Josiah picks Kassim up from school and asks how he is feeling about his accelerated workload. Kassim says he is managing well even if his peers tease him. Josiah is disconcerted and secretly infuriated when Kassim tells him Mark brought the Christmas tree. Josiah changes the subject, focusing on Kassim’s plans for his haircut with Preach, who owns and operates a barbershop in a neighborhood full of other Black-owned businesses. Preach is curious about the trip to Charlotte, but Josiah concentrates on the chatter around him instead.

After Kassim’s haircut, Preach pulls Josiah aside to talk. Josiah assures him that though he and Vashti broke up, Preach is wrong to assume he and Yasmen will get back together. Preach points out they are both in therapy, so ruling out the possibility would be foolish. Privately, Josiah admits he is consumed by thoughts of Yasmen since their night together, saying inwardly, “[M]y feelings are a hot stove I want to test, even knowing the last time how it burned” (3805-3810).

Yasmen is at Grits with her best friends and their families as they prepare for the restaurant’s traditional New Year’s Eve party. Soledad’s husband, Edward, is skeptical when Hendrix says Soledad’s decorations are proof she has a future in design and lifestyle influencing.