Summary

In “Manifest,” the 26-year-old second-person narrator gets a pimple. That same night, her mother calls her by her mother’s name, Agnes. The narrator asks her father about Agnes that night while he is watching news “on the South Sudan civil war” (2). He explains that Agnes died when the narrator’s mom was young. The narrator realizes how little she knows about her Nigerian parents.

Over the following days, the narrator’s mother starts calling her Agnes more frequently. Sometimes the narrator corrects her or asks what about her reminds her of Agnes. A few days later, the narrator’s pimple goes away. Meanwhile, the narrator goes to work and spends time with her friend and coworker from work, Lesley. She starts asking her friends about reincarnation. She is worried that she has become Agnes or that something bad is inside of...