Under the Udala Trees

The narrative moves forward to Ijeoma working in her mother’s store and then back to her time living with the grammar school teacher. Just a “pail of dirty laundry” (95) can take her on a journey of reminiscence.

Ijeoma remembers hiding from bombers in bunkers. 13-year-old Ijeoma is sent to fetch kerosene, and sees corpses on the way. When a living boy emerges from the pile of dead bodies, the police inspecting the corpses scare him off.

When she reaches Okeke’s shop, Ijeoma discovers he’s out of kerosene. She remembers she still owes him money from a previous visit and thinks about Okeke’s family, including a son who had joined the army, who reminds her of the boy she just saw. Her thoughts hop “from one box to the next” (99) and land on a folktale.

The folktale of Ogbuogu is about two warring villages: one has warriors and weapons, while the other has Ogbuogu, a magical boy. Once they discover the secret of Ogbuogu’s call to battle, the opposing villagers call him out in a trick and kill him. But then Ogbuogu’s fellow villagers prop up his corpse to ride into battle, and their opposition flees in fear, thinking he is a spirit.