CHAPTER 18MY NAME IS FERGUS SMITH. Ekem Ferguson was my father. After his execution my mother re-married. My step-father’s name is Smith. My mother thought it would be in my best interest if she changed my surname to his.
After I graduated from college, I went to visit my mother. I asked her to tell me everything she knew about my father.
“He was a traitor,” she said, “a traitor to our country. He got his just deserts.”
“How do you know?” I asked. “Did you ever hear his side of the story?”
She did not answer.
“I remember the two of you arguing all the time,” I said.
“Fergus,” she said, “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to remember. It’s all over. The past.”
“Ma, he was my father. I’m entitled to know more,” I said.
Again silence.
“Ma,” I said, “I’d like to go and see Un
