The Colour of Gold (26 page)

One Sunday
morning Bala, Fatima and Salona went for a walk to see the new park
that had been opened where people could picnic and relax. The trees
were still too small to provide adequate shade from the hot sun and
there were large patches of bare ground that the grass had not yet
covered but the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and people
remarked at how fortunate they were to have such an area. As they
sat on one of the benches Bala noticed a familiar figure
nearby.

"Look,
dearest." he said. "There's Mister Cajee, our neighbour in from
Pageview who gave us the keys to our house when we first arrived in
Johannesburg. Let's go and talk to him."

The little
family left their bench and hurried to the elderly man as he walked
slowly amongst the crowd.

"Hello, Mister
Cajee." Bala said. "It's so nice to see you again. You're obviously
living in Lenasia now."

Bala was
surprised when the old man at first failed to recognise him and he
noticed that the man had aged considerably since he had last seen
him.

"Don't you
remember us?" he asked. "Bala and Fatima Desai and our daughter
Salona."

"Yes, yes, I do
remember you now." the old man said. "It's just that so much has
happened to me recently that has been very traumatic and I'm
struggling to cope with it. Are you also living in Lenasia?"

"Yes." Bala
replied. "Do you ever see mister Dhupelia? I would so like to see
him again."

As Bala and
Fatima looked at Mister Dhupelia, they saw a look of great sadness
fill his eyes.

"Unfortunately
my dear friend, Mister Dhupelia, passed away some time ago." he
said, his voice shaking with emotion. "Because of the role that he
played in protesting against the forced removal of our people he
attracted the attention of the white security police who arrested
him one night and held him in prison for a considerable time. When
he was finally released without charges being laid against him he
told me that he had been subjected to some very harsh treatment by
the police. The ordeal must have been too much for him and he died
shortly afterwards."

"What did they
do to him?" Bala asked.

"He told me
that, amongst other things, he was made to stand in solitary
confinement for days at a time without food or water and whenever
he fell to the ground he was forced to get up and continue
standing." Mister Cajee said. "They were always very careful not to
injure him physically. They concentrated on destroying him
psychologically. They succeeded, even though he had nothing to tell
them that would harm anyone. Psychological torture is far worse
than any physical torture. My friend was a very brave and strong
man but they destroyed him."

Mister Cajee
was close to tears as he stared into the distance.

"Please excuse
me, but I must be going." he said. "It was so nice to see you
again."

Mister Cajee
walked away, his shoulders bowed.

"It's so sad."
Fatima said as they watched the elderly man trudge along the dirt
path. "He and Mister Dhupelia were such good friends for such a
long time and the white government has destroyed both of them; the
one physically and the other psychologically. You know, Bala, this
is a wonderful country but sometimes I hate it with all my
might."

***

At the police
station Bogdan Vodnik was formally charged under the Immorality Act
of 1950 and his bail was set at two thousand Rand. He also had to
hand in his passport and report to the police station once a week.
He was warned not to attempt to make contact with Catherine and to
inform the police if he became aware of her whereabouts. He hired a
lawyer to help him at the bail hearing and to help him in his
forthcoming negotiations with Julia. Once the bail had been paid
Bogdan hired a taxi and returned to Deep Reef Gold Mine. He hurried
through the reception area, ignoring the receptionist's quizzical
stare, and entered his office. He closed the door and sat down at
his desk, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tried to think of how he
was going to get himself out of the mess that he found himself
in.

Bogdan realised
that it would be futile to try to hide his affair with Catherine
from Julia or from anyone else. The truth would come out at his and
Catherine's trial. He would have to face up to Julia and hope that
she would forgive him. He realised that he was at her mercy and
that he would just have to grin and bear whatever transpired. He
cursed himself for his foolishness but it was too late for
recriminations now.

Bogdan's other
major concern was how his arrest would affect his job at the mine.
What was the mine's attitude towards the Immorality Act? he
wondered. The only way that he could find out was to confront the
problem head-on and make a move before the mine management did. He
picked up the 'phone on his desk and called reception.

"Sally." Bogdan
said to the receptionist. "I need to see Mister Moore as soon as
possible. Please make an appointment for me to see him."

"He's in his
office right now." Sally replied. "Hold on and I'll ask him when he
can see you."

A few moments
later Sally came back on the line.

"Mister Moore
can see you now." she said.

"Thanks."
Bogdan said and replaced the receiver. He took a deep breath, stood
up from his desk and headed for the mine manager's office. He
knocked at the door and entered the office.

"Sit down."
Gavin Moore, the Deep Reef Gold Mine manager said as Bogdan
approached his desk. "The security guys at the main gate reported
to me that the police were here to see you. What's the
problem?"

Bogdan sat down
in one of the visitor's chairs and took a deep breath.

"I've been
arrested for contravening the Immorality Act." Bogdan said. "I've
hired a lawyer and I'm out on bail of two thousand rand. I've also
had to hand in my passport. To be quite honest with you, I was
aware of this law but I just couldn't take it seriously. I cannot
believe that it can be a crime to have sex with a person of colour.
It's ridiculous! The discriminatory laws of this country are a
disgrace! In fact, they're laughable! Where else in the world do
you find such hateful and degrading laws?"

The mine
manager nodded.

"The problem is
that these laws exist." he said. "Whether or not we agree with them
doesn't change them. As you said, you are aware of these laws so
you have to face the consequences. My problem is that you knowingly
broke the laws of this country. As far as the company's
constitution and conditions of employment are concerned, you have
been arrested for allegedly committing a crime. As you haven't been
tried yet I cannot take any action but I must tell you if you are
convicted I'll have no option but to terminate your employment. As
far as the company's concerned you would then be a convicted
criminal regardless of what crime you had committed. The company
doesn't make the laws of the country nor does it sit in judgement
of the laws themselves. It's solely concerned with the facts. When
do you have to appear in court?"

"My court
appearance is set for three weeks time but it may be postponed if
they haven't found my co-accused by then." Bogdan said. "The police
are still searching for her. Apparently she is an important part of
their case against me."

"Yes, I suppose
she would be." Moore said. "Just as you will be a vital witness in
the case against her."

"So, what are
you going to do?" Bogdan asked.

"The policy of
the company is "innocent until proven guilty"." Gavin Moore said.
"So, until your court case is over I won't be doing anything. We'll
carry on as normal."

***

"The fact that
you had sex with a black woman means nothing to me." Julia said.
"What is important to me is that you cheated on me by having sex
with another woman; you committed adultery. You've broken the
sacred vows that you and I took when we got married. What's also
important to me is that this wasn't a "one-night-stand". It
obviously went on for the whole month that I was in Europe. And it
happened right here in our house."

Bogdan and
Julia sat in the lounge of their house on the mine's property. She
stared at him fixedly while he stared at the carpet in front of
him. It was late afternoon and the sun shone through the western
window highlighting Julia's angry expression.

"How did the
police find out?" Julia asked.

Bogdan
grimaced, knowing that it would only make the situation worse if he
lied. All the facts about his relationship with Catherine would
come out at their trials. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"When you told
on the 'phone that you were coming back from Europe, I rented a
flat in Hillbrow for Catherine to live in." Bogdan said, his voice
low and apologetic. ""Then she betrayed me in one of my business
deals that I was doing and which she had initiated by getting
someone to photograph us in bed together. The police found the
photographs in the flat when the neighbours reported that the front
door of the flat had been open for two days."

"So you were
set up." Julia said. "You, of all people, Bogdan. The great Bogdan
Vodnik was set up by a domestic servant floozy! Did she blackmail
you?"

"No." Bogdan
replied. "But her contacts did."

"How did they
do that?"

"They forced me
to get them certain items that are illegal." Bogdan said.

"Do the police
know about this?" Julia asked.

"No." Bogdan
said. "As far as I know they're only interested in the immorality
case."

"Isn't
Catherine likely to tell them about that?" Julia asked. "Won't she
try to bargain with the police to get a lighter sentence?"

"She might, but
I don't think she will." Bogdan said. "She could end up in even
more trouble if she tells them about the deal I had with her
contacts."

"Do you know
where Catherine is?"

"No." Bogdan
replied. "So, what are we going to do now?"

"I'm not going
to do anything." Julia said. "But you are. I want you out of this
house immediately. Pack your clothes and get out of here. Go and
live in your floozy's flat in Hillbrow. I will be hiring a lawyer
and you can communicate with him."

***

Bogdan's eyes
opened and he peered around the dark room. At first he couldn't
place where he was. The room was unfamiliar. Then he realised that
he was in the apartment that he'd rented for Catherine. He frowned
as he tried to identify what had woken him. Then the heavy knock on
the front door repeated itself. Bogdan leant over and switched on
the bedside lamp. He glanced at his watch lying on the bedside
table. Three o'clock in the morning. Who could possibly be knocking
on the door at this time of night? he wondered. Catherine? Julia?
He climbed out of bed as the heavy knocking continued and walked
barefoot to the front door.

"Who's there?"
he asked.

"South African
Police!" a harsh voice shouted from the other side of the door.
"Open the door!"

"I want some
kind of identification first." Bogdan said.

"Open the door
now, or we'll break it down!" the voice outside the apartment
shouted. "We don't have to identify ourselves to you! Hurry up!
Open the door!"

Bogdan felt the
sweat break out on his forehead. This wasn't an ordinary police
visit. Only the Security Police came visiting at this time of
night. They must have found out about the illegal bomb parts that
he had acquired for that black bastard Zuma. He undid the security
chain on the door and unlocked the door but before he could open it
the handle turned and the heavy wooden door swung violently
inwards, almost knocking him off his feet. Three burly white men
dressed in camouflage uniforms rushed into the flat followed by a
thin white man in a blue safari suit and grey shoes. He glared at
Bogdan.

"Are you Bogdan
Vodnik?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm
Bogdan Vodnik." Bogdan replied. "What right do you have to come
barging in here at this time of night? Who are you?"

"We're members
of the South African Security Police and we don't need to explain
to you what our rights are!" the man replied. "Get dressed! We're
taking you to the Security Police headquarters at John Vorster
Square."

"Do you have an
arrest warrant?" Bogdan asked.

"We don't need
an arrest warrant." the man said. "We're detaining you under the
Internal Security Act."

"Why? What have
I done?" Bogdan asked.

"We don't have
to give you a reason why we're detaining you!" the man in the
civilian clothes shouted. "Get dressed now, or we'll take you to
headquarters dressed as you are!"

Bogdan walked
to the bedroom, closely followed by the plain-clothes policeman. He
dressed in casual clothes and began walking towards the bathroom to
collect his toiletries.

"Where the hell
do you think you're going?' the policeman asked.

"To get my
toiletries." Bogdan replied.

"You don't need
toiletries!" You're not going on holiday!" the man said. "Let's go!
We can't stand here waiting for you."

The thin
policeman followed Bogdan to the front door of the apartment. A
uniformed policeman opened the door and they walked out into the
passageway. One of the policemen remained in the apartment while
the others flanked Bogdan and walked him out of the building. An
unmarked white Datsun was parked in the street in front of the
entrance to the apartment block. One of the uniformed policemen
opened the back door and Bogdan climbed in, closely followed by the
policeman. The thin policeman climbed into the front passenger's
seat and the other uniformed policeman climbed into the driver's
seat. The engine burst into life and the car pulled away from the
curb.

***

Bogdan sat on
the cold concrete floor of the cell. The walls were a dirty white
and covered with a mass of graffiti, mainly names and freedom
slogans written in pencil and a dark red medium that he suddenly
realised was human blood. The harsh light from the overhead
fluorescent lights hurt his eyes and even when he closed his eyes
and covered them with his hands they ached incessantly. The stink
from the plastic drum in the corner of the cell that Bogdan had
used as a toilet during the time that he'd been incarcerated in the
tiny room was overpowering but his pleas that it be emptied and
cleaned had been ignored.