Mother to Mother

Back in the present day, Mandisa and her family are trying to collect themselves after the police raid. Skonana stops by and asks what the police wanted, and Dwadwa tells her they were looking for Mxolisi.

Dwadwa and Mandisa assess Lunga's injuries and try to calm Siziwe down, but are interrupted by another neighbor: Qwati. Dwadwa dismisses her angrily, but Mandisa tells her to come back later. She then returns to Siziwe and puts her to bed. Siziwe, though, soon calls out for her mother and begins crying.

Mandisa asks Siziwe what's wrong, and Siziwe ultimately admits that Mxolisi briefly came by the house before Mandisa returned from work. She says that she thinks he hid something in the hokkie, but when Mandisa presses for details, Siziwe clams up: "Like a shutter, something came over Siziwe's face…over her eyes. Now, other eyes in another face looked at me…Cagey as a fox" (169). Mandisa concludes something must have frightened Siziwe.

With the children tended to, Dwadwa begins to get ready for work. Mandisa, however, says she intends to wait at home for Mxolisi, and to go looking for him if he hasn't returned by midday. Dwadwa again warns Mandisa that Mxolisi will cause trouble for her.