As a parting gift one of the policemen threw a teargas canister into the kitchen. Miriam and Amos struggled towards the bedroom to save themselves from choking. After shutting the bedroom door behind them they fell down on to the bed bewildered. Every room in the house was soon filled with tearsmoke. Miriam had grabbed a wet facecloth from behind the bedroom door and held it over Amos’s face as he had seemed to faint. Quickly she opened the bedroom window. ‘They are pigs. Just smell this house! Are you all right?’ she asked Amos.

‘We must live like this because we are of the wrong colour Mother.’

One by one the boys crept out of their hiding places and thanked Miriam and Amos politely, almost apologetically, for the trouble they had caused. Miriam ordered them to open all the windows and doors to get the smell out of the house.
‘It’s our duty to protect you children,’ said Miriam.

The children discussed the events of the day in the backroom where Steve and Fassie slept. In their bedroom Miriam and Amos sat in silence. Finally she asked, ‘Where is our Fassie?’

‘I hope he is safe,’ answered Amos. She started to weep softly. After a while she knelt down to pray at his side. Amos tenderly laid his hand on her while the young people continued their meeting. Their loud and angry voices filtered through to the bedroom.

‘I saw them baton charge a young girl as she lay on the ground.’

‘That policeman hit her over the body with the strength of an ox!’ said Steve.

‘I saw them whip a priest full in the face, shattering his spectacles. I’m sure he’s lost the sight in that eye. I’ve never seen anything so cruel,’ said another.

‘What about the two old nuns they arrested!’ someone complained angrily.

‘All our leaders have been detained. Tomorrow we will meet at school and decide how to protest against this injustice,’ said Steve.

‘One of you go outside and see if the police vans are still patrolling. We must search for my brother. We must find him!’

As they prepared to leave, their lookout returned to whisper, ‘It’s all clear. They’ve left the area.’

On the way out Steve went into his parents’ room. His father was asleep but his mother was sitting next to him, just staring into space. ‘We are going to look for Fassie, Ma. You rest now. I can see that you are tired.’

‘God go with you, Son.’ She lay down next to her husband, but she was awake for a long time still. In the distance she heard the sound of gunshots, and people running and screaming.

The following morning she awoke with a headache and her body felt stiff all over. Quietly she tiptoed into the next room to see if Steve had returned home the previous night. On seeing the sleeping figure she murmured, ‘Thank God.’ Miriam shook him awake, asking softly, ‘Do you have any news about your brother?’

‘We’ve looked all over, Ma. But he cannot be found.’

Miriam went silently into the kitchen to cook a pot of mealie meal for breakfast. As she stirred the porridge she decided to go to Groote Schuur Hospital to tell Winnie about Fassie’s disappearance.

‘Maybe she can help,’ she said to herself. After they had had their breakfast Steve prepared to leave for school.

‘I’m going to Winnie for help. Maybe Fassie is in hospital,’ Miriam stated.

‘Take care how you walk, Ma. Don’t take chances out there,’ said Steve. ‘I’m off now. ‘Bye Ma and Pa. Take care now,’ he shouted on his way out.

‘I must be off too,’ Miriam said to Amos.

‘Will you be all right or shall I come with you?’

‘Now how can you come with your injured leg? No, you stay here. I won’t be long.’ She pulled a scarf over her head, kissed him and left the house with feelings of anticipation that she would somehow find Fassie.

The streets were scattered with stones and the burnt-out tyres had left imprinted circles on the asphalt roads from the previous day’s unrest. As she passed the high school she saw massive army trucks parked outside the grounds with police and soldiers patrolling inside the fence. Their rifles were hanging down their sides. A helicopter hovered overhead. A Buffel troop carrier appeared from around a corner like an angry buffalo with a cannon for a nose, ready to attack. The township looked like a battlefield and a deathly atmosphere pervaded the scene which seemed to expect more violence. She hurried on and when she arrived at the hospital she climbed the stairs to Ward T2 where Winnie was on duty. They embraced each other.

‘You look terrible, Ma. Are Steve and Fassie okay?’ Winnie asked anxiously.

‘That’s why I’m here. They joined the march to Pollsmoor yesterday. Now Fassie is missing. We are sick with worry.’

‘Wait let me ask Matron for a few minutes off, then we can talk inside. ‘

After a short while Winnie returned and took her mother’s arm. They went through the male wards of the hospital. Winnie searched among the faces of the patients for her brother’s but without success.

‘Come let’s go to the out-patients, Ma,’ suggested Winnie.

They found the corridors crowded with injured people from the townships. Inside the hall the benches were packed, and the doctors were busy attending to some people with gunshot wounds. A young boy howled for his mother. Winnie and Miriam walked amongst the injured people searching for Fassie but he was not to be found there.