ZWELIBANZI - THE TAXI DRIVER

CHAPTER 06

ZWELIBANZI

That night I couldn’t sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Nomtha’s bag on the pavement, the smear of blood, and Madoda Khumalo’s scarred face grinning in the dark. Auntie and Zinhle slept peacefully in their rooms, but for me, the silence was heavy, filled with ghosts.

I poured a cup of black tea and sat at the old table. My hand traced the cracks in the wood, the same cracks I’d stared at as a boy when Auntie tried to explain why my parents never came home.

The Thorn Boys.

I hadn’t thought of them in years, but now everything came rushing back.

When I was small, I’d overhear whispers. My father, Mshengu Dlamini, wasn’t just a man ,he was a gangster, sharp and feared. They called him uMshengu weMali ,the man of money ,because he ran deals across townships, moving guns and drugs, making men rich or dead.

But there was one job, one betrayal, that sealed his fate.

He’d stolen from the Thorn Boys. Not just money ,something bigger. Rumor said it was a weapons shipment meant for a powerful politician, maybe even the police themselves. Instead of handing it over, he sold half, hid the rest, and walked away, thinking he could outsmart everyone.

Madoda Khumalo’s brother was killed in the fallout. And Madoda never forgave.

I remember the night of my parents’ funeral, men in black coats standing far from the crowd, watching silently. Auntie whispered in my ear ,

“Ungabuki ,emuva, mfana wami. Don’t look back.”

But even then, I knew those weren’t mourners. They were hunters.

Now, sitting at this table years later, I muttered i , voice trembling

“Bathi Indoda aykhohlwi "

And the worst part? Nomtha wasn’t just collateral.

That scrap of paper with “MBU” written on it ,it wasn’t just her surname. The Mbulazi family name tied back to the same world. Old money, old deals, old secrets. My father had done business with them, maybe even betrayed them too. Which meant Nomtha wasn’t just a woman I’d fallen for. She was part of a bloodline tangled in the same curse.

I slammed the cup down, tea spilling across the cracks.

For the first time in years, I admitted the truth to myself:

I wasn’t just Zwelibanzi the taxi driver.

I was Zwelibanzi, son of Mshengu ,the man who had stolen from wolves and left me to inherit their teeth.

The knock at the door came sharp, cutting through the night. Three raps, slow, deliberate.

I froze, then stood, muscles coiled. When I opened it, S’bu ,one of my taxi comrades ,stood there, face pale under the streetlight.

“Bru…”

he whispered, glancing over his shoulder.

“The Thorn Boys… they looking for you. Word is, they don’t just want the girl. They want the stash your father left behind.”

My blood ran cold.

The stash. I’d heard rumors, half-stories, Auntie denying everything. But if it was real, and if Madoda thought I knew where it was…

I realized then that this wasn’t just about rescuing Noma anymore. It was about unlocking secrets buried with my father, secrets that could burn the whole city if they surfaced.

I clenched my jaw and whispered

“Sho mabura mfethu , it begins now.”