Chapter 7: Revenge
“I’m really sorry about this Sharon. I got caught up and didn’t see what time it was, where is she?” Sbu says to Naledi's principal who, when seeing no one coming to pick the child up she took her home with her. Sbu just came back from La Pas restaurant where he punched Tendai to the ground. He comes to Sharon’s house with his head all over the place. It doesn’t look like assaulting the MEC helped calm his anger one bit.
“Oh it’s okay Sbu, your daughter Naledi is playing upstairs with my daughter Karen. I will go fetch her, please come inside” Sharon says as she lets Sbu in, who goes and sits in the lounge. Sharon goes upstairs to fetch Naledi but she comes back downstairs without her, “Uhmm, you may have to wait a little longer for that” she says. “your daughter is asleep with Karen; they might have played themselves out I’m afraid” as she comes to sit down opposite Sbu. “Uhmm, I really didn’t want to inconvenience you like this Sharon, I really apologize, hey” Sbu says, embarrassed by this. “Oh no it’s okay” Sharon says, “It’s not like I have anything else to do anyway. So can I get you something to drink? I was having dry red” she says with a nervous smile.
“Uhmm, yeah sure. Dry red sounds like a plan, I could use that” Sbu says as he nervously looks away. “What’s wrong? Rough day?” Sharon asks curiously as she pours some wine for her guest. “Uhmm, you could say that hey” Sbu says as he takes the glass from Sharon and immediately takes a huge sip. “Well, it’s just marriage life I guess. That’s the reason I couldn’t pick Naledi up on time. I had to…” looks like he’s looking for correct words to use. “I had to go attend to a very urgent matter” he says as he avoids eye contact.
“Well, I get where you coming from hey” Sharon says as she also takes a huge sip with her face changing to being a little sad. “What’s going on with you?” Sbu asks curiously which suddenly brings silence in the room. “Well, I hardly see Karen’s father these days, unless he came to fetch her for a sleepover or something. I’m not even sure if we are still together or not. He says he still loves me but there’s no spark anymore. We are probably just in denial of the inevitable, I don’t know” Sharon says as she looks down but Sbu moves from his sofa to come and sits next to her.
“Hey, look at me. It’s not your fault okay? These things happen in relationships but it doesn’t mean you deserve it, okay” he says as he looks at Sharon in the eyes. She looks at him back with eyes full of desire for affection.
Before they knew it they were kissing passionately as one thing led to another where they end up making love on the couch. Whether it was wine that led to this or it was just pure listing for one another, at that very moment they didn’t care. It was like they were in another world, of bliss and satisfaction.
***
Few days have passed since Sbu had an altercation with Tendai at the restaurant and he has never brought this matter up with his wife at all. If anything, he tries by all means to not be in the same room as her. In fact, both of them avoid each other a lot these days, with Buhle herself taking extra shifts that will see her coming home in the morning when her husband has left for work. If she didn’t do that Sbu would come home late after supper just to avoid sitting with his wife at the table. And then he’d go to the study and get busy till it’s late. Now with Grace no longer coming over to assist with Naledi's homework or fetching her from school, these two work something out between themselves.
“Tendai, please I’m begging you, okay? Please don’t sue my husband. You know he reacted out of anger, wouldn’t you have done the same thing if you were in his position?” Buhle says with a sad and begging voice as she sits on the edge of the sofa at Tendai's house. But the MEC is standing by the window looking outside like a man who is in deep thoughts.
Buhle then goes to him and holds him from behind, “Baby please don’t do this” she persists but Tendai goes to sit down on the sofa as Buhle follows him.
“Do you know how embarrassing for me to be knocked off the chair right to the ground by your husband, in full view of the people?” Tendai asks angrily. “Did you see what the papers wrote? What do you think this will do to my business, huh?” as he finishes whatever was on the glass. Buhle looks down and keeps quiet for a moment and Tendai feels bad for her, “Look, I’m sorry okay? I don’t mean to shout at you but what your husband did…” he doesn’t finish as Buhle cuts him off, “I know what he did, but can you please just let this one go okay? Please do it for me not him okay?” as she comes very close to Tendai and looks at him in the eyes. They are so close to each other that a slight movement will lock their lips together.
“Buhle, why are we trapped in our relationships, huh? I mean what are you still doing being married to Sbu and why am I with the mother of my child that I hardly ever see?” Tendai asks as he pulls away a little bit but still looking at Buhle in the eyes. Buhle takes his hands and pulls him closer to her.
“Look, I don’t know the answer to that okay? But I know how you make me feel, right now at this very moment” she says with a soft voice, almost whispering. “How do I make you feel?” Tendai asks with the same soft and whispering voice but without a moment’s notice, Buhle kisses him passionately until they are both almost breathless. Then Buhle climbs on top of Tendai as they both remove their clothes, making love on the sofa.
***
At Lindy Hotel it seems Lindiwe and Tsego can’t stop themselves from seeing each other. Lindiwe
loves her husband Bheki, a lot but she’s always feeling lonely and neglected by him. While Tsego on the other hand is always there for her. He makes her laugh and doesn’t really care about how much money she makes. He’s only interested in her which makes Lindiwe feel free around him.
“You know what? I had said before that this will never happen again Tsego, so what am I doing here naked in bed in your hotel room?” Lindiwe asks as she lay on Tsego's chest brushing it softly. “Well, as the hotel owner you had come to check if your guest is still comfortable and enjoying the hospitality” Tsego says as he kisses Lindiwe's hair.
“Oh so, should I go around all the hotel rooms and get in the guests' beds according to your logic? Hahaha” Lindiwe laughs loud. “Well, this part is only reserved for me, or you can send your staff to check on the other guests if they are okay. You ma’am, are allowed to only check up on me” Tsego says as he kisses Lindiwe in the hair again. “Hahaha, you think you are clever don’t you?” Lindiwe says as she gets up and get dressed while going to the ensuite bathroom.
“So which country is your husband in this time?” Tsego asks as he pours himself a double of whiskey that was on the bedside table. “Uhmm, he’s in Milan for some business deal or something” Lindiwe says responding from the bathroom where she’s freshening up. “Oh, so one of his corrupt deals again?” Tsego asks with a smile as he turns on the TV. He is still in bed.
“You know what, please don’t start with that okay? We spoke about this, remember?” Lindiwe says as she emerges from the ensuite bathroom.
But at that very moment as she comes out of the bathroom, a man whose face is covered comes through the door, he has a gun in his hand. He points the gun at Tsego. As things happen so fast, Tsego doesn’t have time to take cover, so the man shoots him twice: one bullet hits the chest and the other his forehead.
Out of panic Lindiwe screams so loud that the man shoots her as well and she falls on top of Tsego’s dead body. The assassin quickly gets out of the room before anyone could come to see what was happening.
***
The following morning Katlego and Lerato are at the hospital after Buhle had called and told them what happened to Lindiwe. The assassin shot her in the chest but luckily for her the bullet missed her heart or other major organs. She is still in surgery with Buhle and other doctors who are working hard to remove the bullet from her.
“My friend, what do you think happened there last night? I mean who could want Lindiwe dead this much to hire an assassin to kill her?” Lerato asks as she wipes her tears, sitting in the waiting area. “My friend I don’t know hey but we will have to wait for the police to update us, or at least for Buhle to clarify things for us” Katlego says as she rubs her friend’s back to console her.
“But friend, Lindiwe is a sweet spirit, she wouldn’t hurt a fly, I’m confused about all this you know” Lerato says as she is inconsolable. “It’s going to be alright my friend okay? Lindiwe is strong she will pull through” Katlego says trying hard to be strong herself. As they are consoling each other, Buhle emerges from the theatre looking very sad and tired and that suddenly sends terror down her friends' spines.
“Buhle, what’s going on? Is Lindiwe okay? Please tell me she is fine, please” Lerato says anxiously as she’s now letting tears fall down her cheeks. Buhle's moment of silence isn’t helping the ladies as
they move to panic mode, “Buhle please talk to us, what’s going on?” Katlego asks anxiously.
“Look it was touch and go for a moment there but we managed to remove the bullet from her and stopped the bleeding” Buhle says much to her friends' relief. “It is still early to call though as she remains in critical condition. So for now, we pray and hope for the best” she says with a sad voice. Katlego and Lerato hug and console each other as they both cry.
“Well, as for the other person there’s nothing we could do for him as he was announced dead on the scene” Buhle says as she interrupts her friends' moment. “What?” Katlego asks confused, “What are you talking about Buhle? What other person? What’s going on?” she’s anxious but Buhle pulls her friends to the side so that she can have a quiet word with them to avoid drawing attention.
“Look the details are sketchy even to me but apparently Lindiwe was in the hotel room of another guest, a man, I don’t know who but he was found in bed naked with a bullet in his head. And Lindiwe was found lying on top of him unconscious” Buhle says whispering to her friends. “I’m not quite sure what is happening myself but we’ll wait for the police report” she says.
“Guys there must be an explanation for all this” Lerato says as she wipes her tears. “it doesn’t make sense at all, why would Lindiwe be found shot there in a guest room, with the guest himself shot dead? Could it be that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time and she was caught in the crossfire?” as she puts her hands on her head, but Buhle, not wanting this to get out of hand with speculations she decides to jump in, “Look, ladies, we don’t know what really happened there okay? So let’s just wait for the police to give official statement okay. I am sure Bheki himself will release a statement for clarity okay? So for now there’s nothing we can do besides praying for our friend here to pull through from this okay?” she says to which her friends nod in agreement.
***
The following morning the story had broken all over the news about a journalist who was found dead in a hotel room. Tendai is watching the news as well and is listening attentively when the
reporter says, 'The multi award winning journalist Tsego Rabadi who was found dead in his hotel room was a father of a 10-year-old child who lived with him. The details are sketchy about what actually went down here in this hotel but another report that we received was that there was another person in the room, a woman, who was also shot. But the woman was rushed into hospital and we haven’t had update on how critical she is. Tsego Rabadi was said to be working on a story that involved tender corruption within government at the time of his untimely death. This is Nokuhle Nkosi reporting live from Lindy Hotel, Durban, back to the studio!'
Tendai immediately switches off the TV in anger and then downs whatever was left in the glass on his hand. He then takes his phone, scrolls down and makes a call. It rings for a while but out of nowhere he starts shouting, “What the hell happened there, Ndoda?” as he goes to stand by the window. “What do you mean what happened? The job is done” Ndoda responds from the other end of the line.
“Don’t you dare give me that attitude, okay?” Tendai raises his voice. “I paid you to do a job on one person. Who the hell is this other person, a woman found in that journalist’s hotel room?” as he goes to sit down again.
“Look, you said no witnesses right?” Ndoda says calmly. “She came out of nowhere from the bathroom as I pulled the trigger on the target. Everything happened so fast and I shot her” as he sighs in shame. “Who the hell is she?” Shouts Tendai but that is followed by a little silence.
“Well, it was Bheki's wife, Lindiwe” Ndoda says, to which Tendai almost falls off the sofa in shock, “What?” he says, wide eyed. “What the hell was Lindiwe doing in this journalist’s room? Huh?” he can’t believe it. “Look, your guess is as good as mine okay? But I think we can both hazard a guess, can’t we? They were having an affair” Ndoda says softly.
There’s little silence as Tendai seems to be lost for words over this. Lindiwe is his business partner’s wife. What will Bheki do when he finds out about this? “Look lay low a bit okay. Let’s see what
police find first. We may have to be reactionary and improvise a little bit as things develop” he says calmly as he pours himself another double.
“Understood” Ndoda says. “So how will you deal with Bheki? He’s not going to be happy with all this?” he says softly as well. “Don’t you think I know that?” Tendai says, suddenly raising his voice. “You better pray that Bheki’s wife doesn’t die there in hospital because if she does, this will turn ugly. Look, let me figure something out okay? So keep a low profile for now until we know how bad the situation is, okay?” he says with a worried face as he hangs up. But then out of nowhere he smashes the glass to the wall in anger. Damnit how will I deal with Bheki now? This is a bloody mess! he thinks to himself.
***
Somewhere else away from the drama, Tsepo and Grace are having breakfast in a nice restaurant by the beach. There aren’t too many people at this hour as it is still early but that’s how they both like it. These two are definitely getting closer to each other, even though it’s early days yet. Since Grace quit as Sbu’s PA she’s taking things easy just enjoying the self-care for a change. When she worked for Sbu she hardly ever had time for herself as she was always on call.
“So how are businesses going with you, rich boy?” Grace says with a smile as she sips on her coffee. “Well, businesses are doing quite good actually thank you” Tsepo says as he sips on his coffee too. “It is a lot of work of course but we are managing. It would be a lot easier if you had taken my offer of being my division manager but…” he doesn’t finish as Grace cuts him off, “Look, I appreciate the offer. You know I do, okay? But what if you are only offering this to me because you are still trying to win me over? What happens when somewhere down the road, for some reason you and I don’t get along anymore? I’d find myself without a job again, just when I get used to it” she says, looking away to avoid eye contact.
Tsepo doesn’t look impressed with that statement as he also looks away, trying to ignore what was said but Grace notices that she may have offended him, “Look it was a bad joke” she says looking at Tsepo in the eyes. “I apologize if I offended you. But I really do appreciate that you show so much faith in me. Can I be honest to you about something though?” she asks not moving her eyes from him.
“I feel that if you and I will be dating, it’s best that we don’t mix it with business” she says. But at
that, Tsepo's eyes brighten with excitement as he says, “Oh so does this mean that…” but he doesn’t finish as Grace cuts him off, “Yes I think you and I can give it a shot and see what happens” she says with a smile. At that Tsepo takes her hands and says, “Oh thank you very much. I promise that I will not…” but he is cut off again by Grace, “Whoa, easy cowboy” she says. “Look, it’s baby steps okay? Not rushing into anything, agreed?” she say looking at him in the eyes. “Yes, agreed” Tsepo says with a smile as he leans forward to invite Grace for a kiss. She first smiles before accepting the invitation as they kiss.
***
At the Ideal Tech offices, Tendai has come to see Sbu in order to negotiate a settlement after Tendai sued Sbu for punching him at the restaurant a while ago. But what infuriates Sbu is that Tendai
didn’t bring just any legal representation but his friend, Jabu. Sbu and Jabu have been best friends for a very long time so he does feel like he’s being betrayed by this. So he hired another lawyer to represent him in this negotiation. The meeting has been going on for over two hours now, it’s a stalemate.
“Okay look, my client is prepared to drop the charges of assault if your client is willing to meet the demands as set before you” Jabu says looking at Sbu’s lawyer. There is so much tension in this room that it feels like war can break out any moment as Sbu and Tendai are looking at each other in the eyes with anger and rage.
“Well, don’t you think this demand is a little extreme though, guys? I mean it’s not a possibility at this present moment” Sbu’s lawyer says looking at the document before him. At that point Tendai whispers something to Jabu for a moment and then get back to fix his eyes on Sbu.
“Look, my client suffered a huge embarrassment when he was attacked by your client in broad daylight, unprovoked I might add. He also lost a potential business deal that’s worth millions of rends in the process as a result of your client’s impulsive behavior. So my client says he wants that Lauren Analytic contract as compensation to his loses or, your client faces music with the law and possibly end up losing more” Jabu says, this time looking at his friend Sbu who is still looking at Tendai.
“okay look, what is our time frame here?” Sbu’s lawyer asks. “I mean we need time to go over your proposal first and discuss it further with my client and then we get back to you” he says but Tendai whispers something to Jabu again for a moment. “you have 2 weeks to make up your mind or else your client faces the music” Jabu says with a straight face.
At that everyone stands up to walk out of the meeting without any shaking of hands. This was a tough negotiation indeed. Tendai storms out of the room giving his rival, Sbu a bad look and he is followed by Sbu's lawyer who whispers something to him in passing.
Now only Sbu and Jabu are left in this huge boardroom but as Sbu attempts to leave without even looking at his friend, Jabu stops him, “Come on brother wait a minute” he says pulling him by the hand. “You know man this wasn’t…” Jabu doesn’t finish as Sbu angrily cuts him off, “Yeah, yeah it’s not personal but look man, I trusted you, okay?” he says. “You are my friend. How can you represent the man who wants to destroy my marriage and my business? You are supposed to have my back, man” he raises his voice as he looks at him in the eyes, but Jabu cuts him off as well, “Whoa look man he reached out to me first bro. What was I supposed to do? He’s a big client that will really boost my business. You didn’t even tell me what happened or what has been happening. We haven’t been hanging out ever since that day at your wife’s party. This wasn’t personal man, and you know it” he says but Sbu ignores him as he also storms out if the room.
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