1 CHRONICLES

Chapter 13 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

XIII. 1 Chronicles

16 23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.

24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples.

25 For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods.

26 For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

27 Splendour and majesty are before him; strength and joy in his dwelling place.

28 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength, 29 ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the LORD in the splendour of his holiness.

30 Tremble before him, all the earth! The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!”

32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.

34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

1 Chronicles: Chapter 16:23-34 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 7-Judges-where we left our main character, Peter, listening to his uncle who had brought a “ground-shattering-story” about the health of the country’s President. The President was, supposedly, dying from a rare STD (sexually transmitted disease) and Peter’s uncle wanted Peter to consider publishing the rumours on his blog-“The Gossip Column”.

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Peter was in a dilemma. After listening to his uncle, and knowing what his uncle wanted him to do, he, himself, did not know what he should do. Clearly, this was an explosive story and it had the potential to make him famous. But he could also end up in deep trouble for spreading rumours that he could not substantiate. It was also possible that his uncle, despite his urgings, could end up in trouble as well. His opposition to the present Government was well-known and it would not take rocket science to surmise that he had something to do with the story. What was Peter going to do?

Peter decided to take a long walk, and ponder his tribulations. He had read somewhere, and it had worked for him in the past, that long walks can assist in energising the creative part of the brain and one could find solutions to problems during or after a really long walk. He walked for more than 10 kilometres but when he finally returned home, he still had not found a way out of his dilemma. To publish or not to publish, was the question.

On going to bed that night, he could not fall asleep. Normally, he slept quite easily but tonight his body and mind decided to rebel. He eventually fell asleep at dawn, but for just a short while, as he soon awoke drenched in sweat caused by a nasty nightmare. In the short time that he was asleep, he dreamt that he was back in jail. And this jail in his nightmare was like the overcrowded prison in which he had been first incarcerated. His uncle had really put him in a fix this time.

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After taking a long, cold shower, Peter decided that he would seek out his uncle and just tell him that he was not going to publish the story. The risk was just too great!

He found his uncle reading a South African newspaper that had been delivered to the house that morning.

“Morning, Peter,” his uncle greeted him, “Looks like you were too late with publishing your story. Just come and look at this. The story I told you about the “Big Man” has made the front page of this paper.”

Peter hurried to his uncle’s side and sure enough, there it was in black and white. The paper alleged that it had it on good authority that “the President of Peter’s country was dying from a rare disease associated with his much publicised ‘huge sexual appetite’.” Peter just about managed to hide his relief and the thought that he would now not have to publish this story. The story was already out and, therefore, had lost its value to Peter’s “Gossip Column.” Boy was he glad that his problem had resolved itself in this way?

“Well, uncle, this is just too bad. This story was going to make me famous”, Peter pretended disappointment.

“Yes, you are right Peter but I still think I might find a way of using this whole fiasco to bring down this despicable Government,” Peter’s uncle mused. Peter, on his part, was just elated that he did not have to use the story anymore.

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It was, therefore, with much surprise that Peter received an invitation to a Hotel meeting with a representative from the South African newspaper that had published the story about the “Big Man’s” sickness. The invitation, which had also come via his well-connected uncle, had not shed any light as to the purpose of the meeting. Peter’s uncle also did not have much to say, except that Peter needed to be “nice” to such influential people.

At the meeting Peter, was pleasantly surprised that the South African paper was offering a substantial amount of money to take over his blog, “The Gossip Column.” The offer also included an invitation for Peter to continue writing on the Blog on a contract basis but now with his base moving to Johannesburg.

Peter wanted to know why the paper was prepared to pay such a large amount of money for his Blog. The paper’s representative explained that the newspaper had decided to find a channel for news that could not be quickly or easily substantiated and Peter’s “Gossip Column” seemed to fit in quite nicely with what they wanted to do.

The offer was so attractive that Peter had no choice but to accept. It was agreed that the paper 

would fly him to Johannesburg in the following week to finalise details of the acquisition.

The next chapter-2 Chronicles- will be published not later than Sunday, 6 March, 2011

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2 KINGS

Chapter 12 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

XII. 2 Kings

4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”

2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”

“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”

3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”

5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”

But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.

7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 2 Kings: Chapter 4:1-7 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 6-Joshua-where we left our main character, Dwayne Smith, feeling very happy because he had been given a “second chance” through securing a job at the Lord Westbury Restaurant, situated in Clapham, London, England.

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Dwayne was happy. He considered himself extremely lucky to be where he was right now. He had been working at the Lord Westbury for the past eighteen months. The job was great because of a whole lot of factors. The Boss, Mr. Rawlings, was a great guy and so was Sam, the Head Waiter, his immediate supervisor. Most of the patrons were very generous with their tips and there were actually some weeks when Dwayne made more in tips than he was paid in wages. Extra-ordinary!

Today, Monday, was his day off. He was reflecting on these aspects about his job whilst sitting in one of the seats in an “under-ground train”, commonly referred to as the “Tube”. He was on his way to Shepherd’s Bush where he wanted to look for a suit at the flea market. His thoughts kept on coming back to his job and all the wonderful things associated with it. During the last three weeks, there had been one particular couple who came to the restaurant twice a week and who were now insisting on being served by Dwayne at all times. Dwayne did not know why this couple always insisted that he “waits” at their table. Dwayne considered himself no better than any other waiter at the restaurant. In fact, some of the waiters were much more experienced than he was and Dwayne thought that these more experienced waiters probably performed better than he did.

For some reason, however, this one couple seemed to just prefer to be served by Dwayne. Prefer was probably not the right word, this couple actually insisted on it. Dwayne himself was a bit embarrassed by this state of affairs, especially the fact that the couple would also tip him quite heavily. Dwayne suspected that the woman was the one who insisted on having him at their table. She was much younger than her husband. At a guess, Dwayne thought she could be in her early thirties whilst the husband was clearly past sixty. It was an odd couple in that respect. Just the other day, this couple had given Dwayne a tip which was more than fifty percent of the total cost of their dinner.

Strangely enough, the other waiters did not seem to be jealous at all. They actually seemed to be quite happy for Dwayne.

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When Dwayne disembarked at Shepherd’s Bush, he headed straight for the flea market. He knew exactly the shopping stall he was going to check out because he had visited the place the week before. His intention was to quickly pick up the suit that he wanted and then go on to Piccadilly Circus to watch a movie before going back home.

When he arrived at the stall from which he was to buy the suit, he was surprised to see “the generous lady” from the restaurant standing nearby, talking to an old lady who owned the stall adjacent to the one Dwayne was going to.

“Why, isn’t this my favourite waiter in the whole of London town? Hello, Dwayne,” she quickly said when she saw him.

“Hi, Mrs. Harper. Fancy seeing you here! Really, what are you doing here, Mrs. Harper?” Dwayne responded.

“Probably the same thing that you are doing here, shopping,” she said. “Oh, come now, Mrs. Harper. You don’t expect me to believe that you do your shopping from Shepherd’s Bush? The last time I heard, Harrods was still in full operation,” Dwayne said jokingly.

“Of course, I don’t buy clothes from this place but you will be surprised at some of the treasures you can find from a place like this. The other day, at the Liverpool Street Flea Market, I found a Chinese vase which I am sure must be five hundred years old,” said Mrs. Harper. “And Dwayne, before you run away, I want to “propose to you”, well not propose but I do have an offer I want you to consider. Get whatever you want to get and walk with me back to the car,” continued Mrs. Harper.

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As he selected the suit that he wanted, Dwayne was at a loss as to what Mrs. Harper might want from him. What on earth could they talk about? He quickly paid for his purchase and indicated to Mrs. Harper that he was ready whenever she was finished.

She led the way to her Rolls Royce, where her driver was waiting. When they reached the car, she got right to the point. “Ricky here is retiring at the end of the month, and we have not had any luck in finding a replacement,” she said.

Dwayne breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, ‘This is all she wanted. She wants to know if I know a driver who might be looking for work.’ Dwayne then quickly said, “Well, Mrs. Harper, unfortunately I don’t know anybody to recommend and I am also surprised that you have not been able to find somebody soon enough. I would have thought a lot of drivers would kill to get a job like this.”

“Well, what about you Dwayne. Don’t you want to take the job?”

“Oh no! No! Mrs. Harper. Not me, I have a job and besides I do not think that I would be a good driver. For one thing, I hardly know the City of London.”

“Oh, Dwayne, who needs to know London when there is GPS? Think about the offer seriously before you turn it down,” said Mrs. Harper.

Dwayne did not think he had to give the offer any serious consideration. Even if he was interested in the job, he would not take it because he owed that much to Mr. Rawlings, the restaurant owner. He felt he owed his life to Mr. Rawlings who had given him a “second chance.” How would it appear if he were to go to him to say he was leaving after being with the restaurant for only eighteen months? No, there was nothing to consider.

But Dwayne did not want to seem to be “ungrateful” for the kind offer and he promised to think about it and advise the next day if she could give him her phone number. Of course, he had no intention of taking the job but it seemed to be the right thing to say. Mrs. Harper drove off with “her-soon-to-retire-driver,” leaving Dwayne to stand starring at the big departing Rolls.

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When Dwayne arrived at work the next morning, he was advised that Mr. Rawlings wanted to see him. His first thought on hearing this, was, what had he done wrong? He had been extra-careful to please and perform beyond the call of duty. Why does Mr. Rawlings want to see him? Hopefully, it will be for something nice. Dwayne was sure that he had not done anything wrong.

Dwayne went up the stairs to Mr. Rawlings’ office. There was an elevator which went to his floor but all the workers at the restaurant used the stairs when going to see Mr. Rawlings. It was as if there was an unwritten rule which stated that the elevator was exclusively for the Boss’s use. Dwayne was certain nobody at the restaurant wanted the Boss to wait for the lift if ever he wanted to use it.

Mr. Rawlings was his usual exuberant self when he saw Dwayne, “Come in. Come in Dwayne and take a sit. It seems Mrs. Harper has taken a liking to you. I think you should take the job. Of course, it’s up to you but I think it would be a good move for you as long as she keeps her hands off you, ha..ha.ha..”, Rawlings laughed.

Dwayne was speechless. He remained standing having been rendered both speechless and motionless. “Yes, I know about Mrs. Harper’s job offer. In fact, I recommended you, myself. Take the job Dwayne. You see, James Harper is actually my partner. He just doesn’t want the staff to know that he owns a piece of the restaurant because he wants to find out for himself how ordinary customers are treated by the staff,” continued Rawlings.

“Dwayne, all you need to worry about is that she remains a good girl and does not molest you..ha..ha..ha. She does have a reputation, you know!”

The next chapter-1 Chronicles- will be published not later than Monday, 21 February, 2011

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1 KINGS

Chapter 11 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

XI. 1 Kings

5 At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

7 “Now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

10 The LORD was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honour-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke-and he realised it had been a dream.

He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the LORD’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offering. Then he gave a feast for all his court.

16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son-and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

26 The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.  1 Kings: Chapter 3:5-28 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 5-Deuteronomy-where we left Chipo Rawlings and her husband, Richard at the Pamodzi Hotel in Lusaka, Zambia. Chipo and Richard had just attended the wedding of their son, Nhamo, who had married a Zambian girl.

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Tambudzai, Chipo’s daughter and, of course, Nhamo’s sister, lay in a hospital bed in Johannesburg, South Africa. She was in labour, with the baby being expected to “arrive” any minute. It had been a difficult pregnancy and Tambudzai prayed, for the thousandth time, that the baby would come into the world smoothly. Although, she had heard all the “horror” stories about the pain of giving birth, she also prayed that God would see it in His wisdom to allow her to experience a natural birth. She preferred the “natural way” as opposed to the Caesarean operation. She could not understand why any woman should prefer it otherwise, despite the pain associated with natural birth.

Right now, she was not in pain but she knew it was going to come back within a few moments. She told herself that everything was going to move smoothly and she was going to be out of the hospital in no time. She was pleased with the fact that her mother and step-father had come to Johannesburg to welcome the baby. Richard, her step-father, had really been good for her mother. In all her life, she could not remember a time when her mother had been so happy. These days she was full of life, always exuberant and infecting everybody around her with her new found happiness.

Tambudzai regretted not having been able to attend her brother’s wedding. She vowed to make it up to him somehow although she had had no choice but to follow doctor’s orders and stay away. She hoped that Nhamo would be happy in his marriage as she was in hers and indeed, as their mother was in her new marriage to Richard.

Tambudzai and her husband had not yet come up with a name for their “yet-to-be-born-child”. No doubt there was going to be a lot of suggestions from well-wishers. In her mind, she began to play around with some Shona (her mother tongue) and Zulu (the husband’s language) names. As she did this, she drifted off to sleep.

  

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Tambudzai was dreaming. And the following is an outline of her dream:-

“This was like nothing she had seen before. It was like what she had imagined the “Second Coming of the Messiah” would be like. There were people everywhere. From her vantage point on the twelfth floor of her employers’ Head Office Building in Cape Town, she could see that the type of reception the Great Man was receiving was out of this world. There were people everywhere!

Most of the people where on the street, surging forward, threatening to break down the police barriers. There were people now climbing on top of parked cars in a bid to get a good view. In nearby buildings, people were “hanging” out of their windows. The majority of the people were blacks and Indians but there were some white people as well. Tambudzai had never seen anything like it in her ‘twenty-something’ years on earth. Yes, the only thing she could relate to was her “imagined Second Coming.”

There was also something like a magnetic force coming from the street. Tambudzai felt an almost irresistible desire to rush down to the street and join the multitude. But she knew that she was not expected to leave her office unattended. A small voice, from deep inside her, told her that nobody was going to mind if she did actually go down into the street to join the multitude. Her boss, who happened to be white, came to join her at the window. He was also fascinated by what was going on in the street below.

Tambudzai’s boss found himself saying almost to himself, “You know Tambu; I grew up being told that this man was a terrorist. I was told that this man, who is causing all of this adulation downstairs, was a dangerous terrorist who needed to be kept locked up in jail. But recent developments do not support this view. My uncle, a Special Forces officer, was tasked to liaise closely with the VIP Protection Unit as the Government had not wanted anything to happen to this man during critical secret negotiations. What he had heard was that every negotiator on the Government’s side had been highly impressed by the sayings and actions of this so called “dangerous terrorist.” Some even went on to say that he was the sort of man you would want to call “Your Majesty” before knowing whether he was a king or not. My uncle had heard that this was the sort of effect that this man had had on his former captors”, Tambudzai’s boss continued talking softly, all the time looking down at the historical event unfolding down in the street below.

The day of these historical developments had been Sunday 11 February 1990. The Great Man was Nelson Mandela on his release from prison.

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When Tambudzai woke up, she did not know why she had had this dream. The dream had faithfully followed the actual events that she had witnessed herself that day, 11 February 1990. Suddenly, she thought she knew what she was going to call their “son”. From the numerous scans that she had had, Tambudzai knew she was going to give birth to a baby boy. She would, of course, discuss this with her husband but for now she thought the baby’s name should be Nelson, after the Great Man himself.

The next chapter-2 Kings- will be published not later than Monday, 7 February, 2011

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2 SAMUEL

Chapter 10 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

X. 2 Samuel

1 In the course of time, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

2 Amnon became frustrated to the point of illness on account of his sister Tamar, for she was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

3 Now Amnon had a friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very shrewd man. 4 He asked Amnon, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?”

Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

5 “Go to bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it from her hand.’”

6 So Amnon lay down and pretended to be ill. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

7 David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 8 So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 9 Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat.

“Send everyone out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 11 But when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”

12 “Don’t, my brother!” she said to him. “Don’t force me. Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked thing. 13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my disgrace? And what about you? You would be like one of the wicked fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not keep me from being married to you.” 14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he raped her.

15 Then Amnon hated her with intense hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.”

But he refused to listen to her. 17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of here and bolt the door after her.” 18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing a richly ornamented robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornamented robe she was wearing. She put her hand on her head and went away, weeping aloud as she went.

20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with you? Be quiet now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar lived in her brother Absalom’s house, a desolate woman.

21 When King David heard all this, he was furious. 22 Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar. 2 Samuel: Chapter 13:1-22 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 4-Numbers-where we left the two Dlamini farm supervisors realising that they had made a terrible mistake which was going to cost them their jobs.

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There she was again. It was, as usual, just before 05:30 in the morning and she had started her jog around the farm. Sipho had first noticed her about five or six days ago. Since the first time he had seen her in her jogging outfit, he could not get her out of his mind. Sipho knew that his fascination with this girl was slowly developing into a dangerous obsession.  He, however, could not help himself.

According to Sipho, this girl had come out of those “fancy fashion magazines” and somehow made an appearance at the farm. As Sipho looked at her now as she increased her jogging pace, his focus was on “those bouncing breasts”. The breasts were, of course, not exposed in any way but in Sipho’s obsessed mind, he could clearly “see naked flesh” in such detail as to imagine the actual shade of the girl’s nipples.

The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old. Sipho, who was in his early forties, was old enough to be her father. This fact did not stop him from imagining all sorts of possibilities. The girl was now getting out of view as she jogged towards the far end of the farm. If she continued to follow the path around the orange orchards and cut across the farm in an easterly direction, she would end up also going past the apple trees and could easily cover a round trip of over 10 kilometres.

Although the girl was now completely out of sight, Sipho continued to see her clearly in his mind, imagining each “bouncy step” she was taking. Last night, Sipho had surprised his wife with the intensity of his love-making because he had not shown such great ardour for a very long time. The wife, of course, was not aware that her husband was actually imagining making love to some young girl he had seen jogging earlier that day. “How can I make my dream come true?” Sipho wondered in his thoughts.

From his knowledge of the farm, Sipho suspected he knew the actual route that the girl was taking during her morning jog. He was convinced that “if something were to happen to the girl” when she was at the far end of the farm, nobody would hear her. A crazy idea was beginning to form in Sipho’s mind. What if he woke up early and waited for the girl to come along when she reached the far end of the route? Maybe the girl was actually “looking for some action”; one could never know these days with some of these teenagers. But if Sipho were to way lay her and the incident were to turn nasty, then Sipho could be in deep trouble. By now, he knew that the girl’s name was Nokutula and she was the farm manager, Themba Khumalo’s sister. She had come to the farm to visit with her brother during the school holidays.

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Themba Khumalo was now the new farm manager. When Robert Lara had come back from Jamaica, he had, almost immediately, been transferred to the company head office in Cape Town, South Africa. Although the move was a big promotion, Robert had not been entirely happy because he did not like the idea of leaving Swaziland. In the end, it was his wife who had urged him to accept the move by pointing out that they could always have time to visit Swaziland. After all Swaziland was not as far away from Cape Town as was Robert’s original home near Kingston, Jamaica. Lara’s wife was herself thrilled about the move. She had always imagined living outside Swaziland and Cape Town sounded like a perfect place.

Robert’s promotion was also good news to Themba because he took Lara’s place and became the new farm manager. Sipho and Peter Dlamini were still at the farm despite having committed an offence that would have cost anybody their job under different circumstances. It was actually Themba, the intended victim of the Dlaminis’ devious scheme, who had saved the two Dlaminis. Despite what they had done, Themba had managed to persuade the company not to fire the two men, but to just demote them whilst still retaining them at the farm. Peter and Sipho were now tractor drivers at the farm, having been demoted from their positions as supervisors.

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Sipho was still very close to Peter. It was no surprise, therefore, that he confided in him about his fascination with Nokutula, Themba’s young sister. Sipho had half expected Peter to admonish him for his thoughts but true to form, Peter thought Sipho should do something to satisfy his “lust”. In fact, Peter told Sipho that he was sure the girl “was looking for action”. Peter recounted an incident that had happened to him the other day when he had come across Nokutula soon after she had returned from her jog. Peter was convinced that the girl had winked at him and also “wiggled her behind” as she went past.

Sipho did not need much persuasion to accept this information from his trusted friend as “gospel”. He told Peter that the following day he was going to wait for the girl along her jogging route and find out “if she was ready to play”.

 “Sipho, I tell you my friend that you will be surprised that this girl is the one that is going to attack you. Maybe you should ask me to come along for your own protection!” Peter joked. On hearing this, Sipho could hardly wait for the next day to come.

The next chapter-1 Kings- will be published not later than Thursday, 27 January, 2011

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1 SAMUEL

Chapter 9 of the book-“NON-CONTRADICTORY CONTRADICTIONS”

IX. 1 Samuel

1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”

2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me.”

The LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate.”

4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”

7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The LORD has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The LORD has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”

13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah. 1 Samuel: Chapter 16:1-13 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)

1

Surely, this could not be happening to her. This is a nightmare! Any moment now she is going to wake up and find out that it was just a dream. But it was not a dream. He had sprung from the sofa on which he had been sitting and suddenly, held her tight from behind. Almost in the same motion, his hands were fondling her breasts and his groin was pressing against her from behind. She could actually feel his erect member pressing against her buttocks. Surely, this could not be happening to her!

At first, she was still, the shock of the attack having rendered her motionless and speechless. This inaction on her part must have given him some encouragement because he hoarsely whispered into her ear, “Mama, I have been waiting to do this for a long time.” On hearing this, she was galvanised into action and let out a scream of “Noooooo!”

She began to struggle. He was a strong man and he held her tightly, his hands firmly holding her breasts. Unfortunately for her, she was not wearing a bra underneath her flimsy blouse as she would only normally, properly dress up for the day after completing her “morning-house-cleaning-chores.” She also had not put on a “real” skirt but had just wrapped the traditional piece of African cloth around the lower half of her body. This was, of course, her normal way of dressing early in the morning up until the time she finishes cleaning the house when she would then take a shower and get properly dressed up for the day. She would also not usually have visitors that early in the day, but he had arrived just after 7 a.m. and she had had no option but to let him into the house.

She kept on struggling but he held her firmly. Then, he forcefully tore off the buttons from her blouse and her breasts were now exposed and he was fondling them. He was breathing heavily into the back of her neck and dragging her to the sofa on which he had been sitting. She continued to struggle and in the process her “improvised skirt” became loose and fell down to the carpet. She was now almost completely naked, with the only pieces of clothing on her being her panties and the torn blouse. She tried to wriggle out of his grip using all the strength she could master but he was just too strong for her. He tried to push her down onto the sofa but she resisted strongly and they both fell down onto the carpet. For him, the carpet was just as good as the sofa for what he intended to do.

He pulled back both her hands, forcing her face downwards onto the carpet. He was now on top of her while she lay on her stomach, still struggling but not managing to get free. Amazingly, he now managed to hold both her hands behind her back using only his left hand. The free right hand then went down to her panties and with one massive tug, he tore the flimsy material off her. From his movements, she could tell without seeing that any moment now, if she failed to get free, she was going to be raped. She felt his strong hand go between her thighs, forcing them apart. She screamed but some of the sound of her scream became muffled as her mouth was pushed into the lush carpet. His knee had now managed to go in between her thighs and he let go of her hands as he used both his hands to raise her slightly by the waist from the carpet as he prepared to enter her from behind. She tried to crawl away but he pulled her back towards him and with one mighty thrust, forcibly entered her from behind. With that penetration, she screamed, feeling both excruciating physical pain and extreme emotional betrayal.

2

Mrs. Martha Matombo always looked forward to the weekend with pleasure. Every Saturday, she spent the afternoon at church practising with other members of the church choir, preparing for the  following day’s Sunday service. She was forty eight years old but she looked like someone in her thirties because she was blessed with a good body which she took great care of. She had two grown up daughters. The elder of the two children, Elizabeth, was thirty years old. Martha had married when she was only seventeen years of age and Liz had been born a year after her marriage. Unlike her mother, who had married at an early age, Elizabeth (or Liz as she was normally called) was still single at thirty. Martha sometimes blamed herself for this because she had always told Liz not to rush into marriage as she herself had done. But now Martha thought going beyond thirty without getting married was probably putting it off a little bit too far.

The younger daughter, however, was already married at twenty six and living with her husband in Cape Town, South Africa. Elizabeth was still staying with her parents in a middle class suburb called Marlborough in Harare, the capital city of Zimbabwe. Liz had a job in the city at one of the big commercial banks. Today, Saturday, Liz was at home and Martha, as she always did, tried to convince Liz to accompany her to church where she was about to go for choir practice. As always, Liz turned her down, repeating what she usually said to her mother, that being part of the choir was not for her.

As Martha walked the short distance to the church, she thought about the other reason why she kept asking her daughter to join the choir. There was a particular young man of about Liz’s age in the choir whom Martha regarded very highly and always thought of as “the son that she never had.” His name was David and he always carried himself very well and was adored by everyone in the choir. He had a very deep voice and sang bass in a manner that brought tears to some members of the congregation. “If only I could find a way of getting Liz and David interested in each other,” she thought for the hundredth time.

When Martha arrived at the church, David was the only member of the choir who was there before her. As always, he greeted her enthusiastically but also with great politeness. He also mentioned that he was turning thirty the following Saturday and he was inviting all the members of the choir to a party at his apartment in town, after choir practice. The invitees were also free to bring anybody they liked to the party as David really wanted it to be a big event.

David was also a very successful businessman who had grown the chain of shops he had inherited from his father into an enviable enterprise. How he had managed to stay single with all that wealth, Martha had no idea. Martha resolved to drag her daughter, Liz to David’s party the following weekend. She was determined to work on Liz throughout the week to ensure that she would agree to attend the party.

3

To Martha’s amazement and  joy, not only did Liz agree to come to David’s party, she also accompanied her mother to choir practice on that Saturday afternoon. At the end of choir practice, David gave a lift to Martha, Liz and two other members of the choir who also did not have their own cars but were coming to the party. It turned out to be a wonderful party  and quite boisterous, although, of course, no alcohol was served.

After the party, David actually offered to drive Martha and Liz back to their home in Marlborough. They accepted the offer and when he was dropping them off, David indicated that he would love to take Liz to a movie sometime if she was interested. The invitation for a date was made in front of Martha and she almost leaped up in joy, thinking that at last, her daughter and David might start “seeing each other.” As it turned out, her prayers were answered as the first movie led to the beginning of a true romance between David and Liz.

After going out for six months, David and Liz were engaged to be married. Martha was filled full of joy and she could not wait to start planning the wedding. So when David came to the house at about 7 a.m. that fateful morning, after Liz and her father had gone off to work, Martha had, of course, let him into the house without a second thought.

It was then, a great shock when “David turned into a monster and attacked her”.

The next chapter-2 Samuel- will be published not later than Tuesday, 18 January, 2011

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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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