Chp 37

Once we're sure it's safe to follow, we tumble down the steps after him. We reach the bottom of the stairs just as Papa disappears in another corridor. We give chase.
He darts into the only door on this floor. It is one of those heavy metal doors Mondo and I wouldn't be able to prey open if we tried.
Mondo's steels catch as we run after Papa. He almost falls. The door can't shut while we're on the outside. We barely make it. Mondo's arm gets stuck in the vault. Oh Leza. I swallow hard.
Sh bites her lower lip to keep herself from screaming in pain.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
There's a small space with numbers near the door. Where the hell will I get the password?
“Yer father can't find me here,” Mlondo says. Fear has crept into her voice.
“I know.” Damnit. “What do we do. What do we do?”
Mondo is quiet even though she looks like she wants to cry. She’s deciding how to answer. On what to do. I see no way out. She doesn't either.
Desperation replaces the fear. “Cut it off.” she gulps, nodding. “Ja. Cut it off.”
Say what? I hesitate. “Y-yer arm?” There’s a pang in my chest.
She pauses. And gives a rude snort. “No. The moon.” She's harsh.
I lose it. “Sarcasm won't get us anywhere.” I narrow my eyes at her. “I'm not cutting off yer arm.”
Her jaw tightens. “Imani!”
“Hey, I have an idea,” I say. It's a lie. “Wait here. I'll get ya out of this.”
Mondo smells the lie, though she doesn’t dare call me out on it. The truth is, I'm hopeless. I don't know what to do.Where the hell is Luleka anyway?
“Wait here? Wows.” She gestures to his hand. “How bright. I'm trapped, remember?”
“I'll go look for...anything that might get ya out of here. In the meantime, try any combination ya can think of, okay?”
She looks like she wants to slap me. “Excuse me?”
I quietly creep down the foyer and unto the grand hall. I keep searching until I hear voices. Just in case there's a mirror in this room too, I go on all fours and crawl across the floor.
They are standing close together. Papa is looking out of the window while Onele leans against the wall.
I carefully slide under the table, making sure not to move too quickly, least I disturb the chairs. Or worse yet, the table.
Sitting cross legged, I peel the table cloth away just a bit, trying to see under it.
There, now with his nose an inch from hers, is my father. They embrace. The way two people that miss each other do. Papa kisses her cheek and releases her. What?
“Ya sure no one will notice ya're gone?”
She snaps her head toward him as if coming out of a trance. “I'm not stupid.”
“I know.” Papa rubs the back of his neck. “Ya told anyone about us? About what ya are to me?
Onele jerks her face back toward the wall. “No.”
“Well, good,” he say drily. “We have a problem.”
She looks at him carefully. And claps between each word she says next. “We. Don't. Need. Problems.”
“Don’t ya think I know that?” He hesitates. “I think Rowena is getting suspicious.”
“We need to get rid of her.”
I take a deep breath. No. Not my Mama.
“We can't afford to be stupid.” He waits a long time before continuing. “Don't ya think her two brats will follow up on her death? Remember, the other can probe into my head. We don't want them to ever grow suspicious.”
“And the third brat?”
What third brat?
“What of it?”
“Is it still breathing?”
“Unfortunately.”
“So have ya made progress with finding D--”
Something touches my feet, I jolt, and my legs smack the chairs, my head hitting the table. The spoons rattle against the plates.
They both startle. Big eyes roaming the room. They look so much alike now that their eyes are out. Crazy.
“What's that?” And then to the air. “Who's there?”
A rat runs past me and up the table top.
“It's a stupid rat, Sithole.” She sounds relieved. “Now as I was saying we need to keep digging. There has to be a way.”
“On yer side, are ya getting any closer to finding the portion?” Papa quickly asks.
“No.” She keeps looking at the table. “I must go before they start getting suspicious. I've been gone for much too long.”
They embrace and I know this is my cue to leave. I crawl out from under the table and once I reach the hallway, break into a run.
When I reach the vault, Mondo is nowhere to be seen. The door is ajar. I don't have time to fend for my increasing worry that something bad happened to him. Footsteps are approaching fast behind me.
“Hey ya!” It's Papa.
He's seen my back. I limp out the door. If I walk properly he'll recognise me. I close the door behind me and fly to the stairs and make my way back to my bedroom for a change of clothes.
Mondo and Luleka are waiting in my bedroom.
They watch me change in silence.
“So yer father and Onele, huh?” Luleka begins. “What an odd couple.”
I nod. “I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.”
Mondo looks at me with pity. “Will ya tell her mother?”
“No. Yes. I don't know.” I sigh. “I'm sorry...can we not talk about this? It's too much for me.”
Luleka squeezes my hand.
“How did ya get away?” I ask Mondo.
“Luleka is superhero.”
I nod. “I'm late for the meeting. Mondo let's go. Luleka make sure no one sees ya leave my room. We'll see ya at the playgrounds.”
She nods. “Sure.”
We move around the palace, conversation slowly dying. It takes us several minutes but we make it in time.
The playgrounds have a tennis court, fire pool, and a soccer stadium. This is where we all are at the moment. An admiring audience surrounds me, waiting with patience as I shake my legs out to loosen the quads.
I step up to the center and let out a breath before I speak into the mic. My chest tightens at the eyes on me. ya can do this. Relax. Breathe.
I summon my courage.
"Ahem. My people," I say. "I want to thank ya for allowing me to lead ya, for trusting me. For decades black people have been subjected to slavery, racism, oppression. Leza--may her soul rest in eternal peace--freed us. But now...now there is a traitor among us. Someone who wants to rule with violence. He's taken much of our fellow giftors magic."
The crowds matter profanities. It's an uproar. My palms break into a sweat. I can do this. They aren't looking at ya. They're naked.
The panic rises and I grip the microphone tighter. "Our ancestors blood runs through our veins. If they fought against malicious power, so can we. They set a foundation for us to build our future and no amount of greed can stop us. I come to ya today not as yer Goddess but as Noddon's child. A scared girl. What kind of world will Noddon be if the magic that makes us who we are is reserved for only one person? A person whose rule can't be challenged? What will become of our children? The generation can't end with us."
They stand up and jeer so loud. They stomp their feet and pump their fists. Imani. Imani. Imani. Their chants pour in a torrent.
The air in the stadium is as thick as Cape Town snow.
"I've called Tech." I look at my hands. They wait, quiet, jaws tense. "Since he's good with everything technology and electricity related then I ask him, for the sake of Noddon and all her children to please put surveillance on our streets, on our homes, and our shops. We're dealing with a man who wants to be a God. We can't allow that. The cameras will operate day and night."
Someone shouts, "What about privacy?"
"For now, bathrooms will not have any cameras. I'm sorry yer privacy will have to be violated like this. I, Goddess Imani, apologise."
"Should we be worried?" The questions explodes like a gun fire. I can't be sure but it sounds like Papa.
There is no reason for me to lie to these people. They deserve the truth no matter how frightening it is.
"Yes." My voice is tiny. "But my elders, the royals and I spoke and we've decided that for an hour, two times a day at 0500 hours and 1600 hours, we'll meet in various training rooms around the palace to train with soldiers."
"What will these classes cover?" Kaseke's voice is tentative. He knows that if it's anything to do with his gift he'll be left out. He's now one of the few who've collected their gifts but don't have them.
"Everything from self defence to martial arts to gun handling." I give them a wry smile. "Oh, and those of us with gifts that can help us fight will take an extra class with Sir Ayize that will help us understand and master them. This class is at 2100 hours"
"Shouldn't we be doing a bit more than just practice to fight?"
"What could be better than learning self defence?" I can't see Kaseke but he can see me and so I give him a smile that is warm. "Do ya know that I woke up to this man hovering over me? Do ya know that it was six in the am and yet all of ya were sleeping? The sun was nowhere in sight."