Preschooler Amifika overhears his mother's happy news: His father is returning from several years in the army. Amifika doesn't remember his father and worries that his father won't remember him either. When Amifika hears his mother talk about "getting rid of something" to make room for his father in their two-room apartment, he thinks she means to get rid of him. He runs away, making it as far as the front fence where his father finds him for a joyful reunion. Authentic in its misunderstandings, the story highlights the pain and joy felt by a child with a parent away in the military. Soft black pencil drawings work with dialogue written in black vernacular to make this a culturally-specific rendering of an African American family.