The congressman is a charming black man Cynara meets first at dinner with R. and later when she is in Washington, D.C. The congressman finds nothing but fault with Cynara at first, but when they meet again in Washington, he is clearly attracted to her. For the first time, Cynara begins to wonder what it would be like to be with a man of her own choosing, to make him her man instead of belonging to him like some sort of possession. Cynara and the congressman have a brief affair, but Cynara recognizes that she has a bad reputation due to her relationship with R. and decides to encourage the congressman to marry someone else so that their child might have a good life.
