Piano

BERNICE’S PIANO When he woke up, she was the first thing he saw. They laid entwined, her thighs stretched over his waist, her hand rested on his chest and her head cradled on his shoulder. She was fast asleep. He brushed a lock of hair from her face and gently stole a kiss. The morning sun lit up the room and a cool summer breeze stole through the window. Outside the birds sang their songs. He pulled the blanket over her shoulder and watched her sleep. Never in his wildest dreams has he been more content with life as at that moment. His eyes caught the reflection of light that bounced off the two diamonds on the wedding band on her finger. They’ve been married for ten years. How much did it take for them to get here? He remembers the first time he saw her. It was during a youth gathering. When she walked through the doors of the church hall, his life changed forever. A paradigm shift of all his ambitions. She was dressed in a black, red and white printed shirt and short black skirt that revealed well formed legs and strong calves. High heels that added a sexy touch to her length. Her long blowed - out hair was fastened to a ponytail that stretched to the small of her back. Big brown eyes and small luscious lips. At that moment, his life officially began. There is a story between that moment and this moment, while they laid entwined. A story only the two of them could understand. A story that cannot be told, yet it’s the story that will teach the whole world how to love. A lot has happened since the first time he saw her. Hard times that kept the fragile and scared heart in captivity. Times when neither of them could sleep. Times when they cried and times when they laughed as he chased after her when they play. “We’re just ordinary people” John Legend said. So many years of his life that has been blessed by her presence. As they lay entwined, he thinks these things. He got out of bed to check on their daughter. She was still asleep. She was as beautiful as her mother. Gratitude swelled up in his heart. “Thank You”, he whispered to his creator. A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Mr Jenkins decided on passing the Directorship to his son Michael, with , the board united decided to give Errol Jantjies a promotion to senior Accountant of the clothing factory he worked at. Mr Jenkins called the young man into his office informing Errol, he said, “It is time for me to step down and Michael my son will be the new CEO of the company, and we have decided to give you a promotion to senior Accountant and a small bonus to say thank you.” Errol was so ecstatic to hear the good news that he somehow drifted off to imagine his wife’s smiling face at home. Bernice would be so happy for me, thought Errol. During his lunch break Errol walked passed a music instrument shop, ”Ye Olde Shop”, the grand piano at the far end of the shop attracted his attention. This was the gift he would buy for his loving wife of ten years. Their wedding anniversary was just around the corner. He loved it when Bernice played the piano for him, that’s how he fell in love with her so many years ago at that youth gathering where he met her. He couldn’t afford any luxurious gifts for his wife. Mr Salem asked Errol if he could help him. He politely walked over to the grand piano and asked the salesman how much it would set him back for buying the piano. Mr Salem took the white board and showed him the price. R10 000 for the ancient music maestro. Then Mr Salem showed him the smaller Chippendale Straight Piano at the entrance window. “This little lady is R5000-00, I am sure your wife will love her to bits. It also comes with sheet music.” The young husband knew that the price given, would suite his pocket. He made calculations in his mind on how much his bonus would be and the increase in his salary. He informed Mr Salem that he would return for the piano in the next 3 weeks or so. On arrival at his house in the suburbs, Errol hugged his wife and gave his daughter a lollipop. He couldn’t stop grinning from ear to ear. Bernice was cleaning some vegetables for the soup pots. Every Thursday, the ladies of the Methodist Church hold a soup kitchen at sister Vera’s house, there were about fifty homeless people, besides the aged of the community they fed. Errol Jantjies was one of the deacon’s of the Church. He felt very proud of his little family. He sat next to his well rounded wife on the kitchen bench, took her orange carrot stained hand in his and told her about his big promotion at work and the bonus they promised him. She shrieked with excitement. Little Lola came running out of her room, wondering what her mummy was screaming for. The Jantjies lived in a rented house opposite a tavern. Every night the loud booming speakers pumped out Kwaito, Hip-Hop, R&B. anything, music that was loud. Devon Daniels was the notorious tavern owner, his speciality was young girls and boys. They were his mules, distributing his drugs. Bernice’s companion at the soup kitchen was Katie Swanepoel. Her sixteen year old daughter was five months pregnant from Devon Daniels. Devon’s wife, Jessica was very unhappy of all these young girls falling pregnant from Devon. That was the situation Errol lived in. He wanted to leave this house, but not his duties to his beloved church. Bernice reminded her husband of the dinner they planned for the old age home, which the Methodist Church took under their wing. The next morning before Errol went to work, he made a stop at the church’s treasurers office for the cheque. He asked Mrs Laing to make the cheque out to cash as he was going to cash it at his office. His morning started off with meetings and then the call came through to him, Michael wanted to see him in the boardroom. The huge oak table seemed eerie as the two men sat face to face . Michael had a stack of papers with him and his laptop was next to the stack of papers. “Morning Errol, I called this small meeting to inform you that all promotions and bonuses are on hold. The factory is not meeting its set turnover, and we are also looking into retrenchments. I do hope you can hang in there and carry on with good work.” This was a low punch in Errol’s gut. He felt so nauseous after receiving the news. He couldn’t let his wife know about it. That very morning he passed the music shop and used the church’s cheque for the dinner to pay a deposit on the piano for his wife. He knew it would not be a problem as he was going to replace those funds with his bonus. He Was such a fool. He felt so guilty, but he could not face his wife’s disappointment in him. For not providing the stability she sought and the luxurious life style she was accustomed too. Her older brother Alfred was a professor at the University. His snobbish wife always rubbed it in their faces when they visited how they go on oversees trips and how lovely their latest M Class Mercedes Benz drives, and so on and so on. Errol knew that his Bernice could make all his problems disappear if she played the piano. So he decided to keep that indiscretion a secret until he could make a loan to replace the used church’s money. He made arrangements with Mr Salem to deliver the piano to his home. The old table against the wall was to be removed as the shiny, ebony wooded Chippendale stood against the beige wall. WOW! Her very own piano. The sheet music was gently placed on her lap, as Errol beckoned her to play something. He sat next to Lola on the sofa, sipping a cold cola. The melodies played from the ebony and ivory keys, made Errol forget about the R2500-00 he used for the deposit. It was a week that passed when Bernice asked her husband for the money to buy the groceries. He abruptly told her, that there were some administrative problems at the bank, before the money would be released to him. THE guilt ate at him. Every day he lied to his wife about the work situation and about the money he used. The Following week Friday, Errol went to the bank to find out about a loan. It was declined as he was renting a house and because he did not own any fix properties for surety he could not get any loans. He was distraught. Time was running out and he had to replace the money used of the church. How was he going to face the elders at his church and the community knowing he was looked up too? How was the community going to react to his wife. He decided to go on Monday to Michael for an advance on his salary to pay for the money used on the piano. Bernice wanted the money for the groceries for the dinner and time was of the essence. Michael listened to Errol’s plea but he refused. The idea of him giving one employee a privilege will lead to all the other workers wanting the same treatment. That evening Errol was left with no other option than to go to Devon Daniels for a loan. Errol slowly entered the back way of the tavern and asked one of the boys to call Devon. Devon dressed in a waist length brown leather jacket, navy denims and white shirt. His shoes, Black Doc Martins. Devon invited brother Errol into his office. Errol wanted to know if he could loan R10 000 from him. Devon smiled and told the deacon that it would not be a problem to borrow him the money. Devon went to his safe and took out a thick roll of blue notes bound together with rubber bands and handed it over to Errol. That night Errol had a sound sleep for the first time in many days. The next morning Errol handed Bernice an envelope with the all the money for the groceries for the dinner. Days passed and yet he did not reveal to his precious wife of ten years that his promotion and bonus did not come through. That he so selflessly used the church’s funds for his own use. How was the deacon to face the congregation, knowing that he went to a tavern owner to lend money to cover up his deeds. Devon called the deacon over to his tavern and wanted to know if he could be a character witness for him at a statutory rape case for him. This flabbergasted the deacon. With a hesitation Errol refused to do any such thing. “ Listen here preacher, You are so holy on a Sunday, and yet you come to me for money. You know how to sell your soul for money. You better do as I say, or you going to see what we do to your lovely Bernice.” Errol was threatened to be the witness at the trial. The next day he was there, to testify on behalf of Devon, but to their surprise Devon was a no show. The magistrate spoke to the advocate representing Devon, that he is not allowed near the girl he impregnated. Errol felt relieved that he was not called to the witness stand as some of his congregants were present in court. The day dragged as he wanted to go home. As he turned the corner of the street he lived on, the blue lights of police vans and red lights of the ambulance greeted him. The first thought which came to mind was that his family was harmed, killed! As he got closer to the crowd circling the body laying on the ground, he saw the Doc Martins and he instinctively knew it was Devon laying there. On closer inspection he saw that there was a bullet hole in his head. Bernice was standing at their gate carrying Lola, Errol ran to them and ushered Bernice into the house. His problem was gone. No one had to know about the money he took from Devon. The secret was going to the grave. “He holds my hand”, was the melody played on the Chippendale, Bernice had an audience of “sisters” from the church. Sister Dora suggested that they go and sympathise with Devon’s family. Bernice took Lola by hand and crossed the road with the other ladies. On entering the main house at the back of the tavern, Jessica, Devon’s widow, reminded Bernice that the money loaned should be paid to her. Bernice was dumbfounded about what she heard. “ Ja, sister. The Deacon was very close to Devon, Pella.” That evening at the dinner table, Bernice asked Errol about what Jessica told her. He denied any such thing and reprimanded Bernice for going there in the first place with his child. It was the eve of dinner for the old age home, during the cleaning of the vegetables, when Church Elder Boyle confronted Errol with gossip he heard in the streets that he was going to be a character witness for Devon and that he took R10 000 from him as a payment for doing so. Errol couldn’t suppress his guilt any longer. He burst out with what he had done and that he was so ashamed of it. Bernice was elated that Errol came clean. The next few days was passed in silence, at home and at work. Then the most unusual thing happened. Michael asked Errol to come to his office. Senior Mr Jenkins was there as well. They explained to Errol that they landed a huge contract with one of the clothing retail stores. Michael finally announced that Errol was promoted with immediate effect and that his bonus was to be in his salary that month end. And as Senior Accountant he was to be Michaels right hand.