What It Means When a Man Falls From the Sky

Two months before Ada starts college at Emory, her mother sends her to live with relatives in Nigeria. She has threatened her with this punishment before, such as when Ada hid Ecstasy in a bottle of painkillers. What finally makes up her mother’s mind is Ada’s failure to become valedictorian; going to Nigeria will separate Ada from her friend Leila, whom her mother thinks is a bad influence. Ada’s mother hopes her aunt Ugo and cousin Chinyere will tame her wild impulses.

Though Chinyere and Ada got along when they were younger, Ada’s mother’s continual comparisons of Ada to Chinyere have made Ada resent her. Even though Chinyere had a baby as a teenager, Ada’s mother still considers her nice, well-mannered, and obedient. Auntie Ugo, however, does not trust her daughter. She has taken away her phone and only lets her out with her cousin to events she deems safe, such as a fundraising event for a primary school.

Chinyere helps Ada with her makeup for the fundraiser in exchange for Ada asking Auntie Ugo to use her car. Ada senses that the animosity between Chinyere and Ugo is deeper than the difficulties she has with her own mother. Ada and Chinyere enjoy the event and each other’s company, but when a woman comes over to ask Chinyere pointedly about her “brother” (actually her son), the