PrologueI had planned and prepared for that journey long in advance. I knew that the man I was going to meet had a temper that burned fiercely. So I had armed myself with every possible defense deep within my mind. If matters came to blows, I was prepared to stand my ground, though, as the saying goes, a cripple survives by wisdom, moving carefully along the walls.The thought of going to his house made my heart sink and dragged my mind back to that year when he had played me for a fool and left my life shattered beyond repair. I had become like a wounded animal, groaning endlessly and becoming a nuisance even to those who simply crossed my path.I pressed the intercom at his gate and said, "It's me, Admire Pamire."Within moments, the large gate slid open. The security guard allowed it to open all the way as if I were arriving in a luxury vehicle, when in reality I was just an ordinary man traveling on foot.He looked at me and said in borrowed English, "He is waiting for you inside

I went back home with a heart that was both white and black, like a chicken's droppings. White because I was eager to see my beloved, Nomatter. Black because I had cheated on my beloved with Grace, a light-skinned beauty who had left my mind like a hyena standing at a crossroads—one path leading to goat meat, the other to sheep meat. Which way was I supposed to go? In the end, I found myself trapped in the middle.I arrived home after dark. People had just returned from their evening chores with the groceries I had bought. At home were my younger brother, Nyasha, and my two sisters, Natasha and Joanna. They were all delighted to see their brother from the city, a man who had changed. I could now afford to wear expensive clothes and even buy them the clothes they had always wanted. I had also bought Nomatter a skirt and some undergarments.That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept wishing for morning to come so I could see my Nomatter. I briefly thought about Grace and laughed to myself, sa

Chapter 4My job was not difficult for me. I arrived at work carrying a heavy heart. You know how it is when you are still considered young and inexperienced at work, yet you are assigned to handle hardened criminals—and those experienced themselves become intimidated by you. They do not know how great the house you came from was for you to end up where they are. Besides, the luxury vehicle Grace had bought me had left my colleagues with questions they could not answer.My bosses eventually relaxed when they realized that I was genuinely good at my job. I was trained in every aspect of criminal investigation until it became second nature to me. Crime scene attendance, interviewing criminals, even interrogation techniques—all of it became part of my blood, my daily bread. I deserved to be called Detective Sergeant A. Pamire. And with the gift of a full beard that spread across my cheeks and chin like beans scattered over a threshing floor, no one doubted those who assumed I was a real

Chapter 6Sometimes you accept defeat and simply lie down like a hen sitting on eggs. Nomatter was gone for good. That was when, wherever I went, I seemed to hear the same song by Macheso playing:"Be careful, someone might steal me from you. Look at me now, I was stolen from you!"Sometimes I would be heading to a bar to drown my sorrows and suddenly decide to go into a nearby church instead, where everyone would be quietly listening to a gentle sermon. Then, out of nowhere, a ringtone would go off:"Be careful, someone might steal me from you. Look at me now, I was stolen from you!"It felt as if everyone and everything knew that Nomatter had been taken from me. Even phones and radios seemed to know.That was when I finally stopped thinking about love and realized that, after all, Grace was actually a beautiful woman. I had thrown her away myself. By now, Nomatter was probably sleeping in another man's arms, satisfied and content. Some things simply have to be accepted. Why your ton