The Wall

83

It wasn’t really quiet. At least, not for long. Not even a little.

People were yelling. The dog was barking again. More than one police siren was going off in the distance. Thembinkosi listened to the nearby breathing of the two whites, which sounded as loud as a power plant. Behind him, Nozipho was sobbing. A weeping full of fear and desolation.

That was good. As long as she was crying, she was alive.

Thembinkosi’s vision was blocked by the half-shredded wardrobe door. He couldn’t see out the window. He was lying half in, half out of the wardrobe, his arms crooked over his head. High Voice was stretched out on his stomach between the bed and the window. He didn’t see any blood. He could see Deep Voice’s head, also on the floor, turned away from him. Neither of them was moving.

“We’re going in,” a male voice outside declared.

“Absolutely not!” Another male voice.

The dog barked.

“Carl?” High Voice said quietly. “Carl?”

“Hm?”

“You okay?”

“Uh-huh.”

Thembinkosi didn’t know if that was good news or bad. Neither of them had moved a millimeter, but they were alive. What did that mean?

If they were dead, the people outside wouldn’t need to keep shooting, he thought.

Except at him and Nozipho. Would they first ask who they were and what they were doing in the house? Not likely.

He slowly reached a hand to the wall that separated the wardrobe partitions. He scratched a fingernail down it. An answering scratch quickly came from the other side.

“Carl?”

“Hm?”

“What should we do?”

“Survive.”

“Exactly! That’s what I was thinking.”

High Voice’s body tensed. He was stretched out like a swastika on the floor. One hand holding his pistol, the other not. The hand not holding the pistol pushed off a little from the floor. A silent wave gradually moved through his entire body. One knee reacted with similar pressure, and High Voice was already halfway to the shot-out window.

“What are you doing?” Deep Voice asked. He began to crawl after the other man.

“Surviving!” With this word, he lifted his pistol over the edge of the windowsill and began to shoot.

“No!” Deep Voice shouted.

The first reaction from those outside was a man yelling, “Get down!”