After a ten‑hour flight and a hostile customs inspection that confiscated her uziza seeds, Chinaza is led by her new husband into a dingy brownstone on Flatbush. He opens the door to a number‑2B flat with a beige couch, a tiny bedroom with a bare mattress, and a larger bedroom with a dresser and a phone on the carpet. He tells her they will acquire more furniture, and they fall asleep together. His snoring is loud and his mouth smells of Ogbete Market; he awakens her by crushing his body onto hers and forces a premature intimacy. He hands her a phone and instructs her to call her Uncle Ike and Aunt Ada in Nigeria, costing nearly a dollar a minute, and she imagines their warm congratulations about her “doctor husband.”

The next morning they eat microwaved pancakes and bland tea. A knock at the door introduces Shirley, a white woman from apartment 3A, who greets Chinaza politely and promises to visit again. Dave explains that he goes by “Dave” in America and has adopted the surname “Bell” because “Udenwa” is hard for Americans. He fills out a Social Security form for Chinaza using the name AGATHA BELL. He then takes her on a tour of the Flatbush neighborhood, showing her the bus, a Key Food grocery, and a mall. He lectures her on American habits—talking English at home, buying store‑brand goods, and aiming to be an attending physician after a low‑pay internship. He disparages the other immigrant shoppers, especially a Spanish‑speaking mother and child, insisting they must adapt or remain stuck.

At the mall they eat pizza at a food court, browse Macy’s, ride a creaky elevator, and buy a large grey coat. Later they eat at McDonald’s; Chinaza tries to cook coconut rice at home but lacks uziza, so she buys a coconut at a Jamaican store. Dave, now in a blue uniform, insists she speak English at home. He returns home, tastes her rice, and later brings a thick All‑American cookbook, warning that their building will not be known for foreign smells.

In the following days Dave works long hours, and Chinaza spends time at home, cutting coupons from the Key Food catalog. She meets Nia from apartment 2D, a Black American who changed her name from a Swahili name after a stint in Tanzania. Nia invites Chinaza for a Coke, offers to help her find a job at Macy’s, and later introduces her to her hair‑salon business. Nia’s apartment has a wooden mask and a spare elegant living room. The two become friends; Nia brings diet soda and later cooks tea for Chinaza.

Winter arrives; Chinaza watches the first snow, scrubs the floor, and continues clipping coupons. She serves Dave fried chicken and french fries, reminding him of her pending work permit. Dave reveals that he had a prior “paper” marriage to an American woman, describing it as a business transaction to obtain a green card; the woman is threatening to report him to immigration. He confesses he married Chinaza because she was light‑skinned and his mother thought she was a good, quiet girl, possibly a virgin. The conversation turns tense, with Chinaza tearing coupons and questioning why he married her.

Later, after Dave showers, Chinaza packs two embroidered boubous and a caftan—Aunt Ada’s hand‑me‑downs—into her suitcase and goes to Nia’s apartment. Nia offers her a phone line and a place to stay, encouraging her to apply for benefits and find work. Nia asks about Chinaza’s past relationships; Chinaza admits she once dated someone in Nigeria but had no money. Nia reveals she had a brief sexual encounter with Dave two years earlier, before he moved in, but they never dated. Nia urges Chinaza to consider leaving after she gets her papers, while acknowledging the difficulty of surviving in the United States without a permit. Chinaza returns to the flat, rings the doorbell, and Dave opens the door, letting her pass back inside.