Zoo City 7
On my way home, the dull crackle of automatic gunfire, like microwave popcorn, inspires me and a bunch of other sensible pedestrians to duck into the nearby palisades arcade for cover

The cops don’t usually use an automatic weapon, which means it’s either gang war or an armored car heist. The cash-in-transit vans usually get taken on the highways, where there’s more room for quick getaways, but the gangs have been getting more brazen in the inner city. Gunfire has always been part of the nocturnal soundscape of zoo city, like cicadas in the countryside. But it’s only recently that it’s become part of my daily routine

We wait it out, tense, between Mr. Pie, the Milady budget shoe store and the GO-Go-Go travel agency, which obviously took the imperative of its name too seriously, because its upped and gone. The window is wallpapered with a mix of TO LET signs, faded posters of exotic locales and Unbeatable Travel Deals!