Chapter Six

Menzi and the rest of the gang spent the rest of the evening strategizing, thinking about how they were going to make Thabang pay for what he did to Dineo and to S’fiso. S’fiso spent the night in the car, smoking a pack of twenty cigarettes and trying to come up with his own plan of action. He fell asleep eventually and was startled awake by Menzi knocking on the car window.

“What?” he asked when he opened the window.

“Get inside, it’s pouring.” Menzi said. S’fiso hadn’t even realised that it had been raining, that was probably why he had slept so soundly despite all of his troubles. Just as he was about to get out of the car, they heard a car screeching to a stop just outside their gate followed by a loud thud. The car then sped off. Menzi ran out the gate to see what had been dropped. He found Dineo, tied up and gagged, wiggling on the pavement.

“S’fiso!” Menzi yelled and S’fiso rushed out. Together they carried her up and led her into the house. The other gang members made room for them to pass until they reached S’fiso’s bedroom. They placed Dineo on the bed, removed the gag and untied her. She was soaking wet and shivering and she had bruises and her clothes were torn. As soon as Dineo was untied, Menzi left the room, leaving the two of them. S’fiso couldn’t even make eye contact with Dineo. They sat in silence until Menzi returned.

“I’ve prepared a warm bath for you…” Menzi said softly and Dineo got up and followed him to the bathroom. She locked the bathroom door, took off her clothes and got into the bath. The heat from the water stung but she liked it. It was proof that she was still alive. She sank into the water until her entire body was submerged and she held her breath for a moment before lifting her head again. Those few moments under water felt magical. She didn’t have to worry about anything or anyone. If only she could just hold her breath and stay in that position forever.

The chatter that had been going on in the lounge died down when Dineo re-emerged from the bathroom, wearing Menzi’s t-shirt and sweat pants.

“Come sit on the couch, I’ll make you something to eat.” Menzi said and Dineo walked cautiously towards the couch, trying her best to ignore the stares and the looks of pity. She knew that all 38 of them knew what Thabang had done to her and because of that the fact that she was wearing baggy clothes didn’t change how naked she felt.

“Okay gents, if you don’t live here, leave. Now.” Menzi said and the guys scattered. He handed Dineo a plate with a chicken and mayo sandwich and a glass of orange juice on the side.

“Thank you.” Dineo said. Barely a whisper. The living room was practically empty, with just Dineo, Menzi, S’fiso, Thulani and Sticks.

“Sticks, Thulani… let’s go.” Menzi said, grabbing a set of car keys from the table. Internally, Dineo wanted to protest against being left alone with S’fiso but she didn’t really have the energy for it. So she sat in silence, slowly eating her sandwich. S’fiso sat on one of the chairs opposite the couch, watching her eat. When Dineo was done, S’fiso jumped up to take the plate and the glass away, returning to find Dineo curled up on the couch. She looked like she was trying to sleep but her eyes were wide open.

“Dineo,” S’fiso started speaking and she let out a loud sigh. “Dineo, I’m so sorry.”

She sat in silence, trying hard to block out the sound of S’fiso’s voice.

“Please forgive me, baby. I’m very sorry.” He said, sliding off the chair and landing on his knees. Tears fell from Dineo’s eyes and stained the couch. She curled herself further into a foetal position and shut her eyes tight.

“Please say something.” S’fiso said and Dineo opened her eyes, looking straight into his.

“Where were you?” Dineo asked softly.

“We got delayed after the meeting…” S’fiso tried to explain.

“You said you’d pick me up at 11. Why was Thabang at the mall at 11 and you weren’t?”

“Dineo I’m sorry. There was an emergency.”

“You didn’t protect me!” she snapped, getting up from the couch almost immediately and towering over S’fiso, who was still on his knees. Tears rolled down his cheeks. He had failed her, he knew this. He hated himself for this but he could live with self-hate. What he couldn’t live with was hatred from Dineo, the love of his life.

“He said,” she started speaking again as she sank back onto the couch. “that he wanted to punish you. Not the whole gang, just you. That’s why he did what he…” she broke down.

“Dineo…” he tried to reach out to her, to hold her but she pushed him away.

“I hate you!” she spat at him as she got up and left, leaving a weeping S’fiso on the living room floor. This was beyond breaking point for him.

*****

Thabang was uncharacteristically sombre that afternoon. He didn’t look like a man who had just punished his enemy. He was on his sixth bottle of beer in less than 45 minutes.

“O sharp?” Kabelo asked him cautiously.

“Eish Kabelo ntwana,” Thabang said with a sigh. “things got out of hand very quickly.”

“What are you talking about? Didn’t they give us zone 5?” Kabelo asked.

“Nope.”

“But you took Dineo back. What was the point?”

“I took her back because things got out of hand… we need to prepare for war.” Thabang said ruefully.

Kabelo sat staring at his leader for a while, trying to figure out what was going on. He was so sure that everything had gone according to plan. He knew that he had done his bit exactly they way Thabang had instructed him. What none of the 88 gang members knew was what happened in that shack when Thabang was alone with Dineo.

“So do we need to gather more ammunition?” Kabelo asked.

“No… not yet.” Thabang gulped down the rest of his beer before leaving the room. The world of gangsterism; riddled with choas and confusion.

*****

On Monday, S’fiso decided to go and check up on Dineo. He had noticed that she had not gone to school that morning and wanted to make sure she was okay. He knocked twice on the door before she opened, dressed in her pyjamas with puffy, red eyes. She had obviously spent the entire day in bed, crying.

“What do you want?” she asked.

“I brought you some food and I wanted to check up on you.” He said. Dineo took the container from him and attempted to close the door, but S’fiso blocked it with his foot.

“Please let me in.” he said and she let go of the door. They sat on the couch and S’fiso watched Dineo play with the fried chips he bought her.

“Do you need anything? I can take you to a doctor.” S’fiso said eventually.

“Why did Thabang use me to punish you?” she asked.

“Because you’re my weakness… he thought that he’d get what he wanted by kidnapping you, and he would have if I was in charge. But Menzi refused so…”

“So he had his way with me… to hurt you… but the question is, does your pain even equate to mine?” Dineo shoved two chips into her mouth before putting the food away.

“Dineo please forgive me. I tried to protect you, I tried to fight. Please tell me how I can make it up to you, I’ll do anything.” S’fiso pleaded. Dineo’s eyes widened and a tiny glimmer of hope shone through them.

“Anything?” she asked and S’fiso nodded. “I want revenge. I want Thabang dead.”

S’fiso quickly sat up and cleared his throat. He had never heard such vile words come out of this beautiful mouth. And although this kind of talk was uncharacteristic for Dineo, he completely understood where she was coming from.

“I can do that for you, my love.” He said quickly.

“No.” she said.

“No?”

“I want to do it myself.”

His stomach churned with discomfort. Dineo was sweet and soft and fragile, how was she possibly going to pull off the murder of a gang leader? Too much was at stake.

“No, that’s too dangerous. I can’t let you do that.”

“Please S’fiso… then I’ll forgive you and we can start on a clean slate.” She said, raising her eyebrow. Dineo knew that S’fiso loved her and she also knew it was wrong of her to manipulate him. But she wanted what she wanted and he was the only one who could give it to her.

“You’re so unfair…” S’fiso said with a sigh. “Fine. But I will plan everything and you will do as I tell you. Only one person must die and that person can’t be you.”

She quickly sat up and threw her arms around him. He held her tightly. He could feel her heart pounding against his own.

“Please give me your gun.” She said when she let go of him.

“Dineo, no!” He shook his head.

“Please… I just want to hold it.”

“Two minutes.” S’fiso said as he got up and pulled his gun out from the back of his jeans, taking out all of the bullets before handing it to her.

“It’s so heavy… and cold…” she said, fiddling with the gun.

“Okay, that’s enough. I’ll pick you up tomorrow morning and we can go practise.” He said, taking the gun back.

“S’fiso,” Dineo said as she got up. “Thank you.” She got onto her toes and kissed S’fiso gently.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said before leaving.

*****

Later that afternoon, Nokuthula marched to Thabang’s house and banged on the door.

“Hai wena, voetsek!” Kabelo said when he opened the door.

“Where is Thabang?” Nokuthula demanded.

“Speak with a little respect, this is not your grandmother’s house.” Kabelo said.

“Okay Kabelo, let me deal with this one.” Thabang appeared from behind Nokuthula. He had seemingly only just arrived. Kabelo disappeared back into the house.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Nokuthula shouted.

“Don’t worry, my peach, I have the rest of your money right here.” Thabang said as calmly as he could. It was very difficult for him to hide his anxiety and stress. He knew that he had to keep his guard up. That the 76s could attack at any moment.

“I don’t want your stupid money, you said you wouldn’t hurt her!” Nokuthula said.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your little video was circulating around school today. How could you? What did Dineo ever do to you?”

“What did Dineo ever do to you, Nokuthula? Why did she deserve to have a friend who would set her up to get kidnapped?” Thabang asked, losing his patience.

“That’s different…” Nokuthula said softly.

“Get off your high horse.” Thabang said as he threw the money in Nokuthula’s face. “My excuse is that I’m a gangster, but you will always be the girl who was so jealous of her friend that she sold her to a rival gang for a measly R15 000.” He left her on the front lawn and went back into the house. What was R15 000 anyway? Apparently, it was the value of Dineo and Nokuthula’s friendship.

*****

S’fiso was already knocking on Dineo’s front door at 4am the next morning. They drove for about two hours, with Dineo falling asleep in the passenger seat. They stopped outside what looked like an abandoned factory in Vaal. What Dineo soon learned was that the building only looked abandoned from the outside, inside it was a fully-equipped shooting range.

“Who owns this place?” Dineo asked.

“The 76s. But this needs to be our secret. Menzi will kill me if he finds out I brought you here.” S’fiso said as he led her towards the targets. He loaded a pistol and carefully handed it to her.

“Hold it like this,” he said as he guided her hands. “Make sure your hand is steady. Now look at that target, picture Thabang’s face –“ he said but before he could finish, Dineo pulled the trigger and missed the target entirely.

“Sorry,” she said. “I got excited.”

“Okay. Calm down. Excitement and guns do not go together.” S’fiso said. “Remember you only have one shot at it, if you miss Thabang will shoot you… and trust me, he won’t miss.”

Dineo felt her palms sweating and her heart pounding. She hated Thabang and she wanted to see him dead, laying in a pool of his own blood. She could feel her blood boiling. She narrowed her eyes and fixed her gaze on the target. She took a deep breath and fired three shots, completely destroying the target. S’fiso looked at her in awe. He hadn’t judged her for missing the first shot because it was her first time but he certainly hadn’t expected her to get the hang of it so quickly. He slowly clapped his hands.

“Well done, baby.” He said and she took a deep breath. “Wanna go again?”

“Yes!” she said excitedly and he loaded the gun for her again. She took a deep breath and fired at the next target. Four clean shots and holey target.

“It’s as if you have gangster DNA, my love. I think you’re ready.” S’fiso said.

“You think?” she asked, breathing heavily with adrenaline.

“Yeah… but now you must follow my instructions and we’ll pull this off.”

Dineo took a deep breath as she nodded her head. There was no turning back. She had one shot at this. One shot at revenge. And – unbeknownst to her – one shot at being like her father.