Who Fears Death

They enter Durfa just past the cornfields. Luyu is nervous and worries about what will happen if she’s asked to work for a Nuru; Mwita points out that she’ll simply have to do it until she has a chance to get away. Mwita reminds Onye that he can only hold himself ignorable for about an hour, so they tell Luyu to make sure to find a place they can hide every 45 minutes; then they turn ignorable and enter Durfa.

As soon as they enter the town, a man orders Luyu to cook breakfast for his family; “He so assumed that Luyu would do his bidding that he didn’t notice when Luyu kept right on going” (356). Immediately after, though, another woman orders Luyu to carry her textiles for her, which at least gets them safely into Durfa. All morning, the orders continue; Luyu doesn’t get a break until midday. It looks strange to Onye, though: “Something was wrong … with everyone here. The Okeke didn’t look too bothered as they worked. And the Nuru weren’t openly cruel to them. […] It was confusing and strange” (358).

Onye changes into a vulture and flies up to find the Conversation Space, near where the rebels had told them

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