Chapter 11 Summary

Every time Laye returns home for vacation he notices that his mother has made improvements to his hut, and this touches him. He can see that his hut is gradually acquiring a European look. She has gone to great pains to make it exactly what she thinks he likes. She has even constructed a divan bed where he hangs out with his friends until late at night.

Laye's mother is concerned about some of the young women he associates with when he is home. Being away at school most of the year, Laye doesn't hear the local gossip, but his mother does. Being her authoritarian self, she has no problem pulling a girl out of his group of friends and shoving her through the door, telling the girl to go home and not come back. Laye doesn't like this behavior from his mother...