Lady Black and the mysterious creature of the night

Chapter 14

“Yeah, I have installed the tracker in his phone. You should be able to activate it as soon as he lands in Paris,” said Lebogang Gama, the middle son of Gama—aka the d**g edict. Lebogang was in the Lantern Brothers’ mention. At that time in the room, there were only 7 of the Lantern Brothers. In addition to the room of 7 Lantern Brothers and Lebogang were 2 more outsiders—Jake and Willis. Jake and Willis were the two rumoured white boys sent by Richie to come and help the Lantern Brothers in retrieving their leader. And at the time, the leader, Eagle, was in Gama’s capture. Lebogang looked over to Tiger who sat far at the corner of the room by himself. Tiger most certainly looked disinterested in the meeting and Lebogang could pick that up. Lebogang said to him, “I hope your boys are onto him.”

“Yeah,” Sfiso spoke instead, “we have deployed two of our boys up to Paris. They’ll be waiting for your brother to land and they’ll be on him.” Sfiso was the technology geek in the team.

Lebogang was in his room, on his bed, in the morning. He was in his rented apartment. The room was almost empty. He had sold most of his belongings to secure money for drugs. In fact, his bed was a straw mat on the cold floor with just one thin sheet for a blanket. The sun blazed through the curtainless window and fell right on his face but still he did not feel the urge to get up. He was thinking back to a time before Luthando’s car accident that caused him his ability to walk. It was guilt eating away at him as his tears fell to the sides of his face. He began to think how it was all his fault that his brother, the one he loved the most, endured the pain of a car-crash. The plan was to send the Lantern Brothers after Kgaugelo but they, instead, went for Luthando. As an older brother, Lebogang had dedicated his life towards protecting Luthando from his taunting father. Now, not only did he fail to protect his brother but he was involved in his harm.

Lebogang said to the mass, “I must stress it again, you are not to harm him in any way. Just take him hostage until my father pays the money. What good is he to you dead? None. Kgaugelo’s an a*hole but he’s still my brother. And you won’t get ransom on a dead body. So, keep him alive.”

Katlego leaned forward with a briefcase of a big badge of white powder, he was the treasurer and stock keeper of the brothers. “In the spirit of emphasis, let me stress this too; make sure your father pays the money or your brother returns home a corpse.”

“Kgaugelo Gama is the apple of my father’s eye. He’s the favourite one in the family. He’s the heir to my father’s company and legacy. Father will dig deeper than his pocket goes for him. Father will sacrifice his own life for him. If Kgaugelo dies, who is to take my father’s company? Me? I’m just a junkie and a thief. Will it be Luthando—my younger brother? Father never loved him like a son. So, you rest assured, he will pay the money,” with that, Lebogang took the briefcase and left.

Lebogang had finally risen out of his mat. It did him no good staying cooped up in those four walls, and he knew it. He was out walking in the street. It was cold and cloudy. He had his trembling hands in his hoodie-pockets. He was deep in thoughts. Luthando had been abducted atop of the car-crash, and it was all Lebogang’s fault. Lebogang felt like he had sent his brother down to a spiral of misery.

After collecting the briefcase of coke, Lebogang hopped into his car and he was driving home. A few kilometres in, a mini-van speeding from behind him roughly swayed him to the pavement. Looking at the side mirror, Lebogang saw 3 men in balaclavas jump out of the mini-van and charged towards him. They had their guns out and ordered him get out of the car and lay face flat on the ground. Lebogang took a peek at them as they rummaged in his car and he saw them take the briefcase of coke. They took his radio, his phone and the last few notes of cash that he had. It was setting in that he was getting robbed. Lebogang did suspect the Lantern Brothers for this but after seeing them take more than just the briefcase, he did doubt his suspicions. Moreover, these guys were built differently from any of the Lantern Brothers.

Lebogang was finally at the park. The same park he would take his brother to since they were kids and as of recent since he could not walk. “It must be them. They gave me the briefcase and came back to take it,” he was wrestling with his thoughts. He murmured his words low enough that the random woman sitting next to him could not make sense out of anything he said. She had asked, “Excuse me, are you okay?” but he only ignored her. He was too deep in his thoughts. “They tried to make it seem like a random robbery. No… But why would they do that? We already agreed on the plan that my father would pay ransom for my brother and that would cover the debt of the coke. Why would they do that? What do they stand to gain from altering the plans like that? The plan was to abduct Kgaugelo from Paris, and my father would pay ransom. The ransom money would then cover for the coke they gave me. That was the plan. Something is amiss here.”

Lebogang was dragged to the Lantern mention. They tossed him on the chair. They had some discussions for him. The plan did not go as planned. Now, they we proposing a new plan. Lebogang smirked, “I didn’t know you could be so stupid. How can you expect the deal to go on? You almost killed my brother! And worst of all, the wrong brother! You were to go for Kgaugelo, not to kill him but to abduct him. Instead, you went and you ran over Luthando. Now, he cannot walk!”

Jake thought he should soothe the tension in the atmosphere, “Okay, let us calm down. I am sure we can talk this through—”

“He is in hospital, right now! My little brother. How could you?”

“I am sure they are sorry.” Jake spoke on behalf of the Lantern Brothers who stood there quietly. That day there was Katlego, the treasurer and stock keeper, Sfiso—the computer geek—and Kamo, the biggest muscle within the brothers. Kamo’s job was to intimidate debtors and possibly even harm them at times. Willis, as always, quietly sat next to Jake. Willis’s job was to protect Jake at all times. “Hey, good thing is, your brother’s alive and back to South Africa. He may be in hospital now, recovering but I’m sure he’ll be home soon.” Jake continued, “But right now, you owe them. You owe them money for the bag of coke you loaned from them. So, we need to relocate that brother of yours, Kguagelo—that is, and continue with the original plan so we can get the ransom to pay off your debt. It was a mistake on their part, they may have mistaken your little brother for Kgaugelo.”

“I sent you his damn pictures! Didn’t you look at them?”

“You three are from the same family, you look alike. And I assure you, we will get answers on what happened over there for your brother to end up in an accident. Right now, we need the money. Tell us where Kgaugelo has disappeared to.”

A short silence…

“I don’t have the badge. I’d give it back if I did.”

“You blew it all? All of it? In just a few weeks?” Jake was surprised, “What are you?”

“No, dammit!” Lebogang cried, “It didn’t even make it to my house. I got mugged. All of it gone.”

“Well, that’s unfortunate.” Katlego took over, “However, you still have to make payment. You walked out of here with my powder and made a promise that you will settle the amount.”

“Well, I have nothing. You know that my father cut me off my allowance long time ago. Now, I have got to work. I have no job. Come to my little apartment and you’ll see, there’s no electricity, no food—”

“I have zero interest in your sad stories and your failures. I am giving you one week to make payment or I will break every one of your fingers. How are you going to pick up that joint then?

“How do you expect me to have that amount money?”

“The solution is staring at us right in the eye,” said Jake. “Kgaugelo is still out there.”

“What? Go to hell!”

Sfiso asked, “Why did he disable the tracker?”

Lebogang laughed sarcastically, “I asked him to toss his phone in a river and go into hiding because there are people who want him dead. And he ran like hell, even I can’t reach him.”

“Don’t make me trace his credit card,” said Sfiso.

“I knew you could do that, I told him to use cash only. He’s safe where he is. Good luck finding him.”

“That little brother of yours,” Jake said. “He’s alive, isn’t he?” It was Jakes’s job to capitalize from anything. He had an entrepreneurial mind, and that was the reason Richie sent him over to help the Lantern Brothers raise money to free Eagle. Lebogang knew where Jake was heading with the idea. “Oh, don’t even bother,” said Lebogang. “You won’t get a single cent with him, I tell you. It’s been weeks since he got transferred from Paris to Johannesburg hospital but my father hasn’t even once set foot in there to see him. Or even asked how he’s doing. So, don’t waste your resources. He is completely useless to you all.”

Lebogang had gotten off the bench. He was pacing around the open space in the park. Almost no-one could pull him out of the world in his mind. “I thought I had put them off Luthando. I thought they’d leave him alone after that.” Lebogang continued, “So, he was later discharged from the hospital. He stayed a few weeks at my father’s house and then suddenly, he’s gone missing. But how did they get to him? He was perfectly safe at my father’s house!”

“Lebogang?” that was Aggie. “Are you okay? You seem disconnected.”

“You!” he was a tiny bit not pleased to see her. “Where have you been?!”

Aggie knew she had to play confused. She had to have him believe that she had no idea what he was talking about.

“My brother has gone missing.”

“Missing?”

“All the servants in my father’s house are gone! Where were you?! I hired you to take care of him. I told you to stay with him at all times.” He lamented and lamented. Finally, they were sitting on the grass in the open area. He had calmed down. He had told her the entire story. She seemed trustable to him. That was Aggie’s role—naïve and trustworthy. “So, you sold your brother for a stack of coke?”

He could only nod and remorsefully, so.

“Poor thing! What do you think they’re going to do now? How will they send message to your father? Do they have his numbers? I bet they’ll send a letter. How does all this work?”

Lebogang looked at her for a while. Amazed at how she had no idea how cruel the world truly was. He wanted to tell her that they would probably send a toe or an ear. Possibly, beat him up and send pictures or a video. But the girl seemed way too innocent to have to know all that. “We must do something!” she cried. Posing so worried for him. He did mention how Gama showed absolutely no care for Luthando’s disappearance. “He behaved the same way when Luthando landed in coma back in Paris. From a car-accident. Father showed no concern at all.” It was known in the family that Gama suspected Luthando was not his son. Luthando was born with a farer skin and as a new-born he was very hairy unlike his two other sons. This was odd to Gama; hence he’s always rejected Luthando.

By the time they separated—Lebogang went back to his apartment and she went back to the Crescent Castle—Aggie was with Luthando in his designated room. She brought him a tray of vanilla ice-cream and chocolate. “Your brother told me he used to buy you this a lot to cheer you up. He also told me that he used to take you to the park whenever you got in a fight with your dad. He told me that you used to hold his hand tight so that everyone knew he was your brother.” Luthando was sitting on the carpet sketching on a notebook the Great Black. “That is beautiful. She’s the one who brought you here, she’s my friend.” Now, he looked at her sitting opposite him. She had raised a topic he was curious about. “She wants me to ask you some questions. She wants to know how you got to that place. Is there anything connecting you to them?”

“Where is she?”

“Great Black? Oh, she’s resting.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere. So, will you tell me?”

“I’ll only talk to her.”

“She’s put me in charge of you. She trusts me, you should too.”

It had taken a long while to get Luthando talking. Aggie had to gain his trust and she was very determined. She kept visiting his room every day with the same smile and enthusiasm. She brought him treats and watched movies with him. At first, he acted not interested but eventually, he began bursting into laughter at the comedy movies they watched. They would binge watch TV-series all night and he wouldn’t move on to the next episode without her. Finally, he was comfortable leaving his room and roam about the castle. They played the game of cards with other dwellers of the castle and raced in the corridors—Luthando being in his chair while the others got wagons.

This was working for each of them—except for the cleaning unit who would have to pack up everything in place afterwards. They all forgot their worries, traumas and misfortunes in those little moments. Luthando had even gotten a physiotherapist for his legs.

“Let’s start with how you lost your ability to walk,” Aggie asked him.

“I was in Paris with a forma varsity professor of mine. The professor was invited to assess in a neuro surgery and he wanted me to tag along. After the surgery, I was headed back to my hotel and then there came a car on high speed. It hit me while I was on the crosswalk. I woke up in a hospital bed and I couldn’t walk.”

Aggie requested again, “And how were you abducted? I mean, after being hospitalized for so long you returned home. You were safe home. How did those guys get to you?”

“Well, I had been cooped up in the house for weeks then and I wanted to see the sun and get a soft breeze of fresh air. So, I went to the park. They took me from the park. They put a gag over my mouth and started pushing my wheelchair. They tossed me in their mini-van and drove off. I don’t know how I lost consciousness but when I woke up, a big guy started hitting me.”

“Do you know why?”

“I don’t. I could hear them saying that they should hit me in the face and make look visible. They poured water on me and continued to hit me. That was when the girl with big hair came in for me. I’m not sure why I was even in there but something told me that they were the notorious g**g residing in the poor community just next to my home. I had heard my middle brother talk about them at times. I think it’s him they want, I don’t know. You know, he’s a d**g edict, right?”

“I think so, yes.”

“And that g**g, allegedly runs the biggest d**g chain across many townships. He probably owes them something. Is he okay, though? I’ve been meaning to ask you to bring my brother here too. He’s not safe out there.”

Aggie was not sure if it was a good idea to bring the brother to the castle. Lebogang would steal even from his own family and that resulted into his father kicking him out of the house. Now, bringing him to the castle was like calling on theft, she thought. She thought long and her conclusion was to keep Lebogang far away from Black’s castle. It was wonderful to see Luthando learn to stand, Aggie was amazed at his persistent recovery.