Demons On The Loose

By Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi

“The police arrived at the scene at sunset; that symbolically signalled the end of life. While the sergeant and his junior were still asking each other if demons were on the loose, two special constables followed his faint tracks into the nearby bush. When they eventually found him at dusk, he was still warm, but had just departed from this world. They wondered how one could call himself a man, yet he couldn’t face his own misdeeds. They remained rooted under the tree as if to blame it rather than to blame themselves for the delay. This was not the first time they delayed...”

The stories have the power to set the reader on a journey to the confluence of the traditional African and modern Western cultures that the reader would find appealing hence creating feelings of nostalgia and introspection. The collection comprises stories that have been selected to address the interest of a wide range of audiences; from secondary school students to the general public. These stories indeed come from the core of a writer’s heart thirsty for hearing as the collection begs this pertinent question - Are demons on the loose, or was the society in slumber that it now finds itself at crossroads?

Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi, a teacher, farmer, and father of three, lives in Palapye, Central District of Botswana. He teaches Technical Writing and Communication at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). In addition to his academic writing, he writes fiction books about the society in which he lives, which considering what you’re reading now, places you in a better position to understand and appreciate the Botswana society. He’s best known for his literature teaching, literary criticism, creative writing consultancy, establishing Writers Clubs in schools, and poetry writing. He writes on subjects ranging from personal experiences as a child to contemporary social issues prevalent in the society; most of which are reflected in these thrilling short stories. Mogotsi’s strength lies in the use of language to keep the reader glued to the text, with titillating descriptions and powerful images depicting moral lessons that are marinated in humour.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi
• Release date: Jun 20, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463185278

Book preview

DEMONS

ON THE LOOSE

A Collection of Short Stories

DEMONS

ON THE LOOSE

A Collection of Short Stories

Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi

Copyright © 2019 Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi

Published by Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi Publishing at Smashwords

First edition 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

Published by Benjamin Moanamisi Mogotsi using Reach Publishers’ services,

Edited by Vanessa Finaughty for Reach Publishers

Cover designed by Reach Publishers

P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

Website: www.reachpublishers.co.za

E-mail: [e-mail]

Foreword

Mogotsi is a short story writer. His writing covers a wide range of themes from love and personal relationships to the appreciation of nature, prejudice and religion. In this collection, there are twelve locally set short stories.

Demons on the Loose is the title of the collection, which laments the emergence of a host of contemporary issues resulting from the influence of patriarchy, love killings that still ravage Botswana and a conflict of cultures; the traditional and modern. In Grips of Abuse and The Saved, the author is asking if demons have been let loose on the youth of this country. In The Eyes of People, in the Eyes of God, the author looks at ex-convicts and how they are received when they come from rehabilitation. In the eyes of people, they remain criminals, while in the eyes of God they are a new creation. In A Twist of Fate, teenagers think they are smart enough to play their parents for fools. However, usually tragedy strikes in the process and their actions torment them to the grave. The Joys of Motherhood is a sarcastic tale on how women are abused by men due to the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. The results are unbearable; hence, an increase in female-headed households, leading to further problems of poverty. Looking God in the Eye paints the clear prejudice Batswana suffered at the hands of the Afrikaner (Boer) farm owners in the country during the colonial era until one black farmer decided to take the bull by the horns in pursuit of justice. The Experiment is a recollection of Botswana primary school life experiences that most local children pass through. Bullying is at the centre of the story. It captures the abuse to which some pupils are subjected by their mates, as well as that of teachers to pupils, leading to lifelong consequences. Travelling by Bus simply shares the challenges of rural transport and how the ruralites have adapted to these challenges, and have even creatively found alternative solutions for their livelihoods. A Desperate Remedy paints the Western cultural influences on Botswana’s youth. These lead to undesirable behaviour and parents are depressed, as they feel they have lost control. How should they maintain the two cultures without conflict or losing control of their children? The last story in this collection, The Renegade, is about well-raised children who, after the death of their parents, lack guidance and ultimately make wrong decisions. However, some of these youth have a calling that either the ancestors or God would not exonerate them from, but rural-urban migration pushes them further away from the community; hence, they are alienated from their culture, leading to dire consequences. The big question is: can one run away from one’s calling?

All in all, these are stories that come from the core of an artist’s heart, thirsty for hearing. What makes the stories even more interesting is the humour through which they are told.

Tshepo A. Kgwefane

Content

Foreword

Dedication

In the Eyes of People, in the Eyes of God

A Twist of Fate

The Joys of a Woman

Grips of Abuse

The Saved

Out of Revenge

Looking God in the Eye

The Experiment

Let the Children Decide

Travelling by Bus

A Desperate Remedy

The Renegade

About the Author

Dedication

With gratitude and love, I dedicate this book to my parents, Mosalagae-a-Mogotsi-a-Nnyoto-a-Majola and Keatshabe, my students, colleagues, dear friends, my children, Larona, Sesha and Mosalagae II, and, forever and always, Gaanewe.

Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

Revelation 1:19

In the Eyes of People, in the Eyes of God

My son, life is a coin; you spend it, and it’s all gone, his mother said with a weary expression.

When her face was in repose, she displayed a reflection of some beauty, though every man has his own idea of beauty. In her eyes, there was the tenderness and devotion of a dog. One could say she was or used to be beautiful; she was tall, full-figured, with her hair well cut in a neat black skullcap. One would also be taken by wonderment at the amazing unexpectedness of the human kindness she possessed. She was a quiet and reserved woman; no gongs sounded, but, given a chance, she was a drastic revolutionary.

When Kgosi was young, like most of Batswana children, he was fond of playing outdoors with his age mates. Since he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth according to local standards, his playmates enjoyed his company not because of his character, but rather because he had access to toy guns and other sharp objects, which were associated with masculinity. During these tiring and wild encounters with playmates, they made sure that they did not hurt each other. Usually during these games social roles were acted out; some were parents, some police, while others became thieves. Kgosi enjoyed acting out the thief part. He would surreptitiously sneak into people’s houses with his face covered in paper masks. His heels hardly touched the ground when he walked. He would expertly tiptoe as though walking on springs and make a swift move before he threw a glance into one’s imaginary house before he summoned others with a confident hand. His colleagues enjoyed these movements and would shower him with all kinds of praises. He felt big, admired and important among his peers.

Things turned ugly when Kgosi reached fourteen. He enjoyed the company of a group of adolescents who roamed the streets of Selibe-Phikwe at night harassing people and stealing their property. They called themselves Mahipi. He had quit school and joined this gang and his mother’s numerous efforts to take him back proved futile. He had found what he could do best – thieving.

Well, you can take a horse to the river, but you can’t force it to drink, Mma Kgosi, a widow, would comfort herself.

She was a middle-aged woman, and seemed a rare ethereal entity. Her eyebrows flourished wildly and needed to be trimmed and arched to give her back the youthful look for which she was known. Her complexion was by no means fair, as she used to use some cream and talcum powder that imparted to her brow and cheeks a shade of confounding classification.

That Saturday afternoon, Mma Kgosi’s friends and church mates were hardly seated in her living room at Pineville location, and she was wondering how to open a can of unpleasant news of her son’s whereabouts when a shuffle of feet at the front door was heard. Kgosi was not alone. He came into the living room pale and trembling. With him was a tall, well-dressed man who looked enraged. Kgosi licked his cracking lips and tried to explain that the man was the Selibe-Phikwe Consumers Co-operative Store manager, Mr Baitse. Amidst Kgosi’s stuttering, the store manager explained that he was only saving the police a job by bringing the boy to his mother himself.

Kgosi immediately began to babble. I can explain everything, Mama. It’s all a mistake. It wasn’t theft.

What! Mma Kgosi exploded in both anger and humiliation.

Her colleagues pleaded with her to calm down and listen to the boy. She seemed to manage well to maintain her self-control.

It was nothing but… borr… I… mean… borrowing, Mama. Please understand.

The boy was almost pleading, ashamed of the precarious situation in which he had put his mother. Mma Kgosi, embarrassed and ashamed that she had let this behaviour go this far, felt the urge to nip the cancerous tumour in the bud. Her narrow, cunning face sharpened and she asked her visitors to leave. Kgosi, sniffing danger like a dog that had stolen eggs, pleaded with his mother to understand. When he realised his mother would not bend, he turned to plead with the visitors to stay, only to find that the store manager and Mma Kgosi’s friends had disappeared through the litter-decorated streets of Pineville. The young man had to face the music alone. Mma Kgosi emptied her shame on the boy like she was possessed by some evil spirits. Kgosi saw this bad side of her mother and she felt like a stranger to him.

After the nasty encounter with his mother, Kgosi ran away from home. Mma Kgosi mourned and grieved his departure, as he was the only child, whose father had died before he turned two. The old woman recalled the past when she could not conceive until she and her late husband had visited a traditional doctor in Boronaburg in the Matebeleland in the Southern Province of Zimbabwe for assistance. The only consideration that came to her mind was: well, what do you expect from a child from herbs? The truth was, since Kgosi was the only child and had lost his father at a tender age, he had been handled with kid gloves. Which mother wouldn’t do that, anyway?