She had been right, of course. Even about his hair, which was now of a length he could not quite get used to. He patted his head, fondly remembering the glorious near full-blown afro that had proudly stood there throughout the Seventies. Bodecia had even taken away his twenty-four-carat gold chain and the ring he had worn on his pinkie finger on special occasions. He had always known that the jewellery was a bit over the top, but he had so loved the sheer decadence of it – the fact that it was an unnecessary exclamation mark proclaiming his obvious wealth. He reached for a tie, and was just about to put it on when he decided to do something else with it.

Silas, with shirt unbuttoned at the top and holding the tie in his hand, headed over to the bed where Bodecia lay. He held the tie in both hands and his right hand coiled the fabric around his left hand. Now that he was close enough, Silas could tell from the way she was breathing that although her eyes were closed, Bodecia was not sleeping. He watched her breathe in and out. Her face did not have that peaceful look it often had when she was in deep slumber.

He envied her that – her peace and her ability to sleep contentedly, without any worries. He was a businessman, and there was always something to worry him out of peaceful sleep. He took pride in knowing that by marrying her, he had made such sleep possible for her. She had this and more besides to be grateful to him for, and she was losing sight of that.

He would have liked to blame the Chief Inspector for this change, but he knew it predated Spokes Moloi. Bodecia had forgotten that when he had first met her, she had been a village girl doubled under the dual yoke of tradition and Christianity. The only valuable asset she had possessed then was a smattering of English she had acquired after her father had finished educating his male children. Now she could confidently address the Women’s Assembly at political meetings and rallies – all because of him and the schooling he had encouraged her to get. He wasn’t one of those men who wanted to be the only one able to read the newspaper at the kitchen table. Other women in his life could be ignorant, but his wife had to be intelligent because he needed someone who could help him run his businesses. Perhaps he had been generous and open-minded to a fault.