Devil on my trail

He trailed me from a distance,keeping it respectable yet maliciously apt.In a wild gesture of melancholy,i wondered why such a young smartly dressed young man would follow me like that.The guy loitered around my locus every time i stopped to chat with a friend in a manner that almost convinced me that he intended to try out his luck.With a glimpse full of a rare yet sweet demeanor,his guise was perfected,and whenever he drew closer,i thought it was only to position himself for his first word.

I was rushing home from an investment group meeting with three other lady leaders.There i had cashed in on my annual loan facility and my handbag was full of cash.Having lived a perfect life ever since i migrated to South Africa,i never suspected any act of malice,let alone criminality around me.I continued my haste,lavishly striding on top of my high heels drawing a crude wave of admiration from onlookers.My husband Jeff had gone for a booze at a nearby pub but has been sending a thread of texts asking if i had made him anything spicy to eat.He likes to binge when he's drinking so i had to get home to make good before his return.I had promised him hot chicken skewers,before our usual Sunday roast.

Engulfed in deep thoughts of what awaited me at home,I lost sight of my tracker who by that time had made good progress into my tracks and with only half a meter away,he grabbed my handbag."Futsek!"He growled in an ugly throaty voice that emanated from a broken voice box in an attempt to scare me into releasing my lifetime stash.I did not let go,instead,i fought him and landing jabs with my left hand,i caught his jaws several times before he let go.Angry and agitated by my reaction,the man pulled out a 9 mm pistol and fired straight into my right hand.The bullet pierced through my right humerus tearing all muscles connected to the bicep before ripping it apart.I was lucky the bullet missed the basilic and cephalic veins.The bang from the ballistic shocked me,jilting my body and composure to the ground.Now lying on the ground,heartbeat uncontrollably racing,i cried for help.With blood gushing out,creating a plentiful pool around me, i bled so profusely that,i could smell death knocking at my door.As if that was not enough,the shooter had careful instructions to tie all loose ends. He simply had to finish it!With four more bangs,he landed thrice in my right leg and once in the left bum.

Our foreigners` club chairman was in his office and upon noticing the commotion,he bolted out in a courageous move that gave zest to eyewitnesses who were watching in despair.I could hear them shouting as they picked and threw stones,with some unpacking many sorts of weaponry from their store.The thief had messed up and had ruined his getaway plan.With my handbag,shopping bag and his gun in hand and an acute sense of danger,now after the predator,the man took to his heels in a wildly frenzied sprint.The angry mob of men followed in a spirited chase,throwing stones and sticks to confuse and trip the gangster while alerting the whole neighborhood. Although the executor was not so smart,the robbery was a carefully orchestrated job coined by professional robbers.He had a black Volkswagen golf 5 waiting for him just at the edge of our neighborhood. With a loud skid that signed off some tyre threads on the tarmac,the gang took off,hitting top speed within seconds. 

Back at the crime scene,i lay in a puddle of blood,now excruciating with pain.The police had just arrived,fully armed and ready to arrest the shadows and dead trails of a thief that was long gone.To me,what mattered most at that instance was medical help.A man unknown to me held me in his hands,head carefully supported by his mascly chest and helping to the best of his ability.I had never stolen solace of any other man's chest except that of my king but that day all that had no material significance.I really needed life support.As a trained paramedic,he had decided to help in a rather medical way.Putting pressure on my bleeding wounds,he managed to at least control the bleeding,sacrificing to perform the act with bare hands.It later came out that Martin knew my husband from high school and was now working at a local clinic.

The ambulance arrived after some minutes,and the paramedics wasted no time but hastened to prepare me for the first treatment.My husband,now at the scene,extremely gutted,scared and confused.He broke down and sobbed for the first time in my presence.His lips turned dry and white although he consistently bit them in anger.He held my feet and wept so profusely all the way to hospital blaming himself for not having been there with me.I ignored the bullet pain in my bones and calmed my husband down until he rebooted his guts.Blood was still dripping but the paramedics were doing their best to stop it.Upon arrival at Victoria hospital casualty,i was transferred to another stretcher before being expedited in.My husband,now fully fortified in his spirits,courageously wheeled me into a ward that the paramedics directed us to

News of the robbery had traveled and the shooters had caught wind of it.Now in a brisk but meticulous calculation,the angry mob of shooters swamped the hospital`s casualty department,all clad in black masks, literally checking every bed,guns cocked and ready to shoot.Jeff had seen them through a broken blind and sensed right.Danger was still imminent and in an adept display of prudentially sacrificial insanity,Jeff lifted me from the hospital bed,tucked me in a nearby cabinet,closed it and jumped straight into my hospital bed.In a split second,the gangsters stormed in flooding the whole ward and checking every bed.Thank Heavens! They didn't open wall cabinets but furious at their futile attempt to tie the loose end,the gang bollocked the medical staff in the ward,asking them of my particular admission.When they realised that they couldn't dig out any medical record,they left for another hospital.

Treatment continued afterwards,with the hospital stuff saluting my husband for such a defty impulse and act of bravery.In turn,we both apologised for getting them all in trouble.I sustained a broken humerus and multiple wounds in the legs.Due to overwhelming demand for hospitalisation of Covid 19 victims,i could not be admitted for too long.I was discharged at midnight and friends and family were still waiting outside.My condition was still critical,i needed someone to assist me with personal care.With only one hand working,i could not toilet or bath myself.

Back home,my children had fled the house.They had called their dad and alerted him that two men pretending to be investigation officers from the homicide department came looking for me,asking too many questions about where i was hospitalised.Jeff only made mention of it after i got discharged and with news of the shooter doing his due diligence,Jeffrey did not trust the idea of taking me back to our house.For the umpteenth time in 24 hours we found ourselves in another predicament.Danger was looming and the shooter was due to attack the house anytime.

We tabled our issue at the outpatients` department,with all close relatives in attendance but found no resolve until just after 3a.m when i decided to phone my college best friend Lynn. She had heard the sad news but only in allusion and she never thought I was the victim.Breaking the year old jinx,i rang her that awkward time of the night and narrated my demise.Lynn felt so touched that i could feel the tears in her voice.At last i pleaded with her for safe accommodation,explaining how precariously insecure the situation at my house had become.

Without hesitation or fear,my friend accepted my request,offering to send a driver to the hospital.Lynn had advanced with her education and had become a very famous surgeon in town.I took my small family to what would be our home for the next foreseeable future.It was a nice fully furnished cottage,towered by her luxurious bungalow in the heart of the most affluent neighborhood in Cape Town.Lynn assigned one of her best maids to take care of all my personal care needs until i was strong enough.She visited our cottage every night before she slept and sometimes performed professional medical checkups.

I am still at Lynn`s,recovering from the bullet wounds,with a scheduled procedure to remove bullet fragments in my right shin.My arm hasn't recovered much,i refused amputation.Doctors say it will take time to heal,considering my age.