After a certain hour, blacks had to
be back home in the township or
risk arrest. My mother didn’t care.
She was determined to never go
home again. So she stayed in town,
hiding and sleeping in public
restrooms until she learned the
rules of navigating the city from the
other black women who had
contrived to live there: prostitutes.
Many of the prostitutes in town
were Xhosa. They spoke my
mother’s language and showed her
how to survive. They taught her
how to dress up in a pair of maid’s
overalls to move around the city
without being questioned. They also