In this story by NoViolet Bulawayo six hungry children from an African slum “raid” the guava trees of a rich neighborhood. Aged eight to eleven, one of them (a ten-year-old) is pregnant to her grandfather. As they return home they discuss their dreams and aspirations, with one making the grim prediction that one day they will move to bigger things inside the houses. Close to home they find a woman’s body hanging from a tree. Before reporting it, they remove her shoes to sell for a loaf of bread. Themes include social inequality, poverty, dehumanization, friendship, freedom, childhood innocence.
A fascinating aspect of the story is that, despite the children’s dire circumstances, they can still find a reason to run and laugh out of joy… whether it is on the way to Budapest, or to remove a dead woman’s shoes!
Also of interest is the contrast between the offensive British woman who flaunts her wealth and photographs the children while “caged” behind the fence of her father’s mansion and the children who, although hungry and poor, seemingly have no fear roaming anywhere in the city.
Hitting Budapest Text / PDF (4,050 words)