It was the wintertime, as usual winter nights are short and the nap is amazing, so waking up was very hard. Even though it was hard I did wake up, but I wasn’t up, I stayed in my blankets and listened to myself thinking and imagining. But there was this feeling, or rather the instinct, that told me to stay home but I ignored it.

After a few minutes I got up and went to the bathroom, ran hot water and switched on the kettle to make myself a hot, strong coffee, even though it wasn’t healthy for the heart, but it helped me think clearly. I had my coffee and then went to go bath. After bathing I had already prepared my outfit for the day. I wore it and got ready: I made sure that I looked neat and presentable, as soon I thought I was. I left. When I got to the gate, my heart, this gut, this feeling to NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE was still there: I thought about it for a minute and then ignored it again and left.

It was a very cold day and I was swagging with my beautiful, warm, black jacket. I was walking alone and on my way I kept thinking about what could go wrong…My English might deny me, or even worse I might get a stomach bug, or even worse I might faint or even…I took a deep breath and I relaxed.

But somehow I had this feeling that I cannot explain and it made me sick in a way, it messed with my feelings, but I kept walking and walking and walking because I knew how much I needed the job. I knew how much my mother needed the money. My mother was diagnosed with cancer,:when we found out about it she was already in stage 4, she was left with a few months to live and needed the money to go for surgery and I had to make a plan as her only child. The whole family turned their backs on us, but I believed that God would make a way.

I finally arrived a few minutes early. When I got to there, I thought I was lost because it was a shack! Because judging from the way the boss was telling me how big the company was, this couldn’t be it! And I thought it was the boss. I went to car and the windows were dark, I couldn’t see a thing. In my head it all made sense, I mean, what would this beautiful expensive car be doing in front of this shack? But my heart kept telling me to leave the place.

So I was standing in front of the gate, it was about 3 metres away from car, I was waiting for the driver to come out. But the driver didn’t come out, instead she/he hooted at me, but I didn’t know what it meant so I went closer to car. I wanted the driver to open the window…

Then finally the door opened slowly at the back and I was so excited I went to see who it was. When I got there, a stranger came out wearing a balaclava. He pushed me into the car and I was in the middle of them, they were all wearing balaclavas so I couldn’t see their faces. I tried to fight them or scream but they overpowered me.
Then the driver saw that I wouldn’t give up fighting them, even though they manhandled me.

He yelled, “mo tlabeng!”

The guy who was sitting on my left stooped to reach for his pocket and I also tried to stand but I couldn’t. The guy on my right was too strong. I knew that I was about to die, my heart was even heavy. Then I got injected and I couldn’t help but fall asleep.

I came to after hours. I was locked in a small dark place, tied up, I couldn’t see a thing. I tried standing up, I could not..I yelled asking for help over and over but nobody heard me. I never gave up, I kept yelling and yelling until one of the guys came. He told me to continue yelling, nobody would hear me, I was just wasting my time.

I stopped…He switched on the light and we were in a small room and the room was dusty and it had fresh blood. All of a sudden the guy who was with me received a phone call, and he answered.

He said, “Boss,” and I continued yelling, “Thusang! Help!”

Then he dropped the call and he approached.

He said, “It’s time.”

I knew then that it was my last day on earth. I closed my eyes and I saw my mother. She awoke and she was smiling. She said to me, “I told you to never give up, my child.”

I opened my eyes and some how I gained strength. The guy untied me, he had a knife. He kept threatening me, “One wrong move and you will die.”

He untied me and I immediately ran away, I didn’t know the place but I continued running and running as he was also running after me.

And there was…a road and cars were moving there! I threw myself in one car and it was a white lady, she dumped me, and she was kind enough to check on me and then she rushed me to the hospital…from there I reported my story and she went back home.

The lesson: make sure that the job interviews you attend are legit.

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