6 AM at Mbare terminus. Cold. Smelled like rain on dust.
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Tawanda, Blessing, Chenai, and Tinashe were there. I had the file with the case number, printed. No phone, no tricks. If I was going to run a con, it wouldn’t be on them again.
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Tawanda took the file, flipped through it.
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“You’re clean,” he said. “For once.”
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Blessing stepped forward. “So we start today. You drive the delivery to Gweru. Simple.”
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I nodded.
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Then Tinashe spoke.
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“Before that.”
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He pulled something out from behind his back. Not a gun. A small wooden box. Inside was a faded photo. Me, 19 years old, at my sister’s wedding. Standing next to a girl with braids and a gold necklace.
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Her name was Rudo. Tawanda’s younger sister.
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She died two years ago. Overdose. The same pills I used to move.
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The alley went quiet again. Different kind of quiet.
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“You didn’t know,” I said. It wasn’t a question.
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“I didn’t,” Tawanda said. “Until last week. Blessing found your old phone in the place we raided.”
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He closed the box.
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“So here’s the twist, Mjay,” he said. “We don’t need your driving. We don’t need the money.”
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He dropped the file on the ground.
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“We needed to see if you’d still lie when you had nothing to gain. You didn’t.”
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Chenai stepped up and put a hand on my shoulder.
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“Rudo would’ve slapped you for what you did. Then she’d make you fix it.”
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Tinashe tossed me a set of keys.
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“ kombi needs a driver. Route 14. Mbare to Chitungwiza. 6 AM to 6 PM. Pay’s small. But nobody dies.”
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I looked at the keys, then at them.
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“So that’s it?” I said. “You’re letting me go?”
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Tawanda smiled for the first time since he had me against that wall.
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“No,” he said. “We’re letting you stay.”
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Done. The twist: the crew already knew Mjay’s connection to Rudo, and the whole setup was a test to see if he could be trusted to change.
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