Our Sister Killjoy

Content Warning: This section includes discussions of anti-Black racism and anti-gay bias.

Sissie and Marija arrive at the cottage. The two women discuss Little Adolf. Marija cannot safely get pregnant again, so she is glad that her only child is a son. Sissie knows that people express similar sentiments all over the world. Marija admits that she will never visit Sissie in Ghana, though she hopes her son might travel to South Africa or Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Sissie suggests visiting Nigeria, as she thinks it “has all the characteristics which nearly every African country has; but also presents these characteristics in bolder outlines” (52). Sissie has also visited Upper Volta (Burkina Faso) as a tourist. 

Sissie thinks about the difficulties facing Upper Volta and other parts of Africa that have recently become independent. Some areas deal with corruption, poor infrastructure, bad economies, and limited educational outcomes. The rulers of these countries often have European wives who bring “their brothers or…who knows? / To run the / Economy” (55). They also send a few of their young people abroad for a European education, allowing them to “make it” and live a good life while other people in their country suffer. Before Sissie came to Bavaria, she spent time in “France, Belgium, The Netherlands. One day in Salzburg, six in the two Berlins” (59). A variety of African student organizations have funded her travel. When she writes to her mother about her travel experiences, she only tells her the good parts.

After a moment in silence, Sissie looks at Marija, who blushes. Sissie sometimes has romantic feelings for Marija, though in her fantasies, she imagines that she is a man. Even in her imagination, she recognizes that a Black man who has an affair with a white European woman is at grave risk of experiencing violence. Marija brings Sissie upstairs to see the rest of her house. In her bedroom, Marija kisses Sissie, who immediately pushes her away in shock. She suddenly feels very far from home, and realizes that she has still never met Big Adolf (Marija’s husband). Marija cries, and Sissie considers how lonely life in Europe is. 

Sissie remembers a story of a European missionary schoolteacher on the coast of Guinea. She caught two of her female students in bed together, which is a sin in Christianity. Unable to fully discuss their feelings, the two women go back downstairs. Sissie tells Marija about her big family; her mother has seven children, and her father has 16. Sissie finally returns to the youth hostel quite late. She is leaving Germany in a few days and has not yet told Marija. Now does not seem like the right time to say something. 

Sissie and the other members of her program go on a brief tour of Bavaria to see some festivals, which makes Sissie think about medical experimentation in “Remote corners of / Banana republics and other / So-called-developing countries” (70). She returns to the youth hostel and sees Marija on her very last night before departing. Marija invites her to lunch the following day, where she will finally meet Big Adolf. Sissie admits that she is leaving early in the morning. Marija is shocked and very upset. She asks Sissie to change her travel plans, but any change is impossible because of her volunteer program. In any case, she has to visit another Ghanaian woman in Hamburg, as the woman’s mother cannot be sure from her letters whether she is safe and well. 

Although Sissie regrets having to leave Marija, she gets a perverse pleasure from watching her distress. She tells Marija sarcastically that she should prepare tomorrow’s lunch for Big Adolf, as “it is not sound for a woman to enjoy cooking for another woman…Special meals are for men” (77).

The next morning, Marija meets Sissie at the train station. She gives her a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and one last paper bag of food. She asks Sissie to visit Munich, as it is such a beautiful city. Sissie promises that she will visit it, though she knows she will not have time. She thinks about the collapse of European empires and the ways the world is changing. As the train pulls away, she opens the paper bag to reveal “sandwiches of liver sausages, a few pastries, a slab of cheese, and some plums” (82).