Somewhere across the street was a gang of young men. They loved that corner, Mpumi knew them well. They were the thugs of the town. All the crimes happening in that area, the community knew well to suspect them first. It was a pity that none of the community members had any evidence to pin against them and send them to jail.These troublesome young men sat in a circle and passed around the weed they were smoking. “No, I heard she chased them all out,” one in their crowd had argued. He was addressing the men’s allegations about Mpumi. “Her aunties and uncles left immediately after the funeral. She wouldn’t let them stay any longer.”“I don’t think I’d loved them around either! The grief would never end!”“Actually, she didn’t know them, and they didn’t know her.” He was addressing them again, “She was angered by how big the family actually was, when none of them were seen du

Mpumi had left the kids and Dion on the bench. She wanted some privacy. When she finally felt comfortable with the distance she created from her friends, she led out a cry that shook the birds off the trees and rouse concern from the passers nearby. Dion was shocked to have heard the cry. That made him realise that his senses had strengthened. He realised how he had been paying close attention to every detail of noise in his surrounding lately. That must have heightened his auditory senses.The journey continued shortly. “This is where we stop.” She said soon after she saw a piece of open land between houses. She could see a home for them already. She let the bags down. Vincent copied, and Dave did the same. Dion only held against his nose. He was not pleased with the smell of the area—he couldn’t see it but he could smell it. It was horrible. There was dump in the area. The air reeked of the dump, sewage and smoke. Dion felt like he would puke. Mpumi

Dion asked for food for the first time. He had already began losing weight and it was worrying everyone in the home. For Dion to finally speak up and ask for, was truly an improvement. -**He hasn’t eaten for many days. **- “Give me something. Anything, and I will eat. I will not throw it at your face. I will not yell at you. I will not trouble you. I just want to eat.” She got on it right away. He heard her bang the plates, and fiddle with the spoons. “Please and thank you,” he said. She did not know a Dion like that. She stared at him for a while. She saw nothing suspicious on his face. He was very genuine. -**Why is he like this? He must be sick. **- “You’re lucky, there’s rice left from lunch,” she went and gave him the dish. She helped him find the spoon. She started checking his temperature. “Mpumi! Mpumi, the water’s done!” she heard the boys cry out. She quickly run out. ………….. Someday Mpumi returned from campus,

Mpumi was still preparing to go out with Dion. It was yet another day to beg. She was packing the breakfast plates away.“I’m sorry,” she heard Dion say.“Dion?”“I never treated you right.”“I never held a grudge.”“I was bad.”“You didn’t know better.”He took a deep breath to start opening up, she saw the tear run down his eye, “All my life… Listen, I haven’t been a good person.”Mpumi knew that he wanted to talk. She knew that it was right to be an ear to someone who wanted to speak up about something. She learnt that it was trust. He had grown to trust her. She remained silent that while.“I made people suffer without thinking twice about it. Men and women with children, with responsibilities. I was horrible. I didn’t help anyone with all the resources I had; I also didn’t think that I would

Good news finally hit home, Mpumi had found work. She had hustled tirelessly for the job. It was persistence and patience. The family knew then that they had to stop begging. It was only few days later that Mpumi found two more jobs. Luck seemed to had found way towards her.She worked in the clinic on the outbreak of day. She was a cleaner there. She was lucky to have gotten a morning shift. She knew that every morning she had to be there at five and get everything clean and in order. She would walk a two hour’s distance to compass and knock off at four p.m.—or even earlier, depending on her time table—she assisted in a Pakistan tuckshop in some area. The owner would only let her go at eight evening.The third job was at a garage not so far from her shack. She worked there depending her shifts. When she was in, she was to work the entire night and only depart the next morning around seven. She was struggling, but she knew she was serving the new fami