I nodded as I put down the glass of cold Ambo and Coke that Elias had handed me. I tried to ignore the flutter happening in my chest caused by Elias’s gesture of getting me my preferred drink, and focused my attention on his mother. “Yes, my dad especially. He always called Ethiopia the homeland of his heart.”

“Sounds like he was a man with a good soul,” she said regretfully. Elias must have told them about his death.

“He was.”

After that the conversation turned to the meal and the soccer match. A moment later the cook—having house help was also a common thing in Ethiopia—started bringing out dishes and we moved to the table. Soon we were all digging into the meal, which was delicious. “This is really good. Thank you again.” I said as I pinched of a mouthful of injera and sautéed Swiss chard off my plate.

Negash beamed at me and put more food on my plate. I thanked her and turned to Elias, who looked tense, and had been quieter than usual. “Where’s your sister tonight?”

Before he had a chance to answer, his dad spoke up in a dejected tone. “My children are always finding reasons to escape this house.”

Elias gave his dad a worried look but didn’t react to his comment. “They’ve been looking for a house. Tonight they’re meeting with one of her husband’s cousins, who’s building some homes right down the street. They’ll still be very close.” That last part seemed a lot more for his dad’s benefit than mine.

Elias’s dad seemed genuinely upset by this. “Why does she need to leave?” Everyone tensed as he got more agitated, but no one said anything, and he kept talking. “When are you leaving, Eli? Are you escaping soon too?”

His tone wasn’t even angry, but it seemed like it was the needle that broke the camel’s back for Elias. His mom said something in Amharic, which I assumed was aimed at his dad. Whatever it was it seemed to mollify the man, but after a moment Elias stood up and excused himself. The tension in the room was so heavy I could almost see it. I soon did the same with a barely audible “excuse me” and followed Elias outside.

I found him standing in a dark corner of the yard with his hands in his pockets, looking up at the starry sky. “Hey.”

He turned when he heard me, but didn’t say anything. I stood next to him in silence, and after a moment he spoke. “I knew this would happen. I haven’t told him yet, but I think he suspects I’m leaving. I’ve been running errands and getting my things in order. My mother too. She wants me to go, though.”