Precious and the Monkeys (9 page)

The teacher looked at Sepo and Tapiwa, who both looked down at the floor. Precious watched them. They had learned a lesson, she thought.

On the way back from school that day, Poloko came up to her and thanked her for what she had done. “You are a very kind girl,” he said. “Thank you.”

“That's all right,” she said.

“You're going to be a very good detective one day,” he went on. “Do you still want to be one?”

She thought for a moment. It was a good thing to be a detective. You could help people who needed help. You could fight injustice. You could make people happier – as Poloko now was.

“Yes,” she said. “I think I do.”

They walked on. In the trees not far away, there were some small eyes watching them from the leaves. The monkeys. Her friends.

Poloko walked back past her house, and Precious turned to him and said, “Would you like me to make a cake? We could eat it for our tea?”

He said he would, and while Precious baked the cake, he sat outside and sniffed the delicious smell wafting through the kitchen window.

Then the cake was ready, and they each had a large slice.

“Perfect,” said Poloko. “First class, number one cake.”

And that is when she thought
When I have a detective agency I'll call it the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency
.

Many years later, she did just that. Which shows something else: when you decide that you want to do something, really want to do it, then you can. You really can.