We live at the bottom of a hill near Cape Algulhas, the southernmost tip of Africa. People think that the Cape Peninsula is closer to the South Pole, but if you take a ruler and lay it on the map, you will see the truth. I’ll tell you something, in this quiet place facing south, strange things can happen.

My mother calls herself a missionary, even though we live only two hours from the city. She is crazy about Jesus. She broke our lounge open and added on some zinc and now you could say I watch TV in a church every other day. But on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday my mother unpacks her high pile of plastic chairs and fills a huge, hot tank for tea. People come to sing and hear my mother say, “To get ready for heaven we must keep our minds clean. We must let Jesus rinse our thoughts of hate away.” It’s like the people come here to put their minds through my mother’s washing machine.

I agree with my mother, even though I’m sixteen and probably shouldn’t. I agree that if we think good things it keeps our hearts soft and, not only that, it’s probably good for our skin. Ha ha, that’s just a joke, but the people who come to our church always leave here glowing like my mother has painted them golden.

My father is also a Christian, but he is much, much quieter about it than my mother. When he lived at home he used to make me tomato bredie with cabbage in it after school. He used to sing, ‘Cabbage, cabbage, how I love cabbage,’ like my mother sings about Jesus. I’m not being funny, but I think my father might be closer to Jesus than anyone. I mean, he’s not healing the sick or making the blind see, but when he smiles he blesses you. Even the old lady with her swollen lips and her old coat clanking with bottles who begs every day for fifty cents can feel it. When my father says, “Sis Margaret, if I give you some bread, are you going to use it for meth?” she always laughs like she is forgiven.

Now my father’s a night watchman for the huge Mr Price warehouses in the city. He stays away all week because it’s too far to travel home and get some sleep before the night comes. But it’s Friday night, so he’ll be home by midnight to be with us on the weekend.

Yippee.

***

Tell us: Do you think that Nolu is right when she says ‘if we think good things it keeps our hearts soft?’ What do you think she means?