Chapter Seven

Once he had carefully devised his plan, S’fiso took the risk of walking to zone 1 alone. He stood outside Thabang’s house and fired two gunshots into the air. As expected, the 88s rushed out, armed and ready to fight. When they saw it was just S’fiso, Thabang told them to retreat.

“What do you want?” Thabang asked.

“You and me, tomorrow night.” S’fiso said.

“Sorry S’fiso, I’m straight.” Thabang said and his crew laughed. He had to crack jokes to conceal his fear.

“Voetsek! You and me, tomorrow night and we settle this like men.” S’fiso said.

“One on one.” Thabang said.

S’fiso spat on the ground before turning on his heel and and leaving. Thabang forced himself to look unfazed. If he looked scared, his men would lose faith in him. But he knew he had every reason to be scared. The only thing more dangerous than a woman scorned was man who was in love with that woman.

*****

Upon his arrival, S’fiso pulled Menzi aside.

“I need your help.” He said.

“Dineo?” Menzi asked.

“No. I challenged Thabang, one on one, but I might need back-up.” He said. Menzi shook his head. He was starting to feel like a babysitter and S’fiso was behaving like a toddler, making one stupid decision after the other.

“S’fiso…” he let out a sigh. “What is wrong with you?”

“That bastard has to pay for what he did. And you’ve made it very clear that this isn’t a gang issue, so I’m sorting it out myself. All I’m asking for is a little back up.” S’fiso said.

“When did I say that? Because I said we wouldn’t give up territory for your girlfriend?” Menzi asked.

“If the gang can’t fight for my girlfriend, then I will do it myself. But I expect the gang to protect me, at the very least.” S’fiso said and Menzi clenched his jaw. S’fiso was accusing him of turning his back on a member in his time of need, the highest offense in the world of gangsters. You could never refuse to help your brother, you could never turn your back on your brother. After contemplating for a moment, he finally gave in.

“Sho, S’fiso. I’ll make sure the gents are ready.” Menzi said.

“Thank you. This is for tomorrow night, just by the way.” S’fiso said before leaving Menzi standing there with his jaw dropped.

*****

There was a bitter chill the following morning, a chill far too bitter for a November morning. Dineo had not managed to sleep. The combination of adrenaline and anxiety was strong enough to drive her crazy. She needed to keep busy if she was going to wait until evening to execute her grand plan. She decided to go to school. If she could immerse herself in her school work, she could get through the day.

She kept her head down as she walked to school, avoiding eye contact with everyone. She maintained that energy even when she arrived at school, quickly finding an empty classroom to sit in.

“There she is.” Atlegang said as she and Nokuthula walked into the classroom.

“Hey guys.” Dineo said. “How did you find me?”

“We heard people talking about you being at school so we decided to look for you. How are you, chommie?” Atlegang said, pulling Dineo in for a tight hug.

“I’m alive.” She said with a sigh. She couldn’t say she was okay. She wasn’t. And everyone already knew that.

“Chommie, I’m so sorry. Really.” Nokuthula said.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not like you knew Thabang would target me when you gave me the money….” Dineo said, trailing off. Something sparked in her and she looked at Nokuthula. “How did Thabang know I’d be at Eastgate?”

“I don’t know.” Nokuthula said quickly.

“He probably had someone watching you, you know these gangs.” Atlegang said. “Besides, the 88s were going crazy this weekend. They even held Thuli’s grandmother hostage.”

“What? Is she okay?” Dineo asked and Nokuthula nodded.

“Yeah she’s okay. Thank goodness that Nokuthula managed to go get the 76s to help her. She was so brave, I don’t think I could ever go to the 76 house, especially during a meeting.” Atlegang said.

“During a meeting? You went there during their meeting?” Dineo asked, narrowing her eyes at Nokuthula.

“I don’t know if it was during or after the meeting…” Nokuthula said.

“Hang on, S’fiso said he didn’t pick me up because there was an emergency. Was that the emergency? Your grandmother?” Dineo asked.

“I don’t… I…” Nokuthula wasn’t really sure what to say at that point. The guilt was chewing away at her soul.

“So, Thabang used your grandmother as a diversion. To distract the 76s so that S’fiso wouldn’t pick me up…” Dineo said with a look that suggested that she was deep in thought. “But how did he know I was at Eastgate?”

“Dineo, I think you’re going to give yourself a headache. Thabang is a cruel gang leader, you can’t figure out why he does the things he does.” Atlegang said.

“I know why he did it…. I just need to figure out how he did it.” Dineo said and the bell rang, but she ignored it.

“I’m gonna go to class.” Nokuthula said but Dineo took hold of her arm.

“Where were you on Saturday?” Dineo asked.

“What?”

“Nokuthula, if the 86s managed to hold your grandmother hostage and not you, that means you weren’t home. And then when you did go home and saw what was going on, how did you manage to go all the way to zone 2?” Dineo asked.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“I just think if a person is holding you hostage and your granddaughter sees them, they won’t let your granddaughter get away to go get help.”

“I don’t know what is going on in your head but I’m going to class.” Nokuthula said, pulling away from Dineo’s grip and walking out of the classroom. Atlegang shrugged and walked out. Dineo took her bag and walked to her first class, more determined to know the truth. She walked into the class and walked straight to Thulani’s desk.

“I need your help.” She said softly, grabbing a seat and sitting opposite Thulani.

“What’s wrong?” Thulani asked, on high alert.

“I just need information. On Saturday, when you guys went to Nokuthula’s house, what did you find?” Dineo asked.

“Well, I didn’t go to Nokuthula’s house but Menzi said they only found Nokuthula’s grandmother tied up. No-one else was there.” Thulani said.

“But that doesn’t make sense… why would they do that for nothing?” Dineo asked.

“It wasn’t for nothing. They did it to distract us so they could kidnap you.”

“But how did he know I’d be at the mall and at what time? Unless… do you think he had someone following me?” Dineo asked.

“No, we’ve been watching you very closely. We would’ve known if someone was following you. Tell me, who else knew that you were going to Eastgate?”

“As far as I know, only me, S’fiso, Nokuthula and Atlegang. In fact, Nokuthula gave me R300 to go buy an outfit otherwise I wouldn’t have gone to the mall at all.” Dineo said and Thulani frowned. “What?”

“Nokuthula gave you money? R300 even? Where did she get R300 to give to you?” Thulani gave Dineo an incredulous look.

“I don’t know, actually… we asked her and she wouldn’t say.” Dineo said.

“Dineo… I’m not accusing anyone, but do you think maybe Nokuthula was working with Thabang?” Thulani said.

Dineo looked at Thulani for a moment and gulped. She didn’t want to believe it but it made sense. It made sense that Thabang paid Nokuthula to do his dirty work for him. It made sense that Nokuthula would accept money from Thabang because she and her grandmother needed it. But would Nokuthula do that to her? That was the part that didn’t make sense.

“Thanks.” She said before getting up and returning to her own desk.

*****

Dineo and S’fiso drove to the open field earlier than they were supposed to meet with Thabang. S’fiso wanted to show Dineo where to hide so that Thabang wouldn’t see her coming. By the time Thabang arrived, Dineo was out of sight but not far. Menzi and 9 other 76s were also lurking in the shadows. Thabang was sure to make a grand entrance, creating a mini dust storm with his car. S’fiso watched him as he slowly got out of the car.

“Are you sure you came alone?” Thabang asked.

“Did you come alone?” S’fiso asked.

“I don’t know, let’s find out.” Thabang said as he pulled his gun out and pointed it at S’fiso. S’fiso followed suit. “It didn’t have to get to this, you know?”

“Ah shut up. It was always going to get to this.” S’fiso said as they walked closer to each other.

“I warned you, S’fiso. You pushed me. It’s a pity that Dineo got caught in the mix –“

“Shut up! You keep her name out of your dirty mouth!”

“Oh, it’s not her name in my mouth that you should worry about… if you catch my drift.” Thabang laughed. His comment almost sent S’fiso into overdrive.

“Are you sure you want those to be your last words?” S’fiso hissed.

“That’s a small price to pay considering that your girl will always remember me as her first. And I must say, when you do get to hit it, you’re in for a treat. She is ti-“ Thabang said but was interrupted by a gunshot. S’fiso ducked and then looked up to see Dineo standing behind Thabang, who had fallen to his knees. Dineo was shaking with the gun in her hand but she had enough strength to fire one more shot, hitting Thabang right at back of his head and sending him face-first onto the ground. S’fiso immediately ran towards her, taking the gun from her and leading her towards his own car. She turned to look at Thabang’s dead body before she got into the car. She couldn’t believe it. She had killed him. And yet, that still didn’t feel like a good enough punishment. Thabang was dead but she had to live with he did to her. She had to live with being nothing but mere ammunition in a gang war.