Today is the day of the battle of the gangs. I am anxious and a little excited about meeting Queen of Mzansi. I mean she is more like my idol in the gangster world. She is a true self-made queen who always rises to all challenges faced with and stays true to herself. My husband doesn’t understand what the fuss is all about, but then men will always be men and there are just some things that they will never understand.
I get dressed in a black crisscross cropped tank top, black suit with black red bottom pumps pointed toe thin heels and a black hat. I wear a black trench coat on top. I strap my weapons carefully in my suit. It feels so weird to go to a gang related meeting or event without Cleo and T-bone but I will live.
When I am done dressing up, I go to the bedroom to find my husband fixing his suit. As usual, he is wearing a black suit with a black tie this time around. He is also wearing a black trench coat. His dreads are plaited. He looks so dangerously handsome right now. I lick my lips and go stand behind him. I place my hands on his stomach and kiss his back.
Sizwe: “even with heels you still don’t reach my shoulders.”
Me: “leave me alone.” I say pouting and he laughs. He turns to look at me with a silly smile on his face.
Sizwe: “I am glad you chose me and I chose you. It’s us against the world baby. You’re my ride or die. You’re my lifeline and I love you.” I smile.
Me: “I love you more my knight in shining armor.” He blushes. “We better get going then.” We take our phones and we head out. He takes his silver gray matte Maserati car keys and leads me to the garage. We climb into the car and drive out.
After arriving at the warehouse and exchanging greetings with everyone, we are sent coordinates of where the battle of the gangs will be held. We get into our cars and drive there. Upon arrival, we enter this place. It’s like a military base. There is a fighting space indoors and outdoors. There is also a gallery where an audience sit. We are led to our space and we go there and make ourselves comfortable. Luckily they didn’t take away our weapons, but there are rules here.
- NO KILLING OUTSIDE THE RINGS
- NO FIGHTING OUTSIDE THE RINGS
- NO PROVOCATION
- NO INSULTS
- AND LASTLY, ADHERE TO QUEEN OF MZANSI’S RULES. IF NOT YOU AND YOUR GANG WILL BE PUNISHED.
Every gang has their own space so that there is no unnecessary fighting. There are a lot of gangs here. About 20 plus gangs. I know all of them but they don’t intimidate me. While sitting and waiting for this to start, someone from Queen of Mzansi’s crew comes to our booth. It’s a very tall large dark man who has so many scars in his face. He comes to stand in front of me.
Him: “her majesty would like you to join her in her booth.”
Me: “oww okay.” I squeeze Sizwe’s hand and then stand up. “After you.” I free my hand from Sizwe’s and follow the tall guy. We get to Queen’s booth and all the women stand up. There is the Empress, Thabi, three other crime queens which are Mercy, Punisher and Blade and then there is the Queen of Mzansi.
The empress is wearing a brown crop coat with one button, a matching bodycon mini zipper skirt with a black turtleneck and black thigh high boots. Thabi is wearing nude chinos, a navy formal shirt, nude trench coat and brown dress shoes. Queen of Mzansi is wearing a black vest, high waist camaflouge pants, clear stilettos and a black zipper standard slim winter PU jacket.
Me: “ladies.”
Queen: “thank you for coming.”
Me: “like I had a choice.” I say chuckling and she laughs.
Queen: “we can all sit now.” We settle down and soon after, we are served drinks. I am sitting next to her while Empress is seated on the other side.
Me: “so is this your property?”
Queen: “yes. I operate in bases not warehouses. That’s how big my operation is.”
Me: “so any man in your life?” she laughs and takes a sip at the glass of whiskey in her hand.
Queen: “you’re too curious but I will answer you because you know what will happen to you and your entire family, should you decide to betray me. I have a man but he is not from here and doesn’t stay here. We are not good for each other currently and we are trying to work on our individual selves in order to be better partners in the future.”
Me: “sounds like a fairytale.”
Queen: “you and I both know that there is no fairytale in our world. We are just not good for each other at the moment. We love each other so much that we don’t wanna let go of the love that we have. Which is why we are trying to change to be better versions of ourselves. So you and Dark Eagle?” she wiggles her eyebrows and I laugh.
Me: “it just happen. Enemies at first and lovers at the end. It’s just that…” I shut up and look at her. She gives me the carry on look. “I don’t have anyone to talk to about my feelings. My best friend is my sister in law. I can’t exactly tell her all that’s in my heart. My other friend is part of the gang, which makes her below my rank. Sometimes I just feel like my marriage with Sizwe is just too perfect.” She smiles.
Queen: “it’s still the honeymoon phase. You are still going to have problems but if you really love each other, you will conquer them.”
Me: “truth be told, this is my first relationship.” She laughs and even throws her head back.
Queen: “that explains your worries. Relax. Everything will be okay.”
One of her people comes to her and whisper something in her ear. She hands the woman her whiskey and then stands up. She goes to the podium and then clears her throat. The whole base goes quiet.
Queen: “good morning and welcome to the battle of the gangs. I will not be saying the long speech. During the fights, you are allowed to surrender if you feel like your opponent has defeated you. Death and unconsciousness will automatically end the match and render your opponent the winner. You are only allowed to use weapons that are provided to you. No external weapons. No cheating. So good luck and try not to get yourself killed. LET THE BATTLE OF THE GANGS BEGIN!”
Everyone cheers and she comes back to her seat. Our booth can move, so the operator moves it to the first match. There is a total of 24 gangs here excluding Queen’s gang. The participators fight. After a long day of bloodshed and tears, it comes to an end. Only 10 people die and the rest surrender. One of my people, Perry, is injured. Asher and Popi quickly rush her to the warehouse so that she can get urgent medical attention. I turn to Queen.
Me: “please show me the people who attacked T-bone. I wanna have a word with them.” she smirks.
Queen: “don’t kill them.” I chuckle.
Me: “Rule one is still ringing in my ears.” She stands up and I also stand up. She leads me to one of the rooms in the base. I get inside and sit down. Luckily this room has no cameras. She leaves and comes back with 4 very large men. They look super scary.
Queen: “remember no killing.” She closes the door on her way out.
Me: “gentlemen.” I stand up. “I don’t wanna kill you. I just want us to have a chat about what you did to my right hand man.”
Guy 1: “Lioness we were just following the rules and orders.”
Me: “and here I am, about to follow orders.” I take off my clothes and I am left naked before them. I see them try to look away but they are failing dismally.
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NARRATED
The men frowned when they heard bones cracking. Lioness’s skin started to change. It looked hard. Next she fell down and roared as she felt the pain when her bones where cracking and transforming. The men looked at each other and the stepped back. She groaned as she was transforming. Long sharp teeth made way and her sharp nails were out to play.
When she was fully transformed, she stood very tall and very scary. For the first time, her colour was black and her eyes were red. She stepped closer to the men and the screamed while backing to the corner. They couldn’t believe what was happening in front of them. It all seemed like a dream, a movie. Silo smirked and suddenly a huge roar erupted from deep within. She looked at the men who were shaking like leaves with urine running down their pants one more time and then she transformed back to Thandeka. She took her clothes and wore them.
Lioness: “now you know what happens when you mess with my loved ones.” She smiled and walked out.
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#TheLioness
#QueenOfMzansi
#TheEmpress
#MyKnight
