Chapter 25

Luyanda and Nomsa didn’t speak much on the way home. He kicked himself for not having pursued Ma Selina and gotten the information that he needed from her. For some reason or other, he had procrastinated, and he knew it. There was something that he was running away from. Emptiness clawed at his insides. Sooner or later, he would have to have the tough conversation with his parents. Memories of his blow-up with them flashed through his mind as he stared out the window at the darkness enveloping the city. He didn’t notice the cab pulling up outside his house.
“I’ll give you call tomorrow morning,” Nomsa said as he climbed out of the cab. “Sleep tight.”
“I’ll try,” Luyanda replied, and banged the door shut.
Early the next morning, Nomsa’s phone call woke him up.
“How did you sleep?”
“Not well.”
“Any word from Jabu.”
“Nope.”
“Have you called him?”
“Nope.”
“Maybe you should.”
“Yeah. I will.” Luyanda answered. But he didn’t. Several times, he asked Msiza to call Jabu, but stopped her at the last minute. Eventually, he gave up on the effort altogether. If Jabu wasn’t going to make the call, then he wasn’t going to either. He wondered what it would be like when he finally saw him when school resumed. It was the first December holiday Luyanda could remember that Jabu did not give him a single phone call.
Classes resumed a couple of weeks later. As he walked down the corridors of the familiar history department building, he wondered what his reaction would be when he came face-to-face with his best friend. They had not spoken in weeks. He decided that he would act as if nothing had happened. That was the wisest option. He entered the classroom - it was Flanagan’s lecture - and scanned the room. Jabu was not there. Imtiaz waved at him. Luyanda crossed the room and sat down beside him.
“Hey man,” he started. “How was your --.”
The words died in his throat as he caught a glimpse of Jabu stepping into the classroom. Luyanda hoped that Jabu would look in his direction. But Jabu did not meet his eyes. Instead, he tramped across to the opposite side of the lecture room, sat down, and stared straight ahead. Luyanda’s heart sunk. But just as quickly, a wave of anger swept across him. What kind of friend was Jabu? Imtiaz caught the glare in Luyanda’s eyes.
“Lemme guess,” he said. “You guys had a fight?”
“Not really,” Luyanda said, forcing a laugh. “Just a slight er— misunderstanding.”
At that moment Nomsa hurried into the classroom. She cast one look at where Jabu was seated at the far end of the room, and headed straight towards Luyanda and Imtiaz. She squeezed between the two of them.
“Hey, guys.”
“Hey! Hey! Happy new year,” Imtiaz replied.
“Happy new year to you too.”
“Did you and Jabu also have a fight?”
“Not that I am aware of,” Nomsa said.
“Then why are you seated here?”
“Morning everyone!” Flannegan hollered as he walked into the class. Nomsa breathed a sigh of relief , and turned determinedly to face him.
+++
As they made their way along the hallways after the class had ended, Luyanda cast a glance over his shoulder. Jabu was behind them. Their eyes locked for an instant. Jabu quickly looked away.
“Did you guys speak at all during the holidays?” Nomsa asked.
“No. Did you?”
“I tried to, but he didn’t answer my calls. Maybe you should try?”
“I don’t know,” Luyanda said, shaking his head. “Why should I make the first move? He’s the one that sided with the crazy witch-doctor, not me.”
“But you’re more mature.”
“Whatever. I’m also the one with the daddy issues, not him. I haven’t been able to get that stuff out of my mind.” Nomsa did not reply to that.

“Hey, you!”
They spun around to find Amina tramping towards them.
“Morning to you too, Amina,” Luyanda replied. Nomsa forced a smile at her and nodded.
“How was the rest of your holiday?” Luyanda continued.
“Dr. Uru would like to see you in his office.”
Luyanda’s insides knotted.
“When? Now?”
“Yes. He’s there waiting for you.”
“What does he want?”
“I don’t know. You’re going to have to ask him that.” She spun around and tramped off. Luyanda turned to Nomsa. She shook her head.
“That didn’t sound good.”
“You’re telling me. I won’t go now. I’ll tell him I had class or something.”
“He’s aware that you have a free period right now.”
Luyanda sighed and nodded.
“I’ll fill you in,” he said, and trudged off.
He found the door to Uru’s office open. Dr Uru was inside, seated behind his desk. He glanced up.
“Come in.”
Luyanda stepped through the door, and stood there waiting.
“You can close the door behind you.”
Luyanda did so, and stepped further into the office. Uru sensed his hesitation.
“You’re quite safe. Don’t worry. I’m not going to do anything to you.”
He leaned back in his chair, crossed his fingers, and closed his eyes.
“How was your holiday?”
“It was good thanks. How was yours?”
“I don’t take holidays. I haven’t had one in years.”
“That can’t be healthy.”
“There is something missing from the museum. Something very important.”
“Okay?”
“An artefact. A stool actually, to be more precise.”
Luyanda stiffened.
“What stool?
“One which you handled. Think back.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, you do. A few months ago, you unpacked it from its crate. It was from P.K. Mbuya. An old piece of trash. I asked you to send it back to him.”
Luyanda’s heart pounded in his ears. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves, and pushed down the lump in his throat.
“Oh yes. I remember that. I sent it back.”
Dr Uru glowered at him.
“P.K. Mbuya never received it. I have confirmed it with him.”
“Perhaps it got lost in shipping.”
“Like all the other artefacts here, it had a tracker on it. And as far as Mbuya and myself can tell, it seems to have absolutely vanished off the face of the earth.”
“I swear, I packed it off for shipping to him. Maybe one of those delivery drones sent it off to someone else.”
“Then it would show up on the tracking system, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes. Yes, it would.”
“This artefact is of incredible value.”
“But you said it was a piece of trash?”
“I was mistaken. Are you sure you know nothing about it? Nothing at all?”
Luyanda did his best to maintain a straight face. He shook his head.
“Did anything happen to you when you came into contact with this stool?”
“No,” Luyanda shook his head. “Nothing happened.”
Uru stared at him long and hard. It was almost as though he were reading his mind. Luyanda squirmed beneath his gaze.
“A few months ago, you made a trip to Rochester to see a certain woman named Selina. Tell me more about that.”
Luyanda gasped in surprise. He couldn’t believe his ears.
“How do you know about that?”
“I make it my business to know everything I can about everyone who works for me.”
“Unless I’m mistaken I met her before I even enrolled at the university.”
“Are you aware that she’s a well known fence for stolen goods?”
Luyanda’s eyes popped out of their sockets.
“I had no idea.”
“So you had no idea that you were associating with a criminal?”
“No,” he shook his head. “I did not.”
“Interesting. Last semester you spent a lot of time with Professor Keita. Why was that?”
Luyanda mind raced. He kept his eyes fixed on Uru and said that first thing that sprung to mind.
“I’ve been having trouble with my Pre-Colonial studies, and Keita’s been kind enough to assist.”
Dr Uru regarded him for a long, quiet moment.
“Professor Keita has many funny ideas. I would hate to see him put any of them in your head.”
“The strangest ideas I’ve heard so far have been in our African Slavery classes.”
Dr. Uru narrowed his eyes.
“Have you mentioned the party to anyone?”
Luyanda hesitated, then shook his head quickly. Uru’s perceptive eyes narrowed. He leaned back in his chair.
“Alright,” Uru said. “You may leave.”
Luyanda didn’t move.
“I said you may leave.”
“I think you’re taking this the wrong way.”
“No,” Uru said. “It’s you that’s taking this the wrong way. You don’t seem to realise how your decision will affect everyone close to you. Everyone who you know.”
Luyanda panicked.
“What do you mean? What decision? What are you talking about?”
“Stay away from Ma Selina.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?”
Uru shrugged.
“Please excuse me. I’ve got a lot of work to do, Michaels.”
Something about the way he said his surname sent a shiver down Luyanda’s spine. Without another word, Luyanda spun around and hurried out of the office.

✍️ Reply by email