Kambili Achike Quotes

″ Things started to fall apart at home when my brother, Jaja, did not go to communion. ”

″ It was hard to turn my head, but I did it and looked away. ”

“We did not scale the rod because we ... could, we scaled it because we were terrified ... we couldn’t. ”

“Something from God was happening there.”

“He was gracious, in the eager-to-please way that he always assumed with the ... white religious. ”

“I was not sure what my laughter sounded like. ”

“You could say anything at any time to anyone. ”

“The painting ... represented something lost, something I had never had, would never have. ”

″ I did not even think to think what Mama needed to be forgiven for. ”

“That’s a hibiscus, isn’t it, Aunty? ”

“The old silence had broken and left us with the sharp pieces. ”

“I meant to say I am sorry that Papa broke your figurines, but the words that came out were, ‘I’m sorry your figurines broke, Mama.’”

“Mama used to tell Jaja and me that God was undecided about what to send, rain or sun. We would sit in our rooms and look out at the raindrops glinting with sunlight, waiting for God to decide.”

“I knew that when the tea burned my tongue, it burned Papa’s love into me. ”

“We did that often, asking each other questions whose answers we already knew. ”

“Silence hangs over us, but ... a different kind of silence, one that lets me breathe. ”