Chapter 15

Being the middle of winter, the air was becoming a little chilly with the Southeastern wind blowing in from the sea, bringing with it white puffy clouds that drifted by like small sailing ships on the sea. The clouds would later, much later, form up against the Outeniqua mountains and cover its snow-capped peaks, hiding them from view.

Here at the cabin however, there was only a light breeze due to the trees screening the wind. The tree leaves just rustled in the silence of the moment. Not even the branches swayed, just the leaves singing their background song.

The cabin faced north and the noon sun, which meant that the patio in back was in deep shadow with the sun setting to the west. But it was not too dark for us to see each other. Here in these southern latitudes, and it being winter, the sun sets early — around 17:20. In town and all along the roads, cars will be going about their furious flights home, with dimmed headlights on.

In another half hour or so, I would get the patio lights going. With the gentle winter breeze blowing away the mosquitos, we could sit on the patio till late. But it’s a school-day tomorrow and Bobbie needs her beauty sleep.

There’s also another milestone coming up for her: the school-board’s Record Exam. This exam will be of significance as it will be a barometer of how she will do in the final exam starting in October. That final exam culminates twelve years of schooling and will set her onto her path into the big, big world.

The softly spoken words of Bobbie, calling Jenny “mother”, hung in the silence that followed her words. She stood in the doorway, looking all domestic: barefoot and the imitation white “Master Chef Australia” apron, blotched here and there with dark spots where she wiped her hands on it during the preparation of supper, wrapped up her small frame.

Her hair was gathered in a ponytail that expressed the look of a young housewife, and I could just scoop her up and kiss the living daylights out of her. But the words she spoke were mature and serious. Both Jenny and I looked towards her standing in the doorway. How long she stood there in the shadows, was anybody’s guess, but I suspect she stood there long enough to hear Jenny’s explanation.

“Bobbie...” Jenny began, her voice just above a whisper.

“No ... Let me finish,” Bobbie interrupted, “Now that I know what I always suspected. I will from now on call you mom. And Uncle John is “dad”. At least now I know who my dad is, and not some phantom hovering in the background.”

“Bobs...” Jenny started to speak again but was cut short by a ginger-red head coming over to her, sitting down next to her, and just hugging her. Tears started to flow soundlessly down Jenny’s cheeks as she clutched her back.

I looked at the two women in a deep embrace and thought it was time to leave the two alone. There was much said in those few words from Bobbie, but there were much more to be said between the two of them. I did not want to intrude and so I silently stood up and slipped into the cabin.

A bright light shone in the kitchen, and the aroma from the direction of the stove tugged at me to go there and lift the lids on the pots and look inside. But that would be rude towards the excellent chef, so I refrained from peeking. I overcame my curiosity by just sniffing the air, then passed by towards the back room I use as a study.

It was a little later as I was reading on my laptop, that I heard a car drive up. I peeped out the window to see John arriving. I suppose that Jenny called him. I returned to my laptop and idly surfed the internet, just killing time.

“You can come and join us...” A soft voice spoke from the door.

“Are you guys okay? I don’t want to intrude...” I answered.

“Everything is fine. In fact, everything is over the moon!” Bobbie replied, but stayed standing in the doorway, as if she was afraid to enter. Again, I saw in my mind’s eye the shy scared little girl I met a month or so ago. I smiled and opened my arms.

She rushed over and melted into my arms.

“I thought you are angry with me...” Watery Ice-blue eyes looked up into mine.

“Now what makes you think that? I am excited for you!”

“Really?”

“Yes, sweetie pie! This is something good for you.”

Her face morphed into a 1000-watt smile. “I’m happy ... Now that bitch can’t do anything to take me away...” she gleamed. “Now I can stay with mom Jenny and dad John, unless...”

“Unless, what?”

“Unless YOU take me away...”

“Now why should I want to do that?”

“Oh, you don’t love me?”

“Ahh, sweetie pie, I love you more than anything else in the world. I will never take you away from John and Jenny. I might borrow you a bit, but never take you away from them.”

“Borrow me a bit?”

“Yeah, borrow you ... till death do us part...” I replied and was swamped with Bobby pressing herself hard against me. “Ouch!”

“Ooo! Sorry, Louis,” Bobbie said and broke away from me. “I forgot about your ribs.”

“It’s okay. They’re getting better...”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I can breathe better and when I walk I don’t have to stop and catch my breath.”

“Okay, then let’s join mom and dad on the patio. Besides the food is getting spoiled. I made enough with the idea of inviting them. Now we can go have a family supper,” The light in her eyes was soft, but sparkling, and the smile painted a thousand words. “I got the biggest present ever ... a real family!”

Together we sauntered back to the patio, Bobbie’s arm around my waist, and mine around her shoulders.

“Hey, Jen! Here come the kids!” John exclaimed. I was overwhelmed by the feeling that I was part of their newly discovered family.

After a superb supper, Bobbie and Jenny started the clean-up while John and I relaxed on the patio. John sighed a sigh of relief that the problem of Bobbie’s parents was finally out in the open and that Bobbie excepted it without question. For the last six years of her life, she had been with them, but only now could they “parent” her to their hearts’ content.

Now that everything was in the open, Bobbie was as excited as if she won the lottery. On a question about her name, Bobbie was adamant to change her surname to Pienaar.

“I am a Pienaar, and a Pienaar I will die!” She declared, and I looked at her with a grin on my face and a raised eyebrow.

First Bobbie did not catch my expression straight away, but then it dawned on her, and she rephrased her words:

“Okay! I’m a Pienaar, and a Pienaar-Du Preez I will die!” Giggle.

“Bobbie! Louis has not yet asked you to marry him!” Jenny laughed.

“Oh! He will ... eventually!” She stated and winked at me.

“Why go through all the trouble of changing your name from McGee to Pienaar, and a couple of months later just to change it to Du Preez?” attorney John questioned and teased. “Just go with the flow and stay McGee until it’s time to change it to Du Preez, or whatever else. It will be much easier, and cost less.”

“Oh?”

“Yes! To change your name for the sake of changing it you need to apply to the Department of Internal Affairs and submit documentation of approval from at least three different families with the surname Pienaar...” John informed Bobbie. “Go Google it.”

“I ... I don’t want to be a McGee anymore...”

“For the time being, you’re stuck with it,” I chuckled. “And I like it. There’s even a song about you. A nice catchy tune...”

“Yeah!” Jenny laughed. “But in the song the guy did not get the girl!”

“SEE! That’s why I want to change my surname!” Bobbie chirped. “Just now I will be doomed to die a spinster or ... horror ... a thornback!”

“That day when you catch a boy will come sooner than you think, Bobs! Sooner than you think ... If not already.” John remarked.

“Everyone thinks that the pinnacle of a women’s success is marriage, a husband, a house, a pet, and maybe a child, but sometimes it’s not. Think about it, Bobs,” Jenny replied.

“Yeah...” Bobbie sighed. “Maybe I’ll not die a thornback...”

“There’s still a long way to go, Bobs,” I soothed her, and she pressed closer to me.

“Well, it’s time to go home. Bobs, leave your bakkie here. It will be safe here with Louis. Besides, you have not driven at night yet. So, let dad and mom take you home.”

“And who will look after Louis tonight?”

“It’s school tomorrow. Come dear, let us take you home.” John replied. Then added. “Come, Jen, leave the two lovebirds to say goodnight...”

Tuesday. Visiting Day at Knysna Prison.

Blowing fresh to strong, the Southeast wind brought a clammy cold to the open parking lot at Knysna prison. Scattered grey-white patches of cloud floated by in the deep blue South African South Coast sky. Discarded plastic shopping bags, the occasional paper wrapper, and a sheet of old newspaper scurried past, blown by the wind that gusted to forty kilometres an hour.

Along the narrow lane that ran along the long hill to the north of the prison, a car drove slowly towards the single security building and gate. The building itself was just a little gate-keep shack.

The gate was open with no barrier booms. There was not even a security guard or a prison warden in sight. The prison itself with its orange-red roof was lower down in a little depression on the side of the hill.

The black German sedan slowed down to a crawl and drove through the open gate. Then it sped up again, but never going over forty kilometres an hour. It approached what looked like a parking area.

There were no marked parking bays, so the driver just turned a full 180 degrees and parked his car out of the way and facing back the way he came. He was early. Prison rules dictate that you must arrive thirty minutes before the allotted visiting time.

The man, in his early thirties, wound down the window of the car and took out a packet of cigarettes. He selected one from the packet of twenty and lit it with a brass-coloured Zippo lighter, drew deeply on it and then blew out a cloud of smoke. With the window down, the wind just whipped the smoke away.

From his vantage point high above the town of Knysna, he could see across the town and the Knysna Lagoon. The prominent rocky hills of the Knysna Heads across the lagoon to the south shimmered bright green in the morning sun.

But he was not here for the scenery or to while away the time. He has an appointment with one of the detainees awaiting trial. What the meeting will produce is still a question to be answered. It could mean an assignment, a contract to be fulfilled, and handsome funds to be earned.

His usual fee of five hundred thousand would be paid, plus bonus, on clean and early delivery. That is five hundred thousand dollars. He only takes his fee in US dollars. It is better that way; easier to deposit in his offshore account in the Cayman Islands. No income tax; no estate tax; no capital gains tax; and no gift tax; a nice hedge fund for his retirement.

But with this assignment his fee will be more, much more. This time he will have to incorporate other assets and resources. He needs to sub-contract skilled individuals. The success of this operation will depend on how well those individuals perform.

He flicked the stump of the burned-out cigarette through the window of the car, then wound the window back up, got out and locked the car. He turned up the collar of his full black leather coat against the wind and started towards the prison entrance, drawing the brim of his leather hat a little lower against the glare of the morning sun.

Thinking about the mission ahead, one thing stood out: It is not a question of one high profile hit. No, this will be several hits ... at least seven so far, and maybe more.

Plettenberg Bay Airport, later that day.

There was not much to do for me at the office, just some reports and invoices to be signed and handed back to Jenny. I did not come in at my usual 07:00 but lazed in at ten o’clock. Jenny, the new mom, was in a cheery mood, and a mug of coffee hit my desk before I could even miss the thought of coffee.

“Why, thank you, Jenny! This will go down good.”

“How are you feeling this morning, Louis?”

“A little tender around the chest still, but going well,” I replied.

“Yeah, and your blue-purple eye is turning yellow. It spells that by the end of the week all discolouring will be gone.”

“I do hope so!” I answered. “If I look in the mirror, I don’t recognise the guy looking back at me,” I chuckled.

“Bobs is writing ‘maths paper two’ today. I hope it goes well.”

“She’ll do well. Don’t you worry.” I soothed.

“Still...”

“Ah ... The new mom is fretting...”

“Are you making fun of me?”

“Never...”

“I know you, Louis!”

“How’s it going ... at the house, I mean?”

“Bobbie is as usual, but I detect calmness in her behaviour.”

“Getting to know the truth will have that effect.”

“I was just scared that she would turn on me and John.”

Never! She loves you both to pieces and now just more...”

“I have to go fetch her at twelve. She’ll be finished with her exam and is then free to come back home.”

“What does she write tomorrow?”

“She’s got the day off and only writes English Second Language on Thursday. That’s her last subject and then for her, school will be out for another four days.”

“Oh, why? Don’t they go on with the prep for the last part of the semester?”

“There’re other kids writing subjects that she doesn’t take. So, she’s got a loose draw until Thursday of next week.”

“Jenny, I know she just found out of who her true parents are, and that you and John are going all out to make it good for her, but...”

“But what, Louis?”

“I’m still on sick leave. I want to drive up to Beaufort West on Friday and return on Monday or Tuesday...”

“And...”

“Will it be terrible of me to let Bobbie tag along? The farm air will do her good.”

“Chuckle. “Do you want to go and show her off to your parents?”

“I did not think of THAT! I just wanted to go show her the farm and the animals, and the landscape...”

“She will enjoy it ... Go, take her along, Louis, my future son-in-law ... Besides, she told me of your brother and his wife. By now they would have blabbed to your parents about her.”

“Jenny!”

“It’s unavoidable. You two have been on a collision course ever since you met!”

“And you are good with it?”

“Yeah, both John and me.”

“That shoots down her theory of dying a spinster.” I chuckled.

“A spinster is between twenty and twenty-six years of age. From twenty-six onwards an unmarried woman is considered a thornback,” she retorted.

“Oh, in that case, I better ask her to marry me before she finishes varsity.”

“You think she’ll be twenty-six before she finishes varsity?”

“With her you never know. She expressed the desire to do an honours degree, but I see a master’s or a Ph.D. in her future.

“What, in nuclear physics? Where do you think she’ll get a job in South Africa?”

“No, not nuclear physics, but Quantum Mechanics! She’s got the brain for it.”

“Poor Louis ... Where does that leave you?”

“Flying my air shows on weekends, live on the proceeds of my investments, and loving the most beautiful loveable adorable girl in the world for the rest of the week...”

“Hmm ... Let me go finish my slavery at my desk and go fetch MISS UNIVERSE from school.” She stood up, so I closed the folder on my desk and got up as well. Let me go see what Jeff and Ronny are up to.