Summary of the Book: Part 6

Ishmael is mesmerized by Times Square and is deeply moved by his experience at the UN, speaking to the convocation and listening while the other children testify. He writes, "We left New York City on November 15, 1996. My sixteenth birthday was eight days away and throughout the flight back home I still felt as if I was dreaming, a dream that I didn't want to wake up from. I was sad to leave, but I was also pleased to have met people outside of Sierra Leone. Because if I was to get killed upon my return, I knew that a memory of my existence was alive somewhere in the world." Back in his home country, Ishmael returns to school in Freetown, and his future looks bright. But on May 25, 1997, the city is awakened by gunshots. Johnny Paul Koroma, leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), announces that he is the new president, and chaos is unleashed in the city. During this time, Ishmael's beloved uncle suddenly dies of illness. Ishmael realizes he cannot stay in Freetown, or he will be in danger of being swept back into the army, as some of his friends have already been. Ishmael calls Laura, the storyteller, and asks if he can stay with her if he can make it to New York. She says yes, and he makes his preparation to escape from Sierra Leone. Ishmael leaves Freetown in October 1997, telling only his friend Mohamed from the rehabilitation center, that he is going. To get to the United States, he must make it across the border to Guinea. The bus ride is long and dangerous, but Ishmael arrives in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, after many close calls with corrupt soldiers who wish to rob him of his money and prevent him from leaving the country. Across the border, he breathes a sigh of relief. He is a long way from home, from his childhood, from the horrors that have consumed him for the past four years. He is alone in a foreign city, looking to make his way to an even more foreign city in an unknown land. But all that is okay. What is important is this: he will never be a soldier again.