Nolwazi shakes her head. The guy in the taxi was definitely staring at her like he was trying to place her. She felt the same. She knows him from somewhere, she is sure of it. But where? And then he was gone.

She gets on the next taxi and alights at an office park just past Brooklyn. Her heart is beating fast. The security guard is asking a lot of questions:

“Where are you going?”

“To drop off my CV.”

“Where?”

“Uhm, at all the offices.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“No. I just came to drop off my CV. I’m looking for a job.”

Nolwazi is getting irritated, but remains calm and polite. The security guard finally signs her into the premises.

At the first company the receptionist tells her that she will take her CV to the relevant person. In the next office the same thing happens. All she can do is hope for the best. At the third company she is told they do not accept walk-in CVs and is given an email address. Another company tells her they only hire through their agent, and gives Nolwazi the contact details.

By midday Nolwazi is tired but, all in all, it’s been a good day. She has handed out all twenty CVs she printed and it’s time to go home. Something will come of it, she tells herself. You have to treat applying for a job like a full time job itself; that’s how you get places. If you apply for only one job and you don’t get it, it can destroy you.

*****

After work Wandile and his good friend and colleague, Menzi, go out for a few drinks. Wandile sends Precious a WhatsApp telling her that he is spending some guy time and that Menzi will drop him off at home later. Precious sees the message but doesn’t respond.

Wandile cannot get the girl in the taxi queue out of his mind. He feels a little guilty for thinking about her, but ‘It’s only thinking’ he tells himself. And there seemed such a strong, strange connection.

“You seem distracted,” says Menzi.

“Nah, I’m cool.”

“Yeah right. Out with it. Are things OK at home?” asks Menzi.

“As OK as they could be, I guess.”

“That doesn’t sound good.” Menzi is concerned.

“Precious just does whatever the hell she wants to do and then I have to pay to sort her mess up,” says Wandile, taking a sip of beer. “She wrecked her car, she was not up to date with the insurance payments, so now we need to fix the car and in the time being she’s taken my car and I have to be Johnny Walker.”

Menzi advises his friend: “Women can be very difficult man. The more you try to understand the less you can comprehend. Just go with the flow. Things will be sorted out soon.”

Wandile just shakes his head. “There’s something else.” He tells Menzi about the woman in the taxi queue.

“Dude, you’re married. You know Precious will strangle you to death and then have your insides for dinner,” jokes Menzi.

“It’s not like that. I just felt a connection to her, like I know her from somewhere. It was weird.”

“You’re in trouble man. Just try to forget about her,” advises Menzi. “Life is just unhappy for you at home right now, so you find yourself drawn to another woman. It’s normal. Just don’t act on it. Rather focus on fixing your issues with your wife.”

Menzi has a good head on his shoulders. He is someone you can rely on to tell you the truth and give you good advice.

The boys have a few more drinks and then stop and just drink water for a while, to sober up for the road. Menzi drives Wandile home. When he enters the house Precious is still awake, sitting on the couch in front of the TV.

“Hello beautiful. Are you waiting up for me?” Wandile kisses her on the cheek.

“No! I’m watching TV,” Precious snaps.

“What’s wrong with you? Bad day?”

“Nothing!”

“Oh, OK then. I’m tired. I’m going straight to bed. Goodnight.”

Precious doesn’t say goodnight. She just glares at Wandile. He turns his back and walks away.

Precious is in a mood. She likes having control over Wandile and she hates that he just sent a text to say he was going out. After a little while she follows him to bed. By that time Wandile is fast asleep.

She watches him lying there with his face on his pillow and wants to strangle to him. Precious has anger issues and always demands that Wandile keep her happy. She freaks out at the smallest of things.

But also, she is not feeling well; in fact she hasn’t been feeling well for weeks. She is fatigued and feels dizzy at times. It’s stress, she tells herself, and blames Wandile.

*****

In the morning the couple get up to get ready for work. Precious wants to take Wandile to work but he insists on taking a taxi.

“Don’t stress,” he tells her.

“But I thought …”

Before Precious finishes Wandile interrupts her. “Really, it’s fine Presh. You don’t have to rush for me. Take your time and leave when you’re ready.”

With that said he kisses her on the forehead and is out the door, leaving Precious to drown in her pool of insecurity. It is said that we attract what we fear and Precious feels at that moment that her worst fears are coming true.

She finishes fixing her hair and doing her make-up. She can’t get Wandile out of her mind for a second. She feels like he is drifting away from her; like she is losing power over him, and it freaks her out.

So she decides to do what she always does when the world starts spinning out of her control: consult her sangoma. She trusts Mmalepona’s powers with her life, she is her god. She goes to see her for two things mainly – the success of her business, and control over her husband. Slamming the security door with unnecessary force is just a sign of how panicked Precious is. She hops into the car and drives to Mmalepona’s house, stressed out all the way.

But when she gets there she sees police vans parked along the road and a large crowd gathered outside Mmalepona’s house. Precious steps out of her vehicle and joins the crowd, slipping in-between the nosy men and women who have come to see and gossip about what is going on.

“Dumelang,” Precious greets.

The people who are around her greet back.

“What is happening here?”

“Apparently the police have a tip-off that there are human body parts in Mmalepona’s home,” whispers one of the women, as she rocks the baby she is carrying on her back.

“I knew there was something very evil about this sangoma hey. She kills people,” says another woman.

It is one of those hot Pretoria mornings. The scorching rays of the sun hit the earth with a cruel heat, but Precious is frozen from the inside out. She can’t believe what she is hearing. Her mind can’t comprehend how something like that is even possible. Human body parts! That is just too much, even for Precious.

She stays for a few minutes to see if the police will uncover anything.

“Mme yena o kae?” asks Precious.

Nobody answers. The woman carrying the baby just shrugs her shoulders. They don’t know whether Mmalepona is in police custody, or still inside her house.

“It must be some sort of mistake. Mmalepona uses natural African herbs, speaks to the ancestors and uses a little harmless magic, that’s all,” mumbles Precious to herself, as she walks back to her car.

The ancestors told her that Wandile and I were connected, that we were spiritually destined to unite them – my ancestors and Wandile’s ancestors are in agreement. There is nothing to worry about Presh, she thinks.

Now Precious is in the car talking to herself in the rear-view mirror, trying to convince herself out of her panic, but the truth is that she feels helpless. Her worry is manifesting itself physically; this is why she is not well; her muscles hurt and she feels very tired.

She has put her faith in Mmalepona, she has made a god out of her and now her power is gone. She is alone, she is weak in her spirit as well as in her body.

***

Tell us: Do you sympathise with Precious, upset at her traditional healer snatched from her life, just as she is not feeling well? Will she go to a medical doctor?