Two weeks, four days, and 12 hours later, Eniiyi calls Zubby. They meet at the boat club, where Zubby describes the drowning: He was in shallow water, then losing consciousness with water in his lungs, with no memory between. Eniiyi jokes about Mami Wata pulling him under. Over food and drinks, Zubby reveals he doesn’t drink or smoke due to his father’s struggles with alcohol. Zubby asks her to teach him to swim, both to avoid being helpless again and to spend more time with her. Flustered, Eniiyi agrees and promises to send details for their first lesson on Tuesday.

Late one night, Eniiyi avoids sleep to escape recurring dreams of her dead aunt Monife that have plagued her since the Elegushi beach outing. Instead of dreaming, however, she finds herself standing soaking wet under the iroko tree in the garden—she has sleepwalked for the first time since childhood. She stumbles into the kitchen, where Grandma East drops a glass in shock. The glass shatters, reflecting Eniiyi’s image in a hundred pieces. Eniiyi sweeps up the shards while trying to understand what is happening, then leads her concerned grandmother back to bed.

Eniiyi begins teaching Zubby to swim at a social club pool. During one lesson, Zubby asks to kiss her, and she agrees. Their relationship deepens over four months. When he asks her to come home with him, she declines, saying her family will make their relationship a massive deal. He replies that it already feels like a massive deal to him. Walking to her gate, she encounters Osagie, an air force officer holding flowers for Ebun. He tells her that Ebun has rejected him 23 and a half times. Deciding to help, Eniiyi gives him both of her mother’s phone numbers. Osagie remarks that Eniiyi looks like her mother, something no one has ever told her before.

Eniiyi wakes to find Grandma West in her room, calling her Monife. For the first time, she doesn’t resist the name and gently guides her grand aunt back to bed. Grandma West warns that a boy will hurt her. Unable to sleep, Eniiyi goes to Monife’s preserved bedroom, which is cold and damp with a water stain and moldering clothes from a leak. At Monife’s dressing table, she finds photographs and a black leather notebook. Among the photos is one of Monife laughing; Eniiyi is shocked to see their faces are identical. She can no longer dismiss the reincarnation claims.

In her room, Eniiyi reads Monife’s notebook, filled with research on the Falodun family curse. The entries detail generations of female ancestors whose marriages all ended with the women being expelled and sent back to their fathers’ houses.

Monife’s notebook tells the story of Bunmi, who married a wealthy, handsome man and bore him two children, including a son. Believing the son secured her position despite the family curse, she was a submissive wife, following him to London and tolerating his infidelities. However, he fell in love with an independent Nigerian woman raised in Britain and gave Bunmi one month to leave. She and her children returned to the Falodun family home in Nigeria.

Osagie visits the Falodun home for his first date with Ebun and is scrutinized by Grandma West. After they leave, Eniiyi messages Zubby to come over. They watch a documentary and begin kissing on the sofa when Grandma West suddenly appears, calling Eniiyi by Monife’s name and warning her to stay away from the boy. After Eniiyi puts her grand aunt to bed, Zubby demands an explanation. Eniiyi tells him everything: about her dead aunt Monife, their identical appearance, and the family’s belief that she is a reincarnation. When Zubby asks if she believes it, Eniiyi says she mostly doesn’t and shows him her unique birthmark as proof of her individuality. He touches the spot and pulls her into a hug. She confesses that sometimes she feels Monife’s presence within her, saying, “But Zubby, sometimes I swear I can feel her” (212).

Eniiyi swims alone at the social club pool when she senses a dark shape underwater: A woman in regular clothing swimming erratically toward her. Fear overtakes her, water floods her lungs, and she believes she’s drowning. Her muscle memory from years of training kicks in, and she fights to the surface, gasping for air. After calming down, she looks around, but the figure has vanished.

Disturbed by escalating hauntings—dreams, sleepwalking, and the pool vision—Eniiyi resolves to learn the truth about Monife’s death. She decides to ask her Uncle Tolu, who visits on the 28th of each month and avoids her due to her resemblance to his late sister. She sets up wine to intercept him and Aunty Ashley after they visit Grandma West. After small talk, she asks where Monife drowned. Tolu reveals it was Elegushi beach on April 9, 2000. Realizing Ebun has never told Eniiyi the full story, he reveals that Monife’s death wasn’t an accident—she died by suicide by walking into the ocean. When Eniiyi asks why, Tolu tells her only her mother can answer that.

In a flashback to 2006, Ebun takes six-year-old Eniiyi to her niece’s 10th birthday party at her half-brother Tomisin’s luxurious home. The party features a large pool, which makes Ebun wary. Tomisin’s wife insists a nanny take Eniiyi to play, and Ebun reluctantly agrees. She then sees her cousin Tolu. Six years after Monife’s death, Tolu still blames Ebun, his smile fading when he sees her. When Eniiyi runs up crying that she wants to swim, Tolu sees her clearly for the first time and is shocked by her resemblance to Monife.

Still at the party, Ebun feels out of place. A man she recognizes approaches, and she rebuffs his offer of a drink. She then hears shouting from the pool. She can’t see Eniiyi and rushes toward the crowd, spotting her daughter as she struggles and goes under. The sight triggers memories of Monife, and Ebun fears Eniiyi will die the same way. Though unable to swim, she runs to jump in, but someone stops her. A teenager has already rescued Eniiyi. Ebun clutches her crying daughter, overwhelmed by dread that Eniiyi is doomed to repeat Monife’s fate.

Terrified by the near-drowning, Ebun enrolls six-year-old Eniiyi in swimming lessons with Mr. Alieu, a harsh teacher who tosses her into the deep end on the first day. Ebun forces herself to watch, believing the brutal training is necessary to save Eniiyi from Monife’s fate. After 150 sessions spanning years, preteen Eniiyi has become an expert swimmer. After a lesson, Ebun and Eniiyi share a look across the pool, after which Eniiyi turns and walks away, symbolizing the emotional chasm between them.

When Eniiyi is eight, Ebun overhears her mother, Kemi, telling Eniiyi about the family curse. Ebun confronts Kemi for filling Eniiyi’s head with nonsense. Eniiyi asks Ebun directly who her daddy is. Ebun, caught off guard, insists Eniiyi has everything she needs. Eniiyi counters that she’s lacking a father and points out that Ebun can’t understand her experience since Ebun had a father, even if he was absent. Eniiyi storms out with Sango. Kemi gently suggests it’s time to name the man. Ebun claims Eniiyi’s father is dead, but when Kemi questions this, Ebun doesn’t respond.

Ebun takes a reluctant young Eniiyi to a busy salon. A wealthy, elegant woman enters, and Ebun recognizes her as Amara—it’s been nine years since they last saw each other. Ebun tries to avoid being seen, but Amara spots her. After cycling through unpleasant emotions, Amara settles on a smile. She notes she heard Ebun has a daughter. Ebun deliberately avoids looking toward Eniiyi, not wanting Amara to see her. Ebun decides they must find a new salon.

When Eniiyi is around 12, Ebun hears humming from Monife’s room and investigates. She finds Eniiyi twirling in front of the mirror, wearing one of Monife’s old dresses. Ebun furiously confronts her. Eniiyi explains she wanted to know about her past self, revealing that Grandma West told her about àtúnwá—reincarnation. When Eniiyi accuses Ebun of lying about Grandma West’s mental state, Ebun loses control and slaps her repeatedly while Sango barks behind the door. Ebun believes the violence is necessary to prevent Eniiyi from embracing the reincarnation belief. Kemi intervenes, stopping the beating. Ebun sees her whimpering daughter and is filled with regret but cannot apologize. She storms out, leaving Kemi to comfort the crying Eniiyi.

Immediately after the beating, Ebun calls a family meeting with Kemi and Bunmi. She confronts them about telling Eniiyi she is Monife’s reincarnation. Bunmi defensively admits to mentioning the possibility. Ebun insists Eniiyi must have her own life, not one shared with a woman who chose to end hers. Bunmi reacts angrily. Eniiyi appears in the doorway, having overheard. Ebun tells her directly that she is not a reincarnation and forbids any more talk of Monife in the house. Eniiyi speaks, telling Ebun she won’t follow and wishes Ebun wasn’t her mother, then leaves the room.

Sometime after the family meeting, 12-year-old Eniiyi approaches Ebun with brochures for boarding schools, stating she wants to go. Ebun is initially resistant, not wanting her out of sight, but promises to think about it. She reflects and recognizes that Eniiyi has identified what Ebun refused to face: Their home is unhealthy, and leaving is the best way for Eniiyi to escape her dead aunt’s shadow. When Ebun tells her she can go, Eniiyi is ecstatic and hugs her mother. Eniiyi runs off to tell her grandmothers, leaving Ebun heartbroken.

A week before Eniiyi leaves for boarding school in September, Ebun must cut her daughter’s long hair, as required by the school. Eniiyi agrees without resistance, as if she’s been waiting. Ebun procrastinates for days but finally wakes Eniiyi early one morning. In the bathroom, she runs her hands through her daughter’s hair a final time. As she lifts the hair to cut it, Eniiyi’s unique birthmark on her neck is revealed—the detail Ebun has clung to as proof that Eniiyi is her own person. Eniiyi doesn’t flinch as Ebun begins cutting. The haircut symbolizes Eniiyi shedding the burdens of her family and the identity of another person. As Eniiyi’s hair falls to the floor, so do Ebun’s tears.