Ring! Ring!!

The visitor's bell goes off jolting Molefi off his late afternoon snooze. He sits up expecting someone to be at the gate since the security guys refuse to do so. Akida is fast asleep on the sitting-room settee. Same for Bandele who's deep in slumber upstairs. It's Thursday afternoon – occupants of the Polemann Castle are resting in preparation for the flurry of weekend activities.

When the ringing won't stop, Molefi exits the building in search of Pono who should by now attend to the visitors. But then aren't the security guys supposed to ward off the irritant? These lads sometimes act strange – they open the gate for some visitors and ignore others, using criteria one finds hard to decode.

Before Molefi gets to the gate, Pono emerges from the corner with wet hands, having been washing the Toyota Prado SUV. The two men get to the gate at the same time.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" Pono asks on opening up.

Standing outside are four Polemann residents – the first two being a mother and her daughter. The others are female students.

The mother speaks first. "We're here to see Bandele – my daughter and I."

Turning to the other pair, Pono asks, "And you two?"

"We have complains about the flat."

Knowing fully well that property maintenance services aren't handled here at the castle, Molefi welcomes them still. "Come in, please." People seeking financial assistance sometimes use poor flat maintenance as an excuse to gain access to Bandele.

"Thank you." They chorus and then walk into the castle, sitting in the living room. Mother and daughter exchange glances at the opulence on display. The students can't have enough feel of the rug's succulence.

Molefi turns to the woman. "I haven't seen your faces here before. Is all well?"

"I'm Loretta Mpofu. My two daughters and I moved into one of your flats last month. Here is one of them." She points at her Afro-wearing schoolgirl, Dineo.

The teenage girl nods.

"What can we do for you?"

Perhaps taking Molefi for Bandele on account of the aide's confident carriage, Loretta raises her voice to state her case. "Sorry to bother you, Nkosi," she lifts to her feet, touching her flowery blue blouse in the chest region before flapping her eyes seductively.

Molefi corrects her. "I'm not Bandele. The boss is upstairs."

"Oh." Her shoulder drops as her face straightens. "Since we moved in three weeks ago, we've been bathing cold water only because the warm-water tap is faulty. We submitted a maintenance request form but nothing has been done. It will soon be winter when we need hot water every day, so we're here to report it. Kindly treat this as an urgent matter, please."

To Molefi, the lady's flailing hands and twitchy eyes say something different from her stories. They're not here to report a malfunctioning tap or any domestic issue for that matter. If the climatic conditions here in the castle are the same as on the street, summer should follow spring and not winter, as she claims. Her motive is clear.

As for the other group, Molefi seems to have a soft spot for one of the ladies whose physique and comportment reminds him of his ex-girlfriend, Mpho. Reserving the best for the last, he opts to attend to mother and daughter first before engaging the pair in a long tete-a-tete. He must start making friends in Soweto. Who knows, he might need them someday.

Molefi addresses the woman again. "Are you aware that we out-source all flat maintenance projects to a private company? They are the ones to handle your kind of complaints."

"Yes, we're aware. Like I said earlier, we sent out the forms and called on the phone but they've not replied. This is the third week."

The mother drops to the seat looking pensive. Dineo, who should be somewhere between seventeen and twenty, purses her lips and repositions on the chair. Molefi feels vindicated that they've come to see his boss for personal reasons. He returns to his desk and grabs the computer mouse.

"You said you are Lorretta who?"

"Loretta Mpofu."

"Okay."

After a few clicks, Molefi confirms them new in the area. On closer assessment, she's not Bandele's type. But the boss sometimes acts out of character, so he records her details into the CPL. Moreover, the evening is quiet, Bandile might need someone around even if he's yet to ask.

"I'll attend to you in a minute, please." He says to the two students seated on the far side.

"No problem."

"Come along, please." Molefi signals to the middle-aged woman, who hurries to her feet and so does her daughter.

As they climb the stairs, Molefi compares the well-dressed but off-spec woman with her offspring whose physique Bandele should find attractive. "How old is your daughter?" he asks the woman.

"Eighteen."

"Okay." Molefi grins on the scenario that may play out upstairs. Will Bandele ask the girl to step aside while switching on the warm water that the mother represents, or the mother will be excused while the lion fixes the daughter's cold water? It remains to be seen what the lion will do.

"Have your seats, please." Molefi points at the lobbyroom settees.

Loretta and Dineo take opposite seats, exchanging knowing glances as the woman mutters vague words which Molefi ignores. He heads straight to Bandele's bedroom and knocks on the door.

"Come in."

On locking the door behind, Molefi announces the presence of two females with water tap complaints, to which Bandele burst into fits of laughter holding his chest. "These people are funny. Since when did I become a plumber who fixes water taps?"

Molefi cracks up too, albeit cautiously.

"Anyway, bring them in. I've been thinking of the best way to spend my afternoon."

Molefi ushers them into the bedroom, returning to the lower floor.

Loretta puts on a broad smile on seeing Bandele. "Nkosi, I'm Lorretta Mpo—"

With a wave of the hand, Bandele gags the woman's mouth, casting a predatory stare at the girl whose oblong face carries angular cheekbones and a pointed chin. Her eyes, bright and whitish have above it thinly plucked eyebrows shaped into a stylish arch that forms a volley. Her short skirt appears to him like a vista to Eldorado. To cap it all, her Afro hairdo makes her beauty so natural, so pure.

Bandele won't get carried away. "What's your name?"

"Dineo."

He tilts his head sideways letting out a waggish chuckle. The lion finds the chick more appealing than the hen. Anyways, they're both here at a time when his bones irk so bad.

"I know you, and I know why you're here." He takes a page off Molefi's training book. "Don't worry; your problems will be solved."

Bandele takes a few steps forward and holds Loretta's hands. Written over her face is pain and worries – the type which numbs one's confidence. Like many on the street, she's in dire need and the nature of her predicament doesn't forbid selling her body.

Bandele refuses to submit to decorum. This is Polemann where things run his way. His next question doesn't leave room for trivialities. "Do you share a bed with your daughter or you want her to stay outside first."

Loretta stays motionless for a moment before taking a peek at Dineo who pretends not to have heard Bandele. His question hardly surprises the mother, knowing this spurious visit might come to this. This man is rumoured to open his wallets to any woman who does his bidding. That's why she's here. But uttering such profane words in her daughter's presence leaves much to be desired. Anyway, if he'll address their needs, there's no shame in playing along. Dineo is an adult and clearly understands the situation.

"Err...you mean that —" She pauses, leering at Bandele.

"You can't jump on the same bed with her, uh," Bandele whispers, withdrawing his hands from her thighs. "Ask your girl to stay outside, then. When I'm done listening to you, I'll invite her in. Is that arrangement okay?"

Loretta exchanges a glance with Dineo and then tarries. How will she explain this when they get home? She only brought the girl here so that Bandele will take pity on the young lady who's just been admitted to the university. Bandele's brashness makes one lick an open sore.

"Nkosi," she nods slowly, sadly, staying mute.

Loretta's sluggishness prompts Bandele to face Dineo.

"Go outside, I want to listen to your mom first."

The teenager complies pronto.

While Dineo waits in the lobbyroom, Molefi sneaks up the stairs and on seeing her alone, returns to his desk.

About an hour later, he's back upstairs again. This time, Loretta is the one lounging in the lobbyroom, adjusting her dishevelled hair and creased clothes, which attest to the quality of wrench Bandele used in fixing her broken tap.

It's now a bit past 8 pm and, from experience, ladies hanging around by this time will likely spend the night at the castle. Thinking Bandele won't need his aides for the rest of the evening; Molefi plans to keep one of the two students he's been chatting with. Their refusal to leave the castle after two hours says much about the status of their pockets. The relishing Jack Daniels offered them isn't the reason they're on seat.

"You two must wait till tomorrow. The boss is having an important meeting with his associates."

Molefi winks at Akida, a familiar gesture which codes their familiar refrain: 'as it is in heaven, so it is on earth.' A coy smile settles on Akida's lips. They have female companions tonight.

However, there are two ladies here but the guys are three. That's not a problem for Molefi who takes charge of the slender damsel whom he's been chatting with all evening. Bandele might prefer the bulky ones, he, Molefi, likes them slim. He leads her into his room, leaving Akida and Pono to sort each other out on who the last lady will stay with.

Pono doesn't object. The lady left is plus-sized – suitable for Akida whose muscles can handle her monstrous thighs. As is frequently the case, Pono remains the underdog.