Returning home after the wake, Zelu stares at snowy Lake Michigan and confesses to Msizi that she'd rather be a robot to escape pain and death. Msizi reminds her that her own robot characters experience those things too, and suggests she talk with his cousin iNdonsa, who is unafraid of dying. Zelu reflects on the family's decision to bury her father in Mbaise, Nigeria, as her uncles demanded, and recalls her father's old warning that the family should never travel to Nigeria all together for safety reasons.

On a sibling video call, Chinyere assigns Zelu to stay with their mother for two weeks. Zelu agrees, sacrificing her hoped-for solitude. She also reviews her declined reply to Jack Preston's space mission invitation. The siblings agree Amarachi (too hotheaded, having already cursed out the uncles) and Zelu (too famous, her exos too conspicuous) must remain in Chicago while the rest go to Nigeria for the burial.

Staying at her parents' home, Zelu finds her mother grieving but composed. When her mother's Ondo society women visit, Omoshalewa fastidiously prepares herself, knowing they will judge and report back. Zelu watches her mother suppress her own desire for fun twist hairstyles like journalist Amanda Parker's, deferring to expectations. The Nigerian funeral is livestreamed by Tolu; Zelu finds it distressing, especially seeing her mother caged in widow's traditions, including a partial cutting of her hair.

Months later, on her mother's birthday, Zelu surprises Omoshalewa by taking her to Amazon's World salon in an autonomous vehicle. Her mother overcomes fear of the technology and, in the salon, decisively discards her wig and gets the twist hairstyle she'd long wanted, admitting she would never have done it while Secret was alive. She returns home transformed and joyful, shocking the family at her surprise birthday party.

One year after Secret's death, the family returns to Nigeria for the anniversary, but Zelu's mother again forbids her from coming, citing her fame and safety. Devastated and feeling perpetually excluded, Zelu spends the day alone by Lake Michigan. She impulsively calls Hugo, then refuses to answer when he calls back, and broods over her father's long-ago masquerade dance.