?No, that?s not??
?Maybe sometimes a bad hair day, but that can be fixed.?
?Anyway, that?s a wedding band I see, isn?t it??
?Wait, wait, wait.? He held up his hands. ?I?m not interested in women . . .?
?Sarge! We could have sworn you were hetero.?
He was starting to get cross, but he looked hard at their faces and saw their deliberate mischief. He laughed helplessly with them, from his belly. The door opened and his daughter Carla stood there in her school uniform. She was momentarily confused by the scene?then relieved. She embraced her father.
?I hope that?s his child,? one nurse said.
?Can?t be, he?s queer as a three-rand note.?
?Or his boyfriend in drag??
They had Carla laughing with her head on his chest and eventually she said, ?Hallo, Pa.?
?You will be late for school.?
?I wanted to know if you were alright.?
?I?m alright, my child.?
The nurses were leaving and he asked them to explain again about Emmarentia.
?Why do you want to know, Sarge??
?I?m working on this case. We can?t work out how the victims are selected.?
?So the sarge wants to consult us??
?I do.?
They sketched a verbal picture as an alternating duet. Jimmy Fortuin picked up an occasional score at the Pick and Pay on a Friday afternoon, because by then it was crawling with single women.
?But middle-aged. The young ones still have the guts to fly solo in the clubs, or they gang up, strength in numbers.?
?They buy food for Friday night and the weekend: treats, you know, to spoil themselves a bit. Comfort food.?
?Between five and seven, that?s hunting season for Jimmy, ?cause they?re all on the way home from work. Easy pickings, because Jimmy is a motor mouth, a charmer.?
?Just at Pick and Pay??
?That?s just
convenience store, but Checkers would also work.?
?There?s something about a supermarket . . .?
?Kind of hopeless . . .?
?Desperation . . .?
?The Lonely Hearts Shopping Club.?
?Last stand at the OK Bazaars.?
?Sleepless in the Seven-Eleven.?
?You know??
Laughing, he said he understood, thanked them and left.
He dropped Carla off at school with the car that Joubert had left for him.
?We miss you, Daddy,? she said as they stopped at the school gates.
?Not as much as I miss all of you.?
?Mommy told us about the flat.?
?It?s just temporary, my child.? He took her hand and pressed it. ?This is my third sober day today,? he said.
?You know I love you, Daddy.?
?And I love you.?
?Fritz too.?
?Did he say that??
?He didn?t have to say it.? She hurriedly opened her case. ?I brought you this, Daddy.?
She took out an envelope and gave it to him. ?You could pick us up at school sometimes. We won?t tell Mommy.? She grabbed him around the neck and hugged him. Then she opened her door.
? ?Bye, Daddy,? she said with a serious face.
? ?Bye, my child.?
