Chapter 7

Info

• page: 88-114
• place: Guguletu
• time: Wednesday 25th of August 1993
• people: Mandisa, her family and her boyfriend China (in her memories)

Content

• Before Mandisa starts to tell how the pregnancy with Mxolisi came about, she says to the victim's mother that her eldest son has always been a troublemaker from early on
• In 1972, Mandisa is a straight-A student whose mother hopes that her good grades will get her out of the townships and into a respectable profession
• After Mxolisi's mother meets her first boyfriend China in her teens, her mother constantly worries about her getting pregnant and risking her ticket out of Guguletu. The two teenagers Mandisa and China have intimate relations, but sexual intercourse does not take place because Mandisa is afraid of her mother and China respects his father
• Mandisa's mother, who regularly examines her daughter for physical signs of pregnancy, sends Mandisa to Gugululu to live with her grandmother in the country, hoping that she will be less exposed to seduction there
• Although her grandmother cares touchingly for her granddaughter, Mandisa feels rejected and betrayed by her own mother
• When Mandisa's aunt comes to visit a few weeks later, she suspects that her niece might be pregnant and has her examined by a midwife, who confirms the suspicion
• Mandisa's mother is then called in, who shows up a little later and is full of shame that her daughter has let herself be impregnated by China. While Mandisa's aunt believes her niece never really slept with China and the pregnancy must have happened while being intimate, Mandisa's mother confronts her daughter very ruthlessly. For the young mother, her mother's rejection is just as bad as the fact that she is now pregnant. She has the feeling that her life is over

Chapter 8

Info

• page: 115-163
• place: Guguletu
• time: Wednesday 25th of August 1993
• people: Mandisa, her family and China (in her memories)

Content

• Mxolisi's mother turns back to the victim's mother and describes to her how, since Amy's murder, she is regularly called names such as „mother of the beast“ (p. 115, l. 3) or „Satan's mother“ (p. 115, l. 5)
• Mandisa goes back to her youth. On the return journey with her mother away from her grandmother, she tries to distract herself with thoughts of her boyfriend China
• But China turns out to be just as shocked and unhappy about the pregnancy as her mother, as he wants to go to boarding school next summer
• After Mandisa, disappointed by her boyfriend's rejection, never wants to see the latter again, she goes through an intense pregnancy. The birth of her boy, whom she names Hlumelo, is excruciating, but the strain is forgotten as soon as she holds her newborn for the first time. Even her father, who had turned his back on his daughter, makes peace with his child again and recognises Hlumelo as his grandchild
• Mandisa's greatest wish, to marry the father of her child, quickly evaporates and she begins to attend night school. However, her father allows himself to be persuaded by his relatives and then opposes his daughter's wish. And so it comes to the wedding between China and Mandisa
• China's family forces the young woman to rename her child „Mxolisi“. When Mxolisi is two years old, Mandisa manages to escape the clutches of her husband China and rents a room of her own, where she lives together with her son
• The young mother associates a lot of suffering and pain with her firstborn, but still loves him with all her heart. Mxolisi spends a lot of time with two of his neighbour's children, even though they are much older than he is. One day there is one of the many attacks on civilians and in panic the three children run home. Two policemen follow them, suspecting the two older neighbouring children. Mxolisi, who thinks this is all a game, points to the cupboard where his two friends are hiding and, at the age of four, has to watch the policemen shoot his two friends
• After the tragedy, Mxolisi does not speak a word for two years and despite numerous therapy sessions, Mandisa's boy does not seem to get better. Eventually he starts speaking again just before he starts school. When Mxolisi comes to school, he stands out especially for his eloquence and political activism

Chapter 9

Info

• page: 164-172
• place: Guguletu
• time: Thursday 26th of August, 6 AM
• people: Mandisa, Skonana, Dwadwa

Content

• Back in the present, after the violent assault by the police officers, Mandisa worries why they had come at all, but suspects that they would suspect Mxolisi
• Siziwe, who is still beside herself since the attacks on the students, is visibly upset by the turmoil in the family and in the city. In tears, she admits to having seen Mxolisi hiding something in the shed the day before
• Siziwe's confession worries her mother even more and she tries to calm herself down by telling herself that Mxolisi has always come home so far
• Before Dwadwa leaves for his work, he tells Mandisa that he thinks Mxolisi knows very well that the police are looking for him and that is why he will not come home