It was a lovely morning, I woke up full of joy and happiness. I worked at the HOPE Children’s Home and I loved it. I was always excited to do my duty as a teacher and helper at the orphanage.

One night we had a fundraiser. It’s been three years since we’ve been trying to get donors to sponsor us with food, stationery and other material things needed. We invited businessmen and other companies to get involved.

Everyone who attended dressed beautifully and casually introduced themselves as they marked the attendance register. I could see every attendant was loaded by the way they dressed. A man in a black suit disturbed my attention. He was tall, slender and a giant. He looked like he was in his 40s. His face was the ugliest I had ever seen. He didn’t smile but just said his name.

He seemed as if he carried a load of problems on his shoulders. Something about him made me unable to take my eyes off him. The children made a play for the fundraising. It was a play where children were living in the street and a man in armour came to save them.

The audience was excited and clapped hands with laughter. Mrs Rorr stood up and gave introductions. She spoke about how we were struggling to look after the orphans and what we needed. She then asked for anyone to donate any amount of money to the organisation. The man in a black suit made the largest donation after some offered what they could. At least the money could cover us for the whole year for all expenses needed in the orphanage.

After the fundraising, Mrs Rorr sat with the man in the suit, Mr Gambo. I got his name after he introduced himself. I kept staring at him as I gave the children food to eat while the visitors took snacks and talked to the children. Everyone had left except the man in the black suit who sat with children, talking to them calmly.

He didn’t smile but he seemed to talk to them in a gentle way. The children felt comfortable with him. He stayed until the children were taken to bed and only left when the last one was gone.

The next day I went to my class and started with my lessons. I taught the children about animals. I made them make sounds that animals made. Then Mr Gambo stood by the door.

“I hope I am not disturbing, carry on. I just want to watch,” he spoke from the door. He stood and held out his arms. I got nervous and continued with the animal sounds. He didn’t smile. He looked as if he was not happy. His face lit only when he saw the children giggling. I wondered if he had children. Maybe he was missing his kids, I thought.

He seemed to be interested in the kids as if he wanted to adopt one of them. He walked around, watching the whole room as if he was observing something. He behaved like an inspector, and this annoyed me. At break he left the class as we were preparing the kids to go and eat. I followed him to the ground where he played soccer with some boys.

Later that day, after putting the kids to sleep and getting ready to leave the orphanage to go home, I saw Mr Gambo still on the premises. He was in the girls’ room, reading a story while the children slept. He was in the girls’ rooms.

What was he doing in the girls’ rooms? I thought he might be a rapist. To be sure, I went back quickly in the girls’ rooms to remove my suspicions. They were sound asleep. I walked out the orphanage, the man was still there smoking a cigarette. I went inside my car. He didn’t notice I was looking at him. My car was parked only few meters from his. He got inside a car and started to drive off.

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Tell us what you think: What is this man up to? Why do you think he’s hanging around the kids?