Lady Black and the mysterious creature of the night

Chapter 6

Mpho was up already. She was sitting upright. Her mind may have slipped to a very near past, she found herself reminiscing about a small event that happened the previous night. Last night she had run up and down the community searching for her brother. She was even beginning to doubt that she would find him, but to her big surprise, late at night when she returned home tired and feeling doomed, she found her brother home. She found him in their room fixing it up, it did seem odd to see him do that in middle of the night. He was supposed to be asleep, he had school the next day. It was not like him to be reckless with his sleep. However, that was up for dissection on another day, right then she wanted to embrace her brother. Especially, after such a fright and running around town looking for him all night. Mpho was beginning to remember how easy it was to lose those she loved. In fact, the event of the previous night brought about memories she had registered painful. She had lost her entire family during a fire that swallowed up her village.

Mpho quickly brought herself back to the present. She was on the matrass and a pair of scissors were in her hands. She had cut off her dreadlocks for her new job at the Gama mention—this was done so to fit a personality she was portraying. She had a short hair now. When her brother, Karabo, found her cutting off the dreadlocks she was well known for all across the community, he was surprised. He knew she liked to trim those dreads so they would not pass a certain length, but to see her chop it all off was a shock of his morning. “What are you doing?!”

“Is it not obvious?”

“Are you going through a break-up or something?”

“Fool.” She maintained the stoic tone she was accepted for, “It’s for the job.”

“Ow…” now he was getting it, “I must say, I will miss seeing you with the medusa head. So, why must you cut off your hair?”

“I'm on a role, kid. I was thinking an Aggie. Now doesn’t that ooze some sense of innocence and naivety?”

“Who are you out fool this time? Is it your new boss? Why do you want to take on the Aggie role? Is it some sort of seduction so you can easily worm your way to their highest stool?”

She was now in complete Aggie role; her short hair was neatly combed, she had colourful clothes on (a white vest, a grey cardigan, three-quarter pair of blue jeans and white takkies). “My goodness! You have the roles all mixed up,” in a soft and sweet voice. It was like she had completely transformed. Even Karabo did not know that his sister was so versatile like that, in fact, he was amazed.

All his life he had only seen one side of this human and that was a Mpho; the badass, stern and stoic soul. Now, she had totally transited to a whole different person. An exact opposite of who he had grown to know. She had some charm about her in the way that she innocently batted her eyes and picked up her shoulder to bed her dropped chin, her facial expressions and gentle head gestures. “Aggie is just a sweet, sweet girl. She has no intention into some position of power, no. Perhaps, you’re referring to a lady I know and her name is Delilah. Ow, she’s fierce and very bossy. Almost like Mpho, but only Mpho doesn’t talk so much. Mpho is always so grumpy and quite scary at times.”

Karabo only stood there in disbelieve. He had never seen her sister so chatty. It was starting to feel uncomfortable watching that. “Ow! That reminds me of someone else I know who’s scary and doesn’t talk much too. Oh, but I must say, she takes the cup. You know who that is?”

He only shook his head, his jaws dropped and eyes popped taking in every bit of the strange woman standing before him in his room. “The Great Black. Ow, the mysterious creature of the night!” She continued, “She and Mpho had been existing for such a long time. And now they have called on me. Mpho told me she needs me… I never thought I’d be needed in my life. This is all exciting but overwhelming at the same time. I’m afraid I might just disappoint and I do not want Mpho to be mad at me. Ow, no, no! She will break my bones and perhaps even my good jaw.” Looking at the watch on her wrist, “Would you look at that, I am running late! I have to hurry, first impressions last forever!” she grabbed her sling bag, and ran out.

The boy was only left speechless and possibly his face had all the words he lost, what was that? It was still 6a.m. and Karabo had woken up that early—around 5a.m. with his sister—to study some more for a mini test he was to write at school. He got back to his books.

Around the time he left the house for school his friend, Innocent, budged in. Innocent was like that; he had no etiquettes at all. Karabo still did not judge him for that. He loved that Innocent was different from him. Although, Karabo may have sometimes wished that his friend would tone down and maybe grow up. This was a secret he held tight to his chest. “Ey boy!” Innocent closed the door after budging in, “Your sister’s gone, right? Hey, tell me about last night. I heard you met with my uncle. How was it? Did he give you anything?”

“You’re the one who gave Steve and Crisp my name?”

“And so what went down?”

“Why did you do that?”

Innocent was rather dismissive of Karabo. He had no care for Karabo feelings in the situation. Karabo had always emphasized how his sister wanted him far away from the Lantern Brothers. Innocent knew all this but he still proposed Karabo’s name for carriers of his uncle’s merchandise. Karabo was deeply hurt by this but he knew there was no easy way in making Innocent understand how traitorous that was of him. Karabo knew that Innocent idolized his uncle so much that he refused to accept that his uncle may be hurting people in many ways. The incident of the previous night, had given Karabo a wake-up call and a somewhat clear view into the person that Innocent and his family was. He was beginning to be weary of his close friend. “He talked to me and gave me some bag. And I had to go leave it somewhere.” Karabo kept the details to a minimum. He did not feel he could trust that fellow anymore.

“Cool, man! What was in the bag? Where did you put it? We have to dig it out!”

“No, I… Well, I didn’t take the take bag. I turned him down,” he did take bag. There was no way he could have turned that vicious man down; he threatened his sister’s life with a promise of bullet through her head. However, this was a now awakened Karabo who saw through even his friend. This particular information was not safe with a boy like Innocent. “And he was kind enough to be understanding, and he let me go.”

“Aw, man. Really? See? I told you my uncle is so cool. Let’s bunk school today. You told me last week that your sister was going to work today, let’s chill here all day. Hey, we can call Sisipho.”

“No,” Karabo was not as enthusiastic as his friend that morning. He took his backpack, “We have English test today.”

“Come on, man. Just one test, and you like Sisipho. Maybe today’s your chance to profess your feelings towards her. I’m calling her up—”

Karabo snatched the phone from Innocent’s hand, “No! I have a test and I have to write it. Let’s go, I need to lock up.”

“Man, you seem so grumpy today. What, did your sister s***k you again? I know that one, she’s very quick at that.”

Karabo did not mind the boy anymore, he only locked the door when they both exited and started rushing to school while Innocent kept up pace with him.

Mpho… No, Aggie. Aggie was in the Gama house. She was already packing grocery in the cupboards. Her duty in that household was to do grocery, take out trash, make delivery and bring in mail. Basically, it was anything that entailed going out into the sun. It was such an easy job but only she could not turn away from her zombie-like colleagues. Upon the few hours she had already spent there, she had picked up so much about these beings. They could not walk out of the door, not a clear word came from their mouths and they showed no emotions. They all seemed possessed. This household was weirder than she thought. There were many rooms she was f*******n from entering, there were many secretes she was kept away from.

Aggie had already learnt of the three sons of Gama. Kgaugelo was the older son and an apparent heir to Gama’s company. Kgaugelo was the favourite to Mr. Gama, he was frequently praised by his father and only he had the most of Gama’s attention. Kgaugelo was self-centred, overly-ambitious and very arrogant to anyone below him—including his two brothers. The middle child was a d**g addict, Lebogang. This young man was carefree and had long ago given up on trying to win his father’s love. Lebogang knew that, at least, he would always be the second best no matter what he did. Lebogang stole from the family to satisfy his d**g-hunger, disappeared on them for weeks and had constant run-ins with the law but he was still the second most loved son to his father. It was consolation to him that he was not the last. One best trait on Lebogang was his love for his younger brother. Luthando was the younger brother, the youngest son of Mr. Gama and the least favourite. In fact, Gama doubted that he even fathered the boy. For many years, Gama toyed around with idea of getting a DNA test on Luthando but at the same time, he could not bring himself to get a confirmation of his suspicion. Gama did want to love this boy but it was not easy for him. Surprisingly, Luthando was actually a son many fathers would want—he was respectful, considerate, determined and generally, a good boy. There was not much to not love about the boy. Aggie even found herself more drawn to Luthando than she was with the rest.

“Take him for a stroll around the park when he gets grumpy,” Lebogang said to Aggie. He was referring to his younger brother on a wheelchair. “Read him his favourite books… God, I hope you can read.” They were alone at the kitchen table. Lebogang was briefing her more on her job description.

“I can, I can. Oh, I promise. In fact, I was nicknamed The Reader back in school—”

“And less talk around him. He doesn’t like certain voices and that includes yours?”

“Did he say that?”

“No. I just know.” And then he reached in his pocket, pulled out a joint, “Want a puff?”

“Is that w**d?”

“Yeah, normally, I take coke but I’m short on Mula for now. So, I have to make do with this. Embarrassing, right? Whatever, serves the same purpose. Do you want to join me at the balcony?”

“No. No, thanks. I have work to do.”

Aggie had an average day at work. She was more concerned for the people she was working with, they seemed lifeless. Aggie was curious as to why they were that way. She wanted to find a solution to this and she knew that her first step would be to first find some means to communicate with them. When she would approach any one of them and try to converse, they would mutter something she could not comprehend and turn away. Aggie ruffled her brains for a solution, it all was not adding up. At this point she wished she could get in touch with Mpho and Mpho would know what to do.

Aggie was glad to finally head home. She was frustrated that she still had not found a solution. She had thought she would resolve this on her own and Mpho would be the very last resort if all else fails. Unfortunately, this new girl had not come up with anything. In fact, when Karabo got back from school, he found her lying face down on the matrass, screaming into the pillow. Honestly, this was new to him. Mpho rarely vented or screamed in front of him, no. She was more stoic and aloof. He put his bag aside, “Hey, what’s wrong?” He sat next to her and looked down to her, “Did you have a rough day at work?”

“No,” she muffed out the word.

“Well, did you enjoy work?”

“Take a wild guess.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”

He took her hand which held tight to the pillow, and held it in his, “Look, give it time… Whatever it is, I’m sure tomorrow won’t be the same.” He asked, “Have you eaten?” Now, she sat up, “No.” She started doing some breathing exercises which only managed to quiet down her fury but brought about her tears. “Ow, I’m going to do bad at this. Every room in that house is locked, and I can’t look at anything, I can’t touch anything, I can't talk to anyone. What am I going to do?! I don’t even know what I’m looking for in that house. They told me to look for anything incriminating. What, where, how? I don’t know!”

“Should I make you porridge?” he was trying to shift her mind as he could see that she was beginning to panic.

“I don’t think I like porridge.”

“Okay. Do you at least like bread?”

“Yes!” her enthusiasm had bounced back.

“Cool. Bread and soup?”

“Bread and eggs!”

He was checking his coins to confirm if they were enough for eggs too.

“And cheese! I like white bread with eggs and cheese. That’s what I like.”

“Okay. Well, let me run to the shop and I’ll bring the stuff.”

“And a fizzy drink—Jive, preferably.”

“Ow, you see,” he forced himself to tell her the truth although, he was not comfortable letting her down especially when he was trying to console her, but he had to be honest, “We don’t have enough money for a drink. And I may have to buy half a bread, 1 cheese and 1 egg.”

“Okay, then we’ll just have to share. Go, and hurry, okay?” surprisingly, she was so understanding, he did not expect that.

He was happy to hear that. He immediately ran to the store close by. Some little time later, he walked in and found Mpho in full form—her dreadlocks, her same dark grey hoodie, black pants and black takkies. How was that possible? He had lost grip on the stuff he carried in the plastic bag. Mpho gave him a very short gaze and continued stirring her bowl of porridge, she was on her feet, “Why are you still in your school uniform at this time?”

He bent down and collected his things. He went closer.

“Bread?” as she had glimpse into the plastic bag in his hand. “What, you don’t want porridge?”

“No, it’s not that. It’s… You…” the words were just not aligning.

She went and pulled herself a chair at the table. She sat down to enjoy her supper. “Mpho?” He asked, “Is that you?”

“If you have nothing to say, just say nothing.”

“No, I…” He launched down on his chair too, “I bought bread, an egg and a slice of cheese.”

“You’ve been saving up for that? Good job.”

“No, but you… Oh, Aggie. Aggie, she…”

“You met her? What’s she like?”

“Totally different from you. Like, everything about her… She’s just not so you. And I think she may need your help. It’s something about work, she’s having a hard time there. You have to help her.”

“No.”

“She was crying.”

“So?” all the while Mpho was having her porridge.

“Whatever, she’s facing is… I don’t know, too big for her.”

Mpho had finished her bowl of porridge by now. She looked at her brother in his eyes, “So, you see a couple of tears and then what? You think she’s some damsel in distress? You think she needs saving now? In my experiences, girls who are not afraid to cry are much stronger and mentally stable than all the rest—rest of both women and men. Let her explore her emotions, heal and then grow. Ow, little one, you have no idea what she is capable off. Why do you think I put her in that place?”

“Okay.” He began having his bread. He remembered that Aggie might return the next day, hence he left her the egg, cheese and her half of the bread. “So, what’s happening to your hair now. I could’ve sworn, you cut it off.”

“I did. I turned my dreads into a wig.”

“Wow. That’s so cool. So, what’s it called when it’s like that?”

“It’s still a wig.”

“Ow? Well, that’s disappointing. I was thinking maybe it should be a wig-lock.”

“Wig-lock. I like it. Hey, the next time Aggie comes back, you tell her I give her full permission to do whatever she wants. Tell her to solve her problems any way she sees fit, but must not forget our main goal.”

“Okay. Whatever that means. You mean you cannot place her where she is right now? I mean like, you totally switched earlier on. I saw the other side of you that I never thought I’d see.”

“I can assure you that who you are seeing right now is Mpho. When the transition comes, Mpho goes away. I have not yet figured a way to stay conscious. This is all new to me, I’ll learn the tricks along the way.”

“But I’m sure I heard her say, you are also…” he was not sure if he should say this. He was hesitant, but then his curiosity overrode his fear, “the Great Black… That’s what she said. So, you can't truly be new at this, if what Aggie said is true. The Great Black has been turning the soil for some time now around this place. She's become well-known by the community. Are you by any chance, the Great Black?”

Taken aback a bit. Mpho had to find words to counter that, “Ah, Aggie is so young. She is not very aware of many things and she may sometimes just say stuff that may not necessarily be true. I’ll have a proper talk with her when we all meet up.”

“All? There’s more? How many are you?”

“Oh, ah!” she was getting uncomfortable talking about this but she wanted have control of what he knew. She knew dismissing him would make him even more curious. At the same time, she knew she had to be careful of everything said to him as she was not aware yet, how much Aggie had shared with him. “I am not sure. So far, you have met me, and Aggie. There may be a Delilah along the way.”

“Delilah? What is she like? Who is she?”

“She’s more like the one in the Bible.”

“The Destroyer of Kings?! Delilah who took out Solomon?”

“She has some of her traits. Listen, I don’t know her very well. She tends to keep her circle closed. She often lets only the people she targets in. That’s as much as I know about her.”

“So, who’s your favourite?”

“I have no time for favouritism. My job is to protect you and the community.”

“Well, I think I like Aggie. She’s just like me. Only she is not so afraid to be herself. She does not worry about being judged for those moments when she’s vulnerable, or showing that she does not know something. Her curiosity for things—new and old—blossoms through her like a sudden explosion of a fire. I don’t know…” after saying all of that, he was embarrassed. He had just let her sister into parts of himself that he tried so hard to hide. He had been aspiring to be badass just like her from long ago. He always considered Mpho to be the coolest person he knew. Mpho already, knew all this about him but she just never pried. She was glad to finally hear him say those words, it was her greatest joy hear him accept who he truly was. Mpho took his hand and said, “I’ll tell you a secret.”

He yelped with a sudden excitement, “Ow, I love secrets!” but the progressing young man reprimanded himself. He quickly straightened his face from that bright smile, and approached a more stoic tone, “I mean, secret? You can tell me if you feel the need to.”

“Aggie was created,” with the other hand, she brushed his cheek, “from you. You inspired the crafting of Aggie. I’m probably going to regret saying this but, of all of us, Aggie is the strongest.” Mpho saw Karabo’s eyes glisten with tears as he held the eye-contact. Finally, he got up and went around the table. She stood up to receive him in a big embrace.

Karabo was happy to meet Aggie again. He had even prepared her breakfast, egg and cheese sandwich. She was full of life again and happy, almost as though the grievous side of her the previous day did not happen. They sat at the table while she ate her food and he studied her. He was very fascinated by this character. Adding on; what Mpho had said that night contributed to his full-blown obsession in this character. “…and Mpho said I should tell you that you can deal those hurting anyhow you see fit. She trusts that regardless, you’ll keep your goal in mind.”

“Ow, my. She really said that? Gosh, she must trust in me. Then I must not disappoint. It is not always that someone comes up and trusts me this much. Being trusted by Mpho is a big deal, you know. I feel I have beat a certain score now.”

“I know, right? Earning Mpho’s respect is big. A woman like her is so rare. I mean, think about all the weight on her shoulders; there’s me, the community, her friends—”

“And us too. She’s our leader. Did she tell you that?”

“Not yet. How many are you by the way?”

“No-one really knows. Others come and go so often that we’ve even stopped counting.”

“Go? Like do they die?”

“Some yes. Some just grow into whole different people or join with others to become a transformed version of their past selves. Mpho would be the best one to ask these questions. She has a certain level of intellect."