“I don’t know, I didn’t see her today,” that was Rebecca’s voice. She was even crying I could tell from her voice. I knew that Thabo was capable of killing someone when he was angry; I had seen him kill before. I felt like I had to save Rebecca, suddenly I heard two gunshots and I didn’t hear Rebecca crying anymore.

I heard a few screams from people after the gunshots, for a few seconds but then it became quiet again. I knew that something bad had happened and I had to come out, no matter what. I had to see for myself. I slowly unlocked the door and walked out of the toilet. Everyone in the room was staring at the floor. It was a white tile but one wouldn’t tell because it had turned brown. It was full of dust and dirt from the people who were dancing but now there was no fun in the room anymore.

It was a tense moment and everyone was quiet. I could only hear my footsteps as I walked closer to the crowd. They were all standing still in a circle, looking down at the floor as if someone was laying down there. I tried to find my way through the people. I could see blood and I became more frightened. I could see that whoever was laying there was a male.

I was yet to scan the face to see if it was someone I knew. It was a relief to see that it was not a female. Meaning it was not Rebecca. My eyes briskly moved from the floor to see the face of the person who was holding the gun. I was startled to see that it was Rebecca. She was the one holding the gun, pointing it down to the guy.

She was looking fiercely at the body that was lying on the floor. My eyes moved quickly again to see who he was. It was Thabo. He was hovering between life and death. I don’t know how Rebecca got the gun in her hands but from that point I knew that my friend was going to jail. I knew she did that to save me. She always said she would kill for me but I never thought that she would do that literally.

***

Tell us what you think: Have you ever had to protect a friend from an abusive relationship? Tell us about it.