He noticed that people couldn’t stand the sight of him as soon as he got off his flight. It was like they had a grudge on his judge of character. People felt that he was a bad person and they had nothing good to say about him. Nobody wanted to be associated with him anymore.

“Get that camera out of my face,” he lashed out at the media.

“Hello, ja this is Thaphelo,” he said speaking on the phone with one of his creditors asking about the debt he owed to him. Thaphelo could not guarantee him anything at that time. The government seized all his assets and froze his bank accounts. He was like a man standing on thick ice and the frozen surface under his feet began to crack.

“Don’t tell me your bullshit stories, I want my money!” said one of his creditors swearing on the phone.

The airport felt like a movie scene and he was like an actor dressed in fancy clothes. He had stolen the identity of another person and he could not hide it anymore. The truth was out there to expose all his lies. He was finally walking in his own shoes and the suit he was wearing began to shrink on his body. The prank was over and he could not remain with a fake smile on his face anymore. The people saw him for what he really was and his true reflection highlighted that. They all believed him at first and the second he convinced himself to be someone he was not he became a new man. A man capable of turning a lie into something that it was not and that was the whole truth about him.

The television crew documented every step he took and he could not go anywhere without someone screaming in his ears asking for a comment. The police finally caught up with him. His eyes turned blue and he could see the flashing blue lights of a police van at the entrance of the airport. He was walking in the direction of a man destined to go to jail and the police were waiting for him to hand himself over for his crimes. He knew the day he decided to become an imposter this day would come and it was only a matter of time until his criminal activities caught up with him.

“Put your hands on your back sir, you are under arrest for identity theft, let’s go,” said the policeman locking the handcuffs.

 ***

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