- Msimangu leads Kumalo to the Claremont section of Johannesburg, where the crime is particularly dire.
- Time to get some real work done, Shmoopers. Kumalo knocks on Gertrude's door, and his sister answers.
- Ol' bro has got some questions for her. Plus he pretty much reads her the riot act for being a prostitute and booze peddler.
- That's when things get really dramatic. She actually physically throws herself on the floor and sobs loudly in regret. (Clearly, Gertrude is not a woman who hides her feelings for the sake of dignity.)
- Kumalo promises that he will take her and her child away from this awful place, but he wants to know just one thing: does she have any news about Absalom?
- Not really. But she does have a lead: his brother John's son might know where Absalom is now. Hey, that's something.
- That very day, Gertrude and her kid join Kumalo at Mrs. Lithebe's house.
- Kumalo is starting to feel positive about things for the first time in years—a surefire sign that bad things are about to go down.