In the heat of dawn, disarray could be tasted from the noise in the air, echoing against the walls of the old buildings of the Point of No Return. The dwellers haunted the place. No one could persist in sleep. I took my washing rags, toothbrush, and soap to the showers. I found a warm shower and showered in peaceful warmth. From the six shower rooms, the brothers exchanged showers, one after the other. When I finished my ordeal, I closed the water and dried myself. After putting on my t-shirt and underwear, a bucket of cold water fell on top of my head.
"What the fuck? Who the hell did that?"
A crack of laughter broke out in the showers, and everyone blew their breaths out.
"Who did that?"
"What are you gonna do, newcomer? Huh?" said the one whom they called Bonyongo.
He came towards me, and I chased him in disgust before I slipped on the wet floor and found myself facing the roof after recovering from a slight knock.
"Come to training, soldier. Leave those idiots for another day."
Judas had better mean that for I surely would return Bonyongo the distinct welcoming. Never had everyone laughed at me like that ever before.
I put on some gym clothes and went to the field.
"Welcome to the Point of no Return, son. It's not as the ninth cloud as one would like, you know. But take these skills and you will be just fine," said Judas.
We only did the punching bag.
Later that day:
"You need to go back to the field," Elijah said to me.
"But you said you promoted me, mos," I appealed.
"You'll keep your salary. You are only helping while we're still looking for a replacement for the dead guy,"
"Why don't you take the old guys, Bonyongo and others?"
"This is a job for the brains, not violence."
I accepted the offer and went on to the job. This time I didn't need to get my order via the phone. I was in physical contact with my boss, so I took the paper orders. The fact that I would now be doing it from the inside brought a new chill to my spine. I now did it from an eagle's point of view. With lots of information at my disposal, it would be a completely different challenge.
My target was a girl named Lellz from Bluewater Bay, a beachfront suburb in Gqeberha. She was discreet about her private life so not much information availed to her. And it was my first time having to go to Bluewater Bay. I knew no one from that side of town and the area has no nightclubs. I joined as a temporary member of the Bluewater Bay gym club where I had to pay a daily fee of R340. The gym was full of guys. There were only two girls, and both were not her. Lellz was a beautiful dark-skinned girl with a slender body. The two ladies were rather thick-sized. I had to befriend local girls who could by any chance lead me to her. Bluewater Bay was a small place. It couldn't be so hard to find one girl.
I sipped on my water while warming up on the treadmill. I went to the spin bike which I enjoyed. 15 minutes into it, someone was walking around the machine:
"Are you waiting for the machine, miss?"
"What?"
She had headphones on.
"I said do you want to use the machine?"
"Yes, but I'll wait," she said.
"No, no. Please take it,"
How could I say no to a beautiful girl like her? She looked like someone I had seen before: maybe an angel in my dreams or a Facebook crush.
"Okay, thank you; wow."
She smiled and hopped on.
We trained together as assistants to each other all day, and we left at the same time. Her beauty and humility took my heart. I wanted to ask her out but was that even acceptable? Also, she could be the one leading me to Lellz.
"Let me take you home, miss."
"Okay, you have a car?"
"Over here."
I opened the central lock, and we got in.
"So, what's your name, pretty miss?"
"Lelethu,"