Chapter 5

After we had cleaned ourselves, he went back out into the corridor, smiling to himself. I did an enema sluice, then got up into my bunk and tried to sleep. I couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that he had given me a soft ejaculation during our love making. I wondered if it was the pills that I was taking.

It was odd, not having Cloe to talk to, but I could now have short conversations with the twins. Thursday was Library day, and the guards were their usual cheerful gang. I was starting to get to know them by name; even Tony, who was on the screens at this time of the day. I passed on the news that some of the 28 wyfies might be in for a rough time. They told me that they couldn’t intervene in gang problems but would let the medics know to be ready.

Over the next weeks, I fell into a sort of a rhythm. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday was Library and a good lunch. Saturday was laundry, Sunday was church. Other afternoons if I was at the cell, I was on the arm of Dirk in the yard. Between the twins and the guards, I grew in my perception of the way the prison ran. Dirk continued to learn to read, concentrating on Zulu words for a start, with me swapping books as he progressed. He only wanted sex about twice a week, and I restricted Spike to once a week, lest I became too loose. I was already using a tampon, but never wanted to need a pad as well.

I was also getting some sense from the notes, now I knew how they were coded. I made sure that I talked to Bull, Pluto, and Bluto, as normal people. They, gradually, became quite friendly. I read my book, going back to a couple of chapters, and an idea formed in my brain.

Then, wonders of wonders, it was the day of my check-up. I was collected at my cell, by one of the guards. On the way through the outer area, he told me that I was supposed to be handcuffed when I was outside and taken there and back in a prison van. Instead, because no-one now thought I could be a flight risk, he had signed a normal car out. On top of that, he had raided the half-way house cupboard and found a blue dress in my size. I changed in the garage toilet, and we left the prison, me sitting in the front with him driving.

It was truly wonderful to see the outside world, and the amount of people, and colour, almost made me cry. We spoke about things we saw as he drove, very carefully, to the clinic. There, we got out of the car, and I was enveloped in hugs from Cloe, now looking radiant in a colourful dress.

“Delia, it’s so good to see you, you look really good.”

“Thanks, Cloe, it’s all Bruce’s doing, finding this dress, and getting the car. I would have hated getting here in a prison van with handcuffs on.”

She led us into the clinic, where Bruce was shown a comfortable chair and the cake tin. He gave me a wink as I was led away to the consulting rooms.

“I don’t know how you do that, you’ve got Bruce under your thumb, there. I suppose that all the guards give you a kiss, after lunch?”

“You betcha, it’s the only way to make that place acceptable. Other than that, it’s all much the same as it used to be. Now, tell me all your news.”

“Oh! Delia. With that money from the account, I was able to get a proper sex change operation, and a nice wardrobe. The other two are so jealous. Between us, we are operating the business, but it isn’t the one that Dirk left. Most of the soldiers have deserted to join other gangs, mainly because their lives depended on it. We’re down about sixty percent. We’re not sure what we can do to make it better.”

“I know one way, that’s by going legitimate. This city is growing, and so is the need for buildings. I’ve got a little idea that could give us a legal front that could also give us a way to keep in with all the other gangs. If we get a chance, I’ll run it by you and Bella.”

She led me into the consulting room and told me to strip. I was on the bed when the door opened and three people walked in. Two, I knew, Doctor Mark and the beautiful assistant who had spoken to me in the ward. The other, I took to be Bella. She came over to the bed and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“Welcome to the outside world, Delia. It’s so good to finally meet you. Amy and I are so grateful to you for giving Cloe the opportunity to have a proper operation. All we got was being castrated, our dicks glued down and the skin pulled up to look like a vagina. It allows us to be female, but that’s about all.”

“Don’t worry, Bella, I’ll give you the access to another account, before I leave, and you’ll both be able to have the proper operations.”

Doctor Mark coughed, and we stopped talking so he could fully inspect me, to make sure that my enhancements remained where they should have been. It took nearly an hour before he declared that he was amazed. Not only had his work remained pliable and in the right place, but he was also sure that my own body had added some extra fat in the right places. He had taken all the usual measurements and told me that I was in excellent health. He left us so I could get dressed, and I gave Bella the access details to an account I had opened in the Standard Bank at Pinelands. This one was in the name of Rhodes, and I knew that it should have more than the other one.

Before I was taken back to Bruce, I asked Bella if she could look in the Cape Town papers for advertisements from the government, requesting tenders for building projects, especially ones involving large concrete requirements. She agreed, then told me that she had given my details to a lawyer and would let me know how that progressed the next time she saw me.

I was driven back to the prison and had to change back into my orange dress before being led back to the cell. It was not a happy time, after being almost free, but I knew that it would be just another three months before I was outside, again.

I settled back into the rhythm of the prison, learning more about the workings as time went by. I was able to send my own messages to Bella and got her replies back in the books. One message was personally delivered by the preacher, who told me that I had done a wonderful and selfless act by helping someone I had only met once. He told me that the last time he had spoken to Amy and Bella, they had both been given the proper sex-change and were happy. I was now closely knit with a group of people who were working towards getting a genuine life going. With Amy, Bella, and Cloe on my side, with the preacher firmly with them, plus the growing influence I was having over Spike and Bull, we worked hard to keep Dirk believing that his authority was still respected in Cape Town.

The odd thing was that I also had the support from the enforcer’s leader, through the twins. It was in his interest to let Dirk believe that he a was still top dog, as he had plans of his own when he was released, a few years before Dirk. It was his gang that had gained most of Dirks deserters.

The months passed, and the check-ups went like clockwork. Bruce was my regular driver, and was now being given a meal, in a restaurant, with me and the other three, all he already knew from their time in the prison. This allowed me to go with one or more, to the toilet, and pass notes or discuss more private things.

Amy assured me that the lawyer wanted to meet me on the next visit, as he had found that the judge had been bribed to give me the sentence that matched Dirk’s release date, and that much of the evidence against me had been circumstantial. The only thing they could get me on was the attempted sale of the police station. I had chosen Asian marks, as they would never admit to making a mistake, causing loss of face, and none of the ones they had located would agree to making a formal complaint.

On the next visit, I had two things to cheer me up. The first was that the lawyer was in the consulting rooms, after we had left Bruce behind, and he was adamant that he could have me free inside two years. He needed money and I gave Bella the access details to an account I had in Port Elizabeth, that had enough to pay him. The other thing was that I was told that the government had put out tender papers for a huge project, in the docks. They were planning to construct new wharves for the larger container ships.

She had some papers to be filled in, so I quickly sketched out a plan to build the wharves, something that I had spent a lot of my spare time thinking about. For seed money, I gave her the access details of two more accounts, both in Jo’burg, a place that had been my best hunting ground. I described how we would build the wharves, using concrete blocks of about twenty tonnes each, with lifting lugs so they could be moved easily. I asked her to find us somewhere near the wharf site that was big enough for us to set up a plant.

Over the next few weeks, I set up a discussion with Headbanger, the enforcer gang leader. I explained what we were working towards on the outside, and when I got to how it would help him, he was impressed enough to agree to a funding package.

I was three years into my time when the appeal case was heard. It took a few weeks before all the paperwork was finalised. I had cleared my cell of all the things that needed to be put back, all the books I had borrowed. One day, when I was having lunch with the guards, Marshall joined us, and announced that I was going directly to the half-way house area, to see out my last two weeks of incarceration. There was much jollity, tinged by a little sadness from those who I now considered to be friends.

As far as Dirk was concerned, he would have to be celibate for the next four years, or else find a replacement for me. I knew, more than most, that his reach outside these walls were not enough to worry me. I was escorted to another area, closer to the outside, with an open door to a fenced yard, where I made sure I walked several laps, every day. Cloe brought me some clothes to wear that fitted my new persona, and the three girls were there to greet me when the gates opened to let me walk free. I was carrying my original suitcase and the bag of very mouldy clothes that I had last seen a long time ago.

It was then a whirlwind of activity. I was shown the site that Bella had found. All we needed to do was to sign the lease. The rates were very good, because it was of a size, and in a place, that made it difficult to rent out. Bella had been given verbal agreements on the project, so we employed a civil engineering firm to put together the official plans. I was three days in their offices, discussing the way I had worked out the project. It took longer to get them to accept that a woman was able to come up with the system, than it took for them to be happy with the system itself.

What I proposed was a simple method. There would be a sub-contractor who would build up a rock base, with a level concrete area. We would supply concrete blocks, about three metres cubed, with embedded lifting lugs that made them easy to move with cranes. These would be set out in a number of lines as the wharf grew, and the space between filled with rocks and slurry. The lines would be at a spacing that would suit the tracks of travelling cranes once the wharves were completed.

The engineers wanted to know how we would make the blocks, so I sketched them a simple system. It consisted of a table which could be vibrated, and four walls that would be hinged and able to be locked in place to create a box. The lugs would be set into one side, attached to a frame of reinforcing rod, with wooden framework to keep the concrete from covering them. All it needed, then, was a big concrete pour and some time to let it set. When the walls were dropped, a crane could pick up the block from the lugs in one side, which then became the top.

They got a block made to my specification and then were happy to put their name on the proposal. We would need them to set up the plant, and also devise the way to finish the wharf facing, with the mooring detail and buffers. We did the initial calculations and our timing to complete the project came in a year earlier than the government expected.

I then had to fit in a genuine sex-change operation to complete my transition. I was living with Cloe in an apartment, and we spent a lot of our spare time shopping and drinking tea in cafes. It took a month for me to set up a bank account as Delia Strauss and Bella then drove me to various banks to access the other accounts that I had squirrelled away, putting the money in my new account.

The last thing that I did was to remove the heels from the shoes that were in the case. I did that side of things on my own. The two banks were in Jo’burg, so I flew there to do my business. The box of identification papers was as I had left it. Most of the paperwork was destroyed in a short-term rental office, using a cheap shredder. I kept the Holly papers. The other box had a large amount of cash, which I transferred to an account that I opened in the same bank. The box had been left under the Holly name, and I came out of there with cards in that name and the good wishes from the bank manager.

This would be my escape plan, should I ever need it. With the collection of bank deposit keys, I flew home. Back in Cape Town we moved ahead at a faster pace, now aided by Spike, who we had picked up at the prison. He and I moved into our own place, and he made sure that my new equipment didn’t close up. I was glad that he was happy with normal sex and didn’t need to take me in the fashion that worked in the past. He hadn’t been sure about the other gang being involved but smiled when I explained how it would work. We didn’t have much of a gang left, and we needed the others to ensure our safety.

He had told me that Dirk was sad when he found out that I had been sprung but had found another lad in his side of the prison that filled his immediate needs. Two years later, Bull joined our little band and quickly came on board once his future was outlined. By that time, we had set up the production line and was supplying sixty blocks a day to the wharf site. We were legitimate and making good money. As none of it needed to be paid for by debt, we were ahead of any competitor.

We were subjected to several inspections by the authorities, and all were happy with our safety and employee relations. We did have a larger than usual number of gang members on the payroll, but we had no tensions, Headbanger made sure of that. He, and the twins, were now free and considered friends.

The wharf project was likely to continue for another three years, and Dirk was going to come out before that. The timing couldn’t be better. Bull and Spike, having been in the gang before Dirk was put away, had met his genuine wives, so they were sent off to talk to them. When they reported back, they told us that only three of his five wives were alive, and none of the three wanted him back in their lives. In fact, this made what we had planned even easier.

A year later, we had won a contract to set up for a wharf project in Durban, and there was another in Port Elizabeth that was in discussion. We had become directors of a very successful company, with the civil engineering firm growing with us. I had used what was left in my old deposit boxes to fund our expansion and Headbanger went to both cities, with his sidekicks, to talk seriously to the gangs there.

On the day that Dirk was freed, we were there to greet him at the gates. He was staggered to see the four of us, all in our finery. We had two cars, with Spike driving one and Bull driving the other. He was put in the back of the one Bull was driving, Amy and Bella with him, and his bag in the back.

We had agreed that Amy and Bella were going to convince him to see the wonderful business we had created. Sure enough, Spike followed the other car as it went directly to the concrete plant. When we all got out and stood outside the quiet plant, he wanted to know what we were doing here. I gave him a rough outline of the project, how legitimate it was, and roughly how much money we made. All he could do was complain that we had to pay taxes.

Spike opened the door, and we all went in. The plant was quiet, as we had given the employees the afternoon off, being ahead in our block deliveries. The gang members would be in on afternoon shift to continue production. We walked to one of the casting tables, and I explained how the blocks were made, showing him the big mesh framework ready to go on the table. It was meshing horizontal levels, attached to single rod verticals. The idea was that, when it was enclosed in concrete, then lifted through ninety degrees, the close mesh would become the weight support, which would allow a large crane to travel on tracks attached to the top level.

He was gazing at it all, trying to take it all in, when I moved in front of him and kissed him.

“Dirk, all of this was possible because you chose me as your wyfie. We are all grateful for your kindness and want you to be part of this enterprise.”

I then held his face in my hands and bent to kiss him again when Spike came up behind him and pushed a cooking skewer into his ear and wiggled it about to turn his brain into mush. I had been told, by Spike, while we were on a shopping trip for kitchen implements, how he had really achieved his name. Dirk dropped like a poleaxed steer. That’s when a door to an office, above us, opened and his three remaining wives, Headbanger and the, now genuine, sisters, came down. They had watched it all through the window.

It only took moments to strip Dirk of his clothing, then we ceremonially lifted him and slid him onto the middle layer of mesh. Bull then went off to start up the overhead crane. While he was away, one of the wives climbed up onto the top of the mesh cube and pissed on her husband. The mesh was lifted onto the plate and the sides were lifted into place and locked. Bull then took the crane to where we made the concrete and came back with a container of pre-mix. I started the vibrator as he allowed the concrete to pour into the box. When he had finished, we put the unwanted clothes into an incinerator bin where we burned the wood offcuts from the lug surrounds.

Switching off the vibrator, we all stood and considered what we had done. One of the wives said it succinctly.

“Welcome back to the new world, Dirk. You are an integral part of this enterprise, now. Dinner, tonight, is on me, my friends. Let us toast the passing of one of the worst men I’ve ever known, and I’ve known a few, I can tell you.”

Dirk had been let into the secret that allowed us to be friends with Headbanger and his gang contacts. About one block in two hundred contained bodies, all poured by trusted members of his gang, working night shift. My first experience of hiding a body had given me the idea, and the government, with the project, had provided the perfect method. We provided the opportunity, free of charge, and I think that Headbanger charged others to make the bodies disappear.

We all had a lively meal, with lots of wine and laughter. We had agreed on a story, should anyone ask, that we had taken Dirk to his favourite wife, had a few drinks and left him there. She would claim that he had gone out, the next night, never to return. She took his case and wallet home with her as proof that he had stayed with her.

As the years passed, our business remained a good money-maker. It allowed us all to live in comfort, buying an empty block near the sea and building five homes on it, all with top appliances, good views, and enough space to make them secure. Spike and I lived in one, Cloe and her new husband (one of our trusted workers) in another. Amy and Bella had found a couple of guys who worked in the civil engineering firm and lived in two of the others. Bull lived in the last one, having married the wife who had climbed the mesh and pissed on Dirk.

No-one came looking for Dirk, and his name passed into history, but not as a legend, more a nasty stain on the page of gangsters in Cape Town. Headbanger and the twins were set up a few miles away, and he was surprised when the city fathers declared him the most reformed convict of the year, then gave him a certificate.

I kept putting money aside in the Holly account, just in case, and kept the identification up to date with new photos. It came in handy on the day that we needed to expand the business into a new quay project in Angola.

We had a company meeting and Spike and I volunteered to go and set it up. We used that nest egg to fund the purchase of an abandoned factory and a nice home in Luanda, with our engineering company setting up the plant. They leased the factory from me. Eventually, we sold our shares in the South African plants to the civil engineering company, now a well-known and prosperous organisation, with branches all over Africa.

The others followed suit and we all did very well out of it. I considered that I had done well enough. We never went back to South Africa, it now had nothing we needed. I had my loving husband and a quiet life as a well-dressed woman of means, a pillar of local society and someone who was invited to all the best parties. Not bad for the bastard son of a township whore!

Marianne Gregory © 2023