Phuti Radiphuti was a kind man, and he was tactful in the exercise of his generosity. He had stopped short of giving Mma Makutsi an allowance, but he had taken on many of her expenses, paying grocery bills and giving her regular and frequent presents. Now he raised a hand to attract the attention of one of the assistants who had been hovering in the background.

“That is a very good bed, Rra,” said the assistant, sensing a sale. “And you and your wife will like it. It suits you.”

Phuti Radiphuti appeared momentarily flustered. He began to stammer. “I…I—”

“We are not yet married,” Mma Makutsi cut in. “We are engaged now, but not yet married. That will happen soon.”

The assistant apologised fulsomely. He saw the ring on her finger, that ring with the dazzling Botswana diamond, her proudest possession, the symbol of the man who loved her and of the country they both loved; such purity and light. “I thought…You looked as if you were married, Mma. And soon you will be.”

“Quite soon,” said Mma Makutsi.

The assistant looked down at the floor.

“I will buy this bed,” said Phuti Radiphuti, recovering from his embarrassment. “Yes, I will take it.”

The assistant’s face broke into a smile. He made a little boxing feint in the air, narrowly missing Phuti Radiphuti in his exuberance. “An excellent decision, Rra. It’s a very good buy.” He took a notebook out of his pocket and began to take Phuti’s details. The bed, he said, would be delivered the following day. And then, “Will you be buying the headboard too, Rra?”

The unexpected question hung unanswered in the air. Mma Makutsi glanced at Phuti Radiphuti, who was looking in a worried way at the price tag on the bed. “But it says…” he began.

The assistant bent down to point to the wording at the bottom of the tag. “You’ll see, Rra,” he said, “that the headboard is excluded. You see here. It says, ‘Headboard excluded.’ The headboard is twelve hundred pula, Rra.” He paused. “That is a very big bargain, I think.”

Mma Makutsi thought. Twelve hundred pula was almost her monthly salary; for many people it was more than that. Her cousins up in Bobonong, where there was little work, would have to save for months, a year perhaps, to accumulate such an amount.