Wilhelm Katz was driving slowly past the de Vrieses’ estate for the 5th time in an hour. The young black maid was still tending to the flowers out front. Two of his men, ex-agents from the defunct South African BOSS, had the three kaffirs under tight guard in the back of the van. They did not mind spending the whole day cruising around the neighborhood as the black men’s fears reminded them of the old times, the apartheid-era.
One of the guards slapped a prisoner. “So kaffir, you’re sure it’s not her?”
The prisoner cringed and moved back. “No baas, I’m sure. It’s not her.”
The other guard slapped hard another one. “What about you? Is it her or not?”
– “No baas. Please baas, it’s not her.”
The guard hit the last of their prisoners. “And you? You’re sure that the white man we saw earlier wasn’t the one who was with the woman?”
The man lowered his head under the blow. “No baas, I don’t know baas. We were not looking at him. We were looking at the woman, baas.”
The guards turned to Katz. “What you want to do now, Wil?”
Katz tried to control his frustration. “Fuckin’ cheeky kaffirs. You can’t blery count of them. I’m pretty sure it’s her but these dumb kaffirs were certainly too stoned that night to recognize her now.”
– “I can force them to say it’s her Wil, just leave them with me in a basement for half an hour.” said one of the guards which caused his friend to laugh out loud.
– “No,” said Katz, “We’re going back. Tomorrow we’ll cruise around the Indian store. Maybe she was Indian and these kaffirs thought she was black.”
– “You’re the boss, Wil.”
Katz made a U-turn at the end of the road and drove back past the house. Mbali was still outside cutting flowers and putting them in a basket. A little white girl had come out to help her.
Just before they arrived at the intersection, one of the prisoners started screaming and pointing at a black maid by a trash bin on the other side of the street.
– “There! It’s her! That’s her, baas!”
Katz almost jammed on the breaks but then slowed down the van and pulled it over by the sidewalk two houses down.
– “Are you sure, Kaffir?”
– “Yes baas, I’m sure. It’s her.”
The two guards looked at the other prisoners and they too, nodded their heads.
Katz stared at the woman. Yeah, she was cute alright. He turned to the prisoners.
– “Kaffir, you know what I’m gonna do to you if you lied to me?”
– “No baas, I’m not lying. It’s her. I swear.”
Katz nodded to his men. The guards slid the side door open.
– “Okay, you can go now but remember, we can find you again.”
The three skollies jumped out of the van and started running without turning back.
One of the guards moved to the passenger seat. “We can take her now, Wil.”
– “No, not yet. I have to report to our client first and we need to find out who live there. Koos, in case she doesn’t speak English well, you can speak native, ain’t that right?”
– “Yep.”
– “You’re gonna be the one questioning her then.”
Koos smiled viciously. “With pleasure Wil and oh, she will talk alright.”
Katz started the van and pulled away.
