When Edem was eight-years-old, she went to live with her uncle in Accra. She had been living with her mother in Lagos in a hotel with the proprietor Sinclair, who slept with Edem's mother and let them stay for free. Now that Edem is eleven-years-old and still lives with her uncle, she starts to doubt that her mother will ever come back. In Lagos, Edem lives with her uncle, aunt, and her cousin Comfort, along with all the staff around the house: Ruby, who is pretty when she smiles, Francis, the gentle giant chef, and Iago, whose name changed from Yaw after he read the part of Iago in Uncle's Reading Group. Comfort is home from university, as they are planning for a party that her fiancée will attend. She has brought books for Edem and tells her she left them in the study. Edem goes into the study but stops when she sees Ruby's head in her uncle's lap. The adults notice her and yell at her to leave. She thinks of the time that she saw her mother naked in their hotel room with Sinclair. When she goes to get away from the madness, Francis drops a tray of sweets on the floor and leaves for the Boy's Quarters after being chastised. When Edem follows him, she sees Comfort and Iago kissing against a tree. Comfort notices her, and, as she runs away, she sees Francis showering naked. One afternoon, Edem goes with her Auntie to Auntie's mother's store. She overhears Auntie and her mother yelling, saying that Mahmood, Auntie's uncle, put Auntie through school. Her mother tells Auntie she is ungrateful. Mahmood had come to eat with them one night and was very kind to Edem, calling her Habibti. The adults were having a conversation about Arabs when Mahmood kissed Edem on the cheek and squeezed her hips. Auntie yelled at Mahmood furiously. Mahmood never came back to Uncle and Auntie's house. Now, Auntie's mother yells at her for letting her husband sleep around and for taking care of a child that is not even hers. Edem realizes she is talking about Comfort. On the night of the party at Uncle's house, Edem is wearing one of Comfort's bubas, which is much too big. The shoulders keep slipping down to reveal her flat chest. She walks into the house toward the study and trips over her dress, revealing her chest again. Uncle is in the study. He begins speaking to her, then kisses her. Auntie sees and starts screaming that Edem is his own blood. Uncle insists that _he _is in charge of the house and leaves. Auntie sobs, and Edem goes to her and puts her head in her lap.