by Craig Smith
been standing there for almost a minute without saying a word.
“I’m fine. I have to go now,” mumbled Siswe. He wanted to get away before Jacobs decided to come looking for him.
Gunter frowned, but then smiled. Siswe was probably going to be late for his lift home if he didn’t rush. “Thanks for
the movie and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day.”
“I should be thanking you for the movie.” Siswe edged away. “See you on Monday.”
Gunter and the others were left there standing in silence.
“What a strange little boy,” commented Amy as she walked off and the others followed.
“A little, yes,” replied Gunter, “but he’s a good kid.”
“I agree,” chipped in Fred, “he’s fun to have around.”
Sunday 24th March 11:00am
Siswe slept in. He had a big project to finish, and he wanted to be well rested and able to concentrate on it properly. Around 11:00 he made his way out of the house and sat in the shade against the tree. He found it the best place in the world to finish his homework. He was halfway through his work when he saw a shadow loom over his book. He had been so absorbed in his books that he hadn’t heard the person approach. He thought it was his mother and looked up. She had gone inside to make him a snack and get him a glass of milk. He gave a little jump when he saw it was Jacobs.
“You were always the scared one. Not as fearless as your brother.”
“What’s it to you?”
“Watch yourself.” Jacobs patted something in his pocket. From the shape he could tell it was a gun.
Siswe swallowed. From what he had seen, he knew that Jacobs wasn’t afraid to use it.
“You’re here about Thomas?”
“No, but he’s going to be sorted out soon.”
“When?
“Soon, but that is not why I’m here.”
“Then why?” asked Siswe, the man might have a gun, but would he really hurt the brother of his gang’s leader? He doubted it very much. Besides he had important homework to do, and he had to get back to it.
Jacobs breathed in deeply as if he was controlling some inner rage and doing a bad job of it.
“Those people you were with yesterday. Who were they?”
Siswe’s heart jumped into his mouth. Fear swept over him. If Jacobs was asking about them then he didn’t have good intentions.
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t lie to me!”
“I was with no one yesterday.”
“Siswe...” Jacobs went for the gun in his pocket. “I saw you with some people in the mall. Now who were they?”
“Those people?” asked Siswe, he made to get up off the ground, but Jacobs moved in closer making it very hard for him to do so.
“Yes!” Jacobs kicked one of his books across the yard.
“I don’t know who they are, they were just looking at the shop like me.”
Jacobs pulled out his gun and pointed it at Siswe. Siswe tried to climb backwards up the tree. What had got into Jacobs? Why was he acting like this?
Jacobs swore. “You’re playing with your life, man! Now tell what I want to know! Now!”
Siswe hadn’t been so scared in his whole life. “The blond haired kid is my friend.”
“Ha! Your friend? Who would want to be your friend?”
“He is!” he shouted. His brother might be braver, but Siswe also had his temper.
“He looks rich. And the girl?”
Just then they heard some breaking glass behind them. Siswe fearfully looked behind Jacobs. It was his mother. She had dropped the plate and glass she had been holding. He prayed that she would run for it, but she didn’t. Her face turned very grim, and she advanced determinedly towards Jacobs as if she was a prize fighter who was just about to beat the seven shades of something out of someone.
Jacobs was suddenly very jumpy after the glass smashing and the appearance of Siswe’s mother. He jumped side to side and then dashed down the side the house. Siswe’s mother ran after him shouting in Zulu and trying to throw things at him. Siswe was frozen to the spot. He closed his eyes and cringed. He hoped that he didn’t hear a gun shot, but luckily all he heard was a car revving and roaring off.
Siswe got off the ground and dusted himself off. He felt a little dizzy and almost fell over again. His body was quivering. His mother came around the corner. She still looked angry, but when she saw her son’s very worried face she ran up to him and hugged him tight. He started to say something, but she stopped him and held him tighter. She whispered an old traditional nursery rhyme to him that she used to sing it to him every night before he went to bed when he was younger. It had been so long since he had heard it. He felt calm settle over him.
“Come let’s go get some tea and you can tell me all about it.” The way she said it made Siswe know in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t going to let him be until she knew everything. Siswe’s heart dropped again. How could he let his mother down so much? Would she ever forgive him?
They sat inside the main house kitchen. The family of the house were away for the weekend. Siswe’s mother made them some hot tea.
Siswe looked into his cup, and was lost in his thoughts and only snapped out of it when his mother cleared her throat. Siswe knew there was no way of telling her about Jacobs spotting Gunter without telling her about the hijacking. He didn’t know where to begin.
“You’re going to hate me for this.”
“I can never hate you! Now get on with it.”
Siswe told her everything from the time Jacobs came to visit him, the hijacking, the time he spent with Gunter and his family until the time Jacobs spotted him in the mall. His mother actually cried when he told her about the hijacking and he wanted to stop to comfort her, but she wouldn’t let him. He felt like crying too, but he fought the urge, because he knew if he did he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“Siswe, I’m so disappointed in you...” She took the tea cups to the kitchen sink. “Did you not see what happened to your brother when he did things like that?”
“He went to jail...”
“Exactly. You’re forbidden to do anything like that again, you understand me?”
“I do, Mom. I felt so angry and disappointed with myself, I don’t think even I could live myself if I did something like that again. Are you going to call the cops on me?”
“I’m very tempted to, Siswe, very tempted. You shouldn’t follow in your father’s footsteps like Thomas did.”
“You should...” trailed Siswe, he hadn’t felt so bad about something in a very long time, not since his father had died when he was younger.
“I will if you do it again, that’s what I did to Thomas. I tipped the cops off about him.”
“You did?” Siswe was shocked. He never knew this.
“It was for his own good, if he stayed out on the streets another day he would have been dead. You know your brother. Do you think he would have stopped what he was doing, because someone told to him to?”
“No he wouldn’t”
“Now tell me why do you think Jacobs is interested in your new friend Gunter?”
“Jacobs thinks he has a lot of money.”
“Is that true?”
“I’m not sure, but most probably. He dresses well and seemed to have the latest cellphone and a very nice watch.”
“This is bad, Siswe. I really wish you never got involved with Jacobs, he is really bad. Even your brother was afraid of what he might do.”
“I think he might want to kidnap Gunter.”
“Seriously?” His mother looked shocked. “But why you say that?”
“He says the contacts who are going to free Thomas are foreigners. One of them was with him at the mall. I’ve heard rumors that they kidnap people and get their family to pay for their release.”
“Siswe, we have to do something. We can’t let this innocent boy get into trouble. I’ll phone the police.”
�
��But what would you tell them, mom?”
“I will tell them what a scumbag Jacobs is, and they will come and arrest him.”
“I wish it was that easy, Mom.”
“I’m not going to do nothing!” Declared his mother. “Do you remember where he lives?”
“Sort of yes.” Siswe wondered if this was a good idea. Jacobs was the wrong sort of guy to mess around with.
“Good.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Give the police an anonymous tip.”
Siswe gave her the details, and she went into the front room and phoned the police. Siswe wanted to go listen, but she shut the door on him.
“That’s done. Now Siswe I want you to go lock the side gate, and go finish your homework. Madam will be back soon, and I have a lot of work to do, so get a move on.”
Siswe cautiously went and locked the side gate and continued his homework. It was a task made even harder by the fact that his mind was racing at a million miles an hour. He had to warn Gunter about the whole situation, and Jacobs’s comment about Fred’s sister had made him very uneasy too. He wished he had Gunter’s number so he could phone him.
Monday 25thMarch
It was a very hot morning. Gunter’s side had flared up the night before, and he hadn’t had much sleep. He had the nightmare with the man in the red jacket again, and it was even worse when he thought he had lost the man, ran around a corner and straight into a set of three swords. He took some of his prescribed medication with his breakfast that morning and it took a while to kick in. He couldn’t concentrate properly, due to the pain, but by first break he was feeling a lot better, and back to his normal self. He sat with Ryan and Fred and had a snack. He hadn’t seen Siswe that day yet, he was wondering
