“So the government is right? The only way to bring warring tribes back together, living side by side as neighbors, is to make them forget what they did to each other?” Venom drips from Xifeng’s words.

“Warring tribes.” This time, Ify lets a touch of anger infect her voice. “That’s what we are to you. Just warring tribes who can’t think for themselves. Who can’t make decisions and govern their own lives. Just warring tribes who have no business running their own country.”

Xifeng sneers.

“You’re no different from the rest of the oyinbo. All throughout history, these people come in and try to tell us how to live, and all they do is create conflict. All they leave behind is death and destruction and dysfunction. What you’re proposing will rip this country apart. Millions will die.”

“And the country will move forward. Just like you did.”

“I am not a country!” The exclamation rings throughout the room. Ify is sure it can be heard in every corridor and every chamber in this sequence of tunnels. She takes a moment to settle herself, to slow her heart’s racing, to still her nerves. “I am a human being,” she says with a lower voice, a kinder one. “I am one human being. I was lucky.” As she speaks, she thinks of her patients. Their experiences fill her voice. “I’ve seen people who witnessed the torture of their family go blind. I’ve seen people so traumatized by their nightmares that they die in their sleep. Scared to death, Xifeng. Sacred. To. Death. So many others—deafness, impotence, suicidal ideations, children who take their own lives because they think it is the only relief from the trauma that haunts them every second of their day. That is not happening because people are holding it in. These people were seeking treatment. They were speaking to professionals. They were sharing their experiences. They were doing everything right, and they still didn’t survive. Xifeng, you’re going to kill these people.”

“Would you sacrifice your memories of Onyii for peace?”

The question stops whatever words Ify had left in her throat.

“Everyone who remembers Onyii is in these caves. You can count them on one hand. And two of those people are standing here right now. Think about that, Ify. The only people who ever knew Onyii existed. After all she did for her people. We are all that’s left of her. You would have us lose that.”

Ngozi enters the room and hurries to Xifeng. She puts a hand to her arm to turn her, and whispers briefly to her. The two exchange a meaningful look. Then Ngozi leaves.

Rage floods through Ify, but she holds it in her shaking fists. “You’re not doing this for Onyii. You’re doing this for you. And I won’t let you.”

Xifeng smirks. “You’re too late.” She crosses her arms. “It has already started.”