If it were up to Nkgono Mapaseka, Thabiso would be heading straight to Baba Ndlovu’s place to seek spiritual guidance. But that was not an option he liked. Especially after he found out that Baba Ndolvu charged you according to your mode of transport. If you arrived on foot, Baba Ndlovu charged you two chickens with white feathers. If you used public transport, he requested a goat of his choice. And if you had your own car, a cow would do just fine.

He also seemed to spend a lot more time with his female patients, which bothered Thabiso. No. Baba Ndlovu was not an option right now.

By the time Thabiso realised he was hungry it was 2 o’clock in the afternoon. He was somewhere between Volksrust and Vryheid, in KwaZulu Natal. He eased into the next petrol station to stretch his back and get something to eat.

“Do you have something strong that I could take to help me sleep?” Thabiso asked a rather elderly looking man at a chemist in the next town.

Somehow meds not only dulled the senses, but they seemed to temporarily suppress the dreams.

“Good Morning to you too,” responded the man with an annoyed facial expression.

“My apologies. I guess sleep deprivation and anxiety is getting the better of me.”

The man walked to a shelf on the other side of the small chemist without saying a word. He gave Thabiso the pills and Thabiso paid and left.

That night, Thabiso took a double dose of tablets before sliding under the covers of a lumpy bed at a countryside lodge.

The next morning, Thabiso opened the curtains to let the morning sun into his room. He spotted a man crossing the road just outside his window. The man turned to look straight at him. There was a strange familiarity that occupied the space between them. The man paused for what seemed like hours, and then turned away and hurried down the street.

Thabiso just stood there, looking puzzled. The brief encounter bothered him for the rest of the day. He desperately tried to figure out why the man seemed so familiar to him.

Two days later Thabiso was having a late breakfast at a charming little coffee shop, contemplating whether to get more sleeping tablets. He saw him again, the same man he saw outside the window of his room at the lodge. This time Thabiso scrambled to his feet and yelled, running out the door of the coffee shop.

“Hey you! Stop!”

When the man spotted Thabiso, he began to run as fast as he could down the street. Thabiso gave chase, ignoring the old lady yelling from behind the counter. The man disappeared around a corner, two blocks down the road.

By the time Thabiso reached the corner, the man had disappeared into a busy taxi rank.

What was it about this man? Thabiso recognised his face, but could not establish from where. He had now spotted this familiar face twice in the space of three days. He returned to the lodge, perplexed.

He was about to climb into his car when he heard a voice say, “Officer that’s the man!”

When he turned around, the bony finger of the old lady from the coffee shop was pointing accusingly at him. Before he could say anything, a young police officer announced that he was under arrest and cuffed him there and then.

***

Tell us: Who do you think this man is and what does he want with Thabiso?