Genet and Rosina arrive home two days before school begins, and everyone celebrates their arrival. Rosina has a gold tooth that shows because she is grinning; Genet is radiant and transformed. She is wearing native dress and leaps first into Hema’s arms and then makes the rounds until she is back to hug Hema. Rosina’s hug for Marion is warm and affectionate, but he is envious of the long, loving embrace she gives Shiva. Now Marion sees that Rosina has always favored Shiva. Genet is happy, but she has changed. Her hair is shorter, her palms are orange with henna, she has pierced her ears, and she has grown more womanly. Rosina says, in a semiscolding tone, that the boys all want to be with her daughter and Genet does not discourage them; she seems oddly pleased by this fact.

As their new furniture—gifts from their family—is being unloaded into Rosina’s quarters, Marion talks with Genet. He is shy talking to this woman in front of him, but she is not reserved at all. She asks him what he has been doing while she was gone. Marion had saved up all kinds of things to tell her, but none of them seem important in the face of Genet’s transformation. He finds himself telling her about the incident with the Nurse Probationer, though he begins by making it sound innocent with his indifference. Soon he has told her everything, and she wants to know if he “did it” with her. When he tells her no, she is aghast and asks why not. Marion does not want to answer but she pushes him to it; he tells her he wants his first time to be with her. Genet’s reaction is not what he expected. She explodes with laughter and even kneels in her hysteria.

The family shares dinner with the returning travelers. After dinner Marion tunes the radio to the same station the Nurse Probationer played in her room. Tonight is the first night he hears the same song that had been playing then, and he tells Genet this is the song from that night. Marion uncharacteristically leads the group, and soon all of them are dancing. At the end of the night, Genet goes to her own quarters, now that she has her own bed.

On the evening before school starts, Hema and Ghosh take the boys to the Greek club to celebrate the end of “winter.” The crowd is made up primarily of expatriates; the band plays and everyone dances. Soon Shiva is dancing with anyone who looks as if they would like to dance, but Marion is no longer interested. As he walks up the hill to their cottage, he thinks of the Probationer. When she saw him recently with Shiva, she greeted them both without comment. When she saw him alone, she asked if he was Marion. When he told her no, he was Shiva, she never asked again.

Marion walks past Rosina’s house, but their door is closed and he is no mood for company in any case. He goes to bed, feeling much older than his thirteen years. He wakes when Shiva comes to their room and undresses in front of the mirror; he is taller than Marion sees himself. When he is down to his underwear, Shiva pretends to dance, making a graceful turn and dip. Marion’s voice surprises Shiva when he asks if he had a good time, and Shiva stops immediately. Shiva looks at him in the mirror, which gives Marion goose bumps. In a hoarse, almost unrecognizable voice, Shiva says, “A good time was had by one and all.”