Dream Count

In the morning, Omelogor is still thinking about Aunty. She tells herself to get up and respond to some of her For Men Only letters but can’t summon the energy. That evening, she gets together with her friends, including Ehigie, Jide, Belema, Chinelo, and Hauwa. Omelogor silently remembers meeting Hauwa.

Jide stays behind after everyone leaves. He and Omelogor sit on the couch and talk. Jide, who is gay, jokingly suggests they get married so his relatives will stop bothering him. Omelogor lets the comment go because Jide is drunk, but silently wonders what would happen if they did marry. Then Atasi enters, surprised to find Omelogor awake. (Omelogor is Atasi’s benefactor, and Atasi lives part time at her house.)

After Jide leaves in the morning, Omelogor reflects on their relationship. They’ve been friends since childhood.

A few days later, Omelogor is still thinking of Aunty’s words. To distract herself, she logs onto her computer and reads some For Men Only notes. Later that day, Hauwa stops over, immediately noticing that Omelogor is out of sorts. Omelogor pretends she’s fine, but Hauwa won’t drop the matter. She demands to know why Omelogor keeps visiting the village. Omelogor visits the village to meet financially insecure women and give them small business loans, but she hasn’t explained this to Hauwa. The two get into an argument about the meaning of friendship.

Omelogor hasn’t been herself since returning from America. She and Hauwa met shortly after she moved back to Nigeria. One night, Hauwa invited her to a party with strippers, tantric massages, and drugs. Omelogor agreed to go, but felt uncomfortable throughout. She didn’t like when others commented on her body, made advances, or offered her pills. Hauwa teased her about being a prude. Omelogor couldn’t handle Hauwa because she wasn’t a man.

Omelogor wakes up the next morning feeling hopeless. Chia texts asking to talk because she’s “worried about Kadiatou’s case” (277). Omelogor takes the call with Chia and Zikora. Omelogor is worried about Kadi too but feels irritated by Zikora’s bitter comments about men and underhanded remarks about her pornography studies.

Omelogor has never been in love. Instead, she has brief, intense relationships. The most upsetting was with the Big Man in America. She met him through work, and he retaliated against her professionally when she refused him sex. The most important relationship was with Arinze, who was the only person she thought she might love. She ended it because she didn’t think she could commit to him the way he wanted. She did the same with Chijioke. Although she wanted to love him, she felt he deserved someone better.

Omelogor wakes from a nightmare about her late Uncle Hezekiah. When she talks to her mom later, she reminds Omelogor it’s the anniversary of Uncle Hezekiah’s death. He was murdered during the war, and Omelogor is often haunted by his memory. For the rest of the day, she has a bad feeling.

Meanwhile, COVID spreads throughout the globe. Worried about the virus and Kadi’s case, Omelogor longs to be near Atasi. She sits with her while she looks at pictures of skinny girls on her phone. Omelogor remembers her mother’s disapproval when she bought the house and set aside a room for Atasi. She didn’t approve of this relationship or of Omelogor’s friendship with Chia.

Omelogor wakes up feeling sick. She reads the news and feels even worse. She starts to wonder what she’s doing and why. She reads some For Men Only letters and composes some responses. Then Jide calls to talk about work and his colleague’s departure for America. Jide wants to leave Nigeria, but fears that anywhere he goes will be racist. She understands the adversity he faces (she’s come to his defense numerous times) but encourages him to try.

Omelogor finds Atasi and her friend reading articles about Brazilian butt surgeries. Omelogor reflects on their obsession with thinness. She calls Chia to express her worries. Chia suggests Atasi is angry with her for being her benefactor.

When Atasi was a child, Omelogor hit her with her car. She didn’t die but was badly injured. Omelogor paid for her hospital expenses and began funding her education and aiding her parents financially.

COVID comes to Nigeria via an infected Italian. Omelogor tries not to worry. She continues working. She is with the same financial company she was with before moving to the United States. When she first started there, she quickly established herself as a leader in her field and earned the CEO’s trust. Her colleagues disdained and resented her as she rose through the ranks. Over time, the company began working with politicians. Eventually Omelogor was doing well for herself. However, she soon realized her work was disenfranchising the lower classes, whose money she was effectively stealing. Guilty, she started siphoning money from the politicians’ already illegal accounts into a new Robyn Hood account. With Robyn Hood, she funded women’s small businesses.

Chia’s brother Afam comes to see Omelogor. During the visit, Afam asks if Omelogor ever regrets having left Nigeria. Omelogor reflects on her past decisions, remembering why she left home. She was happy with her job for a time, but eventually grew disgusted with CEO’s corruption and left for America to earn her graduate degree.

Omelogor wanted to study pornography after an odd sexual encounter. One of her friends suggested she sleep with younger men because they’d pleasure her better. However, her first young lover slapped her breast, which he revealed he’d learned from porn. She started doing research and discovered that most men learn about sex through porn. One of her boyfriends had had the same experience, which upset Omelogor.

Omelogor hosts her friends for dinner, assuming they’ll be on lockdown soon. They discuss COVID and Kadi’s case. Omelogor defends Kadi when her friends imply she made up the assault for money.

Alone again later, Omelogor’s mind returns to her time in America. When she first visited, she liked the place, but her impression changed after moving. She didn’t like her graduate classes, and her classmates consistently disparaged whatever she said. She made some friends but soon found she didn’t fit in with them either. Over time, her misery and anger grew. She started For Men Only, posting a long letter about her time in America and the entitlement of Americans. In retrospect, she knows America doesn’t owe her anything but still resents it for disappointing her.

The days pass, and the virus spreads. Omelogor’s parents worry about her safety, but Philippe insists Africans won’t be affected.