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Summary
Chapter Twenty
The next morning, Bri wakes up with some regret about her live video, saying she has an Instagram hangover. She worries that Jay will see it and know she is doing the exact opposite of laying low.
Jay is too sad to go to church, so they all stay home. While Bri and Trey hang out and watch Netflix, Trey reveals he saw her Instagram live, saying that the person he saw in the video was not the sister he knew. He is upset and worried for her, but he promises not to tell their mother.
Malik and Sonny come to Bri’s house, and at first, Bri is cold to them, refusing to talk very much. They apologize for not having her back at the meeting. They say she has changed and they don’t recognize the rap persona she has adopted. Bri worries that Sonny and Malik don’t want to be her friends anymore, but they reassure her that they do.
While playing video games, Sonny and Malik tell Bri that there is going to be a meeting with students and parents about hiring police officers as security at the school. The three friends decide to make a music video of “On the Come Up” using Malik’s footage of Bri getting held down by the security guards. With this strategy, they believe they can show people what the song is really about and reveal what really happened at school, on Bri’s own terms.
Chapter Twenty-One
Malik uses footage he’s already shot for his documentary, including a scene in which a comic book clerk follows the three friends around the store, a video of Garden Disciples carrying guns, and the footage of Bri being held down by the security guards. He matches his footage to Bri’s lyrics. They upload the music video to YouTube.
Meanwhile, Sonny reveals that he has talked to Rapid on the phone and is considering meeting him. He gets a call and has to go babysit his siblings, leaving Malik and Bri alone. They start talking and Bri realizes that Malik is about to kiss her. She anticipates fireworks and being swept off her feet, but the kiss turns out to be awkward and the two immediately regret it.
As Bri is walking Malik home, she forgets to hide Lawless’s chain inside her shirt. Malik and Bri start to argue about the kiss and about their feelings for each other. Bri accuses Malik of only being interested in her because she is interested in Curtis. As they are bickering, some Crown gang members approach and pull a gun on Bri. They demand that she hand over Lawless’s chain. Malik tries to stand up for Bri but a Crown punches him. With the gun pointed at her, the Crown mocks Bri and her song. Fearing for her and Malik’s lives, she gives the Crown the chain. Bri calls the chain her family’s safety net as she watches the gang member disappear with it.
Analysis
In these chapters, Bri begins to reckon with the consequences of her rap persona, which has begun to negatively impact those closest to her. Bri compares her morning-after regret over her Instagram tirade to a hangover, suggesting that she realizes the intoxicating effects of her newfound fame. She feels embarrassed about the way she has behaved, especially in front of such a large audience, and she is mortified by the prospect of her mother finding out. Her encounters with Trey, Sonny, and Malik confirm Bri’s fears that her rap persona has gone a step too far. Trey tells Bri, “that video was not my little sister,” emphasizing that Bri’s fame has transformed her into a different person and exaggerated her weaknesses, like her bad temper. Sonny and Malik, Bri’s close friends since childhood, echo Trey’s concerns, telling Bri that she is changing. Bri finally breaks down and confesses that she is afraid of losing her friends.
Spending time with Sonny and Malik seems to help Bri re-center herself, suggesting that love and friendship are antidotes to the corrupting effects of fame. The scenes with Bri’s friends and family in these chapters provide a brief interlude between stressful and traumatic moments tied to Bri’s fame and rap persona. Bri the rapper seems like a ticking time bomb, ready to blow up at any moment. In contrast, the scenes in which Bri interacts with close family and friends have a lightness to them. They are full of laughter, teasing, inside jokes, and moments of intimacy. With Sonny and Malik, Bri is able free herself from her angry rapper persona. Once they reassure her that they will back her up no matter what, Bri reverts to the relaxed, playful, and slightly nerdy teenage girl they have always known.
The robbery of the chain brings this interlude of normalcy to an abrupt halt, signaling not only that the danger has not passed, but that it threatens to engulf Bri’s inner circle as well. Distracted by their awkward post-kiss teenage drama, Malik and Bri are an easy target when the Crown arrives on the scene, menacing and violent. Bri cherishes the chain as a reminder of her father’s fame, but it also serves as a constant reminder of Lawless’s violent death, which continues to haunt Bri. For the Crown, the chain symbolizes Lawless’s decision to align himself with the Garden Disciples, which the Crowns perceived as a sign of disrespect. The Crown calls out Bri for disrespecting his gang in her song, much like her father supposedly did. Bri doesn’t want to give up the chain, but when the Crown punches out Malik and holds her at gunpoint, she doesn’t have much choice. Having followed in her father’s footsteps, courting fame by rapping about gang life, Bri hands over Lawless’s chain to his avoid fate. In a small way, losing the chain is like losing a piece of her father again.
