No Longer At Ease Chapter 15 Summary

  • Obi is almost killed in an accident on the way back to Lagos. There is no damage to his car.
  • He decides to stop at Clara's flat on the way to tell her, rather than going home first.
  • But then he passes through the place where she lives, and goes home to take a bath. He's tired.
  • He decides to visit Christopher, to get his advice. But finally, he just goes to Clara's.
  • Obi tries to put on a good face.
  • He says that it will all work out in the end. His mother is adamant but she will soon come around; his father can be convinced. They just need to lay low for a while until things calm down.
  • Clara asks him if he's finished.
  • Then she says there is only one thing she regrets, but it doesn't matter because she'll take care of it. She gives him her engagement ring back.
  • He refuses to take it, so she threatens to throw it out the window. He tells her to go ahead. Then she takes the ring and drops it in his glove box.
  • Obi wants to talk but Clara say no. Finally, after he sits there for ten minutes, she tells him to leave.
  • Again, as he leaves, she says there was something she should have told him, but she would rather find another way to take care of it.
  • Later, Christopher fails to be sympathetic. He said he had wanted to tell Obi not to be foolish but it's better not to interfere with these things when a man has his heart set on a particular woman.
  • He laughs when Obi says that his mother threatened suicide, and tells a story about a woman who intended to do the same after her children died, but couldn't follow through with it.
  • Obi says his mother very much meant what she said.
  • Then he says he thinks Clara is pregnant.
  • Christopher says he will find a doctor who can help Clara and Obi take care of it.
  • The doctor they find, however, changes his mind when he sees Obi. He says he could go to jail and lose his license. He suggests that Obi marry Clara instead.
  • Clara says she doesn't want to marry Obi.
  • So they go to the next doctor. He doesn't like the idea but he'll do it for thirty pounds, cash.
  • Obi asks if he won't take less money but he says no, since an abortion is a crime. He tells them to come back at two tomorrow, and reminds Clara not to eat.
  • Then he asks Obi why he doesn't marry Clara. They don't answer.