Crocodile Tails

"Crocodile Tails", is a story about two women, one from Africa, the other British, who become friends after meeting at the school they both teach at. Gill is from a wealthy family and has come to Zimbabwe to live and learn about difficulties. She is disappointed when she is assigned to work in a school whose biggest problem is the corporeal punishment that is inflicted on the students by the headmaster. On the other hand, Gills friend (who is not named) is astounded that someone wants to give up all of the comforts that they have been given in life. The story continues and eventually the two friends split up when Gill returns home to continue her education. Eventually they plan for a visit and the story closes as the un-named friend lands in England.

A State of Outrage

This is a story about a woman, Vuyokazi, who has been murdered by a mob in her hometown because she has AIDS. The story is a tale about how her girlfriends from school are all brought back together after her death and how they band together to form an "AIDS awareness" group, aimed at educating people about AIDS. Because AIDS is so prevalent in Africa I was surprised by this story. Although educational levels in this country are extremely low so I suppose that the people who are native to this country, especially when AIDS began popping up, were terrified of what may happen to them. There was a time in the United States when similar things (perhaps not as violent) happened to people who were found to be HIV positive. Before the disease was understood, and before it was discovered that it was not hyper-contagious, the general population was terrified that AIDS was the next plague. I remember children being forced to stop going to school and men and women losing their jobs over this disease. Sadly, in places throughout the world where violence is a lot more common, I think that this kind of "mob mentality" is a very common thing.

Stress

What a terrible story this was. Told from two points of view from two totally unrelated people, who really aren't connected, "Stress" does an excellent job of drawing a picture of how different two lives can be even when they are being lived in such close proximity. The first point of view is told by a woman who is only referred to as "the major-generals lover". She is a woman who thinks very highly of herself for someone who is technically, a whore. This woman spends much of her day absorbed in her own vanity and thinking disdainfully of those people who are not as well off as she is. Ironically, she has only achieved her status of wealth by sleeping with a married man that she doesn't even love. She is a gold-digger who becomes very frustrated when she cannot garner the attentions of a man who lives across from her porch. Then, the story swithches to this mans point of view. He is a teacher who is barely making ends meet caring for displaced relatives who keep showing up on his doorstep. Finally, the stress of providing for so many people is just too much for him to bare, and this man murders his wife, then turns himself in to the police. The irony is that here this is a good person, who is doing his best to care for his family, and nothing but bad things happen to him. While on the other hand, this prostitute lives comfortably and benefits from the war that is going on in her country.

Papa, Snake & I

This story was a little hard for me to understand. "Papa, Snake & I", is a story about a family whose son becomes transfixed with a snake that lives in the families chicken coop. I understood the story, the snake bites the neighbors dog, who dies, and the neighbor becomes enraged and insists that he be paid some type of compensation. I found myself wanting to yell at the kid to kill the snake when he has the opportunity rather than to allow it to attack and kill the dog. If a snake came near my dog I would throw myself across then yard to protect her! I thought it was weird that the mother kept insisting that the son take a laxative..I was wondering if this was considered a "cure" for an imagined illness or something along those lines? Also, I was confused as to the references that were made towards the hired help, a young woman named Sartina. At one point she is not dressed appropriately and then she is flirting with other young men who works with her. These references just seemed out of place and I was not quite sure how they fit in to the big picture of the story. Overall I understood the story, but I felt like I couldn't form the whole picture to grasp the larger message.

The Power of a Plate of Rice

"The Power of a Plate of Rice" was a story about a gross abuse of power. Mr. Aziza, the principal of a secondary school has cut off Cheta Adu's salary because she has been forced to take 4 days off due to a sick child. Not just a sick child, but one who was on his death bed. This monster of a man has suspended Cheta's salary for 5 months, which has put her in such dire straights that she cannot afford to feed her family. Furthermore, she is a widow and her child depends solely on her. Finally, Cheta Adu arrives at Mr. Aziza's house, eats his dinner in defiance and refused to leave until he releases her salary to her! And it works, Cheta Adu gets her money. Persistance does pay off!

The Museum

I directly related to this story. Shadia, a young woman who is in an exchange program is in school with fellow foreigners and having a difficult time with a statistics course. Currently I'm in a statistics course and having a heck of a time! I cannot imagine how difficult it would be for someone who may not speak very good english. Shadia is engaged to a wealthy, yet unattractive man who lives in her native homeland. She feels trapped in an engagement that will provide handsomely not only for her, but for her mothers and sisters as well. She meets a man at school and starts spending time with him. She seems to treat him cruelly by mocking is earring and long hair but she truly does like him. As the story ends it is clear that Shadia feels she does not have the strength to overcome the barriers she would face if she and this young man were to become a couple. The cultural diversity is too much to overcome in her opinion and she would rather not attempt it.

The Betrayal

I had a hard time interpreting this story. Essentially, a man and a woman decide to have a child, who then for a time raise him and tell him "You will cross continents and meet many people. Tell them what we taught you. Rebuild the cities destroyed by violence and oppression." It is as if the child's parents want him to be some sort of Messiah or God. Unfortunately, the child travels far and wide taking in all of the spectacles he sees, but he never quite develops into a hero. Instead he feels "cut off from others" and "anguish was wrecking his life. It broke his spirit and stripped him of his strength." This continues until one day the young man falls in love with a woman who is completely oblivious to the feelings of love that he has for her. Then the young man drugs the woman, waits until she passes out, and rapes and impregnates her. The story ends violently with what seems like Armageddon.

Uncle Bunty

"Uncle Bunty" is another story about a man who marries a woman, does not lover her, and has numerous affairs. This story is told from the viewpoint of a niece who refers to this particular couple as "Uncle Bunty" and "Aunt Betty". Uncle Bunty has married Aunt Betty because Aunt Betty's father has given him a large amount of property to do so. They remain married for their whole lives because Aunt Betty's family will not allow her a divorce (despite her husbands philandering) until Uncle Bunty develops testicular cancer. Aunt Betty is at home caring for him one day when she receives a phone call from someone else who is also married to Uncle Bunty! Upon the realization that Uncle Bunty has been living a dual life, Aunt Betty's family "allows" her to have her divorce and life happily ever after in her old age.

The Red Velvet Dress

I hate to say it but "The Red Velvet Dress" really kept my attention throughout the entire story. Violence, incest, affairs, it had all the trappings of a Danielle Steel novel. Katrina has been in prison for 20 years for the murder of her father and the story opens as she sits at her mothers death bed with her aunt Tante. As the story unfolds we find out that Katrina and her best friend were sexually and physically abused by Katrina's father for all of their young lives. Katrina's best friend bares one child belonging to Katrina's father and when she becomes pregnant by him a second time and is subsequently run off of the farm they live on, she hangs herself. Katrina comes upon her friends lifeless body and shoots her father. Tante, Katrina's aunt, finally reveals to her that the man responsible for all of this horror was not her real father. This explains why Katrina has dark skin and hair in a light skinned family. Tante also reveals that Katrina's real father was murdered by the father she has grown up with after he discovered the affair between Katrina's mother and the other man. When Katrina's mother finally dies at the end of the novel, I was still in shock.

Enigma

The "Enigma" is a story about a young girl in her fathers care. Her name is Marie and the story is told from her point of view as a young girl who has led a somewhat sheltered life due to her fathers overprotective tendencies. She attends school during the day, but her father locks her in the house when he leaves on business. Her father appears to love his daughter very much and seems to contain her in their home for her own protection. Marie spends much of her time lamenting the fact that she and her father are waiting for a boy to propose to her. As the story continues, we learn that Marie is in fact secretly pregnant and knows that not only will she be forced out of school, but that she will lose her fathers love and protection and be cast out on her own; just her and her baby. I have to admit I found myself thinking "Is sex really that important that you would risk losing your family, education, and your future?" The funny thing is, here in the US, even in today's society, young people do this every day!

Deciduous Gazettes

Deciduous Gazettes was a little confusing for me to read. The basic concept of the story is that women marry men who cheat. And the rest of the tale is about what happens when those men get caught, and the choices that women do, or do not have, when it comes to either divorce, or revenge. The first portion of the story is told about a woman who knows that her husband is cheating on her, and she even knows the mistresses name! If I understood the story correctly, she overhears several of her friends discussing the affair in a woman's restroom and this is how she finds out. It is almost the ultimate form of embarrassment, to be the last one to know among your peers. Then this particular woman divorces her husband, something which is not popular in her culture, and is forced to allow her niece to move in with her as a "chaperon". I felt that this was a bit patronizing! Then it is discovered that the niece is having an affair with a different married man! I became a little confused when the story started to split up and I believe it began to tell other tale's of women who had caught their husbands cheating. I particularly enjoyed the story about the wife who destroyed the husbands apartment while he was out at work (after watching he and his mistress leave the apartment).