Siya cannot lock the door to his room because the lock had been damaged in the burglary. He places a concrete block behind the door to keep it from opening, and hardly sleeps.

He wakes up early and by 4 a.m. he is on his way to the police station. It is still dark when he turns onto the main road. In the faint pre-dawn light he recognises the step of a figure wearing a hoody, walking towards him. It is definitely Bhekani – he has a slight limp that he returned from his stint in jail with. He is walking on the same side of the road as Siya. Bhekani looks up to see Siya and crosses at once to the opposite side of the road.

“Bhekani!” Siya calls out to him.

Bhekani ignores him.

“Bhekani! Wangiziba nje ndoda? Why are you avoiding me, dude? Ngifuna ukukhuluma nawe!” Siya shouts.

Bhekani changes direction, walking away from Siya.

“Bhekani!”

Bhekani’s steps up his pace; the distance between them widens.

“Bhekani wait, I need to talk to you!” Siya starts to jog now.

Bhekani looks back at Siya and takes off, running now.

Siya chases after him. Bhekani is quick, but Siya is right on his tail. Siya tracks him down passageways and through other people’s yards. Chickens fly out of the way, dogs bark, there’s a trail of dust, clothes swing on washing lines – this is what they leave in their wake.

Siya is matching him step for step until Bhekani turns into a road that ends in a cul de sac. Bhekani pulls a knife, but Siya kicks it away and plants a fist into his jaw, knocking Bhekani out. Furious, Siya is about to stamp on his head but restrains himself. Drugs have taken so much from Bhekani’s frame that Siya worries that a stamp may actually kill him. He calls the police station while Bhekani lies groggy, but the line is engaged. Bhekani slowly regains consciousness.

“Where are my things?!” yells Siya.

“What things?”

“Things you stole from my room. My laptop, cellphone and TV. You know what I am talking about. People saw you, Bhekani.” Siya’s voice is shaking with anger.

“I sold those things at W section,” says Bhekani, slurring like someone talking in his sleep.

Impatient, Siya calls the police station again, but the line is still engaged.

Now Bhekani regains his bearings, and staggers to his feet. “I don’t know what you are talking about, Siya.” He continues denying stealing anything.

Finally the call gets through but as soon as Siya says ‘hello’, Bhekani bolts out of there. Phone in hand, Siya chases after him, gaining on him, until he can grab Bhekani’s hoody. But Bhekani wriggles out of it and Siya is left holding the smelly garment.

Siya shoves the cellphone into his pocket and runs after Bhekani once more, once again gaining, until he grabs on to his quarry’s T-shirt, but he is left holding that too. Bare-chested in the bitterly cold morning air, Bhekani jumps over a high wall and is away, running faster than before. Siya scales the same wall. When he gets over he finds that Bhekani has disappeared into thin air.

Siya is left holding Bhekani’s foul smelling clothes. His cellphone is not in his pocket. It must have fallen out during the chase. He throws the smelly clothes to the ground in frustration and goes back to look for his cellphone, eventually finding it in the cul de sac. He tries to make a call to the police but he is out of airtime.

Siya is on his way to the police station when, to his surprise, he gets a call from a taxi owner he once drove for.

“One of my drivers is sick. Could you take his taxi and work his route today? I will pay you R600 because there are people I need you to collect in Umkomaas in the evening,” says the taxi owner.

“Sure, not a problem,” says Siya.

The call from the taxi owner gives Siya an idea. He can ask the guy for a loan to bribe the supervisor at the logistics company. He decides that the taxi gig is the most urgent thing now, especially as it will pay by the end of the day. He’ll go to the police station the following morning.

*****

The taxi owner is asleep by the time he returns from Umkomaas, but his son pays Siya. It is close to midnight when Siya returns home. He remembers about his room and decides to sleep on the sofa in the lounge of the main house where the door can lock properly. In spite of everything that has happened, he is happy – he has a bit of cash. Exhausted, he falls asleep as soon as he lays his body on the sofa.

A loud knocking drops Siya to the floor. He thinks he is dreaming, until he opens his eyes, listens, and confirms that the banging is indeed coming from their front door. Siya is still dazed, trying to find his bearings, when a voice bellows, “It’s the police. Open this door or we will break it down! Open it now!”

Siya opens the door to find two policemen, hands on their gun holsters. Before he can even ask what is going on, a slight figure appears behind the cops and points a finger at Siya. It is Bhekani.

“That is him officers. That is the person who beat me up and robbed me of my money,” he says.

“Is your name Siya Mahlangu?” asks one officer.

“Yes, I am Siya Mahlangu.”

“Get dressed, Siya. You are under arrest for GBH and robbery.”

***

Tell us what you think: How is Siya likely to be feeling at this point?