"That cannot be," said Machi. "You might as well say that the woman lies on top
of the man when they are making the children."
"It is like the story of white men who, they say, are white like this piece of
chalk," said Obierika. He held up a piece of chalk, which every man kept in his obi and
with which his guests drew lines on the floor before they ate kola nuts. "And these white
men, they say, have no toes."
"And have you never seen them?" asked Machi.
"Have you?" asked Obierika.
"One of them passes here frequently," said Machi. "His name is Amadi."
Those who knew Amadi laughed. He was a leper, and the polite name for
leprosy was "the white skin."