Chapter 21

As he walked off, a piece of her father’s memory came to her mind’s eye.

She had been ten, when Nneoma and another girl had gotten into a fight during recess at the playground in primary school. Nneoma was her very close friend, and when others were being mean to her because she had actually been at fault, she supported them, and went against her friend, leaving Nneoma feeling hurt, disappointed and betrayed.

In her words, it felt bad when others had chastised her, but when her best friend, instead of defending her, joined in the taunts and insults meted against her, it had driven a nail into her heart.

After that incident, Nneoma refused to speak to her for about two weeks, and she was upset about it, but couldn’t go to meet her to just talk to her about it and resolve the entire issue.

She couldn’t tell her mother what had happened, and so, confided in her father on one of the few days he was at home. To her, she didn’t seem to understand why Nneoma was so