TSAKANI

Talon steps inside the house panting followed by Batista their clothes are torn & bloody they’ve been gone for over 5 hours, and now they come back drenched in sweat. Me, Lee & Leon get on our feet, and look at them.

“Kuhambeni majita?” (What happened) Lee asks with so much urgency in his voice.

“Kuyanyiwa e Witbank bafwethu. Yi war enzima kabi daar, akusi magazi kuyafiwa.” (It’s bad at Witbank. There’s a serious war going on that side, people are dying like flies) Talon responds.

Lee: “Witbank? Benofunani daar fer so?” (What were you doing so far)

Batista: “The guy that we were looking for said that he’s at Witbank, and he doesn’t have transport, so we told him that we will come, and fetch him only to find some serious gang war going on.”

Talon: “E baba kuyafiwa wonke umuntu zwap ziyafa ziyabhoda macala onke.” (People are dying everywhere) we laugh, trust Talon to make fun out of a serious situation.

Leon: “Then why are you drenched in sweat & T-shirts torn? Not forgetting the bloody T-shirts?”

Batista: “They were chasing us with 3 cars, the way we were flying on the N12 neh? Yoh, we almost caused accidents mus. Then we decided to take the bushes for shorts cuts, ehhh the car that was behind us started firing shots at us, since I was driving I had to duck, and Talon’s head was down all this time. I increased the speed until we reached a dead end…”

Talon: He injects. “Haike, kwavela I beast sbhudubhudu abafwethu yabayenzani? Amakari wajika waba I fufa emoyeni, yhey bekuyi film. Yadabula oyi one phakathi igazi lasaphazeka yonke indawo, bheka ne ndwango yami edura njani inamabala abomvu, yoh bafwethu ngilimele faarn. Ngisani beka, yabhodla daai dang, hhayi mina no Batista sabhekana kayi one sathi ntla, hhayi saba u Bolt no Caster sathi shup, gone thina.” (Anyway, a beast appeared from out of nowhere gents, and what did it do to them? Cars became aeroplanes flying in the air, it was a film. It tore one man in two and blood spilled everywhere, look at my expensive T-shirt it has red spots, I’m hurt. As I was telling you, that beast burped, erh then Batista & I look at each, and we took off running). We laugh. “Ninga lakgi cishe sabhoda.” (Don’t laugh, we almost died)

Lee: “Why do I feel as if like you are lying?”

Him: “E baba, E baba asishovi u 2 la nombolo 1 kanye nje.” (Hey man, we are not lying we are telling the truth)

Lee: “Ohooo. Let me pretend as if I believe you guys. So, we have no sketcher?”

Leon: “Let’s try asking google for recommendations I’m sure we will find a good one.”

Talon: “Athi ngo splasha fast ngisuse lenyakanyaka.” (Let me go, and take a quick one)

Batista: “Let me join you.”

Him: “Whoa, whoa ndoda. Awume ned lapho. Uya va?” (Stand right there, where are you going) Lee giggles.

Batista: “Ahh… Skh… Hhayi ndoda, ucabanga ukuthi?” He laughs. “Awurhalisi ndoda, awushelile phola. Imagine me craving you? Hhayi phola nja!” Leon erupts in laughter, and I just chuckle shaking my head. These guys are crazy I tell you.

Him: “Hhe? Athi ng’thule before kuphele umcimbi.” (Let me keep quiet before I end the ceremony) he clicks his tongue, and walks away. Batista laughs.

Batista: “I still wonder where did you get this boy from, he is crazy.”

Lee: “Tell me about it, finding anyone Leon?”

Him: “Just a few candidates, but I don’t trust any of them.”

Me: “Man, just get me that sketcher whether you trust them or not I need bubbles found we can’t keep on wasting any more time. Days are moving, and I’m sure she’s shit scared wherever she is. Just get me one man, and tell him to come immediately. Talon & I will go, and fetch those girls so long, when I come back I need to find that Sketcher here ready.”

Batista: “Please do so Leon.”

Him: “Okay. Let me try this one, and find out if he’s available.”

Me: “If he’s not; tell him to drop everything, and come here.”

Lee: “The fish still bathing?” We laugh.

Batista: “I bet his busy dirtying TK’s towel with his Heineken sperms.” Leon snorts.

“Usho mina njalo skhokho?” (You mean me) he asks stepping inside the lounge looking cleaned up.

Batista: “Correct njayami. Hope you’ve cleaned up your mess, let me go, and freshen up too.”

Me: “Talon asivaye solanda lezifebe zakho zale emkhukhwini.” (Let’s go, and fetch those bitches of yours from those shacks)

Him: “Yini? Seniyitholile I sketcher?”

Me: “Leon usahlanganisa asivaye.”

Him: “Yoh, bayothi sajola manje sinawe!” (They will think that you & I are dating now) I laugh.

Me: “Inkinga I vha lapho? Ngiyashisa phela mina bazoba nomona labobantu.” (Where is the problem there? I’m hot, those people will be jealous of you)

Him: Ek’se? 10111 on speed dial mfana.” We laugh.

Me: “Arhhh, ungang’tsheli ngamagwala. Mas’vaye nes’khathi asimanga.” (Don’t tell me about cowards. Let’s go, time hasn’t stopped moving)

Lee: “Nisihlanganisele igawula daar bo mapapa so manibuya.” (Organize us something to eat, like  porridge when you come back)

Me: “Sure.”

Leon: “Nes’thambisa umphimbo bafethwu.” (And alcohol too) I nod.

Talon: “Mele sibathole abo lovey,” (we must find them) we step inside the car.

Me: “Sizobathola ungafi, plus ne club siyivalile.”

Talon: “Yazi bekoba lula if bekunama footage mara lezinja zihlakaniphile mfana, basuse yonke I evidence. Yonke.” (It was going to be better if we had a footage, but those men are very clever boy, they’ve removed all the evidence)

Me: “Ng’shayile skhokho mara sizobathola, ungafi.”

Him: “Nakanjani.” I bring the engine to life, and take off.

 

 

 

★»★«

 

 

 

 

LUXOLO

This hot potato training as they call it is very dangerous maarn. Who on earth plays with grenades? Real grenades the ones that explodes when you pull the pin. So, here’s how it goes; we pass the grenades at each other we are split in 40 groups each group consists of 8 members which means that there’s 320 of us in total, 320 women being trained to be terrorists or military combats as they call it here… You need to tame seconds before the bomb explodes whilst in your hands then throw it in the hole nearby, and we must all jump, and lie flat on our tummies covering our ears till it explodes this game is very dangerous maarn. Sidlala ngama bhomu, yesis. At least no one got hurt, well, not yet anyway, but I’m not sure about the other groups since we are a little far apart.

“Move it! Move it!” Samina commands us. She is cruel just like Jaguar, and look too manly with her ugly ponytail, and tattoos. “I said move it!” A strike meets my back, and I yelp. I don’t know what is it that she want because we are doing exactly what she asked of us, circling the hole, these clothes are flipping hot, and the sun ain’t having mercy on us. Another strike lands on my back even with this big jacket I can feel the stinging sensation, it’s a steel spiked cane after all, and she uses force when she hits you.

The last girl throws the grenade inside the hole a little too late because it explodes before we can lie down on the grass instead it sends us flying as we drop in different spots. Luckily for us the hole is a little deep. I wince as my leg start aching, and my face feels so hot I bet I have some mud on my face, ouch. I close my eyes, and within a second they fly open someone kicks my ribs.

“Get the fuck up, and move it!” She yells kicking me once more.

“My- my leg. It’s hurting.” I tell her looking at her straight in the eyes. She chuckles, and her cane strike that very same leg that hurts. Then she puts her boot on top of my leg jumping, and laughing. I cry out in pain, it hurts.

Her: “Get the fuck up right now! Don’t make me drag you!” I attempt getting up, but I fail. She gets hold of my locks, and drags me across the grass taking me to the mud run ground. The other girls cheer, some inflict pain by kicking me on that very same leg causing me more pain. One finds the opportunity that I think she was waiting for, and spit on my face with her phlegm as the others laugh, gross. She spits on me again, and I saw exactly who she is, and when they cheered her name made my blood boil, I’m going to kill her.

Samina throws me in the mud, mud so thick one will think that they are walking on a beach damp sand, but nah this one smells. Horrible for that matter. “Start running, your trainer will be with you shortly.” She kicks me one last time, and she walks away laughing her hair swinging side to side.

“Diamond!” That’s Milan’s voice sounding from far. “Get up, Viktor is coming!” She yells. The girls scurry past me, some step on my leg I don’t know if whether they are doing it deliberately or what.

Me: “I can’t! I can’t get up I’m in pain!”

Her: “Force yourself diamond! Get up right now!” Her voice is now faint as it gets muffled by the sound of a tractor in full speed. I lift my head, and I see it coming towards me. I attempt getting up, but my body ain’t having it, instead I roll out of the way just in time as it passes me its wheels visible on the ground. Fuck! And I’m finally up, but my leg ain’t helping. I try steadying myself, but someone pushes me forward, and I fall with my face sticking on the smelly mud. The sound of the tractor comes again, and once more

I roll out of the way, and settle on the grass again panting. 

I’m yanked up by Viktor with my locks, he steadies me & surveys me. He chuckles, then he does the unthinkable he heads my nose making me bleed instantly.

“What the fuck man!” I shout at him. He is a big man with scars covering his face, and his teeth are crooked, and have brown stains on them. He heads me again, and I groan.

Him: “This is my territory. This is my ground, and you will abide by my rules, my rules!” He lifts me up, and throws me back in the mud. “Get up & fight me.” What? He must be crazy I ain’t fighting him, he will crush me until the mud buries me. I shake my head, and he roars.

“Fight fight fight!” The girls cheer, they are happy with what it’s about to happen, they are happy that I’m going to die today. He sends me flying with just one forceful kick on my chest, and I fall on the mud almost hitting my head on the wheel of the tractor I just missed it by an inch.

“Get up!” He roars, and he runs towards me, kahle kahle his aim is to jump at me burying me beneath his big body, hahaha, what a sick joke! I knee him on his balls, and he groans my lower body is between his parted legs, I use my left leg to kick him from behind, and he loses balance going forward, and a loud thud fell on my ears as everyone around us gasps. Shit, I hope I did not kill him. He is about to fall on top of me, and I push myself down, and he falls to the ground knees bent, I couldn’t even bring myself to look at him. Once more I killed a person, but it wasn’t intentional.

A sound of danger siren ring indicating that there’s danger, I close my eyes tightly. He died, good. He was going to kill me anyway, but unfortunately for him his plan didn’t go accordingly.

“You are so dead diamond. So dead.” She whispers, and helps me up. “But he deserved it, girl I need your bravery, I really do. That was fucking impressive maarn!” She puts my arm around her shoulder, and we start walking the others have left, but some are still standing, shocked trying to process the fact that I Killed a man whom they’ve known for months if not years. The man who trained them, barely a month here, and she already has blood in her hands I bet that’s what they are saying to themselves.

“Shit!” I curse as Nikolai together with his people approach us, he is angry. Milan & I come into a halt, I can feel Milan shaking besides me. “Keep it together Milan. He’s here for me not for you.” I tell her, and she nods unsure. Nikolai stands before us, and he spits on the ground right before my feet.

Him: “Strip her naked!” His guards wait for no further instructions, they manhandle me as one of the guard pushes Milan away from me. I’m naked before everyone here, and to tell you the truth I don’t care. “Jaguar, flock her!” Jaguar smiles coming toward me, she has her whip in her hand.

“Flock her! Flock her!” The girls cheer, these girls are really delusional bayahlanya straight, instead of siding with me, they are siding with these abusers, but I don’t blame them, I’m sure they give it them real good. I suck in air as the first strike comes into contact with my thighs, I bite my lower lip hard as she continues flocking me. Tears are streaming down my cheeks, I’m looking Nikolai straight in the eyes as Jaguar have her way with my body, the anger building inside me right now will turn me into something I’m not, and they’re turning me into a different person slowly, but surely. I can feel myself getting wet it’s clear that blood is seeping out of my thighs, and back. “Bang bang!” That’s a sound of gunshots ringing close to my ears, Jaguar stops flocking me, and I see Nikolai widening his eyes in horror together with his cartel. I slowly turn my head around, and I find Milan pointing the gun at Jaguar whose lying on the floor very much alive, it seems like Milan shot her on her shoulder because that’s where her hand is.

Nikolai: “Take them to the dead room. They will be there for 5 days with no food or water given to them, and no visitors will be allowed for them. And as for you.” He looks at me straight in the eyes. “I will deal with you. You’ve killed my man, and you are showing no remorse for it, you look pleased by what you did. I’m going to slit your throat, in fact I’ll start with your friend here, you will watch her die a slow painful death, and there will be nothing you can do.” Milan giggles.

Her: “You will never kill me Nikolai. Never, ever!” She spats on his face, and Nikolai send a fist her way, and she stumbles backward shaking her head.

Him: “Dead room right now! But first, you must cut her dreadlocks. Samina, attend Jaguar.” His guards grab us roughly, and walk away with us.

Me: “Why did you do that?”

Her: “I was tired of them. They’ve been abusing us for far too long, they were treating us like shit. And to be honest, I really wanted to shoot Jaguar I’ve been waiting for a very long time for an opportunity to present itself, and it sure did, too bad she ain’t dead.”

Me: “Well, you can make a good candidate for my female mafia cartel that I want to work on.”

Her: “Say what? I’m in, and I can also help with recruiting very dangerous females in the game, as much as I’m locked inside here I have ears & eyes outside.”

Me: “So, can’t your eyes & ears sneak in a phone for us or tell them to contact someone for me who’s in South Africa.” This is me taking my chance, I need to be out of here before things get out of control.

Her: “I will gladly do that, and we have a lot of things to discuss being in that dead room will be very useful for us, we can come up with an escape plan without anyone knowing.”

Me: “You are very much correct, and I will heal while there.” She laughs.

Her: “Damn, they’ve really panel beaten you. They fucking did you bad.”

Me: “Fuck you.”

Her: “It takes two to fuck, you know right?”

Me: “Yuck. I don’t do girls.”

Her: “There’s always a first time for everything.” We both laugh, and the guards shove us inside the dead room. Nausea simmers from my mouth when I see all these dead bodies, and the smell is unbearable. Shit! Everything that I ate spews on the dead bodies before me. Milan laughs. “You will be fine, don’t worry.” She pats my shoulder. How cruel are these people? Damn, so many dead bodies here. Milan leads us to a certain corner, and we both sit down the floor is cold though. Sighs.

 

 

 

 

★»★«

 

 

 

 

TSAKANI

The ladies are sitting here, their legs are shaking and Zama keeps on biting her fingers. Arenele is looking down, and they reek of alcohol. I don’t really care much about them, all I need is for them to describe this Antony fucker for us. Leon went out moments ago to fetch the guys that will be helping us with sketching. Talon, Lee & Batista are eating Zama & Aranele refused eating I don’t know if whether they are scared or what.

“Hhayi fok basidliza kabuhlungu labo lovey laba haikhona akigwinyeki nale thambo le nyoka lishaye I tsi la ku pipe.” (No man, these girls are making us uncomfortable, we can’t even swallow peaceful even the bone of the wors is stuck on my throat) We laugh. Talon complains.

“Bengithi yimi k’phela mus ndoda.” (I thought I was the only one) Lee says.

Batista: “And I’m enjoying, no complaints no nothing. TK ndoda kuyaphela ukudla.” (The food is finishing)

Me: “Idlani gents.” He nods. I will eat once the sketcher gets here, and we have the face of Anthony on a paper. Just then Leon gets in followed by 2 other guys, they greet and Leon introduces them as Ludo & Mndawe. Mndawe is the sketcher, and Ludo is the friend. His aura is too dark just like mine, and he is looking at me like he knows me from somewhere. Creepy if you ask me. “Thank you for coming gents. You may start.”

“It’s good to see you boys safe & sound.” His directing his words to Talon & Batista. “But I’ve got to give it to you though, you guys can run maarn. Caster Semenya & Bolt have nothing on you.”

Talon: “Ek’se? Ungubani? Uyasazi?” (Who are you? Do you know us) Talon’s hand is already on his waist.

Him: “Chill boy, relax, and enjoy your meal.” He winks at him. Batista just shakes his head.

Him: “No one. So, who are we sketching again?” I shake my head.

Me: “Zama, Aranele start talking.” I cross my legs, and play with my watch. I can feel Ludo’s stare, fuck!