Surviving ||On Hold

"Ina lebe seromo."

This is a Setswana proverb that means: you are your name. Your name is your destiny, it is who you become, and it is you.

Batswana, like most if not all Africans, understand that your name defines your fate. That your name shapes your life, thus for most Africans names bear deep meanings.

I grew up believing the proverb. My granny would sometimes say, "Neilwe be careful what name you give your child, a child's name maps out the path their life will take."

Young, naive me used to believe she was right, Boitumelo changed that.
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Boitumelo

Such a beautiful name, Setswana for happiness. I guess her parents thought she would bring happiness into their lives and everyone she interacted with or maybe they hoped she would have a happy life.

Unfortunately her parents missed the ball with that name. They should have named her Tears, or maybe Pain.

To be honest, her life story is not one filled with the happiness her parents had in mind. Hers is one filled with all the things people pray their lives have none of.
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How could someone whose parents only envisioned happiness for them, be cursed with such pain? How could love turn to hate so fast? Maybe it is true that the very same thing we love is the one that kills us.
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If you're looking for an easy read filled with mushy stuff and a million clichés, this is not the right book.

If you're looking to read something different from your average wattpad books, then feel free to read on.

Please be warned. This story deals with domestic violence and abuse, so there may be some unsettling parts in the book. Be warned.