Mlibo choked, spat and tried not to swallow, but it was no good. His throat constricted involuntarily and the mixture trickled down his throat. He had no choice; he had to swallow.
Queen moved away and the men let go of the boy.
Mlibo rolled off the table and backed away to cower in a corner. He held his stomach tightly. What had he drunk? He tried to spit it out. He stuck his finger down his throat in an attempt to make himself vomit.
It did not work. Miserably, Mlibo slumped back against the wall and prepared himself for the worst. He was going to die!
The gang ignored him. Blade and Terro gathered eagerly near Queen who gave them some tiny white plastic bags. She gave Lynch a wad of money which he stuffed quickly into his trousers pocket.
Suddenly Mlibo knew what it was all about. Drugs! This woman was a drug dealer! How stupid he had been not to guess what was in those parcels!
Thabo had warned him not to get involved with the gangs. Mlibo’s head began to spin and psychedelic flashes whirled in front of his eyes. The floor lurched upwards to meet him and when the boy looked at Lynch, bright rainbows appeared over his head and the room danced to a thousand tunes.
Mlibo clutched the wall, dragged himself to his feet and stood swaying uncertainly as the room spun violently. Wherever he looked, he saw vivid changing patterns and intense colours.
“He’s ready,” Queen declared coldly. “Brand him!”
Mlibo teetered drunkenly. Blade and Terro moved forwards and each grabbed an arm to hold him still.
Lynch went to the fire, eased out a red-hot rod of metal and walked towards the boy.
The last thing Mlibo remembered was the sound of his own long howl of agony as the blistering hot metal seared the mark of the gang forever onto his upper arm.
Blade and Terro suddenly released their grip.
Mlibo staggered and fell flat onto his face on the bare concrete floor.
“Come,” ordered Queen. She headed towards the stairs. “He’ll be out cold for the rest of the night.”
Without a backwards glance Lynch, Blade and Terro followed Queen out of the cellar.
Post reading
| 1. | Describe Mlibo’s feelings when he is brought into the cellar. Why does he feel this way? |
| 2. | Nicknames are given to people for different reasons. Suggest some likely reasons for the names “Lynch”, “Blade”, “Terro” and “Queen”. |
| 3. | What do Lynch and Terro’s actions contribute towards the atmosphere of suspense? |
| 4. | What does Mlibo find amazing about the boss? |
| 5. | At first, Mlibo thinks he has been poisoned. What, in fact, has happened to him? |
— Chapter 5 —
Pre-reading
| 1. | Think of the thousands of people in South Africa who make a living out of picking up scrap and litter. They work hard to earn a mere pittance. |
| During reading | |
| 2. | Notice how the writer fills us in about different strands of the story in the same chapter. Humour and suspense are balanced in this way. |
“Shall I take this load to Louis?” Vuyo was helping Tembile and Victor fill an old, rusty trolley with cardboard boxes.
“Okay,” Victor agreed. “Tem and I’ll get that lot over there.”
Vuyo set off cheerfully, but it was hard work. The cardboard was heavy and the wheels of the rickety trolley did not want to go in the same direction that he was pushing.
“Here, I’ll help you,” Sizwe offered.
Tembile and Victor grabbed another trolley and rushed over to the fish shop where clouds of flies buzzed over the pile of rubbish in the side alley.
“Pfu! These stink!” complained Victor. “Shall we leave them?”
Tembile examined the cardboard and thought of the extra chips he would be able to buy with the proceeds.
“Hold your breath,” he suggested. “It won’t take long to sort it.”
Vuyo and Sizwe pushed the trolley to the building in the street where Louis du Toit had his junk shop. The street kids brought everything that they found to him – paper, wire, grills, car hubs, saucepans, broken toys, buckets. Louis took everything. Especially wire! And he knew everyone.
“Seen Mlibo around?” asked Sizwe as the old man checked the weight of the cardboard.
“Yeah,” Louis nodded. “He’s been in a couple of times this week to ask me to read addresses on bits of paper for him.”
“Where’s he hanging out?” enquired Vuyo. “He hasn’t been to the shelter lately.”
“You keep clear of him!” Louis turned angrily on Vuyo. “He’s a bad one. He’s in with that gang, The Devils. Drugs and that.”
Tembile and Victor joined them as Louis paid Vuyo twenty rand for the cardboard.
“Mlibo’s in big trouble,” Sizwe announced.
“Serves him right.” Victor shrugged. “He’s been told time and again not to get mixed up with gangs.”
“We should warn Thabo,” Tembile suggested.
“You can tell him if you want to,” Victor said. “I don’t care!”
In the shelter’s kitchen Mrs Misengana and her assistant Nombile were busily peeling potatoes to go into her famous Malay curry.
“Where’s Miss Collette?” asked Nombile suddenly.
“Gone shopping for something smart to wear on Saturday. She’s going to the Baxter Theatre.” Mrs Misengana winked. “Thabo’s taking her to a symphony concert.”
“Thabo interested in classical music?!” exclaimed Nombile. “I can’t believe it!”
“It just goes to show,” nodded Mrs Misengana, “you never can tell!”
Miss Collette parked her car and made her way to the shop that had advertised a sale in the newspaper. Cheerfully, she went to the dress department and began her search for a new outfit. She wanted to look her very best for Thabo. She always wore jeans and a T-shirt at the shelter. He had never seen her dressed up before.
She smiled to herself. How wonderful that they had an interest in common, apart from the boys!
“Can I help you?” a young assistant enquired.
“Yes. Thank you. I’m going to a concert at the Baxter Theatre and …”
“I have the very thing for you,” the girl said eagerly. “This suit. An Yvette de Paris! An absolute bargain!”
Miss Collette looked at the jacket’s plunging neckline and the short skirt and shook her head.
“Not quite me …” she muttered indecisively. “But it’s a very good price …”
“Try it on,” urged the sales assistant. “It’ll look divine on you. I’m sure you’ll fall in love with it!”
Post reading
| 1. | How much does Louis pay the boys? |
| 2. | What advice does Louis give them? |
| 3. | What do you learn about Victor and Tembile from the way they react to Louis’ advice? |
| 4. | We know that Miss Collette has misunderstood Thabo’s invitation. Describe some of the amusing results of this misunderstanding so far. |
| 5. | What kind of outfit do you think Miss Collette should choose? |
| 6. | Try
|