RUTH

Chapter 8 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

VIII. Ruth

1 In the days when the judges ruled, there was a famine in the land, and a man from Bethlehem in Judah, together with his wife and two sons, went to live for a while in the country of Moab. 2 The man’s name was Elimelech, his wife’s name Naomi, and the names of his two sons were Mahlon and Kilion. They were Ephrathites from Bethlehem, Judah. And they went to Moab and lived there.

3 Now Elimelech, Naomi’s husband, died, and she was left with her two sons. 4 They married Moabite women, one named Orpah and the other Ruth. After they had lived there about ten years, 5 both Mahlon and Kilion also died, and Naomi was left without her two sons and her husband.

6 When she heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, Naomi and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. 7 With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

8 Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go back, each of you, to your mother’s home. May the LORD show kindness to you, as you have shown to your dead and to me. 9 May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband.”

Then she kissed them and they wept aloud 10 and said to her, “We will go back with you to your people.”

11 But Naomi said, “Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? 12 Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me-even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons-13 would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD’s hand has gone out against me!”

14 At this they wept again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-bye, but Ruth clung to her.

15 “Look,” said Naomi, “your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her.”

16 But Ruth replied, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. 17 Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” 18 When Naomi realised that Ruth determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

Ruth: Chapter 1: 1-18 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 2-Exodus-where we left our main characters, Jane and Toni, being arrested for murder.

1

Elizabeth, who most people called Liz, was still in a state of shock from what she had heard from her grandmother. She was standing by the massive window in the “luxurious hospital suite”. Her grandmother seemed to be sleeping now. For all Elizabeth knew, the old lady could actually be dead, now that she had finally managed to tell the story. Looking at her, you could hardly notice any breathing from her; she was very still. Elizabeth turned her gaze away from the old lady and looked outside through the window.

This “hospital room” was actually like a luxurious suite of a five-star hotel. There were leather sofas next to where Elizabeth was standing. There were three television sets in the room. These television sets had been placed in such a way that the patient would always be facing a set from any direction. “What a worst of resources,” thought Elizabeth every time she came to visit her grandmother. It seemed the hospital needed to do something outrageous to justify the exorbitant fees that they were charging. Honestly, why would someone want three television sets in one room?

The window, from which Elizabeth was gazing outside, overlooked a well kept central courtyard. There was a five point fountain in the middle of that courtyard. It was actually four fountains arranged in such a way that they formed a square in which there was one big centre fountain. On any other day, the scenery would be a sight to behold. The courtyard had been carefully designed to offer a “tranquil scene” to the hospital’s “over-charged” patients. But today, Elizabeth looked out of the window without seeing any of that beauty.

“How could she have kept me in the dark about something so important”? Elizabeth thought.

2

Elizabeth’s grandmother, Mrs. Ruth Johnson, had been in hospital for the past four months. The doctors had actually told Elizabeth, after her granny had only been in hospital for ten days, that there was no hope for the old lady. She was supposed to have died during those first two weeks, according to the doctors. But something had kept the old lady alive. Elizabeth now knew why the old lady had clung to life for the past four months. She could not allow herself to die without telling Elizabeth the truth about her existence. On the one hand she could not bring herself to tell the story, always failing at the last minute to bring out the “sordid details” when Liz visited her in hospital. At the same time, the compelling need in her to finally free herself of the burden, persisted, keeping her alive when expert doctors had already written her off, giving her only a few days to live.

This is her story.

3

Grandmother Ruth told Elizabeth that she was not her “biological grandmother”. Apparently, Granny Ruth had become Liz’s grandmother through a strange set of circumstances. At some time, more than twenty five years ago, Ruth was a maid who lived with a woman who was actually Liz’s “true biological grandmother”. When this woman died, she had left all her wealth to Ruth and had at the same time required that Ruth looks after Liz as she would have done with her own granddaughter.

The sting to this story was that Elizabeth’s mother, whom she thought had died whilst giving birth to Liz, was actually alive. She was alive but serving a life sentence in jail for murder. Not only that, Elizabeth’s father was also alive and in jail for the same offences committed by her mother. The names of her parents were Jane and Antony (Toni), and they had been jailed for killing Antony’s brother Tom who had actually been Elizabeth’s mother’s husband at the time! It was all too much to accept!

During the six month trial of Jane and Toni, it was discovered that Jane was pregnant. She had given birth to a baby girl who was immediately taken away to be looked after by her grandmother, who happened to be Ruth’s employer. Liz’s biological grandmother was Toni and Tom’s mother and she had “inherited” her son, Tom’s estate after the tragic developments relating to the “ill-feted” love triangle.

Unfortunately, Liz’s real grandmother had also not lived long. She succumbed to breast cancer when Liz was only nine months old. No wonder Liz had no recollection of this woman. Due to the fact that Tom had been a successful businessman, Elizabeth’s real grandmother ended up being a rich woman. When she died, leaving her entire estate to her maid Ruth, the maid, naturally, also became extremely wealthy.

Now this woman, who Elizabeth thought was her grandmother but who had actually been a maid to Liz’s grandmother, was also dying in hospital. Obviously, Elizabeth, at a young age of twenty-three, was also now going to inherit the enormous wealth after the imminent death of her “Grandmother”.

But the thought of acquiring enormous wealth was not of concern to Elizabeth right now. As she continued to look down towards the hospital courtyard with “un-seeing eyes’, she was thinking, “What am I going to do with this new found knowledge? What am I going to do about the two jail birds who happen to be my parents?”

The next chapter-1 Samuel- will be published not later than Saturday, 8 January 2011

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JUDGES

Chapter 7 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

VII. Judges

1 One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. 2 The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.”

3 But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron.

4 Sometime later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”

6 So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”

7 Samson answered her, “If anyone ties me with seven fresh thongs that have not been dried, I will become as any other man.”

8 Then the rulers of the Philistines brought her seven fresh thongs that had not been dried, and she tied him with them. 9 With men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” But he snapped the thongs as easily as a piece of string snaps when it comes close to a flame. So the secret of his strength was not discovered.

10 Then Delilah said to Samson, “You have made a fool of me; you lied to me. Come now; tell me how you can be tied.”

11 He said, “If anyone ties me securely with new ropes that have never been used, I’ll become as weak as any other man.”

12 So Delilah took new ropes and tied him with them. Then, with men hidden in the room, she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you.” But he snapped the ropes off his arms as if they were threads.

13 Delilah then said to Samson, “Until now, you have been making a fool of me and lying to me. Tell me how you can be tied.”

He replied, “If you weave the seven braids of my head into fabric [on the loom] and tighten it with the pin, I’ll become weak as any other man.” So while he was sleeping, Delilah took the seven braids of his head, wove them into the fabric 14 and tightened it with the pin.

Again she called to him, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and pulled up the pin and the loom, with the fabric.

15 Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.”

16 With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was tired to death.

17 So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite set apart to God since birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.”

18 When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. 19 Having put him to sleep on her lap, she called a man to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him.

20 Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!”

He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him.

21Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they sent him to grinding in the prison. Judges: Chapter 16:1-21 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 1-Genesis-where we left our main character, Peter, experiencing his first few days in a filthy jail cell in a small African country.

1

Peter had been sentenced to five years in jail for stealing money from his employer. Although there was a possibility of him serving only three years if he behaved himself in jail, Peter had been convinced that even that shortened period was too long, if one took into account the appalling conditions of “his new living quarters’. He had fully expected to die before completing the jail sentence.

As lucky had it, Peter was fortunate to be transferred from the over-crowded jail to a less crowded one in a small town, 120 kilometres south of the capital. Although he had only been in the crowded jail for a week, it had seemed like an eternity and the smaller town jail, in which he was now incarcerated, felt like a five-star hotel.

Peter found a way of becoming friendly with the guards at the “new” jail. There was something about him that told the guards that he was not a common criminal and as a result, the guards treated him kindly, assigning light duties to him, whenever possible.

After exactly three years, Peter was released from jail under a general amnesty undertaken as part of that year’s Independence Celebrations. He was out of jail but he knew he was never going to get a job in a bank ever again. In fact, as an ex-convict, he was going to find it extremely difficult to secure any type of job.

Peter was fortunate in that an uncle, from his mother’s side, agreed to give him shelter and food on his release from jail. He knew he could not expect his uncle’s charity to last forever, so it was imperative that he came up with some way of earning a living. In the meantime, he made sure he kept his uncle happy by volunteering to carry out all the chores that needed to be done around the house, including looking after the garden.

2

After a period of six months, with nothing coming up as far as a formal job was concerned, Peter’s uncle suggested that he should consider working from home using the internet. His uncle pointed out that there were numerous stories of people who were now making a decent living from home through that route. Peter was free to use the uncle’s desk top computer, which was hardly used anyway as both his uncle and aunt preferred using lap-tops which they brought home from their workplaces.

Although the uncle’s idea sounded good to Peter, he could not think of anything that he could offer on the net. It was his uncle who came to his rescue, yet again.

“Peter, I know you used to entertain thoughts of being a writer, why don’t you look at that for your online job? Somebody once said, ‘Where there is desire, there is hidden talent’”, his uncle encouraged.

Yes, the uncle was right; Peter had a “secret desire” to become a writer. In fact when he was in jail, he had thought that the first thing he would do on coming out would be to write a book. He had never implemented his intentions, however, as there seemed to be a “little voice” that kept telling him that he did not have the talent. Now it seemed like he did not have much of a choice and had to take his uncle’s advice seriously.

Suddenly, one day, an idea came to him as if in a dream. He could start a blog which he could call “The Gossip Column” and he could just pick up “pub gossip” and post it on the net. People loved to hear juicy stories, even stories that might not be true. Yes, Peter thought, this was something he could do. He would tell his uncle that he had an idea which he was going to implement immediately.

As it turned out, “The Gossip Column” was a success right from the start. In no time, Peter found himself being able to attract a lot of advertising and for the first time since leaving jail, he had started to receive some income. It was not much, to be sure, but judging by the increasing popularity of the blog, he was going to be making “serious money” quite soon.

3

One Friday evening, Peter’s uncle, who had political ambitions, came to Peter with some “explosive piece of news” that the uncle thought Peter could post on his blog. When Peter finished listening to his uncle, he understood that the uncle, because of political ambitions, was trying to use him to further those ambitions. Peter thought this type of gossip was actually dangerous and he also had no intention of going back to jail. This is what the uncle told Peter;

“There is a strong rumour that the country’s President is dying from an incurable disease”, the uncle said. The juicy part of the story was not the fact that the Head of State was rumoured to be dying but the story behind the “incurable disease” was certainly juicy.

It was an open secret that the President loved women. In fact, despite having nine “wives”, which was traditionally acceptable, he was rumoured to have liaisons outside this “circle of presidential wives”, and this was not traditionally acceptable.

Peter’s uncle said he had heard the “news” from three Secret Service personnel who were part of the President’s “Close Protection Unit”. The following is what the security officers told him:-

“The President had a habit of making frequent trips to Asia. He travelled to Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong, twice every year, ostensibly on business. The trips did, however, have a much more sinister nature than most people, except those President’s advisers closest to him and the top authorities of the countries visited, realised.

The rumour was that the President had an insatiable sexual appetite which, despite his being able to get as many women as he wanted in his own country, could only be partially assuaged during the Asian trips. He had taken a particular liking for petite Chinese girls, a situation that had really developed into a dangerous obsession. In order to make the trips look normal, he would always travel with one of his wives. This, however, did not stop him from “sleeping” with Chinese girls once he was in Asia. It was always quite an easy thing to tell whoever was the chosen wife for a particular trip that the President was always very busy on these trips as he would hold long meetings with his “hosts” lasting far into the night.

Last month, the President flew to Hong Kong via Singapore. As usual, he also had a good time in Singapore but he had known that Hong Kong would be better. On this particular trip, he was looking forward to seeing his favourite Chinese girl, Niu. Niu was nineteen years old, he had been told. But with these Chinese girls, one could never be certain of their ages. A Chinese woman of thirty could look like a teenager to an unsuspecting non-Chinese eye. It did not matter, “Mr. President” believed the girl was nineteen when he met her six months ago. As the Presidential jet made its approach to Hong Kong International Airport, “the Man’s” excitement grew. He intended to see Niu that very night. His wife would, as usual, be told that he is engaged in a long meeting which could go on until well past midnight.

When Niu was brought to him at the appointed time at a different hotel from which he and his delegation were staying, “the Man” thought she looked even more seductive in her red dress than she had looked six months ago. The dress had high slits on either side and her legs would be “lovingly exposed” as she walked about the room. “The Man” was with Niu for almost six hours, up to about 1 a.m. in the morning. He was insatiable! He resolved to see her for a couple more days before he had to fly back home to Africa.

4

The following day, “the Man” went back to the hotel at which he had immensely enjoyed his “encounter” with the lovely Niu. He expected to see Niu already waiting for him in the hotel suite, but when he arrived he was advised by the Chinese protocol officer, who was arranging these nefarious liaisons, that Niu would be late in coming. In fact what “the Man” did not realise was that Niu was also the favourite mistress of a high ranking Chinese government official and was at that very moment still entertaining this official.

After waiting for about half an hour, “Mr. President” was becoming impatient. To make matters worse, he was actually getting sexually excited at the mere thought and expectation of seeing Niu again. He asked one of his bodyguards to check again with the Chinese official and enquire on the whereabouts of “his Niu”. When the bodyguard came back to report to his master, he did not have good news. The Chinese protocol officer told him that he should convey his sincere regrets to His Excellency because Niu was now, unfortunately, not in a position to come to the hotel. According to the protocol officer, word had just come in that Niu had sadly been involved in a car accident when she was on her way to the hotel. She was not seriously injured but still required hospitalisation for a couple of days. The President could, of course, not go to see her at the hospital even if he wanted.

This was devastating news for “the Man” but to his consternation, he realised he still needed relief. The bodyguard actually thought that the President would now abandon his quest for Chinese girls and go back to his lovely wife. This was not to be because “the Man” commanded his bodyguard to request the Chinese protocol officer to arrange “procuring” another girl to take Niu’s place.

The Chinese officer was not happy to hear this request because he had also assumed that “His Excellency” would go back to his wife. The officer had been forced to make up the “Niu accident” story because Niu could not get away from her Chinese VIP boyfriend. Now, where was he going to find another girl at such short notice? But he also knew that he had instructions to provide “His Excellency” with “everything that he required”. Under these circumstances, the official decided to get a girl from a brothel that he sometimes patronised. Fortunately, the “brothel madam” had a girl available who could be sent over immediately.

When this news was conveyed to “the Man”, he was ecstatic yet again, his excitement growing. He was not disappointed when he saw the girl when she arrived. This one looked to be about sixteen years old and “the Man” would have believed it if somebody had told him she was a virgin. The sexual act itself was also a pleasant surprise. In fact, if he were to be honest, this girl performed better than Niu. For this reason, he made special arrangements to see her the following day before flying back home.

5

It started as a “slight tingling sensation” at the tip of his “member” two days after arriving back home. On the third day, however, he knew something was wrong. He started feeling searing pain every time he took a pee. At first he did not want to mention this to anybody, hoping that somehow whatever discomfort he was feeling would soon disappear. But on the fourth day, it was worse. He could now not even manage to urinate at all although he would, of course, feel the need to do so.

The President had no choice but to consult his personal physician. When the doctor heard what “the Man” had to say, he feared the worst. He had always suspected that his “Number 1 Client” would sooner or later contract some form of dreadful sexually transmitted disease (STD) because of his numerous “trysts” with all sorts of women. But he did not want to jump to a conclusion without taking some tests which he immediately requested the President to agree to.

Whilst the blood tests clearly showed that the President was carrying some form of infection, the doctor could not identify the type of STD, if it was an STD, which his boss had contracted. All the same, he resolved to give His Excellency a cocktail of drugs which he hoped would clear the infection. Despite taking the drugs for the next three days, the President’s condition did not improve. In fact, his condition was getting worse as his genitals had now started swelling. The physician, knowing that the President had just come back from a trip to Asia, suggested that they fly to Singapore or Malaysia where they could seek help in anonymity.

The trip back to Asia was hastily arranged and the physician and some trusted senior advisers flew with their Head of State to Singapore. In Singapore, they managed to quickly see a highly respected authority on sexually transmitted diseases, a Dr. Chen-Lee, a Singaporean of Chinese descent. The feedback that the Africans received after the President had been thoroughly examined was not good. Apparently, His Excellency had been unfortunate to contract a rare case of what the Chinese informally called “sweet and sour man-eater” disease or SSME. This type of SSME was curious in that it was carried by women but women were not adversely affected by it in any way. Women could just be carriers of the disease without getting sick themselves. But if a man were infected, there was no hope, because there was no known cure. The disease was fatal, so in effect, His Excellency was slowly moving towards a very painful death.

The next chapter-Ruth- will be published not later than Wednesday, 29 December, 2010

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JOSHUA

Chapter 6 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

VI. Joshua

1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it.” 7 And he ordered the people, “Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD.”

8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD’s covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the people, “Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!” 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.

12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the LORD. Only Rehab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury.”

20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring her out and all who belong to her, in accordance with your oath to her.” 23 So the young men who had done the spying went in and brought out Rahab, her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her entire family and put them in a place outside the camp of Israel.

24 Then they burned the whole city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the LORD’s house. 25 But Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, with her family and all who belonged to her, because she hid the men Joshua had sent as spies to Jericho-and she lives among the Israelites to this day. Joshua: Chapter 6:1-25 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

1

He was very nervous. It was the day of his job interview. He really needed this job, not only for the money, but more importantly, because it would also give him back his dignity. He left Long Road and headed towards Clapham High Street in Clapham, South London, England. The restaurant was about a mile away along Clapham High Street. He was walking fast although there was plenty of time for him to get to the restaurant before the 11:00 a.m. appointment. He felt uncomfortable in his borrowed jacket and tie. He had been unsure of what to wear but in the end he thought he could not go wrong with a jacket and tie. The jacket was one size too big. It belonged to his uncle who had been instrumental in arranging this job interview.

The person he was going to see was the owner of the restaurant. The name of the restaurant was Lord Westbury but many in the West Indian community called it “The Second Chance.” He had no idea why it had been nicknamed “The Second Chance.” At this thought he kicked himself for not having asked his uncle about this. He was sure his uncle would have known why the Lord Westbury was also known as “The Second Chance.” He hoped the issue would not come up during the interview and spoil his chances of getting the job.

He was thirty minutes early but he walked into the restaurant anyway. The restaurant had been open for hours as it served all meals, breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was not only popular with people of West Indian origin as it was also heavily patronised by the local working-class white community. As he walked in, he could see that there were still a lot of customers who seemed to be finishing their breakfast or just enjoying a cup of coffee. He approached the counter which was near the entrance and said, “My name is Dwayne Smith and I am here to see Mr. Rawlings.”

“Oh yes Mr. Smith, the Boss mentioned that you would be coming to see him. Aren’t you rather early? Mr. Rawlings said to expect you at 11 o’clock?” the man behind the counter said.

“Yes, I know I am early. I will just go outside and walk around a bit and come back just before eleven,” Dwayne said.

“You don’t have to do that. My name is Sam. Come and sit down at this table over here and somebody will bring you a cup of coffee or tea to drink while you wait.”

Dwayne hardly had enough money for the tube ride back home and was sure not going to spend any of it on a cup of coffee, much as he might have liked to have one. He quickly said, “Oh no thanks. I mean, eh I will sit down but I won’t have anything to drink, thank you.” Sam seemed to sense what was going on as he knew why Dwayne had come to see Mr. Rawlings. Sam said, “I insist. I won’t take ‘No’ for an answer. Sit down and have a cup of tea, it’s on the house.”

Dwayne gratefully sat down and said, “Thank you I would not mind having a cup of coffee.”

2

As he sipped his coffee, Dwayne thought of what had transpired in the preceding five months since his release from jail. He had been imprisoned for ten years in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica. He had been jailed for culpable homicide for killing a man during a pub-fight in which he had lost all control. He had not meant to kill the man, of course, although before the fight started he had uttered the words, “I am going to kill you!” He had only meant to teach the bully a lesson but as it happened Dwayne had completely lost control and beat up the guy so much he died on arrival at the hospital he was taken to after the fight. It did not also help that some people in the bar had heard Dwayne shout, “I am going to kill you.” So he ended up getting ten years in jail for his loss of temper.

It still pained him to think of the way his mother had screamed in anguish when the judge announced the ten-year sentence that day in court. In a way, she had suffered more than he did when he was in jail. She must have been thinking about what she was going to do with him when he came out of jail because no sooner had he been released than did she start talking about him having to go visit her brother who lived in London.

A month after his release from jail, Dwayne flew to London to join his uncle. He had considered the possibility that he might be refused entry into Britain because of his “criminal record” but the immigration officials at Heathrow Airport just stamped his passport and let him in. He had now been in England for the past four months and he was desperate for something useful to do. He hoped he was going to get this job. His uncle had made it plain that no promises had been made. Robert Rawlings, the owner of the Lord Westbury, had only agreed to talk to Dwayne and consider then, if there was anything that he could offer him or refer him somewhere else.

3

At exactly 11 o’clock, Sam came to tell him that Mr. Rawlings was now ready to see Dwayne in his office which was located on a floor on top of the restaurant. Dwayne followed a waiter who had been instructed to escort him to the boss’s office. They went up two flights of stairs and approached a door which his escort opened after a cursory knock and telling Dwayne to go in on his own. Dwayne had not known what to expect but he was surprised to see a man, who was evidently Bob Rawlings, wheel himself from behind a huge desk to greet him as he entered the office. Rawlings was in a wheel chair.

He was smiling as he stretched his big right hand to shake Dwayne’s. “Welcome to the Lord Westbury, Dwayne,” said Rawlings as he shook Dwayne’s hand. Dwayne was not surprised to feel that the handshake was very firm as he had noticed that Rawlings had big broad shoulders and his upper body must have become stronger and stronger as he wheeled himself around in the non-motorised wheel chair. The enthusiastic greeting, instead of making Dwayne feel at ease, only served to make him more nervous. Rawlings must have felt Dwayne’s sweat in the palm of his hand because before Dwayne could offer an appropriate response to the warm greeting, the big man said, “Relax, Dwayne. Didn’t your uncle tell you that this was not a formal interview. I was curious to see the man who has spent the last ten years in a Jamaican jail.”

“Thank you Mr. Rawlings, sir. It was very nice of you to agree to see me,” Dwayne said.

“Not at all Dwayne. Your uncle and I go back a long way. Just tell me what you think you can do in the restaurant. Can you wait on tables?”

“Yes, I can. I was actually working as a waiter when ‘it happened.’ I mean, yes sir, I am sure I can,” stuttered Dwayne. Rawlings did not have to ask what Dwayne meant by when ‘it happened’ because it was obvious he meant the fight that led to all his troubles.

“Well, if I offer you a job here I hope you don’t end up beating up my customers,” Rawlings chuckled. “You need to control that temper of yours. Can you start tomorrow?”

“Can I start tomorrow? Yes, of course, I can start tomorrow. Oh thank you, thank you Mr. Rawlings. You will not regret this,” Dwayne was overwhelmed. He was getting the job. Just like that! He had not expected it to be so easy. He started wondering what Rawlings had meant by saying that he and his uncle went back a long way. Evidently, they must be in very good books for Rawlings to so casually hand him over a life line just like that.

4

That evening, when his uncle came home, Dwayne excitedly told him of his good fortune. He also remembered to ask him why the restaurant was nicknamed “The Second Chance.” His uncle did not seem surprised that he had got the job but he refused to tell him why the restaurant was nicknamed “The Second Chance.” He only said it would not take Dwayne long to work it out for himself.

Sure enough, towards the end of the day, the very next day, his first day at the job, he discovered why the Lord Westbury was also called “The Second Chance.” He discovered that almost the entire workforce at the Lord Westbury was made up of ex-convicts! Rawlings, himself, had spent some time in jail although he had not committed any crime. He had been wrongly accused and imprisoned for three years before Dwayne’s uncle, who was a lawyer, took up his case and managed to get him out. That had been fifteen years ago. Dwayne’s uncle had also managed to get the Government to pay damages to Rawlings when he sued for wrongful imprisonment. Rawlings had used part of the money that he had been paid by the state to buy the Lord Westbury. It had been a huge sum of money because Rawlings had grossly suffered whilst in prison, including losing his legs from being beaten up by a gang of prison bullies. Dwayne’s uncle managed to convince the Compensation Court that the state should take the full blame for not only his imprisonment but also the loss of his client’s legs.

Rawlings had managed to turn the Lord Westbury into the “top restaurant” it now was in South London. Some attributed his success to his policy of not hesitating to employ ex-convicts who have been recommended by reputable people. A lot had actually been recommended by Dwayne’s uncle. These people seemed to be so grateful to be given a second chance that they worked hard and tried all they could to please their boss, Bob Rawlings. This was a fact that was well-known within the South London West Indian community, hence the name “The Second Chance” for the Lord Westbury.

 The next chapter-Judges- will be published not later than Wednesday, 22 December 2010

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DEUTERONOMY

Chapter 5 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

V. Deuteronomy

2 Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. 4 Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5 Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you. 6 Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in his ways and revering him. 7 For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey, 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. Deuteronomy: Chapter 8:2-9 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

1

Chipo Rawlings was watching traffic from her suite at the Pamodzi Hotel situated in the Zambian capital, Lusaka. She and her husband, Richard Rawlings had just come back from Lusaka International Airport where they had seen off her son and his lovely bride. Her son, Nhamo, had just wedded a Zambian girl, which was the reason why Chipo and Richard were in Lusaka. They had come to attend the wedding, which reception had actually been held at the very hotel that Chipo and Richard were staying in. Now the young couple had just flown off to Mauritius for their honeymoon before going back to England where they all lived.

Nhamo was Chipo’s son, but not Richard’s child. This was because Chipo had, herself, only married Richard nine months ago. Chipo had two children from her previous “marriage”. Nhamo, the elder of the two children, was twenty eight years old. The other child, Tambudzai, was a young woman of twenty six, who had married a South African national and was now living with her husband in Johannesburg. Tambudzai had, to everybody’s sadness, not been in a position to travel to Lusaka for the wedding of her brother. Her doctor had advised her not to travel as she was pregnant and the baby was almost due. Not only that, the pregnancy had also been a difficult one and required close monitoring.

Chipo smiled to herself as she noted that she was soon going to be a grandmother at the age of forty. Looking at the Lusaka traffic, whilst waiting for Richard who had gone to the bathroom, she knew the dinner that they were going to have at a restaurant recommended by Nhamo’s in-laws, was going to be lovely, like everything else that was happening to her life these days.

2

It had not always been like that. She had had a tough life but the present and future were definitely much brighter. It had not been easy but she had persevered. Chipo was born forty years ago in a Zimbabwean rural village called Chiweshe. She was the eighth child in a family of ten. The family was very poor and her father had only allowed her to attend three years of elementary school. What little resources were available, were channelled towards the education of the boys in the family. As a girl, Chipo was expected to cope with very little education. As soon as she had learnt how to read and write, she was taken away from school and commanded to help her mother who sold various types of vegetables at a nearby bus –stop along the main road that passed by their village.

At the age of eleven, when Chipo had barely reached puberty, she was forced to become the fourth wife of the man who was married to her aunt. That is how she ended up being a mother at the tender age of twelve. She had almost died in child birth but was fortunate that the mid-wives at the nearby mission hospital managed to save both the baby and the young mother. After giving birth to Nhamo, she thought she was going to be spared the agony of going through the experience of child birth again as she was herself really also a child. This was not to be as her “uncle-husband” considered her his favourite wife and she soon became pregnant again, resulting in the birth of a girl whom they named Tambudzai. Fortunately for Chipo, Tambudzai’s entry into the world was a lot easier than her previous experience with Nhamo.

Chipo’s life was, however, a terrible struggle. As the fourth wife, Chipo had joined a family which was already very large. Her life with her parents had been difficult but the move into married life had been like “jumping out of the frying pan and landing straight into the fire”. Despite collecting wives, her “uncle-husband” would not provide for them. The wives and their children were expected to fend for themselves in the best way they could. Chipo counted herself lucky to have managed to get a cleaning job at the nearby Howard Mission Hospital where she had given birth to Nhamo. She considered herself lucky despite having to also work in the fields in addition to her work at the hospital. What made all this work even more painful was the fact that her husband demanded that she handed her little wages to him every month. He would take for himself a large portion of the small wage, giving her very little of her own money. Life was hell and she would wonder whether she was going to continue working in good health and manage to properly raise her two children.

3

Her situation improved somewhat when her husband suddenly died. It might have been a cruel feeling to experience but Chipo had been really pleased to “lose her husband”. Her husband had abused his body with alcohol and he had succumbed to acute liver failure. The death of her husband liberated Chipo. No wonder she had secretly rejoiced when he died.

A couple of years after the death of her husband, when Chipo was twenty and her second child, Tambudzai was six, she decided to go back to school. The Salvation Army which owned the hospital, at which Chipo worked, also ran a primary and secondary school in the area. The school also offered evening classes, mostly to adults who had not had the opportunity to do their schooling when they were younger. Chipo joined one of the evening classes and worked so hard that after only two years she had obtained her Junior Certificate in education. She did not stop there, enrolling to study for the ordinary level Cambridge School Certificate. Although she took the “normal” time, two years, to obtain the ordinary level certificate, she obtained her A-level certificate after a period of only one year. So, five years after deciding to go back to school, she had her Cambridge A-level certificate.

Her achievements in school were obtained with a great deal of sacrifice. Her children were also going to school and she had to help them with their school work on top of carrying out her day job at the hospital and taking care of her own studies. In most cases, she would only manage to have only three or four hours sleep.

Chipo’s superiors at the hospital were really amazed at what she had managed to accomplish under very difficult circumstances. They tried to persuade her to join the Nurse Training Programme at the hospital but Chipo was not sure that “nursing” was what she wanted to do. She however, promised to give it careful consideration, thus not rejecting the idea outright.

Her superiors assumed that her hesitation was due to a concern on pressure of work and were willing to give her as much time as she wanted to think about it. Chipo, however, had other bigger things on her mind. She was considering going to college to study English and History. Unfortunately for her, she did not have any means of financing further studies whilst at the same time taking care of her children. Even if she were somehow manage to get a scholarship to attend college, who would take care of her children?

A solution to her problems was presented to her quite unexpectedly. The international leader of the Salvation Army, General Anthony Hawkins, was on a tour of Southern Africa and came to visit the Howard Mission hospital and school complex. Somebody must have talked to him about Chipo because the next thing Chipo knew was that General Hawkins wanted to see her. Chipo could not imagine why the Head of the Salvation Army might be interested in her. When she was finally brought to him, he remarked that he had heard her story and had been deeply touched. He also wanted to know if she was prepared to take the nurse training course if she was given financial assistance. Chipo saw her opportunity and told General Hawkins what she really would want to do, given adequate resources. The General was impressed and promised to look into the possibility of assisting her to fulfil her dreams.

Three months after her encounter with the Head of The Salvation Army, when the memory of the incident was already fading in her mind, Chipo was called into the Hospital Administrator’s office. The Administrator told Chipo that he had received good news from General Hawkins which could have a huge impact on her fortunes. The General had managed to secure finances for her from a benefactor in London. Funds were going to be made available for Chipo to study at an English University of her choice with all expenses paid, including the upkeep and schooling of her children. All she needed to do was to secure a place at an appropriate college and make all the necessary preparations that would enable her and the children to travel to England.

Chipo could not believe her good fortune. There was no way she was going to miss out on an opportunity like that. Within a period of ten months she had managed to secure a place at the University of Leeds and she made plans to travel to England in the northern hemisphere autumn of the year that she attained the age of twenty eight.

4

Life in Leeds was tough. Although she no longer had financial worries, as the benefactor identified by General Hawkins was very generous, her work schedule was quite hectic. As she had done since the day she had made the decision of going back to school, she had to constantly worry about whether she was being a good mother to her children in the midst of taking care of her own education. But she persevered. It was no surprise then that she opted to embark on a Masters Programme in English after successfully completing her undergraduate studies.

Chipo did so well in her post graduate studies that the University of Leeds offered her a teaching post. She accepted this offer and remained in the English department of the college, only now she was a teaching assistant. It was during this period that she met Richard Rawlings who was a professor in the Engineering Department of the College.

Richard was a third generation “Anglo-Jamaican” and he started dating Chipo soon after she had become teaching assistant in the English Department. Chipo was now thirty five years old and very much at peace with her world but she also did not want to rush into a long term relationship. This also seemed to suit Richard who had not dated anyone since the death of his wife, seven years earlier.

They went out together for a period of four years before deciding to get married. By this time, her children were both independent adults. They encouraged her to marry, something that they had long been advocating ever since they were old enough to know about this sort of thing.

5

Now here she was in a lovely Lusaka Hotel, looking forward to the evening. The following day, she and Richard were proceeding to Johannesburg, South Africa where they were going to await the arrival of their grandchild. They were only going to go back to England after Tambudzai’s baby had been born and they had had the opportunity to assure themselves that “mother and child” were in good health.

She heard noises from the bathroom which indicated that Richard had finished and she walked towards the large plasma LG television set, making sure it was switched off before they went out. She picked up the remote-control from the top of the TV set and the letters of the manufacturer’s logo “LG” jumped at her from this small device. “Yes, LG, Life was now really Good”, she thought, remembering one of the “LG” manufacturer’s commercials.

Richard came out of the bathroom, looking really “handsome and fresh” as always. She took his arm and they walked out of the hotel suite.

 The next chapter-Joshua- will be published not later than Thursday, 16 December 2010

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NUMBERS

Chapter 4 of the book-"NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS"

IV. Numbers

1 Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite. 2 “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses?” they asked. “Hasn’t he also spoken through us?” And the LORD heard this.

3 (Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.)

 4 At once the LORD said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, “Come out to the Tent of Meeting, all three of you.” So the three of them came out. 5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud; he stood at the entrance to the Tent and summoned Aaron and Miriam. When both of them stepped forward, 6 he said, “Listen to my words: When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. 7 But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. 8 With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”

9 The anger of the LORD burned against them, and he left them. 10 When the cloud lifted from above the Tent, there stood Miriam-leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her and saw that she had leprosy; 11 and he said to Moses, “Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. 12 Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother’s womb with its flesh half eaten away.” 13 So Moses cried out to the LORD, “O God, please heal her!” 14 The LORD replied to Moses, “If her father had spit in her face, would she not have been in disgrace for seven days? Confine her outside the camp for seven days; after that she can be brought back.” 15 So Miriam was confined outside the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on till she was brought back. Numbers: Chapter 12:1-15 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

1

It was the biggest farm in Swaziland. It employed more than three hundred people. Robert Lara was proud to be associated with this farm. Robert was the farm manager, a job he enjoyed immensely. On this particular day, he was admiring his apple crop. The apples were not quite ripe but it would not be long before farm workers would start picking up the apples and preparing the fruit for export.

He was standing beside his motor-bike at the far end of the farm. In order to make a good and proper inspection of the large farm, one needed a mechanised vehicle to move around it. A motor-bike was ideal as you could access most of the farming area through the numerous paths that ran across the fields. Who was it who had said, ‘Choose the job you love and you will never work one day in your life’ or something like that? Robert could not remember who had said those words but he was in total agreement with the quote. To him, his farm manager’s job was not “work.” He had always loved nature, being outdoors and he felt a “little guilty” being paid for what he loved doing and did not seem to be “work.”

Robert had been born in a small village about 150 miles from Kingston, the capital city of Jamaica. It was a farming area, largely involved with sugar-cane although some other crops were grown. He had ended up working and living in Swaziland “by accident really.” After graduating from the University of the West Indies, he was persuaded by his uncle to go to South Africa to pursue a post-graduate course at the University of Cape Town. His uncle was a cricket coach, working for one of the cricket clubs in the Western Cape province of South Africa.

On graduating from the University of Cape Town, rather than go back home to Jamaica, he had joined a large agro-industrial conglomerate in the Western Cape. The company had extensive agricultural investments around Southern Africa. This is the same company that owned the vast apple farm in Swaziland. Robert was asked to go and run the Swazi farm after he had been with the company for only eighteen months.

He had fallen in love with Swaziland the moment he sat foot in the country. No wonder that within two years of his stay in the country, he had found himself marrying a lovely Swazi girl. He thought of his beautiful wife and the fact that the three of them were going to fly to Jamaica the following week. “The three of them”, because he and his wife had been blessed with the arrival of a baby son ten months ago. His wife had been to Jamaica but the baby boy would be going to Robert’s home country for the first time.

Robert would have liked to closely supervise, the harvesting, packaging and export of this ripening apple crop but his superiors insisted he should take leave now as he had barely gone on leave in the past two years. He was not worried too much though, because he knew the farm would be in good hands. He had three very capable supervisors working under him and he was going to leave one of them in charge as Acting Farm Manager. He knew this job was going to fall on Themba Khumalo as he had proved to be the most capable of the three subordinates. The other two supervisors were Peter Dlamini and Sipho Dlamini. The two Dlaminis, although sharing the same surname, were not related, a common occurrence in Swaziland. Themba was the youngest of the three but the most capable. Robert resolved that it should be Themba’s responsibility to run the farm in his absence.

2

As the man in charge, Themba made the decision to start harvesting the apple crop after John had been gone for two weeks. He held a meeting with Peter and Sipho, the other two supervisors, and informed them of his decision. The meeting was held on a Friday and Themba instructed Peter and Sipho to start the harvesting process on the following Monday. Themba had considered the possibility that Peter and Sipho might resent the fact that he had been left in charge during Robert’s absence but he had also convinced himself that they were professional men who would cooperate with him despite any adverse feelings that they might have. Themba’s suspicion had been more than confirmed by some of the developments of the preceding two weeks. They were small things but he had noticed that whenever he gave an instruction to Peter or Sipho, neither would respond quickly. They would engage in such childish manoeuvres as deliberately arriving late at meetings called by Themba. They would not be so late as to affect the occurrence of the meetings but they made an effort to show that they did not accord Themba the same respect that they showed to Robert. These “little childish” actions by the two Dlaminis did not bother Themba as long as the work was being carried out.

3

Monday morning, Themba woke up much earlier than usual. He intended to make a quick inspection of the crop to assure himself that he had taken the right decision about starting the harvest on that day.

What he saw, as he took a quick tour of the farm on his motor-bike, satisfied him and he was convinced that he had made the right decision. The crop was ready for harvest. He rode back to his farm house and prepared a leisurely breakfast, thinking of the long day ahead. Once the harvesting process starts, everybody would be very busy. The picked crop would invariably have different grades and would be packed in boxes according to the various grades. Almost everything harvested was for export. The farm did not sell any apples locally, that is, there were no sales in Swaziland apart from a few boxes that were sold to people who visited the farm during the harvesting period. Traditionally, the Swazi Royal Family would also be given a reasonable quantity of the best crop of any harvest.

Themba was certain that by mid-morning, Peter and Sipho would have set all the planned processes for that day in motion. He went to the main office block where he started working on the mail and other paper work. There was a lot of paper work to be done and lunch time came and passed without Themba realising what time it was. At about 14:15 hours he decided to take a break and also find Peter and Sipho to find out how the big day had progressed so far. As Themba walked towards the staff canteen, he saw Peter and Sipho leaving the place together, obviously having sat together at lunch.

“Afternoon Gentlemen! How is it going so far?” Themba asked.

“How is what going?” was the response from Sipho.

“Why, the picking of the fruit and preparation of the grading sheds, of course,” replied Themba, surprised that his initial inquiry could have been mistaken for anything else other than what it was.

Sipho approached Themba and said, “You see Themba, this is what Peter and I have been discussing over lunch. We do not think the harvesting process should be started at this stage. We were actually coming to talk to you about it.”

Themba was immediately alarmed, “Why? Have you noticed something wrong? What is it? What’s wrong? We discussed the start date in the Friday meeting and I also made a quick inspection of the crop this morning. The crop is ready, what is this about not wanting to start today?”

They walked back to Themba’s office to discuss the issue further.

“Gentlemen, would you like to tell me what has changed since last Friday. If anything the crop is riper than it was on Friday,” said Themba.

“Well it’s not ready and we think we should wait another week before starting the harvest,” Sipho said. Themba thought he realised what was going on. These guys were just doing this to show him that they can also make decisions. They were feeling that they were also in charge. No doubt Sipho, or Peter for that matter, would have preferred to have been Acting Manager. But Themba felt that not only was his decision correct, but he was also the man in charge and the one to take the blame if operations did not go smoothly. Regardless of this, Themba decided to yield to the “bloated” egos of the two Dlaminis and wait another week. Maybe they would feel better after this and life on the farm could get back to normal.

4

A week later, when Themba was almost regretting that he had agreed to delay the start of the harvest by seven days, he saw through his office window, Sipho and Peter standing about a hundred yards away, seemingly engaged in some animated discussion. If they were coming to see him with some more delaying tactics, he had better be fully prepared for them, Themba thought to himself. Indeed Peter and Sipho were coming over to see him. As soon as Themba heard their mumbled “good mornings” and saw the look on their faces, he realised that he was going to have a bad day. His colleagues were wearing what Themba called “their fighting faces.” As usual, it was Sipho who attacked first.

“Themba, Peter and I have gone around the farm and we think the harvest should be delayed by, at least, another week.”

Themba was speechless! What were these guys playing at? In his opinion, they should not have postponed the harvest by a week as they had already done in the first place. Themba felt himself becoming “hot.” There was no way he was going to continue taking such nonsense. If they did not start picking the crop immediately, they were going to put that year’s harvest at tremendous risk. The work had to begin immediately.

“Gentlemen, I don’t know what this is all about but you are both up to no good. I am certain you know that the harvest should have started by now but for some reason you seem intent on sabotaging the work. I want you to start the harvest today without fail. Now if you will excuse me, I have a lot of other work to do.”

After Sipho and Peter had left, Themba started pacing around the small office, thinking. It was obvious that this was clear sabotage. These guys wanted him to fail. Well it was not going to happen. The fruit was going to be picked even if he had to carry out the work single-handedly!

Around mid-morning, Themba went out to the fields to see if something was going on. There was no activity resembling the harvesting that should have been going on. He sought out some of the farm workers to find out what sort of instructions they had been given. One old man told him that the workers had been told not to start picking the crop despite the fact that everyone could see that it was ready. When Themba asked who had given the “hold” instruction, he was told it was both Sipho and Peter. They would always be together when they talked to the workers.

Themba knew it was time to take some drastic steps. He could not appeal to Robert who was having his vacation in Jamaica. He also thought it would not be right to disturb Robert at that stage. But what was he going to do? There was no work going on at the farm at a very crucial time. He went back to his office and tried to look at his options. After failing to come up with something concrete, he finally settled on calling Robert in Jamaica. The call went through without any problems. It was just after 11.00 a.m. in Swaziland, which meant that it was about 4 a.m. in Jamaica.

Robert, of course, knew that something was wrong when he heard Themba’s voice. Robert agreed that there was no time to waste and there was need for some drastic action. He instructed Themba to call the regional Chief Operating Officer (COO) in Cape Town and apprise him of the developing situation. He, Robert, was also going to try to get hold of the Cape Town office and ensure that something was going to be done.

To Themba’s surprise, the COO from regional head office in Cape Town did not seem to be unduly alarmed. He seemed to understand what was going on and he assured Themba that he was going to fly to Swaziland on the company jet that afternoon. The COO’s private assistant would advise Themba later on during the day, the time that the plane would arrive at Matsapa airport where Themba should meet the jet when it arrives.

5

Some Dlaminis in Swaziland are genuinely members of the Royal Family in one form or the other. There are, however, a lot of Swazis with the name Dlamini but who do not have a connection with the Royal Family or cannot easily trace their link to the Royal Family. Peter and Sipho Dlamini belonged to the second group but they wanted people to consider them as being “of royal stock.” As indicated earlier, the two were not even related to each other.

This desire and belief, of somehow being part of the extended Royal Family, led Peter and Sipho to look down upon lesser beings like their supervisor colleague Themba Khumalo. It was one of the reasons why they thought that Themba should not have been left in charge at the farm.

When Peter and Sipho saw Themba driving out of the farm that Monday afternoon, they correctly assumed he was going to meet somebody from Head Office who was going to help him sort out his problem at the farm. The two Dlaminis had anticipated this when they planned their revolt against Themba. They had their story ready and were sure that they were going to crucify Themba at long last. Their plan was simple. They were going to tell whoever was coming from Head Office that Themba had refused to start the harvest “despite the fact that his colleagues, Peter and Sipho, being ‘well experienced and knowledgeable farm workers,’ had advised him that the crop was ready for harvest. They would say that they think he was only doing this to discredit his colleagues and “engineer” their expulsion from the farm. The boss from Head Office was sure to believe the Dlaminis’ story against whatever that “upstart” Themba was going to say to defend himself.

When Themba drove back to the farm after picking up the COO from Matsapa airport, a meeting of the three farm supervisors with the COO was quickly convened. The COO had, of course, been given a briefing by Themba on their drive from the airport. He was now ready to hear Peter and Sipho’s side of the story. As they had planned, Peter and Sipho placed the blame on the unfortunate developments at Themba’s feet.

Themba on the other hand, proved why he had been left in charge at the farm in the first place. He took out his cell phone and started playing back the discussions of his meeting with his colleagues, at which both Peter and Sipho had argued that the crop was not ready for harvest. As the recording played out, Themba actually felt sorry for his two colleagues, who for some inexplicable reason, had decided to “hang themselves.”

The faces of the two Dlaminis clearly showed that they fully understood that their days at the farm were over.

The next chapter-Deuteronomy- will be published not later than Thursday, 9 December 2010.

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