Mother to Mother

Mandisa imagines the American girl going through her morning routine on the day of the murder—singing, showering, and preparing for her return home.After breakfast, she climbs back into bed to read, "scribbling notes as she goes along, the hand holding the pen wagging furiously like the tail of an over-eager puppy" (6). By 8:00, she is on her way to the university.

Mandisa then recalls her own routine across town in Guguletu. She has difficulty waking her children, and she is irritated that they don't sit down for breakfast. Mxolisi and his brother Lunga complain that their mother never makes porridge for them anymore, and Mandisa reflects bitterly on the fact that she has to work rather than "stay[ing] home doing all the things a mother's supposed to do" (8). She reminds her children of a few ground rules before leaving, but knows that her absence makes her authority a "mere formality, a charade, something nobody ever heeds" (8).

We return to the American student. She thinks again about how happy she is to be returning home, though she acknowledges that she will have a difficult time saying goodbye to the friends she's made in South Africa.