Afterlives

Hamza returns to Tanga after leaving the mission. He receives free passage aboard a supply ship. Upon arrival, Hamza walks through the town looking for anything that seems familiar, as he lived there prior to going into the military. The town has changed so much that he recognizes little.

Eventually, he ends up at Nassor’s shop. When Hamza says he is looking for work, Nassor summons one of his workmen. He takes Hamza to the wood warehouse where Khalifa is. Nassor arrives and tells Khalifa that Hamza is going to be the night watchman. Khalifa is unhappy with the arrangement, while Hamza is not excited at the idea of working with Khalifa. In the afternoon, Khalifa leaves to go home and Hamza sits outside Nassor’s office until he comes back very late in the day and tells Hamza to go home and that he can start working the next day in the warehouse.

Since he has nowhere to go, Hamza sleeps in the street in front of the warehouse. During the night, he experiences recurrent nightmares: “He was often visited by disturbing dreams. It was a relief when he heard the dawn calls to prayers and went to the mosque again to clean up” (166).