Mary is at the taxi stop when she sees the same Porsche coming out of the complex’s main gate. She immediately looks the other way. She can hear the throaty idle of the Porsche as it turns into the main road. It stops right next to her. The back window rolls down.

“Where are you going?” says the man in the back seat.

Mary’s eyes scan the inside of the car. There are three men: the man talking to her, another in the passenger seat, and the driver.

“Come on, babygirl. I am talking to you,” he continues.

“I am not ‘babygirl’. I have a proper name that was given to me by my father.” Mary doesn’t hold the irritation from her voice. What irks most is that she is sure MaMgobhozi is watching all of this through her window.

The driver of the Porsche rolls down his window and says, “Hawu! It is you, Mary J? Get in, we will give you a lift to wherever you are going.”

“My name is Mary Jane, not Mary J!”

“Why all the rage when you are such a pretty girl? Girl, you are killing that dress; really suits you.”

“Thanks,” Mary says, rolling her eyes.

“So you two know–?” asks the man sitting in the back seat.

“She is the one I was telling you about,” interjects the driver. “Cha, bayazala abanye omama (Some women give birth to beauties). What is your surname Mary Jane?”

“Buthelezi,” Mary says, still looking the other way. “Can you guys please leave me alone? Can you do that? I can’t even get a taxi because you are blocking my path. And besides that, you will get me into trouble. Nx!”

“Hawu! Even when you are outside the complex you will get into trouble? Do you live with a hitman or something? He wants to keep you all to himself?” says the driver.

Mary moves away from the Porsche, and heads further down the road. A taxi appears. She flags it down and gets in.

But when she gets off the taxi, near the college gates, she hears someone say, “So this is the place you were rushing off to, Angel?”

It is the driver of the Porsche. Mary is shocked that they followed her, but does not show it.

“My name is not ‘Angel’.”

“Oh Lord! Nkosiyami! (My God!) You are one headstrong woman!” says the driver.

The passengers in the Porsche giggle like idiots. Mary leaves them giggling and crosses the road into the gates. They watch her walk away and into the main entrance of Richards Bay Technikon.

“So this girl studies here, at Richtech, Rhino,” says the man in the back seat.

Rhino is the driver, the one who was smitten by Mary at her flat in the morning. As they are usually three inside the car they are known as the ‘Big Three’. Richards Bay is their hideaway from the police. They are originally from Umlazi Township in Durban. Next to the driver, Rhino, sits Ndlovu (elephant). In the back seat we have Bhubesi (lion).

The Big Three are not the type of people you would want to be enemies with. They are bad news. Bhubesi and Ndlovu are trouble, but less trouble than Rhino. Rhino is the kingpin, the baddest of these bad men.

***

Tell us: Do you think Rhino is really in love with Mary or does he have other plans for her?