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there was this much monogamy in the world.’
    Just watching her lips move as she formed the words, and catching sight of her perfect, even white teeth when she smiled, brought the life back to him, made him glad to be alive. Now all he had to do was think of something witty to say, to keep her there, next to him. But he couldn’t.
    â€˜What about lions?’ Lerato had asked, filling the chasm of silence that had opened between them in just three seconds.
    Themba exhaled, then closed his mouth, not wanting her to notice his relief. ‘Oh, no, lions don’t mate for life, far from it. Lionesses will mate with several different males during the course of their lives, depending on which males have taken over the pride. Males come and go. As they get older they’re challenged by young males for control of the pride.’
    Lerato laughed again. She laughed a lot. ‘Gangsta.’
    Themba felt like she might be mocking him again, but to his surprise, Lerato reached out and put a hand on his forearm. It felt like an electric shock. ‘You’ve seen lions for real, right? In the wild, not in a zoo?’
    He’d nodded his head. ‘Yes, in the Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park. It was during my training as a youth rhino guard.’
    â€˜I remember, you went and lived there, in the bush, for a month.’ Lerato couldn’t hide her incredulity. ‘Are you mad?’
    It had been Themba’s turn to laugh. ‘Yes, it was a month, how did you know?’
    â€˜I was at the talk you gave to the school a few weeks ago.’
    Themba felt an acute flush of hot embarrassment. ‘You listened to my talk.’
    She rocked her head from side to side. ‘Well, a little bit of it.’
    Themba had been encouraged by Mike Dunn, the coordinator of the month-long course, to find a forum where he could address people about what he’d learned, and Themba had reluctantly asked the school principal for permission. To Themba’s horror, the head of the school had agreed and he’d found himself addressing more than four hundred students one sweltering Monday morning. He had stumbled through his written speech and been angered to see some of the older boys and girls talking while he delivered it. The younger students, however, had seemed interested in his stories, particularly the one about the lion.
    â€˜You were in a tent, I remember you saying,’ said Lerato, ‘and you could hear two lions walking around you in the middle of the night. You said it sounded like they were purring, but, like, really loud. You must have been terrified .’
    She remembered! Themba felt his heart swell. ‘It wasn’t that bad. The main thing our instructors drilled into us was to keep our tents zipped up and to stay very quiet. It wasn’t easy.’ In truth, Themba had been shaking in his sleeping bag, absolutely petrified once his tent-mate, Julius, peeked out the window of the tent and saw the outlines of the two massive lionesses. Themba had thought he would die for sure. Julius had suggested they make a run for it, to a minibus van parked at the campsite; this had galvanised Themba into action, hissing furiously to his friend not to even think of doing something so stupid.
    â€˜Serious?’ said Lerato.
    â€˜You have to remember that lions hunt by sight and sound, not smell. They’re like house cats chasing a mouse or a gecko. If their prey is running, then they will chase it, and there is no way a human can outrun a lion.’
    Lerato sagged a little. ‘I’ve never seen a lion, not even in a zoo.’
    â€˜I’ll show you one.’ The words had tumbled out of Themba’s mouth before he’d even thought about how he might do that. He had no car, no money, and no means of getting Lerato to the national park.
    â€˜Oh yeah? How are you going to do that?’ She had seen right through him.
    â€˜I’ll find a way.’
    â€˜Well, good luck