Be Loved

Chapter 26

"Nkgono, are you just going to cry. How is it possible that we attend church all the time, but we lie so easily to each other" asks Tshegofatso

"I'm very ashamed of myself. Your generation doesn't understand how people my age were raised"

"Well, give me an idea"

"I cannot go against what your grandfather says. I see now that we were wrong. We were wrong then with your mother. We were wrong to lie to you now. But I won't go against him"

"I'm gonna end this conversation before I lose more respect for you and ntatemokgolo. I would say I'm disappointed but that would be too kind"

"Keeya"

"Tshegofatso"

"We are the only family you have. Don't forget that"

"God will save my father. And when He is done, I hope He can come save you and ntatemokgolo"

Tshegofatso takes her book and goes to her room. When she gets into her room, her brave face is replaced by tears. The confrontation with her grandparents took a lot out of her. She takes her headphones and plays music to calm her down. The music is like a lullaby to her, as it gets her to sleep.

Tshegofatso sleeps for longer than she planned, as she finds herself waking up the next morning. She sends Sharon a WhatsApp, inviting her to come with her to visit her father. Sharon sends a happy gif. The two girls wanted the school day to go by quickly so that they could go see her father at the hospital. They were excited when the bell rang, as they ran to the parking lot, looking for Pearl's BMW. Pearl was standing outside of her car, and waves to get the girls' attention. Tshegofatso hugs Pearl and tells her that she did miss her. She introduces Sharon to Pearl and they begin the drive to the hospital

"Pearl, I spoke to my grandparents. Dead end. They won't help" explains Tshegofatso

"That's what scared me. I dunno what else we can do" replies Pearl

"Guys, I thought of something," says Sharon.

"Sharon always has ideas. Sharon, what have you thought of my friend" asks Tshegofatso

"Look, when I read that book from your dad, I was touched no doubt. His story is beautiful my friend. Like I wished he was my dad when I read those letters he was sending you every time it was your birthday"

"Friend, I thought you said you didn't read a lot," asks Tshegofatso

"Eish, don't disturb me. Listen, if his story touched me and made me feel for him, imagine if the whole, world would know? Let's start an Instagram page that shares things about your dad. If his story trends, I am sure we can create pressure for him to get like parole or something. It's father's day in a couple of weeks even." Sharon's idea blows everyone away. They are quiet for a moment, in shock of how good the idea turned out to be.

"Wow Sharon. Your idea is really good" responds Pearl.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. Thanks, friend. Thank you for using your creativity to help me"

"Can he then be my dad as well ke friend" asks Sharon. She sounded serious as she asked.

"You are pushing it now friend" and everyone laughs at this idea.

The ladies arrive at the hospital and the mood changes. Tshegofatso is visibly sad at the thought of seeing her father. Pearl reassures her that she shouldn't blame herself for her father being in the hospital. Sharon also reassures her. Pearl offers to give Tshegofatso privacy with her father, but Tshegofatso asks that both Pearl and Sharon be with her in the room. So they go in with her. Tshegofatso holds her father's hand and kisses it. She apologises to him and promises to do everything she can to get him out of prison. She begs him to keep fighting for his life. "Thats the deal papa. You get yourself well, and I'll get you out of prison" she says to him. Sharon reminds Tshegofatso to introduce her to her father and she does.

On the drive home, the girls start the Instagram page called @beloveddad and post a picture of him in hospital. They ask all their social media friends to follow the page and to Tag their friends. Pearl suggests to them that they offer people prizes if they repost and tweet about the Instagram page.

Tshegofatso also made a video of herself sharing how she found her father and the things he did for her. The following two days saw exponential growth and traction of the story. Every two hours, they posted something from the book. People wanted to know more about Molatlhegi. His story resonated with people who had daddy issues and saw in him someone who desperately wanted to be a father. Pearl's employers were getting requests from people who wanted to see how they could help Molatlhegi's case. After a week of the Instagram page being created, there were over a hundred thousand followers and thousands of posts and shares about his story. Tshegofatso was constantly on her phone, replying to people's posts and thanking them for supporting her. Her grandfather was not pleased by this. He would keep making discouraging comments aimed at Tshegofatso. Comments like "are those people going to give you a place to live?" "You are always on your phone, I wonder if I shouldn't take my phone back" and "If you fail these June exams, will you blame me for that as well?" But Tshegofatso was determined to keep her spirits high. She visits her father every day and this strengthens her. Her faith also grew as she prayed every day for him to get out of his coma and for his story to spread. She could see the results with the Instagram page and believed that God wouldn't allow his story to spread, only for him to die.