The Crocodile Tears

Chapter 7: Informing them

Monday morning in Hyde Park started like any other. The house was too big and too quiet with only the three of them in it. Lihle was in the kitchen making tea and singing under her breath. She had already gone outside to water Nomvula’s roses because someone had to. Sanele was upstairs in the study with his laptop open for a Zoom call with Milpark. He told them he would work from home for two weeks. Zinhle was at the dining table with a stack of files from Pretoria. She had driven in late the night before and slept in her old room. She didn’t sleep well. The silence in the house pressed on her chest.

At 9:03 AM all three phones rang at the same time. It was Siya. Lihle grabbed hers first and put it on speaker so they could all hear. Her voice was bright. “Dad? Is everything okay?” There was a long pause on the other end. When Siya spoke his voice was rough and tired, like he had not slept at all. “Kids. It’s your mother.” Lihle’s hand flew to her mouth. Sanele closed his laptop and stood up. Zinhle put her pen down and looked at the phone on the table.

Siya told them what happened in a flat voice, like he was reading a statement. They had been driving back to the lodge late. An elephant came out of the bush. It hit the side of the Land Cruiser. The car turned over. Nomvula was on the passenger side. She was thrown out. He hit his head and passed out. When he woke up she was gone. Mandla and the rangers found him in the morning. They looked for hours. By the river. In the bush. There was blood in the car but no sign of her. The police said with no body and animals in the area, they had to assume the worst. Lihle started crying immediately. She asked if he was hurt. Siya said he was fine, just a cut on his head and some bruises. The clinic had cleaned it and given him medicine. Mandla had called the police and they were taking statements at the gate because there was no signal in the reserve.

Sanele asked the questions in a calm voice. He wanted to know what time it happened. He wanted to know if Siya was sure they looked everywhere. Siya said yes. He was sorry. He tried. Zinhle did not cry. She listened to every word. When Siya said he had to drive 20 minutes to the gate to get signal to call them, she went very still. That was what he told them before they left. No phones. No signal for two weeks. Just the bush. Just them. Lihle was sobbing and said they were coming to Mpumalanga right away. Siya told her no. He said it fast. The rangers said it was not safe. There was nothing they could do there. The police were handling it. He told them to stay in Johannesburg. He would come home in two days and they would do a memorial for their mother at their church.

When the call ended the house went silent again. Lihle cried into a kitchen towel and said it couldn’t be real, they had just seen her on Friday. Sanele put his arm around her shoulders and told her to breathe. He said they didn’t know anything yet and they should wait for their father to come home. Zinhle walked to the window and looked out at the empty driveway. An elephant. At night. No signal. No body. The same knot she got before a hard case settled under her ribs. But she did not say any of it out loud. Lihle whispered that she should make more tea. So that is what they did.