A known stranger

After yesterday's afternoon drama Ntokozo doesn't seem to know what to do with himself as he sits in the lounge on a Monday morning watching news. When his sister asked hm to leave yesterday he was ready to do just that but Dora begged him to stay and not leave. She promised to speak to Lungile about this so that they sit down as a family and talk things through. The last thing Ntokozo wanted was causing tensions between his mother and his sister but there's no turning back now as they will have to face each other at some point.

Luckily for Ntokozo, his room has never been used by anyone since he left home 12 years ago and it brings so many memories for him when he looks at the pictures on the walls. It feels just like yesterday when he sat in that bed and listened to music on his headphones. He remembers many conversations he has had in that very room upstairs with her parents, and even his little sister and it brings a little smile on his face. 

As he sits in the lounge looking at all the pictures on the walls he realises that nothing much has really changed in this house. There are pictures of him and Lungile; some pictures of his parents and some pictures are of the four of them in happy times and it warms his heart. But part of him is also sad as he realises that he has been gone for such a long time that he has missed a lot. Another part of him feels so guilty for having abandoned his family without giving any explanation, especially is little since who has had to go through a lot in the past few years. He doesn't know how to explain everything to her and his mother.

While sitting there and watching TV he sees his sister Lungile coming down the stairs. She is dressed for work with blue jeans, white shirt and high heels. She looks a little hungover though as she wears sun glasses. 'She must have come back late last night because I didn't hear her coming in', he thinks to himself as he stands up to walk away because he thought, 'perhaps it's better if I got out of her way because the last thing I want is fight with her'

"Oh no please...you don't have to leave on my account, I'm off to work anyways..." Lungile says with a straight face. "Uhmm...look I think it'se better that I give you space and uhmm...I'm sorry that uhmm...I know that you said I should leave but mama thought that..." a nervous looking Ntokozo says as he looks down but his sister cuts in, "Look, this is your home too, I can't expect you to sleep on the streets when you have a home. Yesterday I was angry and frustrated." she says with low voice as she also looks down but Ntokozo interjects, "Yes I know sisi and I just want to say I'm sorry for not..." he says but he doesn't finish as his sister cuts in, "Oh no...we are not at apologies yet Ntokozo okay?" she shouts as she motions with her hand. "I don't even know what you are apologizing for so don't act like you and I are suddenly best buddies, as if things are okay between us..."

"Look, mama told me about what happened to you okay?" Ntokozo says with a calm voice. "I know that it must have been..." he doesn't finish as his furious and emotional sister cuts in, "That's the thing okay? You don't know sh*t..." she shouts. "You have no idea what I have been through okay, so stop pretending that you know or you care..."

Ntokozo is suddenly filled with guilt as he looks down in shame, "Uhmm yes...you are right, I don't know okay?" he says politely as he takes a deep sigh. "But mama told me about what happened to you sisi...what happened to those men, that...you uhmm...you know..." he stutters as he looks embarrassed but an irritated Lungile cuts in, "Why does it matter Ntokozo, huh?" she shouts. "You weren't here to protect me against those monsters when I needed you the most. Knowing what happened to them or where they are...what good will that do now? So suddenly you are tough guy when you ran away from home and went God knows where?"

This leads to a little awkward silence as Ntokozo doesn't want to escalate the situation any further. He needs to think carefully about what to say next because it may just trigure his sister. "Look sisi...I wish I could explain some of the things to you but..." he says as he lifts his head to look at Lungile who cuts in, "But what Ntokozo? Huh? What is that you can't talk about? Do you know that mom and I actually thought you were dead?" she shouts. "We never understood why you just took off like that without saying a word to us and now you come back and what...we must just accept?"

Ntokozo takes a second to think but, as he is about to say something his sister interjects, "Look, I got to go to work okay?" she says as she throws her hands in the air and storming out of the house in a rage.

***

 

Later on in the day as Ntokozo sits in the lounge balcony over-looking the street where people are walking up and down and little kids playing football, he notices a farmiliar face. Geez, is that Sthembiso? he thinks to himself as he stands up and putting the newpaper he was reading down. He makes a whistle down to the street to a guy who looks up and smile in surprise. Ntokozo quickly goes down and out the gate to greet the guy. "Hey Sthe man...Oh my God...how are you?" he says with a huge smile as he greets the guy with a hug. "Oh my God man...Ntokozo, I almost didn't recognize you man, how long has it been man?" Sthembiso says as he hugs Ntokozo back.

"Uhmm geez I don't know man...it must be 14, 15 years, give or take?" Ntokozo says as they break the hug. Clearly this is the person he is really excited to see, even though he looks a little uncomfortable being in the streets where there is a lot of people moving up and down. He keeps looking around to see if he can recognize any of them, but he doesn't.

"Hey man...where have you been and when did you come back?" Sthembiso asks as he still looks to be in disbelief. "Arg man, I've been away for a little while man I only got back yesterday afternoon..." Ntokozo says as he pulls away from eye contact but Sthembiso interjects, "Yeah man I remember that I used to come by your house to look for you but your dad would say that you weren't home..." he says with a curious face and continues, "Speaking of which man...I was sorry about your dad man...I actually thought I'd see you then you know...at the funeral, but you weren't there bro..."

Suddenly this comment threatens to make this reunion tense a little bit as Ntokozo looks at his highschool friend. "Yeah man, I was overseas when it happened but on the eve of the funeral the weather that side was so bad that they grounded all flights so I couldn't attend. It really devastated me man..." he says as looks down again but Sthembiso, not wanting to bring up old wounds tabs Ntokozo on the shoulder and says, "It's okay man...I hope your mom told you it was a beautiful send off for the old man. Remember he was really loved by the community. The Gumede's are very famous here and I'm sure all the girls will be happy to know that Ntokozo Gumede is back, hahaha..."

Ntokozo blushes but wants to dismiss this joke from his longtime friend by saying, "speaking of which man...Uhmm...how was my sister's matric dance? You know, I had actually promised to take her but out of the blue a job offer came and I couldn't honor that promise." with a low voice as he looks down but it looks like Sthembiso is uncomfortable with the question as he raises an eyebrow at his friend. "Arg man, you know...I'm not sure how that went or if your sister even went to the matric dance after what happened" he says as he also looks down as though he is embarrassed by discussing this.

"What happened?" Ntokozo asks as though he has no idea what his friend is talking about but Sthembiso quickly interjects, "Oh come on man...weren't you even calling home when you were away? Come on bro I'm sure your mom must have told you about what happened to your sister back in highschool. I don't think it's my place talk about it...especially not after 15 years since I last saw you"

This makes Ntokozo think for a second before talking a deep sigh. "Look man...ofcourse she told me but not in so much details..." he says with a low voice. "What do you know? Who is the kid that dared to put his hands on my little sister?" Suddenly his face changes to being serious, in a way that makes Sthembiso raise an eyebrow as he wonders if this is the conversation to have with a friend you haven't seen n a very long time. He thinks for a second as he looks at Ntokozo in the eyes. "Look man, that guy is not a kid anymore. He is probably your sister's age now and is from a very rich family. Lungisani Mbhele was his name I think but I'm not sure where he and his family live now...probably Umhlanga or something. Why do you ask?"

"Nah man...I just need to understand why he got away with this. How come he was never punished for his crime..." Ntokozo says calmly but Sthembiso interjects, "Probably because his family is rich man..." he says as he shrugs his shoulders. "You know how these families always get away with everything...this country is a crime scene."

"Well, I want to re-open the case..." Ntokozo says as he looks around the people who pass by but Sthembiso quickly cuts in, "Really? Is that what your sister want too?" he asks curiously, which makes Ntokozo think for a second before saying, "Uhmm...I still have to talk to her about that man but this can't just be the end of it." He suddenly looks enraged by this but Sthembiso once again interjects, "Don't you think uhmm...this may open old wounds for your sister and your mother bro? Is she not trying to heal from all this man? I thinking even talking about this with her may just trigger mfwethu(brother)"

Ntokozo listens to his friend attentively but doesn't respond to it but instead shrugs his shoulders. Sthembiso, wanting to change this sensitive subject says, "Come on to my house bro and lets have a beer so that you will tell me all about your travelling and all the bad stuff you have been up to okay? Hahaha..." They walk down the road to Sthembiso's home.

***

 

Meanwhile, Lungile is having dinner at a restaurent with her boyfriend of one year Thulani Zulu. The two actually met over two years ago after Lungile's rape incident where she had to see a doctor at the hospital. Things really didn't start that well between them, which wasn't surprising because Lungile had just gone through a very traumatic experience and she dispised men at that point. Thulani is the doctor who was attending to her and he is the one who reffered her to a psycologist whose office was based in the same hospital. Over time the two began to talk and eventually became friends. Over the past year they decided to give love a chance as Lungile was slowly learning to trust a man again.

In the beginning Lungile's mother Dora didn't approve of the relationship because she feared for her daughter, understandably so. It was hard for her to watch what Lungile had to go through since she turned 18 and all she wanted to to protect her from me, especially now that her father had passed on. All she wanted was for her daughter to be safe so she didn't want men around her, but after seeing how Thulani makes her daughter happy she began to slowly warm up to him.

35 year-old Thulani is a very quiet man who is very patient and understanding with Lungile's sometimes short temperedness amd easily triggered mind. He knows that it will take a little while for her to fully trust men after what she has been through. Luckily for Thulani, Lungile's daughter Mbali likes him and sees him as a father figure and someone from whom she can get advice. He is not really a glamorous individual but does everything to make time for Lungile and her daughter as much as he can.

"So uhmm...your mom has changed her mind about dinner tonight? Because I thought I was coming over to your house..." Thulani asks curiously as he sits across his girlfriend Lungile who is not really dressed up for what was meant to be a romanetic dinner. She didn't even go back home to change after work. She's still in her blue jeans and white shirt while Thulani is in a dark blue suit looking all clean. Lungile takes a second to think before saying, "Uhmm...no babe, it's not her. It was my idea that we come here instead of being a home..." with a rather sad voice as she looks at her boyfriend.

"Is everything okay baby?" Thulani asks as he raises an eyebrow. Once again Lungile thinks for a second before saying, "Uhmm...not really babe..." as she takes a deep sigh. "Do you remember my brother I told you about? Yeah so uhmm...he showed up yesterday afternoon unexpectedly, so I just didn't want to ruin our dinner plans. I figured it would be better if we were away from the house you know..."

Oh my God...Wow...so uhmm...did he say where he was? I mean, did you guys speak?" a shocked Thulani asks in disbelief. "Uhmm...we spoke a little this morning when I was going to work but you know uhmm...it really wasn't a good conversation, and no, he hasn't said much of anything about where he's been or doing what. So that atmosphere would have made things awkward so I'm sorry that we had to cancel on those plans babe, but I promise that once everything comes back to normal we will." a downcast Lungile says as she takes a sip of her dry red wine. She looks a little embarrassed by all this.

"Oh no sweetheart you don't have to apologies okay? I understand completely baby okay?" Thulani says as he reaches across the table to take his girlfriend's hand. "So uhmm...did you guys get a chance to talk about, uhmm...you know...what you have been through the past few years? And what did he have to say about that?"

"I think he and mom spoke about it yesterday and he tried to speak about it this morning but it's infuriates me that he thinks he can come back after 12 years and ask me aboiut this as if he cared..." Lungile says as she takes another sip of her glass. Clearly this is making her very upset. "I just walked out of the house because I can't even look at him right now" she says as she looks around the table to see if anyone is listening in on their conversation. "Uhmm...but you know...at some point baby you guys will have to talk okay? And find out the whole truth...to understand why he left the way he did." Thulani says politely as he is trying to be careful about what to say about this whole thing.

"Yeah I know that baby okay? But right now things have been coming okay in the house so him returning is just opening up old wounds and I just can't deal with it at the moment, you know..." Lungile says with a low and sad voice. "Yeah honey, I understand okay? It's gonna be alright, I'm here for you baby all the step of the okay?"

Lungile doesn't say anything but just smiles at her boyfriend for those comforting words. "Okay enough about that okay? Let's just order a meal and then maybe we can go for a later movie, if you are up for it..." Thulani says with a smile, which seems to brighton Lungile's eyes as she smiles at the idea.

***

 

Back in the Gumede mansion Ntokozo is back from spending a little time with his highschool friend Sthembiso. He is sitting in the lounge with his mother and niece Mbali. While Dora still struggles to believe that her son is really back home part of her is relunctant, perhaps because she still doesn't know what happened to him or why he decided to come back home after 12 years. One thing she knows though is that Ntokozo is her only son and it really hurt her when he left without saying anything and some point she had to concede to the possibility that he could be dead. 

"So uhmm...did you talk to your sister?" Dora asks his son as they sit in the dinning room while young Mbali is sitting in the lounge watching TV. Ntokozo thinks for a second before saying, "Uhmm...I wouldn't really call it a talk mama..." with a ow voice as he looks down. "But I don't blame Lungile for being angry with me...I don't blame you for being angry mama. What I did...What I did was wrong...I should have been considerate"

"Look, it's not even about you leaving home Ntokozo...you were 25, old enough to make your own decisions..." Dora says with a low and sad voice. "But it's how you left home that broke our hearts and worse was you not even coming back when your father passed away. That is why we assumed that you may have died as well. So will you ever tell us why why you left, where were you or what have you been doing all these years? I mean, don't you think me and your sister deserve that atleast?" She suddenly becomes very sad as she looks into her sons eyes but Ntokozo is filled with guilt as he looks down in shame.

"Look mama...time for that is coming okay?" he says with a low voice as he lifts his head. "But right now I'd like us to talk about what what happened to Lungile mama and how we can make things right. It's hard for me to accept that all these boys were never arrested for what they did to my sister, it just can't be mama..."

This seems to upset Dora as she throws her hands in the air before saying, "Oh no, not that again Ntokozo...what else must we do huh? What else must we do? I told you that in all three of those cases the police didn't find evidence. Oh no wait uhmm...the last incident that happened over two years ago the docket dissapeared at the police station. The incident that happened when Lungile was in UKZN the police said there was not enough evidence to make an arrest. The very first incident when she was 18 never was ever followed up by the police. They kept saying they were investigating. So tell me, what do you want us to do Ntokozo?"

"Well, look mama...I think we should re-visit the cases okay? This isn't fair..." Ntokozo says but doesn't finish as his mother cuts, "So you see why you should have been here for your sister? What good will all this do now, huh?" she asks as she looks really upset. It is as though this is opening wounds for her as well, just as it would for her daughter Lungile.

Ntokozo keeps quiet as he thinks about what to say but his mother picks up her phone and scrolls down. "Here, maybe you can try and call this detective...he was the one who was leading the investibation on the last incident two years ago." she says as she gives Ntokozo her phone. Ntokozo takes his mother's phone and looks at the number and the name of the police officer. He decides to save it on his phone before giving his mother her phone back. Suddenly he has this look on his face that suggests he is thinking about something.

"But I'm telling you Ntokozo, this is not a good idea..." Dora says as she takes her son's plate together with hers. "Or atleast speak to your sister about this first before re-openning the cases. "She is still struggling to accept that you have come back, how do you think she will feel if you immediately interfere with her life?" She takes the plates to the kitchen while Ntokozo decides to go out to the balcony and closes the glass sliding door behind him.

He looks at his phone as scrolls through the contacts and makes a call.

Man: "Hallo"

Ntokozo: "Hey it's me, can you talk?"

Man: "Yeah sure, what's up man?"

Ntokozo: "Look, I need you to find someone for me very fast..."

Man: "Very easy...who?"

Ntokozo: "I will send you the details in a moment. But man, I need details on him...his where about, his schedules, friends and family and all the works okay?"

Man: "Yeah man that shouldn't be a problem at all, just send me the particulars..."

Ntokozo: "And man...I really need this ASAP, like in a day or two bro...5 days at most"

Man: "Uhmm...that's gonna be tight man considering you want his day to day schedule as well, but I will see what I can do"

Ntokozo: "Thanks man, I will send you his particulars now..."

*Call dropped*