A very hot slap on his cheek wakes him. To his astonishment, everyone else is awake. One guy shushes him, putting a hand-made knife on his mouth and swears that if he ever screams or makes any noise to catch the attention of the police, he’s dead meat.
He cries silently, holding his cheek with one hand. He knows it’s only the beginning. The worst is yet to come.
They tell to him pick any guy he can fight in the cell. All these people are either way too big or way too old. When he doesn’t obey, they beat the hell out of him.
In the morning when they eat their breakfast, he tries to eat but he has no appetite.
“You should be eating that, with a little bit of gratitude, cause I am eating your lunch today, and tomorrow and until you leave this place.” A guy sits next to him and glares at him.
By the end of the long week of abuse, his request for bail is granted. But in three weeks’ time he’s coming back to court for the trial.
He goes straight to his grandparents’ house in Ixopo as soon as he’s out on bail. He doesn’t want his dad to get the lawyer for him, he just wants to speak for himself in court, he’s a law student after all.
During the trial Cindy is given the chance to go first. She is instructed to be honest and stick to one story. She hasn’t seen Fana since the day of incident, she hasn’t talked to him over the phone either.
“Fana and I were really close friends. We’ve been friends for the past two years now, but nobody knew about us because we were hiding our relationship from my boyfriend. The night of the incident I agree, I did lose it and kiss him. My friends stopped me. We then went to the party and he started drinking heavily. Since he came alone and couldn’t drive back to his place, I took him home. That’s where he started undressing himself and then me. I tried to stop him several times, but he wouldn’t. And then I screamed for help. My friends and neighbours came to my rescue, got pictures and videos on my phone.”
“What’s the accused suspect got to say to his defence?” the Judge asks.
“Your Honour, the statement made by Cindy is sugar-coated. Firstly, she kissed me that night purposely. And said something like ‘I will never get another chance like this again’ when her friends separated us. She knew I was going to be set up later on. I was drunk, but I remember everything that happened. I didn’t try to force myself on her. Actually, she’s the one who started undressing me and screamed when I wanted to do the same with her.”
“Is there anything more you would like to add to defend yourself, Mr Khumalo?” the Judge asks.
“I know Cindy better than her so-called friends. She wouldn’t have done this to me. Her boyfriend turned her against me. And I suppose the R70k that she needed to erase the case was all going to go to her boyfriend’s pocket.”
Fana turns to face Cindy.
“I promised that I would never let anything come between us, Cindy. I really loved you, and when all this is over I want you to know that I forgive you. I’m ready to hear the outcome of the case, Your Honour.”
The Judge gave a 30-minute break.
After the break Fana keeps stealing looks at his parents, mostly his sad mother. It breaks him seeing his mom like that.
“Mr Freedom Khumalo, the court is hereby sentencing you to six years in prison.”
The final decision is given and shock fills the whole place. They watch as Fana disappears down the steps to serve his sentence.
***
Tell us: What do you think will happen to Fana now?