Half of a Yellow Sun, Americanah, Purple Hibiscus: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Three-Book Collection

Ugwu could hear Olanna and Baby singing in the bathroom.

London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down,London Bridge is falling down, my fair lady.

Baby’s London, in her tiny unformed voice, sounded like bonbon. The bathroom door was open.

‘Good evening, mah,’ Ugwu said.

‘Oh, Ugwu, I didn’t hear you come in!’ Olanna said. She was bent over the tub, giving Baby a bath. ‘Welcome, nno. Are your people well?’

‘Yes, mah. They send greetings. My mother said she cannot thank you enough for the wrappers.’

‘How is her leg?’

‘It no longer aches. She gave me ukwa for you.’

‘Eh! She must have known what I am craving now.’ She turned to look at him, her hands covered in bath foam. ‘You look well. See your fat cheeks!’

‘Yes, mah,’ Ugwu said, although it was a lie. He always lost weight when he visited home.

‘Ugwu!’ Baby called. ‘Ugwu, come and see!’ She was pressing a squawking plastic duck in her hand.

‘Baby, you can greet Ugwu after your bath,’ Olanna said.

‘Anulika will be getting married soon, mah. My father said I should let you and Master know. They do not have a date yet, but they will be very happy if you come.’

‘Anulika? Is she not a little young? About sixteen-seventeen?’

‘Her mates have started to marry.’

Olanna turned back to the tub. ‘Of course we will come.’

‘Ugwu!’ Baby said again.

‘Shall I warm Baby’s porridge, mah?’

‘Yes. And please make her milk.’

‘Yes, mah.’ He would linger for a moment and then ask her if all had gone well in the week he was away, and she would tell him which friends had come, who had brought what, if they had finished the stew he had put in containers in the freezer.

‘Your master and I have decided that Arize should come here to have her baby in September,’ Olanna said.

‘That is good, mah,’ Ugwu said. ‘I hope the baby will resemble Aunty Arize and not Uncle Nnakwanze.’

Olanna laughed. ‘I hope so too. We will start cleaning the room in time. I want it to be spotless for her.’

‘It will be spotless, mah, don’t worry.’ Ugwu liked Aunty Arize. He remembered her wine-carrying ceremony in Umunnachi about three years ago, how plump and bubbly she had been and how he had drunk so much palm wine that he had nearly dropped the infant Baby.

‘I’m going to Kano on Monday to pick her up and take her shopping in Lagos,’ Olanna said. ‘I’ll take Baby. We’ll pack that blue dress Arize made for her.’

‘The pink one is better, mah. The blue one is too tight.’

‘That’s true.’ Olanna picked up a plastic duck and threw it back into the tub, and Baby squealed and submerged it in the water.

‘Nkem!’ Master called out. ‘O mego! It has happened!’

Olanna hurried to the living room, Ugwu close behind.

Master was standing by the radio. The television was on but the volume was off so that the dancing people looked as if they were swaying drunkenly. ‘There’s been a coup,’ Master said, and gestured to the radio. ‘Major Nzeogwu is speaking from Kaduna.’

The voice on the radio was youthful, eager, confident.

The Constitution is suspended and the regional government andelected assemblies are hereby dissolved. My dear countrymen, theaim of the Revolutionary Council is to establish a nation freefrom corruption and internal strife. Our enemies are the politicalprofiteers, the swindlers, the men in high and low places thatseek bribes and demand ten per cent, those that seek to keep thecountry divided permanently so that they can remain in office, thetribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big fornothing before international circles, those that have corrupted oursociety.

Olanna ran to the telephone. ‘What is happening in Lagos? Did they say what is happening in Lagos?’

‘Your parents are fine, nkem. Civilians are safe.’

Olanna was dialling. ‘Operator? Operator?’ She put the phone down and picked it up again. ‘It isn’t going through.’

Master gently took the phone from her. ‘I’m sure they are fine. The lines will come back up soon. It’s just for security.’

On the radio, the voice had become firmer.

I assure all foreigners that their rights will continue to berespected. We promise every law-abiding citizen the freedom fromall forms of oppression, freedom from general inefficiency, andfreedom to live and strive in every field of human endeavour. Wepromise that you will no more be ashamed to say that you are aNigerian.

‘Mummy Ola!’ Baby called from the bathroom. ‘Mummy Ola!’

Ugwu went back to the bathroom and dried Baby with a towel and then hugged her, blew against her neck. She smelt deliciously of Pears baby soap.

‘Baby chicken!’ he said, tickling her. Her plaits were wet, the ends tightened in a curly kink, and Ugwu smoothed them and marvelled again at how much she looked like her father; his people would say that Master had spit this child out.

‘More tickles!’ Baby said, laughing. Her chubby face was slick with moisture.

‘Baby baby chicken,’ Ugwu murmured, in the sing-song way that always amused her.

Baby laughed and, from the living room, Ugwu heard Olanna say, ‘Oh, God, what did he say? What did he say?’

He was serving Baby’s porridge when the deputy president spoke briefly on the radio, the voice understated, as if he were exhausted from the effort of saying, ‘The government is handing over to the military.’

There were more announcements later – the prime minister was missing, Nigeria was now a federal military government, the premiers of the North and West were missing – but Ugwu was not sure who spoke and on what station because Master sat next to the radio, turning the knob quickly, stopping, listening, turning, stopping. He had removed his glasses and looked more vulnerable with his eyes sunken deep in his face. He did not put them back on until the guests arrived. There were more today than usual, and Ugwu brought dining chairs to the living room to seat them all. Their voices were urgent and excited, each person barely waiting for the last to finish speaking.

‘This is the end of corruption! This is what we have needed to happen since that general strike,’ one guest said. Ugwu did not remember his name, but he tended to eat up all the chin-chin right after it was served, so Ugwu had taken to placing the tray as far away from him as possible. The man had large hands; a few generous handfuls from the tray and all was lost.

‘Those majors are true heroes!’ Okeoma said, and raised an arm.

There was excitement in their voices even when they talked about the people who were killed.

‘They said the Sardauna hid behind his wives.’