“You had to carry it, that is the job you could do instead of loafing around,” Melody said, mocking Lovemore, and then clicked her tongue.

Lovemore had been complaining about his hands being hurt. They were all sitting in the kitchen rondavel. Melody was cooking on the floor, while Martha wrapped her waist and legs with a cloth so she could sit decently on the floor.

“Mama …” Lovemore said, then he walked away, leaving his mother and sister to bond.

Lovemore hated being told what to do, and he wanted his family to accept who he was. He did not care much about life anyway. As long he could smoke and get chicks whenever he needed one. His mother never scolded him before. Maybe his father had pressured her into do it. He walked to the corner to sell his cannabis.

“Mama, where is dad?” Martha whispered.

“He went to his friends,” Melody responded loudly.

Martha elbowed her mother to keep it low. She then showed off her ring, hoping her mother would notice it, but Melody was not aware, she just turned to her pots and kept stirring them.

“Mama, I got married at court,” Martha whispered.

Melody nearly dropped the pot on hearing the announcement, but she quickly held it with a cloth. “Are you crazy? Your father will have a heart attack,” she said, grinding her teeth. She then looked back when she heard footsteps. “Keep quiet about this!” she said, warning her with her eyes and waiting for the person to enter her door. She was suspecting it was Gerald.

“Lovemore knows,” Martha said, looking down at the floor shyly.

Melody put her finger on her lips and gestured for Martha to keep quiet, but it was not Gerald. Rather, it was a child from next door, alerting them that a dog had eaten one of her chicks. They all went outside to see. Martha saw her brother by the corner, but she put her attention on the hurt chick. The chick was not dead, but one of its legs was bleeding. Melody chased the chicken into its shelter and put some medicine on the leg.

“If you come again to do this, Bonga must pay for the loss of my chicken,” the girl shouted.

At the corner, Lovemore was smoking and smacking a woman’s thigh as he was making a move on her. Martha walked towards him and whistled, but no one heard her.

“Brother,” Martha called out, standing by the tree.

While waiting, Martha produced a handful of notes and stared at her brother while he was kissing the woman, biding her farewell. She checked if the money was still in there. She then looked back to check if her mother was still outside, but she only saw the dog barking outside their gate. She did not notice that Lovemore was close.

“Sis, you are disturbing me, man. Do you also think I’m an imbecile?” Lovemore complained.

Martha did not take him seriously, and she pulled him closer. She then took a deep breath before saying anything. “You keep quiet about my marriage,” she said, threatening him.

Lovemore was puzzled, but he saw that Martha was serious in her eyes. “Or what?” he asked, chuckling, and she make him see the envelop. “Ohk, I will shut up,” he said, rubbing his hands together and grinning.

Martha shoved the envelope towards him and gave him a threatening look, and he nodded and gestured with his finger on his lips that he would zip it. She then walked away, and he smiled when he saw that it was five thousand Rands.

“Oh sister, you did me good,” Lovmeore said, grinning, but his happiness was distracted by the two friends he sells with running very fast, as if they were being chased. He slid the money in his pocket, panicking. He then heard footsteps, like people were chewing crunchy chips.

“The police …” one of Lovemore’s friends said, panting, and then raced off.

Lovemore’s quickly went in the other direction, but he was overtaken. He then panicked. He wanted to go the other way, but policemen were in the direction he had went. A police van swung around the corner, and when they were approaching him, he knew he had no choice but to give up, so he held up his hands.

“You are under arrest,” one of the policemen said, cuffing Lovemore from behind.

“Where are the others?” a policeman in plain clothes said.

Lovemore was confused. The police ran in the other direction, searching for those who were selling drugs. Gerald stood outside the hut when he saw people running as if they were been chased. He walked to the gate until he noticed his son was being arrested by the police. His heart shattered, but he vowed not to embarrass himself.

“What did I do?” Lovemore shouted, swaying and trying to remove his cuffs. One of the police searched him, and he did not want them to take his money, but he was in handcuffs. “Hey, it’s my money,” he shouted, but a slap sprung on his face. He was then thrown against the car, and he could feel his back hurt from the metal of car and he cried in pain. The girl he had harassed saw what was happening and rushed home, but he did not notice.

“Don’t demand, because you have no right. How much it?” the policeman who had slapped him said, turning to him while pointing his finger, and then turned to another one and whisper. “5k,” he said, chuckling devilishly.

Lovemore stood powerlessly and sadly with his face looking down as the police shared the money among themselves. He was then put into the back of the van, and he hoped no one saw him.

***

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