They are Coming

Chapter 21

85 2004 Chapter 21 As soon as Mbambo had appeared on the pavement, Ngwenya had recognised him. After a moment of open-mouthed surprise, he’d risen from his cobbling spot and approached the newcomer, for here was a man from his past. ‘It has been a long time Mbambo.’ He extended his hand. But Mbambo ’s face had tightened and he’d turned his attention back to the shoe he was mending, whistling under his breath. Ngwenya stood looking at him, absorbing the unexpected rebuke. ‘I do not remember knowing you,’ Mbambo finally volunteered without looking up. ‘Hawu Mbambo! Maybe you’re right, so many years have passed, but please let me remind you. I am Samson Ngwenya, you were my foreman at Wildberg Ranch in Plumtree District, and you assisted in having me made the assistant foreman.’ ‘I do not know of any Wildberg Ranch,’ Mbambo retorted. ‘If you want to gossip could you please leave me be, as I have some serious work to do.’ Ngwenya gazed at Mbambo in silence. Could he be mistaken? No, he knew this was Mbambo. Sure, he’d changed, he was older, his body was slighter, his hair and moustache had turned grey, but it was undoubtedly Mbambo. Besides, there was that telltale old scar on his forehead. Silently , he returned to his stool under the mango tree. 86 Ngwenya continued working on his shoes, wondering why Mbambo had rebuked him. He felt more inquisitive than hurt. Was it because of the manner in which he’d left the ranch after the raid? Was he ashamed? Surely, whatever people had done during the war, whether good or bad, was now buried under the sands of time? But Mbambo’s rebuke piqued his curiosity – were the rumours about him being a sell-out true? Where had he been all this time? He’d been certain that Mbambo would quickly be evicted from the shopping centre pavement when Mr Sozinto saw him working there. But not long afterwards, Ngwenya had another surprise. Max, one of the shop assistants, emerged from the supermarket with a shoe and gave it to Mbambo; turning, he caught Ngwenya’s eye and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, I have no choice over this. What could be happening? All the workers in the shopping centre gave their shoes to him for repair. And Mbambo had only arrived that very day. Ngwenya began to observe Mbambo very closely. Within barely a few days, the man behaved as if he owned the pavement. He‘d even seen him hobnobbing with Mr Sozinto, like two people who had known each other for a very long time. ‘You have serious competition now, Ngwenya,’ Max had remarked when he’d come over to Ngwenya for a cigarette break. Max was a young man with carefully styled dreadlocks, and an eye for girls whom he bedded in the back storeroom when Mr Sozinto was not around. Ngwenya knew that while Max was a good-looking young man, he would not have found such easy prey if he wasn’t working in a supermarket, especially at a time of shortages. ‘Does Mr Sozinto know him?’ Ngwenya raised an eyebrow in Mbambo’s direction. ‘They seem so very friendly.’ ‘Mr Sozinto told us that he’s a distant relative who’s just arrived to live in the city.’ ‘Where from?’ ‘From the rural areas, a place called something like Cross Jotsholo. Do you know it?’ ‘Yes, it’s a growth point in Lupane District in Matabeleland North.’ So that was where Mbambo had been hiding all these years. It made sense. Cross Jotsholo was far enough away from Plumtree if a man wanted to hide. ...