Raindrops

Nkalakatha

Nkalakatha
Noun

The term has various meanings deepening on how it is used, but it basically means "top dog" or "main man".

10+ years prior.

Nkosi Ikhona Mandla- 19

Mbono Alakhe- 17

While most people his age dreaded school Alakhe dreaded the bell that signalled that school was out. School was the only thing that kept him pushing right now. He felt normal there. Just like the principal always preached to them that education was the key to success, school for Alakhe was the tunnel with the light at the end of it.

He turned the corner across the school, down the road. He was counting the hours before he could come back there. He was also counting the chores he had to do before he got a chance to sit down and do his homework or study.

Unfortunately he had been too lost in his mind to notice the pack of hyenas standing in the corner. It was too late to change direction and take a different route home. The teachers at school called them the 'Lost boys'. They were literally that: kids that were too grown or troublesome to live at the orphanage home and others who were rebelling against their parents.

They spent the day standing in corners harassing and bullying people. Their 'leader' Theo was one of the rebels, his father was the town's deputy mayor. They were well off, so no one understood why he was in the 'Lost boys'. Alakhe figured he was rebelling for attention. He looked straight ahead as he passed them avoiding any sort of eye contact.