able Derrick Harper, in a relaxed, but tense ‘I’m anxiously waiting for an old school friend to knock’ pose on his maroon velvet sofa, watching television. As if sensing he were being watched, his old chum slammed down the remote control and started toward the window, waved a friendly two fingers at him, and headed toward the doorway. Mohandas stood back and the front door opened.“Hey! How are you doing, you old son of a gun! Come in! Sit down! I’ll get you a cuppa. Now, tell me about your journey…” Derrick’s face had totally lit up, with an uncanny resemblance to the way he had looked after playing one of their schoolboy pranks all those many years ago. Derricks’ hands were held out in an amiable gesture welcoming Mohandas into his newly furnished home. Mohandas followed him into a fresh-looking green-blue and bright yellow hall and took his dry-cleaned suit off.“Love the decorating! How long did it take?” Mohandas asked.“You do? Rachel, my girlfriend, is an interior designer, as you can see, she’s very good. She helped with both sides; the practical and the planning. Oh, where are my manners? I’ll take your coat,” A very tense and hurried Mr. Harper held two outstretched arms, ready to grab Mohandas’s overcoat. Mohandas couldn’t remember if Derrick had always been that way… Mohandas handed over the overcoat, and Derrick promptly put it on a florescent blue coat peg. “Okay,” Derrick sighed deeply, then looked Mohandas up and down. “Why, Rashid, I do believe you’ve put on weight! Must be all those cream buns we stole from the tuck shop as kids!” Derrick laughed.“Don’t remind me! I’m a lawyer now! I’d like to forget about those mischievous escapades of ours…” Mohandas smiled and shook his head as if to relieve himself of the memory.“What?! You never told me, ho...
