Payback - A Cape Town thriller Read Free

laughed. Sheemina February bent down and took out of her briefcase a plastic bank packet filled with a mix of sticks and pips, flipped it onto the desk. Very casual. Very neat.
    ‘Ganja,’ Abdul said and laughed again, harsh and ugly. ‘Top dagga,’ he said. ‘Bloody first-class weed.’
    Mace raised his eyebrows, but let the bankie lie where it lay.
    ‘Sold to one of our people on the floor last night,’ said Sheemina February.
    ‘I-I’ve only got your w-word for it,’ came back Matthew.
    ‘Of course.’ Sheemina February tapped the bankie. ‘But we’ve no reason to lie.’ They made eye contact: Matthew looked away first. ‘You say you don’t allow this stuff. Then we’re on the same side, Matthew. We’re both against the drugs and the gangsters.’
    ‘Who’re you paying protection to?’ interjected Abdul Abdul, reeling off some names: ‘Twenty-eights? Americans? Pretty Boys?’
    ‘No wh-one,’ said Matthew.
    Abdul gave an imitation of a laugh. ‘Americans,’ he said. ‘Don’t give me any shit. I know.’
    ‘It’s not only the grass,’ said Sheemina February. ‘They’re selling hard stuff too.’
    ‘Im-im-impossible,’ said Matthew.
    Sheemina February took another bank packet out of her briefcase , flipped it on to the table. ‘Heroin,’ she said.
    ‘Could be talcum,’ said Mace. ‘For all we know.’
    ‘Try it.’ Abdul pushed the bankie towards Matthew. ‘Take a taste, my friend, this’s your scene.’
    ‘Believe me,’ said Sheemina February, placing her hand over the packet.
    ‘You have all this,’ Mace said, ‘take it to the cops.’
    Abdul Abdul snorted. Sheemina February smiled vaguely then quickly turned to Matthew.
    ‘This is killing our children.’ She held up the packet of heroin.
    ‘You have the evidence. Call the cops,’ Mace said. ‘The man says he knows nothing about this stuff.’
    Abdul Abdul frowned at Mace and dismissed him with a flip of his hand.
    The vague smile returned to Sheemina February’s purple lips. ‘Mr Advisor, the cops will close down your client’s business.’ She held his eyes. ‘Do you want that?’
    ‘No,’ Matthew broke in. ‘No. The-there’s a way to w-work this out.’
    ‘Good. The simple thing here Matthew is the drugs have to stop.’
    The ‘or’ left hanging. She dropped the packet onto the desk. ‘Right. Here’s how we can help you.’
    ‘You don’t g-get to,’ Matthew replied. ‘Th-the way we work this out is you f-f-fuck off.’
    A quiet, a sudden quiet that went on so long Mace could hear the rumble of the city. He let his glance slide from face to face: Sheemina February amused, Matthew staring at his hands, Abdul with a tic working below his right eye.
    Abdul Abdul broke first, reached for his cellphone and shook it at Matthew. ‘We are telling you,’ he shouted. ‘We are telling you this must stop.’
    Sheemina February put her hand on Abdul’s arm. He flicked her off. Said,‘You think this is fun and games, my friend? You think this is fun and games to have all these drugs? You want Ecstasy? I can push so much Ecstasy down your throat you have a straight trip to hell. You are cheap shit. You are small shit, my friend.’
    Matthew stood up. The goon moved away from the door closer to his boss, flipping his jacket to show a thirty-eight tucked into his belt.
    ‘Wh-what’re you g-going to do?’ Matthew hurled back. ‘ Th-throw a pipe bomb in my club? K-kill a whole lot of in-in-innocent p-people like you did at those res-restaurants? B-blow off some kid’s feet just to t-teach me a lesson? Wh-who’s the cheap shit?’
    ‘Be careful.’ Abdul Abdul was standing now, spit catching at the corner of his mouth.
    Sheemina said quietly, ‘Shut up.’ Said louder, but not shouting, looking at Mace throughout. ‘Shut up. Both of you, shut up.’ Mace held her stare, not interfering, holding her eyes until she took them off him. Wondering, had they met before? Like what was her case? Her face seemed