New life
Mixed blessing
Zenga Longmore
tion of the man is in their files.
Claudette shivered with emotion when I had finished this gruesome tale.
`Let's change the subject,' she sug- gested, and this we did. It took a while, mind you, for the conversation' to develop any meat, but after her boyfriend had brought in the coffee, we discussed Oma- lara's blessing.
The blessing took place last Sunday at the Church of God of Prophecy. It was not quite a christening because no water was involved, but it was an extremely solemn occasion. The Pastor's voice sailed above Omalara's roar as he called blessings down upon her. Now two and a half months old, her cry has changed from a raucous squawk to a hearty bellow, and very dramatic it sounded too when blended with the Pas- tor's rich tones. In fact I was very moved. Christenings and blessings are so much more heart-stirring than weddings, where one always finds oneself feeling sorry either for the bride or for the groom. When have you seen a couple who, in your opinion, were well matched? No wonder so many tears are shed at weddings. With christenings there's no need to feel sorry for anyone, except perhaps the preacher, who has to hold a heavy, occasionally wet, screaming child.
After the blessing we threw a small party at my sister Boko's flat. Omalara, no stranger to parties, acted beautifully in her role as star of the show. The fire-and- brimstone sermon which had unnerved a few of the party revellers left her gurgling with delight. Everybody took turns to dance with her to the accompaniment of loud reggae, whose thumping tones.sound- ed somewhat jarring after the beautiful gospel-singing in the church. In short, the day was an undisputed success, except perhaps for my eldest sister, who appeared to take the preacher's speech a little too personally.
`But I know he was looking directly at me', she moaned, rouged lips all a-quiver, `when he said that ' bit about brazen women, painted with the devil's paint- brush.'
Luckily, it didn't take long to persuade her that he meant the woman sitting next to her, and after a few Scotches, she was right as rain.
Sadly it will take more than a few Scotches to persuade me to travel on the Tube again for a long, long time.
`They're voting with their feet'.
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