132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJOYUYQ7ixThey grabbed my neck and I cried like a bitch begging for mercy.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMhcUJjRwFp
Harare at 2 AM smells like burnt sadza and diesel from the kombis that never sleep. The alley behind Mbare Musika stank worse. Four of them had me pinned against the corrugated iron Tawanda, Blessing, Chenai, and the quiet one, Tinashe. The crew I’d robbed eighteen months ago outside Bulawayo.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzF46axJpxR
The crew I’d convinced to hold “the client’s” fake gold while I walked out the back with the real shipment and a line that went dead the next morning.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbQC5ErPv4
Tawanda’s forearm was across my throat. Not enough to cut it off. Enough to make every word come out wet and useless.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNzEbD0F7WR
“You remember us, Mjay?” he said. His voice was calm in that way that meant he’d already decided.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtrSYlchzM
I nodded. Lying would waste time. I’d taught them that lesson, ironically.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdn1RbitNGo
“Yeah,” I said. “You’re late.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJcIVQcWMGl
Blessing drove a knee into my ribs. Not hard enough to break anything. Just enough to remind me he could.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKnC9YjCye
“We waited,” Chenai said. “Zimbabwe’s small when you owe the wrong people.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaC2Xlghd4J
Tinashe hadn’t spoken. He was the one who’d taken a round in the leg that night because of my timing. He was just watching me breathe. That was worse.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGvhIGKjMX
Mercy wasn’t coming. Not from them. I’d taken their rep, their money, and the one job that would’ve put them clean for good. In their world, that debt gets paid in blood or bone.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBTucR0qvz
So I did the only thing left that was mine to control.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YkwFyUaA8
I stopped struggling.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRBOZAQcG6
Tawanda eased up a fraction, confused.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGvWVu9IP8
“I know where the rest of it is,” I said.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCx43m9yj8k
Blessing laughed. “We checked your places in Mufakose. You’re broke, Mjay.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XnpxgrgQc
“Not my money,” I said. “Yours. The client never paid. He was laundering through a shell in Mauritius. It got seized six months ago. But the forfeiture records are public now. Case number 22-CV-1847. You file a claim, you get 60%. About 380k USD.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIrAzZ66t3r
Tinashe finally spoke. Shona, low and rough. “Sei urikutiudza? Why tell us?”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHhC2l7ucdz
“Because if you kill me, you never get it,” I said. “And because I’m tired of running from men I respect.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx551BAJfTc
Silence. The kind that happens right before a decision gets made.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrd2wnae87G
Tawanda looked at Blessing. Blessing looked at Tinashe. Tinashe looked at me.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQC0OHyWBFE
“You lied once,” Tawanda said. “Why not now?”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuVpvwIoIF5
“Check it,” I said. “Right now. On your phone. If I’m lying, you can finish this at dawn. I’m not going anywhere.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DnR1eB84L
They didn’t let me up. Blessing kept his knee in my back while Tinashe pulled up the docket on his phone. I could see the screen from the angle. Public records. Seizure. Unclaimed claimant funds. My name wasn’t on it. I’d made sure of that.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvXQy6BiQyd
Thirty seconds passed.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2pjgeKI0bG
Tinashe lowered the phone.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwhLM8Br1a
“Ichokwadi,” he said. It’s true.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiReDJzJ7cn
Tawanda let go of my neck. I didn’t move. Moving now would look like running.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡif1cgZmLIY
“So what now?” Blessing asked. “We just let you walk?”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRapJvKgRS9
“No,” I said. “You keep the money. I work it off. Driving, security, whatever. No cut. No name on anything. Just until it’s even.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSgAz8kCJX6
Tawanda stepped back. He spat on the ground.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfgGalsJ89
“Uri bharanzi, Mjay. You’re a coward. But you’re a smart coward.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2A02jPAeb
He turned to go.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmSUAJAupw
“Tomorrow. 6 AM. At the terminus. Don’t be late.”
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhMC0vD06R
I sat there after they left, hands shaking, throat raw.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYxCBl4ACj
I didn’t thank them. Gratitude would’ve been another lie.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ61704Brbp1
For the first time in three years, I wasn’t running. I was just waiting.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItahUnNYyu
And that felt worse. And better.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEizIwfyJiz
and then Add to home screen.