CHAPTER 9
SOMETHING TO SMILE ABOUT
The day followed the usual pattern, going to work having to deal with the ever prying eyes of Singh. It was Tuesday and I had arrived back home and as usual Bongani was already at home. I was always the last one in having to work overtime without any over time payment. I opened the front door which was the only door which led into the small one roomed house. In a week’s time we would be moving away to Centurion another residential suburb in Pretoria. Bongani had finished his probation period at Absa and had been offered a permanent position and, accompanying the position was a good salary which was more than enough to rent a two bedroom garden flat. Bongani had invited me to stay with him, I offered some objections saying that I was happy staying alone here in Mamelodi and I could afford the rent. Truth of the matter was I wasn’t going to be able to pay the rent alone and also send money back home on my meagre salary. We had already notified Mr Zulu on our move. Bongani had bought a double bed, a 32 inch television set and a 4 plate stove which were crammed into the room leaving little space for walking. A month ago Bongani got his driver’s license, as for me I did not see any reason for getting one it is not like I am expecting to buy a car soon. “How, was work?” asked Bongani. “The usual.” I replied. “Time flies it has been almost eight months since you started working for that Indian.” said Bongani. “Sure it does. What did you have for supper?” I said as I sat down on the bed which also acted as our sofa. “I ate rice and some of that leftover soup from yesterday. The rice is in the pot on the stove but you will have to cook the soup because I ate it all.” “No need I am too tired to cook I will just have the rice.” I said as I stood up. “You still remember Reneilwe?” asked Bongani. “How could I forget her!” Reneilwe is the girlfriend of Dumisani what struck me about their relationship was their longevity. There had been dating each other for the last six and a half years. “They are getting married in six months’ time and we have been invited to the engagement party on the 23rd of this month.” said Bongani as he showed me the engagement party card. “The 23rd is this following Saturday. We have to go because Dumisani came through for us big time.” I said as I opened the pot of rice. I still could not believe that it was the same Dumisani who objected to marriage a few months back but who in the near future would be saying vows at his marriage. “Guess what happened to Me.” said Bongani. “You were given a handshake by the president of the United States of America.” I said jokingly. “Andile came here. I won’t even start with what she was wearing.” “Here at the cottage.” I said. “Yes, and she was acting all strange. At first she wanted help in downloading an application which I did effortlessly but she became all.” “Seductive.” I injected. “Correct, she just started caressing me on my hands. At that moment I politely told her to leave my room.” “What happened next?” I asked. “She came out right there and told me she had a crush on me.” “Told you that she fancied you.” “She has loss morals, even when I rejected her moves she kept on trying to seduce me. I finally told her that I was going to smack her.” “Did you smack her?” I asked looking all edgy as I ate the rice. “No, but she threatened to report me to the police if I didn’t sleep with her for attempted rape.” “I hope you didn’t take her to bed.” I said. “Not in a million years.” replied Bongani. “Then how did you avert the danger?” I asked. “I don’t know if it was fate or luck but before Andile entered the room I was singing some of the lyrics I wrote yesterday and my mobile phone was on voice record.” replied Bongani. I knew Bongani wrote musical lyrics back home in Zimbabwe but what I didn’t know was that he still was writing. To be partisan enough his lyrical content was amazing but his vocal ability was far from being the best. His singing voice sounded like a hungry barking dog “So you had your conversation on record.” I said. “So I played back our conversation and she was ashamed. She asked forgiveness and left there and there.” replied Bongani. We were supposed to move out in a week’s time but because of what happened we decided to live the following day to avoid the awkwardness that would follow. Of all of Mr Zulu’s daughters Andile was the odd one. She was the wolf amongst the sheep. His other daughters were well manned. I had even forged a friendship with Katlego his 3rd daughter who I usually spoke to when we met. She was doing her last year in medicine at the University of Johannesburg. She was chatty and down to earth. Bongani thought I would end up dating her but as I had earlier said to him I wasn’t going to date her because there was no attraction between us, it was like trying to put two north poles together, simple science would tell you that repulsion would occur. Though Katlego and I could quickly strike a conversation we didn’t agree on a lot of things especially when it came to gender roles. I have a post modernistic notion with a dash of traditional values on gender roles. I still believe women should always be below their husbands at home, but at the workplace if the lady is the boss then as a man working below her you should respect her. On the other hand Katlego is a pro feminist. She believes women should be at equals with men at home and even insisting that if the man is incompetent the women should be the head of the household. Maybe if Katlego wasn’t a pro feminist I think the attraction between us would grow because her gender view was a complete turn off for me. Katlego is beauty with brains it is visible from the way she articulates her points whenever we were arguing about something. To me marriage at this point and time in my life remains an alien concept. The day of moving out came and we thanked Mr Zulu for allowing us to rent his cottage. The garden flat was neat and nice it wasn’t furnished though, all of the rooms looked deserted because we had very little furniture to fill it with. Bongani told me not to worry about the rent, rates or electricity bills because he said he would take care of them. The sitting room was detached from the dining room and all the rooms had wooden tiles except for the toilet, bathroom and kitchen which had blue ceramic tiles. There were eight other garden flats in the complex. The complex had a Dura wall an electric fence and 24\7 around the clock Security Company equipped with state of the art surveillance cameras. It was a quiet area in which the flats were situated a walk-able distance from Centurion Cricket Ground. I liked the privacy in the area. Bongani was now driving a Kia Seranto. The day of the engagement party came I had bought perfume for the bride to be and corduroy jean for Dumisani. The engagement party was been held in Soweto at Dumisani’s parents home. I wore my dark blue slim fit jeans, suede formal shoes, a dark blue golf and I coupled it off with a blue beret hat. Bongani took the formal route he was wearing a tight fitting black trousers, a lace-less pair of black formal shoes and a white neatly tucked in Armani formal shirt. We drove off to Soweto from Pretoria. I marvel at the big stadium which is been built in Soweto, the FNB stadium which is going to host the opening match of the 2010 world cup and upon completion it is going to be Africa’s largest stadium. Huge cranes and large host of workers are doing their jobs as the stadium takes shape. I had never being to Soweto. Soweto was almost the equivalent of Highfield, like Highfield it was host to a lot of anti-apartheid struggle icons, like the likes of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the least goes on. So we arrived at Dumisani’s parent’s house. Originally it was a 6 room house but Dumisani had extended the house and modernized it to an 8 room house. Bongani parked the car outside. As we entered the yard I heard local South African house music being played. As we went past the disc jockey we saw Dumisani and Reneilwe standing at the foot of the opened front French door. Reneilwe was stylishly dressed in a tight dark brown long sleeved midi dress which showed a lot of cleavage and golden sandals and had a cerulean necklace. The dress shaped her body showing all the tight spots. Her kind of dressing would have sent the tongues wagging back home in Zimbabwe, a bride to be, dressed like that at her in-laws place. Here the people are more open minded and more westernised. On the other spectrum, Dumisani was dressed sophisticatedly in a dark brown jean which complimented Reneilwe’s dress. Bongani and I both congratulated the soon to be married couple. The engagement party was invigorating I could feel the great sense of happiness even the smallness of the yard hosting the event didn’t dampen the mood. The event was flawless and well organized. The speeches made by both set of in-laws were short and precise. I thought there was going to be a shortage of alcohol and food because there was a large turnout but it turned out the alcohol and food were more than the people. That same thought of happiness that had been terrorising me for some time came back. For a few seconds I was teleported into a world of my own as I mused over what could make me happy. Was it going to be lots money and all of the things it brings like power, an unlimited source of gorgeous ladies or the many accessories I can have or was I going to find it in marriage or maybe the key to my happiness lay in my religion? “Tinashe, Tinashe. The meat is burning what I you thinking?” said Bongani as he shook my left shoulder. “Nothing much.” I replied as I turned over the meet, which was clearly burnt. “We have to see Dumisani, before we head back home.” said Bongani. “There he is.” I said. So we waved to Dumisani who walked towards us. “Gents.” said Dumisani. “I guess you are feeling the wedding jitters.” said Bongani. “Not yet.” replied Dumisani. “You still remember that conversation we had at Matisse. You remember what you said Dumisani?” I asked. “Yes.” replied Dumisani. “Dumisani you clearly said you weren’t going to get married anytime soon.” said Bongani. “You can’t control feelings. I just woke up one morning and felt the urge to have someone next to me every time I wake up.” replied Dumisani. “I know I have said this before but congrats man.” I said as I gave Dumisani a hug. “Thanks.” replied Dumisani. As we were speaking Reneilwe walked towards where we were. “Can I steal my man for a moment.” said Reneilwe as she caught hold of Dumisani’s hand. “So no more boys’ nights for you.” said Bongani. “Don’t say that Bongani, yes Dumisani can go out on boys’ night but he should be back home by 8pm.” replied Reneilwe as she started chuckling. The party went right in to the early hours of the next day. We left in the early hours of the morning, and we were able to get some sleep before the emergence of the sun. I was slowing becoming a non- practicing Christian, the last time I was in church was when my old man passed on nearly a year ago. The day was uneventful. I had asked for a day off at work so that I could check on the progress of my work permit. I arrived in at the Home Affairs Office early in the morning. It was a sunny and warm Monday. I was over the moon when I saw I had been granted a work permit. In my deepest thought I thought my troubles were now coming to a halt, now I could find work without fear of been reported to the police. My stay in South Africa was now official. I had a grin smile something at least was going my way. Without delay I phoned my mother and Bongani to notify them that I had been granted a work permit. A man from the Democratic Republic of Congo told me he was still waiting for a work permit after almost three and half years since he first applied. It made me appreciate the time it had taken for my work permit request to be approved. Just maybe I had a guardian angel leading me.