In the Company of Cheerful Ladies

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

HONESTY, TEA, AND THINGS IN THE KITCHEN

TROUSERS AND PUMPKINS

FURTHER THOUGHTS ON PUMPKINS

TEA ISSUES

AN ENCOUNTER WITH A BICYCLE

FURTHER DETAILS

A TEA DISASTER … AND WORSE

AT THE ACADEMY OF DANCE AND MOVEMENT

MR POLOPETSI STARTS AT THE GARAGE

THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR TEA AND CAKE (IF AVAILABLE)

MMA MAKUTSI FINDS OUT MORE ABOUT MR PHUTIRADIPHUTI

MMA RAMOTSWE REVEALS A PROBLEM WITHOUT A SOLUTION

MMA MAKUTSI AND MR J.L.B. MATEKONI VISITMR J.L.B. MATEKONI’S HOUSE

REMEMBER ME?

MMA RAMOTSWE AND MR J.L.B. MATEKONI HAVE DINNER IN THEIR HOUSE ON ZEBRA DRIVE

THE TINY WHITE VAN

MMA RAMOTSWE, MR J.L.B. MATEKONI, AND MR POLOPETSI GET AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE

THE DOUBLE COMFORT FURNITURE STORE

DOING THE DONKEY WORK

NOTE

A VISIT FROM MR PHUTI RADIPHUTI’S FATHER, THE ELDER MR RADIPHUTI

About the Author

Also by Alexander McCall Smith

Copyright Page

This book is for
Helena Kennedy

CHAPTER ONE

HONESTY, TEA, AND THINGS IN THE KITCHEN

MMA RAMOTSWE was sitting alone in her favourite café, on the edge of the shopping centre at the Gaborone end of the Tlokweng Road. It was a Saturday, the day that she preferred above all others, a day on which one might do as much or as little as one liked, a day to have lunch with a friend at the President Hotel, or, as on that day, to sit by oneself and think about the events of the week and the state of the world. This café was a good place to be, for several reasons. Firstly, there was the view, that of a stand of eucalyptus trees with foliage of a comforting dark green which made a sound like the sea when the wind blew through the leaves. Or that, at least, was the sound which Mma Ramotswe imagined the sea to make. She had never seen the ocean, which was far away from land-locked Botswana; far away across the deserts of Namibia, across the red sands and the dry mountains. But she could imagine it when she listened to the eucalyptus trees in the wind and closed her eyes. Perhaps one day she would see it, and would stand on the shore and let the waves wash over her feet. Perhaps.

The other advantage which this café had was the fact that the tables were out on an open verandah, and there was always something to watch. That morning, for instance, she had seen a minor dispute between a teenage girl and her boyfriend—an exchange of words which she did not catch but which was clear enough in its meaning—and she had witnessed a woman scrape the side of a neighbouring car while she tried to park. The woman had stopped, quickly inspected the damage, and had then driven off. Mma Ramotswe had watched this incredulously, and had half-risen to her feet to protest, but was too late: the woman’s car had by then turned the corner and disappeared and she did not even have time to see its number-plate.