As soon as I got there, I came across some of the guys that had rivalry with my street friends. I heard them shouting: “Hilantwana yase 22le” (it’s that boy from 22). As soon as I heard those words, I knew they were talking about me and my heart started beating faster as they came closer and closer towards me. I tried to keep my cool and as they got in front of me, they asked “Uyakhumbula ngoku ndandidlula e22 nathini?” (Do you remember what you told us when we were passing by your street?) I assured him it wasn’t me, but they furiously claimed that I was there. Hauling at me, the senior guys tried to stabilize the situation and they did.

Flash back: those guys did pass by my street and we teased them and told them that they weren’t allowed to pass by there as it belonged only to those who stayed in that vicinity. It was a long time ago and it didn’t cross my mind that they’d actually believed me. So, I apologised and they told me to never do it again. As soon as I was off the hook, I went straight to my home, sat down and watched TV.

Only my cousin was at home and as soon as she saw me, she said: “Sies awumdaka, (gross, you’re so filthy).

“Ndiright maahn uxelelwa nguban wena?” (I’m alright man, who tells you to wash?)

I continued to watch TV. I was trying to focus, but she dragged me and forced me in to the bath tub. I was crying so loud, fighting her and screaming but I was not winning. I was eleven years old and she was seventeen and strong too. As soon as she got me in the bath tub, she left me there. The water was cold but I decided it was useless to come out until I was clean. I washed myself and as soon as I got in to my clean clothes, I ate four cheese sandwiches and drank some Oros, then I went back to the park.

There was no one at the park, so I went to Themba’s house but he was not there and Lucci was also not at his place. Zen, a young girl from my street told me they had gone to Zone 8 to play at the park. When I got there, there was a heated confrontation between Tbos, my friend, and Skhura, the boy from Zone 8. I asked what was going on and they told me that Skhura had told them that they weren’t allowed to play there. He told Tbos that as he was a small boy, he could kick his butt any time and Tbos got offended.

I added wood to the fire by telling them what they had done to me. Before I could even finish my story, Assay from Zone 8 told me to shut up, but I told him I wasn’t going to shut up because he wasn’t my mom. I felt safe to say anything I wanted because I had my friends as back up and they had my back also. Assay come to me and pushed me and I was so furious about what had happened when I was there alone, I didn’t even hesitate. I threw a punch to his face and next thing I knew, there was a huge fight going on.

They threw stones at us and we ran back to our street. When we got to Zone 22, we laughed and no one was hurt so we soon recruited more masses. We went to them three or four times a day, and when they saw us on the streets, it felt good. The feeling of being feared made us feel God- like. We were making a statement and people were going to fear us for our notorious ways. This was hot news everywhere. It had been months now that every weekend we went to Zone 8 and chased them all over their streets. Then we would come back and laugh about it. Little did we know that we were actually setting out the foundation for what was going to haunt us for life.

***

Tell us: Do you think this is how all gangs start?