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Chapters Twenty–Twenty-Four

PART 3: DORMANCY

Summary: Chapter Twenty

It’s a bright February day, and sitting at Dre’s grave, Mav updates Dre on the family and set. He explains that even though P-Nut is now in charge, he, King, Rico, and Junie have been dealing behind P-Nut’s back. He also reveals that he and King are no longer best friends. Later, Mav heads to St. Mary’s to deal and ride the bus home with Lisa. As they discuss Lisa’s pregnancy, they make a bet: Lisa thinks they are having a girl, and Mav thinks it’s a boy. The loser will buy the winner Reuben’s barbecue ribs. Back at Tammy’s, a surprise awaits. Tammy’s sister, Brenda, is visiting, along with her baby and boyfriend, Red. As the group chats, Mav spots Dre’s gold watch on Red’s wrist, and he can’t believe his eyes.

Summary: Chapter Twenty-One

Mav stares at Dre’s watch, entranced. When Red realizes Mav recognizes the watch, he abruptly leaves the house. For days, Mav thinks about nothing but Red. During one of Mav’s shifts, Mr. Wyatt encourages Mav to set goals for himself, reminding him that he can forge his own path in life. Later that afternoon, Mav tells P-Nut his suspicions about Red, but P-Nut insults Mav and blows him off. The set no longer offers Mav the safety and support it used to.

Summary: Chapter Twenty-Two

Throughout this chapter, Mav’s obsession with the idea that Red is Dre’s killer begins to interfere with his life. In fact, while meeting with the school counselor, Mav learns that his grades are so bad, he has to repeat the twelfth grade or get this GED. Overwhelmed with his need for money, Mav heads to King’s house to get drugs to sell. While at King’s, Mav opens up and tells King about Red wearing Dre’s watch and P-Nut dismissing the idea that Red could be Dre’s killer. King, disgusted with P-Nut’s lack of leadership, implies that Mav has no choice but to kill Red himself, to which Mav agrees. 

Summary: Chapter Twenty-Three

Mav’s fixation on Red increases, and he decides to get a gun from King. One night, after a long day at work, Faye and Mav chat in the kitchen. He knows he’ll have to tell her about dropping out of school soon but chooses to avoid that conversation for now. Instead, it’s Faye’s turn to admit something: For several years, she’s been dating a woman, her friend Moe, and she’s in love. While it takes Mav a moment to digest the news, he responds by saying that his only concern is her happiness: If she’s happy, he’s happy.

Summary: Chapter Twenty-Four

Mav continues to avoid telling Faye that he’s flunked out of school. He pretends to go to school but instead follows Red, memorizing his daily patterns. In addition to working and tracking Red, however, Mav has arranged a surprise for Lisa: He drives her to Markham State, her first choice in colleges, for a tour of the campus. After the tour, Mav and Lisa meet Keisha, Dre’s fiancée, at a restaurant. Mav hopes to get Keisha alone to see if she heard anything or anyone the moment Dre was shot. Hesitantly, Keisha tells Mav that just before the killer arrived, she heard Bus Stop Tony asking for money. She also reveals that the killer had a raspy voice. On the drive home, Mav and Lisa get into a fight about his gang involvement.

Analysis: Chapter Chapters Twenty–Twenty-Four

Just as a dormant period helps plants to grow, the quiet time that Mav spends in reflection contributes to his growth. When he talks things through with Dre at the cemetery it shows that although the gang has a culture of trust and loyalty, Mav does not get the support he needs from them. Allowing himself to cry on Dre’s grave is a big step for him, and the fact that he’s following Mr. Wyatt’s advice about expressing his emotions shows that he is allowing himself to trust an authority figure and break away from the gang’s rigid ideas about manliness. Without this moment of contemplation to synthesize his growth, Mav might have reacted with violence to seeing Red wearing Dre’s watch. Mav’s life stands still as he obsesses over Red, acknowledging that although he feels that Red must pay for possibly killing Dre, Red has a newborn baby of his own. This realization puts Mav in the position of relating to Red as a new father and understanding that if Red dies, his family will suffer. Mav is maturing even when life is very difficult.

Mr. Wyatt reasserts himself as a father figure by encouraging Mav to think for himself. Mav’s obsession with Red distracts him at work, and when Mr. Wyatt notices, he asks Mav about his goals and what he wants to do with his life. He forcibly shifts Mav’s focus from his present problems to the future and encourages Mav to envision what he could do to achieve his goals rather than simply telling him what he should do. This is both a nod to Mav’s name and a testament to Mr. Wyatt’s skills as a mentor and father figure. When Mav realizes that Mr. Wyatt sees him as more than just a gangster, it allows Mav to see himself that way as well. The fact that he immediately dives into work rather than taking advantage of Mr. Wyatt’s trust shows that Mav’s need for growth and personal development overshadows his need to be accepted by the new gang leadership. Mav is beginning to realize that he is an independent thinker after all.

Mav’s growing ability to balance complex emotions allows him to experience some joy despite his turmoil. It couldn’t have been easy for Faye to tell her son that she is in love with a woman, but the fact that she can share this news with Mav suggests that she has passed down the ability to balance pleasurable and difficult feelings to her son. Mav feels happiness for Faye because even amid his worries he sees her joy. Mav experiences another happy moment, one that he created, when he surprises Lisa with a college tour. Although the tour symbolizes Lisa having opportunities he may not have access to, Mav can set his feelings aside and demonstrate that he wants Lisa to follow her dreams. The fact that he places Lisa’s need for fulfillment above any anxiety he may feel about her going away to school is a testament to Mav’s budding maturity.

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