Lady Black and the mysterious creature of the night

Chapter 18

Mpho knew that she was near the very end of her personal missions. She had already hauled the dust on the Lantern Brothers’ business. Soon, Tiger and his g**g would be caught by the police. The community would be safe again. She had faith in Zukisani’s abilities, she believed that he could bring them down—she had given him more than enough substance to work with. Now, she needed to focus her scrutiny on Gama. The way through that was a loophole—being Kgaugelo, the oldest son and heir of Gama’s legacy. Mpho wanted to bring Gama to justice for all the heinous crimes he had committed over the years. She wanted revenge for her mother and sister. Also, for the entire village. First, she needed proof that the land in which his factory stood was, in fact, once a village. She needed to prove that it was stolen property.

Mpho had reviewed the screenshots of the accounting records that Aggie had taken a while back. The screenshots were useful however, she needed more. Just one piece of evidence wasn’t enough to lock him away for good, and she knew that. Indeed, she had some of the fire victims to testify against Gama, a string of screenshot’s displaying foul play in Gama’s accounting records, the Eagle who was held captive against his will in Gama’s mention, and a young woman whose brother was framed for the murder of a Politian but that was still not enough.

“You look very familiar,” came a voice out of nowhere. Mpho turned and she saw Luthando on clutches. He had just entered the garden. He was hoping to meet a friend of his. The garden was where the friend would take him many times and he would sketch to his heart’s content. “Aggie.” Luthando said, “I don’t know if you know her, but you look very similar to her. I saw you walk in last night, and immediately all I could think about was her. She’s a bit more cheerful and popular to everyone than you seem to be.”

“Were you hoping to find her here?”

He had brought himself closer. He gently reached for the grass to sit too. “Yes. She hasn’t been around for so long now, I think I might be missing this woman. Is there something on your mind?”

“There’s a whole lot on my mind.”

“Anything you want to share?”

It would be weird talking about Gama to Luthando considering he was the son of Gama. Also, Mpho would rather bury her problems in herself. “No,” said she. “I see, you’re recovering. You’re on clutches now. Soon, you’ll be walking on your own two.”

He smiled very broadly, “Yes, I have been wanting to show off to Aggie.”

“Ow, you will.”

“I get a feeling I might just have.”

Mpho looked at him and she saw a loving smile on his face. It was serene and full. “Aggie?” he had his eyes stuck on hers, “Is this you?”

Mpho could only wait for evening so she could make her next entrance into Richie’s club again. She did hope that her new target—Kgaugelo Gama—was still there. It had been long since she had set foot in that club. She was anxious that she might not find Kgaugelo there anymore. Her anxiety was getting to her. To kill some time, she decided to see Pinky. Pinky had been discharged from hospital and Nothile took her in. Mpho was keen to go see how Pinky was pulling through. The woman saved her life and Karabo’s. The woman was the whistle-blower in the g**g and for that, the rest of the g**g was not implicated in KK’s crimes. She needed to thank her for that.

“Are you getting better? Are you taking your medication?”

Pinky laughed, “What is this?”

“I’m just concerned, Pinky. I know, I may seem to not care about anyone. But I get concerned for all of you.”

The entire g**g, except KK, Ndaba, Pedro and Gladys, was there. They were in Nothile’s place. The place was big, it had many rooms and some of the g**g members rented there. “That’s not true,” Pinky prompted. “You do care, and you show it. I’ll admit though, you tend to stay aloof to everyone and completely detached but we always know that you care.”

“You do?” Mpho needed that validation. She had been through so much and at times like these she needed a few kind words.

“Yeah,” one man in the g**g said. “You gathered all of us off the cold, rainy streets and provided a home when we had nowhere to go.”

Nothile added, “Some of us here, practically had no family. Now, we have one and thanks to you.”

They were having pizza and some beverages. Some squeezed on the long couch and others stretched on the carpet. They had snacks too, as they were watching a movie for once in a while. The curtains were closed to make the room dim and locked the doors. “So, what is to become of the g**g now that KK is gone?” one asked and they all looked towards Mpho. She started the g**g, she had to be the one to suggest a forward. Mpho was not saying anything. “I don’t why you let KK take leadership in the first place.”

“Maybe it was because she saw that he was more assertive than all of us.”

“Hey, you want to talk about assertiveness? Surely, you didn’t know we had Ndaba. Ndaba was even more assertive than KK.”

“No but you see, Ndaba was assertive and aggressive too. Possibly even impulsive. But KK seemed more level minded. And I would say that I understand why Mpho did not want to carry the group herself. She wanted to focus more on gathering information on the Lantern Brothers and all the other g**g groups that we’ve shut down so far. And she had her studies, and she had to take care of her brother. Am I wrong, Mpho?”

“You’re absolutely, right. I thought I had way too much on my plate. I still have to bring down Gama. My mental state wasn’t in the clear, I had to take care of that too. Ruling the group seemed like the final death-stroke to me. I mean, I could’ve given the position to anyone of you but you all seemed very young and you shied away from the position. Only KK campaigned for the position, at the time he seemed good in my eyes.”

Mpho had to give an official order concerning the g**g. She had been thinking long and hard about this before she visited them. “I am shutting down the g**g. No, we’re not cutting ties from each other. Instead, we’re no longer a g**g—we’re all just close friends and family. We’re now all equals. We will forever be there for one another; we will forever stay on the good side of the law and, we will share and care for one another. This has been my vision of this group from the very beginning. I feel that we have achieved so more than we had initially set out to. The streets are as good as clean now, hence I don’t see a need for us to continue.”

It may had seemed like hurtful news, but they understood what she meant. The community was more settled at the time, and indeed, their services were no longer needed.

“He’s been sitting there every night.” Said a man to Delilah, “He keeps saying he’s waiting for someone.” The man was gossiping about Kgaugelo who sat at the counter where he’d met Delilah. “I’m telling you he just comes in and he waits there getting himself drunk all night.”

“Thank you.” Delilah went over to the counter, “Bartender, give me something wake my taste-buds.” She positioned herself right next to Kgaugelo. He could not hide his shock, he was excited to see her again. Kgaugelo could almost leap in for a big hug but the lady’s body language pushed him off. “Waiting for someone?” she finally said to him. Her half-closed eyes pierced right into his. He could instantly, feel things happening to him. Hormones and emotions were aggressively colliding inside his body.

“No, just having a drink as usual.” Looking at her, he was dozing back to his first night drinking with her. She still had the same intense aura; her eyes were still piercing and seductive, her voice moderate and intonated, and her general self was detached, fierce and stern. She smelled the same way and she dressed in an extravagant gown just like the last time. “I thought you would never come again.”

“Oh?” she had a sip from the beverage she’d just received from the bartender. “What made you think that?”

“Well one, you just disappeared on me the last time and I had to hear from people that you had left…”

“And two?”

“You haven’t been coming for the past many days. I thought I put you off?”

She laughed gently, “You must think you’re that relevant to me.”

“Then if I’m not, I would like to be.”

She looked at him, very impressed at his response and persistence. She looked as though she would say something but she ended up taking another drink. “So, what has been keeping you away from here?”

“Business.”

“You run a business?”

“A girl’s gotta make money to eat… And to earn some respect around here.”

“Well, that’s interesting, because I run a business myself. Ever heard of Gama Holdings?”

“Of course. It is among the leading companies in the country.”

“You know your stuff, don’t you? Well, soon and I mean very soon I’ll be the CEO. Currently, I’m getting groomed.”

“Hm,” she did not want complement him just yet. She did not want him thinking highly of himself—especially, higher than her. This was a technique she used to make people, especially men, divulge more and possibly prove themselves even more to her. 

Soon, they had started going out and spending so much time together out of the club. He would take her to his family house, to his father’s company and to his favourite places. He wanted to impress the woman so badly that she would stay away from Richie. Delilah, purposely, kept Richie on the side as a reminder to Kgaugelo that she would always go back if he did not pull up. For that reason, he worked more and more. He dedicated every day of his life trying to win her over. The more he bragged about his father’s riches, the more information Delilah gathered. He had even went on to talk about his entire family structure, “…and I have 3 brothers. I am the oldest.” He did try to gather information about her, but the woman was very selective in whatever she said. She kept him curious and assuming.

He would have her stay over at his apartment. He would prepare meals for her. He would treat her with massages—and all those little things. He never expected to fall so hard for the mysterious woman. He was never one to stay long in all his previous relationships. In fact, every time he left, his previous partners always felt torn apart. For the first time he could only focus on one woman at a time and that was Delilah. She played along so well, she did a few little things for him too in order to have him believe that it was a balanced relationship. He was even beginning to see a future with the dashing woman. He would hint his plans with her regarding their future to see her reaction. Delilah would react in ways that encouraged him. 

“Tell me a secrete,” she said to him. They were in bed, they had spent the entire day in bed.

“What do you want to know?”

“Anything.”

“Okay, the world thinks that my mother is missing but in fact, she is inside my father’s house. She locks herself up in that room every day, all day. She was once implicated in some unlawful activity and so, she’s been laying low. I don’t know what she did, but according rumours it’s bad.”

She sighed. She was not impressed with him and he saw that.

“What?”

“I want to know something. Big. I don’t know. That’s her own business actually. Tell me something. Anything”

“But why do you want to know my secrets?”

“I want to feel connected to you. I want to know hidden things about you and your world.”

He racked his brains but he could come up with nothing. He could tell her that he’s cheated with his younger brother’s lovers. Not once, but twice and that was why there was bad blood between them. However, he did not want to put her off. That day Kgaugelo managed to escape her request.

However, Delilah had resorted to nagging almost frequently. She would nag and nag and nag. When he would not give in, she would sulk and pout. Someday Kgaugelo brought her along to his family house. There was no one there—except Mrs. Gama who locked herself up in her room. Delilah remembered that she needed more documents regarding the history of the territory where stood one of Gama’s factories. She first had him believe that she was curious about Gama Holdings’ accounting records. When he classified the documents to be private, she began her nagging. He got sick of it, especially since she was bringing up Richie’s ‘tender love’. He let her into his father’s study. His father had thoroughly warned him not bring anyone into that room, and especially to never open the safe.

She had pickpocketed him off his keys, and asked him to get her something to drink. She wanted tea from water that was freshly boiled. She had no interest in the accounting records he lent her as she already had copies taken by phone by Aggie. As soon as he left the room, she began opening the safe. It needed a code, not a key. Shortly, she saw some digits imprinted on the key-holder. She tried the digits, the safe opened. Before she could touch anything, she heard Kgaugelo’s footsteps approaching. Kgaugelo found her composed on his father’s chair and looking into the records he’d given her. “Thank you,” she received her tea.

That night Mpho tossed and turned in her bed, at the Castle. She was bummed that Delilah did not take anything from the safe. Mpho knew that she would have to go back there herself.