Nhamo and the rest of the family come on home, including Babamakuru, and a huge party goes into full swing. Tambu sees her cousin Nyasha again, but she seems...different, somehow. Apparently all that time in England really changed Nyasha, as she now seems to have forgotten Shona almost entirely. Tambu heartily disapproves of her new attitude towards her "lower" family and this becomes a basis for Tambu's feelings towards Nyasha later. Apart from them, everyone has a great time, with singing and dancing and also very complicated family rituals. Near the end of this swaray, however, Babamakuru sits down and has a talk with his brothers and tells Jeremiah, Tambu's dad, that he especially is doing poorly and is making the family look bad. Babamakuru has to fufill his duties as head of the family and support his brother, probably not of his own volition.
And then the bombshell drops. Nhamo's death is solomnly announced and Tambu's mother goes ballistic, blaming white people, education, and Babamakuru in particular. Tambu is then invited to come to the mission in place of Nhamo, and she feels very pleased for this. Tambu's mother says that she will die if Tambu leaves, and Tambu's heartlessness shows when she immediately sets off and leaves her mother in a pile of tears and dirt.
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