Summary

Chapter Nine begins with a shift in narrative focus onto a new character – Margaret Wright, the surgeon performing the heart transplant for Premier Uttley. The narration describes her nervousness (despite her years of experience) and her concurrent awareness that this is an important operation, that everything she does and/or says is going to be scrutinized and made public. The narration also goes into apparently careful detail about what exactly is being done during the surgery – that is, what is removed from what, what is attached to what. Wright makes references to the relative health and age of the donor, and banters with her assistants. Finally, the process is complete, and Mami’s heart starts beating in Uttley’s chest.

The narration then shifts focus to Rudy, receiving both congratulations and payment from Baines, “with extra compensation for his three men who had...