I spend the whole night mixing sand and cement. I put together blocks and reinforce them with brick force. I roughly plaster the tombstone. I finish at around 2 a.m. and fall asleep relieved. The tombstone has set when I wake up in the morning.

I text all my friends.

‘I’ve built the tombstone. 

I’ll be going to replace it on Smiley Face’s grave at the cemetery tonight. 

I’m doing it whether you are with me or not’

In the evening I take a shovel and load the tombstone on a wheelbarrow. I push the wheelbarrow all the way to the cemetery.

I find Zola, Kabelo and Charity waiting for me at the cemetery entrance.

“You thought we’d let you do this on your own?” Zola says.

“We’re still your friends, hey,” says Kabelo.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch, guys. I was grieving,” I say.

“Let’s save the reunion speeches for later. We don’t have time. What’s the plan?” Kabelo says.

“We need to put the tombstone on his grave. That’s how we’ll be able to get rid of him for good,” I say.

“Easy as that?” Charity asks.

“Yes. We don’t have much time,” I say.

“I’ve prepared some weapons. I think it’s okay to call them weapons because I don’t know what else to call them since we are fighting a demon,” Charity says.

She gives all of us packs of salt, bottles of blessed holy water and herb mixes in smalls sachets she says will repel evil spirits. We enter the cemetery and push the wheelbarrow up to Smiley Face’s grave. It is all quiet and clear on Smiley Face’s grave in one instant but then out of nowhere we see Toni sitting on top of it.

“You’ve come! Prepare for your souls to serve me!” Smiley Face speaks through Toni.

We ignore Toni/Smiley Face and take the tombstone out of  the wheelbarrow. We place it on the ground and hold our packs of salt in our hands.

“You think a handful of salt can chase me away? I am God in this place!” Smiley Face says through Toni.

I suddenly can’t feel my legs. I try to take a step but I fall to the ground. Charity also falls next to me.

“I can’t see!” Charity screams. 

Zola throws his pack of salt in Toni’s face. Toni screams and wriggles on the ground.  I regain my strength, so does Charity. Together we push the tombstone into position. Toni rises up and squares up to Kabelo.

“Now I’ll show you no mercy!” Smiley Face says through Toni.

Toni brushes Kabelo aside and heads to me. He stabs my hand with a metal rod. I let go of the tombstone, which is just a mere centimeters from being in place. Charity moves away. Toni chokes my neck. I’m about to lose my breath when Zola appears with a shovel and smacks him on the back. Charity, Zola and Kabelo shove the herbs into his mouth and pour holy water all over his body.

In that moment I feel an inexplicable force merging itself with me. I suddenly see flashes of Smiley Face’s life. 

He grew up in an orphanage, bullied for most of his life. In high school he decided to hide behind the mask of being a clown. He dropped out of school and left the orphanage to live on the streets. That’s when he began scaring children and got disliked by the community. 

As I see all this, I understand that he had been mistreated his whole life. He never knew what it was to be loved and be cared for, so he hated the world.

I come back to life and I scream, releasing Smiley Face’s soul into the grave. A gusty wind blows from all directions and spirals into the grave. I force myself and push the tombstone back in its place.

We all lay on the ground, exhausted. All of us, except for Toni, regain our strength and stand up. We are surprised that there is an inscription on the tombstone. Charity reads it aloud.

‘May his soul rest in peace

Beloved citizen

 Jonathan Robby ‘Smiley Face’ Khuzwayo

Born: 12-03-1975

Died: 15-08-2021’

“He wrote it himself,” I say.

“Is he gone?” Toni asks as he wakes up.

“Toni!” I crawl to him.

The rest of my friends all kneel next to Toni and I and we embrace each other. I wish Sindi was with us. 

What we did was wrong. Sindi, Ma and Luke died for one soul to finally rest in peace and gain respect and sympathy from those who hated, disrespected, and feared him all at once. 

I have learnt to never disturb the resting place of the dead. I never judge people from a distance, because you never know what they have been through. And I have made a vow to change my life.

The End