There were two beds in the room. Owethu fell asleep in one, and Linda and I sat on the other. We looked at each other and embraced.
Then I told her the whole story of the robbery. How Mdu and Padlock had threatened to harm all of us if I refused to be part of it. I shed tears in her embrace for a long time after I had finished telling her all the details.
“We deserve this break, Spha,” said Linda. “They say God works in mysterious ways.”
“There was nothing Godly about what I saw, babe. It was horrible,” I said.
“And yet in that horror you were spared. You are safe. You have the money, Spha.”
She lifted my chin and wiped away my tears.
“You did nothing wrong, Spha. Do you understand? You did what you had to do for the safety of your family.”
“Yes, babe, I understand. Everything works out perfectly because the only people who can connect me to the crime perished in the robbery. We are home free.”
Linda shook her head. She sighed. “Eish, Spha,” she said eventually.
“What’s wrong, babe?” I said.
“When I heard Mdu and Padlock were dead I lost my mind. I … I asked around … until I eventually got to Mdu’s family.”
My head dropped to my hands. “No, Linda,” I said.
“I was worried, Spha. I wanted to find out where you were. I thought you had died with them!”
Her sob rang through the room. Owethu jerked in her sleep.
“Calm down babe,” I said and hugged Linda. “Please calm down. Who was there?”
“There where?”
“At Mdu’s house.”
“His brothers.”
“That means his brothers know your face?”
“Yes, plus I gave them my name and phone number. And I gave them our house number … just in case they heard news of your whereabouts.”
“Eish, Linda!”
“What, Spha? What’s wrong? I’ve never seen so much fear in your eyes.”
Her revelation had stunned me into silence.
“What’s wrong, Spha?” Linda shook me.
I said, “His brothers are bad news, Linda. They are worse than Mdu.”
“What was I supposed to do? You left me with no explanation,” she whispered.
“You did what you had to do, considering the situation.”
“Tell Mdu’s brothers what happened. I met the one called Mpilo. The soft spoken one who wears glasses. He seems like a reasonable guy.”
“Mpilo is the worst of them all. Do you know how he became a taxi boss?”
“No, Spha.”
“Mpilo became a taxi boss at a young age. His father had two taxis. During the taxi wars of that year his father was shot and killed at the gate to his house. Mpilo was 19 at the time, and did some digging around. He found out who murdered his father. Turns out the order came from the ruling committee of a rival taxi association. Do you know what Mpilo and his brothers did after that?”
Linda shook her head.
“Mpilo and his brothers murdered all 15 members of that ruling committee. They took over that association. They have ruled that association until today. These are bad men, babe.”
“I’m sorry, Spha. I didn’t mean for Mdu’s brothers to know who you are. I was worried sick. I thought you had died and they knew something. I thought you also died alone in a ditch somewhere, like Mdu.”
“I understand, babe,” I said.
“But you didn’t kill Mdu and Padlock. His brothers will understand that.”
“I don’t know what his brothers will think. They are crooks, and crooks have their own way of looking at things. And loss has a way of making people think irrationally. People always look for someone to blame. I just fear that in their eyes, I am that someone.”
Tell us: Do you think Spha is right about the way Mdu’s gangster brothers think? Is it true, anyway, that people always look for someone to blame after a death like this?