Unlike the standstill on Pritchard, this was progress. Two streets ahead, past one final set of lights, Claim Street awaited.
He braced himself.
His Glock 19 Gen 5 was tucked neatly beneath his seat, just where it always was. Without taking his eyes off the road, he reached down and ran his fingers along the cool metal, ensuring it was exactly where he needed it to be. Satisfied, he rolled up his window completely and placed both hands on the steering wheel, scanning his surroundings with deliberate focus.
He cruised past the first cross street without incident. But as he approached the next traffic light, it abruptly flipped red. He was three, maybe four cars away from the notorious Claim and Lillian Ngoyi intersection when a young man�seventeen, maybe eighteen�darted into the street. He moved as though in a hurry, weaving his way from one side of the road to the other with convincing urgency.
On the opposite pavement, where a line of tightly parked cars hugged the curb, two other boys�about the same age�leaned casually against a red Volkswagen Golf 1. One was puffing lazily on a joint. There was nothing unusual about that. The street was littered with idling drivers, doors open, music thumping, some retrieving something from their vehicles, others simply lounging with windows down, nodding to the rhythm of amaPiano drifting through the air.
Mashudu kept an eye on the young man crossing. His body language seemed casual enough�too casual to raise alarm. Still, Mashudu�s gaze swept over to the pair by the Golf, a quick once-over to rule out suspicion. Nothing; Just kids, it seemed.
He returned his focus to the crosser�who was now just inches from his driver-side window.
Then it happened.
A sharp, unmistakable crack!�the sound of tempered glass giving way. It came from the direction of the red Volkswagen.
Mashudu�s hand shot back under the seat, fingers grazing the Glock�s grip. He turned toward the sound�just in time to see the barrel of a Norinco Type 54 emerge from beneath a tattered cloth. Its dull muzzle stared back at him like an unblinking eye.