Shrivelled Roses 2: Iyana Kleinbooi

39

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 39 – Season Finale (1)

-Iyana-

Her clothes and bags were still in her room and so was the little cot she had bought about a week ago, that was an indication that she hadn't left. Well, that was the hope of the family, that she was still around. After trying all Iyana's friends for two days, her father called the cops and reported her missing. Bukiwe had friends in the local police stations so when they overheard the conversation about her missing sister, they went to the house and asked questions, once all statements were taken, the cops walked out but one of them asked that kuvulwe igarage. It was two steps away from the house, but in the same yard. There was a footpath between the garage and the house, a shortcut to the washing line at the back. Buki tried opening the door from the outside and realized that it was locked from the inside which was rare because everyone knew to never lock the garage door as it was old and had collected rust. It had been years since it was locked. After searching for the keys, they decided that they would have to break the inside door because the keys were somewhat missing. That became a shocker...

"How can garage keys go missing? Don't you use the garage daily?" one cop asked.

"We don't use it daily but we do use it, and we just never lock it. Dad mostly uses it to fix his bakkie" Iyana's older sister answered.

"So where is the bakkie now?"

"The bakkie works at the local farm, it only comes back on weekends and then dad would open the garage and check it out." She answered again.

"Yho, every weekend? The car gets checked out every weekend?" The cops frowned.

"We have bad roads sir, utata always says that it is preferable to find a problem isencinci and fix it immediately than to ignore ingxaki encinci ezokwandisa iingxaki ezingapha kwamandla wakho. So yes, he checks on it every weekend"

The cops nodded, it made sense.

Especially if someone else was driving it and not the owner, you never know why drivers don't care about peoples' cars. The cops and the dad tried breaking down the door while the ladies stayed back. Buki made sugar-water for her mother who was suddenly sweating. She (Buki) was calm, she had no reason to be anxious, they were just about to open the garage door. That was it.

The inside door was broken down and the cops were the first ones in, Iyana's father followed and the sight that was before their eyes crippled not only his heart, but it physically crippled him. For life. He just stood there, looking at his daughter hanging from the rafters with a chair kicked a short distance from where she hung. There was a smell, and her body had started to swell a bit. Maybe it was the heart, or it was because her organs had already started to decompose. He looked at his daughter in horror, everything in the garage suddenly seemed dead... foreign. He noticed a note pad on top of the old and rusty toolbox, and two sealed envelopes with names on the outside. His wife, who had stayed behind, walked closer to the door and took two steps inside the garage, a cry broke out from her lips which was what summoned her sister to run to the garage and see.

"Hayibo Iyana!!! Hayini mama, mothuleni tata. Mandla, yothulani u Iyana. She's fucken pregnant Mandla take him down!" Bukiwe cried out to her dad and one of the cops. Mandla held her back as she was about to grab Iyana's legs.

"Somebody please take her down, please, okomntwana bethunana" she continued crying out as Mandla tried to move her outside the garage. Everyone had started crying, except for the father... he was on his knees, still looking up at his daughter, his heart beating ever so slowly and his knee hurting like heavens when the Lamb was slain.

The cops called Netcare who came and take the body down. They opened the garage door, the big one that they couldn't open earlier and took Iyana's father out so he could get some fresh air. He wasn't talking, he was just mum, shocked, and hurt. Once everyone was taken back to the house, the police officers brought the letter and notepad to Bukiwe who wasn't talking to anyone. She was in her room, looking outside the window in silence.

"Bubu... I will uhm... leave the notepad and envelopes here. I don't want to leave them with your parents"

She didn't respond.

"I'm sorry mfethu" he whispered as he walked out and closed the door behind himself.

The only good thing about that moment was that their neighbors came out as soon as they heard the cries, the house was filled by people who genuinely cared.

THE LETTERS

Ngosuku lomlindo ezilalini Bukiwe looked at the notepad and saw that it was directed to her parents. Her mom was in the room with her... she asked Bukiwe to read the letter to her but Bukiwe insisted that they wait for her dad who was outside as the young men were putting up tent and other young men were slaughtering the sheep. When he eventually walked in, they summoned him into the room and told him about the letter, he nodded and sat down.

"Mama no tata..." Bukiwe started reading and her breathing broke. She closed her eyes, and took in deep breaths before continuing, reading out loud.

"... ndicela uxolo for what I am about to do, well, when this letter reaches your hands I will have already done it. I know utata may have been suspicious about this, but may have been too afraid to ask, but I have been suffering from depression for two years now, at one point I admitted myself at a mental institution... and lied to you ndathi ndikulo Sanda, kwa sis'wakhe. I know how much you will be disappointed by this act but everything was just becoming too much for me. Every year I was failing the same subject, no matter how much I studied, I kept on failing it. On the other hand ke nani nifuna uqhayisa ngabantwana benu kwii family gatherings not really knowing the things we go through kwezi universities nasemisebenzini... the pressure mama, the pressure was just getting to me. I know this will confuse you all because I have never shown anyone that I am not coping, well I couldn't show anyone, because I knew ndizobangathi ndiqavele izinto zesitrato more than iincwadi. I saw how that line was always used on usisi and I vowed that I would try my best ndingaze ndiwave lomazwi esitshiwo kum. I guess I tried a tad too hard, and nothing was giving. I know tata you so dearly wanted me to be a graduate even if I wasn't going to be a lawyer but you wanted at least one child that would follow on your footsteps, I am sorry that I failed you. I am sorry that I couldn't be that child. Ndicela nindixolele."

By the time she finished reading the letter, even her dad was crying. There was silence in the room, but all three of them were crying. Bukiwe couldn't get past the fact that Iyana couldn't confide in her when she was going through stuff, she questioned herself about that. What kind of sister was she? Why would her little sister not be able to confide in her in her time of need? To even resort to death? She was tempted to open the two letters in envelopes, because she felt like there could be more answers in them than what Iyana had left for her parents. But she didn't want to be intrusive.

****