when he was a child. I didn’t even know about it then. None of us did. It was only later, as others around us began to get sick and die, that we learned what it was and what to call it. So when Joseph brought his children to us in Dar from their home in Mwanza, and he told us that AIDS had come to his house, then I knew that we were going to lose him. It sliced through my heart like a machete, Dr Rejoice. I felt somehow that I had failed him as a mother because I hadn’t warned him.”
“
Eh
, my dear!”
“Now my heart will stop beating if I fail my grandchildren, too. As a grandmother, it’s my job to be wise. But how can I be wise if I don’t educate myself about this disease that’s infecting people in every country on our continent?”
“You are very wise to think that way, my dear. Next time you’re at the clinic I’ll give you some information to take home to read.”
“Thank you, Dr Rejoice. You know, I’m not even going towait for next time when one of the children is sick. I’ll come to the clinic to fetch that information on Monday.”
“I’ll leave it with the nurse at reception in case I’m busy when you come. You know how crazy it is there! I hope we can get another doctor soon; it’s too much to expect just one doctor to treat all the students
and
all the staff
and
all their dependents. Now, what did you come here to buy, my dear? I’ve come for an extra blanket because some members of my family are coming to visit from Nairobi. I don’t want you to go inside and feel again like someone has thrown a blanket over your head. Would you like me to shop for you?”
Angel laughed. “Thank you, Dr Rejoice, but I’m fine now, really. I’ll come in with you. I need to buy another mixing bowl for my cakes, because my orders are increasing.” Angel looked at her watch and started to get up from the tiny stool, using the arm of Dr Rejoice’s plastic chair for leverage. “My husband has gone to the market for our weekly groceries. He always manages to get a better price than I do. He says I’m unable to concentrate only on the price of the sweet potatoes that I want because I look at the seller and I think about the work that she has done to clear the land and to plant the seeds and to harvest the sweet potatoes, and I know that she has children to feed. My husband says that as soon as you look at the seller, the seller is going to get more from you. He says that you must ignore the seller and see only what she is selling.”
“Your husband sounds like an economist,” said Dr Rejoice with a smile. “Are you sure he doesn’t work for the World Bank?”
Angel laughed. “Eh! If he worked there he wouldn’t need to negotiate a fair price; he’d have money to waste. But let’s go in now. I must be waiting for him outside the German butchery when he’s finished at the market.”
IN the afternoon, Angel looked forward to some peace and solitude. Titi had already taken the boys to play with their friends who lived down the road, and the girls were busy dressing up for Zahara’s birthday party. Pius had gone to his office to send some emails, but he would be back shortly to take the girls—and Zahara’s aeroplane cake—to the party. From there he would go straight to a colleague’s house to watch soccer on TV.
Angel had borrowed a Nigerian video from the wife of one of Pius’s colleagues. Such videos were generally unsuitable for children, and she had been warned that this one was particularly full of witchcraft, adultery, betrayal and vengeance. An afternoon alone in the apartment with a good film was exactly what she needed.
“Are you ready, girls?” she called.
“Baba
will be here very soon and you know he doesn’t like to wait.”
The girls came out of the bedroom looking so pretty in their party dresses that tears began to prick the back of Angel’s eyes. Grace was tall, with long thin arms and legs that seemed to have little more than bone in them. Her skinny neck
“
Eh
, my dear!”
“Now my heart will stop beating if I fail my grandchildren, too. As a grandmother, it’s my job to be wise. But how can I be wise if I don’t educate myself about this disease that’s infecting people in every country on our continent?”
“You are very wise to think that way, my dear. Next time you’re at the clinic I’ll give you some information to take home to read.”
“Thank you, Dr Rejoice. You know, I’m not even going towait for next time when one of the children is sick. I’ll come to the clinic to fetch that information on Monday.”
“I’ll leave it with the nurse at reception in case I’m busy when you come. You know how crazy it is there! I hope we can get another doctor soon; it’s too much to expect just one doctor to treat all the students
and
all the staff
and
all their dependents. Now, what did you come here to buy, my dear? I’ve come for an extra blanket because some members of my family are coming to visit from Nairobi. I don’t want you to go inside and feel again like someone has thrown a blanket over your head. Would you like me to shop for you?”
Angel laughed. “Thank you, Dr Rejoice, but I’m fine now, really. I’ll come in with you. I need to buy another mixing bowl for my cakes, because my orders are increasing.” Angel looked at her watch and started to get up from the tiny stool, using the arm of Dr Rejoice’s plastic chair for leverage. “My husband has gone to the market for our weekly groceries. He always manages to get a better price than I do. He says I’m unable to concentrate only on the price of the sweet potatoes that I want because I look at the seller and I think about the work that she has done to clear the land and to plant the seeds and to harvest the sweet potatoes, and I know that she has children to feed. My husband says that as soon as you look at the seller, the seller is going to get more from you. He says that you must ignore the seller and see only what she is selling.”
“Your husband sounds like an economist,” said Dr Rejoice with a smile. “Are you sure he doesn’t work for the World Bank?”
Angel laughed. “Eh! If he worked there he wouldn’t need to negotiate a fair price; he’d have money to waste. But let’s go in now. I must be waiting for him outside the German butchery when he’s finished at the market.”
IN the afternoon, Angel looked forward to some peace and solitude. Titi had already taken the boys to play with their friends who lived down the road, and the girls were busy dressing up for Zahara’s birthday party. Pius had gone to his office to send some emails, but he would be back shortly to take the girls—and Zahara’s aeroplane cake—to the party. From there he would go straight to a colleague’s house to watch soccer on TV.
Angel had borrowed a Nigerian video from the wife of one of Pius’s colleagues. Such videos were generally unsuitable for children, and she had been warned that this one was particularly full of witchcraft, adultery, betrayal and vengeance. An afternoon alone in the apartment with a good film was exactly what she needed.
“Are you ready, girls?” she called.
“Baba
will be here very soon and you know he doesn’t like to wait.”
The girls came out of the bedroom looking so pretty in their party dresses that tears began to prick the back of Angel’s eyes. Grace was tall, with long thin arms and legs that seemed to have little more than bone in them. Her skinny neck
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