Читать книгу The Street Detectives: Drugs are for mugs (school edition) - Janis Ford - Страница 4

Pre-reading

1.	Think about gangs and gangsters. Why do new members have to prove themselves before they are accepted?
During reading
2.	Mlibo behaves in a secretive way. Notice these details.

Mlibo eased himself forward across musty piles of sacking and crumpled newspapers into the pitch darkness of the hole. The air was chilly in here and he shivered. A sudden scuffle to his right made him freeze in horror.

Rats! Canal rats were enormous! He shuddered to think that Sizwe and the boys had actually slept here. Carefully his fingers searched for the ledge at the back on which he had placed the parcel that Lynch had given­ him to hide.

Mlibo cringed. What if he touched a rat! Would it bite him? Next time Lynch gave him a parcel, he would place it near the entrance!

The boy quickly ran towards the opening and eased himself through the crack and out into the bright sunshine. Before jumping down to the canal floor, he dragged the piece of cardboard back across the entrance to the hole. He did not want his hiding place in the wall to be discovered. Then he jumped down and hurried back towards the car park.

The pretty young flower vendor set up her beautiful display on the broad pave­ment at the corner near the traffic lights. In spite of the shade spread­ing from the shop buildings, it was still very hot.

She arranged the wilting bunches to their best advantage in the buckets, but it was obvious that her whole attention was not on the flower display. Now and again, she pushed back her long, straight black hair and her dark eyes keenly raked over the passers-by as if she was looking for someone. Mlibo walked up to the lamppost at the entrance to the car park and stood waiting in the sizzling sun. Lynch, the leader of The Devils, had told him to be there with the parcel at exactly one o’clock.

In the past few weeks Mlibo had been working for him. Lynch wanted Mlibo to prove himself to the gang before he could become a member. He would give the boy a small parcel tightly wrapped in brown paper and tell him to hide it in a safe place and then wait for further instructions.

Some time later, Mlibo was told to take the parcel to a particular address. It was easy money; he could buy bread and chips and as many cigarettes as he wanted.

Mlibo did not dare ask questions, and why should he? He was happy. He didn’t have to work so hard. The gang seemed to accept him and that was what counted.

The flower vendor gave him a sideways glance and checked the passers-by to see if anyone was watching them. The sun blazed mercilessly down on Mlibo’s bare head but he dared not move into the shade. He mopped his brow with the palm of his hand and licked his parched lips as he scanned the road for the person he was supposed to meet.

The flower vendor checked around once more before she crossed the car park entrance lane and strolled towards him.

“Mlibo?” Her voice was cold and expressionless.

“Yeah.”

“Go to this address.” She handed him a piece of paper.

Mlibo sighed and his heart sank. He couldn’t read! His hands trembled as he gazed at the squiggles on the paper. Thabo had tried to get him to go to his special school to learn to read, but he could not be bothered with all that rubbish.

Mlibo looked hopefully up at the young lady, but she had already turned away and was heading back towards her flowers. Damn! How could he find out what was written there?

Lynch had told him to speak to no one but he had to find out what the note said or he would be in big trouble! Who could he ask?

Fleetingly, he thought of Thabo and the boys at the shelter. No. He couldn’t ask them. Thabo had connections with the police.

Mlibo made up his mind. He would ask Louis du Toit, the guy who bought old newspapers and cardboard from the street kids. Mlibo set off rapidly. His eyes scanned the car park for signs of Sizwe, Tembile, Victor and Vuyo who had been his close friends when he had stayed at the shelter. Thankfully, they were nowhere in sight.

Post reading

1.	What kind of person is Mlibo?
	A. reckless
	B. rude
	C. timid
	D. lazy
2.	Why are the flower vendor’s flowers wilting? Suggest two possible reasons.
3.	Why does Mlibo wait in the sun and not in the shade?
4.	This is not the first time that Mlibo has delivered a similar parcel somewhere. What is different this time about the instructions he gets from the flower vendor?
5.	In your own words, explain Mlibo’s problem at this point in the story.
6.	Think about your education and what it means to you at this stage in your life. List some of the ways in which it has empowered or enriched you so far.