Chapter 3
Gaborone, 1999
The winter was slowly creeping in. A slow chilly breeze scattered brown and yellow leaves all over the streets, and all around people's compounds. Although it would be cool in the night time and morning, the day was always boiling. There was never really a decrease in temperatures in the country when the time was right, for the scorching sun was like a curse.
Lorato could not care less about the weather. She was getting married in two weeks. She was living with her future husband in a shack owned by his good friend Zee, right in the middle of the city township. Her fiancé, Tebogo had just found work after a long month's stay ever since they eloped together from Meropeng…Their small house was made of brick walls which at one corner had a large crack from the top right down to the bottom. The crack was disguised by peach coloured paint that no longer looked peach and the rusty corrugated roof was held down by four large bricks. As unstable as it the structure was, it was home for the most part. With Tebogo's new job, they could finally fix the rusty roof at their place because the winter was not going to show them any mercy. Zee had loaned them the house while he was back in his hometown, dealing with some family business.
Lorato was also doing something for herself. She was going to school, working on getting her diploma in accounting with the scholarship offered to her by the government. Lorato really wanted to prove to her parents that she could make it on her own, married to the boy they disapproved all because of their perceptions about him. Sure, he used to be a criminal and had a bad track record with the law, but he had changed. The love they had for each other had changed him for the better and they could not see that. They could not see that she loved him and he loved her. She had had enough of their nonsense, always hovering over her and her sister like, they were not grown and mature. Now that Tebogo had a job, everything was going to be fine. They could probably even move out of the township to a better, more refined neighbourhood. She was, after all tired of being whistled at by every kind of man in the township every time she was on her way to and from school.
She was only nineteen. She wished her parents could see her now, on the precipice of success. The room was still and quiet. The only noise came from its cramped nature and the slight winds building outside, whimpering over the roof, causing it to lift a little. She gazed over at her fiancé who was sleeping next to her in their tiny bedroom. She wondered what he was dreaming about- if at all he was having dreams that matched her thoughts at the moment. After all, what was the purpose of being with the love of your life-your other half had half of you? Tebogo had been against eloping with Lorato because he did not want to be the reason for the rift between her and her family. He hadn't wanted Lorato to have a feud with the people she loved the most in this world. But at the same time, he did not want to lose her.
Lorato could hear more of the wind, sending more rustling leaves in through the crack in the wall. They tried to patch it up with a plastic cover, but it did not serve much use. The house was so small that if she were any taller, she would have to bend over just so she would not bang her head on the roof. The leaves rustled on the roof as well, they were everywhere.
"What are you thinking about," asked Tebogo. He had just barely opened his eyes, trying to fully wake.
"Oh, you startled me," replied Lorato. She leaned over and gave him a soft kiss. "Good morning."
"Morning."
They stared at each other lovingly, in silence- holding each other's gazes.
"What," Tebogo finally said.
"Nothing, it's just really great to wake up next to you every morning. I can't believe it sometimes."
"What did I tell you about staring at me while I sleep?" He said, stroking her arm affectionately.
"I don't stare at you while you sleep, I'm just-" Lorato hesitated.
"Tell me, what's on your mind?"
"It's obvious Tebogo, I think about us." She snuggled back into the blankets, her head to his chest, to shield herself from the chill coming in through some crack in the wall. "We are getting married in two weeks, I think about that."
"Oh, I think there's more you're not telling me."
There was a slight pause, "Do you think we did the right thing, running away?" Lorato finally said.
He sighed. "Come on babe. It's been a month, are you still thinking about that? I mean, we are going to get married. You're going to school, I have a new job, and we're going to start a family soon." He kissed her hand. "If you are having cold feet, I am more than happy to take you home."
"You would do that?"
"What?"
"Take me home after all we have been through, without hesitation. Would you do that?"
"I will do anything for you my love, you should know that. I would buy the whole sky- with the stars and the moon for you, if you wanted. I love you my sweetness."
Lorato face displayed a huge smile and her eyes possessed a form of adoration for her man. She threw her arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as she could, "And I love you too babe." Lorato wished her parents could see the kind of love Tebogo had for her. All of their reservations would be at bay if only they knew how he treated her like a queen. She had never been so sure about a decision in her life. "So, how's your new job?"
"Well, it looks promising. Construction is really booming in the country so far. I might even make enough money one day to start my own company."
"That would be nice, having something that's ours. What would you call it?"
He gave her a warm smile, "I haven't thought as far as company names, but we'll get there."
"I don't want to sound impatient or ungrateful, but I can't wait till we make it big."
"I can't wait either. But first things first: we should be moving out of here soon, getting our own place up town. I'm going to spoil you rotten." He gave her a kiss on the cheek and she beamed brighter than the sun.
**************[1]
"So how long will you be staying here?" Asked her mother.
Lorato quickly snapped from her thoughts. The kitchen was dark as the sun was setting behind the hill. Lorato had decided to do the dishes because her mother had done the cooking all day. She looked at the watch on the kitchen wall and then realised that she had been washing the same plate for about half an hour. She had been distracted- embedded in her thoughts once again.
She cleared her voice. "Mma?" (ma'am)
"You know, I've tried to avoid this question ever since you got here. It has been a week now." Her mother switched on the lights in the kitchen. She remained standing near the light switches. "You know, I can always tell when someone sleeps with a troubled heart at night...especially if it's my own daughter."
Lorato did not answer back; instead she continued to circulate the dish sponge around the plate she was holding consistently. Her mother had caught her off guard and she was trying to build up the strength to have this conversation with her. She was building up the strength because she had to tap into the very past that made her fragile.
"Lorato?" called Gloria impatiently.
"Yes, ma?" she finally answered.
"I asked you a question. What finally made you to decide come home? And how long will you be staying?"
"I just...missed home, that's why I came back." She tried hard to avoid the last question- how long she'd be staying.
"Are you sure?" she paused and stared at Lorato. "Well I guess what I'm really asking is what happened to him- Tebogo. Where is that criminal?"
"Mother please, I'd rather you not talk of Tebogo that way. He's fine, waiting for me at home. And if you would like to know, he and I got married ten years ago, we still are." Lorato snapped.
"What?"
Lorato dropped the plate she had been washing for so long in the sink and it cracked. "You see what you made me do, ma?" she yelled.
"Don't you raise your voice at me Lorato, I am still your mother, your elder remember that!"
"Why can't you just accept him ma? It's been a decade, why can't you see him as the man who loves me, my husband. You know what, maybe I should have not come back here," said Lorato. She started to frantically wipe her hands with a table cloth.
"I'm sorry, I can see that I've upset you," her mother said, walking towards the kitchen table. "You know, I had always imagined marrying both of my daughters off. In my dream there was a big celebration, the biggest in all of Meropeng, just so I can show the whole village what beautiful daughters I had. When you tell me that you have been married for about ten years now I-" she took a seat and made sure that Lorato was listening before she continued. "I cannot materialize my dream anymore, it is too late."
"What do you mean ma, you already had the biggest celebration- the biggest there'd ever be. You did marry your daughter off to the chief. And I know that you did not have regular commoner food at the wedding. People saw that, you are now a mother in law to the chief of Meropeng. You got exactly what you wanted," Lorato said in a cheeky voice.
"Don't talk to me in that tone little girl. Have you forgotten your manners in Gaborone? You know exactly what I mean."
"I'm starting to feel like coming back here was a bad idea. Maybe I should go back. All these interrogations and looking down on my decisions- I see that nothing has changed. Is that it mother, do you want me to leave?
"And where exactly will you go? This is your home and not that nonsense of a sham you have built in Gaborone."
"Don't you call my marriage a sham!"
"It is one. Were you married off by your elders like you are supposed to? Did that boy's uncles come over to us and ask for your hand in marriage like they're supposed to? And the children, you have been married for ten years, where are your children, my grandchildren? Your marriage is a sham because it never went through the correct rites of passages, and so it's not legal in my eyes- you were never married, and it won't work out without my blessing." She stood from the chair she had settled herself in. "You may choose to go my child, but this, will always be your home. If you should die tomorrow, this is where your funeral will be held. That husband of yours is just make belief and you are just wasting your time claiming to be married." Her mother walked out of the kitchen, murmuring to herself. "This is just pure nonsense!"
Lorato started to cry. She was under a lot of stress and her mother was not making it easy on her. She could not blame her. She had a right to be inquisitive about her whereabouts for the past decade. And that's what she expected. She just could not bring herself to tell her mother the whole truth. Of course there was nowhere to go. But this was why she left in the first place: the controlling and overbearing family. The insults and the perception that she was not capable of making her own decisions; being spoken to and treated like a child. She had taken the first step by coming home; admitting her wrong doings- but her mother just would not meet her half way.
Like Gloria vehemently opposing her success by saying that she knew her daughter would be back one day. All the negative energy was the driving force behind her bad luck, no one wanted to see her succeed unless she was under their rules and regulations. YOU CANNOT RUNAWAY AND BE HAPPY WITH A CRIMINAL- finished and klaar! This was somehow a weird form of witchcraft, wasn't it? They whole lot of them, dragging her down until she was on her knees, begging for forgiveness, grovelling and unravelling in her wrong doings for all the days of her life. However, they would never admit to any wrong on their side, it was eternally squeaky clean. Go on! Let's penalise her folks! Lorato could not control the tears that were quickly flooding her face. She used the table cloth to wipe them away. On the other hand, she knew her mother was right.
Her marriage- her life was a sham. She had returned home finally, but she had nothing good to prove to her family from her rebellion, they were right and she was wrong about everything.
[1] End of flashback memory, back to reality.