I didn't want to go.

Firstly, I hated how people made fun of my black culture. Even though I am  one hundred percent a Christian, I do and don't agree with people making fun of my culture. Everybody and anybody can believe in anything be it Christ or Ancestors.

And yet I didn't want to go. It wasn't about encountering Shay's mother who I'm sure is lovely, by the way. Nor was it the possibility of encountering an ancestor. No, it was the possibility that it would be true. That there were people out that were capable of reaching beyond our realm and into others that I believed didn't exist. And if ghosts and ancestors existed then what of black magic, etc? What more had the devil placed on this world?

Nonetheless, Tshepang and I waited outside school, a fair distance away from the gate. I was tired of every other grade breaking social distancing. We waited for a few more minutes before Kete came out.

"I'll have to ask ma if I could come to this thing tonight but I don't know." She admitted.

We were all good friends, still are yet this thing had put a dampen on the friendship. Almost as if this was our punishment for what happened to Zake.

Kete turned without a word and walked to her ride home, getting in and disappearing a matter of minutes. Connor and Caleb appeared with Shay following shortly.

"About time, " Caleb huffed. I raised an eyebrow. Like he was the one standing here for 10 minutes.

"Where's Toni?" Shay asked, completely ignoring Caleb. We collectively shrugged. Out of all of us I was sure she was having the toughest time. I still didn't understand why things were happening to her.

"Doesn't matter, we can't wait." She pointed to a deep brown Toyota Fortuner that pulled into a parking. I could see it was her father driving, remembering him from the meeting.

"Caleb and I can take the boot." Connor offered or ordered. Caleb just mimicked my earlier action and followed him.

When we got in the first thing that drew my eyes were the bandages. Shay's father wore a blue short sleeved shirt over jeans, neat yet casual but his entire left arm was covered in bandages as if he was attacked. By a dog, person, flying plates, anything was possible at this point.

I felt a little guilty that I was relieved to know it wasn't just my family suffering, the same way I had that morning.

"Mom's out for a while but she said she'll be back in time." His father told us after greeting his daughter. We didn't respond.

🇿🇦

Shay's house was a typical South African house. High brick walls with electric fencing surrounded the single floor, bricked building. Burglar bars ran over the windows. Other that it was standard: windows, doors, a house.

When her father disappeared in the house, we discarded our masks opting to stand under a tree as it continued to drizzle.

"What happened to your father's arm?" I immediately asked. Without her mask on I saw just how beautiful she was. No wonder Zake liked her.

"What do you think happened?" She said sharply. I gritted my teeth and said nothing.

"It doesn't matter if you like us, Shay," Connor began after a moment. ", but the sooner we get this over with the better. I think we've all had enough of this."

Silence passed over the group. It was funny how just yesterday we were devastated Zake was missing. That had quickly changed into grief as one by one we admitted that he was dead. Now we all hated the things that were happening to us and, in turn, him.

"You know," Tshepang gazed at the stormy sky, rain drops running down her face...  ", he loved the rain. It was something about how it invigorated him."

"Didn't he say he was born in a storm?" Shay smirked, watching the clouds too. "Totally fitting. Chaotic that boy."

"Yeah, strong. Wild, constantly spinning." Tshepang agreed. I looked at her and mouthed the words "Cowboy food". She giggled, bringing a smile to my face.

A noise interrupted our conversation. A camry was pulling into the driveway, Shay's mother. It could've been my dread but I was sure the wind picked up. As Shay's mother got out, the rain decided to come down heavy. She stopped for a second, gazing at the sky as if suddenly interesting.

Then she looked at each one of us before settling on her daughter. "Let's start immediately and get inside."

The world turned dark as we moved inside, occasionally being lit by gunshots of lightning.