Summary

Whilst playing hopscotch in Chapter 1, with her twin sister Cat, Robin Conrad trips over a shoelace and grazes her knee on the concrete. Their mother is displeased and calls her clumsy. We are told that crying in plain view of the neighbors would make their mother angry. The phone rings inside and their mother goes to answer it, telling Robin to go ask their maid, Mabel to clean her up. Cat starts crying, empathizing with her sister’s pain.

Mabel cleans the wound, giving Robin the affection she craves. Robin revels in Mabel’s accent. Her father asks her to bring him a beer and she goes to sit outside with him. He calls her “Freckles” (5) and it seems they have a close relationship. Robin helps him with the braai. Robin is a tomboy and her father teaches her all the things he...