Mbali had come down to prepare snacks and tea for everyone leaving Ma Gugu upstairs with Maggie. Kwanele, his rifle in one hand, peered continuously outside the house through the curtains of the side windows.
Amina was helping Mbali with the tray when Hennie stood up.
– “Kwanele, you should relax. I don’t think anything will happen to us here. People attack farms because of their isolation. We’re living in a town. Clark told us to lock up as a precaution, not as a measure against some imminent threat.”
Amina looked up. “Hennie’s right, Kwanele. Why don’t you come sit with us and—”
A loud noise startled everyone in the room. The heavy double-height arched Victorian front door swung inwards violently. The two black men operating the steel battering ram moved aside to let three others step inside. Two of them had machetes in their hands while the third one, baseball bat in hands, looked swiftly around the room. Kwanele reacted but was too slow. The man swung his baseball bat at him, hitting Kwanele hard in the arm. Kwanele let out a cry before hitting the ground.
The two men with the machetes went for Hennie. One of them punched him in the stomach with the machete’s handle. Hennie doubled over and got kneed in the ribs before he went down. The other one kicked him in the back and Hennie rolled to the console’s table.
Amina and Mbali were screaming when one of the men slapped Mbali so hard, she spun like a doll and went down hard on the floor. Amina lunged at their attacker but he grabbed her by the hair and threw her violently at the other end of the sofa.
Tsotsi walked into the large room like a proud new owner followed by the two men who had rammed the door. He was admiring the massive ballroom chandelier, the dark mahogany paneling and wooden floor, the ornated brass wall sconces with electric candles and the intricately detailed ceiling rosettes.
– “Lock the door, check all the rooms and bring everyone here.” he ordered his men.
Amina watched the leader from the corner of her eyes while two of his men searched the rooms downstairs and two others went upstairs. She wanted to check on Mbali who was lying immobile on the floor then she thought about Maggie and Ma Gugu upstairs. Please, don’t let anything happen to them, she prayed silently.
Tsotsi looked at Amina for a long time.
– “She doesn’t look like a Boer to me.” he said to the one by his side. “What’s your name?”
– “Amina.”
– “Amina,where’s Charlize de Vries?”
– “I—I really don’t know.”
Tsotsi smiled and said to his man. “Guess she does not know who I am, Zakhele.”
His man laughed. “I guess not, Tsotsi.”
– “Why don’t you show her it would be better for her to answer truthfully to all my questions?”
– “With pleasure, Tsotsi.”
Zakhele went to where Kwanele was lying, crouched down and started to beat him furiously. Kwanele’s body was jerking and twitching under the blows.
Amina was screaming, tears in her eyes. “Stop! Please, stop! She’s at the farm. She went to the farm.”
Zhakele stood up, kicked Kwanele one more time and came back.
– “That’s more like it. And who’s with her?”
– “Only Stephen and Clark.”
– “Who are they?”
– “They’re the domestics.”
Two of his men came back. “Tsotsi, they’re no one down here.”
Ma Gugu, holding Maggie by her hand, came down the stairs followed by the intruders.
One of them called out. “That’s all we found. No one else upstairs.”
Amina pleaded with Tsotsi. “Could I check on Mbali? She might need medical attention.”
Tsotsi pulled up a chair and sat down.
– “Zakhele, check on the girl will you?”
A frightened Maggie ran to Amina. Ma Gugu was shoved down at their side. Zhakele came back with a conscious Mbali and threw her in the sofa next to Ma Gugu. Hennie was slowly coming to himself and made a few groans.
Tsotsi did not even turned his head.
– “Tie the men.” he ordered.
Two of his men immediately went over Hennie and Kwanele, pulled their arms forcefully behind their backs and tied their hands with their faces to the ground.
Tsotsi put his feet up on the coffee table, his hands crossed behind his head, the grip of his handgun sticking out from his waistband.
– “Okay, we’re all gonna nicely wait for the return of the mistress of the house. Meanwhile—Zhakele! Find us something to drink.”
Amina knew this wasn’t a random robbery. These men were there for a purpose and the fact that none of them were wearing masks told her that they did not intend to leave witnesses behind. She glanced around the room and knew there was no way out. Her heart sank. She was still thinking of a way to save themselves when her eyes fell on the one cent coin that Clark had given her. It still lay where she had put it, face up, in a corner on top of the coffee table at the other end of the sofa, right by Tsotsi’s boots.
Amina lowered her eyes, her heart racing, and could see in her field of vision that Hennie too, was looking furtively at the one cent coin on the coffee table.
