The Other Side of Truth

Femi is watching television and does not answer when Sade calls him. The color in the King home “defied the grayness outside” (126). Sade considers that Marcia has relatives in Jamaica, and Jamaicans come from Africa. Therefore, it does not make sense to Sade that Marcia does not like Africans. Sade tells Auntie Gracie that school was fine and then remembers Mama’s admonishments against lying. Mama Appiah calls, and Sade tells her about Mariam. Sade wonders if something awful happened to Mariam’s family as well. That night, Sade has a dream that includes Marcia, Joseph, and Papa. Papa tells her that “bullies are cowards” (129). Mama is shot, and Marcia tells Sade that the bullet was meant for Sade. Sade wakes up and remembers Papa saying that they have to stand up to bullies. She wonders if Papa’s opinion has changed now that Mama is dead.

Sade decides to do the homework, and then she can decide in class if she will turn it in. Before she can get into the building, Donna grabs her and takes her to Marcia. There are two other girls and Kevin there. They take her English book, and Marcia rips out the homework and crumples it. She tells her, “YOU are NO ONE” (134). Sade does not speak. The children leave, and Sade grabs the papers. She thinks telling an adult will make matters worse. In class, Donna volunteers to collect the books and announces that Sade has not done her homework. She says, “Perhaps she doesn’t understand English properly” (136). Mr. Morris asks Sade to turn it in tomorrow, and the children argue that she is granted this allowance either because she is a girl or because she is African. Sade does not know what to do in a situation where people tell lies.

Sade wishes she could be like the characters in Mama Buki’s stories who are able to trick larger animals. She wonders why Marcia always talks about Africa so much and why she hates Africans. Sade continues to have nightmares in which Papa is unable to stop Marcia. Mama Appiah asks for information about Sade’s home so the International Red Cross can help, but Sade thinks answering such questions is dangerous for Papa while he is still in Nigeria. The children say they want to call their uncle in Lagos, and they dial Papa’s number, but twice there is no answer. Sade does not like lying about who they are calling. Auntie Gracie tries looking up their uncle, but Sade knows she will not find him, because they lied and used their mother’s last name. Sade realizes that Femi has been trying to block all the thoughts and questions that torment her. She does not think this is fair, because it leaves her alone with them. She goes into his room at night, but he will not talk to her.

Sade feels sorry for Femi because he looks so miserable. She thinks he looks like a tortoise. He pays no attention to other children at school. Marcia and Donna confront Sade again, and they tell her that she has to steal a lighter from Mariam’s uncle’s store that afternoon. If she does not do it, Marcia’s cousin will make life difficult for Femi at his school. In school, Mariam asks Sade what the other two girls wanted, but Sade does not tell her. Sade remembers her father telling her that they have to stand up to bullies, but she does not know if teachers would help her, and she thinks that getting Marcia in trouble will make matters even worse for Femi. During lunch, Sade and Mariam go to the library, and Sade picks a book with a girl on the cover looking through a broken mirror. The girl looks terrified. Sade remembers Mariam looking at that cover last week. Mariam tells Sade her family story.

The librarian asks Sade and Mariam to help after school. Mariam says she will help for a little while, but Sade says she cannot. She knows that if Papa were there, he would have helped her make a plan to deal with Marcia. Sade feels even worse stealing from Mariam’s family now that she knows their story. She knows that she has to protect Femi because she is the oldest, and her parents expected more from her because of that. Mariam tells Sade that she never tells anyone about her family, but she told Sade because they are friends. Sade decides not to steal, but then Marcia and Donna take her to the store. They distract Mariam’s mom and uncle while Sade steals the lighter. Sade believes that they will describe the three girls to Mariam after school, and Mariam will know that she stole something. That night she has a headache, and Femi comes in and gives her a comic as an apology.

Mariam’s story is told. Soldiers came to her house and dragged her father out, calling him a dog, not a man. Mariam has not seen her father since this incident. The president is the one who ordered him to be taken. Afterward, the area was bombed, including Mariam’s house. The soldiers then came back and set fire to houses and shot men and boys. Mariam’s mom knew they had to leave, or Hassan, Mariam’s brother, would be killed. They walked a long way and then finally got a donkey to take turns riding. There were bodies piled up on the side of the road. Mariam’s mom got really ill, and Mariam learned that her mother was pregnant, but the baby died. They made it to Mogadishu, where they took a very crowded boat to Kenya. They ran out of water, and there was a horrible storm. When they made it to Kenya, there were soldiers there to take them to a refugee camp where people lived in tents. They lived in the camp for six years. The president fled, and things started to get better. They were considering going back home when Mariam’s mom got a letter telling her that Mariam’s father died in jail. They decided to go to London to live with Mariam’s uncle, but Hassan refused to go with them. He wanted to go back home and find out exactly what happened to his father. They have not heard from him since.

Mariam is also now in Sade’s nightmares. Mama Appiah says that she is going to come over because she has news for the children. She asks them if they know Folarin Solaja, and they tell her that he is their father. When Papa learned that the children were missing in London, he got a fake passport and came immediately, but he did not tell immigration officials that he was seeking asylum. Sade thinks about how Papa always tells the truth but did not this one time because he was fearful for his children. He is now being detained. Mama Appiah found Papa because she was at the detention facility, and he asked her if she had heard of any children whose last name is Solaja. She said no, but then when he mentioned the first names, she knew they must be the same children. The children talk to their father on the phone.

Femi asks Sade to play with him. That night, Sade imagines her father being fingerprinted and behind bars. On their way to visit their father, Sade mentions a story about a tortoise flying through the sky. The prison is near Oxford, and Sade remembers the Oxford English Dictionary that their father had and that they frequently consulted. At the facility, Heathlands, Sade sees The Eyes who watch over everyone. She cannot bring herself to smile at the jailers. Papa comes in, but he looks different because he is thinner and has facial hair. They sit in red chairs. Papa explains that the police cut off their phone line in Nigeria, and that is why they could not reach him. Papa is glad they are in school, and Sade does not mention the bullies. Mr. Nathan is going to help Papa legally. Sade wants to stay with Papa after visiting hours, but children are not allowed. Papa tells her they have to be patient, but Sade thinks that this does not sound like him.

This chapter consists of letters written back and forth between Papa and Sade. Papa apologizes for having to pull Sade off him to make her leave the facility. He believes the authorities will understand why he did what he did. Sade tells her father that she is ashamed of how she behaved when she did not want to leave, and she thinks she made matters worse by not giving people in London her real last name. Papa then asks Femi to write to him like Sade does. Papa tells Sade that she need not be ashamed and that while they raised her not to lie, she was in a very difficult situation that required secrecy of her. Papa has made friends while in detention, and he hopes to search for Uncle Dele soon.

Sade writes to her father and says that “there are good secrets and bad secrets” (177). Uncle Roy says that Papa can stay with them when he is released. She tells her father that European countries are planning to boycott Nigerian sports because Saro-Wawa was killed. She is surprised that the children in London know very little about Africa. Some people believe the continent is a single country. Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the children have to memorize European countries and their languages. Later that night, she writes in shock to learn that the immigration officials have not believed Papa’s story, and Sade thinks it might be better to act like a stone like Femi does. She knows it was wrong, but she listened in on a conversation between Mama Appiah and Auntie Gracie and learned that Nigerian officials are blaming Mama’s murder on Papa and are trying to get English authorities to send Papa into their custody. Sade believes that if they had told the truth from the beginning, no one would believe this current lie by the Nigerian authorities.