adminCharles Dube
TODAY we pick up our story just before Nyati drugs Sofia and takes advantage of the situation to rape her in a hotel room. We get the details from Sofia when she says: “As I reflect on the painful memories of that fateful day, I just cannot understand how I could have been so naïve and blind. How could I have failed to see through the vain generosity? In my foolishness, I had been ensnared like the rat that died after eating poisoned sugar. All those expensive lunches, all those gifts, even the job were the bait that had been used to trap me. The events of that particular day marked the beginning of a new chapter in my life.”
After Nyati has raped Sofia, it dawns on her that she has been trapped. She had failed to see through Nyati’s vain generosity as alluded to last week. But it is surprising how events turn out this way because sometime when Nyati offered to bring her shoes she had declined. When Nyati’s brand new Mercedes Benz glided off from her home, she suddenly felt a wave of anger creeping into her blood. She had concluded that the old man was definitely after her and he should be mad to think that such a thing could ever happen. Nyati was old enough to be her grandfather.
With such thoughts from Sofia, all progressive elements against women abuse are solidly behind her. She is standing her ground at least for the moment. She is about to smash the little bottle of perfume Nyati had brought for her on the ground when her mother walks in. Her mother had to learn from her that Nyati has been bringing her a lot of things. Sofia’s mother concurs with her daughter that Nyati must be mad to think that he can make Sofia his eighth wife.
Like the general pattern these days, abuse victims tend to nurse the problem instead of making instant reports to the police in order to nip the problem in the bud. Fatima, Sofia’s mother makes a mistake when she suggests that they will give all those things to her husband, Joseph Takundwa. She is blind to reality as she cannot see that her husband is working in cahoots with Nyati. Fatima says Takundwa should return those items to his friend. Sofia is blunt about it.
She says: “Father can wear these underpants and dresses if he wants to!” When her husband came home in the evening, Sofia’s mother wrapped Nyati’s presents in one parcel and placed them on his lap. Joseph Takundwa picked the parcel and went into his bedroom. Two days later he came back home drunk claiming that he had taken the parcels to Nyati. Was that true, or he had sold the items and spent the proceeds on beer?
However, he also said Nyati had promised never again to waste his money buying presents for people who were rich enough to return presents. One detects lies in Takundwa’s words. Three weeks later, Takundwa sent Sofia with a letter to Nyati’s office claiming he was too busy “balancing” the books for the tuckshop. So Sofia was sent to the slaughter like a sheep. Her father was aware of Nyati’s intentions in asking Sofia to come to his offices. Sofia is open to abuse with the blessing of her father. This is typical of what happens to people who sacrifice everything as long as they get money in return.
As stated in earlier episodes, Joseph Takundwa is materialistic. He would rather have his children abused by Nyati as long as he gets money to drink beer. Sofia detects that her father and Nyati had pre-arranged her meeting with Nyati and was immediately suspicious. When Sofia hands the letter to Nyati, he is not even interested in the contents of it. Sofia is unsettled and informs Nyati that she was to go back home immediately. Nyati, the leopard in a sheep’s skin, asks Sofia to wait.
Nyati asks her to sit down and be comfortable as he wants to show her a lot of things. He asks if Sofia would not like to work in an office like his? But Sofia remains adamant that she wants to go home immediately. Nyati pretends to be hospitable telling her that he would personally make sure that she returns home safely. He says he intends to offer her a job at his office and pay him three times more than the mere salary of a teacher they place at three hundred dollars a month if she starts work the following day.
Sofia has not even thought of looking for a job hence she could not believe her ears when she was being offered nine thousand dollars just like that. That was an exaggerated salary meant to influence Sofia into submission. Sofia should have sensed danger from Nyati because when she asked what kind of a job he wanted her to do, he was not specific. He said: “Oh — that is not a problem. We will find something for you here.”
Nyati is calculating. When Sofia says she has never worked before, he tells her not to worry about that. He says he has a very special job for her and can see that she has a lot of untapped potential they can make use of in the office. She was driven home by Nyati’s driver on that day. The offer was too tempting to ignore for Sofia. A lot went through her mind.
How could she ignore such an offer? She knew very well that jobs were hard to come by. Highly qualified graduates were roaming the streets for more than a year in search of a job. Getting a job was the same as striking gold. However, even though Sofia was still in dream and excitement, she could still sense the trap that she was walking into. She did not ask for the job.
She asks: “Why not give the job to all these unemployed people with qualifications who are looking for jobs out there?
“Maybe he is a very kind man. Maybe I have been wrong about him? But if he is so kind and generous, how come he is not so kind to others? The other day I heard him boasting that he was going to fire some university graduates. Maybe he is a very close friend to my father — so maybe he is trying to help his friend’s daughter — what’s wrong with that?” Sofia is already won over by Nyati’s trickery. Find out more next week when Nyati drugs and rapes her.
For views, link up with [email protected] or sms only to 0772113207.
derick.khumalo