AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSE

Tenele skipped to her kitchen from her bed to make some pancakes before she left for the party her friends coerced her into attending. She would’ve loved to cuddle up under her blankets and finish off reading The Inside Out Man, by Fred Strydom. The tension and mystery were at a climax where her bookmark sat, but she'd placed the book in her shoe closet so she’d be ready by the time her friends got to her flat.

She was still getting used to living on her own and being responsible for bills that needed settling, food that had to be purchased and insects on the walls that she just couldn’t share her house with.

“You can live on the wall, outside though!” she’d screamed at the lizard she tossed out of her kitchen window a few days ago.

The house was growing on her, and if her walls could tell on her, they’d reveal her conversations with her Savior whom she could not stop thanking for giving her the opportunity to be a responsible adult. She opened the cupboard above the stove and drew out her pancake mix to prepare her light breakfast. She’d taught herself that it was rude to show up somewhere, from your house, with an empty stomach. She always imagined the possibility of there being a moment of silence, and there goes your empty stomach, croaking like a livid frog amidst the silence.

“Also, lactose intolerance is a very limiting factor when you’re a guest somewhere. Right Jesus. If I have the cheese sandwich, I might as well leave that event. But Jesus, can’t I proclaim your blood over lactose intolerance and be healed? Or is this a thorn you’ll leave in me?”

Tenele rolled her eyes at that possibility.

“I don’t like thorns. But I’ll endure it if You want me to”, she contended as she poured some of the pancake mix in the heated pan on her stove.

While the pancake formed in the wide, black pan, Tenele spotted a black cat sprinting across her flower garden from the kitchen window. Immediately, she closed her eyes to pray against any potential evil lingering around and placed her hand over her chest, to quiet her racing heart.

She made herself a weak cup of rooibos tea to neutralize the sweetness of the pancakes, and enjoyed her breakfast sitting at her kitchen island – staring at the butter yellow wall that surrounded the small kitchen. Having finished her meal, Tenele headed to her blue-walled bathroom to shower.

She grabbed her toothbrush from the cup which held it with her toothpaste while assessing her face in the mirror. She made faces to herself and raised her hands to imitate a superhero, then her right hand landed hard against the round mirror hanging above the sink. A small piece of the mirror fell onto the bathroom mat beneath her feet and Tenele jumped, avoiding it landing on or in her feet.

“OOOOOOOOOOOUCH! What the hell?!”

Tenele’s hand felt numb and then overheated within two seconds and she didn’t know whether to squeeze the pain away or hold her hand up for a while. The blood slowly oozed from the open cut right below her knuckles. Her brown skin in the area was turning red as Tenele watched helplessly, restricting her mouth from uttering all the cusses she had in mind.

She thought of the black cat as she lowered her hand and braced for the pain before opening the tap for the water to run over her wound.

“Stupid cat! Where’s my first-aid kit?”

She lowered her body, bending her knees to retrieve the long, red tin box that held her aid equipment.

Tenele stretched out her legs to sit on the mat she’d been kneeling on.

The sound of the tin box made her shoulders jump when she opened it to start working on her hand.

“Why am I so jumpy? Jeez!”

She let a generous amount of spirit spill over the cotton ball in her left hand then closed her eyes while placing it over the wound.

“Ssssssssssssss! OOW!”

She felt her eyes tearing up but made sure she shed no tears.

“This is a good excuse not to go to this party. Maybe it’s a warning.”

She pondered that possibility.

“Wait…” she thought out loud as she reached for the band aid she would now wrap around her hand.

“Is that how God warns people? Lord, is this You or that stupid black cat I saw outside?”

She sat for over a minute, waiting for the sting to die down some, and then rose to grab her phone from her room. It was worth telling that she’d seen a black cat and now her hand was cut. Her friends would understand…surely.

She walked back to her room, overly conscious of her hand as she reached for her phone with the other. She found two text messages from Litsemba and Velekhaya, both saying they were on their way. Tenele chuckled at that, knowing they were intentionally bombarding her with text messages separately yet they were together.

Tenele sighed and whispered a help me Jesus, as she thought of how to get out of the now inconvenient party when she heard Him.

“Why are you praying to me about a black cat?”

Tenele folded her lips into her mouth and stood still.

“Do you believe in me or superstitions?”

Tenele remained silent.

“My word is above all else. Don’t match it with the world. You have believed what you believed before, but now you have taken up My yoke. So, believe in Me and nothing else. Trust in Me and no one else. Let Me be the only law you live by. My children fear no man and no superstitious tales. Have I not created all that breathes? Am I not the One who created the same cat you fear? And have I not given you dominion over it? Hold fast to my word. I am God.”

Tenele lowered herself to land on her bed, and let the silence linger.

Her friends drove into her building driveway and made their way to her door. Velekhaya had the spare key so when Tenele didn’t answer, she reasoned that letting themselves in was justified. They stepped in with giggles and walked passed her kitchen, spotting her dirty dishes in the sink and calling out to her.

“Oh, my goodness, Li! There’s blood in the bathroom. Tene- “

“She’s in here. Relax. Hey mama. What happened? You okay?” Litsemba embraced her friend while cautious not to touch the hand she’d seen was injured.

“I hit the mirror while I was about to brush my teeth. Guys, I just heard from God. Like literally. Just now. And it’s not one of my crazy imagined thingies. He just told me to get over some stupid superstition I had just prayed against. Can we cancel the party? I want to stay now. And cry and pray”, Tenele told her friends.

“Wow. I think He meant to talk to me too on that one. Before picking Velekhaya, I had an incident with my razor and blamed the chipped cup I drank from earlier. Something about that bringing bad luck to us and poverty”, Litsemba laughed at herself as she confessed.

“I think we can cancel. I have some questions now, but we need to get you to a hospital or clinic so they help you. See if you need stitches also”, Velekhaya suggested.

The three girls huddled up together, in awe.

“Okay, please brush your teeth and shower first though. I love you but the nurses will not appreciate your uncleanliness. We’ll wait for you”, Litsemba teased as they laughed and helped their injured friend to her feet.