Xala

Back at the wedding reception, the young people were still on the dance floor. The businessmen’s group were apart from the other guests, immersed in conversation about politics, Communism, birth control, and capitalism. El Hadji flitted from group to group before joining his business associates. The president of the group asked if he would soon be leaving to deflower his virginal new wife. Laye, another associate, asked if El Hadji had taken the aphrodisiac he had recommended. This started a conversation about aphrodisiacs, which all of the men knew a lot about. This discussion ended when N’Gone came over. Just then, the lights went out. When they came back on, the bride and groom were gone.

Yay Bineta was busy preparing the bridal chamber. She had fitted the bed in white sheets. When N’Gone entered, she helped her goddaughter get ready. She took off the bride’s white crown and placed it on the tailor’s dummy. She advised N’Gone not to be afraid but to “be docile in [her] husband’s arms” (23). Meanwhile, in the bathroom, El Hadji swallowed some pills to assist with his virility. He went into the bridal chamber where N’Gone was lying on the bed, wearing a diaphanous nightgown.