Jessica's Story Book Review
What is a high genre content? You know what will happen in the book, so why bother buying it? Coronavirus is here and has made life an inverted pyramid, which means we can’t be picky anymore. We need to keep busy with books, writing, cleaning, cooking, cycling etc. otherwise we’ll go bonkers.
From Sinner to Saint by Janice Jones is one of the books I picked up for this COVID-19 situation because it was on sale. It is classified Christian, so I expected many verses from the bible, Psalms and things. Yes, they are there. Khulu (my grandmother) would have enjoyed it because she knew her bible by heart.
I was pleasantly surprised that it is not all about Jesus. The book is anchored in urban America with its cracked social, psychological, racial and economic pavements.
From Sinner to Saint is about Antonyo, a player supreme who was schooled by his aunt LaTreece. Jessica is one of the women he ‘played’. The character Jessica features in a few pages, but this blog is about her.
Jessica is having an affair with Antonyo. He notices that she never says anything bad about her husband, unlike the other married women on his speed dial.
One day she opens up. Scott her husband, a high school gym teacher is gay and had an affair with her cousin Jordan. Jessica never suspected anything before and after her marriage. In fact, Jordan introduced Scott to Jessica.
Jordan and Scott’s affair - which began in high school - went on for years and only ended when Jordan got a job in Atlanta, where he now lives with his wife. Scott is still gay. Jessica is still in the marriage and shocks Antonyo when she says her husband loves her.
Jessica’s story is about Jessica’s choice and is relevant because of COVID-16, which demands that we stay home, a private space which is like a child’s Lego bricks, with their colors and sizes.
Societies based on the Hollywood ‘love’ model are the most vulnerable during volcanic eruptions, because they don’t have access to the glue that holds the home. No restaurants, no movies, no vacation, no gym and no space, especially space. “I need some space.”
Societies where members are born for religion, marry for religion and live for religion, are used to the isolation of the sexes. Their homes are build on a single color Lego brick, so COVID-19 restrictions will not make them go crazy.
Having said that, ‘love’ societies have a choice though, dismantle the Lego structure or add another brick. Jessica decided to stay with her gay husband, but she added another brick, Antonyo.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
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