The family’s lobola ceremony became a thing of the past in the blink of an eye, and the troublesome uncle eventually left the village. He had always told Oitumetse that, for him to retain his glow, he must refrain from overstaying his welcome at the village when the big city was calling him. That was rather sarcastic because the uncle had stayed for three weeks after the ceremony had passed.

Everything had gone back to normal, but the house felt empty because one of the daughters had left to stay with the in-laws for few weeks. It was only the parents, Mororiseng and Ouitumetse left.

On that day, Oitumetse went to his room, then he took out his blue Adidas soccer boots and his narrow necked blue bottle. He then made his way to the kitchen to fill the bottle with water, and he quickly packed everything inside his backpack and left for soccer practice. On his way there, his heart and mind was racing, and the more he approached the soccer field, was the more anxious he became. He experienced rapid heartbeats as well, and it felt like he had been jogging for the first time.

Oitumetse always avoided social interactions, which was why his father had suggested that he join the soccer team to loosen up a bit. He was not happy about it, though. But he still felt compelled to prove the point that he was not the shy boy that everyone insisted he was.

A couple of days went by, and Oitumetse kept hiding near the bush next to the soccer field, lying to his family that he had joined the soccer team. As he sat under a tree in the bush one day, his mind was entangled with self-criticism and fear of being criticized by others if he went to play. He thought about how being criticized by an elder for being a village kid had got to him.

Throughout the previous few days, Oitumetse had been filled with nothing but negative thoughts. But, during the last day of soccer practice, he managed to push himself to arrive at the soccer field on time. Everyone was in disbelieve when it happened, and they wondered what on earth was happening.

“Look who came to join us!” one of the boys said as Oitumetse slowly approached the team at the centre of the soccer field, warming up.

When Oitumetse heard the team cheering and clapping their hands for him, he felt lightheaded and dizzy. He woke up on his bed few hours later, wondering who had taken him home, and how embarrassing it will be going to be for him.

***

Tell us: What advice would you give someone who is going through the same things that Oitumetse is going through?