They happen any time, when you
least expect them, like a striking snake or a visit to the bank. They say your
life can change in a moment. This is true. I have had several such moments that
will remain with me forever, when I met a stranger that I instantly knew, and
there was an electric current that ran between us, at times without any words.
I had such a moment today, at the
said bank. At first I couldn’t get in
because the already gleaming floor was adorned with a mass of glistening, shattered
shatter-proof glass, looking like De Beers had just parachuted a really big haul
onto the middle of the bank floor. Well, not seeing any guns or bombs, I made
plain my desire to get on and in, and wasn’t averse to treading diamonds, so once
a small pathway was cleared I was let in and went to customer care to get
statements printed.
There were only two of us in the
whole bank (besides staff), the other one being a towering man standing at the
counter next to me, dressed in those blue overalls with the lumo green stripes,
and big black work boots, who immediately blurted out ‘I like your boots!’. Yeah, this is nothing new – everyone likes my
boots – best buy I ever made for drawing attention (AND being super warm and
comfy). It’s weird how many people react to them (they’re knee high, light and
dark grey, kind of explorer type, soft fake leather with warm woolly inners).
So I obliged, telling him where I got them, and he went on about how warm they
look and they must have woolly stuff inside, almost like he wanted to reach
inside and feel it.
This exchange continued and we
couldn’t stop looking at each other. It felt to be a magnetic field pulling us closer
and when I glanced at the woman serving me, she had this amused little smile
playing around her mouth. I first
thought - typical Cape Coloured – loud and personable enough to address the
whole bank, joking about how it’s okay to mess with his food but not with his
money, and flashing that disarming, broad white smile with the glint of gold, a
bit like the dashing Captain Jack Sparrow.
When he said ‘they look Indian’ (the
boots), my immediate response was ‘well, I think I have some Indian blood’, as
instantly I had this flash of my mother lying on her hospital death bed a few
hours after she’d gone, thinking how much she looked like a great old Indian
chief (which I’d never thought when she was alive). It was as though in death
her ancestors had come to reclaim her and revealed her true identity. No sooner had the words flown from of my mouth
when I realised that it was he who looked Indian. I know we’re not meant to use this word but ‘Native
American’ is such a dull mouthful and doesn’t quite do it for me. I admire and
respect these peoples for who they were in their raw unadulterated state and for
the lessons we learnt from their ancient wisdom.
This man had the colouring of a delicate
rufous golden young buck, the bold prominent facial bone structure, but above
all, it was in his bearing – the way he held himself, so proud and upright,
like a straight young tree seeking the sky, almost able to touch it. His roots firmly
planted in the ground, his arms reach for the clouds, gently pushing them aside
so that he may feel the red rising sun drop its soft warm kiss of life on his smooth
red skin. The greeting of his god is a personal one, and he responds in kind. His
is the world of nature and he belongs to it.
During this exchange we each
conducted our separate business, but I could not resist stealing glances at him.
I noticed things adorning his left wrist – one a thickly knotted white rope
bracelet, quite unusual and another clue to his identity.
Then he turned to go, striding loose
limbed and light footed, with long steps like an Olympian mountain man, across
the now diamond-less floor, and looking back at me, threw a casual ‘See you’. As he walked swiftly and gaily out of my life,
leaving me rooted to the spot, I saw the long colourful plaited cord hanging
down his broad back. My eyes could not tear themselves away from him until he
was gone.
For the rest of the day I walked
on air, touching clouds, like him, feeling my heart filled with the beauty of
his being and the gift of that magic moment in time.
