Chapter 21  

Will feels overwhelmed and leaves the courtroom. He continues to experience disbelief that he is again in a courtroom with a parent. Despite the presentation of evidence, Will is convinced the prosecution and police have planted some of it. Sonny does not find Will until a recess when Will reveals that the rockets and rocket launcher were never in their garage and vows to speak to the lawyer right away.

The lawyers prepare Will for questioning and then meet with Aila to unveil their new defense strategy. To everyone’s surprise, Aila refuses to let Will testify. The men assume she is acting on maternal instinct to protect her son, and Sonny tries to convince her that Will will not come to any harm. Will thinks his mother is suggesting that the family of revolutionaries does not need him, the only one to stay out of politics.

Will takes a walk with his mother later and assures her that she “can’t decide for” him whether he testifies. Aila explains that this case is about her actions, and she does not want to involve her son. However, Will admits that he feels excluded. When they return home, they find a dead cat with a threatening message written on a sign around its neck. They walk calmly inside so as not to give onlookers the satisfaction of their reaction.

Chapter 22 

Will wonders when Aila became so “obdurate,” as it seems so against “her nature.” Sonny blames himself and then “forg[ives] himself,” for his wife’s involvement in the revolution. At the same time, Aila never blames him or “reproache[s] him” for any of his indiscretions. 

One day, Aila does not show up at the police station when expected, so someone calls the house to ask if she is there. Neither Sonny nor Will has seen her and are surprised she is not at the station. The next day, a girl brings a note from one of Sonny’s comrades indicating that Aila has fled and will not return until the political situation changes. She could not tell Sonny and Will, fearing the knowledge would endanger them. 

Eventually, they receive word about Aila. Sonny wants to go visit her and Baby but cannot get a passport. Sonny looks back on his political career and questions his involvement with Hannah, seeing the affair as a distraction from his true mission. He awakens from a dream about Hannah and thinks about “White extremists,” their threats, and the fear they instill. Meanwhile, Will types away in his room, and Sonny is grateful they still have each other.

Chapter 23 

Sonny’s previous passport application was denied, even though he only sought to visit Aila and Baby. Much to his chagrin, however, white politicals are permitted to travel freely. They would sometimes return invigorated and full of new radical ideas. To Sonny, there seems to be no reason that these white liberals had no limitations placed on them while Black comrades were kept in South Africa. 

In Sonny’s family’s neighborhood, racial discrimination and violence are ramping up, with white residents seeking to oust the black families “occupying the house[s] illegally.” During this time, Sonny is pulled into a meeting and told he will have travel papers to go to Lusaka on political business, but he plans to also visit Aila and Baby. 

Sonny is surprised but delighted to see Will pick him up at the airport. When Will asks about Aila, Sonny reveals that she had been in Sweden, but he met his grandson and learned that Baby wants Will to come stay with them. Will looks his...