CHAPTER NINE

Gil was wrecking his brain with thoughts, they were coming back like a haunting dream, and Jane mentioning to him that he’d been reported missing hadn’t made things better. ‘Gilberto Tshwene was reported missing and a search was conducted, though it stopped after some unpleasant revelations were made.’ The words rang loud in his ears. She had told him about the break-in at her house, and how a few villagers suspected the missing Gil to have done it. He was back to his daily round of ‘What ifs’.

What if she digs hard enough to find who I am. It then dawned on him how stupid a move it had been to give the girls his lawyer friend’s contact details. Fuck! I dug my own grave. He felt pain at the thought.

He decided to stop being a sissy and just wait for whatever comes. Coaxing Jane against reporting him if the need ever be seemed to be the only choice he had. A tear clouded his vision; he tilted his head up to stop any tears from flowing out. He checked the time.

16:30

Time to knock-off. He parked and turned off the dozer’s ignition, clocked out, and went to his Z4. He thought the word ‘his’ to be ironical since he was convinced that in a matter of days, weeks, or even months it’d be back to its rightful owner. It would not be that easy as the car had been lawfully and rightfully registered under his name. With the relevant documents having been provided for the registration, it would take a toll of fortunes for it to be dispossessed from him. Or so he tried to convince himself.

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The alarm buzzed at five-thirty. Jane arose, tossed the blankets to the side, and strode to the bathroom. She felt rejuvenated, lively, and active. She filled the tub and took a long soak. The water was lovely. She felt it calm her and wished everything had the same effect. Would she settle for peace with Gil if he was indeed guilty? She wondered. But he had subjected her to so much pain and stress, emotional torture to say the very least. An eye for an eye. Her fancy him did little to absolve him of his crimes, he had to pay. Peace could go to hell.

She sang a song from one of the local rock bands,

TWIST, called ‘Till peace is gone’ as she dried herself with the towel. She applied the cream and wrapped her naked body with a towel. The towel was unnecessary since she lived alone, but once bitten… She went to the bedroom to dress, opened the wardrobe, and paused in front of it, contemplating what to wear. Her one hand on her hip, she pulled out a pair of brown pants with the other, a white shirt, a brown jacket, and a pair of brown flat push-in shoes. She dressed and examined herself in the mirror. She felt rather pretty and stunning for the first time since the robbery. After a hot cup of coffee and a fat cake, she dropped the mug in the and left for work.

The Monday assembly was a bit longer since it was the first day of the week. There were a lot of announcements to be made. They left the assembly point ten minutes after the usual time. Jane went to her tiny office and prepared for the lesson, which was due in an hour. Within twenty minutes she was done. She picked up her phone and dialed Gil, it rang and she waited for a response.

“Yes?” He answered.

“Hey, it’s me, Gil.” Her voice was cheerful. Gil paused before he responded. He was a bit nervous after hearing who the caller was.

“How are you doing, dear?” A skeptical Gil responded.

“Just fine my love, I wanted to check how you are doing and to tell you how much I miss you. I think I like you, Gil.” She wanted to say something to complement the former words, but she opted not to, lest she sound too thirsty.

“I do too, Jane.” He tried to make his voice sound appropriate for the response. They talked for over ten minutes, mostly saying sweet nothings to each other, like two love-struck teenagers. Jane called Maider as soon as the call ended.

“He is under my spell, girl.” She giggled.

“Okay, I like the sound of that. Play your game girl! I am in a bit of a hurry so I’ll call you later love.” They said their byes and hung up.

Two minutes later Jane called Rose, who was in class at the time. Even so, she stole a few minutes from the lesson as she considered any call from her friend to be urgent and thought it should be attended to no matter what. After the customary pleasantries, they made an appointment to meet later.

“Come to my house after school, I have news for you.” Jane placed the receiver down and five minutes before the lesson she left the office for class. The ringing of a siren indicated the start of her lesson. She exchanged greetings with the outgoing teacher at the door of the classroom. She was especially exuberant and the students acknowledged that—more like teased her about it. She just responded with a quirky smile. She was glad that the tension she had brought to her classes since her break-in had finally eased.

Eased, because she was neither being jumpy nor bringing her melancholia to class anymore. Though the mist had subsided, something still lingered—something to be dealt with later on…She taught for an hour, gave out an exercise, which was to be done within the last twenty minutes of the lesson, and collected the books for marking at the end of the period. The day seemed to be short; the shortest day she’d ever had since the break-in at her house.

I’d better get going, it’s already time, she thought. She wondered if her happiness was because of the fact that she might’ve just been close to catching her perpetrator or because she was unconsciously falling for Gil. Though most of her being was denying it, her feelings were betraying her. She passed by Rose, who was busy in the staff room attending to some students, they had a minute and Rose gave her the car keys. She waited for Rose in the car for more than five minutes and they drove straight to Jane’s house. They threw their things on the sofa. Then they both sailed to the kitchen to drink some water and went back to the living room.

“So girl, spill. I can’t wait to hear this mystery news, I’m sure it’s something juicy.” Rose had noticed the change in her friend’s mood; her behavior sold that a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“I went to Francistown this past weekend, and guess what? I met this guy whom I suspect to be Gil, do you remember him?” She paused and waited for Rose to recall. Rose was silent for a while, then her eyes lit up.

“OMG, you mean the missing guy?” She laughed.

“Yep! The missing guy.” She paused and took a long at her glass before proceeding. “As expected there is something fishy about him.” She paused and went to the fridge, produced a coke bottle, and poured a glassful for each. “The guy is not poor as they described him, in fact, I’ve seen him here before, I swear I did Rose. Funny thing, at that time he looked poor, but to my surprise, he is driving the same car model, I used to have and he seems to be living a good life.” She frowned.

“Are you suggesting what I am thinking? Then what a coincidence! You finally have something for the police.” She said excitedly.

“Not yet, Rose, that one is from Maun. I still have to verify his identity before I can go to the cops.”

“So how are you going to do your verification?” She asked with much interest.

“I’ve got the guy by the balls; soon I’ll have something for you and the police. I am still doing my own investigations.” Jane explained with a cheeky smile.

“Balls, how?” Rose asked in astonishment.

“Figuratively, oh and quite literally, I’d say,” she produced a devilish smile…“I’m dating the guy…and luring him into my trap. I don’t know why he had to do that Rose. I mean the robbing. He is so good looking, cute, and charming.” For the next few minutes, she tried to at least half justify why she was dating him—though she insisted it was just a trap. Rose agreed with the plan, though she still felt like Jane had lost her mind.

They went to the kitchen, prepared supper, and then spent about an hour dining. They followed each other to the living room and relaxed over a drink before Rose called it a night. Jane closed and locked the door after seeing her friend out. She ran a bath before preparing lesson plans for her classes. The week sailed by smoothly, and thoughts of being in Francistown the coming weekend started to excite her. She could not wait to start her investigations. Not just that, she reminded herself, but to have fun with Gil too. She thought about the pleasure of being an investigator, acting smooth and smart like agents. She pictured herself with a notepad, pencil, and maybe a recorder, and she would sit down with the lawyer, and look him straight in his eyes, smooth her hair, and maybe swallow before starting her line of questioning.

After every question, she would pause and pick up a glass of wine or soft drink, mimicking the agents. The only difference between them and her is that she will offer her body to Gil, the suspect. But that didn’t make her lose focus, she continued with her active imagination by formulating a couple of questions that she would ask. After all, giving herself to Gil had been on her mind for a week now.

“What is your view on crime, Professor, especially serious crimes like attempted murder, rape, and defilement?” She would quiz the lawyer, and listen to him as he gave his view on the crimes as she noted down the useful points.

Eventually, she would ask him the question she had been dreaming to ask, “What would you do if your friend or your lover were to rob you? Say it happened before you met, and in the process, you find out that he/she is responsible for the misfortune you once faced?”

And he’d probably say something smart but realistic. I would just watch him as he gives his advice then take a long sip of my wine and give him a long stare before thanking him for his time. “Before you leave…Do you know Gilberto Tshwene?” And watch his facial expressions to detect any sign of deceit. She wouldn’t allow him to become suspicious of her intentions. She smiled to herself and packed her stationery before leaving for bed.