B26 wanted to change ge ee Bed Fe pate withthe car windows down and the air filed with gn and Rex Lawson’ y La dreamy thythins. He had a thins. He had a lecture in two hour f BU airport, and although a fat retendea to protest, she wanted him to, When they deere Gg 's that ran through Milliken Hill, w ve ne side and a steep hill on but had insisted on taking: her to k had pretended to prot Sh a deep gully on 0 m he other, she didn’t tell him th driving a ite fast. She did't lok, ith oe at the handwritten sign b was disappointed to see the s enema leek, white forms of 8 of aeroplane 1 airport. He parked beneath the 8 surrounded the car sliding; up as they approached thy colonnaded entrance. Porte ‘Sah? Madam? You get lug and called out, * but Olanna hardly heard them Because he had pulled her inarmalue, Sh wanted to Naa either but he ih andshe felt anew warmth between herlegs es" A car horn blew. A porte 5 his lips pressed to hers. He ta tell him that she couldn't w ww anyway frien * called out, Ha, this place i for loading Finally, Odenigbo let h d eho let her go and jumped out of the car to get her itto the ticket counter, Sate journ bag from the boot. He carried oma, he said, 5 Drive ereflly’ she sid She watched him wall away, 2 thickly built man in Khak ed shirt that looked crisp from ironing: He threw his anda short-s he-gait of a person who gressive confidence Jegs out with an a sins hhowigetthere”ter he drove off, she lowered her herself She had dabbed on his Old Spice that morning, impulsive nd did't tell him because he would laugh. He would not understand 1a whiff of him with her. It was as if the the superstition of taki ld, atleast for a while, stifle her questions and-mnal fetiemore ik Be tumed to the Deeet seller and wrote her name on a Ap of ae ‘The ticket seller's pockmarked face brightened in a wide nile ‘Chie Onobia's daughter? a (Oh Well done, madam, Iwill ask the porter to take you tothe VIP “The ticket eller turned around Thea! Whereis that fol ma little more certain, alittle less questioning. ish boy? Ikennat Olanna shook her head and smiled, ‘No, no need for that.” She ule that smiled again, reassuringly, to make it clear it was not his shegidmot want to be in the VIP lounge phe general lounge was crowded. Olanna sat opposite three little Gilidren in threadbare clothes and slippers who giggled intermit- 1 looks. An old woman with tently while their father gave them sever a sour, wrinkled fice, their grandmother, sat closest to Olanna clutching a handbag and murmuring to herself. Olanna could smell the mustiness on her wrapper; it must have been dug. out from ar ancient trunk for this occasion. When a clear voice announced the arrival of a Nigeria Airways flight, the father sprang up andl then s down again "You must be waiting for somebody; Olanna said to him in Igbo. ‘Yes, nwanne mi, my brother is coming back from overseas alter four yeurs reading there His Owerri dialect had a strong rural accent. COlanna said, She wanted to ask him where exactly his brother was coming back from and what he had studied, but she didn't. He might not know The grandmother turned to Olanna. ‘He is the first in our village to:goroverseas, and our people have prep dance troupe will meet us in Tkedurt.’ She smiled proudly to show brown teeth. Her accent was even thicker; it was dillicult to make out‘everything she said. “Mypellow.won ious, but r etichet seller ha gnalled to the whi rome forward y itmmy fault | desi et seller said, in that comically con 1u here, sin the ticket seller sai that: their-sons:have-emp people's scholarship: tase she knew the queue ‘white ac trived Another ight arrival vas announced and the father std, “Ch Ona was anryed, Dt only iy be ea It's him? It’s him! | fast anyway, So she was surprised at che outh r The children stood up and the father asked them to sit down and Towed, from a man wearing a brown safaris ; hi hing a om then stood up himself ‘The grandmother clutched her handbag to hee 1 I eearar asa ee tenes pally: Olanna watched the plane descend. I touched down, andust an narnia ee certremenahaoane it began to taxi on the tarmac, the grandmother screamed ad earner eIRNCTTEE STEEN ven hp er hang crm pope ou mst opolgie to eerybo Olanna was startled. What is i? What si ow brows behind the Mama!’ the father said Clana ha tare a ia the arch of is ees hind hy Why does it not stop The grandmother asked, both hand fimses, the thickness of his body, already think she would Placed on her head in despair. “Chi m! My Goal 1 ful way to untangle herself from Mohammed. Perhaps am in trouble Where is it taking my son jiferent, even i he had not spoke ew? Have you people deceived ie? have known that Odenigbo was diffe up ina high halo, But there was an Mame, it will stop’ Olanna said. This is what it does when it his haircut alone sai it, standin of those wh ands’ She picked p the handbag and then took the oldes chet unmistlable grooming about him, oo; aorapmanannionssen hand in hers. wil stop’ she sad agai sidineas. insubatantias theditadionion Sh a used the boldest thing sb She didn’ let go until the plane stopped and the gr 1 donet” as he walked past her, and it was the boldest ‘andmother v on from a man slipped her hand away and muttered something about fel dever done, the first time she had demanded at the arrivals gate. As she walked towards her own gy an CHa, 6a OM Mee ane, ae ean ath 5 bs ye own gate minutes late a racking mogicin te airand he would tel her tat hs desire she looked back often, hoping to catch a overseas, But she didn i impse of the son from been a cra at that moment was so Her ight was bumpy The man seated nex to her wa eating ie Whe she al sha dees rid ate ter kola, crunching loudly, and when he turned to mak ‘conversation thing else. She did not know that a man's thru the could she slowly shifted a wall Seah b The intensity had not abated ‘until she was pressed against the aeroplane P " pl at only feel not think or remember, norhad herawe avis solFassured ete use theirs was just have to tell you, you are so beautifil he std after two year stricto a fe smiled and said thank you and kept her eyes on her newspaper his ie Odenigho would be armused when 3 . rcationsip consume naps: Sh wupelioslwayslaughed ater adii — holiday; they wrote to one another dence Tt was what ha i | first attracted her to him that June day two that she was back in Nigeria they would live together, an Years ago in Ibadan, the kind of rainy da ee Of dusk although it was only noon, Sh; it she feared that this was be She saw him when she came hey talked on the phone, Now she told him about this man, the show y that wore the indigo colour tnderstand how he could no na euind She was in serious relationship with Mohammed. cha gu She looked out at the clouds outside her window, smok a fice satgeatigbo Mfrs, standing ahead of her in a queue to buy Arifting by, and thought how fragile they were Han: outside the university theatre. She'ntight never Hitifasovhiteman-with, sil bad, eaeHalf Yow Sum Olanna had not wanted to have dinner with her parents, especially since they had invited Chief Okonji. But her mother came room to ask her to please join them; it was not ever hosted the finance minister, and this dinner was because of the build nto her day that they even more important ig contract her father wanted. “Bio, wear some thing nice. Kainene will be dressing up, too; her mother had added as if mentioning her twin sister somehow legitimized every : hing. lap and! stiled at th ado next to her. His white uni- form was starched so stiff his trousers looked as if they had been ade out of cardboard. Thank you, Maxwell, she said Yes, aunty Now, Olanna smoothed the napkin other li steward placing a plate of halved avo Maxwell murnbled, and moved on with his tray Olanna looked around the table. Her parents were focu Okonji, nodding eagerly as he told a story abou with Prime Minister Balewa. Kainene thatarch expression of hersasif- she Ni sed on Chie a recent meeting as inspecting her plate with fere-mocking the avocado, fone of themthankee"MEKWell, Olanna wished they would; it was such a simple thing to do, to acknowledge the humanity ofthe people who served them, She had suggested it oncesher father ssid-he paid fe good salaries; and her mother said thanking: them would ‘tem roonr'to-besinsulting?-while-Keineney ascusualysaid.nothing, a bored expression on her This is the best avocado T have tasted in along time,’ Chief Okonji said Tis from one of our farms; her mother said. “The one near Asaba Tl have the steward put some in a bag for you, her f Excellent, Chief Okonji said. ‘Olanna, hope yours, eh? You've been staring att ighed, an overly he as well said you are enjoying as itis something that bites” He gulfaw, and her parents promptly laughed Ts very good. Olanna looked up. There was something wet Chief Okonji’s smile. Last week, when he thrust his card into her hand at the Tkoyi Club, she had worried abot looked as if the movement of his lips made sal threaten to trickle down his chin. hope you've thought about coming to joineussatsthe-ministry, Olanna, We need first about that smile because it iva fill his mouth and ss brains like yours? Chief Okonji sai. How mtn) eer a wo aoe npr, and her sil fica so nearly perfect, so symmet dark-skinned face that wa ly Pal, ends called her Art, ‘spoon down, ‘ve decided to go to Nsukka 1M ‘Olanna placed her spoon di peeaving in two wes i ‘She saw the way her father tig) Herm ended in the air for a moment, as if th salt. ‘I thought you had not made up are sip: er mth ft et an't waste too much time or they will ol ' Neulkka? Ohonjiated es, | applied : red 1 jast'BOCT? Olanna said. Shessuallyliked sut it was bland nowsalmost nauseating: Is that right? You've decided to move to Nsukka®” Chief 1 jobas instructor’ the:Department-of Sociol- avocado ogy-and Tj withoutsalty singed ‘Oh. So youre leaving uv in Lagos’ Chief Okon i. is fee seemed to melt, folding in on itself Then he turned and as 7 ou, Kain brightly, ‘And what about you, ue se ief Okonji right in the eyes, with that stare t said. His fice Ain ei esa it war abot Hoste “What Seatne ti She raised her eyebrows. ‘I, too, will be putting my ing, to Port-Havoourt.t0 about me, indeed e to good use. Lunmov newly acquired degree to g00 manage Daddy/s businesses there ol could tell what Kainene was think ymetimes looked! at exch other Oe eT ng, the same joke. She doubted that those flashes, moments when she When they were in primary and Iaughed, without wna wished she still had think X ‘ever had those flashes now, since they ae la z Chief Okonji asked such things any more hellbewensceevenything dntlereant vil he Factories and our new interesteesthe hae alway ae ‘Whoever-sail You Tost OUE BY having” twin daughterssisva Chief Okonji sad. Kainene is not just Tike a son, she is like two her father said: He if the pride on his glanced at Kainene and Kainene looked away, asSC b tbe bge rere a {ic id not matter, and Olanna quickly focused on her plate so that either would know she bad been watching them. ‘The platewnecla, ‘Why don’t you all come to my house this weekend, ch?” Chief Chori este. “ony to sample my cook's fish pepper soup Thech 2p 's from Nembe; he knows what to do with fresh fee is cackled loudly. Olanna was not sure how that was funny, but then it was the minister's joke That sounds wonderful,’ Olanna’s father said {Cw be nice forall of us to go before Olanna leaves for Neukka, her mother sai. Clann felt a slight irvtation, a prickly feling on her skin. 1 Would love to come, bavbwon eb HEE NT Weer ‘You won't be here? her father asked, She won ndered if the expression desperate ples, She wondered, too, howsher parent. had-promised-Chiet-Okonji-an-affair-with-hercin exchange for the ‘ontraet, Had they stated it verbal plainly or had it been implied? | Have made plans to go to Kano, to see Uncle Mbaert ant the fanily, and Mohammed as wel,’ she said, Her father si bbed at his avocado. ‘I see Olanna sipped her water and said nothing After dinner, they moved to the bateo ony for liqueurs, Olanna like {hie after-dinner ritual and often would move away from he parents Featne Eets to stand bythe railing looking atthe tall lanp thay Ue tn the paths below, so bright thatthe swimming pool looked ite and the hibiscus and bougainvillea took on an incandescent paren rier heir reds and pinks The first and only time Odenigbo sieted her in Lagos, they had stood looking down at the swimny g pool and Peabo threw a bottle cork down and waiched it plank mea ve oF eats rank alotof brandy, and when her father sald thatthe eg Fremeaatke University was sly, thaNigenaauansnoterendione, indigeTOtosuniversityrand-thaereveivingsupport.inwaan Ace therstharvasproper-universieysimBritain — was plain daft, he raised his voice in response. Olanna had then ight he would aide that her father only wanted to gall him and show how were Foul ee ert # senior leeturer from Nauka. She thought peli let her father's words go. Buthisvpiceamseahighanands 5 he-angued about-Neukia being free of colonial inane andl she had-blinkedoRentO"signal him to, stopalth hougivhemay.not-have el the ». Finally the phone rang an ce the veransla yeas dim i ace her parents’ eyes was grud ersation had to end, ‘The look in her pa oes zy and wrong for her, one of those ho cople who talked and talked until everybody had versity ‘i ly understood what had been sa hreadache and nobod ‘Such a coal night,’ Chief Okonji said behind her: and Kainene had gone around, She did not know when her parents and Ka Dlanna turned inside Yes, she said sre front of her. His agbada was rie Okonji stood in fron! is neck, settled h gold thread around the collar. She looked at hi with gold thread a apart as hi osrolls-of fat, and imagined him-prying: the folds ap bathed ; “What about tomorrow? There party said, “Pwaneall 6f YoU to nicer Sarie expatriate a cocktail party at Tkoyi Hotel, he are eames Paul charity drive tomorrow: Ge Ohonj moved clone cat Ke id, and a mist of aleohol settled on her Face sted, Chief ‘Tam not interested keep you out of my mind, Chief Okonji said again 1 just can’t keep you out 0 fe to work at the ministry. Pea'appointey Look, you don’t ha 7 es while Olanna did nothing, J, any board you want, and I will fur an-epule hertoinyandfora whiter tioting gist his: She was used to this, bo $0 her bodly. imp, back, ogetiner. She pushed him b eet her hands sank into his soft chest. ‘Stop felt vaguely sickened at ho a d out of his embrace and went indoors. Her parents saree m. She stopped to sniff the wilt voices were faint from the living ro on the side table near 1 ing flowers in a vase o she knew their scent 5 roomfélt alienethe warm wood tones, the furniture, the wall-to 8 of space ceushioned her feet, the ream: wall burgundy carpeting that cush— SS that made Kainene call their stil ‘oom flats. The copy of Lagos Life was m her bed; sh picked it up, and looked at the photo of he her- mother, on page five, their faces contented deandhcomplagent, at a Cocktail party hosted-by:the-British high commissioner, Her methes hotographer approached; later flashbulb went off, Olanna had asked him please notte publis had pulled her close as a ter the alled the photographer over and the photo. He liad looked at her oddly Now, she realized how silly it ad been to ask himy of course hx never understand the discomfort that came with IOS te was her parents? life ould the renga pare She was in bed reading when her mother knoe ‘Oh, you're reading, her mother said, & icin her hand. ‘Chie just lef. He said 1 Olanna wan ed and came in. She was holding rolls of fab= should greet you. to ask if they had promised him and yet she knew she never would. ‘What are those ‘an allie with her materials? ‘Chief just sent his driver to the cat for them latest lace from Europe, See? Very nice, ifukwoa? Olanna felt the fabric betw fore he let. It’s the reen her fingers, Yes, very nice Did You see the one he wore today? Original! Bzigho!' Her mother sat doven beside her. ‘And do you know, they say he never we, outtt twice? He gives them to his housebu Olanna once he has worn them” ‘ualized his poor houseboys’ wood boxes incongruously {all of lace, houseboys she was sure did not get ‘month, owning cast-off kaftans and agdadas they She was tired, Having Which one do for you and Kainene ‘No, don’ much every could never wear conversations with her mother tired her ut want, nme? I will make a long skirt and blouse worry, Mum. Make something for yourself. I won't rich lace in Neukka too often, Her moth her ran a finger over the bedside cabinet. Birl does not clean furniture properly. Does sh play around? This silly howse- he think I pay her to Olanna placed her book down, thing, she could te a beginning, So how is Odenigbo>") ‘He's fine: Her mother sighed, in the overdone w Her mother wanted to say some Ml, and the sct smile, the punetilious gestures, were ee mother asked finaly ‘ay that meant she wished ght about this Nsulkka move tanna would see reason, “Have you thot swell? Very well = 1 have never been surer of anythin xr mother said comfortable But will you be comfortable there" He 7 ed because her mother 4 faint shudder, and Olanna almost smiled b a h ind, with its sturdy rooms o's basic university house in m hac Olen nd plain furniture and uncarpeted floors Mb ne se ad ie van fied wor bein Lago an av down to "y Ag want to work in Lagoggl'want to work in the uni ry, I sorta sind ace little while longer before she stood Her otek ther fr ie whe ger re se oa pant sad, Good night my daughter? na vic th = ‘Olanna stared at thy mini provaly it had eotoured-mastof her major decisions, afterall oehersmothes‘a-disap door, Sheewassusedtorh f char Sanspelegn ir oa sere cnratry he sh ined the Stet Mover inten Tu he seed onary Te Ogi I ater, Chief Okaro's son. Stil each time, the disap sk eccrettth to make up for it in some way. Imude her want to apologize, to make wp I She was almost asleep when Kainene knod Jnange for. Daddy's: eon nar legs for that elephant in exchange spreating yo tract?" Kainene asker aa COlanna sat up, surprised, She did not remember the last time th to her root Kainene had come in ; a ‘Daddy literally pulled me away from the ee leave you alone with the good cabinet minister Kainene sa dy the contract then?” he give D He didn't say. But it’s will till as ifhe will get nothing. Daddy a always help. The other bid ten’ Ki ed the ful She was ipping The ten per cent is standard, so p The ful da ders probably don't have a ' ing sticky i robe tied ti prough the copy of Lagos Lif er sil 9 waist. Bh benefit of bsingshenglydanghten word out untilit sounded cl ound he ntly around skinny waisThey're not using me as sex bait Kainene did not respond for a while; she seemed focused on an article in the paper. Then she looked up, ‘Richard is going, to Neulkea too, He's received the grant, and he's going to write Oh, Kainene ignored the question. ‘Richard doesn’t knon his book there ood. So that means you will be spending time in Neulkka?” w anybody in Nauldca, so maybe you could introduce him to your revolutionary lov Otanna stited. Revoltionary lover: The things Kainene could say with a straight facet ‘Tl introduce them,’ she said, liked She had never iny of Keinene’s boyfriends and neverliked.that-Kainene dated Soumany-sehite-mensineEnygland, ‘Pheirthinly-veiled-condescension, theirfalse-validations:irritated:her. Yershe-heden sameway to Richard Churchill when Kainene brought him to dinner Perhaps it was because he did not have that familian sug reacted in. the periority of sh people who thought they understood Africans better than Aicans understood themselves and, instead, had an endearing Umcertainty about him ~ almost a shyness. Or perhaps because hes Parents had ignored him, unimpressed because he-didn:t know-ang ‘one who was worth knowing 1 think Richard will like Odenigbo's house’ Olanna said. ‘ts like 4 political club in the evenings. He only invited Afficans at frst because the university is so ful of foreigners, and he wanted Africans to have a chance to socialize with one another: At frst it was BYOB, utnow he asks them all to contribute some money, and every week he buys drinks and they mect in his house ~" Olanna stopped. Kainene was looking at her woodenly, as if she had broken heir Unspoken rule and tried to start idle chatter Kainene turned towards the door. ‘When d do you leave for Kano? ‘Tomorrow Olanna wanted Kainene to stay, to sit on the bed and Hold allow on her lap and gossip and laugh into the nig {Go well, jee gfiema. Greet Aunty and Uncle and Arize ‘will Olamna said, although Kainen thedoor. She listened for Kainene's Tt was now that they were back pause again, that Olanna realized just how distant they had become Rainene had always been the witheirawn child, the sullen and often Boarbie teenager the one who, because she did not try to please their Parents left Olanna with that duty, But they had already left and shut footsteps on the carpeted hallway. from England, living in the same had been close, despite s ved when it all changed. They used to he friends She wonde that Before they went to England, for the same friends in London, Perhaps it was during their secondary sure, since they didn’t even have school years at Heathgrove. Perhaps even before. Nothing had quarrel, no significant incident — rather happened ~ no momentous quarrel, inene who now anchored they had simply drifted apart, but it wa herself firmly in a distant place so that they could not drift back tam vty wp Kan She sity hen nin nd watch the thick woods ling pas, the gras pais unfurl i o tails as they were herded by barechested the catle swinging the rh nom When she got to Kan, it struck her once agin how dif som Lage ron Namrata ail i jouth, Here, the hoe difeent the Novia. oleswassrom sh : tal like the clumpy, red sand was fine, grey, and sun-seared, nothing earth back home; the trees were tame, unlike the bursting greenness that sprang up and cast shadows on the road to Umunnachi. Here niles offatland went on and on, tempting the eyes to stretch just a lietle farther, until they seemed to meet with the silver-and-white sk She took a taxi from the train station and asked the driver to stop first at the market, so that she could greet Unele Mbaezi On the narrow market paths, she manoeuvred between small boys carrying large loads on their heads women haggling, traders shout g. A record shop was playing loud High Life music, and she slowed peat Be m before hurry- tle to hum along, to Bobby Benson's Taxi Driver ing ont her uncle's tll His selves were ned with pil and oer eee Su ‘Omalihal” he sid when he sav her 1 was what he Uncle, good eternoon They hugged. Olan rested her ed on his aoulder; he smelt of shelves os, 1c was hard to imagine Unle Maer and her mother growin up together, brother and sister. Not only because her uncle's light. complexioned face had none of her mother’s beauty, but also becausethere was an earthiness about him, Sometimes Olanna wondered if she would admire him as she did if he were n mother Whenever she visited, Unele Mbaezi would sit yard after supper and t $0 different fir with her in th I her the latest family news ‘unmarried daughter was pregnant, stay with the ‘ome andl w had died he cheapest way to take the to avoid the malice ofthe villago, a neph here in Kano and he was looking into t body back home. Or he would tell her about politics: What the Igbo Union was organizing, protesting, discussing, his yard. She had They held meeti times, and she sti ‘meeting where irritated men and women schools not admitting Igbo children, Uncle slumped his foot, ina fe remembered th alked about the northern Mbaezt al stood Up aid Nii be anyi! My. people! We. will bit Schooll. We. will raise.money. and. build. our-ow, Spoke, Olanna had joined in clapping her approval, in chanting, ‘Well spoken! That is how it shall bef But she had worried that it weald be difficlt to build a school. Perhaps it was more pract ARter he al to try and Persuade the Northerners to admit Igbo children Yet, now, only afew years later, her taxi was on Airport Road, driv ing past the Igho Union Grammar School. Ie was break time ann! the schoolyard was full of children, Boys were playing football in differ ent teams on the same field, so that multiple balls lew in the an Olanna wondered how they could tell which ball was which, of girls were closes mically {@xi parked outside the communal compound in Sabon Gari, Olanna saw Aunty Mela sitting by her kiosk on the roadside, Aunty Ifeke Wped her hands on her faded wrapper and hugged Olanna, pulled back to look at her, and hugged her again. ‘Our Olannat My aunty! Kedu? Tam even better now that I sce you, Clusters to the road, playing oga and swell, clapping rhy th. they hopped first on one leg and then the other. Before the ‘Arize is not back from her sewing class? ‘She will be back anytime now How is she doing? O na-agatea? Is her sewing going well? The house is fall of patterns that she has cut. ‘What of Odinchezo and Ekene They are there. They visited last week and asked after you Mow is Maiduguri treating them? Is their rading picking up: They have not std they are dying of hanger; Aunty Hl si slight shrug. Olanna examined the plain face and wished, fora with a sigh’ ou fora xy Ifeka were her mother. Aunt brief guilty moment, that Aur Aunty Lfeka’s breasts good as her mother, any way, since it was es when their mother’s dried up soon fiat she and Fiinene had sicked whe > ota up at all chat their mother had given ther toa nursing aunt yt save ber own breast from drooping * Let's Cone ng the neatly arranged ada anyi? Aunty Meka said, nt,and cases of matches, chewing gum, sweets, cigarettes, and dete then picked up Olanna’s bag and led the way into the yard, The nar The clothes hung out to dry were stil, ow bungalow was unpainted il if, as if desiccated by the hot afternoon sun. Old car tyres, the one Olanna the children played with, were piled under the ess of the yard would change soo knew the tranquil flatness of the y children came back from school. The families would le Mbaezi's the ha while Aunty Hela stood back watching, her hands behind her back. jy ek on do for you. May another person do for you,’ Aunty as herself to Plane bec ; ot knock her down. would stand firmly, so Arize’s excited hug rm Sister! You should have warned us that you wer coming! AC le ive would have swept the yard better! Ab! Sister! Aru amaka gi You Jook well! There are stories to tell, oh Arize was laughing, Her plump body, her rounded arms, shook as she laughed. Olanna held her close. She feltasenso-that thin imorder, the way they were meant to-be, and that even if cey tum " would comeback together bled down once:in awhilevin-theend.they < K cid peace. When Aunty again, This was why she came to Kano: this fe ode aod the yd she ew wenn euch Ueka's eyes beg of a suitable chicken. Aunty Ifeka always killed one when she around the yard, its the last she owned, saunter f int to distinguish it eaters mared with «alah or to of re pant cng , : had bits of cloth tied to their hbours’ chickens, which colour, Olanna no longer wings or paint of a deS eee Half of 2 Ye about the chicken, just as she no longer protested when Uncle Mbaezi and Aunty Ifeka slept on mats, next to the many relatives who always seemed to be staying with them, so that she could have their bed, Aunty Ifeka walked casually towards a bro n hen, grasped i quickly, and handed it to Arize to killin the backyard, They sat out. side the kitchen while Arize plucked it and Aunty Ifeka blew the chaff from the rice. A neighbour was boiling corn, and once in a while when the water frothed over, the stove fire hissed. Children were Playing in the yard now, raising white dust, shouting. A fight broke out under the kuka tree, and Olanna heard a child scream at another in Igbo, Your mother's pussy! The sun had turned red in th sky before it began its descent, when Uncle Mbaezi came home. He called out to Olanna to come and greet his friend Abdulmalik. Olanna had met the Hausa man ones before; he sold leather slippers close to Uncle Mbaezis stall in the market, and she had bought a few pairs that she took baek to England but never wore because it was then t middle of winter ‘Our Olanna has just finished her master's degree. Masters degree at London University! It is not easy! Uncle Mbi ‘Well done, Abdulmalik said, He opened his b pair of slippers and held them out to he zi said proudly g and brought out a his narrow face creased in a smile, his teeth stained w h kola nut and tobacco and whatever else Olanna did not know, stains of varying shades of yellow and brown He looked! as if it were he who was receiving a gift; he had that expression of people who marvelled at education with the calm ver. tainty that it would never be theirs She took the slippers with both hands. “Thank you, Abdulmalik Thank you, Abdulmalik pointed at the ripe gourdlike pox ‘on the kaka tree and Said “You come my house. My wife cook very sweet huka soup ‘Oh, [will come, next time,’ Olanna sai, He muttered more congratulations before he sat with Uncle Mbaezi on the veranda, with a bucket of s ‘They gnavved of tn n peels and chewed the juicy, white Dulp, speaking Hausa and Inughing; They spit the chewed cane out fon the dust. Olanna sat with them for a while, but too swift, too dificult to follow. She wished of them their Hausa was she were fluent in Haus and YOrtbe, like her uncle and aunt and cousin were, something would gladly exchange her French and Lin for In the kitchen, Arize was eutting open the chicken and was washing the rice, She showed them the slippers from Abdulmalik ed red straps made her feet look slender and put them on; the pleated red strap more feminine ‘Very nice” Aunty Ifeka said, T shall thank him Olanna sat on a stool and carefully avoided looking at the cock: roach eggs, smooth black capsules, lodged in all corners of the table ‘Anneighbour was building a wood fire in one corner andl despite the slanting openings in the roof, the smoke choked the kitchen, aksea, all her family eats every day is stocklish,’ Arize said, gesturing towards the neighbour with pursed lips. ‘I don’t know i her poor children even know what meat tastes like’ Arize threw her head back and! laughed Olanna glanced at the woman. She was an Ijaw and could not understand Arize’s Igbo. “Maybe they like stockfish, she said ‘0 di egwu! Like it indeed! Do you know how cheap the thing. is? eve el enghng a abe forma nthe on, be Fa yg te tat your soup cis cls wo eco Be rrscs appl Moving wh reroll ki owt Aras efervescent mit thet ae ele giving By re mrng ts Neda tarry Overt Sul Ai a BE mento tec, 7 bo muich Book like you who ean say hy Arize paused as she removed a translucently pale egg from inside the chicken. ‘I want a husband today and tomorrov, oh! My mates have allleft me and ‘You are young,’ Olanna said. ‘You should focus on your sewing for one to husbands’ houses Ts it sewing that will give me a child? Even if I had managed to pass to go to school, would till Want achild nowPs eee There is no rush, Ari’ Olanna wished she could shift her stool loser to the door, to fresh air. But she didn't want Aunty Ifeka, or ted her Arize, or even the neighbour to know that the eyes and throat or that the sight of the cockroach eggs nauseated her She wanted to seem used to it all, to this T know you will marry Odenigho, Sister, but honestly I am not sure I want you to marry a man from Abba. Men from Abba are sc ugly, kai! [Fonly’Mohammedsas.anlgboman, 1 would eat my hair if {you did not marry him. I have never seen a more handsome man, ‘Odenigho is not ug ly. Good looks come in different ways, Olanna sid That is what the relatives of the ugly monkey, entr, told him to make him feel better, that good looks come in different ways’ Men from Abbe are not ugly; A from there, after al ‘And do your people not res “Your full name is Arizendikwunnem, isn’t it mother’s people. So perhaps you look like a monkey as well Aunty Ifeka murmured. Olanna laughed. ‘So why are you talking marr unty Heka said, ‘My people came ible the monkey?" Arize said. narriage like this, Ari? Have you seen anybody you like? Or should I find you one of Mohammed's brothers?” ‘No, nol Arize waved her hands in the air in mock horror. ‘Papa would Kill me first of all if he knew PWas"even"looking sma ke that, ‘Unless your father will ill a corps; firsty Aunty Tfeka said, and rose with the bow! of clean rice “There is someone, Sister’ Arize moved closer to Olanna, ‘But lam ‘not sure he is looking at me, oh. ‘Why are you whispering?” Aunty Ifeka asked ‘Am I talking to you? Is it not my big sister Iam talking to?" Arize asked her mother, But she raised her voice as she continued. ‘His name is Nnakwanze and he is from close to us, from Ogid. He works at the railway. But he has not told me anything, I don’t know if he is looking at me hard enough, Ihe is not looking at you hard enough, thereis something wrong with his eyes, Aunty Tfeka said, ‘Have you people seen this woman? Why can’t I tale to my big si ter in peace?” Arize rolled her eyes, but it was cle because I will start with you 1 she was pleased and perhaps had used this opportunity to tell her mother about Nnakwanze ‘Tha night, as Olanna lay on her uncle and aunt's ed, she watched hung on a rope attached to nails cd in the Arize through the thin curtain tha fon the wall. The rope was not taut, and the curtein sag middle. She followed the up-down movement of Atize’s breathing, owing up had heen like for Arize and her broth , seeing their parents through the curtain, and imagined wha ers, Odinche hearing: the sounds that might suggest an eerie pain to a child as their father's hips moved and their mother’s arms clutched him, She had never heard her own parents making love, never even seen any indication that they did. But-sheehadsalways, beer'separated:fiam shemby.hallways:that got longer andmore-thichly. carpeted.as-they mmovedsfrom-house.to-house-When they moved to their present home, with its ten rooms, her parents chose different bedrooms for st time. ‘Tneed the whole wardrobe, and it will be nice to have the your father visit her mother had said, But the girlish laug, rung true for Olanna. ‘PRe"artificiality-of-her-parents-relationshipy always seemed harder, mote shaming, when shewas here Kano, ‘The window above her was open, the still night air thick with the odours from the gutters behind the house, where people emptied their toilet buckets Soon, she heard the muted chatter of the ni soil men as they collected the sewage; she fell asleep listening to they worked, shielded by the the scraping sounds of their shovels a dark ‘The beggars outside the gates of Mohammed's family hone did not move when they saw Olanna, They remained seated on the ground, leaning against the mud compound walls. {ense clusters, so that for a moment it seemed asif their frayed, white riceoloured paint, Olanna wanted keftans had been splashed with to put some money in their howls but decided not to. If she were a man, they would have called out to her and extended their begging owls, and the flies would rise in buzzing clouds One of the g ‘Welcome, madarn Thank you, Sule. How are you?! femen recognized her and opened the gatesHall of Yellow Sun ‘You remember my name, madam! He madam. Iam well, madam, And your family ‘Well, madam, by the will of Alla, 1s your master baeletrom America?” Yes, maclam. Please Mehanmed!'s red sports car was parked in front of the prawling sandy yard but what held Olanna's attention was the house: the graceful simplicity ofits flat roof. She sat down on the verand: The best surprise! ‘She looked up and Mohammed was there, in a white kaftan, smil- iff; down at her. His lips were a sensual curve, lips she had once Ikissed often during those days when she spent most of her weekends watching. him play the bad poetry he wrote her: i Kano, eating rice with her fin polo at the Flying Club, readin ‘You're looking so well” she told him, as they hugged. ‘ wasn't sure you'd be back from America, Twas planning to come up to Li There was a tilt to his he till harboured hope Tm moving to Nsukka’ she said, os to see you,’ Mohammed of his eyes, that meant he ‘So you are finally going to become an intellectual and marry your lecturer ‘Noborly said anything about mar Jane? I mix up your American women Mohammed ‘caramel complexion. She used to tense him about being And how is Janet? Or is it she was ‘What did you do to your hair?” he asked. ‘It doesn’t suit you at all Is this how your lecturer wants you to look, like a bush womer Olanna touched her hair, newly plaited with black thread. “My aunty dd it.I quite like it, don’ preFer your wi and hugged hher again. When she fel his arms tighten around her, she pushed bin away. ‘Youwon't let me Ii Mohammed moved cl yo fo; she said, although it had not been a question. “You're not telling me about Jan Fane, So this mean: Noukka, T won't see you any more when you go ta ‘OF course I'l see you. ka fingers spoke 1 know that lecturer of yours is erazy, so I won't come to N: Mohammed laughed. His tall, slim body and tapering of fragility, gentleness, “Would you Tike a soft drink? Or some wine! You have alcohol in this house lana teased ‘Mohammed rang a bell and asked a steward to bring some drinks Afterwards, he sat thoughtfully rubbing his thumb and forefinger together. ‘Sometimes, I feel my life is going nowhere. I travel and But something. isn She watched him imported ears, and women fall ht. You know with this, Yet when he said, ‘I wish things didn’t there, something isn she knew change’ she was touched and flattered You'll find a goc she said limply Rubbish’ he said, and as they sat side by side drink recalled the disbelieving pain on his face that had only deepened 1g Coke, she saabgilitimaa ’ } vant-tobenniaithiaLorhim. She expected that he would ress, she Knew very well how much he loved her, but she had been shocked wen he tld her to go ahead and slep with Odenigbo as long as she Gd not Teave hms Mohammed, who often hal€joked shout coming froma lineage of holy warriors the very avatars of pious masculinity Perhaps it was why her affection for him would always be mingled with gratitude, a selfish gratitude. He could have made their break up more difficult for her; he coud have lft her with much more guilt She placed her glass down, ‘Let's go fora drive. I hate it when [ sist Kano and only get to sce the ugly cement and zine of Sabon Gari. I want to sve that ancient mud statue and go around the lovely city walls ‘Sometimes you are just ike the white people, the way they gawk every, thing Do It’s a joke, How are you g fou live with that crazy lecturer ing to learn not to take everything s0 seriously if Mohammed stood up ‘Come, we should stop by first so you can greet my mother As they walked past a stall gate at the back and into the courtyard that Ted to bis sion she used to feel coming with gold-dyed walls and thick Persian mother’s chambers, Olanna remembered the ¢repidae -. The reception area was the same ‘ugs and grooved patterns on the exposed ceilings. Mohammed's mother looked unchanged, toHalf of 2 Yellow Son with the ring in her nose and the sill scarves a was fine-spun in the way that used to make Olanna wonder if she wasn't uncomfortable, dressing up every day and simply sitting at hhome. But the older woman did not have that old standoffish expres. sion, did not speak: stiflly with her eyes focused somewhere between Olanna’s face and the hand-carved panelling. Instead she got up and hugged Olanna You look so lovely, my dear: Don't let the sun spoil that skin of ‘Thank you, Hajin possible for people Tam no longer the Olanna said, wonderin Na po how it was switch affection off and on, to tie and untie woman you wanted to marry who would blood,’ Olanna sad, as they climbed into taint the lineage with in Mohammed's red Porsche. So Tau friend nd T would have married you anyhow, and she knew it. Herprefen enced nor matter Maybe not at first, but what about later? What ahout when we had been married for ten years?” ‘Your parents felt the same way as she di Mohammed turned to jook at her. ‘Why are we talking about this now?" There was some thing inexpressibly sad in his eyes. Or maybe she was imagining it Maybe she wanted him to seem sad at the thought that they would She did not wish to marry him, and yet she enjoyed dwelling on the things they did not do and would never do, ‘Sorry, she said There’s nothing to apologize for’ Mohammed reached out and took her hand, I ‘car made rasping sounds as they drove past the gates. ‘There's too much dust in the exhaust. These ears weren't ‘made for our parts You should buy a hardy Peugeot. Yes, I should Olanna stared at the beggars clumped around the walls of the alace, their bodies and begging bowls covered in flies. The air of the spicy-sour leaves from the neem tree ‘Tannotlikeswhite people;-she sa melt quietly. Mohamed glanced at her: ‘OF course you're not. You're a nation= alist and a patriot, and soon you will marry your lecturer the freedam fighter’? COlanna wondered if Mohammed's lightness hid a more serious mockery. Her hand was still in his and she wondered, too, if he was having difficulty manoeuvring the ear with one hand. Olanna moved to Nsukka on a windy Saturday, and the next day Odenigbo left for a at the Ibadan. He would not have gone if the conference was not focused on American mathematician David iathematics conference University of the work of his mentor, the black Blackwell He is the greatest living mathematician, the greatest,’ he said ‘Why don't you come with me, nkem? Its only for a week, ‘Olanma said no; she wanted the chance to settle down when he was not there, to make peace with h she did after he left was to throw away the red and white plastic flow= ers on the centre table Ugwis looked horrified. ‘But mah, iti still good, She led the way outside to the African lilies and pink roses, freshly watered by Jomo, and asked Ugwu to ent some. She showed him how Jgwu looked at the flowers and shook much water to putin the vase his head, as if he could not believe her foolishness. ‘But it die, mah, The other one don't die "Yes, but these are better, fi makali? Olanna said How better, mah?” Héahvays'responded in English to eF 190, defend ithe.saw,her speaking Igbo.to him as.an insult that he-had-t himself against by insistently speaking English. hey are just nicer’ she said, and realized that she did not know how to explain.why fresh flowers were better than plastic ones. Later, when she saw the plastic flowers in a kitchen cupboard, she was not surprised. Ugwu had saved them, the same way he saved old sugar cartons, bottle corks, even yam peels. t came with never having had she knew, the inability:torletgo.of things, even. things. that Weresuseless, So when she was in the kitchen with him, she talked about the necd to keep only things that were useful, and she hoped he ‘would not ask her how the fresh flowers, then, were useful, She asked him to clean out the store and line the shelves with old newspapers and as he worked she stood by and asked him about his family. IC wat dificult to picture them because, with his limited vocabulary, he described everyone as ‘very good! She went Co the market with him, and after they bought the household items, she bought him a comband a shirt. She taught him to cook fried ric sand dived carrots, asked hima not to cook they became pu 5 in oil, not to be too sparing with salt ding, not to douse thin Although she had not him some seented powder for of D hiis armpits and asked him to use two capi tol in his bath ‘water: He looked pleased when he dered ifhe could tell that it was a feminine scent. She wondered, too, was clearly affeetion, but there si he was holding her up to what he really thought of her, There ‘as also a quiet speculation in his something: And she worried that she came out lackin He finall the photos on the w started to speak Igbo to her on the day she rearran ILA wall gecko had scuttled out from behind ¢ wood-framed photo of Odenigho in shouted, “Egbulwala! Don't kil it! What She turned glance down at him fom the chair she was standing on. Ifyou kit you will get dialect funny, the way hee seemed to spit th ‘omachache, he said, She found is Opi ‘OF course we won't kill it. Let's han "Yes, mah,’ he said, ter Anulika had sullered a terrible he photo on that wall and then began to tell her, in Tgbo, how his sis. tomachache after killing: gecko, Olanna felt less ofa visitor in th house when Odenipho came back he pulled her forcefully, kissed her, pressed her to him. "You should eat frst Lknow what I want to ea She laugined, She fel ridiculous happy ‘What's happened here2 Odenigho asked, looking around the room. ‘Il the books on that Your older books are in the second bedroom, [ need the space for my books, Ei ob laughing. ‘Go and have a bath, she said, ‘And what was that flowery scent on my good man? T gave him a scented talcum powder, Did odour?’ 1? You've really moved in, haven't you?” Odenigho was C—lU—F—S hl That's the smell of villagers. [ used to smell like that until 11 Abba to go to secondary school, But you wouldn't know about things Tike that’ His tone was gently teasing, But his hands were not gentle They were unbuttoning her blouse, freeing her breast from a bra cup. how much time had passed, but she was tangled She was not sur bed with Odenigho, warm and naked, when Ugwu knocked to say they had visitors. ‘Can't they leave ‘Come, ners” Odenig! > said, ‘T can’t wait for them to meet you. ‘Let's stay here just a little longer.” She ran her hand over the curly hair on his chest, but he kissed her and got up to look for his under COlanna dressed reluctantly and went out to the living, room, ‘My friends, my friends’ Oder nounced, with an exagger ated flourish, ‘this, finally, is Olanna. The woman, who was tuning the radiogram, Olanna’s hand. bright-orang Im well; Ola "Yes Mis cally pretty Olanna stepped back, fustered for a moment. ‘will take that as a How are you?” she asked. Her head was wrapped in a ‘You must be Lara Adebayo, He did not tell us that you were illogi Adebayo said. rompliment Andewhat-a.pr rnarmured 1. Englishaccent Miss Adebayo g back to the radic a compact body, a straight back that looked straighter in her stiff with a pitying stile, before turni question back I'm Okeoma, said. T thought Odenigho’s girlfriend was a human beings he dil say you were a water mermaid, ial for the warmth in Okeoma's expressio Dr Patel looked sh Olanna laughed, grat way he held her hand a little too lo he said, ‘Very nice t nd Pi hand and then nodded disdainfully when she sociology and not one of the proper scien After Ups ss to his lips and all she coul 1 served drinks, Olanna watched Odenigho raise his of was how those lips hads0 that her inner arm brushed against her breast and closed her eyes at the needles of delicious pain. Sometimes Odenigho bit too hard She wanted the guests to leave Did not that great thinker Hegel call Africa a land of childhood? Professor Ezeka asked, in an affected tone Maybe the people who put up those no CHILDREN AND AFRICANS gel, then, Dy Patel signs in the cinemas in Mombasa had read He said, and chuckled ‘Nobody can take Hegel seriously. Have you read him closely? He's funny, very funny. But Hume and Voltaire and Locke felt the same way about Africa,’ Odenigho sa here you 1. ‘Greatness. depends.on.y arevvoming-from. I's just like the Israelis who were asked what they thought of Eichmann’s trial the other day, and one of them said he did not understand how the Nazis could have been thought great by ill ave anyone at any time. But they were, weren't they? ‘They Odenigbo gestured with his hand, palm upward, and Olanna remem ered that hand grasping her waist "What people fail to see is this: If Europe had cared more about Aftica, the Jewish Holocaust would not have happened,’ Odenigho said, Tn short, the World “What do you mean?” Miss A her lips. “How can you ask what I mean? Its self-evident, starting. with the would not have happened” \debayo asked. She held her glass to Herero people’ Odenigbo was shifting on his seat, his voive raised, and Olanna wondered if he remember d how loud they had been, how afterwards he had said, laughing, ‘If we go on like this at night, vwe'll probably wake Ugwu up, poor chap: You've com that if white people had! not murdered the Herero, the Jewish Hola eaust would not have ha ‘Don't you see?" Odenigho asked. "They started their race studies with the Herero and concluded with the Jews, Of course there's a connection! igrin, Odenigbo, Miss Adebayo said, "You're saying sppened? I don't see a connection at all! ‘Your argument doesn't hold water at all, you sophist Miss Ade bayo said, and dismissively downed what was in her glass ‘Bat the World War was a bad thing that was also good, as our people sayy Okeoma said. ‘My father's brother fought in Burma and ‘came back filled with one burn him before that the white man was not immortal g question; How come nobody told SEU They all laughed. There was something habitual about it, as ff they had had different variations o} they knew just when to laugh, Olanna laughed too and felt for a moment that her laughter sounded different, more shill, than theirs. ‘The following weeks, when she started teaching a course in intro ociology, when she joined the staff club and played tennis when she drove walks with Odenigbo and joined the St Vincent de Paul Society at Si Church, she slowly began to get used to Odenigbo's with other lecturers Igwu to the market and tool Peter friend! (Odenigbo tensed her that more people came to visit mow that she was that both Okeoma and Patel were falling in love with her, here, hecau goddesses sounded suspiciously like her and Dr Patel told too many stories of his days at Makerere, where he east himself asthe perfectly Okeoma was ager to read poems in which descriptions o chivalrous intellectual Olanna liked Dy looked forward to, His until Patel, but it was Okeoma whose visits she mos hair and rumpled clothes and dramatic poetry put her at ease. And she noticed, early on, that it wa Okeoma's opinions that Odenigbo most respected, saying “Phewoice ofiour-gencration! as though he tnuly.beliewed:it She was still not sure what to make of Professor Ezeks's hoarse superciliousness, certainty that he knew better than everyone else but chose t0 say’ it~ tle. Neither was she sure of Miss Adebayo. I in twas as if Miss Ade {ABUBHE HeF to: beam ith her unin Adebayo was isiraceent. She found herself talking more when Miss there, desperately giving opinions with a need to impress — Nkrumah really wanted to lord it overall of to insist that the Soviets take their missiles out of Cuba while theirs Africa, it was arrogant of America hundreds of blacks killed by the Frican state every day ~ but she suspected that there was a glaze of unoriginality to all her idea And she suspected that Miss debayo knew this; it was always when she spoke that Miss Adebayo would piek up a journal or pour another drink or up to go to the toilet, Fi ‘Miss Adebayo and Miss Adebayo would never eve shout liking her. Perhaps Miss Adebayo could tell, from her face, that ly, she gave up. She wouldHal of 2 Yellow Sun she was afraid of things, that she was unsure, that she was not ane of those people with no patience for self-doubt. People like Odenigbo, People like Miss Adebayo herself, who could look a person in the eye ‘and calmly tell hr that she was illogically pretty, who could even use § that phrase, legally prety. Still, when Olanna lay in bed with Odenigbo, legs intertwined, i | would strike her how her life in Nsulka felt like being immersed ins imesh of soft feathers, even on the days when Odenigbo locked himself in the study for hours. Each time he suggested they get married, she said no, They were too happy, precariously so, and she wanted to guard that bone; ste fenre that marsiage would flatten io a prestic | partnership.