Stolen Youth:Kasi Secrets Don’t Stay Buried

📚 Chapter 7: When Smoke Fades, Shadows Speak

The aftermath was never quiet in the Kasi — not when blood had been spilled, and definitely not when secrets were caught in the wind like burned newspaper scraps.

Boitumelo stood by the broken fence behind her gogo's yard, her heart heavier than the Jozi smog. Her hoodie smelled like fire — not the wild blaze from the scrapyard, but the kind of fire that starts from lies rubbing too close to truth.

She heard footsteps. Soft ones. Careful ones. Someone who didn't want to be heard. But this was her block — she heard everything.

"Why are you following me?" she snapped without turning.

Silence.

Then, "Because I know who started the fire. And I know who it was meant to silence."

It was Neo. Not Neo the loudmouth from Block C, but Neo the whisperer. The one who never spoke unless his words cut deep.

Boitumelo turned. "Don't lie to me."

"I don't need to," he said, stepping into the streetlight's glow. "The night the fire started, I saw Tshepo sneaking out the back with petrol on his shoes. He didn't see me. But I saw everything."

Her chest tightened. Tshepo? The one who had promised her they'd make it out together? The one who said he was done with the crew?

"No," she said, but her voice shook. "He wouldn't."

Neo pulled something from his pocket — a scorched phone, its screen cracked like a spiderweb. "I found this by the containers. Look whose voice note is still on it."

He hit play.

> "I said burn it down. I don't care who's inside. I'm done playing soft, they crossed me first."

It was Tshepo's voice. No doubt. Not even the static could hide that.

Boitumelo's knees nearly gave out. It was like losing her youth all over again — like her mama disappearing, like hearing her gogo's cough turn wet and deadly. Trust was the last thing she had, and now even that was burning.

"You sure you wanna go after him?" Neo asked, voice low. "If you move now, you can still catch him before he disappears to Mabopane."

She looked up, fire now in her own eyes.

"I don't want to catch him," she whispered. "I want to expose him. Let the Kasi see the truth."

---