Chapter 43: The Handover

…continued from 21 June 2026…

FIRST TIME HERE? NO PROBLEM – START AT THE BEGINNING – WARNING YOU WILL BECOME ADDICTED TO THE STORY.

This particular Sunday Lucky sat his usual 3 pews behind Themba where he could observe him without drawing too much attention to himself. However, instead of focusing completely on Themba, lucky was observing the congregation carefully. He noted how the dress codes varied from poor to rich and he noticed who sat where. He saw the cliques, and after service, he noticed the typical interaction and activities in the church grounds, which was in all ways very similar to Malik and Stanley’s observations.

Whitey had told him to observe and report back. This after Shawn had delivered the first shipment of cash last week and also shared Johan’s idea to involve the church.

Lucky considered himself lucky to have been there when Shawn had visited and explained to Whitey, because he was sure that Whitey was neither interested or grasped the opportunity of involving the church.

In-fact he was convinced that Whitey would not keep up his end of the bargain and would hold on to the money selfishly with no guilt or regard for anyone. Lucky understood the scale of what Johan was trying to accomplish. He also understood how the different elements were intertwined and had to be executed in tandem to achieve the desired outcome.

Lucky also understood, that despite Johan’s gentle demeanour, he would not hesitate to seek retribution from anyone who betrayed him or played him the fool. An important fact that Whitey seemed blissfully unaware of. Despite the fact that Whitey respected Johan’s intelligence for coming up with the original plan, he felt that he (Whitey) could also have come up with a similar plan and that it was no big deal.

The truth was that Whitey resented anyone who was smarter than he was.

Lucky, fortunately, knew this instinctively about Whitey and as a result, had never overplayed his hand by making Whitey look foolish.

Now, however, as he quietly sang the hymn too himself while the rest of the congregation went at it full blast, he realised he would have an opportunity to change the course of his destiny and the destiny of his community.

Johan wondered how the idea of using the churches had come to him. He sat at his desk idly pondering the thought while simultaneously mulling over all the possible outcomes of the plan he had set in motion. Although he was, at best, a slightly higher than average chess player, he knew that the game was all about anticipating and seeing every possible move your opponent was planning to make or could make.

Out of nowhere, an old memory came to the forefront of his thoughts.

It was just another day where he would have to drive Peter around. One of the stops was Cape Town International airport where Peter had a quick meeting with a supplier who was catching a connecting flight and had an hour to kill.

No matter which direction you came from towards the airport, you could not avoid driving by the sprawling informal settlements alongside the main road leading to the airport. These were a truly sad reflection on the South African government’s inability to provide decent housing and amenities to the poorest of its citizens.

Continued tomorrow 23 June 2026, before 12pm

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