Present Day…
“Tshepi,” Realeboha calls out her daughter.
“Yes daddy?”
“Are you still going to the book store today?”
“Yes I am. Do you want me to get a book for you?” Ntshepi asks her father playfully. Ever since he let her choose a book for him, he’s been lazy to go to book store, he just sends his daughter, who too likes to read.
“See you when I return, daddy.”
Ntshepi’s relationship with her dad, Realeboha, is a tight one. She loves her mother too, but the love she has for her dad is bigger than the ocean itself. Ever since Ntshepi can remember, her father always brought books for her to read. He would read for her when she was little. When she was in Grade 3 he took her with whenever he went to the library. So her father instilled the culture of reading in her from a younger age. Her dad is a lawyer, he also runs and supports organisations and movements that fight against abuse and other social inequalities in a society.
It’s been roughly thirty minutes since Ntshepi has been trying to choose a book that will impress her dad. She knows that he loves reading mystery books. But today she wants to surprise him with something new – something that he doesn’t expect.
She has a feeling that something or someone is watching her. She turns around and she doesn’t see anyone. She continues again, looking at the books on the store’s shelves.
“Hey,” a voice says coming from behind Ntshepi, who is bending forward onto the shelf, startling her. “Sorry, I did not mean to scare you.”
She stands up straight so she could see the person who is talking to her more clearly. Wow, what a beautiful lady she is, Ntshepi thinks.
“No, no. You didn’t actually. Can I help you?” she tries to act normal and sound good in her surprised voice.
“It’s more like how I can help you. You have been in this store for some time now. Looking for something in particular?”
“No… Actually, yes. I am looking for a book that is going to surprise my father. So… nothing is exciting in here, at the moment,”
There is a short silence between the two as the woman seems to be thinking about what Ntshepi just said. Ntshepi takes time to fully inspect thoroughly the beauty of this lady. She has an oval shaped face. She can’t see her hair because she is wearing a doek tied in a simple African way. Her lips are so tiny that they complement her cheeks, she has a one dimple on her left cheek. She’s so cute. I wonder how many guys are standing in line for her, Ntshepi thinks.
“Well try this one,” she hands Ntshepi a book out of her backpack. She must be a student, she says in her mind. The cover is so attractive, she might just read it herself before handing it to her father.
“Wow, where did you get this b…oo…k?” her sentence is cut short because the lady is gone. She looks around the store and she can’t find her.
“Did you see the lady I was with just a minute ago?” Ntshepi asks a security guard of the book store. He tells her she saw her leave.
She goes home with questions lingering in her mind.
“Who is that lady? Why did she give me this book and just vanish into thin air? How and where must I return this book?” she asks herself as she opens the gate and closes it. “Oh, well at least I got a good book to read. If she wants it back she must hunt me down,” she says to herself. “My dad’s gonna love this.”
***
Tell us: How do you think Ntshepi’s story links with Lerato’s?