NONKULULEKO

22

NONKULULEKO
#22

**Sponsored insert from last night**

Most often, we hear stories about how a man brutally killed his girlfriend and buried her body somewhere. We often hear stories of people who used to be so smart at school but somehow ended up on the streets. We hear stories of our neighbors who unexpectedly got sick and started running around naked. We hear about how people just changed overnight. We witness people who were living comfortable lives suddenly living on the streets.
All those things, you notice them from afar and think they will never happen to you. Or you just rule out craziness.

I was on the floor, quietly panting. I could smell all the blood, the smell hit my nostrils so strong that I had the urge to vomit. The white gown had become red. My vision blurry from all the tears and blood. I didn't recognize who I was. The bat was a few centimeters away from me. I lifted my head up, only to find Vuyo looking at me with fear written all over her. She was terrified and I only had myself to blame. I shouldn't have let her witness all that. She was just a child.

"You are a murderer!!!!", her voice was filled with anger and judgement. She no longer spoke softly like always, I saw a glimpse of hate for me in her. I ruined the good image she had of me.

I stood up and tried to touch her but she stepped back, until she reached the wall.
"Don't touch me," She sternly commanded. I stepped back and opened my mouth to say something but I was disturbed by hearing something hit the roof. I kept quiet and I heard the noise again.
What was that? I went to the door and went outside, only to find two women standing by the gate. I tried to get back inside but they had already seen me. They must have hears the noise. Damn it!

They blew the whistle and I knew that shit just hit the fan! All neighbors would come to see what is the problem.
Panicking, I went back inside and told Vuyo that we are in trouble.
"You shouldn't have killed them Nonk. Now we are going to be killed by a mob. I'm too young…my parents…they….I can't leave them"
She was crying and I wanted to comfort her, but that was no time for crying. We had to get the hell out of there and escape.

"We are going to go out of the backdoor. Everything will be fine, okay?" I reassured her and kissed her forehead. I grabbed her hand and ran with her to the back.
There was a fence on our yard, so we crawled under the hole that I made years ago.
We heard a scream coming from inside the house and I tightly held Vuyo.
"We are going to run now," I lifted my heel with the attempt of running, but a strong hand roughly grabbed me by the hospital gown.

They caught us, there was no way out anymore. We were dragged back to the streets. All the neighbors were out and carrying weapons. Thats what they did best, whenever the whistle is blew, that means someone needs to be beaten.
"Ilolu hlanya lwaka Sibisi" I heard a voice saying from the crowd.
I didn't care about what they would do to me, I was just worried about Vuyo. She didn't do anything. I was the one who committed the crime.

There was chanting, name calling, shooting, fire, everything to make a perfect mob scene. It isn't how I had imagined things to be. They pushed Vuyo to the circle and put a tire around her. No no!! That meant only one things. They wanted to burn us alive. The community didn't care about the cops, they took the law in their own hands. They felt the law wasn't enough.

I tried to get Vuyo, but they pinned me down.
They poured paraffin on her. She was screaming and crying for my help, but there was nothing I could do. I was powerless, and the grip they had me on was too strong. I tried to fight them off but they just didn't let me go. Her screams and cried will forever haunt me. She screamed so painfully that my heart shattered into all sorts of pieces, all I could do was cry for her. Calling her name. Hoping they would have sympathy and let her go. But they didn't What kind of parents were they?
She was innocent in all of this. I shouldn't have escaped with her from the psych.

"Please let her go, she didn't have anything to do with this," I begged and begged them. All they could do was judge me, and they already concluded I was the bad guy. What about what was done to me? I didn't cause all this.

All of them. They are all throwing daggers at me. Publicly and silently judging me. All of them wanting to strike first. The one holding me is seconds away from cutting off my hand. Ire is written all over their faces. I never thought there would be a moment in my life where I am surrounded by a mob, wanting to kill me. For what? For standing up for myself? For doing something I should have done years ago? Where were they when I went to bed with bruises all over my body? When I cried myself to sleep? When I was downcast, dejected, where were they? They only came now that I have avenged myself, only when I have taken a stand and rose up in front of my oppressors.

I did what anyone who is tired of being mistreated would do. They did not care about me when I was on the receiving end of abuse, they saw me, they heard my cries, but none of them came to help. They all turned a blind eye, they all pretended that they didn't hear nor see anything. They chose to protect them and throw me into the lions' den. I begged for help, cried for anyone to save me but no one came to my rescue. I was the only one I could depend on. I was all alone in the world.

"All I'm saying is, she needs to be done what she did to them", one woman from the crowd suggested. The community goes wild, agreeing with her. I should have known. Of course that's the punishment here! They might as well kill me, it doesn't matter. There's nothing I can live for anyway. My life has no value, I have nothing and I am just so damn tired! They should kill me and hurry it up. I don't want to be in this world anymore. It's infected and I have caught its deadly disease. I will be so much at peace when I'm dead.

"Akafeeee!!!!!(let her die)", I could not see who shouted that. I just felt a hot metal hit my legs. Must be ucelemba. I sank down to my knees gasping and pressing my teeth together. They should do it again. Let them do it until I die.

I tried to open my eyes, to look for Vuyo, and she was still wet from the paraffin they poured her with. My heart bled for her.
"Sies!! You killed your entire family. MaSibisi knew you were crazy!!"
I heard faint sirens and it was the ambulance. Who survived? Paramedics rushed inside our house and loaded Gogo inside the ambulance. So she lives? I thought I ended them. All of them.

It was nearing sunrise.  And we haven't slept a wink. I am bleeding immensely and I can't even feel my leg. The white flesh of skin is out in the open in my thighs. The red marks from the sjamboks make it hard for me to move. My mouth and eyes are so swollen like I stole othayela baka makhelwane. Vuyo was still alive, thats all I cared about.
"Finish her!! She must not live. Three bodies in one night! She is beyond crazy"

I managed to find my voice," all those years MaSibeko, you turned a blind eye. You didn't say anything. You saw what was happening but you pretended like you didn't see."

I paused and chuckled,"None of you here cared about me five years ago when Gogo and my father were abusing me. They are the ones who drove me to madness. Would you continue be normal after countless objects are broken at your head!?"
It's like all the trauma I have went through is coming back all over again. When I think about all the things I have went through, I feel justified for doing what I did. I was making them to feel the pain I felt.  Yes I had to do it. You agree with me, right?
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To be continued……