Chapter 5 WHISPERS OF HOPE

One month after the divorce, Jennifer still struggled financially. Money was tight, and she couldn't afford the luxurious life she had once enjoyed as a Bliss. She barely managed to feed herself daily. She worked menial jobs, including fixing abandoned radios she found in junkyards, and trading them for some food and to keep up with expenses, but she never gave up her dream of playing as an engineer that she was.

The lesson she had learned in the past month was patience, patience with both herself and with the people she worked for. She reminded herself continuously that she wasn't helpless, and her skills were still worth it. This time around, she tried to make friends in the neighborhood and everywhere else she found herself.

She had no company either, but the birds that randomly flew into her balcony and room window, and also the old cleaner that worked for the couple next door that also sold fruits at the roadside in the neighborhood, always went to work. She worked as a cleaner in a tech firm in the mornings, and as a nanny to the children of a single mother and nurse who worked night shifts in a hospital.

Here in South Africa, her childhood town, survival meant learning to exist in less to find joy in what was already there. She leaned to wake up to the bustling of people in the streets and the endless horns of taxies from drivers in the streets. She also built on growing from her mother's flowerpots into a little garden, and after working in the day, she would spend part of the evenings pulling weeds and watering stubborn plants that refused water even from the rain. It reminded her that life, even in its most broken state, could still grow into something beautiful, and she made sure to always live with it.

She took ill on some days. And this weekend was one of them. She had taken her homemade tea countless number of times and definitely didn't have money to spare for some medications or check-up. She lay in bed the whole day until a colleague and friend of hers, Janet, stopped by her house to inquire why she had been away from work. Janet was a sweet soul she had met at work. Her laughter was enough therapy. Unlike her, Janet worked as a clerk at a tech company, so yes, she did well.

She bumped into Janet on one of the days she was cleaning and was being harassed by a male colleague. Jennifer walked up to where the drama was happening and saved the situation while Janet, in appreciation, made sure to give her a ride back home after work every day. And since then, their friendship has known no bounds. That evening, Janet decided to stop by her house to check up on her friend, Jennifer.

"Oh! "You don't look good sis", Janet complimented after seeing how helpless she looked in her bed. "Have you taken any meds yet? "We need to get you to see a doctor immediately" continued Janet, without waiting for any response from Jennifer. She knew how stubborn Jennifer could be in matters like this.

Jennifer smiled at the last statement. That was the Janet she knew, fierce, tough but soft too. Even though she was older, Janet always acted like a big sister. "I don't think I need any other medicine outside you", she giggled.

Janet hit her hard on her arm. "How is any of this a joke?" she asked angrily.

"Have you forgotten so quickly that you came to see an ill friend, and if you hit me I could just die from there?"

Janet's reflexes kicked in again and this time it was harder than the first hit. "Yes, I would gladly kill you once and for all, don't you think? "Please get up and let's go get some drugs", she said while trying to pull Jennifer out of bed carefully. Her attempts were in vain as Jennifer complained he was too weak to go anywhere. After staring at her friend helplessly, she made her way outside to a pharmaceutical store to get her friend some drugs.

When she returned, she made a meal of pancakes and poured out some apple juice she had got from a mall on her way back minutes ago. Within a few weeks of finding Jennifer, they had confided in each other, and she had known of Jennifer's divorce and problems with finding a corporate job to match her skills. She, too, had just ended a three-year relationship with her boyfriend-the male colleague that was harassing her at work, when this angel called Jennifer walked onto the scene to rescue her.

From the moment they met, they connected so quickly to the amazement of people and themselves, because Janet was just as introvert as Jennifer. They had a lot in common, including the fact that their names started with the same letter of the alphabet, and they had no siblings. She would do everything to help her irreplaceable soulmate, Jennifer, who had sworn to do the same for her.

She carried the tray of snacks to Jennifer's room and forced her to eat the much she wanted her to before taking the meds she got her. She cleaned up around the house a little while Jennifer was asleep before going to her house to pick up some clothes and work items she would need while staying at her friend's house. She was going to stay with Jennifer till she was sure she got well.

Unfortunately, Jennifer wasn't getting any better. Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months and her friend got even worse. Of course, she had been fired from her work as a cleaner at the company since her illness.

"You really need to see a doctor, Jen. "You are not getting any better", Janet explained worriedly. She was really worried no pretense. She reassured her friend to take care of the bills and rushed her to a nearby clinic for treatment. Immediately she succeeded in convincing her...