Summary

This chapter opens with a meeting being held with the Chicago Housing Authority's new chairman, Vincent Lane. He seems to be of some hope to the residents, because he is outraged when he discovers that the mess in the basements at Horner was deliberately kept secret from him so that people who had worked for the CHA for years would not lose their jobs. He thinks that nobody ever thinks of the residents. He has come to the job with few illusions. The misery of the inner city projects has been exposed since 1965 when the Chicago Daily News ran an extensive series on it. Other exposés have been written over the years, but he is still in for some startling surprises. The situation is even worse than he thought. Besides all the problems in the infrastructure of the buildings, there is also the problem with the gangs who have sources in the CHA itself. By the summer of 1989, Lane, even with his life at risk for doing it, declares that he will sweep all eight buildings of gang influence.

Of course, the biggest problem is the amount of money it will take to repair all the problems at Horner. Nonetheless, he tells the tenants that he is going to do everything he can to help them. Unfortunately, the gangs aren't willing to go quietly: the local management staff at Horner comes under attack, Gwen Anderson is shot at, and a makeshift tunnel between buildings that helps the gangs escape is discovered. Through all of this, LaJoe and her children must somehow continue to survive. One night, she hears a noise in the hallway and discovers Pharoah, in his sleep, crawling down the hallway to escape the gunfire. They are all on alert 24/7 in her home.

Notes

Vincent Lane is obviously an idealist, but he is also determined. That can mean some good will come to Horner. In the meantime, war continues, this time between the gangs and the Housing Authority, and the children must continue to live with the sound of gunfire.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Summary

As this chapter opens, Lafeyette is packing up his meager belongings in a cardboard box. Four weeks earlier, he had been arrested with four other boys for allegedly breaking into a Toyota. Lafeyette insisted he hadn't done it, but had been walking by when it happened and was swept up in the arrest. Today is their first day in court. LaJoe tries not to show it, but she is as worried as Lafeyette. She doesn't think she can last through another child going to jail. Since this experience, in spite of the fact that he hangs out with a fast crowd, Lafeyette has excused himself from anything that looks like trouble. If anything, he seems to be spending more time in the house. This is a tension-filled problem also for Lafeyette. He is angry at LaShawn who often leaves for long periods of time, leaving her children in the care of Lafeyette and LaJoe. He knows she is dabbling in drugs again, and he will have none of it. He tells her often what he thinks.

On the day of his court date, Rickey is just completing a two-week stay for the smash and grab he had committed on Damen Avenue. All of this exhausts LaJoe, but she follows Lafeyette to court, because she will never stop supporting her children. It is a long anxiety-ridden day. First, there is no record of him until the court clerks search repeatedly and he and his mother are sent from office to office. He then goes through an initial screening process with Mr. Smith who clearly does not believe Lafeyette's story. Then, they wait and wait until finally his case is called at 6:00. During this hearing, a trial date is set for September 8. When LaJoe realizes that it's a different date from that of the other boys, she rushes back in to the judge who says, Did we have a case by the name of Lafeyette Rivers? It's as if they are invisible. No one saw or heard them or cared enough to treat them like human beings. Lafeyette, however, is relieved, because he is going home. They come home to find a letter from Terence, which LaJoe reads to the boys. They don't ask about him as much anymore, because they know he's going to be gone for a long time. However, after seeing him at the county jail, they feel like he'll be okay.

Notes

Lafeyette's experience with the court system is a perfect example of incompetence and lack of compassion. They don't have his records, and the judge doesn't even remember his name. Furthermore, Mr. Smith acts as if Lafeyette is guilty, and the entire staff of people with whom he must contend acts as if he is invisible. They just don't care.