The Other Side of Truth

Sade hears screaming from outside, and she runs out to find that her mother was shot. Papa is there, and Uncle Tunde arrives with a doctor who says that Sade’s mother was shot in the heart and never stood a chance of survival. Papa’s editor-in-chief leaves to warn the rest of his staff that they may be in danger. Sade goes into the study, where she answers the phone and is told to tell her father, Folarin, “If we get the family first, what does it matter?” (6). Sade’s father asks Mama Buke, Sade’s aunt, to take care of Sade and her brother, Femi. Sade and Femi go into their father’s study, where Uncle Tunde is telling Folarin that the people who killed Mama are going to do everything they have to do in order to shut him up. Uncle Tunde picks up a newspaper and reads that Father criticized the Brass Buttons—the soldiers—and their approach to education. Uncle Tunde tells Folarin that they all know he is brave, but he asks him if he is wise. Folarin tells the children that they will have to go away for their safety and that he should have listened to their mother.