Dear Justyce

Quan’s mother comes to visit him in prison for the first time, despite the fact that she “never answers when he calls” and “hasn’t sent any letters. Or care packages” (231). Liberty and Quan’s counselor, Tay, are concerned about what this visit could do to Quan and try to prepare him for the visit. Mama tells him that his sister, Dasia, has been diagnosed with leukemia. She says that Quan’s friend Trey came to check in on their family. Trey brought groceries, money, and a team of other people to clean the house. Quan is heartbroken when Mama leaves without saying any warm words to him, but he writes to Justyce to tell him how touched he is that “my crew has been helping her out” (242). Quan thinks about how many people in his life seem to have forgotten about him, including his own mother, but not Justyce or the Black Jihad members. Quan again ponders what life on the outside might look like and admits that breaking away from a gang isn’t easy. He worries again about falling back into his old ways and old friends if he gets out.

Justyce and Jared go to see Martel. They run into Trey and Brad, a white member of the Black Jihad, and Justyce is allowed inside the house, but Jared is forced to stay back. Justyce comes face to face with Martel and asks him to cut ties with Quan. He explains that Quan has a team of people who believe in him and want to see him be successful—a case manager, a teacher, and an attorney. Quan is “seeing a potential future for himself, which is something I don’t think he had much of a vision for before” (254). Justyce is concerned that once Quan is out of prison, he will fall back in with the Black Jihad. Martel is irritated by Justyce’s audacity, but he agrees: He will not let Quan back into the crew. However, Martel expects Doc to come help the members of the Black Jihad get their GEDs, and Quan is still expected to pay off his debt to Martel. Justyce agrees, and Martel echoes the words of Attorney Baldwin: “Most dudes around here don’t get a friend like you” (258). As they leave Martel’s house, Justyce feels free.

Quan continues to work with Doc on transferable college credits. Doc tells Quan that he wants to give him a job once he’s out of prison because Quan is good with numbers. Meanwhile, Quan has had trouble sleeping ever since receiving his last few letters: Mama tells him that she, Gabe, and Dasia are moving out to the suburbs. Martel sends Quan a ledger with his owed debt and a command: “Pay up and disappear, or else” (264). Quan notices that the debt is directly related to the cost of taking care of Quan’s family, including groceries, medications, and cash. Quan becomes anxious, thinking about how many other “debts” he must owe to people like Doc, Tay, Liberty, Justyce, and Attorney Friedman. Quan fights this thought by imagining what Tay would say during one of their counseling sessions: “everyone should have somebody who believes in ’em… No strings attached” (267). While Doc is working with Quan, Attorney Friedman bursts in and says there is something they need to see.