12. Pretoria, February 11, 1990
In which a man walks free.
Tig, Eleanor and Becca watch history being made. But for Becca, the chains that hold her aren’t as easily broken.
Eleanor
It’s Sunday afternoon. Tig would have driven back to University today, but yesterday’s news changed all of that. Now we gather in the family room, eyes riveted on the TV. We watch as the extraordinary, the unthinkable just a few months ago, is about to happen.
“Becca, come in here and watch,” Tig calls to her in the kitchen, beckoning her into the family room with us. It’s her day off, but she doesn’t have a TV in her room, so Tig insisted she come to the house to watch with us. She’s been standing at the kitchen counter, watching from there though, rather than coming into the family room.
“Come, sit, Becca,” and I pat the seat next to me.
“No, Miss Elle, I’m okay here.”
“This is history,” Tig says, not taking his eyes off the TV. “You don’t want to miss any of it.”
Becca doesn’t move. But she does watch.
And there he is. The man. The legend. The symbol. I glance over at Becca. She is very still. The expression on her face is unreadable. She brings up a corner of her apron and wipes her eyes.
I get up and come to stand next to her. I reach out and hold her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. Becca squeezes back. We stand there silently together, me towering over the diminutive Becca, both riveted to the TV.
The maid, the daughter: we watch together as Mandela walks free.
Kelebohile (Rebecca)
As she stands there hand in hand with Miss Eleanor, Kelebohile feels deeply unsettled.
She has been waiting for this moment her whole life. She’s been in service since she was 22. She’s 45 now, just a few years older than the Madam. She’s been with the Williams family for 16 years. She has watched James and Eleanor grow up, while her own children grew up with her mother. With Tebogo, her husband, now unable to work because of his sickness from the mine1, they rely on her work with the Williams’ more than ever.
Mandela is free. But she is not. Not yet.
Book Club #1: Apartheid South Africa
Saturday, November 9, 10am ET (US) 5pm South Africa
Mandela has walked free. But before we follow Eleanor as she comes of age just as South Africa starts its transition away from apartheid, let’s take a moment to more fully explore together.
Bonus Materials
It caught the world by surprise
What they saw: the footage Eleanor and Kelebohile watched as Mandela walked free.
Not all were happy: others respond
