How It Went Down

Brian Trellis bemoans the fact that he’s never going to get out from under the cloud of what happened. He’s on a show called Politics and Power, giving his version of events to a news correspondent. He’s nervous, but the anchorman assures him not to worry. Trellis explains how he tried to intervene when he heard Rocky shouting. The anchorman tells him that he was brave for standing up to an armed gang member, but Brian isn’t sure now whether Tariq was armed. He heard someone yell that someone had a gun, but he can’t be certain that it was Tariq.

Tyrell finds himself unable to avoid Brick and members of the 8-5 Kings. Brick greets him as if they’re friends, and Tyrell tries to imagine what Tariq would’ve done. Brick insists that Tyrell go to a party with them later that day. Though Tyrell tries to get out of going, Brick insists that they’re just trying to look out for him and that it’s just one party.

Tina is shocked to see her dad in the house. She notes how her mother yells and cusses at him. He tries to get Tina to come to him and asks if she remembers him. She remembers him leaving and not being around. Redeema notes how Tina cries just at the sight of him. She’s glad at this, but Tina’s fear and Vernesha’s anger don’t seem to faze him. He just hugs Vernesha and she eventually relents. Redeema wonders how much more they can all take. Vernesha knows that her mother is upset, but she tries to tell Redeema that she also knows how Terence (her husband) is. She doesn’t mind him around because he’s a man and he can take care of the things that need to be taken care of. He’ll up and leave in time like he’s prone to doing. She then breaks down and admits that she only has enough fight within her to deal with Tariq’s death.

Reverend Sloan takes a walk with Terence, though the man tries to avoid him. Reverend Sloan thinks that Terence embodies everything that’s wrong with black communities: a father who isn’t a constant in the lives of his children. What might make it even worse is that Terence has some sense of right and wrong, and that he has the means to make money. To the Reverend, both Tina and Tariq deserved far better than Terence. Kimberly meets the Reverend at the diner where Jennica works and is surprised to see Jennica. Jennica looks troubled; Kimberly tries to assure her that things will get better, though Jennica doesn’t seem to think so. The chapter then shifts to Jennica’s point-of-view. When the going gets really tough, Jennica tries to remember that she didn’t know Tariq well. What haunts her, however, is the fact that she gave him CPR. She felt his chest fall, and though giving him mouth-to-mouth might have helped, she didn’t want to kiss him. Despite this, she was close enough for him to breath into her. She feels that she still has his breath in her, and she feels guilty that she never tried to give it back.

Tyrell recalls a hazy memory. It’s when he and Tariq were 13 or 14. They filled a bunch of balloons with water and launched them at people from the roof. Tyrell made a joke that because the water balloons were similar to a woman’s breasts, and because Tariq had a poor track record with women, he shouldn’t throw all the balloons away. Tariq was impressed with Tyrell’s joke and for “going there,” and then made an even funnier joke. But Tyrell can’t remember what Tariq’s joke was, and now Tariq can never remind him.

Jennica hasn’t been eating, and her malnutrition and lack of energy alarm her aunt, Angelica. Angelica tries to get Jennica to eat but Jennica refuses. Angelica gets mad and asks her what her mom would say at her refusal to eat, but Jennica dismisses this and, while her aunt is warming her food, sneaks out of the house and goes to work.

Meanwhile, Kimberly pays a visit to the Johnsons. She has to wade through the cameras, but no one is interested in her so they don’t bother her. Redeema answers the door, and just when Kimberly thinks it was a mistake to intrude, Tina runs in and asks Kimberly to come in. She does, and is shocked to find Reverend Sloan inside. He seems shocked to see her as well. He and Vernesha are talking about the upcoming demonstration. Tina then drags Kimberly away to play, and Kimberly notices the bandage on her hand. When she says “sorry” for Tariq’s death and Tina asks if everyone hurt Tariq because everyone says sorry, Kimberly agrees that there should be a better word for this type of condolence. Kimberly tells Tina that sorry also means sympathy. Tina astutely responds that only one man hurt Tariq but that he didn’t say sorry. Tina also notes that she didn’t have to lie to Kimberly about the cut because Kimberly didn’t ask. She had to lie to her grandma by saying she cut her hand on the grown-up scissors. She imagines that she’s good at lying, and that Tariq was good at lying, too.

Tyrell recalls a time when he and Tariq drank beer that Tariq took from his father. He feels like everyone is an 8-5 King, and he doesn’t know who to talk to about staying away from them. With the memory, he felt like he and Tariq—the last holdouts from the 8-5 Kings—were their own gang of two. He doesn’t know how he can stand up to Brick on his own.

Meanwhile, Sammy is elated to be a part of things as he’s picked up by Brick, Noodle, and Jennica. He rides in the back seat of Noodle’s Chevy, giddy from being included and from the marijuana he’s consumed. Brick then turns to him and asks him to help someone come around. When he turns, he sees Ty walking toward the car. He wonders if this is all Brick wanted him for, to get Ty to join the Kings. He can’t believe it when he sees Ty. Ty enters the car and looks scared. He seems to want to hold Sammy’s hand, though Sammy refuses. The pact that he had with Ty is long gone, especially as Tariq’s dead and Junior is locked up for life. Sammy reasons that none of them were going to escape the clutches of the Kings anyhow.

Jennica thinks about how the ride-along is the exact same thing that they always do. They get drunk and high and look for Stingers who might’ve strayed too far from their territory. As much as she wants to, Jennica doesn’t get drunk or high because she’s still sick from the last time and she hasn’t eaten anything. They eventually see some Stingers on their turf and the boys get riled up. She’s especially agitated because she and Ty are in the car. They haven’t had a war with the Stingers in over a year. Brick and the others pull their knives and make menacing gestures and taunts at the Stingers. Noodle turns the car around; Brick tells them to get ready to jump out if need be. Jennica doesn’t want to be involved, and she notices how frightened Ty is, as she looks in the rearview mirror. The chapter shifts to Tyrell’s point-of-view, and he’s certain that he’s about to die. Though frightened, he reasons that he might as well get it over with and die now. But then he opens his eyes and sees that the Stingers have fled. He’s safe and figures that he got lucky.

Junior reflects on his past. He thinks about what might have happened if he hadn’t joined the Kings, or if he hadn’t have taken the rap for Sciss. He cut someone, but Sciss beat the man so badly that the man died. The beating killed him, but Sciss told Junior that they’d let him off easy because he was a minor. Then Sciss fled. Junior took the blame, and even though he gave his knife to Tariq to take care of, he was still convicted due to online photos of him with the knife.

Tyrell feels like he’s just had a near-death experience, and he isn’t sure what to make of life now. He’s offered marijuana from Brick to calm him down, and he takes it. The drugs eventually calm him, and the group go to a party. Brick tells him he can have a girl there and introduces him to Aimee. Tyrell is shocked because girls never want anything to do with him. When Brick tells him that he can have this much fun every night, Tyrell thinks that it wouldn’t be so bad.