The Bitter Side of Sweet

Shocked and unable to think clearly, Amadou lashes out in anger and punches Moussa. Moussa beats him and locks him in the toolshed along with Khadija. Amadou realizes that his attempts to take care of Seydou over the last few years have not been enough, and he decides that they must run away if Seydou is to have a chance at surviving. After the bosses leave for their house, Khadija and Amadou find tools in the shed and use them to free their chained hands. Next, they loosen boards in the shed wall to escape the locked shed, and Amadou whispers for Yussuf outside the wall of the sleeping hut. Yussuf tells him that Seydou is not in the hut, so he must be at the bosses’ house. Khadija briefly considers running at this point but instead decides to go with Amadou to the bosses’ house and to help find Seydou.

Amadou and Khadija reach the bosses’ house. To Amadou, the house looks much nicer than any place he’s ever lived: It’s large, has a tin roof, and even has a light bulb.