TO LOVE A BROKEN MAN

24

"What exactly happened here?"

Bab'omncane removed the frozen bag of mixed veggies he had on his busted lip and cleared his throat. "My nephew's daughter was kidnapped."

Constable Gumbi pushed back his glasses and frowned, looking at the broken wine bottle on the floor. That judgmental frown was more like a permanent fixture because it hasn't changed nor disappeared from his face since his arrival.

"We got a call about a domestic disturbance."

Bab'omncane waved off the claim. "That was just a misunderstanding and nothing serious."

"Is that true?" The Constable asked Nolitha for confirmation because he was already suspicious that she was alone with three men and one of them had bloody knuckles.

She took a shaky breath, blinking back her tears as that slap replayed in her mind over and over again like a montage. She didn't recognise the frenzied look in his eyes as he pressed her against the wall and had his hands around her neck, but it hurt the most to see that the love she always felt when he looked at her didn't reside in his eyes any more.

"My daughter is fine, Constable, we're all just shaken up about the kidnapping."

"I see. When was your nephew's daughter kidnapped?"

"Her name is Khanya." Lwazi's voice held a slight tremble as he tried not to fall apart. He was afraid that he'd have to plan another funeral once this was over, they'd have to bury him too because he wouldn't survive losing Khanya.

Constable Gumbi quickly scribbled in his note pad. He was eager to impress because all eyes were going to be on this case and helping solve it will guarantee him the long awaited promotion. "Are you Khanya's father?"

"Yes."

"When was she taken?"

Lwazi glared at Nolitha as she started with her crocodile tears. If this place wasn't crawling with police officers he'd slap her again and give her something to really cry about.

"I got the call shortly after 12:00 in the afternoon."

"12:00?" He tinkered with his glasses, shaking his head in disbelief. "You should've reported the case immediately after the child was taken."

"We thought it would be best to handle it as a family." Bab'omncane was quick to answer.

"Why? Did the kidnappers call about a ransom?"

"No."

The Constable tapped the pen against his chin, seemingly in deep thought. "That's not good because we've lost valuable time and that only makes our job harder."

"Okay, then Constable what do we need to do to make sure that we find my child."

"I'll need a recent picture, a description of the clothes she was wearing and you'll have to go by the station and fill out a SAPS 55 (A) form."

"That's all?" asked Lwazi, clicking his tongue. Surely there was more they could do than make him fill out forms.

"What my nephew meant to say is that we're willing to co-operate and do whatever it takes to assist with the investigation."

As a silver-tongued politician bab'omncane had an answer on stand-by for every question, determined to protect Nolitha from facing prosecution. Lwazi went along with it to avoid assault charges, if it were up to him Nolitha would be leaving this house in handcuffs.

"Where were you when you got the call?" He asked Lwazi.

"I was in Jo'burg." He couldn't bear to look anyone in the eye because he was overwhelmed with guilt.