Death of the Author
by Nnedi Okorafor
Contents
32: Passing
Overview
Zelu's father Secret dies of a heart attack in the hospital before she can speak to him again, plunging her into raw grief amid her family's habitual friction. Hours later, her Nigerian uncles arrive demanding Secret be buried as an Igbo chief in Mbaise, igniting a clash with her Yoruba mother and forcing the siblings to push back against patriarchal tradition. In a rare moment, Zelu lets her sisters and mother hold her without fleeing inward.
Summary
Zelu rushes to a Chicago hospital after learning her father has had a heart attack, leaving Msizi behind despite his offer of support. At the hospital, she's recognized by fans before reaching her father's room, where her family has gathered. Tension flares immediately, with her sister Chinyere accusing her of being unreliable and Amarachi snapping at her. Their mother sends most of the family out, keeping Zelu and Bola's boyfriend Shawn to stand vigil while she prays over her unconscious husband.
While the siblings wait in the lobby, Chinyere rushes back with news. They reach the room to hear the flatline and their mother's anguished cries for Secret. Zelu does not enter to see his body. Feeling unable to perform a role for her family and unsupported by them, she calls a cab home, where Msizi holds her as she finally weeps.
Hours later at 5 a.m., Tolu calls insisting Zelu come to their parents' house, where Uncles Dike and Ugorji and Auntie Ozioma have arrived overnight from Nigeria. Msizi comforts her with a memory of her father's masquerade dance at Amarachi's wedding, and warns her not to let her family press her down. Zelu insists on going alone.
At the house, Zelu finds the relatives demanding that her father be buried in Mbaise as an Igbo chief. Her mother, asserting her identity as a Yoruba princess of Ondo, furiously refuses, accusing Dike of past harms toward Secret. The uncles invoke patriarchal tradition and the "head office" of blood kin. Chinyere defuses the confrontation by demanding the uncles offer requests, not demands, and asks for time to think. The siblings retreat to the kitchen, where they suspect the uncles will next move on their father's Nigerian bank accounts. When Zelu, overwhelmed, asks where they will bury him, her sisters catch and embrace her, drawing their mother into the embrace. For the first time in grief, Zelu remains grounded rather than dissociating into space.
Who Appears
- ZeluGrieving daughter who rushes to the hospital, misses her father's final moments, and confronts family tensions over his burial.
- SecretZelu's Igbo father, who dies of a heart attack without regaining consciousness; remembered as a cultural, adventurous man.
- OmoshalewaZelu's mother, a Yoruba princess of Ondo, who prays over her dying husband and rages against her in-laws' burial demands.
- MsiziZelu's supportive partner who comforts her at home and warns her not to let her family press her down.
- ChinyereZelu's eldest sister, initially sharp with Zelu, who later steadies the family by pushing back against the uncles.
- AmarachiZelu's sister, openly angry at patriarchal tradition and grieving witnessing their father's collapse.
- ToluZelu's brother, the only son, who clashes with Uncle Dike and summons Zelu to the early-morning family meeting.
- UzoZelu's sibling, present and shaken, observing the conflict over their father's burial.
- BolaZelu's sibling whose boyfriend Shawn is favored by their mother.
- ShawnBola's boyfriend who stays with Zelu and her mother at the bedside and offers Zelu sympathy.
- JackieAmarachi's husband, who comforts her and checks on Zelu.
- Uncle DikeSecret's tall, imposing brother from Nigeria who demands a traditional Igbo burial in Mbaise.
- Uncle UgorjiSecret's robust, entitled brother who insists Secret be buried as a chief in his homeland.
- Auntie OziomaRelative arrived from Nigeria, attempting to calm the escalating burial dispute.