The Wall

53

Mrs. Viljoen went to her telephone. The older she grew, the longer it took her to cover the distance to the dresser in the hallway. She really needed to get people to start calling her on her cell phone. But that was expensive.

“Yes?”

“Did you hear?” Rose was extremely excited.

“What?”

“George was robbed.”

“What?”

“In broad daylight!”

“Really?”

“Everything’s gone!”

“Everything?”

“A black!”

“Hng!”

“A young black man! And everything’s gone. The jewelry. You know how attached he was to those things. All those mementos from Margaret. He’s in an awful state. Just think. You haven’t seen anything? Not even the security people? There’s so many of them. All you need to do is look out your window. They say they’re going to catch him. He was even in my garden. Just think. He might have broken in my place, too. They don’t respect any boundaries. My sister always says it was wrong to get rid of the death penalty. Just think. At least he wouldn’t do it again. And a woman’s been raped. I don’t know her. She’s new here. What do you think?”

Mrs. Viljoen didn’t say anything. You didn’t wish things like this on anyone, but, well, they happened anyway. Even in a safe neighborhood like The Pines.

“My dear, I can tell you’re at a loss for words over all this,” Rose continued. “And what’s been going on with you?”