The training

Professor Phenyo had an obvious charm to him, he was tall, dark and had great confidence, but there was one thing I disliked about him, he was a very secretive man which made me question his intentions. To prevent conflict I put my head down, but still remained weary.

“I hope you know the reason for being here, I also hope you are willing to work together as being a part of this organisation requires individuals who are willing to work as a team, no one works alone, that is why the board has paired you all. “Mr Phenyo announced.

All the initiates, including myself were each given a partner to work with. My partner was a serious looking, tall man by the name of Mika Ludik, who was originally from Moscow. The Russian man had effective skills in bomb making and weapon design, he previously worked in the Russian military for two years and had achieved approximately 100 kills within the two year duration in the military.

“Why did you retire so early in the  military?” I inquired, hoping to get a clear answer. 

“What makes you think you can talk to me?” Mika replied, looking annoyed. 

Making friends was clearly not anyone’s intention, I observed everyone in the entire class, the initiates were focusing on Mr Phenyo or so it seemed. I hid my smile and decided to act stern instead of goofy, perhaps GOH agents were not allowed to smile.

“Sorry about earlier, I’m not always rude, I just wanted to concentrate on what the Professor was announcing, I’m Mika and you are?” 

“I thought so too, nice to meet you, I’m Lebo” 

Mika smiled, he then offered me a can of Soda drink, which I gladly accepted. It had been a while since I stopped having a soda drink . 

I had developed a desire to become a secret operative but I didn’t know whether I could be accepted at the GOH since I had no qualifying skill that could serve useful to the agency. 

“Perhaps joining the GOH Training Program was a bad idea” I thought.

 I remembered my father’s words, when he clearly stated that..

”You don’t join, you get recruited”

Those that do get recruited were selected by the GOH board, what did I have, what was so special about me? Questioning myself endlessly would not get me the answer I was searching for, I needed to know the actual truth. There was only one person I knew who could help me get to that answer, my father.

“I need you to be honest with me” I said, sitting on the couch, with my father, who was paging through his newspaper. “Did the GOH recruit me because I had a talent or did you recruit me because I am your daughter?”

My father put his paper away then put his focus on me.Trying his best not to look annoyed.

“The GOH board, released a list of talented young people who had to be recruited. The final list was handed over to the guardians. Our tasks was to find new initiates and get them in training the following year, but a lack of funding delayed our process, hence we started training on March not on January. The corona virus left a horrible scar on the organisation’s finance. To answer your question, The GOH recruited you because you are talented and not because you are my daughter. Nepotism is not allowed in the agency. “He explained.

I was not entirely satisfied with the answer my father gave me, it sounded valid but it still couldn’t explain exactly the reason why the GOH chose me had to find out what my talent or skill was which attracted the GOH board.

My father stood up from his chair, went to his office for about five minutes then returned with a file. At the middle of the cover was written “ GOH Training program” with a large red coloured font. My name was at the bottom of the file cover.

“This is your GOH profile, it has all the information you need. Go through it then return it back to me once you’re done” He said, handing me the file. 

I opened the file carefully, turning each page slowly to prevent the paper from ruin.

“Candidate Name_Lebohang Mokoena,Ethnic group_African,Gender_female, health_good, height_155 cm, skill_painter,Talent_N/A. If my talent was not shown on the file, then how exactly was I recruited. GOH chose me and I couldn’t really ask my father as it was clear that he knew nothing about my recruitment information. This raised questions in my mind, but I kept silent perhaps the GOH board didn’t really know my talent’s, but instead found something that could be useful to them and decided to recruit me. No matter their reasons I would not back down from finding out the truth.

The first session with Mr Phenyo was not entirely exciting as I hoped it would be. It was more of an orientation than training. Staying focused in class was not simple, some of the women in my class would often embarrass themselves by flirting with the professor during lessons which I found to be totally inappropriate. But I didn’t blame them, the professor was good-looking, with an exuberant charm that could make even a stubborn woman to lose focus and blush alone. But I would never admit to those feelings as I felt that I was not ready for any new relationship.

“he is hot eh?”Mika asked the women at the back, they agreed, I pretended to be deaf for the entire session. When the session ended Mika asked to join me for lunch, I was hesitant but he kept on insisting, I agreed to join him only if he didn’t mention Mr Phenyo’s name. He promised not to. 

“So what do you think of Professor Phenyo, do you think he is hotter or less hotter than me?” Mika asked, I nearly choked from the orange juice I was hoping to swallow in peace. I laughed.. 

As if he would keep his promise. 

“I think you and Mr Phenyo might share a dad, because you’re both good looking” I answered. 

Mika protested and I laughed. Lunch time was soon over. We departed.

The following day, Mr Phenyo was wearing a maroon coloured blazer. His head neat and bald as always, his beard perfectly trimmed, but it wasn’t his physical appearance that made my heart beat fast whenever I saw him. He showed great care to all the students, he made each and everyone feel important, he even motivated us. He emphasized the importance of teamwork, he enjoyed his work and wanted all us to work together. 

“In the previous session, you were given a tour around the training camp, you finally met up with your partner’s and got to know their skills. Remember just because you have not found what you’re good at it doesn’t mean, you are not talented Everyone here is talented. Here in GOH,we recruit talented people and turn them into highly skilled secret operatives.” Mr Phenyo stated.

A group of students applauded, following the applause of the already trained agents who had worked closely with our mentor.

“Today you will learn how to use your brains as weapon’s. What I mean by this is that you will have to think your way out of a situation without using any gun, or knife or fist, just using your brain. “he continually stated, and the class, marveled.

“The brain of a guardian must always be alert as this is one of the requirement to defeat an enemy. Our first lesson, will be on feeding the brain with the right nutrition “

 The entire class was focused on what the professor had to say, I could see their willingness to learn, their passion to become guardians of the hex. I also had a deep desire, a desire to be important and even appreciated for my good work. Becoming a guardian I thought would finally serve as my purpose, what I knew could make my mother proud if revealing the secret was safe.

Among all the other initiates in my class, there was one very strange. Her name was Zinhle Mbule, she sat two chairs towards my right. She had black radiant hair that made her look like a model of a certain magazine cover and a smile that lit up the entire room. A true humble spirit. Before lessons began, Zinhle would take out a black book, which I thought at first was a Bible. She would then mumble a few words and place the book back inside her bag, the following day she would repeat that very same routine. Rumors about her began to spread, some said she was a snake in the form of a woman, while other’s said that she was only a Christian who enjoyed the bible verses. I went on to approach Mr Phenyo as I could not stand by while nasty rumors were being spread about a fellow classmate, as I knew how it felt to be in her shoe’s.

 “Thanks for bringing this forward, I will have a discussion with the board, that sort of behaviour is unacceptable here.”Mr Phenyo said. After I told him about what other initiates were doing.

When classes had ended for the day, the professor made an announcement to all initiates in the class. The mean girls stood at the front, pushing their chests forward while fixing their breasts, trying to somehow seduce the professor who  in turn chose to ignore those remarks like he always did.

“An fellow student  has complained about your treatment towards Zinhle Mbule. You have been spreading disgusting rumors about her and that type of behaviour is unacceptable here. If I or any other guardian finds any of you spreading filth about one another, you will all be expelled from this program and your memories wiped of this place and if you attempt or reveal the secrecy of the GOH, you will be incarcerated and those you have revealed the secret to will have their memories wiped about the GOH and about your existence as in they will never know that you ever existed, like you were never born “stated Mr Phenyo. The students looked terrified, they neither smiled nor coughed. The class was over filled with a sudden silence. No gossiping took place ever since, the students were attentive to their own behaviour, their focus improved.

 The lessons concerning the brain alone were a month long, but very effective. I began to pay attention to my diet, I replaced caffeine with Rooibos tea, my father’s favourite. My numeracy skills improved, my memory improved, my thinking sharpened. I enjoyed reading for longer hours than for a mere fifteen minutes as I used to do before.

When the lesson’s had ended with Mr Phenyo, a new teacher by the name of Kaila Soldaat  who preferred being called Miss Soldaat, came into the class and informed all the students  that she would be teaching us combat. Mika was filled with excitement, he seemed  to enjoy the fighting part, but I suspected that it was much more than that. Combat lessons were taking place in the stealth training ground, an area where all guardians would train themselves to better their fighting skills. Kaila had asked Mika to assist her in handing out notes to the entire class. Ever since that occurrence, Mika never missed a lessons like he had done with professor Phenyo’s lessons.  Lean, quick and brutal Miss Soldaat was a champion when it came to combat. 

“I am glad that you are all here.The position of a guardian is not for the fainthearted. You need to endure both emotional and physical pain. You have to be alert and be able to use what you know to destroy your opponent. The combat teacher explained.

“Fighting is not a way to gain respect, it’s a way of destroying your enemy. This skill that you’re about to learn is a sport to wrestler’s and a defence tactic to soldier’s. What I am doing here is turning each and one of you into the smartest, toughest soldier’s . You will learn discipline, courage and combat tactics. If you want to become an agent of the GOH, you will have to do more than just fight, you need to be disciplined and be persistent in destroying your opponent. Your first challenge, to tap out another team. You will form a team with your partner to fight off another team. The team that taps out loses, You have ten minutes to prepare yourself, Go!” Kaila stated. 

All initiates sat in their team’s, formulating various tactical strategies of destroying their opponent’s. 

“Ok this is how we are going to do this, firstly punch on the right then left cheek very quickly to surprise your opponent, secondly always remain alert, do not allow yourself to get punched, ever! Thirdly, punch the stomach three times with your right and left fists, ensure that the punch is firm, this will cause great pain in the abdomen. Repeat the steps till your opponent decides to quit” Explained Mika. His eyes were red, he was eager to win and I knew then that I had to pull through, I couldn’t let my partner down. I had to win, no matter what.Mika seemed to be good at combat, even though I hadn’t seen him fight, his fighting spirit spoke for itself. He was not to be underestimated. 

“Ok,you two come here” Miss Soldaat instructed, pointing at Mika and I. We stepped forward anxiously waiting for our opponent’s.

“You two come here, begin your fight “Miss Soldaat continued, pointing to Sam and Katlego.

The combat Teacher, put Sam and Mika in a fighting match.

 Katlego giggled as her way of provoking me and partner into a quick fight. For which if unplanned for could lead to unwanted defeat after all,fighting required discipline and control.

Sam delivered the first throw across Mika’s left cheek, it looked strong, the students marveled at the sight. Sam delivered the second blow to the right cheek, but to his surprise his opponent had been expecting it. Mika covered his face with his with his left arm, then quickly punched Sam on his right cheek, with another quick throw to his opponent’s stomach twice, which resulted in the opponent spiting out blood. The students were pulled in to the match, waiting to see what would happen next. Miss Soldaat blew her whistle in order to stop the fight.

“Okay, that was entertaining, now let’s see what the ladies can do. You two come here” Miss Soldaat instructed, pointing at me and my opponent Katlego. Begin” she said. I could see Mika winking at me, While Sam had rushed to the man’s bathroom to hide his shame.

Katlego had an intimidating body, her shoulders were massively built, strong enough to throw two people down, at the same time. I had to be strategic in order to win the fight. I threw the first punch on her left cheek but missed, I attempted to throw the second punch but my opponent grasped my fist with her right hand, then  she delivered an unexpected  blow on my right cheek with the other hand, I slightly bit my tongue that  very moment. Katlego smiled, while Sam kept cheering her on “Hit her, hit her hard “he yelled. The disappointment  on Mika’s face, I couldn’t let him down again, I kept my head high. Katlego attempted to throw another punch on my right cheek, I managed to pull my hand away from my opponent’s grasp, then took cover. Before Katlego made another attempt, I punched her hard on her left cheek twice then a punch to the right, blood came out if her mouth, I could hear Mika whistling in excitement. My opponent shook her head, trying to get her focus on, I patiently waited for her just as an honourable fighter would do. Katlego stretched out her hands, ready to fight once  more, her reputation depended on it. She attempted to punch me on my face, but I wouldn’t allow her victory that easily. I made a firm fist and punched my opponent on the stomach twice, she coughed out blood, while she was bending down, aching in pain, I delivered a blow to her right cheek and she fell. Miss Soldaat blew her whistle. It was time to stop fighting. 

“Excellent, go and freshen up!” Miss Soldaat stated.