When a hurricane strikes, Janie and Tea Cake are forced to flee and they come into contact with a “massive built dog” sitting on the shoulders of a cow. Tea Cake defends Janie by killing the dog, but when he contracts rabies, she concludes that “that big old dawg with the hatred in his eyes had killed her after all,” by killing Tea Cake. When the disease takes over Tea Cake’s mind, it makes him paranoid and aggressive. He approaches Janie with a gun and she shoots him to defend herself, but she’s heartbroken when he dies.