Summary

In Chapter 38, Gifty recalls losing her virginity in college. In the present timeline, she met Katherine for lunch and finally told her about her mother's mental health collapse. She recalls Nana's funeral. The Chin Chin Man sent mourning clothes from Ghana. Gifty's mother could not stop crying. Pastor John gave a eulogy, stating that Nana was in a better place. Gifty felt angry, like none of the assembled mourners truly knew her brother, nor were they willing to reckon with the reality of his addiction.

In Chapter 39, Gifty remembers how her mother started taking Ambien regularly after Nana's death. She once told Gifty that she never wanted a second child.

In Chapter 40, Gifty recalls feeling as though she would have to nurse her mother back to health “through the sheer force of my 11-year-old will” (192). She was determined, but she also felt sad...