At 3:00 the post was distributed and Belita
waited for the envelope to be placed in her box before taking it outside to
read. She now sat on the bench outside
with the unopened letter in her hand.
Its contents would decide her future.
If the envelope contained a form letter, thanking her for her
participation in the contest, she would be staying in Diepsloot until the next
opportunity to model. If the letter was
an affirmative invitation, she would soon be on her way to Los Angeles, in
order to pose for a lingerie feature in a national magazine.
Belita had modeled lingerie since she was
sixteen. Her first job was very dodgy,
where the models were asked to pose for a photographer with a hand-held camera
in front of a sheet. She had been taken
to downtown Johannesburg with three other models in a long car that served them
champagne and told them they were going to be rich. It was only partly true: the models took home
two hundred and fifty rand that day.
Posing in a bra earned her whole family groceries that week, which was
good enough to warrant congratulations from her Gogo. Belita did not have the heart to tell her
that she modeled her underwear for strangers; she knew her religious Granny
would not approve.
At first, Belita kept it a secret from
everyone, until she started getting national recognition from photographers and
advertizing agencies. At eighteen, she
posed for a headshot advertisement with a young man she thought was quite
homely. To her surprise, one of the
photos was used for advertizing Durex
Condoms. Her friends teased her, saying
she was now famous. They asked her for
money, assuming that she would collect part of the royalties for her face on a
million street signs. Little did they
know the eight hundred rand payout was for one-day’s work. She had signed a release and didn’t profit
from the picture at all- no matter how popular it became.
After two years, the condom stigma wore
off. Her Gogo found out she was a
lingerie model and pretended to object; she didn’t stop eating the food Belita
brought home, however. The Pastor and
his wife took her aside one day and confessed they were worried about her
salvation; they advised her to find other work.
In truth, it was easy for others to
judge. It was easy to say “Oh, yes, I will
begin looking for other work!” In reality, modeling lingerie put food on the
table – lots of food. The more reputable
the agency she signed on with, the less nonsense she had to put up with. It led her to some very nice work
environments; all she had to do was look good in bras and panties.
Two months ago, she entered a global
contest called “Pearls of Africa” – a scouting of fabulous models from all over
the continent. She submitted a portfolio
of work that she had managed to save over the years. She had also enlisted the help of her
brother, an amateur photographer, who took additional shots with a borrowed
camera. They sent the portfolio off, paying
an exorbitant price for DHL shipping. Her
return address was a box at the 3-in-1 at Fourways Crossing, down the road from
the township.
The letter arrived today from the magazine;
Belita was strangely afraid to open it.
She had made peace with modeling, even
lingerie modeling. She had not yet made
peace with success. Success meant she
might be choosing a wicked path and disregarding the pastor’s advice. In truth, she sought the counsel of God at
every step; He remained the very core of her being. He was the One who had caused all of this to
happen, Belita thought. If He willed it,
it would come to be.
“Lord,” she whispered. “Not my will, but yours be done.”
The wind blew and she quivered, clutching
the envelope tightly. At last, she dared
to break the seal. Inside was a letter
that was addressed to her, looking official.
“Dear Ms.
Mbantwa,
Thank you for your entry in the Pearl of Africa Photo Shoot contest for Divine Magazine. We regret to inform you that you were not among the Top Ten applicants chosen. Your portfolio was beautiful, however, and we would like to invite you to come to Los Angeles as an alternate model for the upcoming lingerie feature.Your entry provided us with a phone number that has been disconnected; we are hoping that you will call us when you are in receipt of this letter. Kindly phone our offices in Sandton at 011-456-0809 at your earliest convenience. We would like to discuss the possibility of bringing you to Los Angeles as soon as possible.
With Warm Regards,
Chanelle Rossy
Executive Director, Lingerie Department
Divine Magazine
New York, Los Angeles
Divine Magazine
New York, Los Angeles
Belita read the
letter three times before going back into the 3-in-1 to ask Janet, the clerk at
the counter to read it as well. Both
ladies agreed that the letter was not a hoax and that a phone call should be
made.
Janet allowed
Belita to use the landline behind the counter since her boss was ill and therefore
not around. As soon as the phone was
answered, the woman directed Belita’s call to her supervisor. The next voice Belita heard was deep, professional, and
sincere.
“Miss Belita Mbantwa!”
he said. Belita could tell he was
smiling. “Good day to you! You are a very hard woman to find!”
Belita looked up
at Janet, and the two ladies smiled at each other. They both knew that Belita would be soon bound to Los Angeles for the
trip of a lifetime.
