Out of control
“Hey my man, what are you thinking about? You have suddenly gone quiet, come on. What’s up?” Mlu asks his friend Simo who seems to be deep in thought. It’s been really trying times for him and his girlfriend Lee-Ann who’s still at home with her parents. He and the boys have decided to hang out and have a little braai at JB's place, just to get their minds of things.“Oh no man, I’m sorry my mind is just a little all over the place these days. I’m just trying to figure things out a bit hey” Simo says as he slips on his beer. It’s a beautiful clear sky evening, they are chilling on the lawn as the meat is on the braai stand. JB has a complex house in the middle class suburb where he lives with his 9-year-old daughter Nkanyezi and his sister, Thandeka who’s 5 years younger than him.
Just like Simo, they also don’t have parents. The complex isn’t as vibey as the townships but it is not so quiet either. People here are tolerant to one another.
“It is understandable man, it hasn’t been easy, your situation bro, “JB says as he turns on the meat on the stand. Simo and Mlu can’t help but wonder at that. They are actually surprised to hear him say that. “uhmm, I actually thought you of all people would be celebrating this, “Simo says. “I mean we know you really never liked the idea of me or any of us dating a white girl” he looks away, voiding eye contact.
Then JB comes back to sit down next to Simo, “Look man,” he says to him. “Yes, it is true that I have reservations about you guys but you are my friend and I love you. All I want is for you to be happy. You guys know my story. You know what happened to me I don’t have to go into it. But this isn’t about me but it’s about you and your choices. And if Lee-Ann is your happiness, then I’m happy too” he concludes as the three friends toast their bottles up to that.
There’s a moment of silence as each sips his beer. What JB has just said gives Simo a moment of thought as his mind begins to ask questions. Is this the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with? He asks himself. He then smiles at the thought of his answer. His moment is interrupted by a car parking not far from them. It’s a police van. They are all wondering what could this be about. Two police officers get out if the car and come stand next to them.
“Offers, to what do we owe this pleasure? I didn’t even think our music is the loudest in this area. Did the neighbours complain?” JB says as he stands up to greet the men. “Who is Mlungisi Khoza amongst you, gentlemen?” one of the officers asks without showing any emotions. Mlu stands up to extend a hand, “I am gentlemen, how can I be of assistance?” he says. But he didn’t expect what comes next, “Sir, you are under arrest for sexual assault of Juliet Smart” the offer says as he turns Mlu around to put handcuffs on him, much to Simo and JB's shock. “You have a right to remain silent and anything you say now may be used against you in the caught of law…” but the officer is cut off by Simo, “No, no, wait officer” he protests. “There must be some misunderstanding. I think you got the wrong guy”
The other officer pulls him back, “Sir please step aside unless you want to be arrested for obstruction of justice” he says as he assists the other officer to take Mlu who, out of absolute shock has gone mute. Simo and JB go follow them and watch as their friend is roughly put in the van like a bad criminal. They just can’t believe what is happening.
“Simo, please get hold of my lawyer” Mlu shouts as the van's doors shut. “Don’t worry buddy. We will do that okay? It’s going to be okay” Simo shouts back at him as they watch the two officers get into the van and drive of. They are both left there standing in shock. This is not how they had pictured their night going. They had come to cheer Simo up after all the drama that’s been going on in his life. This is the last thing they had expected to happen. They both go and sit down in shock. JB's eyes start to burn with rage as the memories of his past come flooding his mind. Could this be the repeat of his experience? Was he right all along?
“Auntie, please don’t worry about this. Everything is gonna be okay” Simo says speaking to Zandile over the phone. He had told her about what happened last night and she is calling to check how Mlu is. “Yes auntie. He got bail this morning. In fact, JB and I will go to see him in an hour’s time to get the full picture of what happened as none of this makes sense at all” Simo says on the phone.
But their conversation is interrupted by a door bell, “auntie, I’ve got to go, someone is at the door. Must be JB. I will talk to you later okay? I love you” he says as he hangs up to go and the door. He didn’t expect to see Julie standing outside the his fat. For a moment his mind goes blank. He doesn’t know what to make it. Part of him is enraged by that face but yet he wants to know what happened. So, there’s a moment of awkwardness as Julie stands on the other side of the gate, without showing much of an emotion. “Hi Simo” she says with a low voice, looking at him in the eyes, perhaps to see his reaction to all this.
“Can I please come in? I need to speak to you?” Julie says with begging eyes. Simo doesn’t have much of a choice. He’s furious but he wants to know what really happened and when. He opens the gate and let her go straight to the lounge. He watches her as she looks around the wall with pictures of Simo and Lee-Ann. They both sit down. The awkward silence for a moment.
“So, Julie, are you going to tell me what happened?' Someone had to break the silence obviously and Simo seems to be in a hurry to get to the bottom of this bizarre turn of events. Julie looks away for a second trying to avoid eye contact but Simo isn’t moving his eyes of hers. Eventually Julie gathers courage to look at him back. But she still can’t put together the words to respond, which really annoys Simo who is uncharacteristically impatient today, but who can blame him really? It’s his best friend’s life at stake here and her fiancé’s cousin.
“Oh for crying out loud Julie, what really happened there? Why was my friend arrested for sexual assault?” he raises his voice in frustration. “Did you lay the charges? Did you accuse him of such crime?” he looks at her dead in the eyes. He really wants answers.
“How is Mlu?” that’s all the response he gets from Julie, who asks with a low voice. Simo can’t believe what he just heard. He’s thinking to himself what kind of stupid question is that? He can’t respond to the question but continues to look at Julie in the eyes. “ Look, I can’t get into details with the whole story okay” Julie says as she stands up to go and stand by the window, looking down at the parking area. “But look I’m willing to drop the charges,” she says much to Simo’s shock, as this can’t be termed as a relief. It is all confusing to him. He’s not even sure if he heard correctly.
“Excuse me?” he asks as he follows Julie to stand next to her by the window. “You are willing to…Julie Why did you lay the charges to even begin with?” he raises his voice in frustration. “I demand that you tell me what’s going on, right now?” he’s this close to putting his hands on her. That might not be a good idea. The situation is out of hand as it is.
“Look, I said I’m willing to drop the charges, didn’t I?” Julie shouts back as she goes to sit down at the sofa again. Simo follows her, “Oh well then, what’s stopping you from doing that? Huh?” he shouts. “What’s stopping you from doing that exactly, Julie? Huh?” he’s looking at her in the eyes. But the room goes quiet for a moment as it looks like Julie is trying to think of her next words very carefully. But Simo is waiting for the response. “Well, you got to do something first” Julie says as her eyes change dark. Her voice turns rough. Simo doesn’t like the sound of that. But he has to hear what she has to say. He is all ears as he indicates to her with his eyes that she must carry on.
“I need you to break up with my cousin, immediately. And then I will drop the charges” Julie says much to a shocked and confused Simo, who can’t believe he heard what he’s heard. Suddenly everything goes blank for him. It’s like he’s being transported into another dimension where he sees things completely different from what they are. But Julie brings him back into the room by snapping her fingers at him, twice.
“Hey, Simo” she shouts. “Did you hear what I’ve just said?” as she gets closer to a confused Simo, who looks like a man desperately trying to sober up. “I said I will drop the charges if you break up with Lee-Ann immediately, okay?” she gives him a devious look. Now Simo snaps out of it as it now dawns on him that he’s actually not dreaming but this is as real as it can get. Julie, seeing how all this has created a confusion to Simo, she lets out a little devious smile. She stands up and stare down at him, waiting for him to give an answer. Simo is still just a little disoriented but he stands up, “Julie, how can you do something like that?” he asks with a very soft and disappointed voice.
“I mean; I knew you didn’t approve of me as Lee-Ann’s boyfriend but I just didn’t think you were capable of something this evil.” Simo’s eyes are teary as he states at a Julie who looks like she’s just pulled of an ace up her sleeve with the way she’s looking at the hapless man.
“Look, just do what I tell okay and charges shall be dropped. Nothing further shall come out of it.” Julie says as she sits down again. Simo sits down as well, looking defeated. “Does your cousin know you hate her this much?” he asks with a low voice. But Julie seems annoyed with that as she stands up to look down at him again, “I am doing this for her” she shouts angrily. Simo stands up and gets close to her, “Then why are you trying to hurt her this much? Are you that jealous that you will never have what she’s hot that you disguise your jealousy with fake love?” Simo shouts while staring at a Julie who’s not taking it lying down either.
“This is for her protection, demit” she shouts. “I’m trying to protuberance from the likes of you. You are not good for my cousin. None of you are. If she stays with you she’ll end up getting hurt. Call that whatever you want, okay? Call me racist if you must but hell will freeze over before I let you be in her life ever again; you hear me?” Julie picks up her bag and heads towards the door and turns around,
“Break up with her by the end of tomorrow. And I’ll drop the charges” she says to a shocked Simo. “Oh and Simo, don’t tell her that we had this conversation okay? That’s an order right there” as she opens the door, JB was about to knock. He moves out the way and lets her storm out.
“Hey man. What was she doing over here this one?” JB says as she closes the door behind him. “What was that all about man? She also didn’t look happy” he says to a Simo who has lost all words to explain what has just happened. He can’t even explain it himself. He goes over to the window to watch at the parking and sees Julie driving off.
JB is still standing there confused as to what is happening. Even more confused when he sees Simo going to the side table and pours himself huge staff of whiskey and downs it all in one go. He pours another one and does the same. All this to JB's confusion. Simo grabs his keys and jacket, “Let’s go” he says as he heads towards the door. All JB could do is just to follow, still all confused. Simo lets JB out first and the slams the door hard.
***
“Man, will you tell us what really happened there?” Simo asks a visibly upset Mlu. Simo and JB had come to see him and find out what’s really going on. They are sitting in his lounge having beers but none of them is rushing these refreshments down their throats. They are all just looking confused by all that’s happening lately. Mlu, without saying a word, stands up and lean against the wall and looks at the ceiling as if he’s lost for words.
“Yeah man, please just try to bring us step by step into what went down because all this sh*t is confusing” JB jumps in. “I mean that chick was right there at his place” he points to Simo, much to Mlu's confusion. “And this one refuses to tell me what’s going on and why she was at his place. Throughout the journey over here he hasn’t said a single word” he says. But this seems to irritate Simo, “Hey, hey, hey... didn’t I tell you that I will explain everything when we get here, man?” he shouts. “Now please don’t irritate me with that okay?” he’s upset. But JB doesn’t want to escalate things any further so he just shrugs his shoulders.
“Look man, you know you can trust us. So please tell us what happened. Why is Julie accusing you of rape?” Simo asks with a low voice, trying to reason. There’s a moment of awkward silence as Mlu comes back to sit down. He takes a huge sip of his beer, to which both JB and Simo do the same. Another moment of silence passes.
“Look guys” Mlu sighs. “I don’t know why Julie is doing what she’s doing okay. She came to see me a few days ago to discuss your situation with her cousin” he says as he points to Simo. “We actually had a heated argument about it at first because she made it clear that she doesn’t want you near Lee-Ann and of course I had a different view to all that. But how things just took a different turn I don’t know” he says, much to his friends' confusion, “What do you mean?” JB asks. To that, Mlu takes another huge sip and then stands and goes up and down in nervousness, much to the boys' annoyance who wish he could be out with it already.
“Oh well gentlemen. This may not be the best time to say this but, didn’t I warn you about this, huh?” JB shouts as he stands up and goes to the window. To say he’s upset is an understatement. He is furious. “I told you this would happen. And what did you say? Huh?” he says as he comes back to look at Mlu and Simo.
“Did you not you two say I had issues? Even after I had told you guys what that white chick did to me you still thought your girlfriends were different, didn’t you?” he shouts even louder. “JB, please man. Calm down” Simo says with a low voice to which JB obliges and comes back to sit down. But he doesn’t look at his friends. He just looks down in rage. “Oh yes my friend,” Mlu says as he sighs. “Oh yes you actually did warn us. You warned me and I didn’t listen,” he tries to appease. “And now I’m here in this sh*t” he sips his beer in anger. “Now this b*tch will turn me into a rapist and destroy my life and career” he says with a voice that begins to tremble.
Simo brushes him at the back as he looks at JB, “Yeah man. You really warned us and we didn’t listen” he says. “Nobody really wants to hear a I told you so speech but I suppose we deserve it, don’t we?” he says as he avoids eye contact. And then he turns over to Mlu who looks terrified at the thought of being arrested for rape, something he didn’t do.
“As for you man. Don’t worry. She will drop charges” Simo says, much to Mlu's annoyance who says “What the hell, man” he shouts. “Did you hear what I said? She pressed charges and accused me of rape. Why would she have dropped the charges? Clearly she’s been planning this for a while now. She’s always hated me. She’s always hated us. Her plan has always been to destroy me man” he is teary as he stands up to go and pull two 6 packs of cold beer from the fridge. He puts them down, opens one and drinks it half way in frustration.
“yeah man,” JB jumps in. “Look. Clearly this was a stake out okay. She had been planning this all along. That b*tch is racist and hates black people. She’s not going to drop the charges and the very fact that you are going to marry her cousin clearly makes her blood boil and…” but JB doesn’t finish what he was saying as Simo cuts him off, “She wants me to break up with Lee-Ann and then she’ll drop the charges” he says to his friends’ shock. “What?” Mlu is stone faced.
To that, Simo pulls a beer, opens it and drinks it half while his friends watching on in complete shock. He sighs deeply. “Yeah. That’s what she was doing at my place when you saw her,” he says looking at JB. “She will drop the charges if I break up with Lee-Ann” there’s a moment of silence in the room. No one seems to know what to say to all this. But perhaps Mlu is even more shocked, maybe conflicted even. The last thing he wanted was put his friend in such a difficult positon and Simo can see how this is making his friend feel.
“Look man. That’s why I said don’t worry she will drop the charges. Because I will break up with Lee- Ann” Simo says to a speechless Mlu. “And please man, don’t try and talk me out of it because I’ve made up my mind over this. I’d never allow her to destroy your career and your life like that. And I just want you to know that you shouldn’t feel bad at all about any of this okay?” he concludes as he taps Mlu at the back.
All the while JB is burning with rage and is lost for words as he buries his head in between his thighs. The memories of the day he was also accused of sexual assault at work come flooding his head. The humiliation and disgrace he felt that day when all his dreams came crushing on the floor. The look on
each and every one of his colleagues that day, the judgmental eyes of all women in his office. It was the worst day of his life. Now he is burning with rage. Without a moment’s notice he smashes a beer bottle into the wall. He’s even forgotten that this isn’t his place. But I suppose his friends understand how he feels about all this.
“So you guys, I have to go okay. I will talk to you later” Simo says as he picks up his keys and jacket. “Hey man, where are you going?” Mlu asks with a worried face as he stands up to follow him towards the door. Simo turns around, “I’m not going to let her destroy you buddy. So I’ve got to fix this” he says as he gives a confused Mlu a tap at the shoulder.
“Look, this has happened to JB before and we all know here how this is still a painful memory for all of us so it won’t happen again, okay?” he says as he watches JB also coming to them. “Besides, I think she did all this because I dated her cousin. And if that wasn’t the case she probably wouldn’t have ever paid attention to you hey” he smiles to ease his friends who are lost for words. “And you two, please do me a favour” he continues. “Please don’t mention this to anyone, okay. Not to Lee-Ann or her sister and definitely not to my aunt okay?” he waved his finger, to which his friends just node in agreement without uttering words. Simo gets out and closes the door behind him, leaving his friends standing there in utter shock of everything.
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