Five

They hadn’t seen her yet. They waited hours and hours hoping to hear that she was at the least ‘out of danger’. Yolanda was weak, shame had been her poison and it had taken over everything she was. She had hours and hours of reflecting on the past night – the night that none of them had slept- and it broke her. Her words of hate and malice were the last words she’d uttered to the daughter who was fighting her life. She wished she could take time and right her wrongs but life does not work that way. She had one weapon– prayer and she used it fervently hoping that her daughter would be fine.

They’d all managed to stick together: The Fords (that is Thando’s parents), Adam and Jordan. Without using any words they’d all agreed that fighting would not help Thando in any way nor would it have anyone pay for what they did. For the first in a long time – she mattered in that whole situation, not the why’s, the who’s and the whens – she was the priority and everything else would come afterwards. Her health (if not her life) was what was at stake.

The cold and dark hours of waiting gave everyone the chance to reflect on who they were and what they did. They all had the chance of evaluating what their role was in Thando’s life and if they were succeeding. For Jordan however it was a different story. The tragedy was a way for him to evaluate his own life and his family’s life. That fateful night forced him into reflecting on his mother’s words.