“I hear that you have that Mr. Putumelo building you a house,” said the aunt. “I know his wife. She is a big lady in the church, although you never see him there.”

“Maybe that is because he is very busy,” said Phuti. “Some people are too busy to go to church.”

“That’s true,” said the aunt. “I myself cannot go every Sunday, because I am so busy.” She reached out to refill Phuti’s cup. “He is building his own house, you know. It’s very close to my butcher’s house. The butcher says it is a very fine house.”

“That’s what you’d expect of a builder,” observed Phuti. “I have never known a builder who lived in a not-so-good house. They know what makes a good place. They know those things, Auntie.”

The aunt nodded. “That’s very true. Yes, they know. The butcher told me that this house is made of very high-class bricks. They are imported, he says.”

Phuti was not surprised by this. “He likes bricks, that builder. He recommended that we use bricks, too.”

“Mind you,” the aunt continued, “I do not know where he finds the money. The butcher says that he has a big bill run up with him, and when he talked to him about it he told him that he is finding things very difficult at the moment. He says that there is not very much work, and that he has a big overdraft with the bank.”

This did not sound unfamiliar to Phuti. “People often say that,” he remarked. “They say that their business is not doing well when it really is. They do not want to make other people jealous.”

The aunt considered this. “Maybe, but not in this case. The reverend at the church said something about them. He said that they were in financial difficulties and we should pray that the Lord brings them some money. The wife must have told him that.”

Phuti closed his eyes. Financial difficulties. Bricks. The Lord. Houses. There was so much to think about, and the thoughts came crowding in on him. Then one line of thought, in particular, emerged from the rest. How could the builder be building a house for himself when he had no money? How did one do that? With the Lord’s help?