The Wall

103

The four garbage workers were standing in a group, talking. The mail carrier was hanging around close to them. Maybe they had just been chatting. The rest were gathered in a separate, silent group. They were studying the newcomers. The officer was standing off by herself, her head cocked to the side as if she wanted to talk into the mic dangling off her collar.

Nozipho walked up to the trash workers. Thembinkosi could tell how uncomfortable she felt in her torn dress. It had some stains by this point, too. She was still pressing the purse against her side to cover the tear.

“Hi,” she said.

The garbage workers still seemed a little watchful, distrustful. They saw an attractive woman from a class to which they could never belong, not the grime on her dress.

“Hi,” she repeated. “What’s actually going on here?” All four of them started talking at once.

“…tsotsi… shameless… break-in… young guy… rape jewelry and cash… whole army…” Etcetera.

The workers shared what they knew. And it was evident that they respected the boy. They all knew someone who made a living from not-quite-legal activities. And they had all heard the shootout. The boy was dead, and he had died a hero’s death. The newspapers would publish something about him tomorrow. Thembinkosi hoped he’d never be in the newspaper. What a nightmare!

Nozipho came right back. “Funny,” she said.

“Yes, what a coincidence.”

“Which coincidence?”

“That with the boy,” Thembinkosi’s voice grew very quiet. “I saw him running. Had to happen at some point—competition that would be on the move the same time we were. And in such a large gated community like this one!”

“Nonsense.” Nozipho’s voice was barely audible. She pressed close against Thembinkosi.

“What do you mean, nonsense?”

“Didn’t you hear? The jewelry? That was us.”

“Us?”

“Us. They were hunting the boy because of us.”

“And the rape?”

“No idea. But they’ll soon see that he doesn’t have the jewelry. Then they’ll wonder where it could be. We have to get out.”

“Of course, we have to get out.”

“Thembi, not just whenever. Now!”