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phone and looked at the twenty unread inbox messages reflected at the corner of the screen. “Is there still going to be a wedding on Saturday?” Alan asked hopefully as he wrapped the sheet around his naked body and stood up. “Yes, there is but I won’t go back to the house until Thursday,” he answered as he left the room.

 

“And what do you think you are doing?” Nyarai threw her suitcase on the park bench as she laughed at August in a Falcon College uniform. “I’m wearing a disguise, pretty hey?” he smiled. “Let me say that it’s kind of ironic because I didn’t go to school today. My mom is ill so I’m going to Tshabalala to look after her for a few days,” she reached out to rub some dust off his shoulder. “Where did you get it?” she questioned him in an impressed tone, he never ceased to amaze her. “David dug up the tie from his high school stuff and the rest is history,” he answered proudly as he tried to stand up. “Where is your walking stick?” Nyarai felt worried as she couldn’t see it anywhere. “I forgot it in David’s car I guess, he’s the one who helped me to the bench so it must have been easy for it to slip out of my mind. Don’t worry, John will pick me up and drive me straight home where there is a spare walking stick. I’ll probably collect it tomorrow,” he said holding on to Nyarai who supported his balance. “What did you want to tell me? Sandra said that you sounded hysterical,” she asked curiously. “Excited as a matter of fact, because mom has allowed me to take you to the wedding as my date!” he presented the news with great enthusiasm. “Guess what? I got the Malaysia scholarship! Isn’t that good news too?” she embraced him. “Now I can go study medicine abroad and who knows? May be…”

Suddenly like snow in a desert, two strong men appeared behind August and grabbed him. Panic-stricken, Nyarai screamed at the top of her voice and tried shouting for help but the park was deserted. Without any second thoughts, she sprinted and jumped on the bigger guy sinking her teeth into his shoulder. Involuntarily, the man let go of August who punched the nose of the other guy and ran blindly across the lawn heading for the concrete aisle. Furiously, the bitten man shrugged Nyarai off his shoulders and sent her crushing to the ground knocking her out as he ran after August with his fellow colleague. When they finally caught him, the superior man knocked him out with a single violent blow and threw him into a van with South African number plates which swiftly drove off the very moment the two men disappeared into the mysterious car.

By the time Nyarai woke up, only the grass could tell that she was not dreaming at all. “Are you okay little girl?” a kind looking old couple walked up to her. “No,” tears slid down her eyes. “I’ll never be fine again, never,” she whispered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter six

Itai watched expectedly as her mother admired the wedding dress which she had purchased for Alice on her trip to Paris. Lovingly she held the long lace sleeve to her cheek and smiled. Dr. Victoria Chakwana stood tall, middle weight and looked too youthful for a woman of sixty-two years of age because one would easily mistaken her for Itai’s elder sister. A former lecturer of Economics at the University of Zimbabwe; she was now the President of FEB Insurance Brokers having taken over her husband’s position after his death ten years ago. Despite her age she was more beautiful than Itai and besides the fact that they got along like old high school friends, she did not share her aggression and conceit. “I wonder why she wanted a winter wedding; nobody gets married in the cold. Besides, there is the world cup and she’s quite lucky that the chunk of her friends are not soccer fanatics,” Itai commented. “Case of the kettle calling the pot black, reminds me of one young lady who got married in November. Something very taboo in our culture,” Victoria faced her daughter. “The dress is very elegant though, I’ve known to trust your exotic tastes in garments,” she flashed a smile as she opened the balcony doors.

Walking onto the balcony she noticed her son’s black Rolls Royce parking close to the front door, avoiding the garage as usual. “Alan’s here!” she called out to Itai who was attending to Avril who had just woken up. Interested, she observed as it became apparent that he was not alone. “Who’s the pretty teenage boy with him?” Victoria whispered as Itai joined her. “It’s the disaster I’ve been talking about,” she glared at Alan as he ushered Shuvai onto the porch.

Quickly Victoria left the room and went to the guest living room downstairs where she found him pouring her a glass of wine. “Mom!” He called out happily as he went over to embrace her. “I wanted to surprise you as usual but it looks as if you’ve beaten me up to the trick,” Alan smiled broadly. “I came back three days earlier; Itai is the one who gave me quite a scare because she’s been here since Yassin went to Dubai,” she explained placing her gaze on Shuvai who stood up and walked up to them shyly as if she was on cue. When she stood next to him, Alan placed his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. “Mom, this is my girlfriend Shuvai,” he announced proudly. “And Shuvai, this is my mother. The most charming person I’ve ever known,” he looked expectedly at both women as he finished his introductions. “It’s an honor to meet you ma’am,” Shuvai began quietly as she stretched out her right hand. “Ooh come here sweetheart!” Victoria embraced her excitedly which was far much more than what Alan had anticipated. Alan looked on with contentment as Victoria took Shuvai’s hand and led her back to the couch where she was probably firing her with questions. Itai who had been watching with great disappointment on the upstairs hallway confronted him but not about his little visit.

“Did you by any chance see August?” It sounded more like a command. “The last time I checked, he didn’t live in my pockets,” he answered her coldly. “It’s Alice’s wedding tomorrow and she hasn’t seen him since Wednesday morning. Something could have happened to him and I thought you were helping Josh look for him,” she looked at him as if he was a criminal. “He’s a grown up Itai. He’s probably bored about the wedding and is bound to emerge after the whole fiasco,” he snapped. “August would never do such a thing, besides he’s meant to hand over his mother and he’s blind for Christ’s sake! How is he supposed to…?”

Victoria walked up to Itai and put her hand over her shoulder whilst she wiped away the tears which had begun sliding down her cheeks with the other. “I know that you are concerned about your friend’s missing son but this is not the time to quarrel. We have a guest,” she sounded embarrassed as she spoke to Itai who nodded and followed her to where Shuvai was seated.

“Hello Itai,” she spoke uncomfortably as she knew Alan’s sister did not like her. “Hi,” she replied indifferently. “Shuvai’s been telling me that you’ve been together for two months now,” Victoria ignored Itai’s sour face and concentrated on Alan. “Yes, they’ve been the most fulfilling. I feel like…”

“You don’t have to say a thing, I felt accustomed to her the very moment we spoke to each other,” she answered with so much support in her voice. “That’s the very reason why I came to introduce her to you. I felt that this was the right time and waiting too long would have been too great a sin to be forgiven,” he said in a relieved voice. “Shuvai,” he walked up to her and knelt before her. “That very day when I saw you at the tournament, deep in my heart I knew that you were the one for me because it was love at first sight. You have always been different from other women but that has made you even more special to me. This might sound crazy considering the fact that we’ve known each other for only two months, but I have thought hard about this and the more I meditated about it, the more I realized that it is you that I want, nobody else,” he took out a small black velvet box from his pocket and opened it. A small white gold huge diamond ring lay cushioned in the silver interior of the box. “I may not have arranged anything romantic; but in front of the most honorable woman in my life, my mother; I have only one thing to ask of you. Will you Shuvai Elizabeth Gutu, accept this ring and be my wife?”

 

A vacuum would have been close to heaven compared to the stuffy hell hole they had thrown him in. August felt weak the moment he woke up only to be startled by the stench of death that had made him throw up and recoil involuntarily with complete torment. At this particular moment, the only thing he could be thankful for was his blindness; otherwise he wouldn’t have been able to cope. Hours or may be days had passed without anyone opening the Devil’s closet he was trapped in, the only music fed to him was the dripping sound of water (or blood perhaps) yet his fingers itched for the keys of the piano and his shoulder missed the light weight of the violin. The most disturbing thing was that he had been too scared to stand up hiding it with the mere imagination that they had drained him of his strength and his feet would not be able to support him. Nyarai, the mere thoughts of her pierced his heart, how he had tried to get her out of his mind but everything he did seemed to rekindle a particular statement she used to say for his every action and the remembrance of the sweet laughter in her voice made him hug his knees even more. Nothing could stop tears from welling up in his eyes because he was so worried about her.

“He’s awake!” someone opened the door all of a sudden. At once August could hear the sound of the waves and people moving on deck. He could also detect the unmistakable delicate scent of the sea which he so loved and the melodious songs of the birds of the sea. Eagerly, he stood up and blindly headed towards the promise of freedom which beseeched him to taste it. How he wished he had his walking stick to assist him outdoors because his hands felt sore for him to sense the ground and he hated the limitations of sight which left him clawing at the air looking for an object to hold on to. “What do you think you are doing? Stop that and follow me!” a different man at the door barked at him. August tried to follow the voice but failed dismally as he walked into a wall. “Are you sick in the head or are trying to make fun of me? We’ll see if you’ll be laughing when the sharks rip you to pieces,” the man growled. “Help me,” August pleaded. “Why? Are you blind or something?” the man scoffed. “Yes, I’m blind,” August admitted to the man who just laughed. “That’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. Jeffrey, come and hear what this bait is saying; shamelessly trying to talk himself out of the inevitable,” he called out to his mate who came running. “Look