“Where is she!?” I shouted again, looking straight at Mr Khate.

Zali looked at me and then at Mr Khate. “Don’t worry, K, he won’t do it,” Zali said in a calm voice.

Shorty, who was standing in the corner of the room, looked around and pointed his gun at me. I stared at him.

“Drop it!” I said.

“He’s bluffing,” Zali said again.

I smiled at Zali. “If you don’t drop your gun now, Shorty, I swear to Christ I’m gonna blow her brains out!” I shouted.

Mr Khate turned to Zali. “Please,” he pleaded, “this wasn’t part of the plan. Tell him to drop his gun.”

Zali looked at Shorty and nodded his head. Shorty dropped the gun and held his hands up.

“Kick it over here!” I said.

The gun slid over the wooden floor and stopped against my foot.

“Pick it up,” I said to Melissa.

She picked it up and held it in her hands. I noticed that she looked scared.

“Now stand against the wall you two.” I said, looking at Shorty and then at Zali. I then looked at Mr Khate.

“Go and get her, sir,” I said.

I stood with my eyes on him as he went up the stairs and brought Thandi with him.

“What took you…” were her first words to me.

“Traffic was a disaster,” I said. “Plus this fool,” I pointed to Zali, “was telling me a boring story and I took a nap as he had bored me to death.”

Thandi ran into my arms.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded when she saw Mellissa standing next to the window with a gun in her hand.

“Long story,” I said. “I’ll tell you that another day.”

I went over to Mellissa and took the gun from her and pointed it at Zali and Shorty who were standing against the wall.

“Goodbye,” I said.

Shorty started to laugh. Zali looked at him confused.

“What’s funny?” I asked, with Thandi and Mellissa standing behind me.

Shorty continued to laugh but then he stopped.

“It’s not loaded,” he said, wiping tears from his eyes.

I looked at Thandi and then at Mellisa. “What?” I said, looking at the gun in my hand.

I looked up and Shorty jumped on me and took me down. He knocked the wind right out of me. Zali wanted to help but Mr Khate jumped at him and knocked him down too.

Mellissa and Thandi stood in a corner petrified about what was happening.

“Where’s the other gun, Bongani?” Mellissa shouted.

I managed to get Shorty off me and laid him down next to me. Blood was pouring from my nose.

“It’s empty!” I said, huffing and trying to catch my breath.

“What?” Mellissa asked. “What happened to the bullets?”

Shorty got up and threw some punches at me.

“I took them out,” I said.

“Damn!” Mellissa said, punching her fist into her palm.

Shorty managed to trip me over and sat on top of me, throwing punches at my face.

Thandi went over to the table with the wine, grabbed a bottle and smashed it on Shorty’s head. He went out cold.

Zali and Mr Khate’s fighting went up the stairs. And, then we heard a gunshot.

We rushed up the stairs and found Mr Khate that he had been shot in the leg and was lying on the floor. Zali turned to us.

“Downstairs!” he shouted at us.

Meanwhile Sam had called the police and Captain Setha had responded to the call.

“Who’s next?” Zali asked, pressing us up against the wall.

I stood forward.

“Ah, you wanna be brave, boy?” Zali said smiling.

I nodded. Zali thought for a moment. “OK,” he said.

“No, Bongi, I will go first,” Mellissa suggested.

“Make up your mind!” Zali shouted.

Mellissa stood forward. At that moment, I heard the engine of a car coming closer and closer. I turned around and looked through the window.

“You expecting company?” I asked.

Zali looked at me confused.

I looked again. Sam! I thought to myself. I turned around and looked at Zali and the others.

“You might wanna stand back,” I said. Sam behind the wheel of a car was an accident waiting to happen.

“What’s he doing?” Mellissa asked as we stood back.

“Who the hell is that?” Zali asked furious.

Mellissa ran upstairs to her father, where he lay on the floor.

Sam drove the car right through the wooden wall of the house. Thandi and I jumped out of the way. So did Zali, but he lost hold of his gun in the process.

“Is this a parking area?” Sam shouted, as he jumped from the car.

“No, you idiot. This is my house,” Zali shouted as he got to his feet.

He then grabbed Sam by his collar.

“Oh my god! Please put me down, sir,” Sam shouted.

“Don’t worry, I’m gonna put you down,” Zali threatened and threw Sam towards us.

At that moment, the police stormed into the house from every direction.

“Freeze!” they shouted.

Zali had a surprised look on his face when he saw all the policemen standing in the room.

“Are you OK?” I asked Sam as I helped him up off the ground.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sam looked at me and smiled.

“Zali, you are under arrest. Anything you say or do…” the arresting office began.

***

Mr Khate had his leg treated by the medical personnel while Zali was led away by the police to the policevan.

Sam was talking to an officer. Thandi, Mellissa and I chatted together.

When Zali heard us laughing he ripped himself loose from the police officer and grabbed a gun from the officer, pointing it at us.

Mellissa saw what was happening and stood in front of him.

Sam ran towards Zali and stood in front of him.

The gun went off, hitting Sam in his shoulder.

The police quickly got the gun off Zali and restrained him again, pushing him into the back of the van.

“Why did you do that?” Mellissa asked Sam, as she came to kneel with Thandi and I next to where he was lying.

“Don’t forget to get the Crook from my house – he’s all tied up!” I said to Captain Setha, who nodded.

“I guessed it was the wisest thing to do,” said Sam to Mellissa as we helped him onto his feet.

“My hero!” Mellissa said, jumping into Sam’s arms and kissing him.

Thandi and I stood together watching them and laughed.

The End