As I tried to think of a wise answer to give to the police officer, I saw my partner in crime pulling a
huge sum of American dollar notes out of his pocket. He handed the money to the police officer. The
officer took the money, put it in his pocket and smiled. Het then let go of us and walked away.
I couldn’t believe that I was off the hook, just like that. I walked back to the parking area as fast as
my feet could carry me. I found Ron relaxed, on the driver’ seat. Anyway that’s how life is, the ones
who work hard get nothing, yet those who use them get all they want.
From that day, I became Ron and Phil’ slave. They made me do most of their dirty work without even
bothering about the consequences on me. I never got a single cent of what they promised to pay
me. All I could get was food, sanitary wear, shelter and of course new clothes so that I look good
when I go to play forefront for them. But that did make it right by me. What I needed was a proper
job that will give me money to take care of my widowed mother. I cried to bed most of the times as I
thought of the life my mother was living back in the village in the hands of my heartless and abusive
uncle Rukovo. That is what I wanted to change but now I was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
They could send me to deliver cash, drugs, gold, diamonds, information and many more. Ron even
paid for me to get a passport because sometimes I could be send out of the country to deliver or
collect stuff. I also did house chores for them, Phil repeatedly raped me every time he could come
for his church services in Munzviru. At some point I thought Ron was aware of the rape but he just
didn’t care.
I was forced to play happy families when we attend Phil’s church services. The pattern when on like
that for a long time until I decided to make a plan and take myself out of that whole slavery. I had
stayed with Ron long enough to know some of his secrets. I knew where he kept the keys to the
room where he kept most of his valuables and I also managed to cram the password to his safe.
On one Saturday evening, I planned my escape out of Ron’s house. I wanted to leave for good. Ron
started drinking like he usually did on Saturdays, but he never really got drunk since he had to keep
an eye on me to make sure I don’t run away. I pretended to be focused on TV as I sat on a sofa
adjacent to Ron’s. I looked at him as he finished his 2nd glass of whisky. I decided to take advantage
and make a move on my plan. I offered to pour him another glass of whisky and he did resist. I took
his glass to the kitchen, put some ice-cubes and poured 2 tots of whisky on top, just the way he
loved it.
I had seen Ron drugging people before, whenever he wanted to cover his tracks after committing a
crime, so now, it was time for him to get the taste of his own medicine. I crushed some sleeping
tablets into his whisky and stirred with my finger. I was happy to see Ron drinking the whisky
without even realising I had spiked it. After a few minutes he passed out. I quickly went to his safe
and opened it using his password. I took all the money that was there and packed it in a medium
sized bag that I used to make his “deliveries”. I opened his storeroom and stole gold, diamonds and
jewellery. I did all that as fast as I could.
When I was done packing all I needed including my passport, I called a private taxi. The taxi didn’t
take long to get to Ron’s house, I packed my bag and left.
My plan was to go to Randland, (a country located in the southern side of Chedombo), get settled,
come back for my mother and start a new life, far away from Ron and Phil. When I got to the bus
rank, I quickly bought a ticket and checked into the bus. In less than an hour’s time, the bus took off.
I felt so relieved, that journey felt like a walk to freedom at last. I started to have imaginations of the
luxurious life I would have in Randland with my mother. It just felt so great. I was all smiles, I think
even the person who was sitting next to me could see that I was in my own world. After a couple of
hours, we arrived at the border post. We all got off the bus to get our passports stamped in the
immigration office. I felt very excited as I looked at my stamped passport. To me that meant,
freedom, happiness and a good life that I had always dreamed of for a very long time.
While I was still looking at my passport in disbelief, I saw 2 men walking towards me. When they
approached me, they took out police ID cards and flashed them in my face. They introduced
themselves as detectives Muzi and Rungi. The detectives demanded to search my bag.
I was shocked and scared at the same time. I saw the bus in which I was travelling leaving as they
couldn’t delay all passengers waiting for me. Rungi opened my bag, you all know what I was carrying
and that it was illegal to be found in possession of, or worse still to be crossing borders with such
stuff. Before I could even explain myself, I was handcuffed. The detectives led me to the van and
threw me inside like a bag of potatoes. That was the first night of many that I slept in the police cells
in Caswell, the border town between Chedombo and Randland.
Desperate Times Season 1 – Part 5
