I had a new car. The boss had given the Red Lily to the new driver who took my previous position. Now driving in a black BMW X5, 4.4 liters, 8-cylinder engine, a raise of more than double the amount of my salary with R80 000 a month. Unfortunately, the Polo's new driver didn't last a week on the job. He died on duty on his third day. As I drove past the M17 Road towards Addo Road, a scene with emergency services blocked the road, causing slow traffic. A red car had capsized but as I came close, I realized that it was Red Lily. She had turned upside down and burnt. The driver burned beyond recognition, they said. What would be the meaning of this? I had to ask Elijah. He was the only person I knew from the inside, the guy who recruited me. I had a meeting with him. I couldn't wait to break the news to him.
"The driver is dead and Red Lily is burnt. It's her, I'm sure. I know that car,"
"Oh, you mean the new driver of the Polo…"
"You knew this?"
The new driver had broken the most important rule of the trade: 'Do not violate the guest…'
He raped her. The driver fulfilled his order demands. But before delivering the guest he did the unthinkable.
"He raped her," said Elijah.
"So, it's you who killed this guy or what? And if it's you, how did you do it? And how did you know about this rape? Why didn't just save the girl from getting raped in the first place?"
At that point, my fear of the people disappeared for a moment.
"All the cars you drive. All the cars which belong to The League have CCTV cameras installed inside. These cameras feed live videos to the offices of the League. Moreover, there are bombs installed underneath our cars. This is a precaution for the day the drivers choose to revolt against the League. We have many enemies too, the cops, the community who wants to capture us, or the fools who hijack cars. Those are the days of desperation when we decide to detonate the bombs: for example, our rapist here."
"Wow, you guys are deep."
He showed me from his phone. The clip shows the driver getting inside the car with the guest. They sniffed a powdery substance from a bank note using a bank card. They chat a bit and drive off. The driver plays the radio and the guest starts to dance while sitting in the front passenger seat. She closes her eyes, and the driver keeps looking at her while driving. He starts touching her boobs with his left hand. The guest shakes herself off and throws his hands away. He stops the car in the sideway in a dark spot, adjusts her seat to a sleeping position, and forces himself on her. She tries to fight him off but succumbs to drowsiness. He overpowered her. The guy held her hands behind the headrest and sexualy violated the lady. She panicked and not a moment had she calmed down. After his deed, he dropped her off without saying a word. The video continues and shows him driving into the M17 road where a big blast occurs. Then everything goes blank.
"This guy is disgusting. He fucken deserved it," I said.
"The League did it. It's that powerful."
Now naturally I asked about my next job. I fancied a job that didn't involve cars.
"Your next job is a lot easier," he said, "You have passed the integrity test. You have proved to The League that you are worthy of their trust. The League wants people who can do the right thing by themselves with no one watching," said Elijah with his graceful tone while he didn't even take a glance at me.
"But someone was watching," I said.
"Yes, but you didn't know that. And yet you still did the right thing. The League needs to know that you can respect women and as a man, you won't take advantage of their fragility. Men are strong by nature thus they shouldn't use strength in dealings with women. Fragility is not a weakness and understanding this is an honorable thing to do. If you think you can win a woman over then do it by convincing her with your words. Use your mind. If she is more intelligent than you then you don't deserve her, move on. You know some guys have a sense of entitlement and I'll tell you where they get it. It's society. Society sexualizes women in a way that they become objects. They get objectified first by their fellow women. Friends sell each other for alcohol in these taverns and the others allow themselves to be sold. Women give men power over themselves by accept ridiculous gifts from them. This creates the sense of entitlement in some men which makes them want to have control over these women. If we could change this and allow neutrality among genders these problems could be curbed," he said.
"You know some girls also objectify themselves at times and because of this, other guys get wrong messages and confuse those girls with girls who don't mean to be objects."
I didn't even hear what I said.
"I don't know about that."
"So, you care about these girls?"
"The League cares. They would not allow any guest to get hurt on their property. Look at it from the point of view of the police. The department can be sued for anything that may happen to prisoners in their custody,"
"So, you are the police?"
"No, The League is not the police. The League doesn't exist in this world. They are no one," "But they are real, aren't they?"
"Yes, they are real, but they don't belong to any system of government, they obey no one's laws but their own. Their dealings are not known by anyone outside their circle and there are no records of their existence anywhere,"
"Wow, that's weird. I only know that from movies. I didn't know it could be possible in real life."
"The movies emulate real life."
"So, these girls… What about their families? What happens if they report them missing?"
I interrogated him, all over his case like a little child at a sweet store. No one had asked him so many questions in such a short space of time all his life.
"Are they missing?"
"But they are not home,"
"Are you home?"
"No… but..."
Before I could finish Elijah cut me off:
"But your family knows where you are; so, as theirs. The girls write to their families and money is sent to the families on the girls' behalf," he said.
"But why is this happening? Are you buying these girls from their families?"
"No, this is their money. It comes from them. The girls are working and are earning salaries." "What kind of work do they do if I may ask?" I said in a low voice after looking around me to check who sat nearby. The restaurant remained quiet, and people were minding their business. It was almost as if they didn't even notice us.
"They are working. Normal jobs: farming, sewing clothes, producing. They're just doing everything and being productive," Elijah said as if such a question surprised him.
His response perplexed me. I didn't expect it. I didn't know what I expected but I had expected something else, something more dramatic or darker.
"But how come you steal these people? Why don't you advertise your posts and let interested candidates apply willingly? And why is it only women that you are interested in? One would think that you are trafficking them, you know, or selling them as prostitutes or something."