Residents of INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD, struggle to cope with a racial conflict after freedom is gained from Britain.
BLACK FRIDAY: JOHN DIAS, twelve, a free-wheeling spirit, would rather spend his time wandering around the city and gambling. He joins a protest and riot in which he is caught in the middle.
FADED PATTERNS: OMAR ZAFAR is in the Georgetown jail, sentenced to death for the murder of his lover Sita, reflects on how he ended up in his predicament.
SOUNDS IN THE NIGHT [published by Toronto Review]: LATA HUSSEIN, who had to flee her home in Wismar, living in INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD, has recurring nightmares after being caught in the disturbances in the mining town.
A HOUSE IS NOT A HOME: CASSANDRA YHAP a teacher, and her husband ROAN have built a life for themselves in an East Indian predominant village. In the period leading up to independence racial conflict erupts between the two dominant nationalities in the country, spurring an exodus from villages.
DOWN INDEPENDENCE BOULEVARD [published in Fiddlehead Magazine]: JACK YUSUFF taxi driver, among many other pursuits, has a confrontation with his wife and brother-in-law, in Independence Boulevard, placing him in harm's way.
WHY MEN LEAVE: RAM PERSAUD and JACK YUSUFF make plans to leave the country, along with a growing exodus of people disillusioned over the pessimistic outlook for the post-independence era.
THE FAMILY PICTURE: LATA HUSSEIN'S three children have arrived from abroad for their father's funeral in the family home. Their conversation prior to the funeral opens old wounds that will result in a fractured family relationhip.
RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL: JOHN DIAS is back in Guyana, and discovers his father, from whom he was alienated, has passed away. He and his brother CARL reminisce about the Old Man, with whom JOHN had a less than cordial relationship.
A LOVERS TRYST: JOHN DIAS is on his way to the Timehri Airport to catch a plane after his father's funeral is witness to a couple having an alterncation, leading to a physical confrontation and police involvement.
THE LAST STRAW: ZORINA HUSSEIN, now living in Canada, feels she's had the last straw with the mental abuse inflicted on her at the hands of her husband and mother-in-law, over the many years of her marriage.
RELICS IN THE ATTIC: LILLIAN and her two sisters Shirley and Anita have just buried their father in Toronto. They decide to purge the attic of his possessions stored there over many years after their immigration. What they find in the attic will surprise LILLIAN.
OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR: ROAN YHAP is on the way to work in Brampton when he has a near accident with his car. At work there is a function taking place for the winding down of the company and he reminisces about his own climb up the ladder in a successful career. How the event ends will surprise ROAN.
THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT RAYS ON THE MILKY WAY AND OTHER CONSTELLATIONS: CLIFF VAN SERTIMA is tired of being caught in the middle of an ongoing confilct between his wife and teenage daughter. He has not broken the news to them as yet about his layoff from the company he's worked for over 31 years.
RAM SINGH GONE AND NEVAH COMING BACK: RAM PERSAUD, AKA RAM SINGH who was once a prison warder in Georgetown, Guyana, awakens in hospital in New York and ponders how he has gotten there. He was a mail-room supervisor in the World Trade Centre in New York.
EULOGY: IAN VEIRA, retired Professor, has led a full life and wonders whether he's come to the end of it. He's in his house in Toronto contemplating his future, when a snow storm hits in December.
YOU CAN NEVER GO HOME: GORDON YHAP has never been satisfied with his life in Canada after he and his family were uprooted due to racial conflict in British Guiana. He yearns to return to Guyana where democracy has arrived and business is thriving.
