Vimbai is the best hairdresser in Mrs. Khumalo's salon, and she is secure in her status until the handsome, smooth-talking Dumisani shows up one day looking for work. Despite her resistance, the two become friends, and eventually, Vimbai becomes Dumisani's landlady. He is as charming as he is deft with the scissors, and Vimbai finds that he means more and more to her. Yet, by novel's end, the pair's deepening friendship -- used or embraced by Dumisani and Vimbai with different futures in mind -- collapses in unexpected brutality.