Summary

In “24, Alhaji Williams Street,” the first-person narrator lives on Alhaji Williams Street. One year, a fever comes to the village, spreading from one house to the next and killing each of the children. The narrator is “the only boy in [the] family” and waits for the fever to take him, too (87). He is studying for university entrance exams at the time and his mother constantly worries about him. Meanwhile, she visits the other neighborhood mothers when they lose their sons. The narrator tries to dismiss his worries, talking to his only friend Junior about what is happening. Junior is an intellectual, but also believes that he has special powers. Everyone thinks Junior is weird but the narrator likes spending time with him.

As the fever spreads, the neighborhood grows tense. Everyone starts sprinkling blood on their doors to ward it...