Ntobeko



The large container was packed. Filled with over curious people my age, just shy after 19 others were below that. The container had a thick air full of fear of the unknown and the saltiness of tears.

I pulled my knees close to my chest and hugged them, hugging ne back was the knitted scarf my mother made for me years ago, it had grown loose over the years and the purple colour had faded a little.

It was the only thing that I had with me that smelt like home. It rested around my neck, I could still smell my mother’s faint perfume on it, it was the only thing that had been holding me together i the past few hours.

I looked around the dark container with my chin resting on top of my knees. Other girls have started talking to each other, others were sleeping and some were looking around for any trouble that might arise while being cooped up in here.

Tears stung my eyelids when I thought to how it all started with me looking for a job, I have finished my matric, and instead of me wanting to go to school I wanted to go look for a job.

My mother could no longer get up and go work, and not with her broken leg that never wants to heal, it had even started to rot a little with no money to take her to a private hospital for a proper check-up she was forced to stay at home and drink the pain medication that was handed to her at the public hospital.

I spent an entire month looking for a job, only to receive emails written we are sorry to inform you… I thought my luck had changed when a woman dressed like she was an important business woman came to me and handed me her card and told me to meet her at the same spot we were at, tomorrow 9 a.m sharp . At that moment I had just come back from Isando to look for work at the big warehouses there but all they did was take my CVs and promised to call me back, but I knew that it would end up at the dustbin that was piling CV’s.

I thought that the Gods were finally looking my way and had seen my tears, but I was foolish, so foolish to not search at the name of the business, written in gold letters.

I didn’t have beautiful clothes but I managed to put together something and threw the scarf my mother had made, to add to my luck. By 9 on the dot I was at the robots waiting patiently and that woman came again, smelling like money, wearing a pink blazer and white work pants.

She smiled when she looked at me. Perhaps if I looked a little bit closer I would have seen that she was nothing but a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothes.

But I didn’t care to look at the details when I stepped inside the red Mazda car and sat still careful not to dirty the woman’s car.

“You are beautiful.” the woman said when she was driving around, looking at me briefly, she smiled “A girl like you must have a boyfriend.”

I shook my head “I never had a boyfriend.” The lady looked at me with a surprised look on her face and nodded a little “A virgin huh? It’s hard finding a girl who is a virgin nowadays.”

The conversation ended there, the car ride was then filled with silence until we reached our destination. I should have asked what the job was about but I didn’t want to come off as being too nosy and forward so I kept my mouth shut.

When we got out of the car, all I saw were containers, I had never seen so many containers in my entire life. I saw other girls there too, the woman came to stand beside me with her arm draped around my shoulder and nodded to the man with a scar that looked like he had been slashed across his face with a knife starting from the top of his forehead on the right side of his eye moving across his nose and ended on the other side of his face just near his left ear. His face looked rough and scary that if you met such a man at night you would made a run for it and ran as far as your legs could carry you.

The man had other scary men beside him all eyeing me like I was some kind of a prize. My heart galloped in my chest, the excitement was now replaced by fear and I knew that I was fooled, no job was going to be handed to me. I swallowed thickly, even if I ran, I wouldn’t make it far. This place was crawling with guards, who were carrying guns walking around casually.

“This one is special.” The woman said with a big smile on her face, showcasing her white and perfectly aligned teeth. The man looked at me, eyeing me like I was some kind of piece of meat making me feel small and disgusted, he moved his eyes away from me and turned to look at the woman and nodded “I will have to confirm first.” His voice was rough, scraping against my ear drums. He nodded to one of the guards who came to take me away. I tried to wriggle from the guy’s arms but I was only met with a rough fist, knocking me on my ribs knocking the air right out of my chest.

Tears streamed down my face, I was not crying for myself or the situation that I found myself in but for my mother, who I had left at home, who was happy for me and even gave me some bit of money to buy myself lunch.

I cried so hard knowing that I might never see her again. The man pushed me to where the other girls were. They all looked scared, some were also crying while others were trying to act strong even though I could see fear coming from the pores of their skin.