The Other Side of Truth

Sade remains quiet in her bedroom, believing that she should be punished. She does not believe she deserves anyone in her life. Femi, sounding a bit more like his old self, calls to her, telling her that they are on TV. She believes that Femi acted bravely by coming to get her after she was so rude to him. She sits on the stairs and watches the tv. Femi and Sade appear on the screen as proof that—despite what the government says—the children are in England. Uncle Dele tells the reporters that they always heard of Britain’s sense of justice, but they need to see those words put into action. Immediately after the news segment, Sade heads back to her room. She is frightened by the way she feels. When she hears the phone ring and believes it is Papa, she pulls the blanket over her head so Auntie Gracie will think she’s sleeping.

Sade stays in bed most of the day and misses school for the last two days before winter break. She dreams that Papa is in a line of starved refugees. Mariam comes to visit, and Sade quickly finishes the card for Mariam’s family and gives it to her. Mariam has a card that the class made for her. Marcia and Donna signed their names, and it makes Sade think that if those two are lying about wishing her well, then perhaps all the other students are as well. Mariam tells Sade that someone’s father made a complaint against Marcia and Donna, and they got in trouble and never came back to school that afternoon. She reads a letter Mr. Morris sent. The people at Making News, the news program that the children watch at school, heard about Sade’s story. They would like to have her, and possibly Femi, take part in an episode on refugees, but only if they feel comfortable doing so. The whole class is also invited to participate. Mr. Morris ends by saying that it was the students’ idea to write the letter to Sade, not his.

Sade is starting to feel a little bit better, and the Kings’ two adult children are planning to visit for Christmas. As they prepare their Christmas traditions, Sade thinks about how different the traditions are from hers back in Nigeria. Back home, they would go to church, and they would drive to Ibadan. They always passed a hill they called Sade’s Hill because it was the one Mama climbed every day during the Christmas season when she was pregnant with her.

Femi is moody again, and Auntie Gracie mentions a service at her church but does not push the children to attend. Folarin has received many letters of support, and a university in America wrote to him asking to speak there, saying that while they do not kill people for speaking out in America, there are other ways that journalists are silenced. Sade asks her father what her mother would think, and he says that he should “remember Sade’s hill!” (236). Mrs. Graham and Kevin come to visit. Kevin tells Sade to tell Femi that he can come play football with him and his friends if he wants to. Sade believes he means it.

Papa does not call when he usually does, and they learn that he was transferred. They get worried that he may be at the airport, but Uncle Roy says tests were mentioned, so he believes Folarin may be at the hospital. They cannot reach anyone who might have answers as to where Folarin is.

Uncle Roy and Auntie Gracie assure the children that the government would not deport Folarin while he is still in the news. Sade calls the news station and then goes back into bed with nothing else to do to help her father. She considers how much older she feels now than she did just six weeks ago. She wonders if Papa’s safety and health are too much to pray for, but she remembers her mother telling her that no prayer is too big or too small. Sade hears a knock on the door, and it is Folarin.

Papa is frail and needs Uncle Dele and Femi’s help. Folarin tells him that doctors became worried about chest pains he was having. When Folarin heard talk of moving him to a different facility, he called Mr. Nathan. Mr. Nathan called a member of Parliament, who in turn called the Home Secretary, and they managed to get Folarin six months to stay in the country while they figure everything out. The tests at the hospital could not be completed over Christmas, so Folarin checked himself out.

Uncle Dele tells the children that they saved their father by getting his story to the news station. Auntie Gracie tells Folarin that his children are amazing. Folarin gives Femi a goalkeeper’s glove that Mama bought before she died. The other adults leave as Folarin, Femi, and Sade embrace. Folarin gives Sade her Iyawo and Oko figurines. This is the first time the three of them have been alone since the day Mama died. Papa tells them that they will not “give up hope. Those rogues and thieves in our country won’t be there forever. One day we shall go home!” (245). Sade believes that England will be home if they are all there together and considers that perhaps, like tortoises, they will carry their homes on their backs.

Sade writes a letter to her grandmother. She mentions that the Kings’ children are coming to visit, just like they all visit Grandma on Christmas in Nigeria. She then tells her grandmother that Auntie Gracie is trying to fatten up Folarin, as she makes him chicken soup from a Jamaican recipe she knows.