“Kill him!”

“We can’t just go around killing teenage boys because you two were too stupid,” someone said, irritated. “And anyway, you have no idea how messy that is to clean up. Not worth the hassle.”

“Then what do we do with him?”

I had just come to and heard these voices talking. I think they were deliberating what to do with me. Their casual tone made it seem as though they were deciding what take-out to order and not the matter of whether I lived or died. I sat still, petrified by shock. My hands and legs were stinging with rope burn because they had tied, blinded and gagged me.

“No one will miss him if he dies,” someone said. It was John’s voice. He was here! That jerk got me here in the first place. If he’d just told those men that I would stay quiet then they wouldn’t have kidnapped me.

“His parents will still have a child if Max ‘disappears’,” John said. “He has a sister. She’s a babe. What else can you expect from a white father and coloured mother? Mixed breeds are the hottest.”

I couldn’t believe John was saying these things. Talking about murder like it was nothing big. And those things he was saying about Lebo… all I wanted to do was punch his lights out. I struggled to break free from my shackles.

“He’s awake.”

I felt someone take the blindfold off and the room was not much brighter than the back of my eyelids. The dank place smelt of urine and the walls were peeling. There were five people in the room. John, the two men who chased me, and two others I didn’t know.

“Morning sunshine,” the one closest to me said. The speaker, who I figured was the leader, was a dark-skinned, muscular man littered with tattoos. I gulped. I knew this man. Not personally, but I’d heard of him. Anyone who’s anyone has heard of him. His name was Thabo and he was notorious in our community. The stories people told about him were scary. They say he has men everywhere, even in the police.

“I’m so sorry,” I rambled. “Please don’t hurt me. I won’t say anything to anyone. I’m begging you-”

“Give me a reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now.”

My heart rate skyrocketed and I think I was having a panic attack. I couldn’t breathe. They didn’t care. They went on talking.

“Maybe we can make him a mule,” one of my kidnappers suggested. “I’m sure young lads like him are always looking to make money.”

“Max is a goodie-two-shoes,” John snorted. “He’ll never be a mule. Too much righteousness. You should hear the teachers gush about his marks and his prodigy piano skills. Sickening.”

Thabo scratched his chin and played with an imaginary beard, thinking. After a few moments he said, “That’s what will make him a perfect dealer. No one will suspect an upright fellow like him. He’s too virtuous to even be considered.”

“But he’s a saint-” John started.

“Let me worry about that,” Thabo smirked. He walked toward me and knelt so our heights were levelled. “You’ll be my mule, boy?”

It was a question that clearly felt like a statement. The request horrified me. I would never do such a thing. I shook my head no as an answer. He slapped me. The sound bounced off the ugly walls and resonated in the room. He repeated the question.

“No,” I uttered. “Never.”

“Do it,” he leaned in threateningly just inches from my face, “or I will saw that pretty little sister of yours in half right in front of you.”

Thabo smiled and all his teeth were visible. Most were brown and rotting and the few good ones were plated in silver and gold.

Would he really go after my family? It didn’t seem farfetched. These people were monsters.

“You said cleaning up dead bodies are messy,” I said.

“Oh, they are,” he said. “But I’ve done more than my fair share to know how to do it anyway.”

“I’d rather die than be your mule,” I spat at him.

“Bring his sister here,” he laughed. “And what fun you have with her on the way is none of my concern.”

“No!” I screamed. Not my sweet innocent Lebo. He just couldn’t. “You monster! No! Leave Lebo out of this. I’ll do it. I’ll do it. Once. Just once.”

“Just once,” Thabo winked. “After that you’ll be coming to me on your own. Trust me.”

I highly doubted that.

“Give me your word that you will never touch my sister,” I said. I knew that with gangsters like these they had nothing except their word.

Thabo smiled his disgusting smile. “Of course.”

***

I shuffled uncomfortably as my customer came closer. This was my first job. Delivering something called nyaope to someone. I was so nervous that I was shaking uncontrollably. Then my nerves changed to horror when I saw who the client was. A twelve year old boy named Tiny. I remembered he was in my sister’s class. Was everyone at my school druggies?

“I’m not an addict, I swear,” Tiny defended. “It’s just for a small party I’m having.”

“Well, you better not be inviting my sister to this party,” I warned. This was all so twisted. I did the exchange and met Thabo and the gang around the corner to give them the cash.

“Good work, Thabo said. “It gets easier after your first.”

“No,” I said. “There won’t be a next.”

I walked home alone, unsure that this was really over. Was that all? If it was truly the end then why did I have this knot in the pit of my stomach telling me otherwise? Maybe it was my conscience telling me to go to the police. Yes. I dialled 10111 and before I knew it, someone grabbed my phone.

“Who were you calling?” It was Thabo.

“I – I – no one,” I stuttered. I was way out of my league here. I should have just walked home quietly and pretended to forget everything.

Thabo unfastened a baton that was clipped to his pants. It looked alarmingly frightening. He twirled it in between his fingers and my eyes followed the thick stick on its circular journey through the air.

He knocked my legs with the baton and I was forced to my knees. His men grabbed each of my arms and someone ripped my shirt out. I was busy yelling that I was sorry. Thabo took out a knife and I flinched when I saw the weapon, glimmering with enough sharpness to turn me into a Max pie.

“It’s time you learned that no one crosses me and gets away with it,” Thabo said. “No one likes snitches.”

He brought the knife down to my chest and I felt the most excruciating pain of my life. I carried on crying and screaming even after he was done. He stepped back to admire his handiwork and nodded in approval. Then he threw a roll of money next to me on the floor messed with my blood.

“You forgot your payment,” he spat. “Until next time.”

***

Tell us what you think: What would you do if you were Max? Do you think it’s safe to go to the police?