Summary

“The Soldier Father” - Time passes; rumors circulate that the war has ended; and Nnu Ego wishes that Nnaife will come home soon, because she is running out of money. She resents the success of Adaku, who has more money and more security now she is on her own (but not making her living entirely as a prostitute). Money becomes so tight for Nnu Ego that she has to take Oshia and Adim out of school, putting them to work in the little booth where she now sells hand-gathered firewood. Narration comments that she felt that “her love and duty for her children were like her chain of slavery” (186). One day, she receives a letter which she, being illiterate, cannot read. With Mama Abby’s help, she discovers that Nnaife has been sending her money all the time he has been away, but...