Ragged, a feverish glow in the eyes, Déogratias enters the streets of Butare, Rwanda. He needs urwagwa, always more urwagwa, the banana-beer. To forget that he is but a dog, terrorised by the night. To forget the nightmares haunting him. To forget that he, the Hutu, has murdered the Tutsi-women that he loved. But is it possible to wipe from body and mind the poisonous traces of blood and the salty taste of tears?