Simphiwe couldn’t tell Khanyi about Vusi, but she could tell Sifiso. And she did, the first opportunity she got. As soon as Khanyi was out she told him everything. How they could make a difference in the community. How transforming the ‘Killing House’ into a community centre would help Khanyi to heal. And when she told him how Vusi could also put in a good word about Sifiso with the coach of the local soccer team at the sports centre, Sifiso was sold. He couldn’t wait to meet this new boyfriend of Simphiwe’s.

That afternoon Simphiwe and Sifiso met Vusi at a nearby shopping centre. In person, Vusi was even more charming than Simphiwe had described him. It meant a lot to her that he got on with her brother. Sifiso was the only close family she had left. When they said goodbye she was bursting with excitement. She couldn’t wait for the day of the auction, so that she could tell Khanyi. But until then she and Sifiso were sworn to secrecy.

“Where’ve you two been?” asked Khanyi as soon as they got back.

“Oh, it’s a surprise. A great surprise,” said Sifiso. “You’re going to love it.”

“What is it? Tell me,” Khanyi pleaded.

“We can’t tell you yet. You’ll have to be patient. But believe me it will be worth it,” Sifiso told her.

Simphiwe’s cellphone lit up with a message. It was an SMS from Vusi.

Meet me at the ‘community centre’ at 5.
We can dream together. V

Her heart beat fast with excitement. Just them, alone, together. Perhaps he would kiss her.

“Hey, where you going sis? To meet your new boyfriend?” Sifiso teased, as she tried to slip out of the house unnoticed.

Khanyi clucked her tongue. “What’s this? I didn’t even know you had a boyfriend. Who is he?”

“You’ll meet him soon,” replied Simphiwe. “Right now I’m late for him. Cheers.”

She walked very briskly towards the house, looking out for Vusi’s car. She couldn’t see it in the street. But then he wouldn’t want to draw attention to himself. Not yet. They would get all the attention they desired when he had bought the house and they told the community their plans for it.

Funny how she already thought of Vusi and herself as ‘them’ and the plans as ‘their plans’.

Vusi wasn’t waiting at the gate. She walked up and down the fence, but the place seemed to be deserted. She called softly but there was no answer. She sat down on the pavement and leaned against the fence. She looked at her watch. Vusi would arrive any minute.

She didn’t want to go onto the property without him and she certainly didn’t want to go inside the ‘Killing House’ without a big, strong guy like Vusi to protect her. She didn’t believe for a minute that she would see a ghost in there. But it still might be used by dealers, or dropouts hanging out smoking. She remembered how scared those kids were about the house. And Khanyi didn’t even want to talk about what had happened in there. She shuddered.

She looked at her watch again. Maybe he wasn’t coming? But that wasn’t like him. Not that she really knew him. But he was kind and considerate.

She started doubting herself. Perhaps he was inside already? What if he had been waiting all this time?

Just then she got a text:

Running late. Take a look inside and
get an idea of what we can do. V

The longer she was outside the more chance of Sifiso and Khanyi coming out of the house and up the road and seeing her. It would spoil everything. Anyway it was still light. It would be a good hour before it got dark. All those stories were just stories of ghosts. Ghost didn’t come out before dark anyway.

She shook herself and stood up. Why had she been feeling so nervous? This was only an ordinary house. It was people who made you scared of it by calling it by that ridiculous name. Really! What could the ‘Killing House’ do to her?

So even though the sun was beginning to sink over the horizon, she walked boldly around the back and tried the door. It was open. That made her feel better and she stepped inside.

The back room was a kitchen. The old stove looked as if it had been hammered and had plenty of burn and scratch marks on the enamel surface, but after everything she had heard about the ‘Killing House’, she was surprised there was a stove in there at all. The rest of the kitchen was pretty empty. Any cupboard that had managed to survive the fire was blackened and shrivelled.

Quickly, Simphiwe took stock. New cupboards. A fridge. A table and chairs. It would take a lot of effort to fix just this room and she hadn’t even started on the rest of the house yet. But it was a good-sized kitchen and they could feed a lot of hungry mouths from here. She started picturing what colour they would paint the walls – a cheerful yellow perhaps?

Khanyi could help them with colour and design. She had really good taste. It would be something they could do together, not just her and Vusi, but all of them. It would also be a good way for her and Sifiso to make new friends in the community. They would involve everyone.

She looked at her watch. She was still listening out for Vusi and wished he would arrive soon. She couldn’t wait to tell him her ideas. But it was also late in the afternoon, and she didn’t want to be here in the dark by herself.

She opened the door into the next room and tried the light switch, but it didn’t work. There was a smell of ash, and the charred remains of a table. She walked around the collapsed wood to the other side of the room. There was just a battered chair in the corner. But when she saw what was on the floor beneath the chair, she gave a loud cry. The wooden floorboards were caked with what looked like hardened, dried blood stains.

She turned and fled back into the kitchen. There was no way she was going back in that room. She would wait outside the house for Vusi. But just then she heard footsteps outside, boots crunching on gravel.

It was Vusi. His broad shoulders filled the doorway. But there was something different about him. She couldn’t figure out what it was. And then he was coming towards her. She ran to hug him.

***

Tell us what you think: Should Simphiwe be meeting Vusi at the killing house?