Free Hunger Eats a Man by Nkosinathi Sithole

vibrating with anger, and Sandile need not be told that he will brook no contradiction. “I will be listening and counting.”
    “But, Father, I know those verses by heart. You used to make me sing them,” Sandile complains.
    “Certainly you have forgotten them. It’s been a while since you last recited them. So do as I tell you!”
    Instead of contradicting his father again, Sandile stands up and starts reciting the verses like he did when he was younger: “God spoke and these were his words.” Somehow his voice trembles in fear. This act reminds him of his days in junior primary where they were made to recite verses and were punished if they got them wrong. This is what his father did to him too. “I am your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”
    As Sandile utters these verses, Priest’s mind is taken back to his thoughts about his own slavery and that of his fellow workers. God really has liberated them from the slavery of apartheid and white domination and oppression. But something has gone wrong along the way. Perhaps Moses and his brother Aaron decided to join forceswith the Canaanites and the Philistines. It is amazing that the Bible was written so long ago and so far away but it speaks directly to them. Priest and other poor people of Ndlalidlindoda are the Israelites on their way from Egypt.
    Priest’s mind comes back when his son recites, “You shall not make wrong use of the name of the Lord your God; the Lord will not leave unpunished the man who misuses His name …”
    “Hear that?” Priest intervenes gladly. It is as if God has suddenly appeared to support him. “The Lord will not leave unpunished the man who misuses his name. You should get that into your head.”
    Fatigue has completely vanished from Priest’s system. His son’s blasphemous talk has really boosted his energy. But now, as he continues talking, his voice is calmer, “It is a bad thing, son, to talk badly about the Bible, as if you are talking about your friend. The Bible is God’s own words. It is the manifestation of God’s words and if you defy it, you defy God Himself and you will not win. You can never win.”
    As he talks now, there is no longer anger in his voice. Perhaps the fact that his son has kept the good words inside him all this time is what pacifies him. This calls forth the book of Deuteronomy to his mind: “These commandments which I give you this day are to be kept in your heart; you shall repeat them to your sons, and speak them indoors and out of doors. When you lie down and when you rise.” Yes. This is exactly what he has done. He is glad his son has kept the good words in his heart. But does he understand and believe them? Well, that is another question. God will have to see to what happens inside his son’s head. He cannot.
    “Except …” Sandile says after a while, making sense of his father’s words.
    “Except what?”
    “Except, if I am as powerful and cunning as Jacob, I may be able to beat God.”
    The anger in Priest returns tenfold. He looks at his son with trepidation, wondering if Satan has not taken over his son’s thinking. Allthe words he knows seem unable to convey what is inside him, so he decides to remain quiet.
    It is his son who speaks again after a while. “Do you entirely believe in the Bible, Father?”
    That Priest can answer, even in deep sleep. “Yes. Body and soul.” Saying the words provides him with a tinge of happiness. Lucifer may have got his son, but he certainly hasn’t got him.
    “So you will agree with me,” Sandile continues. “You will agree with me that if God were visible and in human form it would be possible for a strong person to beat him?” Sandile cannot help smiling.
    His father darkens with rage. “Would you tell me what kinds of books you have been reading lately? Because you seem to me to be heading straight to the dark side with those heretic thoughts and questions.” Priest feels hot now. Being in the same