Smile notices four cars parked on the side of the road and men jumping out of them with guns drawn. He hyperventilates through his teeth, and then his breathing slows down. The grin stays tight on his face but the rest of his body relaxes.

“Let’s see what these boys have for me,” he thinks.

“Smile! It’s him! It’s Smile!” the hit men scream as they position themselves to shoot at Smile’s car.

Smile is doing well above 120km/h but as soon as they start shooting he steps on the brake and the car goes well below 100 km/h. He opens the door and rolls out. The Uber driver gets out of the Etios and runs to the trees on the side of the highway. Sbahle, now alone in the back of the BMW, sees the Uber driver running. She also jumps out of the BMW and makes a run for it. One of the hit men glances to the side and sees Sbahle running. Because the man’s finger is already dancing on the trigger, it happens by reflex that he turns and fires two bullets at Sbahle.

Smile feels no pain as he rolls and slides to a stop. The jacket is worth the R8 000 he paid for it.

The driverless Golf 7 GTI hits the RunX and ricochets to the man who has just shot Sbahle. It slams his legs and sends his head banging against the solid left frame of the windscreen. His body rolls limp on the tarmac.

The six remaining hit men now fire in Smile’s direction. Smile draws his gun and runs towards the trees on the side of the road. His eyes stay on the hit men as he runs. Two of the six run out of bullets at the same time. Smile tumbles to the tall grass before the trees and ends up on one knee, facing the direction of the hit men. He fires four bullets and two men fall.

“You boys don’t know me!” Smile screams in celebration of his good marksmanship.

The four men left take cover behind the cars. Smile continues to the trees and hides behind one. He is breathing rapidly now, still through his teeth. He touches his right hip and his hand returns with blood. There’s also blood dripping from his forehead. His breathing slows again. He gets up and runs through the trees in the direction of the hit men.

“Reload now before he appears again,” one of the men says to the others.

They fiddle with their guns. Their hands are trembling. Smile appears from the trees and releases three bullets. One of the hit men falls. Then as Smile ducks back behind a tree two bullets hit his belly.

“He’s hit!” one of the men says and wipes sweat dripping down his face with his hand.

“Let’s go and finish him!” another man signals to the other to accompany him towards the trees.

The other man shakes his head.

Smile is panting, seated with his back against a tree. He removes his hand from his belly and it is soaked in blood. He looks up, closes his eyes, and breathes a little faster before slowing down again. He hears tyres screeching and a volley of bullets being fired as he attempts to get up on his feet. He checks what is going on and sees Bhizos’ black Ford Ranger and two other familiar cars. The two hit men are now cold on the ground. He exhales in relief but then his eyes dart all over the place.

“Sbahle! Sbahle!” he calls out.

“Brother Smile!” Bhizos runs to Smile when he sees him by the trees. He puts Smile’s arm over his shoulders to help him walk faster. “We have to go! The police are on the way!”

“What about Sbahle? Where’s Sbahle?” Smile wails.

“Forget about Sbahle! She must have run away! The police are on the way, brother Smile! We have to go right now!” Bhizos shouts as they carry Smile to the back seat of a red Nissan Sentra.

The police arrive hardly five minutes after Smile and his gang have disappeared from the bloody scene. The Uber driver looks shell-shocked when he reappears from behind the trees where he was hiding. It takes ten minutes before he regains his bearings and starts explaining to the police what has just happened.

***

Tell us: What will happen to Sbahle?