66 pages • 2 hours read
Kim JohnsonA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: This section discusses murder, police brutality, racism, and child abuse and mentions drug and alcohol abuse.
Andre texts Marcus as soon as he gets home, saying that his charger died and that he’s fixed it. An hour later, he watches as Paul drops off the rest of the Whitakers. Sierra texts him saying that she didn’t know he left.
In the morning, Marcus texts him, saying that he’s proud that Andre was responsible. He sends a second message that says that no police report was filed when Eric went missing.
Andre texts Boogie too, and they agree to meet outside, both of them wearing masks. Andre is grateful that they don’t have to explain all of their feelings about what’s happened to one another. They know that the virus isn’t going away anytime soon, but President Trump is already calling for things to open up again. Safety concerns have gone down since data about the virus affecting communities of color the most came out.
Andre tells him everything that’s going on. Boogie replies that it’s not okay for white folks like the Whitakers to give Andre things and tell him secrets that they aren’t sharing with the rest of their children. He also asks why it took Andre so long to realize that Eric could’ve set him up. He knows that Andre didn’t want to say it. He also thinks that the Whitakers know where Eric is; Andre was just the scapegoat.
Andre wishes that someone had stood up for him, but no one did. They hear Grandma J comment on the news from inside the house, and Andre sees the news talk about the murder of George Floyd.
They go back to their conversation about Eric, and Boogie says that Andre should be careful. Eric’s return could cause problems. Andre thinks that something is at play with Mr. Whitaker taking care of Sierra in exchange for Eric’s silence.
It’s May 27, 2020, and Andre is swimming in the Parks & Rec pool, trying to forget the image of George Floyd. He wants to escape being policed and hates that Black men keep getting murdered by police. People ignore that police brutality is widespread enough to have become systemic, and it feels like Black communities have already lost.
Andre goes home and finds Sierra peering in his window. She, Brian, Kate, and Luis are dressed to go to a Black Lives Matter protest. He asks if her parents are okay with her going, but she doesn’t care since the Whitaker parents think she doesn’t have to worry about racism because of all they’ve given her. Andre gestures at his ankle monitor, and Brian comments that the police aren’t going to get away with what happened. Andre knows that it’s bigger than just George Floyd, even if his murder is what is drawing people to action.
The next few days bring more names of people who have been murdered because they’re Black, like Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor. Andre is surprised that the protests last as long as they do. One day, he goes to the corner market. As he leaves, he sees red and blue lights coming toward him.
Andre freezes, and a police officer tells him to take his hands out of his pockets. Andre worries that they’ll think he’s carrying a gun. He starts crying. He says that he’s going to drop his cell phone, and the police scream at him to get on the ground. He gets on his knees and then feels a hand push his head into the ground and a knee on his back. He realizes he’s been saying “Black Lives Matter” out loud (249).
They check his pockets, and a crowd gathers. Marcus appears, and the police say that someone called saying that there was “a suspicious man” in the neighborhood. Marcus takes Andre home. They walk to the front door, and Andre hugs him. Marcus doesn’t ask what was going on because he already knows that Andre was stopped because he was Black.
The next day, Andre watches more of the news and sees the many celebrities speaking out about Black Lives Matter. He hopes that people will understand the work that needs to go into being antiracist and thinking about Black liberation.
Andre asks Grandma J where his dad is, and she replies that he’s at the bookstore. Andre knows that Malcolm should be resting. Grandma J says that there’s been a surge of support for Black bookstores across the country. On his way to the bookstore, Andre thinks about all the Black families who have been replaced by white families and Black Lives Matter signs.
A line awaits Andre outside of his father’s shop. He sees how busy he is, and he helps take orders once he arrives. Many are ordering books about race. One woman gives him a hard time about how long it will take to get her books, but he points out, “As an independent Black bookstore that’s received little support from the community, we can’t compete with the big-box stores” (256). She quickly says that she’ll wait for the books.
Andre works with his father’s employee Tom to organize the number of phone orders and the books they’re putting aside for regulars. Tom comments that Andre is good at this. Malcolm comes back into the store, looking exhausted. Mr. Whitaker comments that he already paid to have a website set up to help with online orders. He’d been trying to get Malcolm to sell the shop for years, and Malcolm refused, but he did take out a small loan. Andre is skeptical, knowing that it looks good for Mr. Whitaker to have money invested in a Black-owned business.
Mr. Whitaker also discusses a bill to support Black-owned businesses, saying that he wants to improve the world for Sierra. Andre says, “And Eric, a better world for him, too” (261). He also tells Mr. Whitaker to tell Eric that Dr. Vitale is a friend of his family. Mr. Whitaker asks who that is, and Andre replies that she would’ve taken care of Eric as the head of hospital intake. Mr. Whitaker pretends to be unfazed.
On May 29, Mrs. Whitaker calls Andre into her house. Inside, she sips on her wine, commenting that she’s used to her children being around. She goes on to talk about the Black relief fund and how Mr. Whitaker supports it. She complains about how people are calling for Mr. Whitaker to end his campaign for commissioner so that someone who is Black can run. She insists that they’re a good family who cares about the community. She goes on to talk about their children, and Andre starts to want to leave. He points out that by working to move the community garden, she moved it further away from the Black woman who started it. He tries to show her which part of the community she’s advocating for and that they should listen to the folks who live there.
He asks why they never filed a police report when Eric went missing. Mrs. Whitaker, shocked, says that she should go to bed. She tells him to lock up, leaving Mr. Whitaker’s office, and Andre goes through the desk.
Andre unlocks the drawers using a hidden set of keys that he knew Eric would use to get into Mr. Whitaker’s desk. First, he finds Mr. Whitaker’s application to run for office, dated before Andre was arrested. He remembers that Mr. Whitaker told him that he was running because of what happened to Andre and realizes that he lied.
Next, Andre finds a file with his last name on it, and it’s about him. He sees emails between Mr. Whitaker and Gavin’s dad. In one, Mr. Whitaker tells Gavin’s dad not to worry because Eric won’t turn himself in. Andre remembers that the next day, Mr. Whitaker helped Andre get a lawyer. He finds more material related to his case, including how Eric was brought in for questioning.
He also finds an application for a boarding school for boys, and he takes photos of this and everything else he has found. Then, he goes up to Eric’s room. He goes to the ceiling panel where Eric kept his most valued possessions. They’re still there. He knows that Eric would’ve taken them if he ran away. He also finds a few files, which he grabs. He hears footsteps, and he hides in the closet just as the bedroom light comes on.
Mr. Whitaker comes in and sits on Eric’s bed. He comes toward the closet; however, his phone rings, saving Andre. After an hour, Andre sneaks out. He opens the file folder that he found in Eric’s room and finds his arrest record, a list of parties, and a list of items that were stolen. He knows that this would’ve sent Eric to juvie or prison. He also has a notebook of Eric’s that has all his passwords. He logs into Eric’s email and then a digital artwork site, where he realizes that Eric has been posting photographs that he’s taken. Eric could earn enough money to start over.
Andre taps on Sierra’s window, deciding to tell her everything. First, she mentions that he should come the next time they protest. He points out that he’s already being monitored and that he hasn’t been protected like she has. They fight until Andre shows her a necklace that he took from Eric’s room. He starts to explain what he’s found. As they talk, he also reveals that her parents never filed a police report about Eric.
She gets up to go talk to Mr. Whitaker, and Andre touches her arm. When she winces, he asks what’s going on and how long it’s been happening. She explains that Eric protected her until he left and that Luis now tries to step in. She adds that she started hanging out with Paul so that she could get out of the house and look for Eric. She adds that her mom is constantly taking pills to numb herself and that she drinks until their dad gets home.
Andre thinks that it’s not yet time to confront Mr. Whitaker about Eric. He realizes that that he wanted to believe the Whitakers were perfect and that Paul was the one hurting Sierra because he wanted to be the one to protect her. He feels like he’s “powerless” to fight the problems in her home (286).
The Importance of a Safe Home is once again explored as Andre uncovers some of the Whitaker family’s secrets. Andre’s long been skeptical that Eric would’ve let him go down for a crime that he didn’t commit. Andre’s recognition that Eric let him take the blame furthers his suspicion that the Whitakers were more than willing to engage in a cover-up, shedding new light on their supposed efforts to show that they care about Andre.
However, his later discovery of Eric’s secret hiding place and the things contained there also illustrates that the Whitakers are behind his disappearance, proving that Andre was right to be suspicious about Eric’s disappearance. He is forced to admit that he “didn’t want to see the Whitakers for who they really were because [he] wanted to believe they were perfect” (286). He thought that they could all keep pretending that everything was all right, not realizing how much danger his friends were in living with their adopted parents. Andre’s discoveries teach him that sometimes appearances can be deceptive and that not every family is as happy or as stable as they may seem.
The theme of Black Lives Matter and White Communities comes to the forefront in these chapters. After the murder of George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement rises through protests across the country. For Andre, who is now actively engaged in the United States’ criminal justice system, learning about yet another murder of an innocent Black man is intensely triggering. His ankle monitor becomes an even more visible symbol of the grip that the police have on Black Americans, and he uses swimming (See: Symbols & Motifs) to escape this feeling of being watched. In the pool, he thinks, “I went to the only place I could to get away. Let my electronic monitor be silenced. And no longer policed. To vanish” (246). While he knows that he has to occasionally come up so that the monitor can send a signal, Andre also finds comfort in knowing that he can at least feel hidden for a second. His statement about being “policed” emphasizes the scrutiny that Black communities are under in the United States.
Having not wanted to get involved in the protests for his own safety, Andre’s near arrest by the police, during which he has a brutal experience similar to that of George Floyd when the police hold his head on the ground, unwittingly brings him into the movement. His accidental repetition of “Black Lives Matter” has some effect (249): The police officer removes his hand from Andre’s neck, even as his knee digs further into his back. This small motion shows how, when held accountable, police will change their behavior for fear of public backlash and how even young Black people are at risk of mistreatment.
Helping out at the bookstore gives Andre more insight into how some white folks approach the movement for Black lives. The influx of customers looking for books about incarceration, criminal justice, and racism, among other topics, shows that people want to appear to care about Black communities and the systemic injustice that leads to a racially divided society. Andre’s testy encounter with the customer who demands speedier delivery reinforces the sense that some ostensible allies can still behave with a degree of entitlement.
Likewise, Andre’s encounter with a drunk Mrs. Whitaker emphasizes that she doesn’t care about Black people in Albina: “But all the talk is how we’re part of the problem. We’re nice people, aren’t we?” (264). She wants to be seen as a savior, and Andre, for once, refuses to be quiet: “If you’re going to live in our neighborhood, be a part of it, don’t change it for yourself” (266). He immediately regrets it because he knows the danger he could be in since he is alone in a white woman’s house, as she could accuse him of anything. Such moments reinforce the double standards and some of the more covert forms of discrimination faced by Black Americans.
By Kim Johnson