Dikeledi's husband, Garesego, is a good-for-nothing sort who abandoned her over eight years ago to chase other women and make his way as a lower bureaucrat who had just enough status to look down his nose at others. Dikeledi has worked hard for years to support herself and her children, doing whatever tasks she could find and then basking in her friendship with Kenalepe and Paul Thebolo, who help her immensely.

But then Dikeledi's oldest son, Banabothe, receives the chance to go to secondary school. The fees are high, and Dikeledi is short of money. She pushes back her pride and approaches Garesego, who is now living with a concubine, for help. After all, Banabothe is his son, too, and he has done nothing for him all these years.

Garesego repulses Dikeledi, accusing her of being Paul Thebolo's concubine, which she is not, and he refuses to contribute to their son's education. In anger, Paul confronts Garesego. This action only makes Garesego jealous (although he does not care for his wife at all), and he insists upon reclaiming his place in Dikeledi's home and bed, even if only for a night.

Dikeledi panics at first, for Garesego is nasty and apparently can become violent. But then she thinks carefully and begins her preparations. After Garesego becomes drunk and sprawls across the bed in a deep sleep, Dikeledi carefully, meticulously cuts off his genitals and leaves him to bleed to death. She actually does not do the act out of hatred (although she probably does despise Garesego). She certainly wants to be free of her husband, but he likely would have gone back to his concubine after that night. Rather, she kills her husband to provide for her children, for she anticipates what Paul Thebolo will say at the end of the story: “You don't have to worry about the children ... I'll take them as my own and give them all a secondary school education.”