Left Untold

"I like a good Shonda Rhimes drama. Gets me motivated for all the right reasons, y'know?" Sandra looked up at her friend who sat across the table, staring at her phone.

Sandra rolled her eyes and took a bite of her warm and saucy chicken wrap.

"What are you looking at on there? Did Kim and Kourtney fight over glutten free salad again?" Sandra chuckled as she chewed.

Amanda extended her arm, turning her phone screen to her friend, slowly.

'HEADLINES

Ezulwini Municipality unravelling following ongoing investigation of long-term corruption; misappropriation of funds and unlawful dismissals over the past decade.'

Sandra took the phone from Amanda's grip and read the headline again.

She shook her head slightly and looked into Amanda's eyes with teary ones.

"I knew it! Sam and I got fired last year because we asked too many questions about the outdated policies pertaining entry level employees", Sandra paused to catch her breath and do away with her tears.

Amanda passed her a tissue and placed her hand on Sandra's.

"I'm so sorry, San", she paused and rubbed her friend's hand.

"So what are we going to do? Testify for sure, right?" Amanda asked.

"Definitely. But I need to go speak to Dad. I didn't tell him what actually happened because I was scared they'd fire the others who were hired alongside us. It wouldn't have been fair. Amelia had two boys to feed and Robin was still paying for school. It was too big a risk. But now..." Sandra shook her head in disbelief.

"It'll be a fight, you know that right?" Amanda asked her sympathetically.

Sandra smiled for the first time since she'd taken the phone.

"Oh I know. What's that response Mordecai gave Esther when she expressed her fear? 'And who knows if you were brought here for such a time as this?' Yeah. Let's get to work!"

Sandra and Amanda packed their phones and finished what was on their plates to leave. It was a Friday afternoon and they were both free to leave the office, courtesy of their boss who believed in balance between personal and professional life.

Sandra's father was the mayor of Ezulwini and Amanda's mother was a thriving defence lawyer in Eswatini. As they walked to their shared apartment, the two young women texted their parents to kickstart the process.

The weekend was packed with picnics on their kitchen floor and reading up on past cases related to the one at hand. Sandra had spoken to her father, on Saturday, over the phone and explained what had happened to her the previous year, in the employ of the Municipality.

Her father was more displeased with himself than his daughter, who'd kept this information from him.

"Okay. I need you to prepare a presentation for myself and the board. Can you do that?" he'd asked her.

Sandra had suppressed her excitement when he made the request, trying to maintain a professional tone. He was the mayor after all.

"Yes sir", she'd remarked.

"When should I present it to you?"

There was a pause.

"Wednesday afternoon. So 2:00pm. And bring Amanda's mother if you can. Tell her we want her representation and advice on this", the mayor answered matter of factly.

"Roger that, dad. I mean sir!" Sandra had teased.

"Silly girl. Love you, bye."

Amanda was fortunate to catch her mother after church on Sunday, and took her to lunch to divulge the situation. Sandra had asked her to plead with Mrs. Williams for representation on the case. She was more than willing and proposed that they have a briefing on Tuesday; Sandra, Amanda and herself to make sure the presentation on Wednesday ran smoothly.

Sandra would do most of the introductory remarks and then handover to Mrs. Williams when the legal and more technical aspects came up. Amanda was mostly covering moral support and secretarial duties.

"I'm proud of you for taking this up and helping Sandra. I can imagine how distraught she must feel having seen the online buzz. Very unfortunate what's happened. I'm just happy it's all coming out on its own. All it takes is a good audit report or a weakling and BAM!" Mrs. Williams spoke passionately to her daughter.

"Yeah, it's weird how people are even still doing stuff like that. Everyone who has before either got killed, or died in jail. Or they're still in jail. I don't know about them but orange is a depressing color to wear forever", Amanda remarked.

The girls gathered in their apartment in Ludzeludze, Matsapha and exchanged updates over pizza.

Sandra was floating between excitement and anger while Amanda tried to keep her focused on their points for the briefing on Tuesday.

The ladies were in their early thirties; Sandra was thirty and Amanda thirty-three. They'd met in the University of Botswana and were inseparable since then. Amanda was studying Media, Broadcasting and Sandra took on Brand Management within the Business Management program. They'd occasionally share classes but what had cemented their friendship was their devotion to Christ Jesus and passion for justice.

Monday and Tuesday flew by, and Sandra, following the briefing with Mrs. Williams which had ended in a lengthy prayer, was feeling confident that their presentation would shake things up and prompt officials of Ezulwini, and the country at large to act justly.

On Wednesday, Amanda wore a red suit and Sandra threw on her black pencil dress and paired it with a hot pink blazer and white, red-bottom Steve Maddens. Walking into the boardroom in the mayor's office, they looked unconquerable.

Mrs. Williams was in a grey suit with her gold braids tied in a neat bun.

"Ladies and gentleman, I believe this case is solid and all we need to do is protect the intel we have as well as our young witness here", she smiled in Sandra's direction.

"We know there will be more people coming forward to speak against the CEO and his entourage so all we need is confidence and conviction. This may be a long trial of back and forth inquiries but justice is everyone's right. Misappropriation of funds is a multi-faceted dilemma that affects livelihoods, access to education and the simple right to conveniently travel to and fro within the country. In addition, we know the CEO appointed a number of his colleagues under shaky terms and reinstated individuals who were long overdue for retirement. That means he was not alone.

If we keep our arguments airtight and minimise theatrics in and out of court, it'll be tough for anyone to discredit this or shove it under the rug. Although I'm not too sure there's a rug wide enough for all this mess ", Mrs. Williams concluded and received simultaneous laughter from the mayor and his board members.

Sandra and Amanda high-fived behind them and quickly collected themselves. This was still a formal setting and both their parents had taught them well on the significance of etiquette.

The trial was set to begin on the following Monday, so the girls made sure to adhere to Mrs. Williams' advice and engage in no theatrics. This, to them, also meant they remain off social media, lest they encountered some propaganda that would discourage Sandra as a witness.

The entire country of Eswatini was a buzz pertaining this matter and the weekend was peaceful for Sandra because she stayed indoors. Amanda went home to her mother and returned Sunday evening. Their agreed upon social media fast had officially ended at 6:00pm and around half past, Amanda was ready to catch up on some celebrity updates.

She clicked on the Facebook icon and there it was, in red, black and white, posted by the Times of Eswatini official page. Today's headlines.

'CEO of Ezulwini Municipality kills wife, 2 children and then himself, just days before commencement of trial against him.'

Amanda slid onto the couch, beside Sandra and passed her the same look she h when she'd seen the headlines less than two weeks ago. Sandra stared at her and held her breath.

"He's. Dead", Amanda whispered and turned the screen to Sandra.