THE OTHER BROTHER
CHAPTER 37
MKHULEKO
He slowly opens his eyes. Through the shining light he manages to fully open them. His eyes also feel gritty. His chest is aching. His whole body is nuts – hard a rock. A huge sigh leaves his mouth. He can attest he managed to run away from that man's tight grip. After the explosion he really didn’t know what happened. He finally finds the courage to stand up with his wobbly weak legs. How did he run this far? He can tell that he is far away from the scene. He scans his surroundings – at least he is familiar with the place. Khanyi should be around too, but his mind registers the unthinkable. Shock takes over when his mind drifts off to Khanyi. He needs to find the courage to stand firm and go look for her. For how long has he been out? Is it still the same day? He has nothing on him. Only his wristwatch with a cracked screen. He finally finds the strength to stand up fully. At first, he gets dizzy but manages to put balance on his week's legs. He looks around once more – he clearly remembers what happened. He will take the route that landed him here. Indeed, he follows on his trails until he reaches the main road. Hiking will be an option until he knows what to do next.
Been standing here for quite some time hoping for a car to stop by. I have no other option but to use my two aching feet and walk the distance. Everything pains. A truck pulls over from a distance. I rush towards it. Maybe this is my luck, but I do not have anything on me.
"Get in.” He shouts.
“I don’t have anything on me and...”
“I know. Now get in I don’t have all day.” The driver is so kind enough to let me in without a cent. Without asking further questions I hop in and take a deep sigh. "Where to?” He asks and starts the truck and joins the main road.
"Town." I retort leaning backwards. He nods his head and gives me a bottle of water.
"You must be needing this.”
Indeed, I gulp it down without stopping. I was so thirsty, and I did not notice. I burp and calm my nerves down. He keeps side eyeing me. I know he wants to ask questions but with holding.
"I was hijacked along the freeway. They took all of my belongings. I can't even find my girlfriend. I don’t even know where to begin to even search for her.” I say.
"Sout Africa with crime these days, it will shock you. I really don’t know what has gotten to our black fellow South Africans. It’s like this generation is cursed in a way.” He clicks his tongue and huffs. My eyes are wandering around hoping to find what belongs to me. But nothing in sight. It’s like she vanished into the air. “There was an accident along the freeway.” He adds. My heart stops beating for a second. What if Toti was knocked down by a car. Indeed, a lot of traffic when approaching.
“What happened?” I ask.
“There was a shootout. And I heard the driver died on the spot.” Okay that cannot be her. I sigh out of relief. I know she is somewhere alone, but I just don’t know exactly were. The driver slows down the truck. Two cops come from the side, and we are both told to step out of the truck. We do as told. They searched us and searched for the truck too.
“What is this all about?” I asked one of the officers.
“We are on the lookout for the shooters.” He responds.
“Then what does this have to do with us?” It doesn’t make sense. Shouldn’t they search the camera’s or something. Do they really think the shooters will be round the crime scene? Our South African police services are a true joke.
“For now, everyone is a suspect.”
This is bullshit. Imagine the time wasted all for nothing. We pass by the scene, and I get to have a glimpse of the car. This is not it! It can't be happening. Isn't that Thabi’s car? I feel my heart stop beating for a second. Manqoba comes to mind, but I refuse to believe anything. This can’t be happening.
“Who was driving the car?’ I ask.
“The news, lets listen maybe they will update us.” He opens the radio fully.
“The young respective man was admitted to the hospital. Unfortunately, we will not be disclosing his location due to safety reasons. But what I can say is a woman and two gentlemen are here. Looks like it is the girlfriend. This does not look good at all. Will be back with more updates please stay tuned.”
“Shame man the poor guy. At least he survived. People are spreading rumors that he is dead.” He shakes his head and sighs. I am close to my destination. I need to go to the house and take a bath before I run around in search of Khanyi and there is a Manqoba situation too. Who shot him and for what reason? I need to have the team on standby. They need to find the culprit behind the shooting. The people that were after us - I can bet that it is the very same people that were tailing Manqoba. So, our moves were monitored, and we were not aware of it.
