The younger apprentice laughed, but Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, glancing over from his task of cleaning an air filter, grimaced. “Not all girls speak like that, you know,” he muttered. “And it’s a good thing that Mma Makutsi isn’t around to hear you making fun of young women. I wouldn’t like to be in your shoes if she heard you.”

“I’m not frightened of her, Boss,” Charlie sneered. “She’s just a woman. I’m not frightened of any woman.”

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni felt himself getting hot around the back of his neck; the encountering of such silliness always had that effect on him. I know I should not pay any attention to this nonsense, he told himself. Charlie is just a young man who knows nothing yet. I shouldn’t allow myself…But it was not easy to listen to such a complete travesty of the truth and register no protest. Of course Charlie was afraid of Mma Makutsi—who wasn’t? Even Mma Ramotswe had confessed to Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni that there were times when she trod very carefully in the face of her assistant’s disapproval.

“So you’re not afraid of her?” he said. “That’s very interesting. And you say that she’s just a woman. What does that mean? That you’re better than any woman?”

Charlie laughed. “I didn’t say that, Boss. It may be true, of course, but I didn’t say it. I know better than to say things like that when there are all these women around these days. Hundreds of them—all ready to chop your head off if you say something they don’t like. Chop! One time! Off! Even here in Botswana.”

Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni turned back to his work. There was no point in engaging these young men in debate, and he had to admit that there was an element of truth in Charlie’s final remark. Botswana was known for its tolerance of debate and criticism; anybody could criticise anybody, even at weddings and funerals, where there would often be long speeches in which old, controversial business was dragged up. And women loved that sort of thing and were often ready to launch into an attack on some unfortunate man who had spoken out of turn. Why, he wondered, could people not disagree in a courteous way, rather than resorting to unkind criticism?