A young, wealthy family moves to an area of Nigeria outside of Lagos amid the rainy season. The woman across the street from their new home, a widowed mother of twins named Mama Ibeji, immediately becomes invested in the new neighbors. She critiques their remodeling of the traditional house into a more modern mansion.

Observing the couple and their two children closely from her home across the street, Mama Ibeji thinks she has them figured out. Shortly after their arrival, she brings the new neighbors– Patricia, Atan, and their two boys– a housewarming gift of moi moi. Antan is on the phone talking to extended family. He tells the person on the phone that he will send them money for a wedding. Mama Ibeji later advises him to not allow people to demand things from him simply because they are family. This initially upsets Antan, but over several weeks, Antan and Mama Ibeji become much closer.

Mama Ibeji and her husband moved to London for university as a young woman. They later lived and worked there, finding financial stability and success. One day during this time, Mama Ibeji is blindsided when her husband decides, against her will, to move them back home to Nigeria to be closer to his extended family. Unlike her husband, Mama Ibeji has no family in Nigeria after her mother passed away and grows to resent his decision and the ways it impacts her. His family pushes her to fulfill more traditional roles as a wife rather than the progressive lifestyle she had been living in London and in her initial years in Nigeria as a working woman with outspoken opinions.

Mama Ibeji, heavily influenced by her own experience, continues trying to convince Atan that he is not obligated to send his extended family money and reminds him that he is not indebted to anyone. Although Mama Ibeji becomes closer to Antan, she avoids Patricia despite Patricia's attempts to befriend her. She thinks of Patricia as a vapid young wife without emotional depth or sustenance. One day, Patricia asks Mama Ibeji to help medicate her new fish, which has fallen ill. As the women clean the fish tank, Patricia reveals more about Antan's dynamic with his extended family.

Mama Ibeji's perception of the young woman and her husband slowly shifts. One night, Patricia's youngest son becomes deathly ill amid a storm when Antan is away for the week at work. She runs to Mama Ibeji's house across the street and begs her for help. Throughout the night's chaos, Mama Ibeji can recognize Patricia's humanity through her roles as a mother and wife.

After this incident, when Antan comes over to thank Mama Ibeji, he confesses his difficulty relating to his wife. He reveals that he has a secret child with another woman. Mama Ibeji does not chastise him, but her internal reaction is less sympathetic than her previous relationship with him. This weighty secret gives her a sense of power and connection she has not felt since her days in London.