Summary

In the story “A Private Experience” Chika and another woman climb into an abandoned store to take refuge during a riot. The woman had called out to Chika as she tried to run away, directing her to the empty store where they could hide. Before Chika can thank the woman she tells Chika she lost her necklace while she was running. Chika also dropped the oranges she was buying as well as her expensive handbag. Chika can tell the woman is a Muslim, a scarf around her neck was probably once covering her hair and ears. Chika wonders if the woman realizes she is a Christian. Chika later learned that as they hid together the Muslims in the marketplace were killing Christians. The closest Chika had ever come to being in a riot was a campus rally that her sister helped organize...