The next morning Felix dressed and headed to the garage. He was early but Dino must have left even earlier because he was already gone. He found Petros alone at A1.

“If you keep coming around here, you’ll be expecting me to start paying you a wage,” he teased.

“So where’s Dino?”

“He said he had an appointment this morning. Said he might not come in today.”

Felix thought that was strange – Dino hadn’t said anything to him or their mother. That wasn’t like Dino. He tried calling him on his cellphone, but it was off. He decided it was better to stick around the garage and wait. He picked up the broom and started sweeping. The place was a mess; the chore would keep him busy for a few hours.

Lunch time arrived and Dino still hadn’t shown up. Felix walked down to the takeaway on the corner and got some vetkoek. He sat on the bench outside to eat, just as Miriam was passing.

“Howzit Felix? I don’t see you much lately,” Miriam said, sitting down next to him.

“Yeah … well,” Felix said. He didn’t want to do this now. He was worried about Dino. Just then his cellphone rang, and it was his brother.

“Listen carefully and say nothing,” Dino said. “I need you to come down to the police station. I told them everything, about how I was driving the car that night when it knocked Mr Daniels. That I took his body to the mountains – alone. You just need to come down here to leave a statement saying that. It’s all going to be fine. Just come down here and do like I’ve told you.”

Dino hung up before Felix could ask anything. He stood up. “I need to go. Dino told the police he was driving the car, that he threw the man off the lookout point in the mountains. He’s at the police station.”

“What? But he’s not telling the truth. You can’t let him do this.”

Felix turned to her, suddenly furious. Why did she always want to make things worse, to mix everything up? “Just stay out of it! You’re free now! No-one knows you were there. You just need to keep quiet. Stay away from us and keep quiet and you’ll be fine. Just leave us alone!”

At the police station, Felix found Dino in a room off to the side of the waiting room. He was with Sergeant Rantolo.

“Hello, young man,” Sergeant Rantolo said. “You’re going to have to write a statement about what happened at the races two Saturdays ago. Do you remember that night?”

Felix listened and nodded, but the entire time he was looking at his brother. How could Dino do this for him? He was throwing his life away to save him, to protect him. He loved his brother more than ever just then, but he was angry at himself too. Why had he been so stupid? He should never have got into that car. If he hadn’t, none of them would be here now. None of this would have happened.

“Did you hear me?” Sergeant Rantolo said. “I said Constable Pillai will take you into the other room for your statement.”

Felix looked around and there was the smiling Constable Pillai. When had she come into the room?

Dino smiled and nodded at Felix. “Everything will be fine. Just tell them the truth,” he said.

Felix knew what he meant. He was meant to tell them that Dino was to blame. That Dino killed the old, sick man and threw him into the valley.

Felix followed Constable Pillai out of the room. As they left, someone took Felix’s arm. It was Miriam.

“What are you doing here? I told you to go home. I told you to leave me alone,” Felix said with no emotion. He was suddenly so tired.

“No, I won’t leave you alone. I love you. I’m going to stand by you. I want to help you,” Miriam said.

Felix’s eyes filled with tears. It was as if he had been lost, left in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, helpless, and Miriam was a lifeboat. She put her arms around him and whispered, “We will tell the truth. Completely.”

She held his hand and turned to Constable Pillai. “I’ll come with when he gives his statement. I was there too. I can also give a statement.”

They sat down at a table in an empty room. Felix turned to Constable Pillai. “It was not my brother who hit Mr Daniels, it was me. I begged to drive his car. He didn’t want me to but I insisted. Anything he did, he did to protect me. That shouldn’t be a crime, should it officer? Loving your younger brother, trying to take care of him – should it?”

“The court will have to decide that. But the fact that you are both coming forward and you have helped the family find their loved one will matter. It will likely matter a lot. We have a few other statements that confirm Mr Daniels walked into the road. We know it was an accident. But still, you’ll face charges for street racing and not reporting an accident and trying to hide the body. These are serious charges. But only a court can decide. I have a feeling, as long as you tell us the truth, the court will be lenient, likely a fine and a suspended sentence.”

Miriam and Felix wrote their statements. When they were finished, Constable Pillai said they could go home. For now there was no need to hold them. They would need to appear for the court date in a few weeks.

When they went into the waiting room Dino was there. “I told you what you were supposed to say,” he said. “I was going to take care of everything.”

“You don’t need to do that anymore, Dino. I’m grown up now. I need to accept responsibility for the things I do. I told the truth. I nearly lost everything because of lying. I was going crazy. I wasn’t going to lose you too. We’ll take what comes. It will be fine,” Felix said.

He turned to Miriam. “Thanks for helping me, for being here, for sticking with me even when I tried to chase you away.”

“Always,” she said.

Felix took her hand and they headed for home. He still had his plan. If he lost his bursary, he would still finish university, he’d find a way. He would finish varsity and marry Miriam. He knew that for sure now. Like Dino said, girls like Miriam were rare. He wasn’t about to let her go.

***

Tell us what you think: Is there a hero in this story? If so, who is the hero?