Blackmail

One afternoon Mr J received an email again. This was the 10th one and it was demanding more money. G could not trace the sender and every time the location he dropped the money to was deserted with no cameras and no way of monitoring who picked it up. Realising that the demands were only going to get bigger, he decided to confess to his wife and the police. After looking through the case, the police told him that there was no case against him. Even though he fled the scene, the witness and the victim testimony revealed that he was defending himself and saved the girl. Relieved the he was exonerated by the law, he now had to confess to Thandi and asked S’bu to bring her that evening. Thandi had been to the Jobe home a multiple times before, but this time the atmosphere was very tense. Mr J decided to go straight to the point and tell Thandi everything.

“15 years ago, I had just resigned as the teacher and starting my company. I worked long hours and came back very late. One night, I witnessed a man strangling a women and could not just walk by. When I intervened, he attacked me and we fought. His head unfortunately hit hard on the rock that was on the floor. When I heard the police sirens, I fled the scene. I later found out that the girl was raped, she spent few days in the hospital and got discharged but the man did not make it.” By the time Mr J finished telling the story, Thandi was shaking uncontrollably and S’bu was holding her.

“That man that I fought with and killed that night was your father, I’m sorry” Mr J said with a low voice.

Thandi was suddenly feeling very dizzy, her head buzzing.

“Thandi, are you okay?” S’bu asked worried. Thandi was now shivering, it was very hot but Thandi felt so cold.

“How long have you known that he was my father?” Thandi asked with a shaking voice.

“It’s been almost 10 years now” Mr J said.

“I’m not feeling too well, please take me to my place” Thandi said her voice so low it sounded like a whisper.

Mr J nodded to S’bu signalling to him that he should attend to Thandi’s request. S’bu took Thandi’s hand and left his parents home quietly. When they got to Thandi’s flat, she insisted that she wanted to be alone to digest everything and think. S’bu left her reluctantly and worried about her. In the morning, Thandi did not answer his calls. He decided that he will go talk to her at work first thing when he got there but there was a crisis he needed to attend to and it was midday by the time he was done. When he got to his office he was shocked to find out that Thandi handed her letter of resignation and asked the finance department to give her the total amount the scholarship payed for her education with intention to pay it back. S’bu ran to the research wing hoping to find her there. He arrived the same time as Mr J who was called by Mandy to come and convince Thandi not to leave JC. Thandi was packing her last box when Mr J, Mandy and S’bu got inside her office.

“I understand that you are angry and I don’t blame you but I ask that your anger be directed to me not my whole family, they had nothing to do with this” Mr J said apologetic.

“I’m not angry with you Mr J” Thandi said. “He was a monster and I’m grateful that you killed him. He drank too much and beat my mom frequently. I don’t know how many times I had to stay with the neighbours because mom was admitted with serious injuries. I was eight years old, a daughter of a drunkard and I spent hours thinking of how to get rid of my own father so we could have a normal life. I was so happy when the police came to tell us that he was dead but I was now a daughter of a drunkard and a rapist” Thandi said ashamed.

“Thandi, you are not defined by his actions” S’bu said tenderly.

“But he has defined my whole life. I was accepted to your family because you thought you owed me something. S’bu’s love and pampering, the scholarship, this job and everything that came with it. I don’t deserve any of it, you didn’t have to give it to me because you didn’t do anything wrong. That’s why I’m giving all of it back” Thandi said tears running down her cheeks.

“I understand why you would think like that but I assure you that I never handed anything to you” Mr J said. “You were accepted to our family because of your kindness, morality and the positive influence you had on Mandy. My wife, Mandy and Amahle were already fond of you by the time I found out. You got the scholarship on academic grounds like everyone who got it before and after you. S’bu is right, your father’s actions do not define you. You rose above the odds, don’t let him steal that away from you. You are doing a good job here, please don’t leave. I will let S’bu address the part about the two of you” Mr J said pulling Mandy outside to give Thandi and S’bu privacy.

“Please look at me” S’bu asked Thandi who had her head down. “I knew about your father the same time as my father. I approached you because I was in love with you. It had nothing to do with your father. Everything I have done is because of my love for you and because I want you by my side till death. Do you really believe that I would be made to love you? Do you doubt my love?”he asked.

Thandi swallowed her saliva and shook her head. She had not thought of everything clearly. She never doubted his love and did not, even now.

S’bu sighed, pulled her to his arms and kissed her passionately.

“Your dad is outside” Thandi said trying to push her away.

“I don’t care” he said pushing her against the wall and kissing her until she stopped resisting him. “Your resignation is not accepted” he said before leaving.

In S’bu’s office, G and Mr J were meeting to discuss the blackmailer. “How far are we with the IT specialist?” S’bu asked G.

“The person we dealing with is really good, he’s really hard to trace. We getting a guy from Cape Town tomorrow to assist. He has a reputation for dealing with the most difficult problems”G said.

“We not paying anymore, let’s see what our blackmailer does” S’bu said. Now that Thandi knew everything, he could think clear and it was easy to make that decision.