Endings and Beginnings

'Mabegzo's place in my life is an uncomfortable space. The hypocrisy of my feelings for him has mauled my emotions for many years. I would think of him and my heart would swell with warmth, longing and regret and, immediately, disgust at myself for feeling this way. This would be followed by making excuses for myself: I was a little girl, I did not know, I was mourning my father and perhaps responded to the first male who showed me any kindness and warmth.'

When Redi Tlhabi is eleven years old, two years after her father's death, she meets the handsome, charming and smooth, Mabegzo. A rumoured gangster, murderer and rapist, he is a veritable 'jack-roller' of the neighbourhood. Against her family's wishes, she develops a strong connection to him. Redi herself doesn't understand why she is drawn to Mabegzo and why, at eleven, she feels a brokenness that only Mabegzo can fix.