Summary

The narrator and Lerice were shocked by what they learned. Petrus's brother walked from Rhodesia to Johannesburg for work. Along the way, he " caught a chill,” and took refuge with Petrus (11). No one had wanted to ask the narrator and Lerice for help, because the boy was "an illegal immigrant" (11). The farm boys thought they could handle the situation. They had helped other relatives transition "from poverty to the paradise" of Johannesburg before (11). The African name for the city was Egoli, or City of Gold, and they believed it would offer them a better life.

Lerice wished they had asked for help. She was standing in the middle of the room, looking intense. The narrator thought she seemed offended that Petrus had not trusted her (11). The narrator does not have time to "go into everything" about his life with Lerice, though he knows...