How To Love

chapter thirty-one

Today I was at Pankop, the Homebase of my NGO to check on the progress of everything.

A few things have changed, the first being a clear field instead of the high grass that used to surround the place.

Secondly, the entire land has been walled in with 5 feet tall walls for some bit of privacy, but also to mark off where our specific land was.

And lastly, the foundation of the main hall had been built, which was the most exciting part for me because it meant that things were finally stepping in the right direction.

The February sun was hot as the contractor showed me around, explaining everything they had done in detail. I was impressed with his work so far, which was good because I was paying good money for him to be working here. I hired the best because I didn't want the bare minimum for these kids.

After site checking and sticking around for an hour, it was time for me to go. I had a meeting with the chief. Since I was working on his land, I needed to give him updates on what was what.

Plus, he promised me a list of all the kids that would need the care my facility will provide, something I was looking forward to. Although the main goal was to reach as many people as we could, for now, the focus area was Pankop as a whole.

The palace was beautiful in its own right. It wasn't modern with high walls like you'd find in England or the movies. No, it was a big yard, much bigger than the one he granted me. In it, a few houses scattered around, but it was done so aesthetically. The main house was where the chief lived, and it was where I was guided by a palace guard.

"The chief will be with you shortly," the guard said before exiting the room. I was then offered something to drink, from the options, I chose a pulpy orange juice because it sounded the most appealing to me.

It was brought to me with a bowl of fruits and a plate of an assortment of biscuits.

"Thank you," I said to the palace helper before taking a sip of the orange juice. It tasted sweet and fresh, just how I expected. Y'all know palace food was premium quality.

The chief came a short while later, and as I saw on TV, I got up to my feet and bowed my head to accept him into the room with a formal and respectful greeting.

"Miss Moeng, you may sit." I did as told. "Welcome to the palace, I hope you were received well?"

"Yes chief, I was thank you," I replied. The man, tall and sturdy, seemingly my father's age, was rather intimidating. Although he had shown me nothing but kindness, his mere presence had me sitting up straight.

"Good. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, I was held up in a council meeting. But anyways, how are things going at the project site?" He asked.

I then launched into a lengthy update of everything that had taken place. We spoke about suggestions and where to go from here. After which he handed me a list of the children that needed the care my facility offered. He even assigned a villager who studied social work to me so that they could help me attain the kids through proper channels, which I appreciated a great lot.

"Thank you once again for your generosity chief," I said when it was time to leave.

"You're helping my community, this is the least I can do. Anything you need, you know where to find me," he said. We said our farewell's and I was on my way back home.

The whole time, I had a smile on my face because things were really falling into place how I expected them to.

My God was truly showing off right now.

•••

It has been exactly four weeks since our visit to the car dealership, and we were summoned to collect our babies.