Hari, the Sethis’ gardener, becomes a Muslim. He even gets circumcised by a barber to prove his conversion.

Cousin, who has shown Lenny his penis on other occasions, attempts to coerce Lenny into performing fellatio on him; he masturbates in front of her to show her what she is supposed to do. She is horrified and begins to cry. She says, “I like Cousin. I’ve even thought of marrying him when we grow up, but this is a side to him I’m becoming aware of for the first time, and I don’t like it” (172). She is overwhelmed by too much knowledge, but she quickly regains her composure, and indicates that she finds Cousin’s anatomy fascinating.

Lenny spends the night of her birthday with Godmother. The whole family sleeps in one room on cots. Dr. Manek Mody is visiting, and he teases Lenny by saying that he wants to eat Godmother. Lenny screams and tries to protect Godmother by clinging to her. 

Lenny’s mother and Electric-aunt go off on errands just after Lenny’s father goes to the office every day. They do not say what they are doing.