The Collector of Treasures (short story) by Bessie Head

Author:Bessie Head
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 1976-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

As Dikeledi read the note she began to shake with anger. She knew what the note meant: Garesego was coming home to have sex with her.

“Banabothe,” she said, “will you play nearby. I want to think a bit, then I will send you to your father with the reply.”

She did try to think about this note. But her thoughts were not clear. There was something that she could not explain, even to herself. For all these years she had raised her three sons alone. She had seen many hard times, but the years had been almost holy to her. She had filled her life with treasures of kindness and love that people had given her, people like her friends Kenalepe and Paul. But now, Garesego, an evil man, wanted to take those treasures from her. And she wanted to keep them away from his dirty hands and his ugly, evil heart.

Her first thought was to take the children and run away from this village. But where would she go? And Garesego did not want a divorce.

She thought about ways to avoid him. But there was no way out, she would just have to face him. If she wrote back and told him not to put his foot in her yard, he would ignore her. Black women did not have the power to say such a thing to their husbands. Then she thought of an answer to her problem, and as she thought, a look of peace came over her face. She went into her hut and wrote a reply:

Sir,

I shall do everything as you want it.

Dikeledi.

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