“Mr Mabaso, I’ve been praying for your comeback,” he said, his voice firm yet full of relief.
“I always told your brothers… the day you return, everything will fall into place.”
He looked me dead in the eyes, without blinking.
“You are back, right?” he asked.
Not a question — a confirmation.
Like he already knew the answer before I opened my mouth.
I swallowed slowly, feeling the weight of everything he expected from me.
Everything the community expected.
Everything I never asked for, but somehow carried.
“Yes, ntate,” I said quietly.
“I’m back.”
He nodded once — a slow, powerful nod — like a chief approving a warrior before battle.
Just then, Joshua arrived from school.
He saw me standing by the gate, and the smile that spread across his face…
It washed away everything else
