Max Annas - The Wall

Mrs. Viljoen was watching Meli when the dog began to bark. You always had to keep an eye on them. And that bush over there… he was trimming it so irritatingly slowly that she was thinking about docking him ten of the hundred rand she’d have to pay him shortly.

“Madam,” he always said after he knocked on the door. “I’m done.” At least he waited outside. Not like the last man, who had always stepped right inside even though he didn’t have a right to be in there. Well, he’d get his hundred rand. Even if it was only because of the respect he showed her. That dog… What was going on?

Warren Kramer stuck his hand out of the car and greeted the Central Alert man who was standing by the entrance to The Pines. People knew him here. “Any news?” he asked.

“I haven’t heard much out here,” the guard said. He was fit and was sweating profusely. A female colleague in uniform was sitting in the wall’s shadow. She jumped up as she caught sight of the junior boss. Somewhere far away, a dog started to bark. All three listened to it. The barking didn’t stop.

“Where is that?” Kramer asked.

The male guard gestured vaguely into The Pines. “Police dog. Just got here. That went fast… I mean, if they’ve caught him that is.”

“I’ll drive over there and take a look.” Kramer tried to follow the barking as he drove into the gated community. Maybe this had been a wasted trip.

“Work faster, chaps!” Rob van der Merwe was standing in the shade of a scrawny little tree, thinking about the fact they still had one last job to do that afternoon. Nothing major, but it was in Amalinda, a few kilometers away. The commuter traffic would be starting soon, and they still had a solid hour of work to finish here. They’d get it done somehow, even if the boys had to work overtime. “Hurry up!”

A dog nearby began to bark. Deep barks, just like his Rhodesian Ridgeback, a marvelous animal. You could depend on a dog like that. And they were so quiet. However, if someone trespassed on his farmland, Bobby could make things quite uncomfortable. But the dog here was anything but quiet. How did the neighbors put up with that? And he wouldn’t stop barking. Van der Merwe grew curious. There’d be trouble. The dog had to be close by. He would take a look. Clapped his hands once more. “Chaps, smoke break! Ten minutes, then everyone back on task. And Mcebisi… you can go search for your bandana. Are you sure you had it when we drove in here?”

The black cop was kneeling beside the dog as Ludelwa got out of the car. She wanted to talk to her colleague in the other Central Alert vehicle. Watching the old man’s place seemed safer to her than waiting here with the men for the hunt for the boy to continue. She rapped at the driver’s door. She didn’t know the man at the wheel, but the company employed so many people, this wasn’t unusual. The man was older than her and heavy. He didn’t even look at her when he spoke. “We should wait here. Reinforcements are coming.” He spoke good English , Ludelwa thought. And he wasn’t a Xhosa .

Happiness couldn’t hear Nkosi’s barking because all she had access to was a silent video stream. She didn’t even suspect that the dog was barking. The images she was monitoring didn’t cover the area where he had come to a stop. However, one thing puzzled her. Her impression had been that the boy she had just seen was actually located over toward the river. Only a short clip. He’d dashed through the picture—maybe he’d known that a camera was mounted there. But all the security guards and cops were currently moving around the center of The Pines. There had to be a reason for that. For just a moment, she’d considered calling Warren or the young van Lange. However, there was a reason for everything. Of that she was certain.

As Nkosi started to bark, Police Inspector Vukile Pokwana was driving his Citi Golf around the last traffic circle before Dorchester Heights. He’d almost driven into the curb, since he’d been driving with only one hand. No power steering here. The vehicle had been the only one available, but it was had been a better choice than his own car, since it was at least recognizable as a police vehicle. He had a bad feeling about what he was heading into. “I’m almost there, yes,” he confirmed into his phone, as he struggled to keep the VW in its lane. “And I’ve asked the station in Cambridge to send us more manpower. There’s no way this idiot’s going to waste our entire day… Uh-huh… Like I said, I’m almost there.”

Fucking dog. Warrant Officer Bezuidenhout turned aside and covered his ears. He needed to think. The boy was in this house, and since the dog wouldn’t stop barking, he had to be aware that they were on to him. Storming the house was one possibility. Another was to demand that he come out. And to call in backup so nothing went wrong. Another security vehicle came around the corner and pulled up. The situation fell way beyond the scope of the security guys’ responsibilities. Had he even loaded his service pistol? He pulled it from his holster to check. That fucking dog.

Already another hedge, already another wall. Moses jumped and ran. He knew he had to get away from the wall. If he didn’t, the guards who had found the referee would easily spot him. And who knew… if one of them was carrying a service pistol…

Moses leaped to the side, ran a few steps toward the street, and hunched down. In front of him, a waist-high wall and a sightline deep into the middle of the gated community. Too much activity. He was looking down a street heading away from him. He saw the backs of two guards jogging in the opposite direction. A silver-and-blue Central Alert vehicle approached, before turning and following them down the street. A compact car drove up from his left. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to park next to him. One, two, three… The car kept going. Just as the car turned into another driveway, a police car materialized. It also turned down the street that led into the center of The Pines.

The two guards who had just been helping the referee also showed up. They were supporting him with linked arms. His face was bleeding, his blue t-shirt was red, he looked old. The three of them were moving slowly. One of the two—the heavy one that hadn’t been able to chase him—was on the phone. He could hear his voice, but couldn’t make out what he was saying.

What could’ve happened? Why didn’t they seem to care about him anymore? What could be worse than a young black man guilty of both theft and rape? More precisely: Who?

Now he could hear: “…the manager… They’re coming now… good… got away from me, too… the pig… we almost…”

Moses had no idea what the guard was talking about. The dog was barking like crazy. Wasn’t stopping. He then heard a very different sound. And although he knew these things always sounded different on TV and in the movies… He knew it was a shot.

Moses waited for what would happen next. He then heard another. And yet another.

The three men were now standing right in front of him. “He’s now shooting at us, too,” the fat man said.

The two mem in the room were very quiet. The dog outside wasn’t. He was yapping like there was no tomorrow. Thembinkosi was drenched in sweat, and all he wanted was to get out. Out of the wardrobe, out of the room, out of the house, out of the gated community.

They really needed to consider if they wanted to continue doing this. After today.

“What’s it mean?” High Voice’s voice almost cracked. “Look, that dog’s barking at our house. What for?”

“I don’t know.” Deep Voice was as quiet as usual, but he was starting to stretch out his words. Thembinkosi could feel the tension in each one.