Fecund

Paulo is my usual txopela driver, as he stations himself on a corner near my apartment block. Today he ferried me to a meeting with our key government department and the picture is of him dropping me off. As we set off from mine, Ana was on the pavement as I’ve found out that she also helps a neighbour.

‘Muito bonita’ (very pretty), Paulo remarked to me. ‘Oi, whilst you are correct, leave it at admiration only Paulo, she doesn’t need a self-confessed philanderer chasing her.’ She already is a single mother of two and I imagine that men haven’t always treated her respectfully.

The conversation moved on to the usual investigation about whether I want a Mozambican woman and whether I want children here. ‘Não quer uma mulher ou filhos aqui, amigo?’ Neither are applicable, but my tried and tested rebuttals about being too young to be doing such things are now laughable. At 39 and only three years older than me, Paulo has seven children from three mothers and said ‘mas quero mais’ (but I want more). It’s exhausting thinking about it, but it would be an interesting exercise to sketch out the tentacles of his family tree.