Summary

In “Contributions,” the first-person plural narrator describes her and her community’s esusu system. The women in the collective all contribute money to a pool and every month one woman takes the pool home. With esusu, they “don’t need . . . banks” or “loans” (45). The system works well unless the women waste their collection on vacations or shopping. In these cases, the other women must punish the offending member to ensure the system keeps working and there is order. When a woman squanders her money, the other women seize something of hers that is important, oftentimes her husband or child. With one woman, they do not know what to seize. So, they begin to take her limbs. They do not realize what they have done until “all her body parts” are gone (49).

In “The Hollow,” Arit begins working for Madam...