This Motherless Land

Kate continues to refuse to adjust to life in Nigeria. She calls her father’s new wife “aunt,” can’t bring herself to call her dad’s son Femi, and does not even unpack. She convinces herself that she will only be there briefly until Liv tells the truth and sorts things out. However, she does go into town and has her hair done in braids like Bimpe used to do, telling the hairdresser that her name is “Funke.”

The next day, Kate wakes up and is sick. Bisi takes her temperature and tells Kate she must have malaria from going out at night. Kate realizes that she may have the same allergic reaction to quinine as her mother, but she takes the pills from Bisi anyway.

As Liv starts to recover, her mother stops visiting. When Grandma comes, Liv asks about Kate. Grandma tells her that Kate “decided” to go back to Nigeria, but that her father wrote a letter saying that Kate has died of malaria. Liv becomes hysterical, sobbing that she killed Kate, until the nurses subdue her.

At home, Liv tells Grandma and Margot the entire story—starting with her nude photos. Margot still tries to blame Kate for driving under the influence of drugs, as Liv repeatedly tells her that she drugged Kate. Liv realizes that Margot “liked her version of events too much” to “believe the truth” (161).

Liv leaves The Ring to live in London, doing her best to escape Kate’s “ghost.” She works several temporary jobs, doing so hungover, and does drugs with her three roommates. She eventually turns to cocaine, realizing it is the only thing that stops her from thinking so much about Kate.

After Ndidi saves Funke’s life at LUTH, Funke begins living with the Bensons. She acknowledges that she knew taking the pills would likely kill her. After her recovery, she confesses to her father that she needs to move in with her friends, and Chloé enrolls her at Medilag to study medicine.

Funke is nervous at school, but immediately befriends her two roommates, Morenike and Blessing. They call her “Yellow Funke,” but she decides to “embrace” it, realizing that she has the chance to decide who she wants to be in this new space (173).

Funke immediately gets used to life at Medilag, even the bathing which requires using a bucket and heating it with a coil. The men on campus constantly hit on her, so she decides to get her hair done in Bantu knots to ward them off. It helps, and she learns to angrily dismiss them, deciding that she will embrace the fact that she stands out. She begins to like a boy in her anatomy class, Bola, who helps her catch up on the work she missed.

Every Saturday, Blessing gets dressed up and goes out. When Funke asks where she goes, Morenike admits that she has sexual relations with an older man for money. Funke is disgusted, but Morenike admonishes her, saying that not everyone is as lucky as she is. Funke initially argues, then realizes that she has her own privileges in the form of her parents’ money, friends, and even Margot’s family. Morenike teaches her the phrase “Eniyan l’aso mi,” which expresses the importance of having people for support, and it becomes Funke’s “mantra” (179).

Liv continues to move from job to job, doing drugs and drinking every night. On Christmas, Liv is alone in her apartment. She finds a package from Grandma, who asks her to come home, but Liv can’t bear the thought of going back to The Ring.

Over the next several weeks, Funke learns to live in Nigeria again. She deals with the constant heat, the electricity going out, the lack of water, and the need to lock up all her belongings. However, she also enjoys school and continues to get along with her roommates.

At Christmas, Funke goes back home, where her father and Bisi do everything they can to make her comfortable. She also enjoys seeing Bobo—her nickname for Femi—and Funmi. When she goes to Chloé’s house, her nephew, Toks, is visiting. They go to the club, where all the service staff recognize her and honor her from their past experiences with Mum. She feels “connected” to her mother, promising to “be the daughter [she] wanted [her] to be” (186).