Half of a Yellow Sun

"Ugwuanyi!"

Ugwu looked up and saw his aunty coming toward him from the front yard. He stood up.

"Aunty! Welcome."

"I was knocking on the front door."

"Sorry. I did not hear."

"Are you alone at home? Where is your master?"

"They went out. They took Baby with them." Ugwu examined her face. "Aunty, is it well?"

She smiled. "It is well, o di mma. I bring a message from your father. They will have Anulika's wine-carrying ceremony next Saturday."

"Eh! Next Saturday?"

"It is better they do it now, before war comes, if war is going to come."

"That is true." Ugwu looked away, toward the lemon tree. "So. Anulika is really getting married."

"Did you think you would marry your own sister?"

"God forbid."

His aunty reached out and pinched his arm. "Look at you, a man has emerged. Eh! In a few years it will be your turn."

Ugwu smiled. "It is you and my mother who will find a good person when the time comes, Aunty," he said, with a false demureness. There was no point in telling her that Ola

"I am going," his aunty said.

"Won't you drink some water?"

"I ca

Even before his aunty left, Ugwu was already imagining his arrival for the ceremony. This time, he would finally hold Nnesinachi naked and pliant in his arms. His Uncle Eze's hut was a good place to take her, or perhaps even the quiet grove by the stream, as long as the little children did not bother them. He hoped she would not be silent like Chinyere; he hoped she would make the same sounds he heard from Ola

That evening, while he was cooking di

Ugwu was in the kitchen with Ola

"It's so wrong," she said. "So wrong. But His Excellency has handled it all well; God knows how many would have been killed if he did not have the Northern soldiers sent back to the North."

"Ojukwu is a great man."

"Yes, he is, but we are all capable of doing the same things to one another, really."

"No, mah. We are not like those Hausa people. The reprisal killings happened because they pushed us." His reprisal killings had come out sounding close to hers, he was sure.

Ola

"I will come with you and Master, mah."

Ola

"What is that?" she asked. "Do you hear it, Ugwu? What is it?"

Ola

"What is that?" Ola

"They are advancing," Master said calmly. "I think we should plan on leaving today."

Then Ugwu heard the loud honk of a car outside. Suddenly he was afraid to go to the door, even to go to the window and peek out.

Master opened the door. The green Morris Minor had parked so hurriedly that one tire was outside the driveway, crushing the lilies that bordered the lawn; when the man came out of the car, Ugwu was shocked to see that he was only wearing a singlet and trousers. And bathroom slippers too!

"Evacuate now! The federals have entered Nsukka! We are evacuating now! Right now! I am going to all the houses still occupied. Evacuate now!"

It was after he had spoken and rushed back into his car and driven off, honking continuously, that Ugwu recognized him: Mr. Vincent Ike

"Get a few things together, nkem," Master said. "I'll check the water in the car. Ugwu, lock up quick! Don't forget the Boys' Quarters."

"Gini? What things?" Ola

Baby started to cry. There was the sound again, boom-boom-boom, closer and louder.

"It won't be for long, we'll be back soon. Just take a few things, clothes." Master gestured vaguely before he grabbed the car keys from the shelf.

"I'm still cooking," Ola

"Put it in the car," Master said.

Ola

At the gates, Biafran soldiers were waving cars through. They looked distinguished in their khaki uniforms, boots shining, half of a yellow sun sewn on their sleeves. Ugwu wished he was one of them. Master waved and said, "Well done!"

Dust swirled all around, like a see-through brown blanket. The main road was crowded; women with boxes on their heads and babies tied to their backs, barefoot children carrying bundles of clothes or yams or boxes, men dragging bicycles. Ugwu wondered why they were holding lit kerosene lanterns although it was not yet dark. He saw a little child stumble and fall and the mother bend and yank him up, and he thought about home, about his little cousins and his parents and Anulika. They were safe. They would not have to run because their village was too remote. This only meant that he would not see Anulika get married, that he would not hold Nnesinachi in his arms as he had pla

Master drove slowly because of the crowds and road blocks, but slowest when they got to Milliken Hill. The lorry ahead of them had no one knows tomorrow printed on its body. As it crawled up the steep incline, a young man jumped out and ran alongside, carrying a wood block, ready to throw it behind the back tire if the lorry were to roll back.