The Saga of Mami

We live in a great neighborhood, and we are very fortunate to love all of our neighbors.  There is one woman, however, who was living at Regina’s house who was a little less than friendly to us.  We never really understood what had happened to make her dislike us so, but nevertheless, we were not on good terms.

In March, I was sitting on our porch reading and noticed Mami walk by the house a few times, carrying full loads on her head.  When Regina returned from work that day, I asked her what happened to Mami.  She laughed and shrugged, saying, “I don’t know why, but she left.”  Apparently, Mami accused Regina’s daughter Madea of stealing six of the hard-boiled eggs she was selling.  Madea claimed that she only went into the room to get her school uniform.  (We know Madea would not have stolen anything, so Mami’s claim was invalid.) 

Regina did not take Mami’s side, and she was vexed about that.  Rather than work out the situation, Mami decided to move out and go live with her brother on the other side of town.  Things were calm after that incident, and we figured we would never see her again.  A few weeks later, she showed up with a big bucket and started picking potato greens from behind our house.  Regina had planted those and we didn’t think Mami had asked for permission before taking the greens.  Sure enough, she had just started picking them without asking Regina about it, and she was vexed.  She came over and asked Mami why she was stealing her food; Mami had no answer, and instead, just kept picking the greens.  Regina told her the only reason she was letting her take them was so that her son had food to eat. 

The funniest thing about this whole exchange was that Regina is the most kind-hearted woman I know.  She would not want Mami or her son to go hungry, and if Mami had asked to pick some greens, Regina would have said yes right away.  Instead, Mami thought she had to sneak around and steal them and Regina was upset she tried to sneak the way she did.

A few weeks later, I was woken up around 5:15 to the sounds of someone in Regina’s house wailing.  I went outside and kept hearing the noises coming from the house; I had no idea what was happening, but everyone was going about their business acting as if nothing unusual was going on.  Later that morning, two men came and carried a woman into a room built off of their outdoor kitchen.  We asked Regina what was going on, and she said that it was Mami and that she had gone crazy. 

Apparently Regina had gotten a call the night before that Mami had run away from her brother’s house and left her son with him.  Regina went and got Mami’s son and brought him home.  That morning, Regina went out looking for Mami and found her wandering on the streets.  She had gone “mad,” and was not acting in her usual way.  For the next week or so, she lived with Regina, and became something fun for the kids to mess with.  She and I had a rather interesting exchange, where she tried to beg me for some Irish potatoes I was cooking after claiming that Regina never fed her.  Her laugh was eerie and I never did know how to react around her.

A few days later, we noticed a motor bike pulled up outside Regina’s house and the driver was loading all of Mami’s stuff onto it.  I asked Robertson what was happening and he said that they were carrying Mami into the bush to stay with her parents and get treatment for her sickness.  While we all thought this was an important idea, she apparently felt differently about it.  This afternoon culminated into a show for the entire neighborhood to watch.  Robertson and Peter, a boy living in that house, chased her down, put her on the ground, and proceeded to tie her up. They tied her ankles and wrists, wrapped a lappa around her waist, and carried her to a wheelbarrow, which they tied her to as well.  Then Robertson pushed her to parking with Regina following so that they could visit the bush. 

Needless to say, Mami did not want to go and ended up returning to her brother’s house.  A few days later, however, she did travel to the interior and has been there ever since, receiving treatment for her sickness.  We have no idea what happened to set her off, but I hope that when she returns, she will be a little friendlier and a little more willing to take care of her son.  Until then, we are grateful for our neighbors and their caring hearts when it comes to strangers.