"I've got good news for you, Misses Desai." he said. "The surgery on your husband was successful and he's resting comfortably in the I.C.U. Fortunately the blade of the knife that caused your husband's injury missed all the major arteries so there was minimal internal bleeding. The injury has been repaired and there is very little likelihood of any complications."
Fatima's eyes welled with tears and she felt them trickle down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand.
"Oh! Thank goodness!" she said, relief filling her whole body. "I'm so happy! Thank you doctor and please thank the surgeon and his assistants for what they've done. May I go and visit Bala?"
"Yes. I'll go with you." the doctor said. "Your husband's asleep though, but you can visit for a short while. He'll probably be in I.C.U. for another day or two but I'm very worried about where I can put him after that. There's a dire shortage of beds in the hospital at the moment. I'm very embarrassed to have to ask you if it's possible for you to bring a mattress to the hospital? The only solution that I can offer at this time is a space on the floor of one of the wards. I already have about fifty patients sleeping on the floors of the wards. Unfortunately the hospital is seriously under-financed by the government and even though we have been making regular requests for more funds, nothing had been forthcoming."
Fatima blinked her eyes in astonishment.
"Yes, I suppose I can." she said. "What about pillows, sheets and blankets?"
"Anything that you can bring would be greatly appreciated." the doctor replied. "If you can get them here by tomorrow afternoon that will be ideal. I'm sorry, but there is nothing that we can do about this situation."
As Fatima and the doctor walked to the I.C.U. she glanced at her watch. It was half past two in the morning. She wondered how Salona was coping at Misses Jassat's house. She realised that there would be no taxis available before daybreak.
"Is there a telephone available?" she asked the doctor. "I need to 'phone my daughter."
"Yes, you can use the 'phone in my office." the doctor said. "But let's visit your husband first. We'll only be there for a few minutes."
The doctor led Fatima though the quite I.C.U. ward to where Bala lay on his back in the bed, a transparent face mask covering his mouth and nose and several tubes running from an I.V. bag and several machines connected to veins in his one arm. The only sound apart from their footsteps was the buzzing and pinging of the machines behind the beds of the patients.
Fatima stared down at Bala, her heart aching as she saw how helpless her beloved husband was. He lay with his eyes closed and his head resting on the pillow and his small body seemed so weak and fragile although she knew that it housed a determination that she had always admired and had been in awe of. Tears rolled down her cheeks and she found her handkerchief in her pocket and wiped them away. She stepped closer and gently touched Bala's thin shoulder.
"We love you dearly, Bala." she whispered. "Please get better quickly and come back home. We need you to be with us so badly!"
Bala stirred slightly, as if he had heard Fatima's plea.
"Okay." the doctor said quietly. "I think we should go. We mustn't disturb your husband. He needs all the rest he can get."
Fatima 'phoned Misses Jassat from the doctor's office. The kindly neighbour assured her that Salona was sleeping peacefully and that she would look after the child for as long as was necessary. Relieved Fatima thanked the doctor for his kindness and returned to her chair in the waiting room where she dozed fitfully until daybreak.
***
By the time Fatima got back to Lenasia, collected Salona from Misses Jassat's house, went home, bathed her daughter and herself and dressed in clean clothes it was almost mid-morning. During this time she couldn't stop worrying about what had happened to Bala's suitcase of mended and altered clothing that he had been bringing back from the shop when he was attacked, and what she would do if it was lost. Would their customers demand compensation and, even if she was able to pay them, would they continue to support Bala? And what if some of them sued Bala? And would Bala be able to make up for the money that they were losing while the shop was closed?
Fatima realised that she would have to take over responsibility for the business and the running of the household and also visit Bala in hospital whenever she could. The doctor had been vague about how long Bala would be incapacitated. Firstly though, she would have to close the depot here in Lenasia and concentrate on repairing and altering the clothes left at the shop as well as any new clothes that customers brought in. That was their main source of income and she had to ensure that it would remain so.
"Where are we going?" Salona asked as she and Fatima left the house.
"We're going to the shop in the Oriental Plaza, my dearest." Fatima said as she took her daughter's hand. "While your daddy's in hospital you and I will have see that everything continues as it should."
"When will daddy be coming home?" Salona asked as she clutched her rag doll to her chest.
"Soon, my dear." Fatima replied. "Probably in about five day's time."
"Five days!" Salona exclaimed. "That's such a long time! Will we have to go to the shop every day?"
"Yes." Fatima said. "But you can stay with Misses Jassat for some of those days. Would you like that?"
"Yes!" Salona said. "Misses Jassat's so nice and she gives me lots of sweets, especially when I help her around the house."
"Ah! So that's why, when you get home, you don't want to eat all your supper." Fatima said, laughing.
"Well, she doesn't really give me all that many sweets." Salona said. "There's still plenty of space in my tummy for supper."
As Fatima approached the train station she saw the uniformed guard standing at the entrance gate and to her relief she saw Bala's suitcase lying on the ground next to him.
"Good morning, Misses." the guard said as Fatima approached him. "Is your husband okay? As you can see I've got his suitcase of clothes. The men who took you husband to the hospital brought it here early this morning. They kept it last night because they thought that you wouldn't be able to look after it and attend to your husband's needs."
"Oh! I'm so grateful!" Fatima exclaimed. "I thought that it had been lost. But, who are those men who helped my husband? I must give them some payment for all the trouble that they went to help my husband."
The guard shook his head.
"They specifically asked me not to identify them." he said. "They are glad that they could help and they don't want any payment."
"They are such good people." Fatima said wiping away the tears that welled up in her eyes. "If you see them again please thank them once more for me. I'll always be indebted to them for their kindness."
"What does indebted mean?" Salona asked.
"It means that I owe them something for what they did for me, even though they don't want anything, my dearest." Fatima said.
"Why don't they want anything?" Salona asked.
"Because they're very kind people." Fatima replied.
Fatima realised that the suitcase contained clothes that had already been mended or altered and that it would be pointless to take it back to Johannesburg. She needed to leave it here in Lenasia.
"Salona, dearest." Fatima said. "We'll have to take daddy's suitcase back home before we can go to the shop. All this walking is going to make you very tired. Would you like to stay with Misses Jassat today while I go to the shop?"
"Okay." Salona said. "And I won't eat a lot of sweets, mommy. I promise. So, when we gat back home tonight we'll be able to eat supper together."
"That's very considerate of you, my dearest." Fatima said as she ruffled the little girl's beautiful long black hair.
Fatima thanked the guard once more, picked up the heavy suitcase and, taking Salona's hand, trudged back towards Misses Jassat's house.
"Mommy, why's daddy in hospital?" Salona asked as they walked along the dusty road.
"Daddy got hurt on the train, dearest." Fatima said. "I t
old you that this morning."
"Yes, but how did he get hurt? Did he fall?" the little girl asked.
"No. Another bad man hurt him." Fatima said. "But don't worry. Daddy will soon be better and back at home."
"Are there lots of bad men on the train?" Salona asked.
"No. There are a lot more good people than bad people on the train." Fatima said.
"The bad people should have their own train." Salona said. "Then they can hurt themselves and not people like daddy."
"That's a good idea." Fatima said.
While Fatima was at Misses Jassat's house she 'phoned Misses Dadoo, the manageress of the Oriental Plaza, and explained to her why the shop was closed. She then lugged the suitcase of clothes to her house and finally returned to the station where she boarded a train to Johannesburg. By the time she reached the Oriental Plaza it was midday.
***
"Anything to report on the Umkhonto weSizwe cell in Soweto?" Brigadier van Tonder asked as they sat in his office at John Vorster Square.
"Very little, sir." Captain Tiaan Botha replied. "Vodnik met with Zuma at their usual meeting place in Hillbrow. It's obvious that they know that they're under constant surveillance by us. Zuma hasn't placed an order with Vodnik for more bomb parts yet, even though, by my calculations they used all the bombs that they could make with the parts that he supplied them with. I've also got a suspicion that Zuma is somehow involved in the supply of explosives to the enemy. He works at the Deep Reef Gold Mine so he has access to explosives. We just haven't bee able to see how he does it yet. I've obtained a number of dud detonators from the armoury guys so when Vodnik does get an order we can supply him with them. What's frustrating though, is that, because he's aware of our surveillance of him, Zuma is unlikely to lead us to his superiors. I've no doubt that he's in contact with them but it's definitely not directly. They must have some sort of message system. The man that we really need to catch is the leader of the group that's planting the bombs and attacking targets with rifle fire and grenades."
"What about setting a trap for him?" the Brigadier asked.
Captain Botha nodded.
"I've been working on that." he said. "What I'd like to do is publish an announcement in the newspapers saying that a group of important military personnel will be meeting at a certain venue at a certain time. If the enemy sees this announcement they will probably make an attempt to attack that particular site, not necessarily to kill or injure anyone but to use the incident to create publicity for themselves. If we monitor the area around the site we should be able to catch our illusive enemy red-handed and force him to betray his superiors."
"That would mean putting some important people in the firing line." Van Tonder said.
"Not necessarily, sir." Tiaan said. "I'm sure that I can find volunteers to impersonate the important people. We've done it before and it's always worked. But I don't think that the enemy will try to harm anyone. Their policy is quite clearly to create incidents that have publicity value outside the country and, at the same time, show that they're freedom fighters and not terrorists. They'll probably plant a bomb in the area set to explode just before the occasion and cause it to be cancelled. What we have to do is catch them planting the bomb."
The Brigadier nodded.
"That might work." he said. "Work out the details and recruit the volunteers. Then let me know what you need to put the rest of the plan into action."
"I'll get onto it right away, sir." Tiaan said. "This enemy cell had been a thorn in our sides for too long. It needs to be eliminated."
***
"Isn't it dangerous for us to meet at the same place as we did last time?" Bogdan asked Isaiah as they reached the pavement coffee shop in Hillbrow and sat down at one of the tables. He looked around suspiciously, expecting to see men wearing dark glasses watching them surreptitiously.
"I don't think so." Isaiah replied. "We know that we're under surveillance and that the Security Police want us to lead them to our superiors so our meeting here is quite in order. They aren't likely to arrest us yet. But I'm also sure that they know that we are unlikely to communicate directly with our superiors and that we probably don't even know who our superiors are. Capturing us now won't help them. We can't supply them with information that we don't have."
Bogdan nodded, satisfied with Isaiah's explanation.
"Have you spoken to your superiors about me jouncing your organisation?" he asked.
"Well, I sent them a coded message and they replied that they are interested." Isaiah said. "But they are concerned about your loyalties as a foreigner and what you can offer us apart from your ability to acquire illegal items for us."
"Well, as I told you, I don't have any military training but when I was in Yugoslavia I underwent a very advanced driving course that is considered to be the finest in the whole world and is used by the top law enforcement agencies in a great many countries. Perhaps I can be useful as a driver?"
"Yes, that's a possibility." Isaiah said. "There's a dire shortage of competent drivers in our organisation. I'm sure that my superiors would accept you with a qualification like that. If they do, then it will no longer be necessary for us to meet in person. The less we know about other MK members the less likely we are to betray each other. You will be introduced to the message system that we have devised and perfected. It's impossible for our enemies to break the system."
"How soon will you know?" Bogdan asked.
"Within a day or two." Isaiah said. "I assume that the Security Police still believe that you're working for them?"
"Yes." Bogdan said. "I'll only break away from them once I know whether or not your organisation will accept me. If they don't I'll have to try to skip the country illegally."
"That won't be necessary." Isaiah said. "We got you into your predicament and we'll see that you get out of South Africa safely. We are constantly getting people who are wanted by the authorities out of South Africa. Journalists, lawyers, newspaper editors and people wanting us to train them so that they can join our struggle"
***
Bala Desai walked slowly and gingerly out of the Baragwanath Hospital with Fatima holding his arm firmly to steady him. They had decided to give Bala's mattress, sheets and blanket to one of the other patients who had been lying a flattened cardboard box on the floor of the ward with only and old ragged coat to cover him.
"How have you been managing at the shop, dearest?" Bala asked as they walked slowly towards the waiting taxi. "Have we lost any customers because we couldn't do their mending or alterations?"
"I don't think so." Fatima replied. "They've all been very understanding. They realise that accidents such as yours happen and there's nothing that can be done about it. But we've got a huge backlog of clothes to be mended or altered. I did my best but I just never seemed to be able to reduce the mound of clothes waiting to be fixed."
"You've been wonderful, my dearest." Bala said. "What, with also having to look after dear Salona, clean the house, do the washing and the cooking, you're amazing! What would I have done without you?"
Bala climbed carefully into the back of the taxi, the other passengers giving him plenty of room to get comfortable. Fatima fussed around him, making sure that he was comfortable before the trip began. He sank back into his seat with a sigh.
"Does it still hurt?" she asked.
"A little." Bala said. "The doctor says that I must stay in bed for at least another week but I wonder if I can. There's so much work to be done!"
"Bala, don't be silly." Fatima admonished him. "Resting for a week and getting better properly is very important. What will be the use of getting up to early and ending back in hospital for even longer? You must be patient and get well properly. I won't let you make things worse by being impatient."
Bala looked at his wife, his eyebrows raised in surprise at her fortitude. He had always known that she could be very strong-willed and he smiled at her lovingly, proud of what she'd achieved while he'd been in the hospital.
"You're quite right, my dearest." he said. "I will curb my impatience. And what about my dearest Salona? How has she been coping?"
"She's missed you terribly and she's so excited that you're finally coming home." Fatima said. "She so wanted to come with me to fetch you but, even at her young age, she realised that it wouldn't be practical. I'll bet that she spends all morning looking out of the front window of Misses Jassat's house waiting for me to take her back home."
Bala smiled to himself as the vision of his dear little girl flashed into his mind. He shook his head slowly in wonderment at how fortunate he was to have such a loving family.
The taxi stopped outside their little house and Fatima helped Bala to alight and walk cautiously to the front door. She unlocked it and with a sense of relief Bala entered. Fatima led him to his bedroom and helped him change into his pyjamas. Carefully he climbed into their bed and sank back against the pillow wearily. Fatima hurried to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water. She placed it on the bedside table with Bala's medication.
"Will you be okay while I go and fetch Salona?" she asked. "I won't be long."
Bala nodded.
"Don't be surprised to find me fast asleep when you get back." he said. "The ward was so noisy that I've hardly slept at all during the last five days."
Fatima smiled.
"Sleep for as long as you want to, dearest." she said. "You're safely home now and Salona and I will make sure that you get better properly."
***
"I would never have recognised you if I'd passed you in the street." Shadow said as Isaiah entered the safe house in Soweto and removed his afro wig and dark glasses. "I've been watching you as you walked here and I'm certain that nobody has been following you. Where did you get that disguise?"
"It took me some time," Isaiah said, "because I had to be sure that nobody saw them. Fortunately, my friends who work in the abandoned gold mine that I supply with explosives were very happy to help me and they bought everything for me. I'm keeping the stuff in one of the tunnels in the old mine because it's quite easy to give the police spies the slip in the buffer zone and get to the mine entrance undetected. I'm going to try and get together a number of disguises so that we can all use them if necessary."
The Colour of Gold Page 24