Karabo could see William sitting at a desk in a dark room, staring at a computer screen. The eerie light of the monitor lit up the rest of the room as he ran his hand through his really short hair.

A man’s voice came from across the room:

‘You still working, William?’

William’s body stiffened as he replied, ‘Dad?’

Edward English came into view, and Karabo felt her chest tighten. The dream became hazier until she forced herself to relax and control her fear.

‘Let me see?’ said Edward, walking around the table to look over William’s shoulder.

William pointed to the screen and spoke to his father,

‘I’ve managed to triple our coin shares, Dad. It’s way easier than the stock exchange. People open up and tell you stuff online. It’s actually ridiculous,’ said William, before pushing his chair back slightly to look up at his father.

‘I think there is a big scheme, Dad. I’m sure you know about a pump and dump?’

Edward nodded.

‘Well, I think we can do it here. We just need a few people to buy in and then we can go for it. I’ve found two or three big players that would be keen. We build up the coin value and, just before it starts to plateau, we dump it when it’s high. That way we make ourselves and some partners some really great money, while we clean the money and make a profit on it too. I can’t do a small scheme because it’ll ring alarm bells and I won’t be trusted afterwards. But, with the way I’m going at the moment, I’ve got a great following. My fake profile has everyone gamed completely. If I can keep my numbers up, I’ll have a massive following by the end of the month,’ explained William, the excitement in his voice rising.

Edward lifted his hand and William shrank from him. His large hand patted William on the back.

‘Clever boy. Finally, a smart way to increase the value of our money and clean it,’ said Edward approvingly.

‘How much can you clean at one point in time?’

William looked up at Edward. ‘All the cash we have?’ suggested William, his voice small.

Edward threw his head back and bellowed his loud, mocking laugh.

‘That’s many millions, my boy,’ he finally said, once he’d finished laughing.

William shrugged nervously, ‘Well, there could be many more millions on top of that, Dad,’ he said earnestly.

Edward stared back at William.

‘Karabo! I’m home!’ called Anathi through the vision.

Karabo sat up and blinked. The steam snaked its way up her nostrils, and she blew it out again. What did it all mean? What was William doing?

‘I’m in the bath!’ shouted Karabo. She heard Anathi’s heels click across the downstairs floor and then a clunk as she threw her beautiful (but now painful) heels to one side and came upstairs. Anathi opened the door slowly and stepped into the bathroom. Karabo was barely visible, with only her eyes peeping over the foam as the mist swirled around them. The candles flickered against the rush of fresh air.

‘Hey?’ asked Anathi. ‘You OK?’

Karabo sat up a little more as Anathi walked over and kissed her daughter gently on the forehead.

‘Been a rough term?’ asked Anathi, frowning at the look on Karabo’s face.

She nodded and the tears began to stream down her face. Karabo brought her foam-covered hands up to her eyes as she began to blubber. She couldn’t even understand it herself. All she knew was that she felt desperately sad. Everything was sad — Isla’s blind adoration of Mzi, the questions she couldn’t answer on her exam papers, the fact that Anathi wasn’t at the airport to meet her, William trying to bring down an empire, a mission that was bound to fail, the sangoma and her expectations, her malice towards the life Karabo wanted versus what she believed Karabo had to do.

She sobbed and sobbed until she couldn’t breathe and had to gasp loudly. Anathi sat alongside the bath and gently patted Karabo’s head, as she realised the torrent of emotion had to pour out into the bathwater.

Once Karabo was calmer, Anathi stood up and took a towel from the rack,

‘Come, my love,’ she said gently, ‘time to get out. I got us chocolate cake.’

Still hiccupping, Karabo drew herself up out of the bath and took the towel, wrapping herself in a comforting cocoon of a fluffy bath towel.

Once she was dressed, Karabo felt less overcome by sadness. It was as if the bath had squeezed out all the ugly emotions that she’d been holding onto over the term. She knew she hadn’t been herself and now, even though she felt vulnerable, she was at peace. She pulled her oversized jumper over her pyjamas and made her way downstairs. Anathi placed two mugs of steaming hot chocolate onto the counter next to two very large pieces of glistening chocolate cake. Karabo breathed in the sugary goodness of the cake as the chocolatey aroma filled the kitchen.

She smiled at her mother. ‘You are the best.’

Anathi smiled back. ‘I know,’ she replied, handing Karabo a teaspoon.

They sat in silence until Anathi had finished half her cake and stretched back to make room in her belly for more.

‘So, what was the ugly-cry about?’ asked Anathi kindly, her joke intending to ease into the serious question.

‘Everything,’ Karabo said meekly. ‘Absolutely everything from the beginning of the term with the sangoma and her pushing me, to the exams, to Isla, to William, to everything,’ said Karabo not thinking. Then she brought her hand to her mouth, her eyes wide. She hadn’t meant to talk about William.

‘It’s OK. I know about William’s plan,’ said Anathi. ‘Jez told me everything.’

Karabo’s surprise turned to anger.

‘She wasn’t supposed to tell you!’ hissed Karabo.

‘Calm down, Karabo,’ stated Anathi in a clipped tone, reaching the end of her drama tether for one evening.

‘She had NO choice. She had to tell me. She tried to see Cedric and he had her escorted out the building. It was the only way to get the ball rolling on William’s plan,’ explained Anathi, watching Karabo carefully.

A defeated Karabo sank back into her chair.