Funmi at Bletchley Park

Funmi breaks the Enigma variant three hours faster than anyone in Hut 8. Her supervisor, a Cambridge man who calls her "the African girl," takes credit in his report. Funmi says nothing. She needs his security clearance to access the archives where pre-war seized artifacts are catalogued. She lets him have the glory. She'll take the plaque.

The boarding house on Marchmont Street has a handwritten sign: "No Coloureds, No Irish, No Dogs." Mrs. Patterson, the landlady, looks at Funmi's Bletchley Park identification badge, looks at the sign, and takes it down — but only temporarily, and only for the door Funmi uses. The side door. The compromise is supposed to feel like generosity. Funmi thanks her and means it. Survival requires gratitude that costs nothing to give.