Neurodivergent people will cancel plans because they’re too drained to socialize, then stay awake until 2 a.m. because solitude is the first time all day their nervous system finally starts to unclench.

My brother got divorced after 9 years. His wife was a good person genuinely good and everyone kept telling him, “Alex, you’re an idiot.” In court she asked for the house, the car, and about $1,200 a month in child support. He stood up and said, “Take it all.” Even the judge asked him to repeat himself. His lawyer looked like he was about to fall out of his chair. After court I drove him to the one-bedroom apartment he’d rented and asked what the hell he was doing.

My younger sister called me at 11:47 p.m. and asked me a question I still haven’t been able to answer properly. “Did you tell Mum I took the money?” I said no. She went quiet for a few seconds and then said, “Then why did she tell me to return it before morning?” I was confused because I had no idea what she was talking about. Three weeks earlier, our mother had given me ₦800,000 to keep for her. She was saving it for a small business she wanted to start, and because I was the only person in the family she trusted with money, she transferred it to my account. I didn’t touch it. Not even ₦1. Then one afternoon, my sister called me crying. She said she urgently needed ₦200,000 for something important and promised to return it within two weeks. I told her I couldn’t give her Mum’s money without asking Mum first. She begged me.