#18 Umhlangano: Part 2
“Hayi, hayi she doesn’t have a refresh button guys,” I hear Kagiso shouting on the other end of the line. It’s mid-morning on Saturday. Thoba is in bed watching me as I finish getting dressed. I can feel her wanting eyes on me as I move around the room. I’ve also been stealing glances of her. From her reflection in the mirror to her silhouette on the window between the blinds. Last night is still in the air. And I suspect it’s the reason why she offered to drop us off where we’re meeting Kagiso and the others. Khanyi arrived an hour ago. She’s doing her make-up and this is the second time that she walks into my room to get something for her face. She’s still on the phone with Kagiso and Tumiso by the sounds of it. Kagiso is not happy about the new “item” on this meet-ups agenda, but Tumiso insisted that he’d like to speak to Nina today.
“Prolific marafuka,” “ Awu Bountiful ninja,” he replies. And the entire group laughs. Who greets like this vele. Tumiso and Themba’s (T&T) vocabulary challenge is getting a bit out of hand. It’s been a month since they started. I remember because it’s been a month since uSma passed away. The events that led to this moment begin to fill my mind and pluck me from the present. “Hey, unjani?” the feeling of Ninas arm on my shoulder brings me back. “Ngi right, how are you?” Nina and Themba are the last to arrive.
“Seven months? It takes longer to gestate a human.” Themba exclaims as if this is fresh information. Nina looks at him with a mild smirk, “Anyway, after you proposed, their father gave Sonic the Standerton taxi rout to manage. And he must have taken the family out to celebrate because Sma drunk texted me: #celebrations Somic takes Tumi out with Standerton money, Lol.” Tumiso’s eyes widen as if Kagiso and Themba hadn’t told him the story weeks ago. But I guess people don’t get closure or process grief the same because Nina is still finding relief and power from telling the story. There are moments when her and Tumiso make eye contact and the energy from their shared pain is palpable. In those moments, Kagiso and Khanyi exchange a look that admits that they were being over protective of Nina earlier. “Some weeks later, the twins and anti Mbonge were at the school for the price giving and the graduation of Mwelase’s grade. I was back stage chatting with a colleague when they found me. Mwelase had two bequests of flowers. She gave one to me and her aunt thanked me for taking care of her. And before leaving to find her other favourite teacher, antiMbonge insisted that I join them for dinner that evening.” The table has been buzzing since Nina said, “And just before”, but I ignored it, well, we all ignored it because we noticed Tumiso and Nina adjust in their seats.
It’s malum’ Sbeko, bab’ Joseph’s friend who works at the police station. When we asked what exactly it is he does there, bab’ Joseph scolded us and said, “Umuntu omdala akabuzwa.” I say a little prayer before I answer the phone. “Weh mshana, uyazi, ukubamba ucingo ak’lumani,” he says before I say hello. He says he’s been calling Khanyi but her phone goes to voicemails. Instead of stopping malum’ Sbeko mid-story, I tap on the window and signal like a conductor until I get Khanyi’s attention. I meet her at the door and show her the caller id before handing her the phone. “Sawubona malum’ Sbeko,” she says and reaches for my hand before I turn to go back inside. “Yebo. Yebo. Eh. Yebo. Murder case? Ohh ngempela? Yebo. Eh ngiyezwa. Okay, siyabonga malum’ Sbeko,” she thanks him and says goodbye two more times before ending the call. It wasn’t a long phone call and I didn’t hear much, but the look on Khanyi’s face helps me fill in the blanks. “So we were right, he’s pinning it on someone else?” I ask and Khanyi nods. The gears in her head are moving. I can tell because her eyes move between looking at me for a moment and then back to the same spot on the ground. “And you still haven’t heard back from the admin ya the #AmINext social media accounts?” I probe. “No,” she shakes her head and glances at Nina through the window, “we have to speak to the girl who put Sonic on that list, she’s our only lead now,” I nod in agreement as we walk back inside.
Kagiso and Themba are at the counter getting our drinks. Nina is telling the last part of the story. I was hoping that we had missed it. “We were on our second round of drinks when Sonic showed up at Lux Liqu with one of his taxi drivers. He said he couldn’t believe how stupid the twins were and then insisted that they leave with him. Sma refused but it didn’t take long for Samu to convince her. I didn’t want to stay there by myself so I left moments after them. When I got to the parking Sma’s red dress caught my eye and I could see that her and Sonic were still arguing. But I kept walked straight towards my car and somehow Sma saw me and started walking towards me. Her siblings followed not far behind. ‘Kuncono kufe lo, maybe then you’ll see how stupid you’re being’ he said before pulling out his gun and pointing it at me. My heart started to beat so fast I could feel it in my throat. Then I heard the driver running towards us, he told Sonic to put the gun away but Sonic replied, ‘kahleDlokovu, let me just finish this once.’ They don’t tell you that at that proximity, you feel the sound of a gun before you hear it. By the time the sound came, it was like Sma’s body made a bang as it hit the floor. I became numb. Dlokovu grabbed the gun from Sonic and they nodded to each other as if this was something they had rehearsed. Dlokovu pulled me up from the floor and Sma’s shoulder jerked a little when our hands finally separated. We were both saying ‘NO!’ repeatedly while Dlokovu pushed me into my car and drove away.”
Noma the writer 