An hour later Scelo and Mr Msomi are in the lounge, watching soccer highlights, when Zinhle arrives and buzzes the intercom. Scelo watches the intercom screen as his aunt and a man he has never seen before approach the door.
“How is he? How is Baba?” Zinhle askes as she breezes past Scelo.
Scelo is about to greet the man but his attention is taken by the expensive watch on his wrist. It’s a Rolex. The red and green stripes on the lapel of his coat can only mean the suit is Gucci. The man has a serious, sullen face.
“This is our new Pastor. Pastor Daniel comes from Nigeria. He is a true man of God,” says Zinhle.
Pastor Daniel grows restless. He sways side to side, then begins to shake.
“I feel evil spirits in this house! Let me …” says Pastor Daniel in a booming voice that shocks everyone but Zinhle. “I said let me, in the name of Jesus! I feel the need, in Jesus’ name, to cast out this evil spirit! It’s in the house! Can I get an ‘amen’?”
“Amen!” Zinhle belts out.
Zinhle looks at Pastor Daniel with star-struck eyes. She turns to her father.
“Can he, Baba? Please let him!” she pleads.
Mr Msomi nods.
Pastor Daniel’s hands are up in the air as he moves across the lounge. “I cast you out evil spirit!” he screams into a corner of the lounge. He runs to another corner, “I cast you out in Jesus’ name! Leave this home right now!”
“Yes, Pastor Daniel! Yes Jesus!” Zinhle shouts behind the Pastor.
Scelo is flabbergasted, watching this spectacle. Zinhle and Pastor Daniel disappear to other rooms in the house. It takes a moment before Scelo can speak. The whole thing has caught him off guard. He knows that his grandfather has never been a religious man. He knows, from previous discussions with his grandfather, that this brand of Christianity in particular is not his cup of tea.
“Are you fine with all of this, Mkhulu?” asks Scelo.
There is a resigned, peaceful look on Mr Msomi’s face. Scelo has seen the look on his own face, in reflections in the mirror when he is with his daughter, Nosipho. Scelo understands that his grandfather is agreeing with his aunt due to the simple fact that she is his one and only daughter. He is just happy his daughter is here with him.
“You go on, Scelo, I’m fine,” says Mr Msomi.
Scelo reverses down the driveway. He looks up at the house. Pastor Daniel and Zinhle are going delirious on the balcony. Their hands are all over the place, their bodies shaking. Scelo turns down the volume in the car.
“Devil I cast you out! Out you go evil spirit!” Pastor Daniel shouts.
“Out devil!” says Zinhle.
Scelo drives away.
Zinhle and Pastor Daniel return to Mr Msomi.
“Baba, Pastor Daniel wants to bless you,” says Zinhle
“Alright,” says Mr Msomi.
Pastor Daniel puts his hands on the old man’s head. He is shaking as he prays. His shaking in turn shakes Mr Msomi in his wheelchair. Zinhle places her hands on her father’s shoulders to steady it. He holds on to his daughter’s hands as the spirit takes Pastor Daniel and his daughter. Soon they are speaking in tongues. Mr Msomi holds on tighter to his daughter’s hands.
***
Tell us: What is your opinion of ‘this brand of Christianity’?