Max Annas - The Wall

Hlaudi gazed out of the car at the white guy. He was dressed in all black. Faded short-sleeved shirt with epaulettes. Obviously sewn on. His skinny legs stuck out of wide shorts with thick pockets. His face was haggard. He looked like someone who’d smoked way too much over the years.

“Almost caught him!” the white man said.

Almost caught means didn’t catch , Hlaudi thought.

“Doesn’t always work out!” he said. “Next time.” He barely managed to keep from grinning.

“The bastard was really fast!”

“Young. I saw him running.”

“Twenty or so.”

“Uh-huh.”

Hlaudi watched as the white guy shifted his rubber club from one hand to the other and then back again. He looked like someone who didn’t have a job and was doing this for fun. There was no way he could afford a home in here. How much did they cost in here anyway , he wondered. Regardless, more than he could afford. Much more.

“Hello!” a voice came from behind them. “Hello!”

In his rearview mirror, Hlaudi watched an old woman in blue pants and a white t-shirt slowly approach them. The white guy beside him propped his hands on his hips, and the woman finally reached the car. She looked back and forth between the two of them before turning to the white man.

“…can’t believe it… in front of my door… suddenly… and fell down… ran off…” The white guy kept nodding. The woman once again glanced at one man and then the other. She paused. “Which of you is…”

“He is!” The white guy pointed his club at Hlaudi.

“…responsible?” the woman finished. “Then…”

“The boy ran off?” Hlaudi asked.

“Yes, like I just said,” the woman said. Hlaudi could see that she was gradually calming down.

“How did he get in here in the first place?” she asked. “Aren’t you supposed to make sure nothing like this happens?” She shook her head so emphatically, Hlaudi was concerned she might sprain something.

“No, we’re not,” he answered. “But we’ll catch him.”

More movement in the rearview mirror. This time it was an old white man who was walking up to the car. Brown suit pants, white shirt. Earlier government employee, Hlaudi guessed. Much earlier from when the system had been completely different. Only, he didn’t look as relaxed as most whites did when out walking their dogs. He waved at them.

Or only at the white woman. Or at both whites. Or at him perhaps because he was sitting in a security vehicle. Hlaudi couldn’t tell.

“Break-in.” That was all the man said when he reached them. He had stubby white hair and was gasping for breath. “They were in my house.” He pulled a perfectly folded white handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbed his forehead with it.

“Oh no, my dear…” the woman said, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Nobbie was all alone in the house.” He pointed at the dog that Hlaudi could no longer see from where he was sitting in the car. “I noticed right away that something wasn’t right.” He hesitated, clearly expecting to be asked a question.

“Is anything broken?” Hlaudi asked.

“The lock was funny. I immediately noticed that something wasn’t okay with it.”

“And what’s missing?”

“My money’s gone,” he said. “And some jewelry.”

He started to cry. The white guy with the club handed him a tissue.

The screech of brakes outside. Thembinkosi and Nozipho walked across to the window in the small bedroom and looked out. Another Central Alert car, again a Polo. Again, two more people who initially stayed inside the car. The car with the guard who had first been there had disappeared. The two drivers of the two remaining cars were talking to each other. The two rookies who had shown up earlier were standing a few meters away, also chatting.

“They’ll blame us for it!” Nozipho declared.

“For what?”

“The murder. If that’s what it is.”

“Did I tell you that I saw a boy running away?” Thembinkosi asked.

Nozipho shook her head. “You think he…”

“No, but that’s why they’re here.”

“And… the woman…”

Thembinkosi glanced around the room again. “Did the two people in the car really come from here?” He left the room and returned a few minutes later with a photo from the lounge. “Was this one of them?” he asked.

Nozipho took the photo from him. “Well… I don’t know.”

“But it was two men, right?”

“Uh-huh. Think so. I didn’t pay enough attention. I didn’t want to stare.”

Thembinkosi retrieved the photo, and tried to imagine the bearded man without a beard and then just unshaven. But he couldn’t be sure. “I also didn’t look at them carefully. Didn’t seem important. We have to get out of here.”

“But how?”

“You’ll need to put on something else. Come on!”

Much better to stay calm , Moses thought. He was still sweating like a pig. He also looked like one. The dust from this morning on top of the sweat, falling down in the garden, climbing through the window. All of it had left a mark. And he smelled like a pig, too, he determined.

Over the next hedge and into the next yard. Suddenly, there was a wall jutting out from the outer wall that was too tall to leap over. He came to a stop and saw that the chest-high wall separated two properties. So, he headed toward the street and carefully looked both ways.

The security car was concealed behind the curve, which probably meant the people couldn’t see him either. The problem was that he didn’t know how far the gate was. He had changed direction so many times, and The Pines was so large that he felt lost. Running along the outer wall seemed to be the safest solution, but it was also the most time-consuming. The numerous obstacles. The undesired contact with the people who were home at this hour. Why not shorten his path? Maybe covering a few meters on the street was the best course of action.

One last question. Run or walk?

Three seconds of consideration. Running shortened the duration, but it looked suspicious. Walking cost more time, but alarmed fewer people. Moses opted for the slower variation.

He took the street that started across from where he was. A short distance into the subdivision, then turn and see the exit. Walk calmly. Don’t look all around. Stay cool , he warned himself. Keep going, just keep going , he thought. It might all be over soon.

Turn. Keep walking. The street he had started walking down soon ended in the one that ran closest to the outer wall. This offered him the opportunity to quickly disappear behind the outermost houses. This was what he suddenly wanted to do, too, since he was feeling visible. Much too visible.

I shouldn’t look around , Moses thought, but I really want to . One, two, three. Just to make sure no danger was creeping up on him from behind. He stopped and checked his watch. Almost two o’clock. He then glanced behind him. Shit. It was the white guy from earlier. The one with the club. He was once again slapping it against his palm, and he was rapidly closing the distance between them.

Moses started running again. First, slowly, then faster. Up to the T-junction, by which point he would have to decide to go either right or left. Accelerate. Run even faster.

A car was now rolling toward him. Security. Damn it. Trapped! Moses stopped and looked around. The white guy was still behind him. The car ahead. He vaulted over a few brightly blooming flowers and vanished between two houses.

Thembinkosi opened the wardrobe in the large bedroom. As he did so, he recalled the slip in his jacket pocket. Better not bring that up right now.