THE ONE

Chapter Nine: Familiar

Joseph stared at his phone screen, his heart sinking a little. He pondered for a minute on whether he should congratulate Dejen, finally responding with 'that's cool'.

Dejen went offline to prep himself for Nairobi. He hated he had to make the stop over but he'd already made a commitment. As he touched down, Sipho texted him two pictures with the name, Alvin Sawa.

Dejen was ecstatic. Short dreads were a good look, & he figured the name was part of Ukasha's fresh start.

The photoshoot was teen urban wear & he'd been teamed up with two boys & three girls. He struggled to concentrate, his mind already cooking what he would tell Alvin once he saw him.

"Take five", the photographer frowned at the pictures.

It was no way near the talent Ana had assured him. He'd normally eject any other model but he was working with a Mensa. Dismissing him was hardly an option & he hated that.

Ana bit her fingers when she saw the shots, pulling Dejen aside..

"Dejen, are you ok? Where are you?"

Dejen realized his blunders when he saw them..

"I'm sorry. Can we try again please?" he requested.
"Let's do the singles first", the photographer replied.

He took a deep breath stepping back onto the podium..

"Nice....Nice...."
"Now this is what I'm looking for!"
"Where has this Dejen been?"

The group retakes were a success, Dejen ending up outshining his male colleagues. He was happy to finally deliver & quickly excused himself to change before leaving for the airport.

He was no stranger to South Africa. He'd been to every continent, South Africa one of the few countries multiple times. His brother Nimrod, & Jawadd resided in Cape Town were Nimrod co-run the family's wineries business, Jawadd working for them as a manager.

Sipho was waiting for him at the airport when he touched down in Johannesburg the next morning..

"Good morning Mr Mensa, how was your flight", Sipho opened.
"I want to know everything", Dejen sat in the car.
"Alright. Now I couldn't find anyone with that name you gave me, Ukasha Kintu", Sipho opened his laptop. "I checked Aga Khan's records but there was nothing"
"Really?", Dejen stared at his former school's database.
"Yes. Social media proved more helpful, I did get some results when I looked up his name on facebook. I got some pictures from when his friends had tagged him. Here..", he opened another tab.
"That's him", Dejen pointed with a smile. "He was younger here"
"He was twelve or thirteen there", Sipho explained.
"Forward them to me", Dejen added.
"Now I asked these people about his whereabouts but they did not know anything so I used these pictures to make a facial reconstruction of what he'd look like today & I got this.."
"Wow, this is him", Dejen beamed.
"Almost. Next, I did a search with this picture on every database & got a 97% match; Alvin Sawa. I got those pictures I sent from his facebook."
"Its him. It has to be", Dejen asserted. "Where is he?"
"Here, in Jo'burg. He attends Greenview college"
"Take me there please", Dejen requested.

He noticed his hands were shaking as they pulled up on the college grounds at lunch. He took a minute, taking slow deep breaths before stepping out the back of the car. He stopped person after person, showing them Alvin's pictures..

"How many times should I tell you? That's not me", Alvin handed back Polo's phone. He was having chakalakas for lunch under a tree with his girlfriend Zintle, & his friends; Polo, Ayana, Menzi, & Palesa.
"It sure looks like you", Polo was across him on the table.
"Let me see", Menzi peeked.
"Now why would I do something like that?", Alvin forked in.
"He looks like you bra", Menzi chuckled.
"Its not him", Zintle put an arm around her boyfriend.
"Thanks babe", Alvin smiled at her.
"Do you know there's seven other people in the world who look like you?", Zintle added.