The Bite of the Mango

Mariatu’s aunt, Abibatu, arrives to help care for her. While helping her bathe, she notices that Mariatu’s breasts have begun to swell. A doctor soon confirms that Mariatu is pregnant. Abibatu asks Mariatu “Did the rebels give you a baby?” (67). Mariatu says no but is “really confused” (67). All she knows is that babies come “from a woman’s belly button” and that “only women have babies, not girls” (67).

It is not until Abibatu explains “how babies were made” (68) that Mariatu realizes how she became pregnant. A month before the rebel attack, while the villagers were hiding in the bush, Salieu lay down beside Mariatu and “started touching me all over, fondling my breasts and my hair, making his way in between my legs” (69). Ibrahim comes to investigate after Mariatu screams but Salieu simply claims that Mariatu had been having a nightmare and there was no need to be concerned.

After the incident, Salieu began visiting Mariatu’s home, asking to borrow small items, all the time watching Mariatu “through the slits in the corners of his eyes” (69). When Mariatu eventually gathered the courage to tell Marie, her aunt strikes her across the face with a “whipping stick” and admonishes her not to “speak badly of your elders again” (70).