”
“Oh, Vusa, I know him. He is some sort of a friend. How do you guys know each other?”
I became even more suspicious. My aunt was a suspected witch. Witches are known to use other people for ritual purposes. And here she was living at a house where a guy I suspected was trying to get me killed for ritual purposes used to live. And the two knew each other.
“We used to work together. But I’d appreciate if you didn’t tell him I was looking for him. It’s a surprise visit.”
“No, I won’t. Ngano, you’ve grown so much! The last time I saw you, you were only a little boy.”
“I know.”
I debated within myself whether to test her by telling her about what was going on in my life. I wanted to see her reaction. I wasn’t the best when it comes to reading body language, but I was sure the test would yield something. Things were just too complicated right now. I just couldn’t trust anybody, especially my aunt because she knew Vusa, whom I suspected was the one after my life.
My aunt must have taken notice of my sadness because she said, “Ngano, are you okay? You look stressed.”
Or she knew I was stressed.
“I just have too much on my mind right now.”
Mothusi came back with a grin on his face. Dumani knew what that meant: the guy was out to betray him and Thabang, possibly by setting them up. Or it could mean he’d just been given information about their guy’s whereabouts.
“Where is he?” Dumani said
“Who?” Mothusi said.
Dumani thought Mothusi was full of shit. The fact that he pretended not to know what Dumani was talking about could only mean that he was full of shit. There was somebody out there who was feeding him with information regarding the whereabouts of the guy in the wig. Dumani wondered if it was the same person he was getting his information from. Damon. He wondered where Damon was getting his information from. He was secretive about it. He claimed to get his information through supernatural means.
Sometimes he said he was getting the information from The Boss. Who was The Boss anyway? Dumani was sure that wasn’t really his name. Or possibly he didn’t exist. What if Damon was nothing but a sick, sadistic old man who was only interested in getting people kidnapped and killed for no other reason than that he enjoyed it?
What if even after they found and delivered the guy in the wig they didn’t receive the promised wealth? Why did Dumani trust him? Why did Dumani trust that an old, clearly poor man like Damon was capable of giving him wealth? Why did Dumani believe that The Boss did exist? But then he had forewarned them of a worse turn, the signs of which had started manifesting as the deadline approached. First, they nearly blew up in their stolen van. Then Thabang nearly died in a car accident in which his friend, who had joined in on the deal, died. This could only mean that Damon did have some power, which meant he was genuine. Therefore, there was wealth waiting for Dumani if he completed the deal. So, he had to be serious if he really wanted to lay his hands on that wealth. He had to be nice to Mothusi, even only for a limited time. Why? Because the guy had valuable information that could lead to the promised wealth.
“Mothusi, I thought we agreed from now on we’ll share whatever information we have on this guy?” Dumani said.
Mothusi grinned more and said, “That was only my wife. Private stuff. Let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Grab a taxi. I know where our guy is.”
I sat stiffly on the sofa, waiting for my aunt to prepare something for me to eat. I wasn’t sure if I’d eat the food she was preparing for me. If she was indeed involved, she could easily poison me. But I was seriously hungry. The yoghurt had disappeared from my system.
I hadn’t tested her yet. I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea to. She had appeared genuinely surprised to see me when I came to think of it. Something kept telling me I shouldn't trust her. I tried to believe that it was a coincidence that she was living at the very house where the person I was looking for had lived. I could snoop around, ask her a few questions, but I doubted if I'd get far. But first I had to tell her about mother. So I told her that she was seriously ill in hospital. Her response bothered me and made me even more suspicious. She looked surprised, but not genuinely so, like she knew all about it already. This made me trust her even less.
"So how do you know Vusa?" I asked. I didn't know what to make of her reaction to my question. There was just something I couldn't place my finger on. "I've lived around this area for a while. People around this area tend to know each other. It's like a small community. We bump into each other everywhere, especially at the shops."
"Okay. How well do you know him?" She fidgeted with her cup and avoided eye contact.
"Like I said, he is part of the community, so I know him as well as you'd know your fellow villagers."
We slurped tea in silence for a while.
"Where does he live now?"
"I'm not sure."
"But I thought you said he was part of the community. Wouldn't you..."
"Why are you interrogating me? What happened to your manners? You come here and ask all these questions. What are they about?"
I was getting angrier by the minute. I had a feeling Vusa was the guy looking for me. And my aunt was involved! I was sure she was now. I was sure she knew more than she claimed.
She had never been the most favoured member of the extended family. Her relationship with most family members had always been cordial at most. But I had never had a problem with her although we were not in contact as such.
"I'm not interrogating you. I trust that you, as my aunt, would tell me the truth."
"What truth?"
I sighed and put down my cup of tea. I hadn't touched the bread yet and my appetite had disappeared. Emotions got the better of me. I blinked in a vain attempt to keep the tears in check, but they came in torrents, leaving my aunt seemingly shocked.
"What's happening?" she asked. If she was feigning surprise then she was doing it very well.
I sobbed for a while. At the end she said, "Look, I never wanted anyone to know about this. I've told everyone that the father to my daughter lives in South Africa. The reason I never told anyone is because I'm ashamed of myself. I used to live right next door while Vusa was living in this house. His wife was always away on work trips. Over time a relations
hip developed between Vusa and me. Then one day his wife was transferred to Maun. I moved in to live with him, and we had a child together. His wife never found out. He decided to move out and chose to give me this house instead of child support and we could continue with our relationship in secret. But people talk. Somebody told his wife the truth. She wanted to sue me. She was going to. But she never got the chance to." She started sobbing. I was all ears. I waited for her to finish sobbing. When she stopped, I said, "Why?"
"She died."
My heart missed a beat. Could my aunt be a murderer?
"So you killed her?"
"That's what people think. But I didn't. She was found dead in bed one morning. People believe I poisoned her. But I didn't."
"So where is Vusa now?"
She looked at me through glazed eyes and said, "I wish I knew." She resumed her sobbing.
"When was the last time you saw him?" She sniffled but didn't answer.
"Are you involved?"
"Involved in what?"
"You know. You should know. Didn't Vusa tell you?"
Silence. There was the wailing of a Police siren in the distance. I tried to ignore it, but it seemed to be getting closer. My aunt had stopped sobbing. The sirens sounded like they were now right outside the house. My aunt stood up. She suddenly looked nervous. I looked at her and she wouldn't look at me. I heard voices, then a knock on the door.
"They're here," whispered my aunt.
In a voice unlike mine I said, "Who?"
"The Police."
I couldn't believe I had heard her properly. The Police? Was she in trouble or something? Or...
"What do they want?"
She backed away from me towards the kitchen and said softly, "You."
I stood up and walked towards her. I could see the fear in her eyes.
"Why?"
"It's all over the newspaper that you're a murderer."
The Other Four Page 18