The Bite of the Mango

Returning from begging one afternoon, Mariatu is shocked to find her childhood sweetheart, Musa. He tells her that he loves her but she is conflicted. She wishes to say that she loves him too but instead tells him to “find a normal girl and have a normal life,” saying that she wants him to “remember me for who I used to be, what I used to look like” (93). Musa protests and returns to the camp two more times to see Mariatu but is never able to change her mind.

Mariatu goes into labor but there are complications and she has to have a caesarian birth. She awakens in pain, with her stomach bandaged, and Marie hands her her son. Mariatu names him Abdul, after Mohamed’s uncle, Fatmata’s husband.

When Marie pulls up Mariatu’s top to allow the baby to feed, Mariatu is indignant and any “sensations of love” she had felt before are quickly “soured” (96). As time goes on, she fails to bond with Abdul, admitting that “that never happened […] I don’t know why” (97).

Worsening matters, when Mariatu first sees the scar from the caesarian, she feels sick and can only wonder “What else? What other deformity will befall my body?” (97).