60
The sounds of gunshots continued to tear the night's peace apart. A few Gaborans could hear the gunshots, they knew where they came from, they knew who was behind the violent disturbance but they also knew they couldn’t come out to see what was happening. They feared for their lives.
For Nate however, it was different. For the second time that day, he knew true misery, true heartbreak as he watched Anele’s limp body make its descent down under the influence of gravity. His screams stopped, he couldn’t make a single sound but watched helplessly as her body made a slow-motion descent down the cliff and toward him.
When his back hit the water he sank deep into the cold arms of the ocean and Anele’s body fell after his. He reached a hand up to grab her but the water pulled him further down, away from the one girl he ever loved as much as he loved his mother.
The guards came to the edge of the cliff and looked into the water. There was no way Nate and Tshepo should have survived the rocks, they thought to themselves but just to make sure, they fired shots into the water.
Nate heard the shots and prayed one of the bullets would bury itself deep in his heart and end his life yet he had no such luck. The water slowed the momentum of the bullets. Maybe he would be lucky and a shark would make him dinner.
When he felt a pull on his shirt, pulling him deeper into the water he felt relieved, at least he would die with Anele, and he wouldn’t have to mourn her. It was a cruel thought but he didn’t think his heart would be able to bear the pain of losing her. He didn’t even want to think about it.
But the tug he felt wasn’t a shark taking him home to the rest of its family for dinner, it was Tshepo. He too had been saved from the terrible fate of hitting a rock and was now frantically trying to save Nate. He had heard Nate’s heart-rending scream when the men began to shoot, he too had seen Anele’s body fall and the blood from her wounds pour out.
Once he shook off the shock of falling into the water he remembered what Anele had said about the water and he was worried he was about to make one hungry shark happy. So as soon as he could get his arms moving under the water he swam for Nate but Nate was not willing to be saved. Nate fought against his hold still reaching out for Anele’s sinking body. With the last of his strength, Tshepo dragged Nate out of harm’s way and swam with him to one of the rocks jutting out. He knew the men were still above waiting for the slightest movement that indicated that they were still alive so that they could finish them off.
They were in a precarious situation. The sharks and the guards.
After what seemed like an eternity the men moved off the edge and Tshepo brought his head out of the water to take a breath of fresh air. He dragged Nate to the surface.
Nate fought him. “Let me go!” he struggled to go back under the water. “Anele! Let me go!”
His weight and fight were pulling Tshepo back under. Unable to bear his friend’s struggle Tshepo hit Nate across the face so hard that his knuckles popped. Nate stopped struggling and stared in amazement that his own friend would hit him. His eyes were wide open as he stared.
Tshepo was crying. “She’s dead. She’s dead, Nate,” he whispered. “You know she is, you heard the gunshots, you saw her body drop, she’s sinking right now…”
“I can save her!” Nate whispered fiercely. His mind was far disconnected from what was happening, he didn’t want to believe she was dead even when he did feel her blood, even when her blood was on his body, even when he knew he had seen her fall without a struggle into the water.
“You can’t!” Tshepo was crying harder now. He hit Nate across the face again to get him to face reality. “She’s gone. She’s dead. She sacrificed herself, she sacrificed her life. She’s gone.”
“Then let me go too. Let me die too.” He began to fight Tshepo again but his friend held him still with his last strength. He couldn’t rule out the fact that Fredrick’s men were still up there and the slightest noise would alert them to the fact that both boys were still alive. “You have to let me die too! I can’t live…”
Tshepo wasn’t listening. His eyes were trained on a point beyond them where a white sail appeared. It was coming fast towards them. He thought nothing of it at first until two more sails appeared. Fear gripped his heart so strongly that for a heartbeat he couldn’t think. Suddenly he was gripped by a rush of adrenaline that seized him and before he knew it he was grabbing Nate tighter.
“Sharks!”
Nate’s mind snapped back to their reality at that moment. He looked in the direction Tshepo was looking and saw the white fins coming closer and closer still. His arms acting on survival reflex, he padded the water and began to swim for the shore. His heart beat so hard in his chest that he was scared the sharks could hear its vibration in the water.
Both boys, with no light or guidance, swam fast and hard, exhausting the oxygen in their lungs until their lungs burned. Tshepo reached the shore first and he reached out to pull Nate in.
Nate watched helplessly, aided by Tshepo’s hold on his collar, as the sharks converged at the point he had fallen when Anele pushed him in, it was the same spot she too had fallen. His sobs choked him as the water in that small area turned bright pink.
The weight of his sobs and tears pressed heavily on his heart so much that he couldn’t breathe nor could he tear his gaze from the sight before him. He barely felt the sand on the shore scratch his body as Tshepo pulled him over the bank.
Unable to keep his rage within himself anymore at the injustice, the unfairness, the cruelty of the world against him, he opened his mouth to let out the intensity of his sadness in a loud guttural scream but Tshepo’s strong palm clasped over his mouth muffled the sound. Still, Nate screamed into his friend’s hand, he felt as though his heart was going to burst out through his chest.
Still, he couldn’t look away from the spot where Anele’s body was shared in a frenzied feast. Tshepo forced his head to turn away from the sight, even then he could stop crying. The image was burned into his memory. Even Tshepo was crying, his tears blurred his eyes but he drew his lips into his mouth and bit hard on them until he drew blood. He couldn’t begin to try to understand Nate’s pain. He felt his friend shudder and tremble in his arms, felt his silent tears under the hands he clasped around his mouth to keep him from attracting the guards' attention.
He barely knew Anele yet for his friend’s sake and her kindness when she pushed him and Nate to safety, when she escaped with them and helped them even though she had no reason to run…for all those qualities, he cried. He shared Nate’s pain.
