Meeting Sindi boosts Mandla’s fortunes in every way. He makes more money for the Scorpion Gang. His side-hustle of supplying ecstasy pills in the northern suburbs has also blossomed — he is making close to R5000 a week. It is not as big as the money he is making with the Scorpion Gang, where he is pulling in R20 000 a week, but he likes it more. The characters he meets in his ecstasy hustle are a joyful bunch who just want to be happy. There is no drama. He doesn’t need protection.
The Mandrax and cocaine game is something else. There is just too much danger. The profit margins are vast and other crews want their lucrative business and territory. Added to that, the weekly envelopes of bribes to the police are getting thicker; everybody is getting greedy. There are also murmurs of a wilder, younger gang that is planning to take over from them. All these factors have sent Mandla’s partner, Bongani, into a scary spiral of paranoia.
Mandla is in bed, sleeping in on Sunday morning after a night out with Sindi. She has moved in with him after a whirlwind romance.
“I transferred R4000 into your account,” says Mandla.
“What for?” Sindi inquires.
“For those Karl Lagerfeld flip-flops we saw at Europa yesterday. I saw how much you wanted them. I could just see it in your smile when you looked at them.”
Sindi hugs and kisses him. She says, “Thank you, Mandla. But I could never buy flip-flops that expensive, even if I was a millionaire. I’m going to use that money to pay for registration at UNISA. I’m starting in two weeks.”
“You didn’t tell me that.”
“I have been thinking about it for some time.”
“What will you be studying?”
“BEd.”
“That’s strange. From Electrical Engineering to BEd?”
“I have thought long and hard and decided that the Department of Education is where I can most likely get a job. I have had to be realistic in my approach. I need to get a steady job with benefits.”
“I make money, Sindi. All you had to do was tell me, I was going to pay for your studies. Buy those flip flops with that money I have deposited. I’ll give you more for your studies.”
“No, Mandla. Buying flip flops that expensive just doesn’t make sense.”
“But you like them. You only live once.”
“Just face it, babe. You are obsessed with designer clothes. I could never spend as much money on clothes as much as you do,” Sindi giggles.
“I don’t spend that much,” Mandla protests.
Sindi stands up and opens Mandla’s wardrobe. She points to his many designer sneakers and tells him how much they are worth. She comes to a total of R48 000.
“You know I have built a room back home with R35 000? I rent it out, making R2000 a month,” says Sindi.
Mandla smiles, looking at Sindi giving him a lesson in legitimate money-making. He realises that in Sindi he has found a special woman.
“You could buy a plot, build many rooms and rent them out with the money you are making. You’d make clean money,” Sindi says softly, snuggling back into his chest.
“I’ll think about it,” he says.
“Please think about it, Mandla. It would be clean, stress-free money,” she says.
Mandla looks into Sindi’s eyes and plants a kiss on her forehead.
Tell us: What do you think of Mandla and Sindi’s relationship?