What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky

After the death of her husband, Buchi and her two young daughters moved in with Buchi’s sister’s family. The three share a mattress, and one morning Damaris, the youngest girl, wets the bed. The older daughter, Louisa, worries that their aunt will be angry, so she helps her mother prepare to wash the sheets. Buchi makes a small breakfast and provides tea and bread for Lawrence, the gardener, and joins him on the steps. She informs him of the bedwetting as an implicit request to be gentle with the girls. When they first moved, Damaris, who stopped talking after her father’s death, would have fits of emotion, while Louisa channeled her fear of being kicked out into being well-behaved and helpful. Lawrence initially didn’t care for the girls due to his experiences with Buchi’s sister’s children, but he softened toward them. Damaris started following him around, helping with weeding and feeding the chickens. A runt chicken named Kano became like a family pet, and it and Damaris follow each other around.

Buchi’s sister, Precious, doesn’t like Buchi being friendly with servants, so when Buchi hears her sister call from inside the house, she quickly grabs Lawrence’s cup of tea. Precious hands Buchi the phone, telling her that her friend Ijeoma is calling.