As the novel begins, the unnamed narrator heads to the Nigerian consulate to renew his passport. At the office, he notes that most people are either new US citizens, dual citizens like himself, or Nigerians bringing their American children home for the first time. At the counter, he’s told he needs a money order, so he leaves to get one.

Upon returning to the consulate, he sees a man begging to have his passport processed quickly, but the person who can approve it isn’t present. Talking to another man in the waiting room, the narrator learns that the processing time is a month unless a person pays “the fee for ‘expediting’ it” (6). This frustrates him, as he knows that it’s a scam run by the office, and though this kind of grift is common in Nigeria, he didn’t think he’d encounter it in America.

Helpless, he gets another money order to pay the extra fee. As he leaves, he sees a sign to report corruption—but the only person he can report it to is the person at the counter who just conned him.