payment page
Summary
Chapter Eleven
Bri thinks that Malik had asked her on a date, but when he meets her at her locker, he is not alone. He brings Shana, an acquaintance of Bri’s. It seems like Shana and Malik are closer than Bri realized, and Bri begins to feel jealous. As the three of them walk to the pizza parlor, Bri recites the unspoken rules that Black people have to abide by in the Midtown neighborhood. The rules include keeping your hands visible, using “ma’am” and “sir,” and keeping calm when you’re being followed in a store. All these rules are designed to avoid the suspicion of the mostly white shopkeepers in Midtown.
Bri plays her song for Malik and Shana. To Bri’s chagrin, Malik makes it clear that he doesn’t like the lyrics. He chastises Bri for misrepresenting herself by rapping about violence that she would never engage in. Shana and Bri say that the song is about what people expect her to do, not what she would actually do, but Malik says it doesn’t make any difference. Bri gets upset, and her feelings are compounded when she realizes that something romantic is going on between Shana and Malik.
Shana and Malik tell Bri about a Black and Latinx student coalition they are forming. They want to fight back against Long and Tate, whom the school wants to reinstate to their security guard positions. Shana and Malik ask Bri if they can use Malik’s video Bri’s assault to prove that Long and Tate are racially profiling students. Bri doesn’t want to be the poster child for the movement and says so. When she pushes back, Malik further criticizes the song. Bri angrily storms out of the pizza place.
Chapter Twelve
Meanwhile, things are getting worse at home financially for Bri and her family. Christmas is approaching, but they are running out of food. Trey suggests that Jay go to the welfare office to apply for help. Jay resists, both because she finds it demeaning and because she can’t get benefits as a student. She would have to drop out of school. Bri and Jay go to the food pantry instead, where the church is giving away food, clothes, books, and more. There, while looking at a used pair of real Timbs, Bri runs into Supreme, who is dressed as Santa. Supreme encourages her to take the Timbs, but Bri feels uneasy about doing so. Supreme praises Bri on her performance at the Ring and gives her his card, offering to be her manager. Bri plays her song for Supreme. He tells her it’s sure to be a hit, and if she sends it to him, he’ll make sure the right people hear it.
Later, Jay asks what Bri was talking to Supreme about. Bri lies because she still hasn’t told Jay about recording the song, or even about her performance in the Ring. She doesn’t think Jay would approve of the lyrics of “On the Come Up.” Jay surprises Bri by revealing that she saw a video online of Bri’s battle in the Ring. Jay says Bri was incredible.
Chapter Thirteen
It’s a lean Christmas at the Jackson household, with no presents under the tree, but they have apple cinnamon pancakes (a family tradition) minus the bacon they are used to. They eat together and play video games. Jay gives Bri a box of her father’s old belongings, including a pendant on a gold chain with Law spelled out in diamonds. It’s worth thousands of dollars, but Jay insists that they have to keep it instead of pawning it. Bri cherishes her father’s chain.
Aunt Pooh finally shows up after a long absence and apologizes for leaving Bri at the studio. She sees Lawless’s chain and warns Bri not to wear it. Bri plays her song for Aunt Pooh, but when Pooh hears the lyrics, she gets extremely upset, saying that Bri is portraying herself as a gangster when she’s not. She warns Bri that the song will offend the Crowns, a rival gang. Aunt Pooh refuses to publicize the song and demands that Bri delete it. She says she will only help Bri once she creates a song that is true to who she is. Angry with Aunt Pooh, Bri goes to her room, uploads the song, and sends the link to Supreme. He texts back and tells her she’s about to be famous.
Analysis
In these chapters, we see various reactions to Bri’s song as she shares it with several friends and acquaintances for the first time. Unlike Bri’s classmates on the bus, Malik and Aunt Pooh strongly object to the lyrics, and for similar reasons. Having been close to Bri since her childhood, both Malik and Aunt Pooh struggle to accept the inauthenticity of Bri’s thuggish persona in the song. Bri objects to their interpretation of the song, claiming that she is rapping about being seen as a stereotype of a thug, not about actually being a thug. But Malik and Aunt Pooh both predict, accurately, that many people won’t see the “deeper meaning” behind the lyrics will think that Bri is actually promoting violence. Instead of listening to Malik and Pooh, Bri reacts rashly, storming out on Malik and ignoring Pooh’s demand that she delete the song. Supreme, on the other hand, has the opposite reaction when he hears the song. He immediately recognizes that the song’s catchy beat and violent lyrics will make it a hit. He apparently has no qualms about the way Bri portrays herself, promising her that the song could launch her rap career and lift her family out of poverty.
The family’s dire financial situation adds urgency to Bri’s desire to make it as a rapper. Bri feels ashamed to have go to the food pantry with Jay, and even though her Not-Timbs are falling apart, she feels too proud take the used real Timbs. She doesn’t want to be the kind of person who needs second-hand boots; she would rather keep wearing her shoddy Not-Timbs until she can earn enough to buy her own pair. When Supreme urges Bri to take the real Timbs, it’s his way of encouraging her to accept his help. But Bri is equally reluctant to take help from her father’s ex-manager, which feels like another hand-me-down. What’s more, Supreme is dressed as a sort of devilish Santa, with “dark shades that hide his eyes” and “two gold fangs,” adding to Bri’s misgivings. Though Bri leaves the used Timbs behind, she ultimately relents and accepts Supreme’s offer to help her achieve the financial security she desires.
Like the used Timbs, Lawless’s chain represents another symbolic choice that Bri must make. Recognizing the chain’s monetary value, Trey wants to sell it for “food and shelter,” but Jay insists that Bri keep it. For Bri, the chain embodies both Lawless’s legacy and what she sees as her own destiny as rap royalty. She cherishes the chain and admires its dazzling beauty, describing its diamonds as “glistening like a lake on a sunny day.” When Aunt Pooh orders Bri not to wear the chain, Bri again rejects her advice, symbolically choosing the same glamorous path that Lawless chose, along with the same risks.
