LUXOLO

I step inside the huge dining area being led by Jaguar of course, and my hands are tied up for everyone’s “saftey” as they’ve said. I’m wearing a blue  overall with saftey boots, and my dreads are hanging freely of which I find quite weird because I always tie them or plait them, I don’t even remember when was the last time were they this loose. Men with expensive suits with cigars in their hands, glasses of whiskies before them, and all kinds of food placed neatly on top of the table are sitting around the feasting table their eyes fixed on me as I stop on my tracks, and not moving forward. Jaguar pushes me forward making me stumble, I spin my head around, and look at her, and seeing her grinning like a fool irks me. My nose flares, and my right eye start twitching. The day I will get my hands on this girl she will wish that she should’ve treated me differently because I will make sure that I kill her without flinching, enhlek mina naye ikhombene klaar.

“Move!” She commands me pushing me foward until I’m standing before the 20 men, oh wait. 15 men, and 5 females. I didn’t see the females because everyone here looks exactly the same, all buffed up & shit.

“Welcome diamond. How lovely of you to join us this evening. Please take a seat, we’ve been waiting for you.” Speaks the man who reprimanded us earlier on.

Me: “No. I’d rather stand.” He gets up from his chair giving one of the guard standing beside him his cigar, he fixes his jacket, and unbuttons his shirt folding it showing his awfully looking wrist tattoos, he walks around the table like a gentleman he thinks he is. Few more steps he is standing before me his hand steadying my face to look at him.

Him: “I heard about you. I know about you, and I know your pathetic little boy you call a boyfriend.” But what you don’t know is that I am a killer, a cold-blooded killer, self-proclaimed of course. Well, it seems like he has done his research, but oops. There are loopholes in his so-called research. “I know your mother, and I know that she’s staying with your sister currently due to her health issues.” See? I told you that his research have some loop holes in it, he is still withholding old information about me. Stupid Italian man, I guess not all Mafias are clever after all, some are just good at giving orders while sitting behind the table sipping on some whiskey, smoking cigars, just like him.

Me: “And?”

Him: “And nothing. wait,” he walks around, and stand behind him, he breathes down my neck making me snare. “I heard that you are also hot-headed, and you are used to getting things your way, all that you need lands safely in your hands after you’ve put up a fight using your mouth.”

Me: “Can you please get straight to the point, and move away behind me you are making me uncomfortable honestly.” He snorts, and laughs once.

Him: “You are telling me what to do? Me, the son of Dominic Duvenge? Me Nikolai?” I roll my eyes. He trails his fingernails up my neck and

splays them beneath the veil of my dreadlocks at the base of my skull, ready

to grip, tug possibly hurt me in the process making me scream, begging him to let go. I cringe at the thought of him pulling my dreadlocks with force so much that I feel like they will leave my skull, and I’ll bleed from there.

Me: “Yes. You are making me uncomfortable,” hissing. He abruptly steps back letting go of my dreadlocks as they fall on my back, I suck in some air waiting for him to do whatever he wants to do with me. I hear him snare, and knuckles cracking, shit it’s about to go down, but I’m not going down without a fight I will not be allowed to be bullied by them. I’m sure in their minds they think that all women fear them, and weak. I wouldn’t be surprised if these women sitting here right now together with Jaguar wanted to be here. They are placed here against their will, and I’m sure they had to go through shit, and quite numerous number of abuse to secure those seats that they are occupying right now looking all serious their gaze focused on me as if I’m something disgusting, or maybe their fathers put in some words for them to be here, or maybe their fathers are present here, and they forced them to be here. Hmmm, “family legacy” type of shit, I guess. I don’t think their opinions even matters around here, they are here for the sake of being here. But I’m not them, I will not allow to be bullied by these men, and I hope those girls out there are also not going to be sitting in these chairs. We need more female protagonist, I mean, we are always portrayed as weak human beings, and I don’t want that. Unfortunately, we all don’t have the same vision.

Him: “You sure have a mouth diarrhea going on there little missy, but few days here will teach you to keep your mouth shut, and you will do as we tell you. You will follow our rules, this is not South Africa, this is Italy, and here everyone lives by my rules. By the Cosa Nostra rules!”

Me: “Fuck the Cosa Nostra rules, and fuck you too. In fact, fuck everyone present in this very same room right now!” They all gasp.

“Diamond you are crossing the line now.” Antony reprimands me, a bubble of laughter surge out of my mouth. He is the last person to talk about crossing the line, I wonder where is Sol in all of this.

Me: “You, Antony, you are the last person to tell me about crossing the line. You are the one who crossed the line, and put me here in this place. Wena Antony, you brought me into this place without my will! So, don’t you dare tell me about crossing the line, don’t you fucking dare!” I spit on the floor. A slap lands on my cheek making me stumble.

“Enough!” Nikolai roars. “That’s enough. You need to be taught some respect, and some manners diamond. I will not allow you disrespecting us any further, I will not tolerate such disrespect in the presence of these respected people sitting in that darn table!” He is angry, he roars at me pacing up & down running his hand in his curly hair. But, I still don’t give a fuck about his anger, none!

Me: “Oh, please. Do teach me those manners, and some respect. I’m sure you didn’t think that I will fight you, and stand up for myself right? Seeing that you succeeded drugging me, and bringing me here then you have another thing coming. I’m not like all these weak women you are used to, I’m a rare breed Nikolai. There’s only 20 of us in this world who are rare. I will not bow down to you, not now, and not in this life time! Never, I will not bow down to you, that’s a promise. But you will bow down to me Nikolai, you will!” Another slap lands on my cheek, and I chuckle as I taste blood in my mouth.

Him: “Take her away at this instant Jaguar before I lose it, and cut her throat right the fuck now! Move her away from my eyes before I go crazy, while taking her away bring me one of the girls I need to off load some sperms!” He rapes these girls too? Talk about being cruel, but as for me I will not be his statistic ahh neva shame. Jaguar grabs me by my arm roughly walking me out of the dining area, my laugh is the only thing that its heard here as it echos behind the very marble looking walls. The door shuts close behind us.

Jaguar: “You have some nerve pretty little thing to talk to Nikolai in that manner. You have some fucking nerves to disrespect the boss in that manner, in front of his associates, you are lucky that he didn’t kill you. But, what I do know is that, he will deal with you very soon. Once he is done with all these girls here you will be next.”

Me: “I would love to see that, and I can’t wait for the day where I will blow your brains out to arrive.” She laughs.

Her: “Say what? Hello kitty, you don’t even look like someone who knows how to shoot, let alone hold a gun. Stop being a clown it doesn’t suit you.” She pushes me inside the room where all the other girls are, they all look at me as I pass them, I can’t even read their expressions. “You. With those big eyes come with me the boss needs to have some fun, and you are going show him some good time, you better make sure that he enjoys. Now, get up!” I look at where she is pointing, and a skinny girl stands up looking scared, and tears are already rolling down her cheeks. “Stop wasting time, move!” The girl jumps up, and hurry toward Jaguar.

Me: “Why not choose someone better? Someone more matured, after seeing Nikolai I doubt he will want someone so skinny & weak. I trust you to do better than that, I’m sure you don’t want to disappoint the boss,” I climb on top of the bed, resting my back on the wall, my legs crossed. She growls, and push the girl to the bed taking another one, well this one looks happy, and she’s definitely matured. They walk out of the room, and the skinny girl breaks down into tears. Sighs, it’s going to a be long of whatever that is going on here. TK better find me, soon, not unless I find ways to contact him, and send him my location.

“Don’t even think about it, it won’t happen

” says one of the girl settling next to me. I turn my head to look at her, and she looks real hard on the face bakwethu, her face tells a lot, she clearly have been through a lot. “Milan. My name is Milan.” She stretches her hand for me to shake, and I strech mine as we clasp. 

Me: “Luxolo, but known by my stage name diamond.”

Her: “Lovely meeting you diamond. So, what would you like to know? And by the way, I stan your bravery.” A smile creeps out of my face. Well, well. What do we have here, I guess my stay here will not be that bad, it will be bearable.

Me: “Everything that is to know, and don’t leave anything out.”

Her: “Make space for me, I will tell you all that you need to know, and all the torture that we go through here. Only the brave makes it out alive, I’ve been around for too long witnessing gruesome acts taking place here, and people dying right before my eyes.” I’m already intrigued by this fold over. I make space for her, and she starts by sucking in some air…

★»★«

TSAKANI

The sun have set last evening, and it’s up again now, this very morning. It’s a new day, and still no sign of bubbles whereabouts we’ve tried tracking her, but nothing comes up, even Sol’s location is unknown, but we are sure that they are not here in South Africa. The hours, minutes and seconds are counting, I don’t even know what’s happening with her at this instant, what are those men doing to her, has she eaten, yet? I couldn’t sleep last night, I’ve been standing in this very same position hoping that I will see her walking through that door, but nothing. Right now I feel like a failer, I’ve failed protecting her, and now her life is in the hands of sick bastards Lord knows what they are doing to her. The cup in my hand break as I squeeze it with pressure. Fuck it. Leon steps inside the kitchen looking drained just like me, he rubs his neck streching it, he stands next to me. Talon, Lee & Batista I don’t know where they are. I last saw them around 02:45am in the morning.

“Still no news?” I shake my head. “Let’s hope that the guys will bring us good news, or maybe they will come back with some leads. We can only hope.” He tells me switching on the kettle. “Want some?” I shake my head. “I hate seeing you like this man, seeing you this broken is not cool. The last time I saw you this broken was when your father passed on, when his casket was lowered, and that was 10 years ago. You need to be strong man, be strong for her because I know that wherever she is, she’s fighting for her freedom. She’s fighting real hard.”

“She is supposed to be here with me, not fighting for her freedom! How long is she going to fight for her freedom? We don’t even know who’s holding her captive as we are talking right now, we fucking don’t know. With every minute passing my heart aches, I can’t sit here, and not do anything.”

Him: “We are trying all we could to find her, but no one is coming through for us. But don’t give up man, we will keep on trying until we find her.”

Me: “I’m tired of that ‘we will keep trying until we find her’ line, I’m tired of hearing it Leon, I’m fucking tired!” I bang the kitchen counter, and groan.

Him: “I know man, I know that it’s tiring, but… You know what, let’s wait for the others to get here while I make us that coffee.” My mind traces to bubble’s mother I’m sure she’s been trying to contact her to no avail, and now she’s worried sick about her another reason as to why I must find bubbles fast before these news reach her mother’s ears, and her high blood shooting sky rocket, plus I also heard that she has stroke, so imagine the stress she will be subjected to, or they reach Lindiwe’s ears, whom I don’t really know what she will do. Sighs. My phone rings, and it’s Sabelo fuck. I just watch it ring, I’m sure he’s calling to tell me that bubble’s mother can’t get hold of her, and she’s worried sick about her, blah blah.

The door flies open, and the guys step in they look exhausted, I don’t blame them though, they’ve been working real hard trying to trace bubbles, I’m sure they’ve exhausted their resources in trying to find bubbles.

Me: “Thank you all for all that you are doing for me, but you all deserve some rest you’ve been working tirelessly in helping me find bubbles.”

Batista: “Rest? Rest for what? We are not resting until we find diamond man, we need to find her, and get her back here safe, we will not rest until she’s found TK. We are with you all the way.”

Me: “I know man, but we’ve tried all that we could. Whoever took bubbles made sure that they take her to where we can’t find her, they knew exactly what they were doing, and Adele doesn’t have anything to do with this, that I’m sure of that, in fact none of my enemies do. But someone, who doesn’t know me, who haven’t heard of me took her, but who?”

Leon: “It’s that Antony. He’s the one who took bubbles.”

Me: “If it’s him then why did he take her? What does he want with her because I’m quite sure that bubbles did nothing to him. She only worked with him for like what? Four days then he kidnaps her? And not only that, but Sol was the first one to disappear. What if this Antony was always watching everything from a distance? What if he had people working for him posing as Sol’s workers noting down everything that was happening in Sol’s club, noting down all the workers daily activities, following them around finding information about them?”

Lee: “You might be right, and if that’s the case, then that person knows that you are diamond’s boyfriend, and it shows that he ain’t scared of you, or maybe he doesn’t know who you are. It makes sense, and to tell you the truth finding bubbles will take time because we are only working with a name here, no last name, no nothing, just a random name of a person. I hate to tell you this, but someone must tell you. We will not find bubbles with only a name, it’s mission mpossible, and we are doomed we are actually wasting our time, and resources.” I hate to admit it, but he’s right. Dealing with a name only is useless, this is harder than it is, and it wil make it even more hard for us to find bubbles, I’ve really failed her, but giving up is not an option I will have to track Sol’s family, I must find them, if I find the information then it will be easy for us to find bubbles.

Me: “You are right. But, if we can track Sol’s family maybe we might find something about him, and possibly find out what links him with Antony, then that way it will be easier for us to find bubbles.” I see them looking at me with eyes full of hope, that finally something is looking up. The question is; will we find something tangible? I would like to believe that we would. Hold on a little longer bubbles I’m coming to save you. Lee’s phone rings interrupting the moment, he takes it out of his pocket, and stares at the screen then at us.

Him: “It’s Lindiwe.”

Talon: “Ek’se? Hhayi ifahle yamazi ngeke ayeke phansi, futhi ke mele sim’beke endabeni.” (Answer her, you know that she will not hang up, and besides we must tell her what’s going on) he nods, and answers it.

Him: “Hey.”

Her: “Hey, do you have any idea where Luxolo is because I’ve been trying to call her, but my callls aren’t going through?” He looks at us, honestly I don’t know how I feel about him telling Lindiwe about bubbles disappearance considering the fact that it was said that she went on a very serious mission, and she needs no disturbance. But this? This will surely disturb her mission. “Lee. Where is Luxolo?” Her voice is hoarse now.

Him: “She has be…”

“Abducted. She has been abducted by a man named Antony.” Batista injects.

Her: “What? And when did this happen? Where? Actually you know what, don’t answer those questions I’m flying there first thing tomorrow morning, bye.” She hangs up. We all look at each other, and not say anything hopefully her flying back here will help us find bubbles fast.

Leon: “While we wait for her to come back, can you please give me Sol’s last name.” I take out my phone from my pocket, and go to my documents I’ve stored everyone’s information, those whom I do business with. I hand him my phone.

Talon: “Ngathi angafiika namabhoza u lovey k’sasa kunyiwe nombolo 1.” (I wish that she can come with the bosses tomorrow, and make things happen one time.

Leon: “Nothing is coming up, and all his websites are down. There’s nothing.” Fuck! Fuck maarn!

Batista: “Kwaze kwa burd. Lindiwe is our last hope, these people did some thoroughly planning because this is beyond professional! They planned this whole thing very fucking well, I give it to them.”

Lee: “They really did, and they’ve covered their tracks well too, we are dealing with real Mafias here, not these wannabe mafias” Right.