In the quiet early afternoon at the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, Dodo is partway down the trapdoor ladder to the basement when the overhead bulb flickers, signaling someone has entered. From behind the butcher’s case, Dodo watches Chona’s posture change from routine to alarmed as she goes to greet the visitor, and Dodo instinctively stays hidden.

Dodo recognizes the man as Doc Roberts. As Chona and Doc speak, their polite exchange turns into a heated argument; Dodo can read Chona’s lips and see her anger rising as she challenges Doc about his attitudes toward Black residents and the police. Mid-argument, Chona suddenly turns pale, gasps, and collapses in a seizure, hitting the floor hard.

Dodo scrambles up from the trapdoor and sees Doc crouched over Chona. Instead of simply helping her recover, Doc touches Chona under her clothing, lifting her dress and groping her while she is unconscious and vulnerable. Horrified, Dodo leaps over the counter and rams Doc into shelves, knocking down goods; the struggle intensifies, Doc tries to choke Dodo, and Dodo hits Doc hard enough to bloody Doc’s mouth.

Aunt Addie rushes in as Chona suffers a worse, longer seizure. Dodo helps by grabbing a spoon for Addie to keep Chona from biting her tongue, then fetches water on Addie’s command. Neighbors gather, tending to Chona and restoring order, while Doc slips away.

Doc soon returns with two policemen and identifies Dodo as the culprit. Dodo panics and runs out the back, evades the officers briefly, and climbs the fire escape to the roof, hoping to reach the rail yard. A third policeman appears on the roof; trapped, Dodo jumps from the building, but the policeman’s grab at Dodo’s collar ruins the leap, and Dodo tumbles into blackout.