Summary

Zikora FaceTimes with her father and Aunty Nwanneka, relieved by his jovial spirit. Zikora's mother seems annoyed by the conversation.

When Zikora was eight, her mother announced that her father would be marrying another wife (19). However, he would always come home to them. Zikora had not initially understood the arrangement. She liked his wife. Eventually she realized Aunty Nwanneka's niceness was a survival mechanism. She had always liked that Kwame understood what she meant when she said "second wife" (19). His uncle had the same arrangement. They exchanged their stories so often they felt like memories.

On the phone in the hospital, Zikora still cannot imagine being with anyone but Kwame.

Her father asks if anyone else was with her. She knows he is asking about Kwame. Neither he nor her mother can understand what happened. They loved Kwame. Zikora's mother even referred to...