Simbongile

“You have shown some progress.” The Commander in chief looked at my file and nodded with some approval. You have taken some courses, did a few jobs here, went to counselling and you didn’t even get into fights, I am impressed.” He closed the file and fixed his posture, his hands resting on the table with his fingers intertwined.

This was the day I had been waiting for. I had spent a good three years in here and I was just sick of this place already and it’s god-damn awful food. “You have been granted parole.”

That was a few days ago, and I have been counting down.

The guard opened the gate of my cell with his many keys, and he handcuffed me as if it was just a usual day and I was going to be taken outside, the only difference was that I was not taken outside or the canteen. I was taken to a place where I would be given that little bit of privacy to change out of my clothes and put on my own.

I was thankful when the guard did not say anything, this allowed me to be able to think about what was to happen when I was outside. I wondered what had changed ever since I was locked up.

The other guards looked at me as if they had not seen a person being let out of prison before. “Go to that room,” one said, handing me some clothes. They weren’t mine, but I doubted that the clothes that I was wearing on the day I was arrested would fit me. I heard that other people donate their clothes, and I guessed these must be donated clothes.

I walked into a room that was so small it could be passed off as a toilet, but I didn’t care, I was just too happy to get rid of this itchy uniform.

The guard handed me my stuff in a paperback and walked into an administration room where I saw Missy filling up some forms. I didn’t expect her to be here; she had told me that she wouldn’t be able to come because of some emergency. This was the best surprise ever. I ran over to her and embraced her in a tight hug.

She had gained some weight compared to the last time I saw her, probably because of that growing belly. “You didn’t think I would miss fetching my friend now did you?”
I thought she would, considering that I never wanted her to come visit me or even call me. I thought that she had long given up on me.

“Do you like the clothes?” She asked when we got out. I looked down at the clothes and nodded; they were not that bad, they would do for now. “I never pictured you as a mother.”

Missy rolled her head back and laughed when we got inside the car. “Me neither but here I am, big as a house.”

Missy took me to her place and told me that I could stay with her for as long as I liked. I thanked her; this was more than enough.

To show my gratitude to Missy, I cleaned the house and did some cooking. I then made it my mission to find Junior. It was hard, but I finally found him. I then tracked him to the supermarket downtown. I hid myself so that he wouldn’t be able to see me and followed him home.

Missy even found me a job as a cleaner, and after staying with her for two months I managed to get out of her apartment and went to get a small rental room just five minutes away from Junior’s place.
I got it under Missy’s name so that the police wouldn’t be able to tell that it was me. The place that I managed to find faced directly at Junior’s place making it easy for me to watch him and what he did.

I even managed to get inside their house when they went out. I thought that it would be hard to break into their place, but it wasn’t. I took my time as I looked at all their pictures hanging all over the house.

I even sent out little messages to Junior knowing that he was the only one who could find them. The first little piece of paper that I planted was in his car. I watched him through the window when he looked at the paper in shock and ran to look down the street but saw no one.

And I did not stop giving him the little messages to scare him a little bit. The police even came to my place and saw nothing that could alarm them.

Tell us: what do you think of Simbongile’s behaviour?