Chapter 11: Rooftop Truths & Street Oaths
The rooftop was quiet now.
Police cars were gone, the flashing lights fading into memory. Students were sent home early, the school temporarily shut down. But up here — where air was thin and the city buzzed in the distance — Kgosi sat with a heavy heart, Naledi at his side, and Lethabo asleep in the hospital ward.
His mind couldn't rest.
Too much had happened too fast.
He had exposed the principal. He had faced a gun. He had watched his best friend bleed.
But the question still burned in his gut…
Who really killed his father?
---
The USB Drive
Naledi handed it to him. "You ready?"
He nodded.
She plugged it into her laptop. A folder popped up:
> 🔒 "Thabang_Matlala_Evidence_Final"
Inside: audio files, PDFs, footage, voice memos… all recorded by Bra T-Man before his death.
Kgosi clicked the first file.
> Voice Recording – 6 Jan (10:44PM)
"They want the routes to Mozambique. Said they'd double my price. But this isn't what I started this for. I built Red Wire to protect our kids. To feed widows. Not to move poison."
Kgosi froze.
This was his father's voice. Deep, calm… tired.
---
Flashback
In his mind, he saw it all now.
The late nights Bra T-Man would sit outside, staring at the kasi lights, smoking quietly while Kgosi did homework.
The phone calls he would take behind locked doors.
The arguments with Mama.
"You promised me, Thabang! No more blood!"
"I'm trying to keep us safe," his father would say.
But safety came with a price.
---
Second Recording
> 7 Jan (3:14PM)
"Radebe came today. Told me I must step down. He's working with Mokoena now. They want Red Wire under their rule. They offered me R200K a month. Said it's either join… or die."
Naledi covered her mouth. "Oh my God…"
Kgosi's heart thundered.
His father knew he was a target.
---
Then Came the Last Video File
> Dated: 9 Jan – Time: 10:11PM
The video opened on a shaky shot of Bra T-Man in his car.
Rain beat down on the windshield. His eyes were red, like he hadn't slept in days.
> "Kgosi… if you're seeing this, then I didn't make it."
> "Don't trust the school. Don't trust Mokoena. And never trust Radebe."
> "Find Naledi. She's smarter than she knows. She's your shield."
> "And remember… this war ain't about drugs or money."
> "It's about power."
> "They want to control Kasi kids. Fill their veins with poison, steal their futures, and call it business."
> "But you're my son."
> "Make them bleed with the truth."
The video cut.
Silence.
Kgosi stared at the screen, his hands shaking.
Tears rolled down his face, but he didn't sob. He just sat still — eyes cold, mind storming.
---
Naledi's Hand on His Shoulder
"He died trying to save us," she whispered.
Kgosi nodded slowly. "Then I won't let it be for nothing."
---
Three Days Later — Behind the Spaza Shop
A secret meeting.
Only a few loyal Red Wire members showed up. They'd gone quiet after Bra T-Man's death. The streets were too hot. The new leaders — Radebe's crew — had threatened anyone who remained loyal to the old ways.
But now, the old leader's son stood before them.
"I'm not here to beg," Kgosi told them. "I'm here to rebuild."
"You got evidence?" asked Gino, a sharp-eyed older member.
Kgosi tossed a file to the table.
Photos. Audio transcripts. Names. Accounts. Routes.
Everything.
"I got what they tried to bury," Kgosi said. "And I got people watching. Journalists. Cops. Activists. And if I disappear — the whole world sees it."
The crew looked at each other.
"Bra T-Man died for this," Kgosi added. "You still loyal to the man, or was it just for money?"
One by one… heads nodded.
A fist slammed the table.
"I'm in," Gino said.
"So am I," said Thabiso, lighting a cigarette.
"Red Wire isn't dead," another said. "It's just been sleeping."
Kgosi stepped forward.
"Then let's wake the city up."
---
That Night — Outside the School
Kgosi stood in the shadows across the street from Thuto-Mphatlhalatsane Secondary.
Lights off.
No more guards.
No more Mokoena.
Just a school building that had hidden corruption under its walls for years.
Naledi joined him. "They'll rebuild it eventually."
"I'll be watching," Kgosi said.
She smirked. "You're really becoming your dad."
"No," Kgosi said. "I'm becoming what he dreamed of."
---
Final Scene — A Letter to the Dead
Back at home, Kgosi sat at his desk.
He opened a notebook and began writing.
> Dear Papa,
They tried to end your legacy. They tried to bury the truth. But I dug it up. I fought back. Not with guns — but with proof.
Naledi and Lethabo stood with me. The streets are waking up. The youth are not blind anymore.
I know I'm still in uniform. Still balancing textbooks and bloodlines. But I won't stop.
You gave me a name, and now I've made it loud.
Rest easy. Kasi loyalty still lives. And your son still fights.
– Kgosi T. Matlala
He closed the book.
And from that moment on, schoolbags and bloodlines would walk side by side — but never in silence again.