Chukwuebuka Ibeh’s debut novel opens in 2006, when Anozie, a shopkeeper in Port Harcourt, southern Nigeria, brings an adolescent boy in to help. Something about the new assistant catches the attention of Anozie’s teenage son, Obiefuna; soon after, Anozie sees the two boys exchange a simmering glance. He immediately grasps its significance. After beating Obiefuna, Anozie sends him away to boarding school.