In the morning Tumi and I avoided the topic, in fact we barely said a word to each. We both were quick to rush out of the house.

My concentration levels were nowhere that day. I kept wondering what Tumi had decided because I was really not sure. Later after school I rushed off to hospital to check on my father. But he had been moved from the room that he was in.

I asked the nurse where he was and she said that he was moved to the ICU and the doctor is still busy with him. I waited for the doctor; for them to have moved him to the ICU was a big deal. Couple minutes later she came while I was busy trying to get hold of Tumi who wasn’t answering her phone.

“Mr Vilakazi,”

“Hello doctor, is my father okay?” I asked.

“For now it is safe to say that he is, but like I said we need to operate. The ICU is the best place for him to be in right now, but it can only do so much until we operate,” the doctor said.

The words “operate” just repeatedly sang in my head.

“Quinton! Quinton!” Kimberly woke me from my trance.

“Kimberly, what are you doing here?” I asked curiously.

“Well, this doctor right here is my mother,” she said hugged her.

“As I was saying we need to operate as soon as possible, will see you tomorrow then,” the doctor said as she left.

“Operate! Who needs this operation?” Kimberly asked.

“My father. He has Thyroid gland and his is critical they just moved him to the ICU,” I said.

“Wow that’s deep, so why can’t they operate?” Kimberly asked.

“It will cost round about 90 grand to operate, which we don’t have,” I said as I sat down in the chairs stressing about the situation.

“What about your mother, can’t she like… get a loan or something?

“My mother died, she was pushed in the train station and died. I kept on saying if given the chance I would have saved her. And here I am now with my father on his death bed and I can’t save him. I don’t have any choice, am stuck between a rock and a hard place here.”

“I would say that I understand your situation but I don’t. We always have a choice though; just gather up whatever you can to help him. But I will ask my mother check if they can’t do the operation and you will pay it when you have it or instalments or something. There must be an option of that choice!” Kimberly said.

I hoped against hope that we could have that option. But it didn’t seem like it. Our luck was really low. And I was feeling the strain.

“Talk tomorrow,” she said as she went to her mother who was waiting for her. But her words “we always have a choice”, stuck with me. I thought about Glen’s suggestion, was it really the only choice that we had?

Tumi and I finally decided to talk about what we are going to do.

“I have had time to think,” Tumi said looking down at her hands. “If this is the only choice we have to save dad, then we just have to take it,” she said with tears running down her cheeks.

“Is it really what he would’ve wanted? He taught us values and gave us standards to live by!” I said.

“So we must let him die just like that, after everything he has done for us? His teachings will forever be in our lives but now his life depends on us,” Tumi said.

I sat in deep thought for a long while. Finally I agreed to do it.

Later that day Remy arrived to check on how my dad was. I decided to tell him about our plan to steal from the Coles to save my father. I couldn’t carry that much load on me; I had to get it off. Remy didn’t respond, he just kept quiet. He got up and he left.

***

Tell us: What do you think will happen next?