Chapter 1 - The Day That Changed Me

Dear Humble Reader.

My name is Tracy Nxumalo. I'm the firstborn to my mother and the last born to my father. Growing up, I was a happy, sweet, and wild child, surrounded by unconditional love from my family and close friends. In their eyes, I was the queen. This is my story.

I lived with my mother, my grandmother's sister and her daughter, and my great-grandparents. My aunt Thokozile lived three streets away with her husband Oupa and their sons, Sandile, Sipho and Sabelo. I was closest to Sabelo because we were nearly the same age.

It was a rainy day in Orlando when Sabelo came to fetch me. On our way to his house, we ran into his father's friend. They greeted each other. Just as we were about to leave, the man asked Sabelo to accompany him to the bushes before we went home.

Being the gentleman he was, Sabelo agreed. He told me to come with them.

We walked a long way in the opposite direction, crossed a bridge, and entered an open field where you could only see cars in the distance. The man said we should move further, to a tree. We did.

What happened next changed my life.

He told both of us to strip naked. We looked at each other, confused. It was cold, raining, and we were in the middle of nowhere. He started undressing Sabelo, then came to undress me. By then, we were both crying.

After he undressed me, he looked at my body and smiled. He raped me while holding a knife to Sabelo's throat, moving it toward me whenever I tried to push him away. Sabelo's eyes were full of hatred, regret, and pain.

When he was done, he left us there. Sabelo dressed me and took me home.

I remember that day as if it were yesterday. We didn't speak until we got home. My aunt was surprised I wasn't as bubbly as usual. Later, I went home still wet from the rain. My mother told me to change, but I didn't want to take my clothes off until she threatened to call my father.

As I undressed, she saw the blood and asked what had happened. I broke down and told her a man had touched me and threatened to kill Sabelo.

We went to Bara Hospital. A case was opened. The man was arrested, we went to court, and he was sentenced.

To this day, I wonder where he is. Knowing my grandmother, I suspect she may have had him killed in prison.