Saturday morning dawned cold, which suited Sasha since she preferred wearing bulky clothes that hid her weight. She changed outfits three times before settling on a maroon polo-neck jersey, black jeans and black boots. She pulled her hair into a bun and put on foundation, blusher and mascara. It was unusual for Sasha to bother with make-up, but she wanted to look good for Simphiwe. She glanced at herself in the mirror as she pinned on her name badge and found herself wishing, for the millionth time, that she were thinner and prettier. Maybe then she would fit in better. From today, she decided, her diet would start.

Sasha’s resolution lasted until she walked into the kitchen, where her mother was sitting with a cup of coffee and an open container of koeksisters. Desiree had just finished night shift and had bought them on her way home. Sasha made herself a cup of coffee and sat down opposite her mom. Her diet could wait until tomorrow, she decided, as she picked up a sticky koeksister.

“You look pretty,” Desiree commented. Sasha ignored her mother’s compliment, but decided to mention what she had seen the day before at school.

“It’s pretty pointless telling the police, isn’t it?” Desiree sighed. “It’s not like they’re going to do much about it anyway, especially since you haven’t got any proof.”

“I know,” Sasha replied, licking syrup off her fingers. “I decided just to keep quiet for the meantime.”

“Probably best,” Desiree said, yawning.

“You go sleep Mom. I’ll see you around six. I’ve got to go now anyway, if I don’t want to be late for work.”

Sasha slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed a last koeksister to eat on the way to the taxi rank. It was strange, but she enjoyed working on the weekends. She liked the people she worked with, she loved that she got to spend all day doing what interested her. When she was at work, helping people with something she was passionate about, she forgot about being shy. And, of course, there was Simphiwe.

*****

If it hadn’t been so cold Sasha wouldn’t have walked to Computer Connection through the underground parking of the shopping mall – and if she hadn’t walked through the underground parking, she wouldn’t have seen the stranger again.

She saw his car first, the metallic blue glinting off the fluorescent parking-lot lighting, and then she noticed him standing behind it. He was chatting to a guy that Sasha vaguely recognized from school. The stranger was dressed in a black Nike hoodie, Guess jeans and black Converse sneakers.

Sasha slowed down, trying to watch the pair without them noticing her. The stranger had a personalised number plate on his car: ‘Prof V’. Sasha wondered what it meant. He was certainly no professor! At that moment, the stranger looked up, staring directly into her eyes. Sasha felt a chill down her spine.

His eyes were black, bottomless pits that seemed to draw her in. Without thinking about it, Sasha started running. The last thing she saw, as she made for the entrance to the mall, was the stranger handing the guy a bag of blue tablets.

Sasha was breathless and her hands were shaking when she arrived at Computer Connection. She couldn’t forget the look in the stranger’s eyes. Simphiwe was already at work and noticed immediately that something was wrong with Sasha.

“You look sick, girl. What’s up?” he asked, walking over to her. Sasha blurted out what she had seen and immediately felt stupid. It was just a drug deal, after all. Those happened all the time. She tried to explain to Simphiwe that there was something evil about the stranger, but once again she felt as though she was over-reacting.

“Well, let me know if this ‘Prof V’ gives you any hassles and I’ll sort him out,” Simphiwe said, half joking. Sasha smiled at the thought of the skinny Simphiwe sorting anyone out, but was grateful nevertheless. Just talking about it had made her feel like her fears were ridiculous.

***

Tell us: What do you think Prof V wants?