The Big 5

2

The time was around 15:15 when members of the Molefe family were beginning to arrive. Rita had arrived 3 hours earlier to help her mother prepare the day’s big feast. Prince was also in the kitchen helping his mother and sister. Upstairs Mr. Molefe along with his 2 sons Sean and Thomas were in discussion about the business. But they were interrupted by Brutus Seloko who burst into the room and then tried to catch his breath. Brutus was the family’s Lieutenant and handled the sourcing of men for the family’s operations in their ‘fixing’ business as well as taking instructions from Mr. Molefe. As Brutus continued huffing and puffing Mr. Molefe said “I should ask Johnny to take you with him when he does his roadwork” “you have jokes huh”

replied Brutus to which everyone burst into laughter. “ I passed by that guy's house before I came here and I must say Ghost managed to make him talk,” he said and paused before grimacing “ however the place is a fucken mess” “ did he kill him,” asked Sean. “Nah not yet but he was crying like a baby” replied Brutus. `

Johnny parked his car in the direction, he glanced to the pool area and saw Thomas’s and Sean’s children swimming being supervised by their mothers. He waved and walked into the house. As

He crossed paths with Mark “Ghost” Tsipiyagae. “Ghost” was the family executioner or grim reaper. Whenever Johnny saw him he knew someone had either been murdered in a gruesome manner or was about to be. He went into his room and took a shower.

Rita was anxious and excited at the same time as she sat with her family at the table. The sound of Sean and his wife Elizabeth trying to calm their twins down, to her father’s visible annoyance at Johnny’s absence at the table, to her impending announcement maid Rita wants to hide underneath the table. The noise continued to grow louder in the room until the room almost went silent apart from Thomas’s son asking if Johnny had lost. Johnny simply shook his head and continued his descent from the stairs. Johnny had the ability to either make a room go silent or grab attention with his sheer presence, a trait his brother and father had too. Mr. Molefe’s presence was felt because of the power, elegance, and respect he commanded, his son Johnny and Sean were more because of their size. Johnny and Sean were the same height but Johnny at this point was more powerful in terms of strength even though he was younger by several years. Rita watched her brother as he made his way to the table, she admired how he could make his presence be felt without uttering a word and the use of an expressionless face. She had always seen him as her baby brother but it only dawned upon her that her brother was growing when he took his seat next to her fiancé and realized he was a huge 20-year-old and that’s also taking into account that Dwayne was no small man either. “It’s rude to keep people waiting,” said Sean trying to contain his anger. “My apologies” answered Johnny nonchalantly. The family began eating and the topic of discussion was Johnny’s newly won gold medal, the next destination for the family holiday to politics. Rita then began to gently hit her wine glass with a spoon to catch everyone’s attention. She stood up and pointed to her ring finger and the women jumped in joy and celebrated the engagement. The Molefe men sat still, they found it hard to accept Dwayne,

from everything he seemed like a likable guy, just that however they had once all agreed that something was off about the guy the one time they discussed the relationship, they couldn’t point it out but they all agreed that he was hiding something.

After the family lunch, Johnny went back to his room and took a nap. At 7:45 he woke up and showered again. He was to meet Ludo and have a quick meal together and meet their friends at the club. It was around 20:30 when Johnny pulled up outside Ludos’s house. As he parked he reduced the music and removed his phone and texted her he was outside. He then also started texting Brandon asking if they were already at the bistro. Ludo came out and sat in the car and they took off. They arrived at the bistro in 20 minutes and met up with Brandon who was with a female friend. The boys exchanged playful insults and sat, the ladies also exchanged pleasantries although they seemed a bit forced. They sat and ordered. As the group was midway through their meal Obakeng who is the son of Shakes Khatombela walked in. The sight of Obakeng made Ludo sick and she almost threw up, as she felt like Obakeng was a fake friend to Johnny as unbeknownst to Johnny, Obakeng had been making moves on her in her arms. She had wanted to let Johnny know that his own friend was making moves on her but hadn’t found the right time.

She thought about telling him now but thought it would be better to preserve the peace not only for the night but she had heard rumors about the Molefe and Khatombela families and had always wondered if they were true. She let it slip to the back of her mind and tried to enjoy her night. It was 22:30 when the bill arrived and Johnny swiped the entire amount. She looked at the bill and it was P1600. This was another conversation she needed to have with Johnny but not now. They left and headed for the club blasting music on the way. At 23:14 the parking at the club was filled with sounds of Obakeng revving his range rover sport as the V8 bellowed and grunted loudly drawing attention and even setting off some of the car alarms nearby. Johnny

however, parked his Jeep quietly. Johnny didn’t like the show off as much as his friends and neither did he enjoy the popularity that Obakeng seemed to crave but this was his childhood friend. They walked up the stairs past everyone else waiting in line and the bouncer was about to stop them before he realized who they were. Obakeng got in the man’s face and yelled “I’ll fucken have you deported! Is the VIP section ready?” “Yes'' replied the terrified man. Everyone took their seats in the VIP and Obakeng began to brag about the clubs and hotels his family-owned. A waitress brought glasses, ice, and bottles of Hennessy, Belvedere, Tanqueray, and Moet to the table. Obakeng and Brandon scrambled like animals for the Tanqueray and furiously poured into their glasses, as this was happening Johnny watched and turned to Ludo and the girl accompanying Brandon what they wanted before preparing glass for Ludo and pouring her Moet before he passed on the bottle. He asked the waiter for some cranberry juice and poured it as soon as it arrived along with the Tanqueray. He stood up with his drink in one hand and the other to Ludo and they left the VIP section heading to the general section to find Ludo's friends, as soon as they did Johnny backed away. They had been dating for a year and had developed the chemistry and trust that if they were out they let each other enjoy themselves with their friends provided they both stayed faithful to each other and let the other know when they were ready to leave. Johnny made his way back to the VIP table and fixed himself another drink. Brendan and Obakeng came back with a group of girls and before Johnny knew it the table was full. Johnny was having his 5th drink and he was starting to get drunk. One of the girls grabbed his knee and tried to kiss him but he pulled his head away quickly and said “I have a girl and she would kill us both''. He stood up and waltzed around the club drunk, he wanted Ludo and he found her on the dance floor, he whispered something naughty to her and she giggled and said goodbye to her friends. They passed by the VIP one last time and left. On the short drive to the hotel they had