CHAPTER 14
SALTY WATER
I sit on a chair in the dining room of the Miller’s house as I wait for Mr Miller, yesterday was my last day working for the Miller’s. It’s been a month to the date since Bongani was buried. Liandri applied to formally adopt Candice but the adoption has yet to be finalised but in the meantime she is now working for Doctors without Borders in Liberia on a one year contract after her contract expires Liandri decided that she was going to stay in Walvis Bay in Namibia. Mr Miller and his wife will be leaving for Australia in a week’s time to live there permanently. Mr Miller told me that it was a decision he and his wife decided upon because of the increasing crime rate in South Africa. He explained to me what he meant when he said it was Leon first and now Bongani in the hospital. Leon was Liandri’s twin brother. Who like Bongani fell to hijackers unlike Bongani, Leon died on the spot he was shot more than ten times. He died a day before his eighteenth birthday. The Miller’s felt there were living in great uncertainty and felt like the more they stayed in South Africa the more they endangered themselves and the people they cared for. Mr Miller had already deposited my salary for the month and also three months’ pay in advance as a consolation for premature termination of the contract. It is quite unusual for a gardener to have a contract but I had one. Mr Miller entered the dining room holding a satchel. “Tinashe, you have been honest in your work. You haven’t stolen from us or tried to cause any trouble for that I am very grateful. Here is a small parcel.” said Mr Miller as he handed me the satchel. “Thank you, Miller. God bless you.” I replied as I took hold of the satchel. “You know you shouldn’t lose hope.” said Mr Miller as he pulled a chair from the table, before continuing “My great-great -great maternal grandfather Gus Van Dyke came from Holland a poor man, it took him years, thirty years to be exact to strike gold. In those thirty years he survived by hand outs. The money from the gold he used to start Dyke Minerals.” Dyke Minerals is now a huge company multi-national company and to think of it started off with one stubborn Dutchman who refused to quit. With a few set of tools a pick and a shovel, Van Dyke went from rags to riches. What I learnt from all of this is that one doesn’t necessarily have to have it all to make it but should always be determined. From the conversation, it came out that Mr Miller inherited 8% of the shares of Dyke Minerals from his mother. “I have your phone number, if anything comes up I will call, but my hope is that by then you would have found work” said Mr Miller as he stood up. “Words can’t explain the manner you have acted towards me. You gave me a job and a place to stay. Even though I was a worker I felt like part of the family.” I said as I stood up. Mr Miller drove me to the bus terminus were I was going to board a bus for Durban. Since I had been notified a week earlier by Mr Miller of they intended plan to go to Australia, I had contacted a friend of mine named Jason Gonzo who lives me in Durban. Jason told me that I could find work in Durban. Jason and I had gone to the same high school. Before I board the bus I decide to buy some clothes on my way I see someone who I last saw in high school. “Tinashe, Tinashe.” sounds the voice in a high tone. “I turn my head backward and forward trying to see who it is. “Over here.” “I look to my right side that’s when I see a guy coming out the driver’s seat of a black Maserati GranTourismo MC Stradale. “Jeffery Hove. Am I dreaming is that you.” I said as I walked in his direction. “It’s me. You certainly are not dreaming.” Jeffery replied as we embraced each other. “I can see you have made it, a genuine Italian sports car. You don’t get this cheap.” I said as I touched the bonnet of the car. “Business is brisk for me.” “What line of business are you into?” I asked. “Are you in a rush?” “I am headed for Durban.” “If it’s not urgent you can stay with me at my house and I will tell you everything about my business.” “Anyways I haven’t bought the ticket, I can come.” I replied. “Hop in.” So we discussed about what we had done after high school, I told him of the death of Bongani. Which I could see was tear-jerking news to him. Most guys knew Bongani at school because he was the head boy at that time. I could feel all the 450 horses let lose as Jeffery stepped on the gas as the Maserati weaved past other cars on the freeway. My stomach tickled as adrenaline pumped at greater speed. The sound produced by the V8 powered car is pretty much capable of making a person deaf. We arrived at a house where the black gate automatically opened up. At the entrance gate two close circuit surveillance cameras are mounted. The house is a majestically built 2 story house with four huge glass facades. The house is located in one of Pretoria’s most well off suburb of Brooklyn. A young man dressed in a green overall picking up leaves, who seems like the gardener waves his hand towards us and Jeffery waves back. As we drove off on the tarred driveway, it almost seems like we are driving on the driveway for eternity until I could see one of the gates to the triple lock up garage automatically open up vertically. Jeffery parks the Maserati in an open space on the left side, beside a silver Land Rover Discovery 3 which is parked in the middle between the black Maserati and a red Lamborghini aventador. The garage door closes up as the engine grinds to a halt. We make our way into the lounge through the door which connects the garage and the lounge. The house is very much quiet and unruffled and the only noise that can be heard of is that of a sprinkler which is spraying water on the ever green grass. The moment Jeffery opens up the door leading into the lounge my mind is blown away as I lay my eyes on the biggest Plasma television set, I have ever seen before. It’s a staggering 85-inch TV set and it is mounted into the wall. Directly in front of the 85-inch plasma screen are two sets of pure Italian leather coffee coloured recliner sofas. At the front of the lounge stands a big one-way mirror in which one can see everything going on outside but a person standing on the outside can’t see anything inside. Right in the middle of the one-way glass is glass door which opens up to the veranda. A few meters from the kitchen door is a 2 meter pillar into which a see through elevator is positioned. The lounge is spacious. “Tinashe, what do you drink?” asked Jeffery. “Some orange juice will do.” I replied. “No beer.” said Tinashe. “I don’t feel like drinking beer today.” I replied. “You can sit on the sofa. Let me get the drinks and we will talk.” said Jeffery. “Okay.” as I sat down on the sofa. A few minutes later Jeffery came back with a tray which had a glass of orange juice and a pint bottle of Hansa Pilsener. “Take your juice.” said Jeffery as he placed the trey on the table. “Thanks, dude. Where is the queen of the house?” I said as I took the glass of orange juice. “I haven’t yet found the woman to hold me down, and you.” replied Jeffery as he sat down. “No lady in my life also. So tell me is this your house.” I said. “Yes.” replied Jeffery as he pressed the switch on button on the remote control. “What line of work has brought these big dividends?” I asked. “I am in the medical fraternity.” replied Jeffery. I am bit confused, because Jeffery wasn’t the smartest guy at school and the thought that he become a doctor was very much unimaginable. “A, medical doctor.” I said. “No.” replied Jeffery. My thoughts were proved correct he wasn’t a doctor. “So what do you do?” I asked. “I like to call it Jeff’s pharmaceutical company.” replied Jeffery. “So you studied pharmacy?” I said. “No.” replied Jeffery. “What’s the name of the company?” I asked “Do you know Pablo Escobar?” asked Jeffery. “You have just answered me with another question.” I said as I seeped some orange juice. “Yes or no, do you know him.” “Pablo, Pablo, Pablo Escobar that name seems familiar.” I said as I scratched my head before continuing. “He is Colombian that I am sure of.” as I took a pause to think. “The Colombian drug lord.” I said. “You are right.” replied Jeffery. “So what has Pablo Escobar have to do with what you do?” I asked. “I am the Black Pablo Escobar.” “You mean you are part of a drug cartel.” I injected. “Not part of but I run it.” said Jeffery. “It’s not even April the first, so you can forget your lame joke. So tell me seriously what do you, do.” I asked looking a bit confused. “It’s no joke, see everything here it came from money from selling drugs. I have a condo in New York, houses in Malibu, London, Monaco, Dubai and other countless properties in Zimbabwe, Zambia and SA.” said Jeffery after which he took a sip of the beer. “You really are serious.” I said. “I can cut you into this line of work. I have the contacts.” said Jeffery. “So you use drugs?” I asked. “One mustn’t cross the line between selling and using. I sell and that’s all I don’t use.” replied Jeffery. “No ways I am getting myself into that staff. I will rather die poor than this.” I said. “You are still a mister goody two shoes. I see. Let me tell you this, the world is full of evil. I am trying to rid of that evil.” said Jeffery. “But you are encouraging evil by selling drugs which in turn influence people to do evil.” I said. “The evil I speak of is of the stressful nature of this world, these drugs provide a place for people to forget their worries.” said Jeffery. So the conversation raged on and was mostly centred on drugs. I had lost my appetite and didn’t eat any supper. As soon as dinner time arrived I asked Jeffery to show me the place I was going to sleep in. We took the elevator and I was shown the guest room. As I stepped onto the Persian inspired carpet all I could think of was what Jeffery did for a living. The room has an ensuite. A person could easily get lost in the huge house. As the night moved along, I kept tossing and turning as I thought to myself I could have just myself into a boiling pot. What if the police raided the house at night and find drugs, and I will be arrested as an accomplice. That thought kept coming back until I finally fell asleep. I heard the familiar sound of my alarm that I had set for 5:30 am. I wake up and make up the bed before I bath. Jeffery had offered to drop at the bus terminus after I told him I didn’t want in the drug business. I sat in the front of the Land Rover Discovery 3, as Jeffery drove the car out of the garage. It was total silence in the car as no one spoke to another. On arrival at the Terminus Jeffery gave me his number which I unwillingly saved. “Take this, you might need It.” said Jeffery as he gave a thousand rands. “I can’t accept this money.” I said. “Take it.” said Jeffery as he forced the money into my pocket. “Thanks for the hospitality but I hope you quit what you are doing.” I said as I disembarked from the Sports utility vehicle. I bought my ticket to Durban. The bus rolled out of the terminus, hours later I arrived in EThekwini the local name for Durban. After arriving in Durban I boarded a taxi which was headed for Umlazi residential area the place I was meeting up with Jason. As the taxi pulled up to its last drop off point I prepared to get off. Jason had instructed me to wait at for him at this particular spot. A few minutes later as I stood on the street pavement with my suitcase in front of me, I heard my name been called out “Tinashe, Tinashe.” I turned my head to where the sound was coming from and I saw it was the lanky figure of Jason. “How are you?” I said as Jason and I embraced. “I am fine.” replied Jason. “Still looking the same Jas.” I said. “Heard about Bongz.” said Jason. Bongz was the shortcut of Bongani and that was how most guys referred to him at school. “It was tragic.” I replied. “Let me carry that for you, I live in that house.” said Jason as he pointed towards an unfinished 2 roomed house before taking my suitcase. So Jason told me of a guy he knew who said there were jobs available for people who wanted to be fisherman at one of the fishing boats at the dock. True to his word the guy Jason knew got me a job the following week for a small commercial trawler boat which is owned by a man named Gerhand Potigier. Gerhand Potigier has been a fisherman for over twenty years and for him it’s more than a way of life, he has an affection for the ocean. Gerhand Potigier has this stern look about him even the way he carries himself shows that he is a man that is into his job, he pays special attention to detail, for instance the first time I meet him he told me if it means working at three in the morning to catch fish so be it. Even the way he dresses he always wears clean and well ironed out clothes. One thing that he does that is a bit unusual is the daily ritual he does. Before we head into the ocean he always walks around the boat 5 times whilst clapping his hands and after that he throws a coin into the ocean. A thing he says has always worked wonders when he started doing it. The coin he says is to ask for guidance from Poseidon the Greek God of the Oceans and the five times he goes around the boat is to ask for a good catch from all the five ocean Gods who exist in all the five oceans. Personally I am not into such stuff and I don’t believe such rituals help in any way. Working as a fisherman there is no holiday every day is a workday. From Gerhand’s words one can easily make out that he is rather an eccentric superstitious guy. On the boat are three other guys both of them are native Zulu South Africans. So every day I wake up at 4 in the morning so that I can be able to arrive at the harbour by 4:30 am. Time is flying past so fast and just over eight months have elapsed by since starting work as fisherman. In the eight months I have worked I have only managed to get a total of 4 days of rest. During one of those four days I was on a hiatus I went to the beach. For some hours I forgot my all my problems as I relaxed on the sands as the sight of the endless ocean before me opened up my cloaked up line of thought. If only I could be like those surfers, and just ride away my problems. I felt the calming atmosphere at the beach, it was just filled with happiness, young children making sand castles, some just sun basking and others playing a whole host of games like beach soccer and beach volleyball. It wasn’t only the young people enjoying themselves some old people were also engaged in the fun and activities. The sight at the beach just made to think a little more about myself and if one day I would find true happiness that kind of happiness that money can’t buy. By the way things have being in my life I guess I won’t get it I will just remain that guy who never knew how to smile. At work it’s a different ball game all together, no smiles or jokes are shared it is just work I can’t complain much because the salary is good and I always make sure that each month end I send back home some money. My remuneration is based on how much we catch, the more we catch the more I will get paid, so each day we strive to catch as many fish as we can. As usual I wake up at four and in half an hour’s time I am at work. This particular day is sunny and there are no clouds in sight. As I clean up the boat Gerhand walks up to me. “Tinashe a good day we have today, I am sensing a big catch today.” said Gerhand as he walks past me. “You think so Mr Potigier.” I said as I swept the upper deck. “I have never felt like this before. Today we are going to hit the jackpot.” said Gerhand. Gerhand, me and the other three guys set up for sail. We are almost forty kilometres away from the shoreline as we set up our trawler nets. As we prepare to lower the trawler the weather starts to change, clouds starts to build up and the ocean floor becomes a bit rough. At first we thought it was just one of those flash storms that would go away but it became clearer that it was a huge storm. Gerhand ran into the cockpit so that he could send out a distress signal but the radio was not working at the same time the boat engine had stopped and the storm had picked up more power. There wasn’t any huge ship in sight. The small trawler boat begin to swing from side to side more as I was thrown to the back of the boat. Everyone on board was wearing a raincoat. I could hear the roar of the thunder right in my ears. More water was making its way into the boat through an indent which had been caused when the boat hit a rock. To make matters worse there were no live jackets and the prospect of swimming forty kilometres in a rough ocean to land in this kind of weather made it a more scaring and daunting prospect. The boat then fell to the right side as it capsized as all that could be heard were screams and loud shouts for help. My whole body was immersed in the ocean as slowly drowned. I started paddling with all the strength I had. I had learnt to swim at high school but I never took up swimming because I was too slow to compete. As I struggled to swim, I could see Gerhand sink down to the ocean bed as he had been knocked unconscious when the boat capsized? I thought of trying to swim towards him but I knew if I did that I would run out of oxygen. I finally managed to breathe, my head surfacing above the water. It was now a fight to keep myself afloat as I paddled rigorously. Getting hold of the wooden case we kept the raincoats in. With the strength left in me I climbed above the case. As, I lay on top of the wooden case with both my hands clinched tightly on the side handles of the wooden case. I couldn’t bear the situation so I closed my eyes and prayed. It was all lights out as I lost consciousness as I prayed. Praying was the last thing I remembered doing. I woke up on the sandy bank, coughing up water. Miraculously I had been swept up to shore. I could feel the cold waters of the ocean as it washed up on my feet. The wooden case was laying a few meters from where I was. At that point I heard a dog barking and then saw a man running towards were I was. The dog a German shepherd dog started to lick my face. The man was dressed in a red short and had trainers on showing that he was taken a morning jog. As I opened my eyes I could see the glare of the rising sun in the midst. The man unplugged his earphones as he knelt towards me, after which he said “What are doing here?” I had little strength in me and I was finding great difficulty in opening my mouth. The only thing I said was “Shi- shi-shi-shipwrecked.” After which I fell unconscious. I woke in a hospital bed a few hours later. The doctor informed me that if the man had found me later I would have died of hypothermia. The man said he had been alerted by his dog. That is when he saw something which looked like a person. Of all the people on board I was the only survivor. Only two of the bodies were retrieved, Gerhand’s body wasn’t one of them. The missing people were declared deceased. My life is a great example of dystopia everything seems to be going bad. I just have to accept my fate that I am destined never to be happy because it has been calamity after calamity. One can say calamity is now my second name. With all the things that have happened I think its best I return home. After reaching this consensus I decided to sell everything I had bought whilst I was working in Durban. The latest I would leave for Johannesburg is tomorrow in the morning. I sold everything I had and some of the stuff I sold it at giveaway price because I just wanted to leave. Without even saying good bye to Jason I boarded a bus for Johannesburg. I withdraw all the money I have in my savings account with it I am going to start afresh in Zimbabwe.