Constable Lecheng stopped the car in the parking lot and turned to Kate. “I’ve got to run a short errand. By the time you finish with the Station Commander I’ll be back if you still need me.” He started the car up and sped away as soon as Kate shut the door, gravel from the tyres hit against her legs. He really was making it easy for her to hate him. Annoyed she made her way to Matebele’s office.

“So, I hope you’ve sorted everything out, got the answers that you needed.” Matebele set a cup of tea in front of Kate. The sweet, hot liquid poured down her throat and she wondered when last she had tasted such a wonderful thing. It only slightly eased the seething anger she felt inside.

Setting the cup down, she reached in her bag for her notebook. “To be honest Mr. Matebele, I’ve seemed to come back with more questions than answers.”

“Is that so?” Matebele looked up, interested.

“Yes. Constable Lecheng told me that the cause of the fire was a paraffin lamp that was still sitting on a metal table next to the grandmother’s bed. According to him, it must have dumped over and caused the fire. We went over to where they’re preparing for the funeral. I spoke to the mother of the children and she told me when she arrived at the hut, the lamp was lit, sitting on the table. And the uncle who entered the hut immediately after the mother corroborated this, the paraffin lamp on the metal table was upright and still lit when they arrived. The uncle said that he mentioned the burning paraffin lamp to Constable Lecheng who said that the fire must have been caused by another lamp or candle the children had lit. The uncle didn’t accept this. He said his mother would never light two lamps in the same house. It is very confusing, as you can see.”

“Absolutely. I can certainly see the confusion. I’ll be honest with you Detective Gomolemo. Constable Lecheng is a problem. His personnel file is as thick as a book and he’s only been on the force for five years. He drinks. He’s lazy. He doesn’t follow instructions. I’ve had numerous complaints from parents about their daughters that he’s harassing. There’s even one schoolgirl he impregnated but he paid the parents money and they dropped the case before I could get him fired. He is nothing but trouble.”

“I wondered myself. Like, for example, why were no post mortems done?”

Asst. Sup Matebele rubbed his head. “I guess I’m to blame really. Sometimes you find a troublesome young man like Lecheng responds to being given some independence, some responsibility. I thought I’d give him this case, see how he does. I’ll admit I was relieved when it appeared to be a simple fire. Relieved that he couldn’t mess it up. I guess I should have been paying closer attention. I guess I’m to blame, Detective Gomolemo.”

“Rre Matebele, you did the best you could. I know how difficult these kinds of people can be. You tried, he let you down.” Kate gave him a knowing smile, shaking her head back and forth. Of course, she didn’t blame him in any way. It was Constable Lecheng, rushing to finish his work so he could get back to sleep in the patrol car. “With what I’ve got so far, I do feel that we should get post mortems done on the victims.”

“Do you really think that’s needed? The family has already begun funeral preparations, as you know.”

“I know it’s a difficult situation, but I’d rather be on the safe side, especially considering this mix up with the lamp. We need to be sure that these people were killed by an accidental fire and not something more sinister.”

“Whatever you think is best Detective Gomolemo. You’re the one with experience in these things. I’ve been following your career; you’ve made quite a name for yourself with some high profile murder and corruption cases. I’ll speak to the family straight away.”

Kate told Asst. Sup. Matebele that she’d be back as soon as the post mortem results were out, just to finish up her report. “I’m sure it will all come back fine. Still, I’d add a few more papers to Constable Lecheng’s file about the shoddy job he did on this case if I were you.”

The station commander stood up and walked around the desk, escorting the attractive detective to her car. Kate ducked inside after he opened the door for her.

“Well, Detective,” Matebele said, smiling, “you drive carefully now. I’ll let you know as soon as we get the report back.”

Opening the door of her house, Kate felt a need to call her son. She couldn’t stop thinking about MmaGosego and the terrible loss that she would have to endure for the rest of her life. How do you lose four children and keep your sanity? Selfishly, Kate’s thoughts moved to her own situation and her son, Gomolemo, so far away studying in the States. Tonight she needed to hear his sweet, familiar voice. She needed to be sure he was safe. She picked up the telephone.

“Hello?”

“Gomolemo, is that you?”

“Mom? Mom? What is it?” Kate could hear the urgency in her son’s voice. He knew his mother well. She didn’t call long distance to the States unless something was wrong. Wasting hard earned money on such an extravagance as chatting on the phone was not what his mother did. Not on a police officer’s salary.

“No, nothing’s wrong. I just wanted to hear your voice. Make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine. Everything’s fine. Are you okay, Mom?” He didn’t believe her. Since his father’s death, he’d tried to take care of his mother, but she refused to be coddled. Keeping a stiff upper lip was a trait Kate was proud of.

But tonight Kate’s heart was tender and tears filled her eyes when she heard the deep voice of her grown-up son so many thousands of kilometres away. She wished so badly that he was here next to her where she could give him a hug and make sure that everything was safe and sound. She told him about the case, something she rarely did. He listened and reassured her again that everything was fine. He’s grown into a sensitive man and could feel that the case was troubling his mother, even through the long distance phone line.

“Listen, Mom, I’m actually glad you called. I wanted to talk to you. I’m not sure that this is the way to say it but I don’t know what else to do.”

“What is it? You can tell me anything, you know that.”

“Yeah, Mom, I know that. Remember I told you about Rachel?”

“Yes, I remember. You sent me the picture of the two of you when you went camping last summer. I think that you’re the one with the bad memory,” Kate joked with him.

“Okay… right. Mom, we’re getting married.”

“Married?” Kate couldn’t hide her shock. It all seemed so sudden. She hadn’t even met the young woman. “You’re only 25 years old.”

“I know but we love each other. That’s not really everything. We’re getting married next week.” Gomolemo waited for the eruption he knew would come from his mother, but she stayed quiet.

“Mom? Mom? Are you there?”

“Yes, I’m here. What does that mean? You’re getting married next week. What’s the rush? What’s going on Gomolemo?” Kate was panicking. What did this mean? Maybe he was never coming back to Botswana but instead marrying some white, American and staying in America forever. She’d lost her husband, was she going to lose her son as well?

“I told you Rachel’s parents are not happy about our relationship, that I’m black and she’s white. They try to keep us apart all of the time. We’re serious and we thought getting married would prove that to them. We’re just going to the justice of the peace, with friends. Her parents don’t know yet; they’d stop us if they did.”

“Do you think that”s wise? What will her parents do after you’re married? I don’t think that this is the right way to go about it. “

“It’s going to be okay. After we’re married, I’m moving into Rachel’s apartment. Then it’s only less than a month and we both graduate from med school. Then we’ll come to Botswana. Her parents will just have to decide what’s important to them. But for us, we know it’s right. I’ve loved her for more than three years; I don’t see that ever changing.”

Kate could hear echoes of her late husband in his son. Stubborn determination when he knew what he was doing was right. That was just how his father had been. He would not be deterred when he knew he was right. Kate knew that if Gomolemo said that he would love Rachel for the rest of his life that is how it would be. Besides, she was relieved to hear that he intended to bring his new wife home, which was just what she wanted.

“I could come there if you want,” Kate offered.

“No, Mom it’s just a formality. We’ll have a real wedding when we come home. A big traditional Setswana wedding. You’ll call Auntie OT and we’ll make a real party of it.”

Kate hung up the phone with mixed reactions. She was happy for her son and she looked forward to meeting her new daughter-in-law. But she was surprised to find that hidden underneath the pile of emotions the announcement caused was anger. She was angry with her son’s future in-laws for rejecting Gomolemo- a wonderful, beautiful, respectful Motswana man. In the end, she decided Gomolemo was doing the right thing. There was no way to deal with the ignorance that was the foundation of racism, except to insist that it bow to what was right. In the end, they’d either see things his way or remain blind in their ignorance.

***

Tell us what you think: Do you think Kate’s son is doing the right thing marrying Rachel?