Chapter 30

Luyanda shot across the room and lept into the shadow beneath the door before Keita could get to it. A moment later he reappeared in the corridor.
The door swung open and Keita stepped out. He gave Luyanda one look. They both knew that Luyanda had seen and heard everything. Keita did not say anything. He spun around and stalked down the corridor. Luyanda followed him.
“Why the hell did you do that?”
“What choice did I have?”
“You could have stayed on. There was no reason on earth for you to-”
Keita froze in his steps. He spun around and faced Luyanda.
“You were there inside that room. It would have been untenable to continue.” He resumed his march down the hallway.
Luyanda hurried after him.
“But you can’t just—,” he stammered. “How are we going to stop him now?”
“There is no we here, Luyanda. Can’t you see I’m doing my best to keep you out of this? This is bigger than you. It’s time you accepted that.”
Luyanda stopped in his tracks. He could not believe what Keita had just said. After all that there’d been through together. Is that what Keita really felt? Is that what he really thought? Luyanda mouth went dry. He gulped down his disappointment and trekked after Keita. There were already outside his office. He followed him in and slammed the door shut behind him.
“Maybe they can reverse the whole thing,” Luyanda offered. “Reverse the decision.”
“Maybe I don’t want that.”
“I’m sure there’s another way. Please don’t do this.”
Keita collapsed into his seat. His shoulders sagged. He let out a hard sigh and closed his eyes. “It’s better this way,” he said. “Trust me.”
“But where are you going to go? What are we going to do to stop Uru?”
“I’m not sure yet.”
“You seem very relaxed about this.”
“When fate deals you a hand, it’s best to accept it.”
“What do you mean, fate? I made this happen.”
“Maybe you overestimate your agency.”
He stood up and walked across to his shelf. He started arranging and rearranging the books. Luyanda knew that he simply wanted to do something to stay busy and to keep his mind off things.
“So what am I going to tell Nomsa?”
“You don’t have to tell her anything. Remember, no one else knows that you snuck into the room other than me. She will find out in due course. I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”
He turned back to his shelf. Luyanda hung back.
“I wish I’d listened to you in the first place-”
“All you would have done would have been to buy a little bit of time. What happened was inevitable. Uru and myself were on a collision course from the very beginning. It was better that things panned out on my terms. Not his.”
“What do you mean on your terms? Is this what you wanted?”
“Not exactly,” Keita replied. “In a sense I was pushed to move quicker than I had wanted to but it will be for the best. You’ll see. Don’t blame yourself.”
Luyanda hung his head.
“Don’t you have a class to get to. I wouldn’t want you to be late. Nor would I want you to lie to any of the lecturers and tell them that you are holding a consultation with me.”
Luyanda gave him a last lingering look, and trudged out of his office. He wound his way past the morning rush of students, barely noticing any of them. As he took a seat in his African Philosophy Class and awaited Dean Musa’s arrival, he shot a look across the lecture room. Jabu was seated on the opposite end of the class. He was all by himself. He seemed to be avoiding everyone, and had his nose buried deep in the screen of his tablet. Luyanda’s blood boiled within him. Jabu had lied. He had cost Keita his job. Maybe this was partially his own fault, he thought to himself, but at least he had not told a lie, like Jabu had. It was almost as though Jabu sensed Luyanda’s eyes burning into his cheek. He looked up and their eyes met for one split second. Jabu averted his gaze.
By the end of the lecture, everyone knew about Keita. The news had spread like wildfire across the entire department. People spent the lecture reading and sending messages back and forth. It was everything Dean Musa could do to hold their attention. He seemed resigned to the fact that whatever he said would be lost in a sea of murmurs, and he ended the class ten minute early. Luyanda was relieved. Now that everyone knew, he did not have to come up with any tall tales to justify his sad face.
“You’re taking this quite hard, aren’t you?” Imtiaz asked as they walked out of their class.
“So it seems your favourite lecture is long gone,” Yisa sneered as he pushed past the pair of them at their classroom entrance. “There’ll be no one around to protect you now?” He cackled, then tramped away before Luyanda could respond.
“What the hell is he on about?” Imtiaz asked.
“I have no idea.” Luyanda slung his backpack over his shoulder, and trudged off silently.

Luyanda didn’t see Keita again that day. It was all he could do to answer Nomsa’s barrage of questions without lying. When Nomsa realised that Luyanda didn’t want to discuss the issue at all, she stopped asking about it. She did however go everywhere with him, as far as their schedules allowed. Although he couldn’t tell her directly, Luyanda was grateful for her quiet presence.
The following morning, Luyanda got the shock of his life when he walked into his first lecture of the day - Ancient African Cultures - and found none other than Hester Bimba taking the class. He frowned and took a seat beside Nomsa. “What the hell is she doing here?” he whispered.
“She’s taking over from Keita.”
“What?” Luyanda gasped. “Isn’t there going to be some kind of notice period or something?”
“Mr. Michaels?” Bimba’s reedy voice sailed across the lecture room. “Would you and your girlfriend mind sharing whatever it is that you’re discussing?” Luyanda sunk into his seat and shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“Then please might I ask that you have your clandestine conversations outside my lectures? I am sure you’ll have ample time then to discuss your minutiae?” Luyanda nodded and fixed his stare straight ahead. His blood boiled. He couldn’t believe how silly that woman was. He shot a sidelong glance at Nomsa. Her brow was furrowed and her lips were pursed. Luyanda felt a bit better because he knew that she was angrier than he was.
As soon as class was over, Luyanda mumbled an excuse to Nomsa and hurried over to Keita’s office. He found the old man inside, packing a few potted plans and picture frames into brown cardboard boxes.
“I thought you were sticking around to do a handover?”
“Yes. I was supposed to. But the Dean dropped by this morning and let me know that the faculty feels it’s better that I take leave with immediate effect. Turns out that Bimba is quite capable of running my classes. I don’t know what to do about all these plants. Do you want any of them?”
Luyanda shook his head.
“I thought as much.”
He placed a gnarly, twisted bonsai into a cardboard box. “You can help me put the boxes in my car.”
Luyanda picked up a box full of books.
“So what’s going to happen now?”
“I’ll vacate the office and take everything of mine home.”
“And then?”
“I have no idea,” Keita answered. “The future is uncertain.” He held up a miniature plastic hoverer. “Do you think I should keep this? I don’t even know who gave it to me.” Luyanda shrugged. Keita tossed it into the bin.
“Where are you going to go, professor?” Luyanda asked.
“Home. But this isn’t goodbye though. I’m still around for a couple of days. There are a couple of PhD students that I need to meet with.”
“Couldn’t one of them replace you rather than that witch Bimba?”
Keita laughed. “You’ll get used to her. She’s not that bad. Let’s take this stuff to the car. I’ll have to finish what’s left of it tomorrow. Otherwise I’ll hurt out my back. And we don’t want that happening, do we?”

The next day, Kieta did not show up at UAC. Luyanda went over to his office, but didn’t find him there. He tried calling him and didn’t get an answer either. “Maybe you should go and check on him,” Nomsa suggested, when he told her about Keita’s no show. “Perhaps he’s in a bad way. He doesn’t have any family, you know.”
Luyanda decided not to use his car. It would be faster to fly through the shadows. He waited for a quiet moment, then slipped into a shadow in the men’s bathroom when nobody was about. He slid through the darkness and made his way to the freeway, where he whizzed along at a good speed, hopping from shadow to shadow as the hovercars swept past each other. In a record quarter of an hour, he stood in front of Keita’s apartment door and knocked.

Luyanda was surprised to find Keita’s apartment door slightly ajar. He paused and knocked. There was no response.
“Hellooo.” Nobody answered.
Luyanda pushed the door open and stepped in. He let out a soft gasp of astonishment. The apartment looked like a war zone. Books were strewn everywhere. Plates lay shattered on the floor. The coffee table was cracked through the middle and Keita’s couches were overturned. A soft whimpering met his ears. Luyanda followed it to the kitchen. A furry lump huddled in a corner, shivering and whining.
“Hey, Vladimir,” Luyanda said, scooping Keita’s dog up into his arms “Where’s your owner, eh? Where’s Keita?” The Scottish terrier trembled and whined again. Luyanda put him down, opened the fridge, and grabbed a carton of milk. He spotted Vladimir’s bowl near the sink. He poured out some milk into it and placed it in front of Vladimir. The dog lapped it up gratefully. Luyanda watched him for a few seconds, then stepped back into the living room and picked his way through the mess. He checked every room in the apartment, calling Keita’s name. There was no one there. He scratched his head. Where on earth was Keita? He went out the apartment and scanned the passage. All was quiet. It was as if no one has seen or heard anything. As if the entire world had forgotten about the man living on the third floor in apartment twelve. Surely a neighbour would know something? He stared at the door beside Keita’s and wondered if he should ask.
Vladimir’s soft barking interrupted his thoughts. Luyanda went back into the apartment, and picked him up. The dog licked Luyanda’s face.
“Eeeuuw. Gross. We need to find someone to look after you.”
With the dog in his arms, Luyanda walked across the hall to the door of the opposite apartment. He knocked twice. The door opened a crack, and a short, raven-haired women with a hooked nose appeared. She shot an irritated glance at Luyanda, and said nothing, waiting for him to speak.
“Hi, I’m looking for your neighbour, Keita. You wouldn’t happen to know where he is, would you?”
The woman just stared at him. Luyanda cleared his throat. She stared at him some more, then shook her head.
“Did you see or hear anything weird? It looks like there was a huge fight in his apartment last night.”
“There was a racket in there last night, but it’s none of my business what my neighbours do.”
She pushed the door shut, but Luyanda stuck his foot in the doorway.
“Listen, I think something may have happened to him. Do you think you could look after his dog for a while?”
The lady frowned, but one whimper from the small dog was enough for her face to soften.
“Oh, okay. Give him to me,” she said, stretching out her hands. “Can I find his food in his apartment?”
“Hang on, I’ll get it for you.”
Luyanda went back into Keita’s kitchen, and tracked down a few bags of dog food. He deposited them with Keita’s neighbour. Then, he walked to the alleyway behind the apartment, stepped into the silhouette of a dumpster, and swung through the shadows back to university.
He suspected that Nomsa would be in the student centre. He got there just as she was leaving.
“He’s gone,” he announced, falling into step beside Nomsa as she made her way across the lawn.
“What do you mean, ‘gone’?”
Luyanda told her about everything he had seen in the apartment.
“This is bad,” she said, when he was finished. “This is very bad.”
“You’re telling me? What are we going to do?”
Nomsa’s eyes narrowed. Luyanda followed her gaze. There, across the lawn, was Amina. She was trotting along at a rapid pace, squeezing a package against her chest.
“She seems to be in an awful hurry,” Nomsa muttered.
“You haven’t seen Yisa or Jabu anywhere at all today, have you?” Luyanda asked.
“I don’t know about Yisa, but Jabu hasn’t been in class this morning.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Nomsa nodded. “Do it.”
“Okay, I’ll catch up with you later.”
He tailed Amina to the car park, taking care to stay out of sight and remain obscured by the shadows of the buildings. Amina got into her car, backed out, drove through the gates and pulled onto the highway. Luyanda rode along in her hover’s shadow, wondering where they were going. Soon, he noticed the derelict buildings of the seedy side of the city. They still bore signs of damage from the war, more than twenty years earlier. Amina pulled up outside a tall apartment block that looked on the brink of collapse, and didn’t have a single window intact. She got out of the hover, locked it, and hurried into the dark, cavernous entrance of the building. When the coast was clear, Luyanda stepped out of the shadow, walked up to the apartment block’s silhouette, cast by the sun on the pavement, and morphed into it. Hidden within the shadows, he followed Amina’s pounding footsteps, and found her labouring up a flight of stairs.
He trailed her. She stopped at the fifth floor, panting and out of breath. She trudged out of the stairwell and into a long, dark corridor. Luyanda followed. She came to a battered apartment door and pushed it open. It led into the empty shell of what must have once been a large and luxurious apartment.
Luyanda gasped. A figure lay huddled on the floor, groaning in pain. It was Keita.

His hands were bound behind his back. He was in pain, and barely conscious. Uru sat in a chair nearby, watching him closely. Yisa and Amina leaned against the wall opposite them.
“Water,” Keita rasped. “Please.”
Yisa cackled. He went up to Keita and kicked him in the stomach. Keita gasped and moaned. Luyanda’s chest tightened in fury. It was all he could do to stop himself from bursting out of the shadow and pummelling Yisa.
“Stop,” Uru barked.
Yisa stepped back, keeping his eye’s fixed on the small figure twisted and bound on the floor in front of him.
“I’ll ask one last time. Who else knew about the experiments?”
Keita groaned.
“Who else knew about the experiments?” Uru repeated.
Keita coughed, and spat. Blood trickled down his chin.
“How did you find out about them? I won’t ask you again, Keita.”
“I told you already,” he rasped. “It was only Luyanda.”
“You’re lying again!” Uru roared. “Why would he tell only you and nobody else?”
“I guess-I guess it’s because I’m such a nice guy…at least,” Keita continued, “… compared to you.” A weak smile played on Keita’s lips. Uru’s eyes lit up in rage. Yisa took a menacing step towards Keita. Uru shook his head. Yisa paused.
“Please, water,” Keita said.
“Get him some.”
Yisa spun around and left the room. He returned a moment later, holding a glass full of water. He handed it to Keita. Keita propped himself up on an elbow and sipped it. He burst into a fit of coughing. Yisa took back the glass, and Keita fell back on the floor, breathing hard.
Luyanda weighed his options. Keita was not in a good way, and Luyanda didn’t want to leave him alone to go and get help. Maybe he could try and fight off Uru, Yisa and Amina? That was three against one. But maybe he could — Jabu! The thought punched through his mind. Why hadn’t he noticed Jabu’s absence before? If Jabu showed up it would greatly reduce his chances of success. There was no time to hesitate. He dashed through the shadows, and in a few seconds was standing outside the building.
“Msiza. Call Nomsa.”
A few seconds later Nomsa’s face popped out of his pad.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“I found Keita.”
“Where is he?”
“There’s no time to explain. I need you to call the cops and get them here asap. I’m sending you my location.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Please just do it, Nomsa. I have to get back inside.”
“Luyanda —,”
“Call the cops, Nomsa. I have to go now.”
He ended the call.
“Msiza, send Nomsa my location.”
No sooner had he finished the sentence than he spotted someone rounding the corner. He retreated into a dark alleyway and merged with the shadows just as Jabu swept by. Luyanda hopped onto Jabu’s shadow, and piggy-backed on it as Jabu rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and raced back into the apartment where they were holding Keita.
“It’s done,” Jabu panted. “It’s all gone.”
“Are you absolutely sure?” Uru asked. “Because if you left the slightest shred of evidence on any of those computers —”
“I double and triple checked everything. I’m absolutely sure that there’s nothing left. We even went through all of the deleted files and got rid of them permanently.”
Uru turned back and faced Keita.
“I am asking you one last time” he said. “Does anyone else have any of these records?”
Keita coughed, and laughed. Uru nodded at Yisa. Yisa rolled up his sleeves, and lay into Keita, kicking and punching the old man. It was more than Luyanda could take. He leapt out of the shadow, and, with a scream, smashed his balled fist into Yisa’s jaw. Caught by surprise, Yisa stumbled backwards and fell over. Jabu and Amina pounced on Luyanda and pinned him against the wall. Yisa straightened up. His lip was bleeding. He walked up to Luyanda, and punched him hard in the stomach. Luyanda doubled over, winded and in pain.
“I’ll kill you,” Yisa growled, drawing back his fist and taking aim at Luyanda’s face.
“Not like that you won’t,” Jabu said. He let go of Luyanda’s arm and pulled a sword hilt out of his pocket. He tossed it into the air and a gleaming blade swooshed out of it. The sword hung suspended before Luyanda’s face as Jabu grabbed Luyanda’s arm again and yanked him forward. Jabu nodded at the sword. It swung around and glided towards Luyanda’s shadow, cast on the wall.
“Wait!” Uru said. “He wouldn’t have come here alone. Someone else is with him.”
“Yes,” Luyanda stammered, mind racing. “There are a whole lot of people downstairs, and there are more coming.”
Uru turned to Yisa.
“Go and check.”
Yisa backed away from them. The floorboards opened up and swallowed him whole. Luyanda’s eyes flicked from Uru to Keita. He hoped he hadn’t made things worse for him. A few seconds later, the floor beneath his feet trembled as Yisa emerged out of it. “There’s no one outside,” he announced. “He’s lying.”
Uru turned and faced Luyanda
“You think this is a game don’t you?” Luyanda did not say anything. He struggled against Jabu and Amina’s firm grip.
“You are being silly. It’s really stupid that we are working against each other this way. We should be working together. I made you.”
“You did no such thing,” Luyanda retorted.
“Foolish child. I’ll tell you what. If you join me, if you give up on this stupid little mission have created for yourself, then, I will let your friend live. That’s the best offer I can make to you.”
Luyanda glanced at Keita, lying motionless on the floor. Uru caught his momentary hesitation.
“Be reasonable, son,” he continued. “There’s no need for us to kill each other. We all know I am not the real enemy here. Imagine how much stronger we would be if we were all working together. If we were all united.”
“He’s right, Luyanda,” Jabu piped up. “There’s no reason for us to continue this way.”
“Listen to your friend,” Uru said. “I know you came here without a plan. I am offering you a way out where everybody wins.”
Keita coughed and pushed himself up onto an elbow.
“Don’t listen to him,” he rasped. “Do not join him.”
Uru cackled. He turned to Keita and crouched before him.
“You’re an old, meddling fool,” he said. “I think you’ve overstayed your welcome.”
“As have you, son of Sumanguru.”
Uru gasped. He grabbed Keita by the collar and drag him up onto his feet. “Who are you?” he growled.
Keita coughed and blood sputtered out of his mouth. Uru released him in disgust, and Keita collapsed onto the floor.
“Tell me who you are, and I won’t kill you.”
Keita coughed and struggled to catch his breath.
“You’re pride has blinded you,” he gasped. “If you weren’t so sure of yourself, you would have recognised me long ago, Bamagana.”
Uru stumbled back and blinked. He regarded Keita with a harsh, penetrating gaze. Then a wave of realisation swept across his face.
“Sundiata Keita. Impressive. You never gave up after all of these years.”
“You have a debt to pay, Sumanguru.”
Uru laughed.
“ You’re still as foolish as you were, Keita. The battles you fought in the past with my forebears are not the ones that I wage now. I walk a different path.”
“And you think that your path is of your own making? You serve another master, Uru. Though you may not be aware of it, yet.”
It happened so quickly that Luyanda couldn’t stop him.
Uru heaved Keita back onto his feet, held him against his chest and drew a dagger out of his pocket. Keita cried out in pain as Uru buried the blade deep into his back. Keita crashed into the floor, the impact sending the dagger clean through his body. Luyanda screamed. He kicked and thrashed, arms and legs flailing wildly about as Yisa joined Jabu and Amina in pinning him against the wall. At that moment, the wail of sirens echoed in the distance.
“Mwindo!” Uru barked. Yisa sunk into the floorboards. Luyanda broke free from Jabu and Amina and sprinted across to Keita’s side, cradling his head in his hands. Blood ticked out of the wounds in his back and chest. His eyes were glazing over.
“Keita,” Luyanda called out to him. “Keita.”
The floor trembled and Yisa re-emerged.
“Two police cars are on their way. They’ll be here in a minute.”
“Then let us go,” Uru said.
“What about them?” Amina nodded towards Luyanda and Keita.
“Leave them,” Uru said. “Mind, get us out of here.”
Uru, Amina and Jabu linked their arms with each other and formed a tight ring around Yisa. Yisa laid his hand on Uru’s shoulder, and squeezed his eyes shut. The ground beneath their feet wobbled like jelly, and the four of them sunk into it. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, and Luyanda was left all alone with Keita.
“Keita, can you hear me.”
Keita had stopped breathing. Luyanda cradled his head in his hands.
“Keita, please.”
Keita’s sightless eyes stared into his. His chest lay motionless. Luyanda’s stomach knotted and his mouth went dry. He glanced at the door. The sirens grew louder and louder. He realised that Nomsa must have called the police, as he’d asked her to. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t interfered—. He started as he noticed Keita’s body suddenly grow lighter. Luyanda propped him up, and his jaw dropped as he watched Keita disintegrating in his arms and becoming a fine, grey mist that rose into the air and disappeared right before his eyes. Then something hard fell to the floor with a clunk. Luyanda picked it up.
“Name Nnwu Na Mawu”, Luyanda said out loud, as he clutched the wooden carving. It was the talisman that Keita had worn around his neck.
He shoved it into his pocket, just as the sirens outside ceased. Car doors slammed shut and boots crunched on the tarmac outside. Soon, there were footsteps pounding up the stairs, getting louder and louder. Luyanda took one last look at the spot where Keita’s body had lain, and morphed into the shadow on the window sill.

A few minutes later, he materialised in one of the toilet cubicles in the university. He sat down on the toilet and stared at the door opposite him. His pad buzzed.
“Nomsa is calling.”
At the mention of her name, tears welled up in his eyes. His pad buzzed and buzzed.
“Cancel the call.”
“She says it’s urgent.”
“Cancel it.”
She was the last person he wanted to speak to. How could he explain what had just happened? He couldn’t believe it himself. Keita was dead. He was gone. His pad buzzed again.
“It’s Nomsa again.”
Luyanda hung his head. He would have to break the news to her sooner or later. It would be better to get it over and done with as quickly as possible.
“Yeah,” his voice cracked as her hologram popped up in front of him.
“Where are you? What happened? Are you crying? What’s going on? Where’s Keita?”
Luyanda wiped the tears from his eyes.
“What happened?” she insisted, fear creeping into her voice. “Lu, talk to me.”
Luyanda cleared his throat and took a deep breath.
“He’s dead Nomsa. Keita is dead.”
Nomsa was silent .
“What do you mean he’s dead?”
“What else could I mean,” Luyanda retorted, his hands shaking all of a sudden. His chest tightened as a painful lump formed in his throat.
“Are you on campus?”
“I just got back.”
“Meet me at the student centre. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“I’m here now.”
He ended the call, flushed the toilet, went to the sink and looked at himself in the mirror. A puffy-eyed, weeping mess stared back at him. He splashed some cold water onto his face, took a deep breath, and made his way to the student centre. Nomsa was seated at their usual spot. She didn’t say anything as he sat down beside her. He took a few minutes to compose himself, then told her everything that had happened.
“I left just before the cops arrived and came back here and then you called,” he . “And… yeah.” He took a deep breath, and buried his face in his hands. Neither of them said anything for very long time. Luyanda felt as though there was a gaping hole inside of him.
Nomsa stood up, slung her backpack across her shoulder and slogged away. Luyanda followed her. As they trudged along the familiar thoroughfares, he wondered how everyone could just continue with their lives as if nothing had happened. Nomsa kept her eyes glued to the ground. He was grateful that she didn’t want to talk, because he didn’t want to talk either. She found a quiet spot on the lawn and sat down. Luyanda settled himself beside her. Neither of them spoke for a long while. They watched the sun dip behind the skyscrapers in the distance. After some time, the evening rush of students going home made them realize how late it was.
“I guess we should get going,” Nomsa said. Luyanda nodded and stood up. She walked him to the bus stop and waved at him as he got onto the next hoverbus that pulled up. The ride home was a blur. Before he knew it, he was getting off the bus again and trekking home.
When he arrived, he went straight to his room without greeting anyone. He lay on his back and just stared at the ceiling. At some stage he thought he heard his mother knocking on the door but he couldn’t be too sure. He turned over in his bed and stared at the wall. A few minutes later the knocking came again. He dragged himself out of bed and pulled open the door.
“Hey, how was your day today?” Maddie asked.
“It was fine.”
“Dinner’s ready.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m just a bit tired.” He closed the door and lay on his bed again, but knew that Maddie was standing by the door, listening. But he didn’t care any more. He turned over on his side and closed his eyes.
“Lights out, Msiza.”
The bedside lamp switched off, and darkness engulfed his room.
He didn’t sleep at all that night. No matter how hard he tried, he kept seeing Keita’s sightless eyes staring at him. A deep ache rose in the pit of his stomach, and he tossed and turned all night. After what seemed like an eternity, the grey light of dawn filtered in through the shutters. He stared at the ceiling, exhausted because he hadn’t slept a wink. The shower in his parent’s room hissed and a door opened and slammed shut. He crawled out of bed, took a shower, got dressed, and lumbered down the stairs. He washed down a slice of toast with some coffee and left for university before his parents could come down for breakfast. He didn’t want them to see him looking like a wreck and bombard him with questions.
As he approached the gates of the university, his pad’s screen lit up with it’s latest news.
“Knights lose their third match in a row.”
“Choir benefit concert a resounding success.”
“Meet the new H.o.D. of African History.”
He tapped on the third item on the list.
“Msiza, tell me more about this.”
“Morning, Luyanda. Dr Phineas Uru was this morning confirmed as the new head of the African History Department of the UAC. He will replace Dr Kanu, who will retire at the end of this academic year, but will continue serving the department in an advisory capacity. The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities is pleased to announce a fresh round of funding for Dr Uru’s flagship museum, which will see it attract fresh exhibitions and expand its own permanent collection. In a press release to announce the news, Dr Uru expressed his gratitude to the outgoing head, Dr Kanu, for the support and guidance she had given him in the weeks and months leading up to his appointment. He also expressed his sincere gratitude to the University for supporting the museum, which he saw as ‘a flagship and light bearer for the history of the continent.’”
Luyanda sat down on the pavement and took a moment to collect his thoughts. He stared at the weeds growing in the cracks between the paving, wondering how everything could have changed so quickly in such a short space of time. Gangs of students walked past, laughing and gabbing away without a care in the world. Luyanda felt all alone, the weight of the world on his shoulders. He wondered if Nomsa had heard the news about Uru. He brought his pad to his mouth, but just as he was about to call her, he changed his mind, stood up, and plodded across the university to his lecture hall.

“You look like you didn’t sleep,” Nomsa said him as he slipped into the empty seat beside her in Dr. Flannegan’s class. Dr. Flannegan was uncharacteristically late, and the soft buzz of conversation around them continued unabated.
“No, I didn’t,” Luyanda said. “Have you seen the news about Uru?”
She nodded. “What do you think he’s going to do?”
“I don’t know, but if I were him, I’d come after us.”
“I don’t think he will.”
“Why wouldn’t he?”
Nomsa shrugged, but didn’t say anything.
“At the very least, I saw him kill Keita. That makes me a witness.”
“I don’t think that’s how he thinks, Lu.”
Luyanda grunted in disagreement. Nomsa’s eyes scanned the room.
“Jabu’s not here,” she said, nodding towards the spot that Jabu normally occupied.
“At least that’s one less thing to worry about,” Luyanda replied, as Dr Flannegan walked in and called the class to order. Luyanda and Nomsa didn’t exchange a word throughout the lecture. Right after the lecture ended, Nomsa had a politics class. She packed up her stuff, and gave Luyanda a sad nod before trudging away.
Luyanda didn’t know what to do with himself, and wandered aimlessly along the passages of the Humanities building, oblivious of time and space. He didn’t notice that he had drifted back into the museum, until someone bumped into him, forcing him to look up. It was Yisa. He gave Luyanda a cocky, knowing grin, and strutted away, whistling carelessly. Luyanda’s blood boiled. He wanted to walk straight after him, and lay into him with all the force of the storm that was raging within him. He noticed the sign on the door that Yisa had just walked out of. “Dr. Phineas. Uru.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Luyanda turned the knob, swung the door open and stepped into the room.
Dr. Uru had his back turned to the door, as he paged through a book.
“Yes?” he drawled. Luyanda said nothing, trying hard to calm his pounding heart and his rapid breathing. Uru turned around and stared at him for a long, silent moment. Then he grinned, and snapped the book shut.
“What can I do for you?”
Luyanda balled his fists. Uru’s grin spread across his face. He sat down behind his desk and rested his arms behind his head.
“Are you here to congratulate me on my recent promotion? If that’s the case, then I must say, that’s damn good sportsmanship. Nobody likes a sore loser.”
“Murderer,” Luyanda snarled.
“Really? And you think that Keita would’ve let me live?”
“Keita was not a killer.”
“My, my, my. So young and so foolish. You knew damn little about Keita. He’s not the saint you think he is.” He opened his drawer and pulled out a fly-whisk. Luyanda flinched.
“I see you Keita told you what this is,” Uru drawled.
“Yes, he did,” Luyanda said, gulping down his fear. “And it doesn’t matter whether you have it or not because you’re not going to get away with what you did.”
“Oh, but I already have,” Uru’s grinned. “Not a shred of evidence to link me to anything, as usual.” His brow furrowed. “I do have a question though - about his body: what did you do with it?”
Luyanda paused. Uru saw the hesitation in his eyes.
“Don’t try to lie to me. You wouldn’t know the first thing about getting rid of a body. Where did you hide him?”
“Our conversation is over,” Luyanda said. He spun around and stalked to the door, grabbed the handle and turned it. It wouldn’t move. He tried again. It didn’t budge. He wheeled around and faced Uru.
“Let me go.”
Uru was still behind his desk, staring at him with passive indifference. Luyanda noticed that his hand lay gingerly on the end of the fly whisk. “One more thing before I give you permission to leave,” he said. “You are more useful to me and to the empire alive than dead. But try to interfere with my plans again, and I will not hesitate to kill you.” The door swung open. “Leave,” he ordered, spinning his chair around and turning to face the window. Luyanda stood there simmering for a few seconds more, unwilling to give Uru the satisfaction of ordering him around.
“I said, leave!” Uru snarled. Luyanda’s muscles jolted as if a bolt of electricity had streaked through his body. An unseen hand wrapped itself around him, and tossed him out the door and onto the floor. As he struggled to his feet, the door slammed shut in his face.
Luyanda stood there, shivering and staring at the door in shock. Slowly, he turned away and slinked down the corridor, doing his best to steady his shaking knees. He couldn’t bring himself to believe what had just happened.
Uru could now control him, just as he could the others.

✍️ Reply by email