Miriam arrived home and her father was still up watching TV.

“How was the film?” he asked.

Miriam looked at him for a moment wondering what he was talking about. And then she remembered that a few hours ago – which now seemed like days – she had said they were going to the movies. How she wished they had gone to the cinema. If only they had gone to the cinema instead of going to the races.

“Good. It was good,” she said. “I’m tired, I’m going to bed.”

“OK, goodnight sweetheart.”

In her room she sat down on her bed. She didn’t know what to do with herself. She needed to tell someone. She couldn’t stop thinking about the old man’s body lying down in that valley, never to be found. It was not right. She picked up her phone to call Lesang and then set it back down.

No, Dino warned them all to keep quiet. That it would blow over. No-one would talk to the police; the racers were not like that. It was up to them to keep the secret. As long as they did, everything would be fine.

Miriam felt something in her pocket. She reached in and pulled out the R100 note Felix had given her. It was the R100 she was meant to have used to place a bet, the R100 that was meant to give Felix good luck.

*****

In the morning, Felix went to Miriam’s house. They told her father they were studying and went into her room and closed the door. Felix had all of the Sunday papers. He put them on the bed.

“I want us to look … to see if anything is in here … if they know … know about … him,” Felix said.

Miriam was afraid for Felix. He looked so pale and his hands shook. Felix was not made for this kind of thing. None of them were. They were not thugs and criminals used to such things. He would never manage living with this secret. She pushed the papers to the side.

“Let’s tell the police,” she said.

Felix looked at her and said nothing.

“You know it’s the best thing to do. We tell the police. They go and get that man. It was an accident in any case. You can’t live with this, Felix, with this lie. I’m not sure I can either.”

“Dino says no. He says I’ll go to prison for a long time. I’ll lose my bursary, I’ll lose everything. He says no, that we can’t risk it. I can’t think clearly about anything right now so I need to trust him; he knows better what’s good for me. He promises that as time passes it will get better. I’ll get better, you will too.”

“I don’t know, Felix. I don’t think I can ever forget that. It’s a man’s life. He’s just lying dead in the bush like that. It’s wrong.”

Felix began to cry. “Why did I force Dino to let me drive? Why?”

Miriam took Felix in her arms, guilty about upsetting him. “You didn’t know that this was going to happen, that he would walk into the road. Dino is maybe right. Let’s just forget about it all. He will never be found. He was likely homeless, he was in a dressing gown. He was confused, maybe on drugs. Many of the bergies are on drugs. We must just wait it out. We must do as Dino says. It will blow over.”

Felix listened to her words and he seemed to feel better. She knew she was talking lies, but for now lies were helpful. For now telling themselves lies was all they had.

They paged through all of the Sunday papers and found nothing about the accident or a missing man or a dead body found in the mountains. No-one knew anything. Everything would be fine.

*****

Each day was a little bit better. Nothing was forgotten, but living with what happened got a bit easier. Each minute, each hour, was no longer a nightmare to get through. Miriam went to class. She came home. She slept when she could. She ate. It was life cast over with a dark shadow, but a life that moved ahead however it could.

She was at Felix’s. His mother had invited her over for dinner. She was a good cook his mother, and they’d had lasagne and trifle for desert. It was almost like they were able to pretend things were good. They sat in front of the TV to watch the news: Dino, Felix, their mother, and Miriam.

There was something about Parliament and then a story about a bombing in Libya and then – there it was.

A woman, maybe Felix’s mother’s age, was on the screen. She looked upset, looked like she’d been crying for days. Her name was Louise Daniels. Behind her was a tall, silent man: her husband, Ishmael. They were looking for Louise’s father. He lived with them but had gone missing the Saturday before. He was unwell. She told the reporter he had Alzheimer’s disease and sometimes forgot where he lived, sometimes went walking at night, confused. She begged the viewers to contact her if any one of them knew where he was. He might have wandered far away by now. Though he was sick, he was still very fit. He used to be a fire fighter.

The woman, the man’s daughter, held up a photo of her father. “Please,” she said, “if you find him, phone us, or phone the police. We love him and miss him. We want him safely back home.”

The camera zoomed in on the photo. Miriam felt sick. She didn’t dare look at Felix or Dino. They all knew where Louise’s father was – Louise’s father had been thrown down into a valley in the mountains.

***

Tell us what you think: What should Dino, Felix and Miriam do now?