When the burly man stepped closer, Qhawekazii stepped a few feet back nervously. And when she turned to run back, she was frozen with another shock to see the young man approaching towards her and he didn’t look like someone that was coming to her rescue.

The bedlam of the city was too much for her to scream for help. Instead she made a soft noise, accepting she was fooled by the man’s direction as he was attempting to rob her with his men.

“Are you lost sweetie?” a voice came out of the young man with a smirk on his face.

“Stay away from me,” she shot a warning as she froze like a rabbit caught in headlights.

With a quick toss over to the burly man, who stood like he was a bystander. Qhawekazii assumed a daft thought that she could take down the young man in front of her. She had good fighting skills she learned from her father after all.

“Don’t be scared,” he said. “I’m here to help you find the right way to the taxis you’re looking for.”

Qhawekazii looked at him as he was taking closer steps while the heavy rain was padding hard on her face.

“But before I help,” the young man added. “You might consider sharing some of your…” he rubbed his index finger with his thumb, indicating a sign of money.

“I don’t have any money,” she was not going to give up Luthando’s savings over to this ‘wanna be gangster,’ she thought.

The young man yanked out a knife, “I was trying to be fair,” he said with a discontented look over his face.

“But if you wanna act like a b*tch. Then I’m forced to hurt you sweetie.”

Eyeing that knife scared the sh*t out of her. He came and gripped her neck, pushed her hard to the wall as the tip of the knife trailed fiercely over her cheek.

“Give. Me. The money,” his tone changed to a deep aggressiveness.

She pressed her hand over his arm and twisted it, while her forehead knocked his nose. Her knee kicked into his balls and he went down to the floor screaming in pain.

Qhawekazii’s mind forgot to remind her to pick up her small suitcase on the floor as she ran away while the burly man attempted to help the young man on the ground.

“Leave me and get that b*tch!”

Qhawekazii’s run was interrupted by a dustbin on the floor. She slipped and fell down hard on the ground. Her knee was slightly injured and when she tried to get up, the burly man cupped her from the back, squeezing his strong muscles arms through Qhawekazii. She tried to shuffle her body for an escape but the man was too strong for her thin body.

“Get your hands of me!” she demanded as she knocked his nose with her head.

“Auhh!” the burly man grimaced while holding his nose. He glanced at Qhawekazii who had already fled. He saw his blood on his palms and got even more pissed.

Qhawekazii was still shocked by the attempted robbery that a taxi’s loud hoot frightened her, almost knocking her to the floor. As she escaped that, a speeding car appeared hitting her. She rolled down again to the ground, grimacing in pain. A petrol truck almost hit her again but she managed to escape from it by rolling herself out of the road.

“Yey wena ntombazane! (Hey you, girl),” a stranger shouted at her after he just witnessed her almost being ran over by a truck.

“Ubanjwe yiwhoonga!?” (Are you high on drugs?)

Qhawekazii didn’t bother paying attention to the stranger as she peered over the cars to see if the burly man was following her. Her shock deteriorated when she saw him glancing at the ongoing cars trying to find a way to cross over to her.

When she leapt up from the ground, the same stranger tried to help her up but she shoved his hands off from her shoulders. She continued running away under the heavy rain forcing her injured thigh.

She ran to the far end of the road where there weren’t that many people wondering around. She stopped and turned around to see if the burly man was still following her, but he was nowhere to be seen.

When she crossed the road without even looking, a man driver managed to hit his brakes, almost knocking her down. The driver sprang out of the passenger seat, leaving the engine running and the door wide open. He was wearing a nice suit as he headed towards Qhawekazii who was down on her knees, feeling tired and exhausted from the running.

Tell us: Should Qhawekazii trust this new stranger? Why or why not?