He was the firstborn, dutiful, took
care of his mother, took care of his
siblings. He was the pride of his
family.
But Abel was his English name.
His Tsonga name was Ngisaveni. It
means “Be afraid.”
—Mom and Abel got married. There
was no ceremony, no exchange of
rings. They went and signed the
papers and that was it. A year or so
later, my baby brother, Andrew, was
born. I only vaguely remember my
mom being gone for a few days, and
when she got back there was now