The Blackout

THE BLACKOUT

Family members and relatives are considers to be the alternatives of your own parents, they should take or replace your parents’ place and duties when the parents leaves this world in terms of death. It is the inner part that determines your intentions, it can be kindness, hatred, love, peace, support and care we decide on our own accord. Though some events can leave you miserable, your natural personality will determine in which state you belong, whether you are heartless / full of hatred or you are kind and loving. In the capital city of LIMPOPO, Polokwane Bendor Park, there lived Amelia Mojapelo along with her family I mean her mother and father. Amelia’s father was owned almost every corporation in Polokwane and Johannesburg, where some of them were expanded to the places outside these two other places, Polokwane and Johannesburg. While, her mother was a nurse at Polokwane hospital, she had a lot of relatives from a township called Seshego.

Amelia was so smart in class, her parents were proud and boastful to attend her academic awards’ ceremonies at school. At the age of 12 years old, the school decided to let her skip grades and straight to grade 8 because of her IQ and EQ rate, they were very high. Her family background and influence did not have an influence on her because she lived like an ordinary person with no money as her backup. She befriended herself with a lot of people from Bendor, she used to meet an old woman wearing rags. Because she was kind enough she always brought her food and her mother’s old clothes. This old woman would look at her with despair and pitiful eyes. Every time she made eye contact with her she would see her as older than she is now, she would see her crying though she is smiling at the present moment, she would see her crawling and begging and she would see her wearing rags and staying on the streets but the streets displayed in the old’s woman visions were too different from the current ones in Polokwane. Amelia went to visit her two aunts Jane and Stella, she did that every holidays until she was in grade 12.

The old lady decided to change where she would usually squatter, Amelia looked for her for almost two weeks because she grew very fond of her. After looking for her tirelessly, the old woman decided to reappear because the visions she had about her future reappeared and started to give her insomnia. Amelia was sitting at the side of the road when she saw her silhouette, she quickly jumped up to hug her and she had a meltdown. The twelve year old Amelia was clever, she asked the old women a lot of questions. Though she tried to lie, Amelia was so persistent. The old woman held Amelia’s right hand with both of her hands, the vision was now clear(everything appeared as if Amelia was currently there and in a form of flashcards) and the old woman spoke and revealed what she is seeing::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Flashcard1 **

Her mother did not always approve of her visits to Seshego because she did not trust her own family towards her daughter. So she always told her to never let down her gut, it all meant that love them and care for them but never trust them. Her aunt (Jane) always had shown that she care and love Amelia and her mother but she was close to Amelia’s elder aunt (Stella). Stella was never pretentious to Amelia’s mother and she was known to moving from one man to the other currently she was in her 5th marriage, all her previous husbands died of she had shown her that she does not consider her as her family and she displayed pure hatred towards her little sister’s daughter and husband. Birds of the same feathers flock together.

Flashcard2 **

Her aunts Jane and Stella met at BOLIVIA LOUNGE because Stella works there, which was immediately after Amelia’s mother told Jane all the details of their trip for Amelia’s birthday celebration. Surprisingly, there was two other men with them. These two men seemed to be working as security guards, their names were Sean and Jakes. They were told to convince Amelia’s father to let them drive their guests in the quantum taxi that they will hire. They were also instructed to tamper with the tyres and the front wheels of the SUV on their way back, then their meeting was dismissed.

Flashcard3 **

Five days before Amelia’s 16th birthday (29th of December). She was now in grade 12 her mother planned a family trip to BELA-BELA (Kariba warm bath) because the place was only 171,9kilometres away from Polokwane, and they decided to drive there. They left the house on the 28th of September at around 6pm, along with her schoolmates and her best friend (Melisa). Her best friend and classmates used a different transportation (a hired Quantum) while Amelia and her parents drove in a dimmed black SUV. Three hours later they were settled in a guesthouse. At 00:00 of 29th of December, they all woke up to sing for her and give her birthday gifts. The celebration went well and later they were ready to go back home. The time was 4pm, when the black SUV rolled down the hill near Modimolle.

Flashcard4**

Amelia woke up when she heard the sounds of the machines, when she opened her eyes. She became in contact with her aunt Jane, Jane was crying if this was an acting session she would win the audition. Amelia asked what was going on that is when Jane told her that they were involved in a car accident six months back, her mother did not make it and she was even buried. That was when burst into tears, she cried for almost two hours. The time she raised her head, she asked about her father. Jane told her that he is at home and immediately after that, she was discharged.

Flashcard5 **

She was surprised that her poor aunt is now driving the same SUV as her father’s. She kept quiet and observed everything, when she raised her brows she realised that they were heading to Seshego. She kept quiet again, when they got home. Her aunt Jane reprimanded her, she told her that she was not allowed to visit her late mother’s house, if she does she will be thrown out of the house. She only listened and never spoke this time again but after a week of the rebuke she took a taxi to her late mother’s home. When she entered the house, she found her father and her aunt Stella in an awkward position and there were flower petals on the floor leading to the bedroom. They lit candles everywhere. She was surprised to see her mother’s ring on her Stella’s finger. She screamed in fear and disgust because she expected her father to grief for her mother for at least a year.

Flashcard6 **

While Amelia was running like a headless chicken, Jake came driving a black dimmed Kia Sedona. Jakes stopped the engine and opened the door, Amelia got in the car without thinking of anything else. The way she was so tired, she immediately fell asleep. She was awakened by a slap across the face, when she tried to lift her hands they were both tied to the chair. When she looked around, it looked like an old warehouse. She was beaten to a pulp by her own aunt, it all was in the presence of her other aunt (Jane) whom she thought somehow had her back. Jakes was instructed by Stella to drive her to Johannesburg Hillbrow. Jakes felt a little guilty then he mistakenly dropped her near The Summit Club.

When Amelia wake up, she realised she is dirty so she remained outside and looked at the sign of the club covered with a flash of a neon light. At the moment her feet were leading her away from the club, she saw a black dimmed Lamborghini Veneno Roadster drove by a nice black handsome middle-aged man, the gentleman’s name was Quinton Jingoes. She had her neck stretched toward the door of the night club to see what is really going on but the she realised she is filthy so nobody would bother to glance at her, not even once.

Flashcard7 **

It came to her thunderbolt that the man in a fancy car was actually staring at her, she looked away yet the guy followed her and he literally stopped her from taking further steps. She feared for her life and started to run so he ran after her, after catching up with her he took her to his car. A moment later he drove her to his house where she was given a chance to bath, make food and take a nap. By the time she woke up, she found that gentleman beside the bed she was napping at. She slowly opened her round, big and beautiful eyes to find a dark face with a shocking stare around her face. She sat down straight to ask if everything is fine or not, to her surprise she was questioned about her life and how she ended up on the streets of Johannesburg. She is now shivering and all sweaty at the same time, she has been offered water in a shining glass so everything in Quinton’s house was so shiny, starting from his suit to his tie oh never mention his bald head and the nose too, all not in a bad way because he was handsome. Amelia then told him her story.

Flashcard 8 **

Quinton took her to a lawyer, only to find out that the lawyer is the one her father always use for his legal matters. The lawyer told her that, her father signed everything he owns to Stella. Weeks later Amelia got married to Quinton and enrolled at the University of the Free State to study law.

The old woman opened her eyes only find out that Amelia had a blackout, she rushed her to her house. Where her mother called an ambulance to rush her to Pholosho Net care. She woke up after four hours, she was surprised to wake up to her parents’ sides. She quickly sat up straight, began to touch her mother’s and father’s body to feel if they are still alive and she pinched herself so hard to see if she was dreaming or not. That is when she spotted the old ragged woman and waved at her, she did not know whether to believe it or not, she had doubts.

When they got home, she immediately asked her mother to apply for LLB at University of the Free State on her behalf. Her parents were really thrilled to find that their daughter wanted to study law. She strictly and seriously told her father to tail all his employees, and told her mother to never trust any of her aunts. After writing her final examinations, she asked her father to renovate all the old warehouses in Polokwane into law firms. She convinced her father to install cameras all over the house and in the garage too and to thoroughly check his car whenever he is driving anywhere. She went to Johannesburg to look for THE SUMMIT CLUB and look for a man by the name of Quinton Jingoes.

She could not change her fate but she could change the sequence of the flashcards and delay most of the scenarios.

BY:MAPHEFO PATRICIA MOJAPELO