Dramatization of carjacking. Miniguns, flamethrowers and black americans not included in actual story.

The first thing I noticed when I got into the mini-van was how dark the interior was. Don’t get me wrong, usually mini-vans were dark by default, but usually they had a few LCD lights sparkling and hanging from the ceiling, lending a quasi-festive mood to the ride. Apparently, this particular ride was sorely lacking anything remotely festive. Even the driver, who got in just as I sat in the van, seemed sully and quiet.

After telling him the destination, he looked at me for a second, as if he made an attempt to commit my face to memory or something, then started up the engine and we were on our way. The driver was a young indian guy, probably mid-twenties, and was lacking flip-flops, which is most common amongst van drivers. Now and then he would slowly rub his chin, as if to muse on something.

A half a minute of silent driving, and I slowly realised something else. There wasn’t any music. Most van drivers strive to ‘pimp’ their ride, opting to go with either ear-shattering loud music via someone’s borrowed sound system or by placing a huge amount of LCD lights to brighten up the interior until it resembles more Traps then anything. If they’re extremely money-happy, the lucky ones go both ways one go, and you end up with spots in your eyes and a high-pitched whine in your ears by the time you’ve reached your destination.

This guy had neither music nor lights. Interesting, but not unusual.

“Long day today?”

I usually don’t start conversations, since by the time I get off the mini-bus, the last ride home drains me of anything verbal. But this guy looked like he’d just been given the short end of a deal with life.

“Areh man, yesterday was a bad day for me man. I got robbed.”

“Sa! Really? Shit man, you ok?”

Again, he rubbed his chin slowly.

“Yeah, I’m alive eh? Can’t complain that much.”

“Crap that sucks. What happened?”

The driver motioned towards the area where the car stereo system usually sits, which now was a huge gaping hole.

“I had one set stereo system there. Thing gone.” He pointed up at the ceiling. “The CD Player, thing hang up there, gone. They took everything.”

There was a moment of awkward silence that followed, usually after a stranger has just said something that may or may not elicit a sympathetic response, depending on whether said stranger had AIDS or a broken leg.

“When was this again?”

“Yesterday ga. I been pick two gang, one man and I think his girlfriend from the main road. The gang been say they want to *Forgot the name of the damn place* -”

“What time was this?”

“Boy thing early in the night. Maybe 8 o’clock 9 o’clock? Plenty jobs was going, people just coming back from church eh? So these gang got on, they been say where they want to go, I took them.”

“You remember their faces?”

He waved his hand in frustration. “Areh man, I take hundreds of people everyday, you think I remember their faces too? Thing dark, I never look in the mirror, I just drive. Mind my own business eh?”

“True true.”

“So I just driving till we reach the house. Thing was far inside, far from the main road, plenty grass and little houses. No streetlight too, thing just dark when I was driving in. The falla tell me ‘here, turn here’ so I turn into this house. When I stop, they get out, and then I see some more gang come out from the house. The falla I drop off, he been come around the van and stand next to my window to pay. But he was talking to his friends, the ones who came from the house. The gang talk talk talk, then the falla who stand next to me reached into the van and switched off the engine. He been pull out the key, then boo, those gang whack me up.”

“Sa! How many gang?”

“Boy dunno saraga. I just put my hands up to cover my face, they pull me out of the van and smack me up. Punch me here, punch me in the side -” He lifted his shirt to reveal a nasty set of bruises on his ribs, “…and they kick me in the face. Boy, I nearly knock out saraga. They throw me in the back of the van, and then they all got in and drive around. The gang at the back they been tie me up and put one shirt in my mouth.”

“Where’d they take you?”

“They drive drive for awhile, then stop at another house in the bush. I thought they gonna kill me. But they just get out of the van, and start to take all the stuff out. My radio, my speakers, even the lights, they took it all out. The gang just take their time, and they laugh and joke when they take out all the things. When they finish, they drive the van again, and this time they been go to the service station.”

“This the service station ga at the main road?”

“Io that one. They were very brave to do that. They just go and park the van at the pump, and when the bowser falla ask to open the side, the driver been look at me and ask me where the switch was. All the gang been laugh. I try to make noise but the gang at the back been punch me up again.”

“…shit…”

“Yeah. After that they drive around again for sometime, then they stop off in the bush again, and then they been leave me there. They just turn the engine off, got out, and disappear. I wait like 2 minutes, then I try to get out of the rope they been tie me with.”

He rubbed his wrists slowly, wincing slightly.

“As soon as I got out of the ropes, I ran saraga. Ran and ran. I thought maybe those gang were waiting outside to beat me up for fun. Can’t really tell with these criminal gang eh?”

“Went straight to the police station?”

“Areh man they been drop me in the middle of nowhere. I been walk for a long time before I been catch one taxi. I went straight home. Told my family, then I been call the police.”

“Got any of your stuff back?”

“No man. Not yet. The police, they been say they still investigating. But I don’t believe them. How they gonna find the robbers when I don’t even know their faces? No hope bro.”

“Man thats slack. I hope the police find those gang.”

“Same,” he said, unconsciously touching his apparently still sore jaw, “same.”

We sat in silence for the rest of the trip home.