Chereads / The last in the family / Chapter 30 - Working on a plan

Chapter 30 - Working on a plan

Thandiwe Tofile( Lindiwe's niece) worked carefully on their plan. She became close to Mrs Van Zyl. Although Mrs Van Zyl was not a person who was easily impressed, she manage to soften her heart and eventually won her trust.That was not easy though but Thandiwe was humble and deligent and so she collected scores on that one. And she was more educated than the others, so she became one of those who had an access to Mrs Van Zyl' office. She was looking for anything that could help them with their plan to help Rowena. She made photo copies of every document that was in Mrs Van Zyl' s locker. The documents she put her focus on were the ones that had information on Rowena's custody case. She made even the copies of the letters. They kept all the copies as a proof to their allegations so' that Mr Miller could believe them.

Thandiwe even took the pictures of the gifts that were kept in Mrs Van Zyl' s locker. She made sure that she captured all the evidence. On the other hand Mrs Van Zyl was planning to take Rowena to another centre. She was doing that to make sure that Mr Miller could not get a chance to meet her. Thandiwe even made copies of those documents. When they decided it was time to contact Mr Miller again, they heard that he was admitted to hospital. They were worried because Mr Miller was very old and thers were chances that he could not make it. This worked as an advantage to Mrs Van Zyl because she was going to work through her plan.

Lindiwe decided to visit Mr Miller in hospital. He was not in good condition. She decided to put Rowena's matter aside until he covered. He stayed in hospital for quite a long time because he was frail. This made Lindiwe and her accomplices more worried. Then Mrs Van Zyl had finished to make arrangements to remove Rowena to another centre. The centre was in the township and was underdeveloped. Rowena had to adjust to a new life. She was used to the previous centre and now she had to start all over again. Things were but good in the new centre. She saw it from the beginning that her life would deteriorate. The food was not enough and they had to share the beds. They would be three or four in one bed. The closets had no keys and some children were stealing other children's stuff. There centre was congested and was not very hygienic. Rowena took a long time to adjust and the owner was worse than Mrs Van Zyl.

During meal times they would sit in benches in small dining hall. They had soup and bread for dinner and the bread and tea for breakfast and supper. Rowena was scolded for asking for some more soup and bread. The tasteless soup and and bread was their daily meal. On Sundays they works have samp and beans with soup. Rowena became so thin in a matter of time. She was not happy to be in that centre because she could not do anything. As long as she had roof over her head there was nothing to complain about. Lindiwe had time to visit her. She heard from Thandiwe that Rowena was removed to another centre. She asked for an adress so that she could visit her. Mrs Van Zyl thought that no one should know where Rowena was because she did not tell anyone about the whereabouts of the centre. Thandiwe had to search for an information so that they could not lose track of their favourite girl. Thandiwe would cook for her a hearty meal in Sundays. She would enjoy them and eat in gusto. And the she would wash it down with cold drink. Although Lindiwe was not working at the moment, she made sure that she shared the little he had with Rowena. It was only her husband who was working and the little they had was enough for her and children but she wouldn't mind to add Rowena in her budget. Sometimes she would bring her toiletries if she was running out of them.

Mr Miller became better and was out of hospital. She was sad to hear that the centre had removed some of the children because it was congested and their resources could no longer cater for such a capacity of children. They were told by the government officials to remove the children to other centres. Although Mrs Van Zyl was not sure about the centre Rowena was transferred to she would make efforts to find out about it. This is what Mr Miller was told when he came out of hospital. He did not know that it was all lies. It was only Rowena who was removed in an attempted to distance her from him. He was worried about the new arrangements but there was nothing he could do except waiting for Mrs Van Zyl to find about the centre Rowena was taken to. He waited for the long time to get the feedback because Mrs Van Zyl was busy with other projects. He was not able to sent gifts anymore because he did not know where Rowena was.

His wish was not to die before he saw he saw his granddaughter. He only had the photos of her and he could not wait to meet her in person. They had a lot to talk about. He had to tell her about her grandmother who live to knit scarves and jerseys for all her children. He had to tell her about her father who like to shoot birds while she was a young boy. He also had to tell her about her aunt who was collecting all the awards as a best achiever at school. Infact he had a lot to tell her about her life as a warrior. He was wishing for that grandfather to granddaughter conversations.