Emako Blue

“She had a voice that could do tricks, go high, low, and anywhere in between: a voice that’s a gift from God. She was Jill Scott and Minnie Riperton, Lauryn Hill and India Arie.”

Monterey describes meeting Emako for the first time at choir auditions. She describes the singular talent that Emako had by describing the range of her voice and comparing her to other famous Black women artists. Monterey also says that Emako’s talent is a gift from God, giving her voice and her being an almost otherworldly quality. Her divine talent solidifies as Emako’s life is cut short before she is able to reach her full potential.

“I mean you just seem like you live on a nice little street with trees and all that, where nuthin’ real bad ever happens and you probably got a collection of Barbie dolls, PlayStation One and Two, your own DVD player, and a little pink bedroom.”

Emako describes what she assumes Monterey’s life is like. Monterey is from a wealthier area of Los Angeles, and Emako assumes that Monterey must therefore be from privilege. Emako’s observations about Monterey’s privilege serve to develop the theme What it Means to be Grown, since this is a major concern for Monterey, but she lives a very sheltered life.

“I ain’t scared of nuthin’, but I got tired of all the nonsense. Every day it was somethin’. School police everywhere. Some brotha all up on me. Some little sista and her clique all in my face becuz her little dude’s tryin’ to get with me. And I wasn’t thinking ‘bout none of ‘em.”

After a rival gang member drives by Emako’s house looking for her brother Dante, Monterey asks if Emako is scared to live where she does. Emako responds that she not afraid but that she is taking her life and future into her own hands. She reveals that she chose to leave her former school for better opportunities at her new school, developing the theme Escaping the Cycle of Poverty and Violence.

“...you watch… I’ll be livin’ it up. I’ll move my mama away from all this madness and buy her a house with a pool in Malibu that looks out over the ocean, send my little brother and sister to private school in a limo…”

Emako describes her future goals to Monterey. Emako believes that her musical talent will eventually lead not only her but her family, to a better life. Emako shows how important her family is to her in this quote and how she wants to use her talent to not only achieve a successful career but to bring her family out of poverty as well using her voice. Emako is driven, confident, and passionate, but she is also kind and selfless, as she shows through sharing her future plans to help her family.

“I wanted to scream. I wanted to break some heads. I wanted to get the MF who had done this. But I couldn’t. I had to leave it to the police or God. I looked up as the preacher spoke from the pulpit. ‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord.’ It was like he was reading my mind.”

Jamal reflects on the immense anger he carries after Emako’s murder. Jamal, who often wants to distance himself from the perception that all young Black men in Los Angeles are prone to violence, here articulates that he wants to hurt the person that killed Emako. He is angry enough to do so, but Jamal here also shows that he could not actually commit violence toward someone and instead chooses to leave the punishment up to the justice system and God.

“Monterey entered the church and glared at me like I didn’t belong there. I said to myself, No, she did not disrespect me up in here. But you know what? I didn’t let it bother me. I mean, we all had the right to say goodbye to Emako. Even me.”

Savannah Parker, who antagonizes Emako for much of the text, arrives at her funeral and sees that her presence displeases Monterey. Savannah tries to justify her attendance by saying that everyone, even her, has the right to say goodbye to Emako. Throughout the text, Savannah will taunt Emako because she begins a relationship with Savannah’s best friend’s ex-boyfriend, Jamal. Savannah is jealous of Emako and deeply dissatisfied with her own life, so she takes out her frustrations and insecurities on Emako. Later, Savannah will come to terms with her mistreatment of Emako.

“I couldn’t wait for my future to become my present, for the present to become my past.”

Eddie Ortiz explains here that he cannot wait to leave his hometown of Los Angeles for college. Eddie, whose brother is in juvenile detention for gang activity, struggles with feelings of anxiety about living in Los Angeles and knowing that danger is a real threat to him and his family. Eddie feels that college will be a way for him to escape the threat of violence that plagues him, developing the theme Escaping the Cycle of Poverty and Violence.

“I figure he’s better off there. If he was still home with my mama, he’d be in the ground. Mama said he’s gonna get rehabilitated [...] his past is gonna stop following him around, but I know it won’t. Boys round our block won’t let it. He’s in too deep, so I know that he’s just gonna get out and get shot or sent up again. Dante… he’s got bad karma.”

Emako tells Monterey about her brother Dante’s gang activity and how she fears the day he comes home from juvenile detention. Emako explains that while their mother is hopeful for Dante’s potential for rehabilitation, Emako knows that the gang Dante belongs to will not let him go when he gets out of detention. Emako predicts that, if released, a rival gang will kill Dante or he will be sent back to juvenile detention again. This foreshadows when Dante leaves detention and does bring violence and trouble to their home. However, it is not Dante who pays for this with his life, but Emako.

“They treat me like I’m still a little kid. Like I don’t have good sense. Like they’re afraid something bad’s gonna happen.”

Monterey complains to Emako that her parents are overprotective of her. It bothers Monterey because she wants to make her own decisions and wants her parents to trust that she is responsible and has good judgment. This quote foreshadows when Monterey witnesses Emako’s murder, showing that Monterey’s parents were at least partially correct in worrying that something bad could happen to Monterey. Monterey’s parents know from age and experience that violence does not discriminate, a painful lesson that Monterey will have to learn firsthand.

“One day when you start to grow up, you might see how it really is, but right now you’re blinded by your perfect little world.”

Emako often teases Monterey about her sheltered life, but in this quote, she seems to show real resentment toward Monterey’s privileged life circumstances. This quote shows the divide Emako feels between herself and Monterey. Emako clearly feels grown up as compared to Monterey. From her perspective, Monterey is able to enjoy the ignorant bliss of youth, which prevents her from seeing and understanding the harsher realities of the world.

“They slowed down and I felt the fear. I whispered a prayer, asking God to protect me. I didn’t want a bullet in my spine or head. I wanted to see my future. I was innocent. Innocence has to count for something.”

Eddie has seen firsthand the effects of gang activity and its potential for violence from his brother, Tomas. Because of this experience, Eddie is very anxious about gang violence and worries about his and his family’s safety. When a group of gang members drive by him slowly and flash a gang sign at it, Eddie worries that they might harm him, so he prays for protection from God. Eddie works hard to try and escape his circumstances and prays that his innocence will be enough to protect him. This is a moment of dramatic irony in the text as it is clear after Emako’s murder that innocence is not a safeguard against gang violence.

“I looked in the small mirror that hung over the sink and toasted myself. Today was my sixteenth birthday.”

Savannah, home alone while her mother and stepfather visit Thailand, toasts herself on her 16th birthday. This moment offers insight into Savannah’s actions, which are often mean toward others. This glimpse into Savannah’s life, privileged as it may be, reveals that she feels intensely lonely and does not have anyone in her life to celebrate her birthday with. While it does not excuse her behavior towards others, it does offer an explanation and window for understanding why Savannah is the way she is.

“Every time you turned around, someone was getting shot in L.A., and I didn’t want my name added to the growing list [...] People left standing around talking to the media who claim that you were “gang-related” when the only thing you were related to were your moms and pops [...] it made a young brother tense.”

Jamal is at home doing his homework and studying. As he does this, he reflects on the pressures and worries he experiences as a young Black man growing up in Los Angeles. He firmly states that he has no interest in gang activity, but that even without being involved in a gang the threat of violence looms. He also expresses frustration with the fact that, as a young Black man, if he were ever hurt or killed through gun violence the media would erroneously connect him to gang activity. These pressures weigh on Jamal and provide insight into the costs that gun and gang violence have on the entire community, not just those directly involved.

“I couldn’t wait to leave Los Angeles behind me. Sometimes it felt like this city was about to swallow me up whole like a hungry python.”

Eddie again expresses his desire to leave Los Angeles. He compares the city to a “hungry python,” using the simile to express his feeling that some unknown threat or danger looms over him.

“‘All he does is worry my mother. She hardly sleeps. I find her in the morning, curled up on the sofa, the TV on, rosary in her hands, tears in her eyes.’ [...] ‘My mama keeps telling me that God’s gonna answer her prayers, but her hair is turnin’ white from worryin’.”

Eddie and Emako connect with one another because of their brothers’ incarcerations and gang involvement. Because of their similar situations, they can better understand each other’s experiences. They share with one another how their brothers’ decisions negatively affect their mothers, especially, illustrating how the impacts of incarceration and gang activity have wide reaching implications for the entire family, not just the individual. Both Emako and Eddie have to act as the older sibling in their brothers’ absence, taking on added worry and responsibility at home to try and help support their families in challenging and dangerous circumstances.

“‘It’s gonna be good, for me and you. In two years you’ll have your recording contract and be outta here too.’ ‘A lot can happen in two years, Eddie.’”

Eddie tries to make Emako feel better by envisioning the future with her when they are both graduated from high school. Emako has her recording contract to look forward to, and Eddie tries to help her focus on the promise and potential of her future. Emako says, cryptically, that “a lot can happen in two years,” which foreshadows Emako’s impending death.

“I slithered into the seat like the snake that I was. [...] I thought, I’m never going to win, so I might as well give it up. If you ask me why I cause trouble, I would answer, I don’t know. It used to be fun.”

After Jamal confronts Savannah for spreading rumors that he and Emako are having sex, Savannah feels a surge of guilt for her recent behavior. She describes herself as a snake “slithering” into her seat, showing her feeling of guilt for spreading a lie. In this quote, Savannah begins to doubt her impulse to want to make life difficult for Emako; she states that causing trouble “used to be fun,” but now she is not gaining anything from this experience. She also feels that she cannot “win” against Emako, and therefore should give up her crusade before she further alienates herself from everyone around her.

“Dante and J.T. stood up, examining their bodies for wounds. Emako’s was on the sidewalk, lying in a small pool of blood. Her eyes were wide open.”

This quote illustrates the immediate aftermath of the drive-by shooting that ends Emako’s life. Although Monterey does not yet know this, Emako is already dead, as shown by the wording “Emako’s was on the sidewalk,” alluding to the fact that it is Emako’s body that is on the sidewalk, her soul already departed and her eyes open but staring at nothing. Dante shows his callousness in this quote as he checks his own body for wounds, and then flees the scene before police arrive, instead of checking on Emako.

“While Jamal drove, I took in the panoramic view of the skyline. Palm trees basked in the sun against a background of blue. Suddenly, I felt ashamed for admiring the beauty of this world.”

Eddie, a romantic at heart, catches himself noticing the beauty of the world on the way to Emako’s burial. This quote illustrates an important fact that beauty and tragedy can coexist. This truth casts Emako’s death in an even more tragic light: the fact that beauty can continue to exist when an innocence life is gone due to a random and senseless act of violence. Eddie’s reaction acknowledges this challenging dichotomy.

“Why is it when someone looks good and has talent and the future seems to belong to her, that people like me give her a hard time, like it’s her fault she was born lucky? And how could someone’s life be over just like that? Just like that. So now I’m left to deal with all the lies and trash I threw her way. I knew that some people deserved to go to hell, but I didn’t want to be one of them.”

Savannah regrets her decision to try and make Emako’s life miserable not only because Emako did not deserve such treatment, but because Savannah only ended up hurting and alienating herself. This quote also shows Savannah’s most challenging realization: She can never make amends because of Emako’s death. She has to sit and live with her treatment of Emako for the rest of her life without ever having the opportunity to apologize, or to make things right with Emako.

“I hate to admit it, but at first I was just runnin’ my game, treatin’ her like she was just another honey, you know, tryin’ to be a player, and then all of a sudden I started lovin’ her. Now it feels like someone took a bat to my heart and beat the hell out of it.”

Jamal admits that, at first, he was only trying to play Emako, treating her like another one of his conquests without any serious emotion or intention behind his actions. He surprises himself when he falls in love with her and realizes that Emako is the only one in his life that ever saw the real him.

“I wondered if I would make it. If they got Emako, then maybe they would get me too. They could keep my brother, Tomas, incarcerated forever as far as I was concerned. I didn’t want him bringing the angel of death to our door. I knew now that innocence didn’t mean anything.”

Eddie reflects on his connection with Emako because of their similar life situations. He worries that he may still experience a fate similar to Emako’s and hopes that his brother will remain incarcerated so as to keep harm and death away from him and his family. This quote echoes Eddie’s earlier prayer that his innocence will help to protect him from harm. After Emako’s death, Eddie understands the harsh reality that gun and gang violence are indiscriminatory and senseless. Emako was an innocent, and yet she died in a shooting. Eddie knows now that innocence is not a safeguard against violence.

“‘I can do it myself! I’m not a baby anymore!’ I pushed away my mother’s hands. ‘Stop treating me like I’m a baby!’ Mama was silent. Then Daddy turned around. ‘She’s right. She’s not a child anymore, DeeDee.”

After Emako’s burial, Monterey finally releases her anger and resentment toward her parents for trying to over-protect her. Since Emako’s death, they have been especially protective, and for much of the funeral scenes Monterey describes herself leaning on one of her parents or a protective arm curling over her shoulder. After the burial, this suddenly becomes too much for Monterey, and she feels the need to assert her independence in the wake of experiencing such a profound trauma. To her surprise, her father acknowledges that Monterey is right. Having seen her best friend murdered in front of her eyes has caused Monterey to grow up fast. She is no longer cocooned in her safe little world, as Emako always teased her about. Monterey has experienced the harsh reality that life can end violently in a moment for no reason. Monterey’s father acknowledges this without saying so explicitly, which shows a new stage and dimension in their relationship.