BEFORE

CHAPTER 9

It is sad to disclose that that was the last encounter I had with Wesley that weekend. I won’t lie, I missed him and I probably thought of him half of the time I was in the fair. I was looking forward to seeing him after it. Maybe even once before I got busy with exams. But I have never been one with the heavens on my side. I would say it’s karma but I have never wronged someone that much that I deserve to be punished like how I was. The man did however transfer R100000 into my account few hours after I left.

It turns out that Melo and her squad went through with their plan. They robbed both Allen and Wesley’s house that night. From Allen’s house, they stole plenty of artwork, electrical appliances, his watches and accessories. From Wes’s house, they stole the same things and even one of his bikes. But as the princess of bad luck, I was framed as the mastermind.

When we got back from the fair, we discovered that Allen and his friends were looking for me. Wesley was apparently on a sudden trip to England but it is said that he was also pissed and he believed that I was involved in the robbery. They thought I was in hiding and beat the crap out of Xolelwa until she told them where I was. They left a warning, saying I should return all their stuff or else they were going to kill me and my friends. I came clean to Haley about Melo’s plan and she was super pissed. She said she would meet up with Barren to plead my case but it wasn’t worth it. I ended up staying in the ghetto until I finished my exams. Parting ways with Haley was bittersweet but I knew I had to. 

That’s when I fled the country and went straight to Milan. With the money from my savings and the one Wes gave me, I was able to stay afloat for a year, getting a few piece jobs here and there but they weren’t solid. I couldn’t get internships to the big fashion houses and some applications required sexual favours, so I had to come back to South Africa because the dream I was so keen on living was actually all made up and not entirely true. I couldn’t go back to Cape Town, even though Wes and his friends had forgotten about that small heist.

So I chose to settle in the capital city of Sin, Joburg. Acquiring a job was not as easy as other people made it out to be, especially when you only had a piece of paper that said you could turn shreds to a masterpiece. So in the flats where I stayed, there was this woman who was a stripper, porn star and prostitute. I got close to her and she started sharing with me how much money she actually made from her hustle. I won’t lie, it was a lot and it was tempting. I ended up giving in and at first it was hard adjusting to that life. I usually took men to my flat because I didn’t wanna risk being drugged and trafficked.

Throughout the years I spent in Joburg, one of my biggest regret was cutting communication with my sister. I knew she would kill me if she found out about the life I was living. So I couldn’t face her. Nobody knew about her and I had no intention of telling people about her.

A year later, I stumbled upon a shy girl willing to do anything to provide for her little siblings and I couldn’t resist taking her in. Something about her just made me feel drawn to her. A friendship which later turned to sisterhood was formed. I am grateful that Azania Mngadi Mthombeni entered my life because she brought the light I never knew I needed.

×××

NOW

“What are we doing here?” Wes asks as we park outside the prison where my sister is being kept. After 8 years of distancing myself, I finally have the courage to face her. I don’t know if she is still here. I don’t know if she wants to see me. I don’t know shit and I am fucking anxious. Part of me wants to run away but I know I can’t, not today. I have come too far to run back.

“There is someone I have to see inside.”
“You wanna visit someone in a women’s prison? Who is that? Some gangster friend I don’t know about?”
I roll my eyes. He is always silly. “Someone really important to me. I will go in first and will come back to fetch you if she wants to see you.”
He frowns. “Now you’re being mysterious. I don’t like this. Just tell me what’s going on. You know how much I hate being in the dark. Who is in there?”