Runyararo
It was Tuesday and Runyararo was nervous. She stood in front of her father’s office door, her hand poised to knock.
She had called Anah earlier that morning and she had confirmed that the Bible Study was still taking place. Runyararo had told her that she was still coming. She had got up, read her Bible and got dressed and ready. Runyararo was looking forward to the meeting. To learning something new and being amongst a new group of people. But she could not deny that she was anxious.
She prayed that her father would not ask too many questions about where she was going. She hoped he wouldn’t stop her from going. She stopped thinking. All this wondering was only prolonging the inevitable. It would be alright. She needed to stop wasting time worrying about what ifs.
Runyararo took a deep breath and knocked on the door and then opened the door when there was a reply.
Her father was standing at the window and turned when she came in.
“Runyararo. Good morning.”
“Good morning, Deddi. Marara mushe?”
“Mhmm, ndarara. Thank you.” He glanced over her and asked. “What’s the matter?”
He always did cut to the point, never wandering over small talk.
“I just wanted to tell you I’m going out. In case you’re looking for me.”
“Oh okay.” He frowned. “Where are you going?”
“I’m- I’m meeting with a friend I met last week.” It was the truth.
“Alright,” he said nodding. “You will be back for supper?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. That is fine,” he said.
Runyararo took an internal breath of relief. “Alright. Thank you, Deddi.” She turned round and walked out the door.
She pressed the door closed and then leant back on it. “Yes,” she whispered and let the smile of excitement that had been smothered by her worry grow on her face.
“Yes. Thank you, Lord.” She took a deep breath and went to pick up her purse. She had a Bible Study to get to.
***
“Mazvita,” Runyararo said as she got off the combi. They had dropped her off in Glen Helen. Runyararo had agreed with Anah that they would meet here and then Anah would pick her up and drive her to her grandmother’s house.
Runyararo stepped aside as the combi drove away. She dusted off and straightened her dress; the combi had been dusty and she had been pressed between a lot of people. There hadn’t been much air circulation either and it was a relief to breathe in fresh air. She only had to stand for a few minutes before a red Jeep pulled up beside her with a hoot, and then Anah stepped out.
“Runyararo,” she called out, smiling enthusiastically.
“Hi Anah,” Runyararo said, smiling back. The two embraced and then walked to the car.
“I’m so glad you could make it.” Anah said as she settled into the driver’s seat and pulled the seat belt over.
“Me too. I’m so excited! I could barely sleep last night.” It was true.
Runyararo had had trouble falling asleep. Her mind had been a whirr with thoughts about today and worries about having to speak to her father. But it turned out that she had been worried about nothing.
“Ha ha. Uh-Oh. If you were that excited, I hope we don’t disappoint you.”
“I’m sure you won’t,” Runyararo said.
“Did you have a good morning at least? Now that you didn’t sleep well because you were so excited.” Anah asked, grinning.
“Yeah. I did. I did. And you?”
“My morning was fine. Just getting ready for the meeting. Gogo and I were just putting things together. Making sure all of you have something nice to eat after we’re finished with all our talking.” She laughed.
Runyararo grinned, “Oooh, food. This is getting better and better.”
“Don’t get excited yet,” Anah said glancing at her, “My food may not be as nice as you think.”
Runyararo shook her head and smiled, “We’ll see.”
During the drive to her grandmother’s house they continued talking about everything from the past week, their daily lives to their favourite meals to cook and high school friends. It wasn’t long until they were sharing their favourite scriptures and things they had learned about God. Runyararo found it so easy to talk with Anah. The conversation flowed easily and when there was silence it was not uncomfortable.
It wasn’t long until they were driving through the gate of Anah’s grandmother house and parking in the driveway.
“The others are here already. We’ll just go around to the garden. That’s where we have the meeting.” Anah said.
They stepped out the car and then walked towards the kitchen door.
“Gogo goi,” Anah called out, walking in and gesturing for Runyararo to follow. “Gogo, tadzoka.”
Runyararo glanced around the kitchen. It was neat and tidy, it was clear that the dishes had been done recently; they were still glistening with drops of water. There was a subtle sweet smelling aroma in the room, the only evidence that something had been cooking on the stoves which were now cleared.
“Welcome back, mwanangu.”
Runyararo looked up and saw a woman she assumed was Anah’s grandmother come through a door. She was woman in her eighties from what Runyararo could tell. She was wearing a yellow dress patterned with purple and blue flowers. Her hair was short but full and grey.
“Aah, you must be Runyararo.” She said moving towards Runyararo. “ My granddaughter has been telling me about you. Welcome, welcome.”
She wrapped her arms around Runyararo and gave her a hug that Runyararo returned with surprise.
When Anah’s gogo, pulled back she smiled at Runyararo, a smile that was warm and bright and left Runyararo with no doubt as to where Anah got her easy laughter and joy from.
“Thank you, gogo,” Runyararo said, “Thank you for inviting me to your home.”
“Ahh, it is nothing. It is just wonderful to let you young people come here and talk about, mwari. Not enough young people are thinking about God in this country.” She shook her head, sadly. She turned to Anah.
“I have set out the food on the table. The others are waiting outside.”
“Aww, thank you gogo,” Anah said, “You see why I love you so much,” she said laughing.
“Mhmm,” Gogo said, her eyes narrowing. “Yes. I see you. You are only interested in my work.” She looked at Runyararo. “These children. We are nothing but vashandi to them. ” she said shaking her head.
Anah laughed, “Aww, don’t be like that gogo.” Gogo laughed and patted Anah’s cheek.
“I’m just joking, mwanangu. You better go now. Time is going.”
Anah smiled and nodded. “Come along, Ru. This way.”
They walked through the door into a lounge. There were light brown couches and a small TV, on the other side a set of sliding glass doors opened out onto a veranda. They walked through them and down the veranda steps onto the grass where a table had been set out with cake, juice, bowls of chips and plates with finger food. Beside the table was a set of chairs and in them sat two girls, one of the girls had pigtail buns in her hair and the other a short Afro. Two boys were sitting and talking with them, one with glasses and another in dark jeans. They all looked up when Anah and Runyararo approached.
“Hi guys,” Anah said “Sorry we’re late. I hope you haven’t finished all the food.”
The girl in pigtails laughed, “Of course not. You know us. We have manners.”
“Great,” Anah said, smiling. “This is Runyararo. Our new member. Runyararo this is Panashe, Alice, Munya and Joseph.” They all waved at her and said hi.
“It’s nice to finally meet you,” The girl with pigtails, Panashe, said. “Anah kept talking about you at the last Bible meeting. I was getting desperate to meet this amazing person she was telling us about.” Runyararo smiled flattered and a little embarrassed at the praise.
“Well, here I am.” She said.
“Here you are,” Panashe said, “’Welcome. It’s a pleasure to have you.”
“Anyways I guess it’s time to start the study,” Anah said. “Let’s sit down, guys.”
They all moved back to their seats. Runyararo noticed they had all brought Bibles and was glad she had not forgotten her own.
“Okay, let’s pray,” Anah said. They all bowed their heads and closed their eyes. “Mwari, we thank you for this meeting and for bringing us all safely here and for our new member, Runyararo. We thank You for Your love and for giving us the grace to come and fellowship together. As we study Your Word, we pray You reveal Yourself to us in Your Scriptures and help us to continue walking in the Spirit and in all Your ways. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”
A chorus of amens followed and they all lifted their heads.
Anah looked to Runyararo, “We’re currently studying Philppians, we’re on chapter two. So, we’ll continue from there today.”
Runyararo nodded and flipped open her Bible.
“Cool,” Anah said, “Let’s begin.”
***
“Paul was a monya, I’m telling you. I doubt I would have been able to go through half of what he went through and still be singing about Mwari.” Joseph said.
“You would have actually, Joseph. If you were focused on God,” Anah replied.
“Focused on God or crazy,” Alice said. “We can’t deny that Paul was crazy about God.”
“You thought Paul was crazy? “ Munya added. “What about Peter? Leaping into water for Jesus and sprinting to the tomb when he found out that Jesus had risen. That man loved Jesus. Yaah.” He said, shaking his head.
“Then there was David, dancing for the Lord or shall we say Joseph,” Runyararo said, laughing, remembering how Joseph had tried to show them how David had probably danced earlier. That drew laughter from everyone.
They had all gone completely off topic from what they had been discussing. One question had led to another and then that question had led to a debate and now they were arguing about who loved Jesus more.
When they had finally caught their breaths, Anah spoke up,
“Alright guys. We got sidetracked,” she chuckled, “Again. These debates are awesome but we really do need to cover this chapter.” She looked at her watch. “Mhmm. And we’ve run out of time.” She sighed, “Okay. We’ll continue this next time. Meanwhile, you guys keep studying the chapter and let’s hope we get through more next time.”
They all nodded soberly and agreed with her. Joseph said “Don’t worry, Anah. Next time we’ll be serious.”
Anah narrowed her eyes at him, “You said that last time.” The others all laughed.
“Okay. Okay fine,” Joseph said, raising his hands in mock surrender, “We’ll try to be more serious.”
That only earned more laughter and an eye-roll from Anah.
“I don’t know about you guys,” Panashe said, glancing at the table of food. “But all that shouting made me hungry.”
“Mhmm time time. I’m sure we can eat now, huh.”Munya said looking at Anah.
“You gluttons,” Anah said laughing, “Yeah. You can help yourselves.”
“It’s not gluttony,” Joseph said, “It’s pure and healthy hunger, Anah.”
Anah hummed in response. As the others gathered around the tables Runyararo and Anah stayed in their seats.
“So how did you find it? “ Anah asked Runyararo, turning to her. “Sorry we got a little sidetracked.”
‘No. No. It was great, I really enjoyed it. A lot. And all the questions gave me something to think about, you know? I enjoyed it.’
‘That’s great. Think you’ll come back?’
Runyararo nodded, “Definitely.” The meeting had brought such life to her. It had refreshed her spirit and made her enthusiastic about the things of God. It had reminded her why she believed.
‘Awesome. I hoped you would say that. It was so nice to have a fresh viewpoint being shared, you know.’ Anah said, ‘And of course you’re great to have around.’ She nudged Runyararo on the shoulder and smiled. Runyararo laughed and nudged her back.
‘Come on,’ Anah said, ‘Let’s go eat before those greedy guys eat all the food.’
‘I heard that!’ Joseph shouted, drawing laughter from Runyararo and Anah.
***
It was almost five o’clock when the meeting finally ended. All the others had headed home and it was just Anah and Runyararo left. The two girls had cleared up and washed the plates and cups that had been used.
‘Let me just check with gogo if she wants me to stop at the shops,’ Anah said as she dried her hands on a dish towel. ‘Then we can go.’ She went out the door and then came back a few minutes later.
‘She said she’s fine.’ Anah said, grabbing the car keys from the counter. ‘ I’m not surprised. That woman goes to the shops nearly every day.’
‘Really?’ Runyararo asked as her and Anah walked out the door to the car. ‘What will she buying?’
‘Oh just stuff for the day. But she told me the other day she mostly goes to minister to some unbeliever she met there.’ Runyararo laughed. ‘Gogo never misses an opportunity to minister to people. Doesn’t matter what she’s doing.’
‘Wow,’ Runyararo said, ‘Imagine going to the shops every day to tell someone about Jesus. That’s amazing.’
‘That’s gogo for you.’ Anah said, opening the car door. ‘I’ll drop you off at Chisi. It’s late and sometimes combis can be a problem at this time.’
‘Aww, thank you so much.’ Runyararo said, touched by Anah’s thoughtfulness.
‘Don’t worry about it.’
The drive to Chisipite was short. Runyararo was having so much fun talking to Anah and singing with her, when they decided to turn on the radio she didn’t realise that they had already arrived.
‘Wow, what a short drive.’ She said as Runyararo pulled into the Bon Marché parking lot.
‘I know. Time flies when you’re having fun.’ Anah said.
‘True,’ Runyararo replied. ‘Thanks again Anah. For everything. This was such a good day.’
‘You’re welcome, Ru.’ She said leaning over to give her a hug. ‘Have a good evening.’
‘You too.’ Runyararo said, climbing out the car. Anah waved and then reversed the car. She hooted and Runyararo smiled and waved and then she drove off.
Runyararo was left standing in the parking lot alone. She was filled with so much joy and contentment. Her heart felt a lot lighter than it had been in a very long while.
She lifted her head and looked to the sky.
The sun was setting and the sky was a soft purple colour, the clouds tinged gold. She took a deep breath, admiring God’s handiwork not only in the heavens but in her life. She smiled and took a breath.
Thank you God, she said in her heart. Thank you so much. You are beautiful. You are good. You are kind. I love you. Runyararo closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of that knowledge. She took another breath and then opened her eyes and made her way home.
