Who is Trudy ?

Trudy is the babysitter Adah hires to watch Titi and Vicky while she is working. Almost immediately after Trudy starts watching the children, Titi stops speaking, and Adah worries this is because of something that is happening at Trudy's house. She pays Trudy a surprise visit during the day and finds her entertaining a man while Titi and Vicky are in the backyard unsupervised, playing in the trash. Adah reports Trudy to the children's officer, at which point Trudy disputes everything Adah has said. Prior to this experience, Adah was under the impression "that the white man never lied" (52). Adah also knows that Trudy is having an affair with Francis, and when Vicky becomes ill with meningitis, Adah throws a vacuum cleaner at her.