The Pangolin Club

On the day they rode together in the minister’s silver grey Lexus which was in mint condition. As Kudzani sank onto the luxurious, seats he could not help but contrast these with the lumpy ones of his Mazda 323 where some of the stuffing was spilling out. The engine purred smoothly as opposed to that of his Mazda 323 which coughed and spluttered at times going dead and then the car would be push-started giving the impression the engine was in a perpetual state of death throes. He dreamt of owning a car like this Lexus in which he could really enjoy driving. However, he realized there was little chance of that ever happening. He smiled ruefully to himself as he thought of the unlikely hood of this ever happening. Tiripo’s house was the last one on Marimba Street, a wide road with tall Jacaranda trees standing proudly on either side. The house stood on the western side of the street, beyond which stretched a forest. The car came to a stop outside a high wrought metal gate that had sharp spikes at the top. Stretching on either side of the gate was a neatly trimmed thick privet hedge that was six feet high. At the entrance was a metal panel gate which had a mechanically operated mechanism for opening. From the outside you could not see into the yard. The house itself was a sprawling white bungalow centrally located on two acres of land. A veranda ran from one end of the house to the next. At the front was a well maintained lawn bordered with flowers and shrubs. On your right as you approached from the street was a swimming pool. By the edge of the swimming pool were several deck chairs and a long table. Later on when his host took him to the back of the house he found that there was a large orchard with a variety of fruit trees, giant mangoes, apples, peaches, guavas and grapes. Bees hummed as they flew from flower to flower sucking the sweet nectar. The atmosphere was peaceful and refreshing. It was like an enchanted garden and Kudzani would not have been surprised had he seen fairies.