“How much longer to the sea?” Nate mumbled. His eyelids were heavy. He wanted to lie down on the floor and succumb to sleep but his will and determination would not let him. His spirit fought hard against the weakness of his body.
“Hang on, we are almost there,” Tshepo responded. He glanced over his shoulder. The streets were almost empty, the only people about were the drunks and the sex workers. The three friends stuck to the shadows moving as quickly as they could which wasn’t easy since they had to consider Nate’s injuries. And also Anele’s condition.
Anele had her hand wrapped tight around Nate’s midsection, his hand clutched hers on his chest so he could lead her and support himself simultaneously as best as he could.
They had gotten halfway when Tshepo became aware of the fact that they were being followed.
“Fredrick’s men are after us, let’s forget the ocean and find another route.”
“No!” Nate’s voice was firm. “We take the ocean and take as many diamonds as we can escape with.”
Tshepo increased his footsteps. It wasn’t easy since he was the one bearing the weight of both Nate and Anele. He glanced at his friend. “We can’t! Not in your condition. Have you forgotten the explosives and the electric fences?”
“There are no electric fences around the ocean are there? Only the beach is guarded.” Anele’s voice was soft. “Also I know the pattern of the explosives.”
She felt both boys’ eyes on her.
“How? You can’t…” Tshepo started, being the voice of reason.
“I can’t see yes, but there’s a lot I know that you don’t. I know the pattern because I walked the minefields as a child. The reason I don’t work there anymore is because Fredrick noticed I knew the pattern and was worried I would run off with his diamonds one day. He would have had me killed if my aunty wasn’t his cook,” her voice dropped an octave as she spoke.
Nate could tell she was worried about her Aunty. He squeezed her hand. “We will come back for your Aunty I promise you.”
She smiled sadly. “Are we still being followed?”
“Yes,” Tshepo replied. The men following them were cunning. They knew their targets knew they were after them, they could easily kill them right there with the guns in their hands yet they didn’t want to create a scene. They would rather catch the three in a corner and kill them where there will be fewer onlookers. “We are dead meat,” Tshepo’s voice shook.
They increased their footsteps and in no time at all they could smell the ocean, the salty breeze blew on their faces, drawing them in.
“We are going to die,” Tshepo repeated his voice now at a panic level. “The men at the beach will kill us and the ones behind us will join in. We are going to die.”
“We will not if you do as I say,” Anele said with conviction. “I know a way out. When you see a fish shop with a blue door we will pass beside it, there’s a shortcut through the marshland behind it and we don’t even have to pass the minefields to get to the ocean,” she paused for a second. “Although we might have to give up the diamonds to get there.”
“We will take it!” Tshepo jumped on the idea. He didn’t waste any time. Nate didn’t even get the chance to protest before Tshepo dropped his arm so that he could piggyback him. “Sorry old friend, my life is worth more than all the diamonds we can take.” He took Anele’s hand with his free hand and with a beating heart and a prayer to the sky that the men would not catch up with them he walked faster. After a while, he began to run, the men behind them didn’t run after them, they knew where the three friends were headed after all. What they did not expect, however, was the detour Tshepo took. The marshland Anele talked about was the perfect detour. Reeds were growing on the edge of the small lake that fed off the ocean. It wasn’t deep so the three friends waddled in it. By the time Fredrick’s men arrived at the edge of the river the friends were far gone.
The men retraced their steps back to the main road where they ran to alert the guards watching the fields.
Nate grunted in pain as Tshepo continued to move too fast. His injuries protested but he couldn’t say anything against the pain. At the end of the day, Tshepo was right, his life was worth more than a few diamonds.
The muddy road began to rise. He could feel it even on Tshepo’s back. He cracked an eye open and saw that the road continued to rise until he heard the waves lapping against each.
Even Tshepo noticed the rise and the ocean. When he looked at Anele for an explanation she had a soft secretive smile on her face. And a thoughtful look in her brown eyes.
“Being blind is not a restriction, no one knows what you’re really capable of when they think you’re incompetent.”
Nate reached out to touch her shoulder.
When he looked up again he was surprised to see the diamond field below them. They were on a cliff directly over the ocean. If they leaped they would land directly on the rocks jutting out of the foamy water.
“We are going to jump?”
“Yes, you will. When you jump there are holes in the rocks where you can hide. You should be safe."
“It seems too simple…”
“There are sharks.”
That was the nail in the coffin.
“No. No, we can’t. Nate is bleeding they’ll attack us if we jump.”
Nate wasn’t thinking about that. He was thinking about what she said. “Anele,” he said gently. She raised her face. “You are coming with us aren’t you?”
She didn’t have the time to answer when the sound of boots caught their attention. Anele didn’t bother answering his question again. She found Tshepo’s shoulder and pushed heavily on it. “Go!”
“We can’t jump!” Tshepo fought to resist her push but the boots were getting closer now. The ground beneath them trembled as the men ran up the cliff.
“Go!” she screamed. “Save yourselves!”
Nate dropped from Tshepo’s back, wincing as he landed on his feet because pain shot through his knees.
The first guard appeared armed with a gun. Then the next and the next and the next until almost six of them stood at the other side, their guns cocked, their faces cruel and impassive ready to shoot.
“Anele…” Nate cried knowing what she had in mind. The next sequence of events happened before he could stop them. He watched helplessly as she turned and sharply grabbed his head between her hands and with one final kiss on his lips, pushed him and Tshepo over the edge. His scream tore out of him. He was falling back, pulled sharply by gravity into the unforgiving rocky waters down below, Tshepo screamed as he too fell yet all he could think about was the bullets that tore through the air, the blood that spattered on his face…worst of all was Anele’s body falling directly over him, her body riddled with holes, her warm blood falling on him.