[ They talked something that I cant tell because the camera went off and I was trying to fix it. What I can tell is that Joseph rejected and neglected Hope along with his out of wedlock biological daughter, Precious who was conceived back in Limpopo villages when Hope was 17 years old. Hope’s mother was a single mother and so was her grandmother from Lebowakgomo. Hope’s mother once tried to warn her about the generational curse of singlehood but Hope raised her hopes too high as she argued that it wouldn’t happen because Joseph was a good man…But that is all in the past; now back to Winsor West, Randburg, Hope is blessed to have a life, a job and a hero brother like Themba who introduced her to Christ.]
Friday, three days before Valentines Day, Hope had taken leave to do something special. First thing in the morning, she was headed to the hair salon in Heathway mall to do a hairstyle called the Chiness cut [it actually looks like a Zulu hut, if you ask me. Plus, with a small space for her brown face, it looks like the door into the Zulu huts in one of those Shaka Zulu movies, if u ask me… but don’t ask me!]
After the Salon, she had to rush into Cresta Mall to buy a beautiful dress that she had in mind. What she didn’t have in mind was the Taxi that nearly knocked her as she was crossing Beyers Naude street whiles some guys where complimenting and whistling at her . Street hawkers were not exactly her type but their compliments gave her an assuasive hope that Thema would sink in love when he sees her that night at the home cell group service.
After getting her nails and toes done, she didn’t need to tell anyone about her total make over because even the Nigerian men outside her flat at the Red Spaza Klosk by Princess street where looking at her as if they don’t know her. She had done everything her colleague suggested, then she remembered that she must involve God in her plans, so she knelt down to pray still overwhelmed with joy and feeling like a princess. Many brothers had proposed love to her but something internally declined but today she is sure that even her intestines say, “Yes”. As she was praying, a thought suggested “He even loves Precious, who adores him back. She has heard about typical stereotyped Zulu men but Themba even tries to speak Sepedi every now and then. He is a man after God’s own heart and he wouldn’t even ask a woman to be a girlfriend but a wife… Oh no!”. Her thoughts continued speaking to her “ That’s why he waited all these two years of comparing you with other women and finding no one like you. The door that God opens, no man can close and the door He closes, no one can open. You complete each other. God has planned this, it is a set up!”.
After praying for God to strengthen Themba to confess his love for her, Hope prepared herself for the service while dancing to R. Kelly’s “ In the name of love”. The whole CD spoke to her and by the she got to track number, she was sitting and crying along with Robert Kelly “when a woman loves, sheeee she loves for real!”. Overwhelmed by the love that she never knew she had and was so real that she cried thinking “does this guy really know how much I can love him? I don’t even care that he works at a music shop…”. She couldn’t take it anymore and she tried to switch off the Hi Fi when she accidentally switched to FM radio and just before Chris Brown sigh and then “Look. I know we've been friends for a while now. But, I just feel like I can confess to you. It’s gonna be hard but. Alright here it goes...”. She pulled the Hi Fi power plug out crying, “oh Lord, how can you do this to me, I have heard already?”
The MC was asking for prayer request at 7:15 pm when Hope made her grand entrance in the house and the congregation cheered her interrupting the program. “Wow!” The MC was impressed “ let’s give the beautiful sister Hope another clap of hands, Hallelujah!”. Her heart was skipping beats but she kept her eyes focused straight at the MC in front but simultaneously stealing a bit of sight [an s] on the side where Themba usually sits. As she sat down, Hope quickly looked and there he was but Themba quickly looked down after their eyes met. In fact for the whole service he never actually raised his head up high. The whole service, Hope was worried thinking “maybe I intimidated him, maybe I scared him off. What if he now thinks that he cant afford me. What have I done?”
Themba only shook two people’s hands after the service and he was off the door while everyone was all over Hope like the Holy Spirit hovered the earth in Genesis. She kept smiling but did not hear a word anybody said because her mind captured all of her life’s hopes disappear in a second into the dark outside. All the guys wanted to accompany her home but she felt irritated and worse was the R kelly’s instrumentals still playing in her head but as they walked out, there was Themba hanging up the cellphone. He saw Hope and came towards her to give her a hug. It was a cold hug. Then he asked her “ must I accompany you or you have someone to?”. “ Let’s go, bye bye guys!”, Hope replied with an absolute shock inside but maintaining a smile outside.
Along the way, Hope attempted to break the silence and to draw his attention by saying “ those people made me blush today like they have never seen me in a new dress before”. Themba was just silent and it seemed like something just alerted him that he must answer before she notice that he is not there. “ hey, these people are crazy, huh?”.
“Themba what’s wrong. Have I offended you with something?”. “ No come-on Hope!”. “What then?” . “ Nothing serious”. “ You now what, or see me again it’s fine it’s ok if I am not good enough for you!.. to be your friend”. “ No, ok! Today, I tried to approach Stacy...” “ Stacy?” She interrupted. “ The rich white girl you saw at the” . “ The optometrist at Heathway mall, she’s not rich, her father is… you see that’s why I didn’t want to tell you. Eish, I knew I shouldn’t have done it.
“ I thought you were joking when you told me about her. Ok… what happened?” . “ I tried to talk to her but she just erupted telling me she hates me, even using racist words”. Part of her was happy about it but some part of her was disciplining her to be considerate. “ You don’t listen bra, they will never change. Apartheid is still here…”. They continued on the topic but little did they know that Stacey was traumatized by the murder of her uncle and his whole family at their farm that week. Themba was wearing an ANC T-shirt when he approached Stacey, who just heard rumors that it was a racist attack and believed to have been inspired by the ANC Youth Leader, Julius Malema’s song, “ Kill the farmer!”.
That night everybody slept in pain, regret, anger and blaming God for messing up their lives. Themba even prayed “ How can I ask for meat and you give me a snake to bite me? His frustrations fueled more accusations, “Haven’t you done enough of destroying my life already? Was this even necessary? Am I not serving you at church as a worshiper, What more do you want?” . The whole Saturday, both Hope and Themba, apparently even Stacy stayed indoor grieving. Themba decided not to call or even see Hope, He didn’t even see the Sundowns Vs. Pirates soccer game that he had been looking forward to. Hope called her new friend from work and they ate while crying the whole day. The R. Kelly instuments never stoped playing but the voice singing in her heard was asking God why does he create men not to know or understand love.
#end of part one#
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