Nervous Conditions: Chapter One Summary & Analysis

Tambu explains that she wasn't sorry when her brother died and has no intention of apologizing for seeming callous. Instead, she'd like to tell the reader about the events that led up to Nhamo's death and that allowed her to write this story. She insists that the story isn't about Nhamo's death as much as it's about her and Lucia's escape, Mainini and Maiguru's entrapment, and the many rebellions of her cousin, Nyasha.

Nhamo dies when Tambu is thirteen. She and her family expect Nhamo to arrive from the mission by bus, a mode of transportation he detests: he doesn't like the smells or how slow it is. He prefers it when their uncle and the headmaster of the mission school, Babamukuru, drives Nhamo home. Nhamo also suggests often that the school hire a special bus for him and the one other student in their area, but this would still mean that Nhamo would have to walk about two miles from the bus stop to the homestead.

Tambu doesn't understand why Nhamo feels this way. The walk home winds through fields where friends work, through fruit trees, and by the river, which is called the Nyamarira. Tambu explains that there are several spots where children can swim, and others where women do laundry. However, Tambu says that when she was young, the government built District Council houses near where everyone washed, which meant that people began crossing the river there to reach the shops and an ale house. Regardless, Tambu doesn't understand why Nhamo hates the walk and explains that he usually avoids it altogether by staying at the mission for holidays.

Tambu explains that it was Babamukuru's idea to enroll Nhamo at the mission in 1965, as it would allow Nhamo to enter a profession and raise the family out of poverty. By that time, Nhamo was already doing well at the local school. Tambu and Nhamo’s father, Jeremiah, quickly saw the sense in this plan. Jeremiah would often tell Nhamo that if he had brains like Babamukuru, he'd be a doctor. Once, Tambu asked Jeremiah to explain how smart Babamukuru is; Jeremiah replied that Babamukuru had been an avid reader and had been given the chance to learn.

On this day in 1968, Babamukuru has a meeting and therefore can't drive Nhamo, though Tambu suspects that Babamukuru secretly wants Nhamo to take the bus. She explains that except for Jeremiah, they're all worried about Nhamo's development. Not long after going to the mission, Nhamo stopped coming home for holidays, always citing the need to study. This allowed him to avoid the corn harvest, which is uncomfortably itchy work. However, Babamukuru does make Nhamo come home in the fall for the planting. When he's home, he has to bathe in cold water and can only read by candlelight. The poverty "began to offend him," and he stopped helping with chores—unless Babamukuru was there to watch or help. Tambu doesn't like it when Babamukuru helps, as he looks less dignified, and she also hates having to kill a chicken for his dinner.

In the evening, Mainini goes to her vegetable garden and Tambu returns to the homestead. She expects to find Nhamo, but he's not there. Her younger sisters, Netsai and Rambanai, are playing a game. Tambu isn't worried that Nhamo isn't home; the bus is often late. She reasons that he probably won't come home tonight at all, as that would mean having to carry his own luggage (which is usually little more than a small bag or two) rather than send Netsai to fetch it from the terminal. One bag usually contains tea for Mainini from Maiguru, but Nhamo keeps it for himself.

Tambu knows that Nhamo is just exerting his power when he makes Netsai fetch his luggage. She hates it, especially when Nhamo refuses to watch Rambanai and makes Netsai take the baby with her—which then means that Tambu has to help as well. Tambu is too big for Nhamo to bully, but Nhamo beats Netsai if Tambu tries to stop her from fetching the luggage. This isn't all that's nasty about Nhamo; Tambu still thinks their home was healthier when he wasn't there.

Without a chicken to kill, Tambu turns to preparing the evening meal of sadza and vegetables. Netsai brings Tambu out of her reverie by asking what's wrong. Tambu doesn't want to say that she was thinking of how much she dislikes Nhamo, so she says that it'll be good when he arrives. She gathers the items she needs for cooking and discovers that Netsai already fetched water and washed the cooking pots.

Naïvely, Tambu thinks that when Nhamo gets home, she'll make him catch the chicken, and she'll pluck and cook it. She believes this is naïve because Nhamo has no interest in being fair. Tambu tells the reader that Nhamo didn't mean to be obnoxious; in reality, he was just behaving in the way that was expected of him, and concerns of his female family members aren't important. This is why, when Nhamo dies, Tambu is two grades behind where she should've been. As a young teen, she felt these injustices deeply, which is how she came to dislike Nhamo and her family.