Ntshona (17 page)

After a short while, the car pulled up in the car park of a familiar diner set beside a long, dusty road, spanning a large sandy expanse close to one of the city’s boundaries. The place was as void of activity as the previous day.

“How does this place manage to stay open?” asked Lon.

“It’s only coincidental that it has been so empty both times you’ve been here. During the week it’s usually very busy with the amount of people passing through going from the city to the suburbs and vice versa. Luckily for us not many people bother on the weekend,” said Cat.

“Why are we here again?” asked Eve.

“Because there are important topics to discuss, and it’s nice and quiet here,” said Cat. “Oh, and for the apple pie, of course”.

All four people exited the car.

Lin dragged her huge holdall from the backseat.

“Do you need a hand with that?” offered Lon.

“Oh, what a gentleman,” she said as she passed it over to him.

His arm gave way as he grabbed the two side handles with one hand, and he almost dropped the bag. The contents were very hefty. “What have you got in here?” he asked.

“Oh, sorry, is it too heavy for you? Let me take it back”.

“No, that’s okay!” he quickly said, he threw the shoulder strap around his neck and began to walk away quickly, trying hard not to be emasculated by this small woman.

Cat grabbed a parasol from one of the diner’s outside tables, then the group crossed the road and found a flat area of sand near the lookout point on which Cat planted the large umbrella.

“Just throw it down there, hun,” Lin instructed Lon, and he dropped the bag by the parasol’s central pole. She then unzipped it and pulled a large beach towel off the top of what was in there, which she spread across the sand, only partially shielded from the sun. “Come, sit,” she said as she did so herself, and Lon, Eve and Cat joined her.

Lon and Eve removed their shoes, and Cat her
flip-flops. Lin went further, however, and removed nearly everything she was wearing, and left herself with only a revealing bikini.

Lon was sure he saw Eve mouth the words ‘Fucking slut’.

“Okay Lin, my dear, what have you got for us this time?” Cat inquired.

“Well, hun, it’s not the most comprehensive collection,” she began to ratch through the bag to for the initial display item, “but there’s definitely some firepower here,” and out she pulled a pistol, rather similar to the ones Lon had acquired the previous day.

“Guns!” shouted Lon before Eve had a chance.

“That’s right Lon, make sure everyone knows,” said Cat.

“Sorry! I just didn’t expect that”.

“You’re lucky nobody’s actually here,” said Lin before carrying on with her weapons exhibition. “Here’s another one,” she pulled out another pistol of the same design, “and another,” she removed one more and started passing them around. “There’s another one somewhere in here. Anyway, an automatic,” this weapon was slightly more impressive than Lon’s rifle. “I could tell you the names of them, but it’s not important. Here’s another,” she handed it to Eve, who hesitated before removing it from Lin’s hand. She then continued, “a shotgun-”

“A shotgun?” Lon evinced his surprise. “What the hell will you need a shotgun for?”

“I just wanted a variety,” Lin replied, and proceeded, “there’s only one more type though, but it’s my favourite,” and she removed an object resembling a small, silver briefcase.

“What’s in there?” asked a fascinated Eve, who had started taking a mild liking to the power of weaponry.

“The only things that are in here are bullets,” said Lin.

“Bullets?” said Lon.

“Yes, bullets”.

“Aren’t you gonna open it and show us?”

Lin expressed her excitement with a hearty laugh, “A ha! I was waiting for you to ask! You can’t ‘open’ it!” she beamed widely.

“What do you mean, you can’t open it?” asked Eve. “Are you having a laugh?”

“Let me show you,” she was clearly overjoyed. She unclipped the latches of the briefcase and gave the bottom a yank, and part of it slid off.

“Huh? It’s not a briefcase?” said Lon.

“Just watch,” Lin replied, and she continued to pull sections, rotate parts and push pieces.

“Oh! I see what it is!” said Eve.

“That’s pretty clever,” Lon added.

A few clicks and clunks later she was holding a submachine gun.

“I didn’t expect anything less from you,” stated Cat with a smile.

“I always deliver the goods,” said Lin.

Eve regarded her current attire and wondered if there were any alternate meanings to her words.

“Ja, so I only managed to get one more of those. They’re pretty expensive because they’re designed not to be detected, and they’re tricky to get hold of”.

“How much did one of those set you back?” asked Lon.

“Well, hun, that’s not for you to know”.

“Why not?” he asked.

“Because it’s not your money”.

“Whose money is it?” Eve joined in.

“It doesn’t matter where the money came from,” said Cat, “what matters is we’ve got what we need”.

“It’s Chris’ money, isn’t it?” he said.

Cat stared at him blankly; she never expected it to be so obvious.

“I knew it was his money! Does he know you spend his money on weapons?”

“Of course, he knows where every cent goes,” said Lin.

“Is this what you meant when you said he’s a powerful man? Because he can afford to buy weapons?” he asked Cat.

“No, that’s not what I meant at all”.

“What are these weapons for anyway? Do you often buy things like this?”

“Wait a minute,” Eve butted in, “are you guys terrorists?”

Both Lin and Cat sighed and breathed out heavily.

“We’re not terrorists…” started Cat.

“We’re freedom fighters,” Lin finished for her.

“Freedom fighters?” said Eve.

“Listen, I told you yesterday, I can’t explain everything at once. You’re already freaking out, and we’ve hardly told you anything!”

“Ja man, don’t worry yourselves about it, you’ll find everything out sooner or later,” said Lin.

“Wow, that sounds very certain,” said Lon sarcastically.

“Just chill okay, there’s still a lot we don’t understand too, and we’re not entirely sure what the next move is,” said Cat.

“This is my next move,” said L
in, and she turned around to lie on her belly in the sun and unfastened her bikini top to expose her back and a large portion of the sides of her breasts.

“Lon, I’m thirsty,” Eve quickly said, “aren’t you? Shouldn’t we go get a drink?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m thirsty too, but don’t we need Cat to pay?” he said.

“Okay, I’ll go with you,” Cat said. “Do you want anything Lin?”

Lin lifted her face from the surface of the towel. “Yeah, get me something strong please, and some apple pie too”.

“Got it”.

“Before you all leave, can you please help me to put the guns back in the bag?” Lin requested.

“Of course hun,” said Cat.

Lon and Eve helped while Lin remained motionless under the sun’s rays.

“It’s a bit difficult to squeeze everything in though because of all the boxes of ammo,” she added.

After struggling to replace all of the arms into the bag, they walked in the direction of the diner.

“I don’t like her,” Eve informed Cat and Lon.

“That was a bit forward,” said Lon.

“Well,” said Cat, “I did say you have to take her with a pinch of salt”.

“A pinch?!” More like a handful!” said Eve.

They proceeded to get drinks and apple pie from the diner, and took them back to where Lin was sunbathing.

“When do we have to be at the Tech Centre?” Lin asked Cat, who checked the time on her palm screen.

“Soon. We have time to relax for a little and finish our drinks,” she handed Lin her tipple, and sat the plate of apple pie next to her.

“Good,” Lin said as she lifted the top part of her body with her elbows in order to take the glass, “I need a little hair of the dog, you know, I’m hanging right now”.

“You might want to cover yourself,” Eve suggested to her in reference to her exposed areolae.

She responded with a smile and said, “Don’t worry hun, there’s no need to be jealous”.

“Why the hell would I be jealous of you? You’re built like a runway,” she retorted.

“You’re one to talk,” said Lin.

“Ladies,” interrupted Cat, “there’s no need to take digs at each other. Both of you are lacking compared to me anyway”.

The argument ceased.

Lon was surprised. Did women argue about asset sizes often? Either way, Lin was in fact well endowed.

“Just shut up and enjoy the silence while you can,” added Cat.

The scene certainly was peaceful. Barely any cars passed through during the group’s time there, and the several NGT tracks in the distance were silent.

No further plans were discussed, and soon they all returned to the car.

Lin arrived at the front passenger door before Eve. “I’m riding shotgun this time,” she said, and pulled open the door and threw the bag full of weapons into the footwell before getting in.

Eve offered nothing in response and climbed in the back opposite Lon. She had a sort of ‘I want to punch her in the back of the head’ kind of look spread across her face. Eve certainly was not a pleasant character when annoyed.

“Why are we going back to the Tech Centre?” asked Lon.

“Because we need to explain some things to you,” replied Cat.

“It’s about time,” he said.

“Why can’t you explain them now?” Eve asked.

“Because there are things I can’t explain myself,” said Cat.

“I take it you’ll be introducing us to another new person?” said Lon.

“Yup, kind of”.

From departure to destination, the journey was filled with Lin’s incessant bragging about how wasted she had been at several points that week, the pinnacle of which, apparently, was the previous night when she had come home wearing different clothes, and had twice the amount of money in her bank account.

Eve wanted to offer her a likely explanation, but did not due to her lack of enthusiasm for further arguments.

By the time they had arrived at the Tech Centre the sun had almost reached its zenith. There were fewer cars in the parking areas surrounding the building, and fewer people coming and going than the previous day.

The group of four exited the car, entered the building, and made their way to the company space where Cat worked in the atrium. Most of its office windows were blacked out, probably due to some kind of meeting or conference being held.

Today it seemed Kaya was not working, therefore the reception was empty.

They passed through a door to the right into one of the meeting rooms.

At the centre was a desk large enough to seat roughly twenty, yet only four men were taking up the space, each fairly young, not more than the age of thirty.

“Take a seat,” Cat instructed, and they all joined at the desk.

None of these people were recognised by Lon or Eve. They were talking quietly between themselves, and every now and then looked across at the four new additions. One of these people eventually said to them, “We’re just waiting for Strys”.

Lon slowly turned to Cat and whispered, “Are we going to be interrogated?”

She smiled. “Relax man, we’re all on the same side”.

The door opened behind them and in strode Strys, who sat somewhere in between both sets of four people.

“Okay, I think we should start,” voiced a dark haired man at the far end of the desk. “To begin with, I think it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves. My name is One”.

The next man spoke, “My name is Two”.

The next, “I am Three”.

“And I’m Four,” said the last unknown man.

“And I’m Strys, but you already know that,” he sniggered.

Lon, who was taken aback by their creative nicknames, looked at Cat, who gestured for him to speak. “I’m Lon”.

Eve then took her turn, “I’m Eve
… um, pleased to meet you”.

It was clear due to the lack of self-introductions on the part of Cat and Lin that they were all already familiar with each other.

“First things first,” said One, “please tell us everything that’s happened to you”.

Eve’s expression immediately went blank and Lon loured. Perhaps they should have recorded their story in some manner, and updated it after every significant event in order to save time and energy explaining it to every new person upon the first meeting. However, they had not done so, thus were forced to narrate their tale an extra time.

They began, and finished approximately thirty minutes later; they had to pace themselves in order to recall and recount properly all that had occurred up until the previous night.