Now is the Time for Running

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes instances of substance abuse and addiction.

Eighteen months later, Deo is sitting under a highway in Cape Town. He is high on glue. There is a soccer ball flying toward his head, but he does not try to move out of the way. For Deo, time seems to be passing very slowly. After Innocent’s death, the Methodist Church refugee camp closed down, so Deo made his way to a refugee camp called Sea Haven in Cape Town. He stayed at Sea Haven until that camp also had to close. With no home to go to, Deo ended up on the street. Now living on the street, he hangs around with other children who, like him, are all addicted to sniffing glue. 

The soccer ball finally hits Deo in the face, and then more come flying through the air “like giant hailstones” (131). Deo starts kicking the soccer balls, doing headers and fancy footwork. He is surprised to realize that he still remembers “how to run with the ball at [his] feet, how to pass it from one foot to the other, how to lift it up in mid-run and flick it past [his] opponent” (132).