Two-Boy found Sharmi’s silence most disconcerting. He was closer to her than he was to the others. She was all hard edges and sharp words with Kagiso and François but had adopted him: a lost cause to save was probably how she saw him. Most women didn’t give him a second thought, didn’t get past the unlaundered clothes and the drinking. It didn’t seem to matter to Sharmi and he was grateful for that. She was an inveterate breaker of rules and, over the last few years, had been in touch with him more than the other two, ignoring the admonition about communications within the group being kept to a minimum. Sometimes she’d send him a message with nothing more than a smiley. He was worried about her. Her petulance at the last meeting in Hillbrow was uncharacteristic, even by her standards. What the hell was all that about? If François was right, and she’d taken fright, she might do anything.

Each to his own. That was how it felt to Two-Boy and he hated it. If he hadn’t known it before, he knew it now: he needed someone to tell him what to do. He needed a drink. He looked at his watch. Still only eleven thirty. He’d been in the office for an hour.

The phone vibrated in his hand. Two-Boy looked around nonchalantly. Just a couple of smokers getting their fix. It was the same number. He pressed the green button.

‘It’s me.’

Two-Boy recognised the voice immediately. ‘Howzit, man!’ It was all he could do to stop himself blurting out Kagiso’s name.

‘Can you talk?’

‘Yeah, it’s late, man, where are you?’ Two-Boy regretted the question as soon as he’d uttered it. It was careless. He realised how unnerved he’d been by the last couple of days.

‘I need a number.’

‘What kind of number?’

‘Mrs Motlantshe’s cell phone.’

‘Are you mad?’ Two-Boy was conscious that he’d raised his voice. He checked to see if the smokers had noticed. They’d gone. ‘You can’t call her.’

‘Just do it. Send me a WhatsApp with the number. One more thing. In the next couple of days I might need you to do your magic with a computer. I’ll call you again.’

‘Okay, okay. But can’t you just tell me what this is—’

‘I’ll tell you when I can. Listen – don’t make any mistakes.’