Summary

Earlier in the summer, Weasel brings home two pit bull puppies. One is for Pharoah and one for Lafeyette. Pharoah soon loses interest in his dog, and they give it away, but Lafeyette grows to love his, which he names Blondie. One day, he comes home from school and can't find his puppy. His father is there, and Lafeyette suspects he has sold the dog for drug money. There is a terrible argument and actual blows are exchanged between them. Paul soon comes to realize when Lafeyette calls him a dope fiend that the argument isn't about the dog, but about the drugs. His own children are now turning against him. This realization saps what strength and spirit he has left, and he slumps dejectedly on the couch. Lafeyette finds Blondie hiding under the stove.

Every morning, Pharoah goes off to school with energy, verve, and anticipation. He loves the atmosphere of the campus and likes being considered a scholar. However, Lafeyette is plain tired, and the summer days drag for him. He keeps to himself and stops confiding in his mother. He becomes embroiled in a fight where a friend is being beaten up. LaJoe happens to walk by and hear Lafeyette's voice screaming at the teens to stop. LaJoe goes to his rescue, and the teens turn on her. It's only when a friend of Weasel, who she had nurtured as a child, comes along and steps in, that the beating stops. LaJoe takes Lafeyette home, and as they come to the porch of their building, he drops to his knees and tells her, Mama, I'm tired. She's not sure what he means until she remembers Terence saying the same thing. They are just tired of being.

Later, Dawn is evicted from the apartment she has been renting illegally. She, Demetrius and their four children pack into one room at her mother's apartment. Pharoah looks at all these events and says he feels good not understanding.

One day, Lafeyette hangs the program from Craig's funeral on his wall. LaJoe welcomes the sight of it, thinking he'll now begin to talk about his grief. However, she soon takes it down, because Lafeyette begins to dream repeatedly that some unknown person is chasing him, and because of a strong wind, he can't get away. When he tries to call for help, nothing will come out of his mouth.

Notes

This chapter continues to explore how Lafeyette is losing his spirit. He is dejected by his father's drug use. He has to come to the aid of a friend who has been beaten by older, bigger boys. He sees Dawn, the family success story, evicted from her apartment and he has horrible nightmares as a result of Craig's death. At this point in the narrative, the reader can't help but wonder if Lafeyette is going to make it.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Summary

Pharoah is standing by his window mesmerized by the raindrops falling there. It takes Lafeyette screaming his name and shaking him to bring him out of his daydream. He takes Pharoah and Rickey to get some fries. Along the way, they see a beautiful, arching rainbow, the first the boys had ever seen. Pharoah stutters out the desire to go chase it and see if there is gold there at its end or even leprechauns. Lafeyette thinks he's silly and stays behind as Pharoah and Rickey begin to chase the rainbow. Eventually, it disappears, and Pharoah is very disappointed. He was going to make wish at the end of the rainbow for hope for his family: Terence out of jail, a new house, and all of them out of the projects. He has to stop talking about his wish momentarily to keep himself from crying. Heaped with disappointments, Lafeyette wants to believe the stories about the rainbow, so he says later there are little people out there not more than an inch high, and if he had found them, he would have brought them home and not told anyone.

Notes

Pharoah is almost eleven and so his belief in the possibilities at the end of the rainbow are understandable. However, Lafeyette is fourteen, and he has seen so much go wrong in his life that to believe is almost impossible. So, when he says that he thinks there are little people out there, it makes the reader hope that he can still dream, imagine, reach for something better.