RENDEZVOUS

I was completely confused. What was the meaning of this? What sort of pathetic nonsense was this? Or what game were we playing this time around?

I looked up at the building for the last time as I moved away from the old lady and towards it. I believe I was in the right place. It was an exotic hair salon. Classic hair salon. I'd heard a lot about it from the paper and television. It was the place Yvette had her hair done from most of the time. Was this a salon date?

I couldn't understand what was going on. I had to go in despite that fact. Besides, H was all over the news. He had to keep a low profile out of the spotlight. This could be one of his hiding places.

The other side of me thought. Maybe he was making sure I wasn't being followed. H was a very smart man. I trusted his cue and lead. But it was confusing altogether.

I walked to the door very alert. Paying attention to every single detail of my environment, I opened the door. Once I was in, I gently closed it.

The salon was very decent and busy. So many beautiful men and women doing their hair. The place had a glorious scent of an expensive taste.

I stood by the door looking around for any familiar face but all to no avail. Nobody hollered at me or welcomed me. I sheepishly walked to the front desk that sat ten meters or more ahead of me.

I found an emo girl sitting behind the desk. Her name was Emma as her tag said. She had black and green hair mixed all together in a shaggy hairstyle. Her theme, clothes, and makeup were deeply dark green and pitch black.

She paid close attention to her phone and hadn't recognized my presence. I, interrupting her, curled a little where I stood watching the atmosphere dignify itself.

I finally came to terms with the fact that I knew nobody in this place and turned to the emo girl.

"Excuse me ... is this 1335 highland Avenue?", I asked, confused and unsure of what to say.

Without shifting her eyes from the phone, she nodded in agreement. This made it hard for me to penetrate and ask further questions about H. I may be asking the wrong person about such sensitive information.

Something dawned on me at this point. He asked me to carry a bar of soap. Looking at the place I was coming to, I wouldn't need the soap. It must be a code. I impatiently searched my bag and laid it on the counter.

"I was told to bring this", I said panicking.

Her eyes shifted from her phone to the bar of soap. With her jaw-dropping, her eyes bulging in complete surprise. She was motionless for a second.

After a minute or two, I picked up the bar of soap and slid it back in my bag. I was anxious. Have I done the wrong thing?

"Do you know what I'm here for ?", I asked in a whisper as the girl stared at me.

"You're beautiful ma... You just did your hair? He had reserved a spot for your hair to be treated", she said in a shaky voice.

I nodded in agreement. I just did my hair.

She knew whom I came for. He paid for my hair. He was not as ghetto as I thought he was. It was a good thing. He could take care of a woman, regardless of how rough he was on the Streets.

He didn't belong to the streets, he was the streets himself. He runs the games played there and he knew who was doing what.

She paid attention to everything I said or did henceforth. She must be working for him. And she wouldn't want a bad report against her name.

Emma stood up and led me to an office at the back of the store. She firmly shut the door ensuring no one was following us.

She made sure I was completely comfortable on a couch and asked me countless times if I needed anything. She asked whom I came with and how I came to the place.

Of course, my car must have a tracker courtesy of Kat. That I knew. After Emma asked all these questions, I begin to understand why I came to the salon.

After all, assessments were made, she smiled at me. Something she never did from the beginning. I was able to see a very beautiful girl under this heavy and dark theme.

She went to prepare a cup of tea for me, exactly how I liked it. Lemon, cinnamon with honey. This man was seriously keeping tabs on me. It went down to my favourite tea.

"May I please have your phone and the soap?", she asked with her hand stretched out.

I handed her my bag with no question in case she needed more. I watched what she was doing, trying to logically make sense out of her every action.

She searched my bag for the items she needed and placed my bag on the floor close to her. All this while, she was standing.

She opened my sim card port with a pin and removed the contents on it. She collected a set of tweezers and pinched something between the port and pulled it. It was a chip and it continually flickered green.

She went to collect a lighter, a bottle of methylated spirit, and a wipe. She dipped the complete corner of the wipe and rubbed it on the bar of soap. She lit the spot on fire and it burned to a trivial hole. She did all this on a small table adjacent to where I sat.

After the hole dried up, she placed the chip flake onto the bar of soap and scarcely pushed it in. It continued to flicker emerald green and I knew it was on.

"This will be left here. You'll pick it up on your way back", she politely said while smiling.

This was not the final destination. This was the rendezvous. H was the smartest man I could ever think of. Katlego could not hold a candle to this record, by far.

"I'll be back", Emma said while clearing the table.

Knowing that I could safely move without being tracked for a few hours was a delight. I'd be able to see, touch, talk, and more with H. The room was as silent as the morgue and I could hear the clock tick.

Time was running out. I wanted to see the man who controlled the streets. The second president of our country. I wondered where I was to meet him. I was on a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

Emma came in with a very huge and potent handsome man. She closed the door behind him.

" You will be entirely in charge of taking her to The Spot and bringing her back here no matter what transpires for the rest of the season", she said in a low commanding voice.

He nodded in agreement. He turned towards me and offered his arm. Emma quickly came to rescue the half cup of tea and server that was still in my arms.

I stood up and took the man's arm. My arm in his, he led us to the back of the room. There seemed to be a lime green curtain against the same colour of the wall. He slid it to one side and it exposed a naked door.

He unlocked it with a unique kind of key and opened it. He went before me, searching the environment well. He walked around pretending to inspect the car yet searching the area for anything particularly unusual. He did this, a total of three times. It was clear.

He pulled out a small device as a remote and placed it on the car. A bomb detector I perceived. After ten seconds or so, it flickered blue. The car was safe for use.

He opened the car door and motioned towards me a sign. The sign meant I was safe to move. I swiftly walked forward to it and got into the car. I found myself close to a muscular but polite-looking man. He smiled at me to communicate that he came in peace. I returned the favour with a smile.

The gentleman who opened the door for me equally got into the car and drove off. He was my driver for the season, as Emma had said back there.

The car ride was as silent as the morgue. I looked outside the tinted windows of the BMW admiring the buildings. The driver was careful not to use crowded and VIP roads. We needed to avoid the spotlight and be on time.

We took many turns and twists altogether. I lost track and direction of where we were, after all, I wasn't the one driving. I didn't even have the slightest idea as to where we were headed to. Finally, the car decelerated and the car engine came to a halt. We arrived at the long-awaited destination. It was an abandoned garage.

The two gentlemen helped us manoeuvre our way through to the centre of the palace. There was yet another abandoned workshop.

One of the men went ahead of me and opened the door for me. How sweet they were. Ghetto but gentle. H taught his men well. But it was what I saw on the other side of the door that startled me.

H was entirely a man full of surprises. Hood, Ghetto, and completely nice.