A white Toyota Quantum taxi stops in front of the gate of a house in Unit 6. This section of Hammarsdale Township has bigger houses and is close to being the suburbs. Jacob Ntuli sits back and takes in the quiet streets and beautiful houses. His heart sinks when he looks at the house he calls his home. He’s reminded of how Nobuhle, the mother of his only child, Sbahle, would always point at this house and say she wished to raise their children in it. Nobuhle worked extra hours as a nurse and Jacob worked extra hours driving taxis. They saved up to build a similar but smaller house and they were halfway to their target when Nobuhle fell pregnant.

Those eight months of Nobuhle’s pregnancy were the most joyful of their lives. Then one day, while waiting outside the gate of their two-roomed house in Unit 4 for Jacob to take her to a doctor’s appointment, Nobuhle was robbed and stabbed by mandrax addicts who wanted money for a fix. A neighbour had already rushed Nobuhle to the clinic in his van by the time Jacob arrived. And by the time Jacob made it to the clinic, Nobuhle had passed away.

It took Jacob a few minutes to slaughter his wife’s killers and he has never regretted it. Then, when Nobuhle’s life insurance was paid out, he added it to their savings and bought the exact house Nobuhle used to point at. This is the house he’s parked in front of right now. Nobuhle never got to see it, but her daughter was raised in the house she had wished to raise her in. This thought brings a tiny smile to Jacob’s otherwise pained face.

He jumps out of the Quantum and enters through the small gate within the big one. He’s wearing a comrade’s marathon cap on his head which his fit and slim fifty-two-year-old body signifies as earned. Sbahle, twenty, watches her father from the kitchen window as he enters through the gate. She stops washing the dishes, wipes her hands dry and ties her pink gown properly around her waist.

“Daddy,” Sbahle has her hands cupped in front of her as if she’s holding an invisible bowl when Jacob walks in through the kitchen door. “Where’s my chocolate?”

Jacob raises his eyebrows and steps back slowly. He shuts the door and runs back to the taxi. Sbahle runs after him only to see him quickly jump into the taxi and drive off.

“Dad!” Sbahle calls out.

Sne, Jacob’s girlfriend, comes out of the house giggling. “Why is he running?”

“I think he forgot to buy me the chocolate he promised me,” Sbahle smiles and shrugs.

Sbahle’s phone buzzes as soon as she gets back into the kitchen. She pulls out her tiny Vodafone cellphone and reads the SMS.

‘Fatty, I’m sorry I forgot your chocolate. I’m going to buy it now. I’ll be back in a second.’

Sbahle shakes her head and replies: ‘Dad, my name is Sbahle. NOT Fatty.’

Sbahle is short and light-skinned with a round face. She has slanted eyes and perfect white teeth. Her boyfriend, Smile, and every man who meets her, thinks she’s curvy in all the right places, but her athletic father thinks she’s just fat. Sbahle finishes doing the dishes while Sne sweeps the floor in the dining room.

Jacob’s cellphone rings as he parks at the Hammarsdale Junction shopping centre. Sphamandla Bhengu, the taxi owner he works for, is calling him. It’s the same Sphamandla whose father was murdered in broad daylight by Smile.

“Jacob Ntuli,” says Sphamandla. “How many loads have you done today?”

“Six, Sphamandla,” says Jacob.

“Good, very good. You are the best of all my drivers, Jacob.”

“Thank you.”

“The offer is now one hundred and fifty thousand rand, Jacob,” Sphamandla says. “I can pay your daughter one hundred and fifty thousand rand just to tell me the right place and time to come for Smile.”

“Sphamandla, listen to me, boy …”

“I’m just asking for that small favour, Jacob. Or you can even kill Smile yourself for another one-fifty, which will total three hundred between you two. Dad told me you did some dirty work for him sometimes. But I’m a fair man, a businessman. I’m not forcing you to do anything. I’m asking nicely for information that I’m willing to pay for. That’s fair, I think.”

Jacob exits the taxi and locks the door. “Sphamandla, the biggest mistake you can make right now is to involve Sbahle in whatever issues you have with Smile.”

Sphamandla chuckles. “Mistake? Is that a threat, old man?”

“No, boss. But please stay away from my daughter.” Jacob drops the call and switches off his phone.

Sphamandla calls Jacob several times but his calls go straight to voicemail. He furiously blows out cigar smoke as he paces up and down on the balcony of his late father’s mansion in New Germany. Beyond avenging his father, Sphamandla also wants to earn himself respect as a proper taxi boss by killing Smile, and that hasn’t been going well for him.

***

Tell us: What do you think Sbahle sees in Smile?