Moxyland - Lauren Beukes [29]
Tendeka
Sent Messages Folder / -
17/09 23h09. Toby. Not answering UR phone.
Did U get msg switching the
meet? Damn SAPS. SIM denied
entry @Don Pedros. Here it is
again. RendezV @ 19 lwr main
wdstock instead. Unimore Pack
ing co warehouse. Call 4
directions if U need. No rush
17/09 23h29 Still waiting 4U. Still coming?
Havent heard from U. Con
cerned?!?! Hour late now
17/9 23h51 Cant do it w/out our key guy!
Dont want 2 rip the plug at this
late. Get in touch!
17/9 24h12 Not cool Toby
17/9 24h17 WHERE U?!?!?!?!
17/9 24h23 FUCKER. FUCK YOU. YOU FUCK
'Little tense, bro?' Toby calls out, waltzing into the warehouse, and it's only because I don't want to set a bad example for Zuko, or scare off our new recruit, that I don't fucking slam him through a wall of crates.
The bastard actually laughs. 'Relax, china. I didn't realise this was a military operation here. So we're a little late. It's quieter on the highway now anyways.'
'Are you fucking high?' Which is a stupid question, considering his pupils are so dilated his eyes are black.
'Yeah,' he says, looking round, unconcerned. 'What is this place? Boxworld?'
'Jasmine used to work here. She kept the keys. And the alarm code,' Ashraf says, as if this conversational thread is a priority right now, as if I'm not going to see through him changing the subject.
Toby scopes her out with a leer. 'I don't think we've had the pleasure?' But before he can kiss her hand, I intervene.
'Oh, gosh. Where are my fucking manners? Let me introduce you. Jasmine. Toby. Jasmine's a political-economy student at UCT who's interested in joining the cause. Toby's a fuckhead.'
'Tendeka.'
'Sorry, Ash. But this is not cool. Toby, you cannot fucking come here fucked up and fucking think you can fuck this for us!'
'Ooh,' he says, pulling a face. 'Thanks, but not on the first date.'
'What?'
'All the fucking. Not on the first date. Sorry.' Zuko snickers, and this time not even Ash can stop me. I shove Toby, and he tumbles back into a stack of boxes, spraying the floor with packing material. He rebounds, like one of those punchbag clowns, laughing.
'Jesus, what a rush. Do it again. C'mon. Once more. Hit me. For real this time. C'mon. Just not in the face, okay?' He bounces like a boxer, shaking out his hands. 'Wait. Wait. Okay, I'm ready.'
'Fuck you.'
'Yeah. Already said that. Moving on … We gonna go wreak some havoc on capitalism or what?' Ash has a gentle restraining hand on my arm. But it's cool. I know the fucking score here. I shake him off.
'Is your friend ready, Toby? Because if she's not, you can just fucking go home.'
'Waiting on my beck.'
'Well, call her then.'
'I'll msg her when we're imminent. Not
before. She doesn't like prolonged chats. It raises her risk profile.'
I pull him aside, rougher than necessary, away from Jasmine, who is already looking nervous, and getting more so since Zuko started on a systematic sabotage half an hour ago, gutting boxes so they'll spill everything as soon as someone tries to lift them, switching labels. 'It's bad enough you come here fried when you know how I feel about that shit, but don't undermine me in front of my people, okay, Toby?'
'Okay, china, we're cool. I wouldn't want to affect your status with your people.'
'Are you fucking mocking me?'
'No, Ten. No. How can you think that? Look, I'm sorry. Let's just hit it, okay? Rewind. Press play. Back on schedule and everyone's happy!'
'All right. But this is serious. This is deep water.'
Toby looks confused.
'We're not playing in the shallow end.'
'Right. Got it.'
'Hey, Tendeka. Can he stop that?' Jasmine says, worrying at her thumbnail with her teeth. The girl's not going to last the night, I can tell. She's got heart, absolutely with the cause, but she doesn't have the nerves to endure the risk. It's the same for almost everyone who joins us. Either they're believers, or they're just along for the ride, but they never last.