When Rain Clouds Gather

The next morning, Gilbert, Makhaya, and Paulina drive into the countryside around Golema Mmidi. They encounter complete desolation. The only animals moving about are vultures and jackal; the remains of dead cattle and wild buck can be seen in the stillness. From a distance, the three see vultures circling above the Sebeso cattle post. They arrive and find that all of Paulina’s cattle have died; her son is also dead, his bones picked clean and lying on the floor of a hut.

Although Paulina wants to see her son, Makhaya prevents her from doing so. He remains behind while Gilbert takes Paulina back to the village, and discovers a collection of the boy’s woodcarvings. George Appleby-Smith and a doctor, who judges the boy had died from malnutrition, arrive to register the death; Makhaya then sets the boy’s remains ablaze and puts the ashes in a container. This entire experience proves emotionally exhausting for Makhaya, who drops off to sleep soon after he returns to Golema Mmidi. Soon Maria, who brings an account of Paulina, awakens Makhaya—news of his and Paulina’s liaison has spread around the town. Paulina’s feelings of guilt over Isaac’s death threaten to make her suicidal.

Makhaya goes to see Paulina, who is with Mma-Millipede. Paulina rushes towards him in her sorrow, and Makhaya says he has brought her a memento of her child: the bag of carvings. As Paulina and her companions inspect the carvings, it seems as though Isaac is once more alive and in their presence, evoked by possessions that are so rich in his personality. Though aware that he is in the presence of great sorrow, Makhaya no longer feels pessimistic about his prospects; he can live with dignity even on a continent as socially and politically troubled as Africa.

One morning a week after the discovery of her son’s death, Matenge summons Paulina, sending one of his servants to bring her to court. When Paulina asks what the charges are, the servant refuses to provide any information. Speculating that Matenge wants to see her because she refused to report the death of her son, and offended by the servant’s intrusive conduct, Paulina sets off for the chief’s mansion. As she walks along, many other people join her. Matenge’s conduct over the years has finally led to a confrontation between him and the community.

The people—almost all the residents of Golema Mmidi—assemble peacefully in the village center. Matenge looks out his widow, sees the gathered villagers, and is overcome with tears. He realizes that his life has been spent inflicting needless suffering on those around him and that his efforts have been futile, yielding little more than his own loneliness. The villagers remain sitting outside Matenge’s mansion until Makhaya arrives; after a few questions, the young man breaks down the mansion’s door and finds that Matenge has hanged himself from a rafter. News of the suicide quickly reaches Chief Sekoto and George Appleby-Smith, who are shocked and dispirited despite their usual good humor.

For a short time, the death of Matenge looms over the villagers. Yet, such a bleak event cannot impede the long-term prospects of Golema Mmidi, nor undermine the optimism and dynamism of a man such as Gilbert. Despite the persistence of injustice and political intrigue, Botswana and, by extension, Africa are rich with promise, watched over by a Good God who has the power to bring the best possible people together in one place. This same God is also envisioned as changing Makhaya’s fate, transforming him from a hot-tempered, young man into a more cautious father of a family. When Rain Clouds Gather ends with Makhaya’s proposal of marriage to Paulina Sebeso—a proposal that she accepts and that signals the beginning of a new life for both of them.