Black Sunday

The penultimate chapter in 2021 is written through Bibike’s eyes and presents a look at four generations of her family by introducing her daughter Abike sitting with Bibike’s grandmother, who is singing oriki—a traditional form of Yoruba poetry—to her.

Her grandmother continues to tell stories, especially of her own childhood, now that Abike has been born. Bibike has even started to record some of these stories so Abike can listen to them as she gets older.

In her narration, Bibike divulges how Ariyike has settled into the role of Pastor David’s wife, and this is surprising since her sister seems so different. She didn’t even think Ariyike truly believed in Jesus.

Grandmother does not approve of Ariyike’s role. She turns to proverbs, which Bibike says are “easy to get tired of” because they don’t always adapt to the modern world (223). She is trying to find her own values.

Grandmother reminds Bibike to have a priest say the Viaticum when she is dying, and Bibike tells her grandmother that she will be around for a long time.

Father appears after making a last-minute decision to stop by with his business partner, who he tells to look around.