“I know that you respect my husband, Hlapi,” Mamarato disturbed his thoughts. Her smile evaporated. “I still respect him, and I will do so for the remainder of my life, but my husband is no longer here.” She spoke with sincerity. “My husband was the kind of man who wanted me to be happy.”

ReHlapi did not remember Mamarato using his surname Hlapi. She usually called him ReHlapi, like Lerato and Nono did, by first putting the prefix, ‘re’, which referred to ‘father’ in the Sotho language. He realised that she was now addressing him as a man, rather than her employee.

“You’ll have to make me understand what you mean.” ReHlapi put in, confused.

The old lady laughed girlishly, and then gave him a soft look. “I don’t mind being with you, Hlapi,” she told him matter-of-factly.

It took him several seconds to understand what she meant. He smiled, and gently shook his head in disbelief. He could’ve leapt up and recited his praise poem but he stayed put, musing over her submission. It was surreal that a woman of her class had chosen to be his. He wanted to set one thing straight, nonetheless. He looked at her. She was happy.

“You know me well, Mamarato. What is there to give you?” He explained, his palm raised mid-air pleadingly. “I work here.”

He was stating the obvious, a fact all too familiar to Mamarato and she wanted to scream out: ‘You fool, not all women want men to give them material things?’ but she kept quiet, and seemed to smother a naughty grin. She then shrugged and playfully said, “I wouldn’t know, but you could give me the same care you give the flowers in our garden.”

Disarmed by her unexpected wit, ReHlapi chuckled fondly. Mamarato laughed after him; she was remembering an old joke she had shared with her daughters, when Lerato said: ‘I think I’ll be very happy if a man can love me the way ReHlapi loves this garden.’

Mamarato’s was still laughing from the thought, as it had turned out, she was now the subject of the joke. Her laughter faded when she began to observe ReHlapi’s face, like she was seeing it for the first time. She stretched her hand to his shaved cheek and touched it. ReHlapi was not sure what to do next. He let her touch him, and listened to the pulse of his heart, rising.

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