Starlight in the Ring (16 page)

As he recalls that evening, Mark’s voice is faint, and he pauses a lot. He is constantly looking at Baas Jimmie. He makes a clear point about what he wants to study in the future, and become in later life. “It is right to stand up for my beliefs. I have a right to defend the people of all races that I believe to be innocent. I do not have to apologise because some of these people are ‘natives’. They also need protection. That’s why I wanted to be a lawyer. My dad told me to drop law. Betty’s family committed themselves to us. It was right for me to love her.” Mark stops talking for a moment, closes his eyes, and after that looks up at Jimmie saying, “Dad, you hurt me.” Then Mark returns to his seat.

A state witness, Maureen, one of their neighbours, then gives evidence:

“Jimmie’s life changed for the worse ever since he shot his son, Mark. He drank heavily, driving his van recklessly all day and shooting randomly. He has been terrorising almost
everybody in and around Skoonfontein. I have been in their home several times, witnessing rows between him and his wife, Theodora.” Maureen reaches for her handkerchief, and covers her eyes. “What I saw him do to his wife was horrible. Surely, Theo didn’t want to die. She didn’t deserve it either. She ran for her life, and was close to me when the last bullet penetrated her heart from the back, sending her flying to the ground, face down. I turned her over to lie on her back, applying First Aid. Her eyes rolled over, and she died on the spot.”

As this woman explains her side of the story, I wonder how painful her account is to Mark’s ears. For me, it was good to hear what actually sent Missus to the grave. For Mark, could it be like spraying a wound with salt?

I start wondering if he knew anything himself. The court adjourns for lunch.

This is the most horrible day for me and my parents. Should Jimmie go to prison, we will be losing two ‘family members’: Theodora in such a dreadful manner, and Jimmie, who will be put away for a long time, and probably die in jail. I stand up to locate Mark, but he isn’t there. This matter is unbearable for all of us. My dad’s holding my mum, her head covered with a black shawl, and they walk out of the court room. I see them wiping their faces: they are crying. My mum can hardly control herself. As soon as they are outside, she throws herself in my dad’s arms, screaming, “The Douglas’ family - my God, why have you allowed this?” Their friends go to comfort them.

They walk across the road to the shops to buy loaves of brown bread and sour milk, which they share among themselves, sitting on the green lawn by the road side. My eyes are fixed on the European people milling outside the court; I wish to have Mark by my side. There are quite a number of Europeans in court today, yet there is no sight of Mark. I don’t dare to ask any of them. I hope he will be back in court after lunch.

The court resumes in the afternoon, with the Prosecutor
pronouncing further charges against Jimmie, including possessing unlicensed fire arms, and reckless shooting, endangering the farm-workers. I feel tears dripping slowly down my face, and I wipe them off discreetly with the back of my hand, careful not to smudge my mascara.

I’m called to the witness box on the side of the natives. As I walk to take my stand, I look across the room by the door. Mark is now sitting at the end of the last row there dressed in a navy blue suit, and a striped tie. Words vanish from my mind. I stand still for a while, looking at him, more handsome, than ever before. Tearfully, I give the details of the events that occurred that night, and then sit down.

Koos Van Tonder takes the witness stand on the European side.

Koos, a constable off duty on that day and the Douglases’ friend, who was at the barbecue earlier on and had returned to collect his board game he left behind, gives his moving testimony, saying: “As I walked towards the door from my car, I heard and saw Theodora saying repeatedly ‘Oh my God!’ and pushing in the kitchen back door to open it. Hurriedly, she got to the corridor, reaching out for the telephone by the window. She turned the handle very fast and picked it up, screaming, ‘Hello, come to Skoonfontein – now! Quickly, Mark is alive!’

“Unaware of what had happened after I had left, and as part of my work, I rushed to the sitting room to listen from another receiver, trying to figure out what the problem was, exactly. A voice said, ‘This is the Burgersdorp exchange; could I have the number please? Do you want the ambulance or the police?’ The operator, trying to get more information about the service Theodora needed, was becoming desperate with her hysterical utterances at the other end of the line. He required clear directions, in order to dispatch the emergency vehicle.

“‘Hello! What’s happening?’ the telephone operator asked again. I reached out for my notebook and started taking notes,
looking across the room to the corridor where Theodora was standing.

“Theodora sobbed, ‘My son, Mark, is dying. Help! Hurry up!’

“‘Okay, Skoonfontein, right… I can see it on the map.’

“‘It’s my husband. He shot him. Please, hurry!’

“Theodora hung up, and wound the telephone again. She got through to a different operator. Coincidentally, it was Jakobus, their family friend, who was not at the barbecue.

“‘Number, please?’ he asked.

“‘Ambulance! Please be quick! My son Mark, has been shot. I’m Theodora Douglas, from Skoonfontein.’

“‘Okay, Theo - it’s me, Jako; I’m sending the ambulance now.’ Theodora could hardly speak; she just cried, pleading, ‘Please help! Come over straight away after sending the ambulance.’

“Jako called Theodora, asking, what had happened and about where Jimmie was. ‘It’s him! He shot them,’ that was Theodora’s reply.

“‘Shot who?’ asked Jako.

“‘Mark.’

“‘Mark? …Sorry, Theo… Okay, the ambulance is on its way,’ Jakobus reassured her, and hung up. I did not want to disturb her, so, I remained in the sitting room, shocked with this news. Theodora rang again, asking the exchange for number 70239. I could hear Marie, one of the friends who had visited the Douglas family earlier, answering the phone saying,
‘Hello, Marie, wat praat, kan ek help?’
meaning in English, ‘Marie speaking, can I help?’ Theodora, still screaming, explained. ‘Jimmie shot them; the bullets hit Mark; he’s badly hurt, bleeding and struggling to breathe.’

“Marie cut her short, saying, ‘Theo, okay; I’m coming now.’

“Having heard what had happened, and also in shock and desperation, this time around I walked to the corridor to meet Theodora. I heard the revs of Marie’s van arriving at Jimmie’s farm. Theodora rushed out, and I followed her into Marie’s van.
Marie drove off to the fields. As we arrived at the scene of the shooting, the ambulance was pulling away, with Jimmie sitting at the back with Mark. The sirens went off, and the blue lights flickering all the way, in this speedily-driven ambulance. I sat in this van without saying a word.

“Marie drove frantically behind the ambulance to the Blanke Hospitaal, meaning the European Hospital. ‘I’ve never driven a car over 120 kilometres per hour,’ she confided later.

“Theodora, Marie and I sat in the waiting-room, while Mark, carried on a stretcher, was rushed into theatre for emergency treatment. Jimmie, who was probably now sobered up, followed the stretcher and waited outside the theatre. He returned to join us after about six hours, following Mark’s admission to the Intensive Care Unit. Theodora’s voice was faint, and her face swollen, from crying.

“‘It’s okay, Theo,’ I heard Marie say, patting her shoulders, giving her a hug for comfort. ‘Mark should recover. The doctors are looking after him now.’

“‘What if…?’ Maybe she wanted to say, ‘…if Mark survives, but never recovers fully?’ Hurt overcame her speech; she continued crying. However, later she summoned up the strength to complete her sentence.

“‘There’s no need to think about that now, Marie,’ I said encouraging her. ‘Life is the most important thing, regardless.’ Jimmie returned at this point.

“‘Let’s go home!’ he said, joining us, appearing dreadful with his bloody eyes. We all went to the car park and squeezed in front of this three-seater van and left the hospital, with Jimmie being upset for not receiving sympathy from all the nurses and doctors. According to him, he was stopping his son from committing crime.

“‘What Mark was doing with that Betty, I really don’t understand. He returned from the university with these funny thoughts - the United Nations’ declarations of democracy, equal
opportunities, human rights, and so on,’ Jimmie kept going on and on.

“‘What was this all about, Jim?’ Marie asked inquisitively.

“Jimmie explained, ‘Mark changed his career from being a medical doctor to a Human Rights lawyer.’

“‘Okay, whose right was he concerned about, then?’ Marie asked him.

“Jimmie, shrugging his shoulders, replied, ‘I don’t know; as you know, our race has all the rights.’

“‘Hmmh,’ Marie responded, nodding her head, and trying to stay awake, at that time of the day.

“‘Mark was always around Betty lately; that’s where I suspect he got all these lunatic ideas from – I think,’ Jimmie said. Jimmie continued talking to Marie, who was struggling to keep her eyes open behind the wheel, sometimes blaming Theodora for the mess he found himself in. ‘Don’t worry, I’ll get that Betty. She must pay for the damage she’s caused,’ Jimmie said in conclusion, as the van stopped in front of their Big House.

“Theodora invited us in for coffee, but Marie refused this offer saying, ‘Thanks love; that’s very kind of you. You have a lot to get on with. However, please call me again when you need support. Tarra,’ That’s all Marie could say as she turned on the engine ready to drive off.

“‘How can I pay you back?’ Theodora asked with her voice raised.

“‘Don’t worry, Theo, just be a good neighbour. I hope Mark recovers. Give my love to him.’

“And Marie drove off, as Jimmie, Theodora and myself walked towards the house. Strangely Jimmie and Theodora were not hand in hand as they usually did. Certainly, this incident had affected both of them. I remained with them, and was prepared to do so, as long as they needed me. They are my friends. Jimmie went into their bedroom and came out carrying a shotgun, and headed towards the Baker’s house. Perhaps he hoped to find
them asleep. I followed him. In his anger and frustration, he kicked the door open, and went in, searching all the bedrooms. To his surprise, there was no one in. ‘Betty, where are you!’ he cried out loudly, dropping his shotgun. After a while, he must have come to terms with the reality: the Bakers were gone and probably for good. He had to deal with this incident - more importantly, with the police.

“Sobbing, he picked up his gun, maybe having many thoughts in his mind, as he dragged his feet back home. ‘What’s this life all about?’ he repeatedly asked himself. ‘The Bakers have left me, with no one else to do the farm work. Mark is in the hospital; he may die. If he lives, he may require constant care – that’s what the surgeon advised. Who will provide that? He may never be a graduate, have a wife and children.’

“Jimmie went into the kitchen, made a pot of coffee for himself and took it to the sitting room. He poured it into the mug until it overflowed onto the table covered with a cream tablecloth. To me he appeared to be not concentrating. He drank it slowly, perhaps thinking about the police, who had to be after him. I don’t know. Tears kept flowing down his cheeks, like rain, and he wiped them off with his blue handkerchief. He slept right there on the sofa, for the first time in their marriage. He told me he always slept in the bedroom, next to his wife. I slept on the other sofa.

“The next morning, we all visited Mark in the hospital. The news wasn’t hopeful, although the doctors were doing their very best. He needed some time in the hospital for recovery. The sister responsible told us about the police visit, asking for professional statements and a medical report.

“‘Surely they will want to speak to all of you?’ she said, and refused to answer our questions, and just kept saying, ‘that’s all I can tell you for now.’

“This news disturbed Jimmie again; he started sobbing, as we walked to the car park.

“Nevertheless, he had to face the consequence of his actions. In his view, the crimes he committed were not intentional and were, therefore, justifiable. ‘I did my best to stop mixed racial relationships in my own home,’ I overheard him saying this.

“So often he blamed alcoholic drinks and not himself. We all returned to the farm; Jimmie driving their 4×4 truck this time. The latest news caused more tension between them. As soon as they got in, Jimmie went to the kitchen, poured himself gin and tonic, and drank it down. He must have hoped to forget about the latest events at Skoonfontein Farm. Heavy drinking became his habit, here after.

“I returned to my home briefly, and stayed with the Douglases most of the time, supporting them emotionally and in every way possible. The next visitors to knock at the Douglases’ doors were the investigation officers. They took statements from both, first starting with Theodora. This was too much for her. During the questioning, she broke down in tears. She became the state witness against her husband. Will Jimmie like this? His turn came. He didn’t deny going out with a shotgun to protect ‘themselves’ against the natives.

“He admitted having had too much alcohol, and worrying that Mark wasn’t home, following the row they had had. He insisted that he was a good citizen, had obeyed the laws – keeping the natives on his farm, and using just ‘reasonable force’, where necessary. However, he denied attempted murder, due to immoderate use of alcohol. Jimmie accepted, seeing his son with Betty, could have provoked him into taking the action, and he could have acted without thinking. He couldn’t remember well what he did that evening. I volunteered an interview, and was able to have my version from when I returned to Jimmie’s house recorded. I became the second state witness. The police, after receiving sufficient answers to their questions, were satisfied there was enough evidence to press charges against Jimmie, and then they arrested him. Jimmie spent that night in the cells.”

After this long speech, Koos then sits down. The court plays the recording from the ambulance service up to the end; Koos’ account is so accurate. Judge Retief asks, “Do you want to say anything, Mr Douglas?”