The covenant - James A. Michener [549]
The small booklet he devised, 4 3/4 x 3 1/2 inches, was a masterpiece of sound planning. It contained forty-eight pageswhich summarized a life and provided in one convenient place all kinds of helpful data. Long coded numbers indicated racial derivation, status and domicile. Space was provided for a series of photographs covering different ages and styles. Four pages were given to marriage records, with the printed assurance that if the holder was embarrassed by a proliferation of divorces, she or he could apply for a new booklet and start fresh. Included was a complete record of immunizations, allergies, blood group and any other medical information that might prove helpful to an ambulance attendant or a hospital nurse. It was also a driver's license, reserving pages 18 through 21 for police endorsements as to arrests; it was also a license to carry firearms, with four full pages to record weapons. Pages 26 through 46 were marked 'For official use,' without any clue as to purpose, but available for insertion of whatever information the authorities might in the future wish to include. The last two pages contained a voting record, and a pocket at the rear was to hold a list of all real estate owned.
Every white citizen, under Detleef's plan, was obliged to carry this document at all times. 'Now we will know who everyone is,' he said, 'and we can have an orderly state.'
He was congratulating himself one afternoon when Reverend Brongersma, white-haired and failing, stopped by to pass the time of day. He no longer preached, but he did try to follow the activities of the Broederbond; along with the church, that fellowship had been the high point of his life: 'I often think back to the vigorous days, Detleef. You and Frykenius, me and Piet Krause. That was a lively foursome. We accomplished so much.'
Then he said, almost abruptly, 'Call Maria. I want to see the girl whose life I saved.' And when stout, squat Maria came into the room, he rose and kissed her. 'I rode all the way to Stellenbosch to tell this young fellow he had to marry you, and this fine Christian home resulted. I wish I could have visited Marius before he married that English girl. Now he can never join the Broederbond . . . never play a major role in our society.'
That was regrettable. He talked of Piet, too, then said something which disturbed Detleef profoundly: 'Piet was a radical on the left, and he destroyed himself. You were a radical on the right, and you've destroyed many of our freedoms.'
'What do you mean?'
'Detleef has worked only for good,' Maria said defensively.
'I'm sure he has,' the old man said, 'but I fear he got things out of balance. The fellowship of Christ is meant to bring freedom, not restraint.'
'But society has to be disciplined,' Detleef protested. 'You know that.'
'I do. But if we read the Old Testament too grimly, we miss the love-making, the adventure, the wild triumphs, the dancing and the sound of flutes.' He shook his head. 'I was to blame, too. I sought a new world so forcefully I forgot the goodness in all worlds. Do you know my favorite verse in all the Bible, now that I approach death? "Word wakker, word wakker, Debora: Word wakker, word wakker, hef 'n lied aan." Deborah, sing us a song! You have killed the singing, Detleef.'
When he left, Maria said, 'Poor old man, his mind's wandering.'
A few moments later men rushed into the house, shouting, 'The prime minister's been assassinated!'
The Van Doorns, trembling, rushed to the radio. Detleef tuned it so nervously that he could not locate a station, so Maria took over and found the awful verification: 'Today as he was attending his duties in the House of Parliament, our prime minister, Hendrik Verwoerd, was stabbed to death