Leaving Atlanta

Rodney Green thinks about how Jashante Hamilton has been missing for two weeks. Though Jashante bullied him relentlessly during elementary school, Rodney doesn’t want to think that Jashante is dead, because “whoever could kill Jashante, could destroy you effortlessly” (85). 

At dawn, Rodney’s mother sweeps into his room in her “long satin robe” and wakes him “with a contrived coloratura” (85). When Rodney arrives in the kitchen, he sees that his mother is worrying over his sister Patricia’s fall project—a diorama. Their mother tells them that they’ll have to get breakfast at school, which slightly embarrasses Rodney, who knows that it’s usually poor kids who eat school breakfasts because they have nothing to eat at home. Rodney would never say this to his mother, who would accuse him of being pretentious. He finds this hypocritical, given that the shoe box that she used to construct Patricia’s diorama shows off the label of her sole pair of Italian pumps. 

When Rodney arrives at school, he sees an enormous cardboard tree in the hall. Hanging from its branches are apples made from construction paper. The apples identity the Students of the Month, which don’t include Rodney. 

Rodney is carrying his own school project, an ornate poster that his mother has designed. He runs into Octavia, to whom he normally never speaks, and mumbles hello. She’s also carrying a poster, which is nice, but not nearly as decorative. When Rodney goes to class, he sees Mr. Harrell, whom he hates, writing on the chalkboard. During the first day in his class, Rodney didn’t respond during roll call, leading Mr. Harrell to declare him tardy, despite his being present in class. When Rodney walks into the room, he hands Mr. Harrell his project. His teacher claims to be pleased that Rodney is taking his schoolwork more seriously. He then accepts Octavia’s and examines it unenthusiastically. Mr. Harrell announces that they have a guest—Officer Brown from the Atlanta Police Department. The cop is there to lecture the children on personal safety.

When Officer Brown speaks to the children, he mentions what they have probably been seeing on the news. Officer Brown, who is white, seems surprised when a student in the class, Cinque Freeman, points out how all of the murdered children are black. Cinque is Jashante Hamilton’s cousin. The children yell out that someone killed Jashante. Officer Brown notes that he’s familiar with the case and that Jashante is still only missing. He assures the children that missing children often return to their parents. Rodney thinks about how that isn’t true, especially not in their neighborhood, and more especially, not this year. 

Cinque continues to shout at Officer Brown. Now, he claims that the police are responsible for the murders. This, he reasons, is how the kidnapper gets children to get into a car with him. Mr. Harrell intervenes and sends Cinque out into the hall. Then, Officer Brown asks Cinque to return to his seat. The children are surprised at how Officer Brown overrules Mr. Harrell, who relents to Officer Brown’s command. 

Officer Brown reminds the children that “each Atlanta police officer has taken a sacred oath to protect the public, not harm it” (94). He agrees that someone may be impersonating a police officer, but shows the children his badge to detail the differences between a real one and a fake. Rodney thinks that Officer Brown is a fool; surely, a kidnapper could steal both a uniform and a badge. 

When the bell rings, everyone goes outside for recess, but the children are no longer interested in playing. The girls, Rodney notices, wear “pink training bras” and have their hair “turned into tight oily curls” (94). He sees the children pairing off for relay races, but he stays out of the fray because he’s a slow runner. Octavia stands nearby. He sees a piece of cardboard covering a hole in the sole of her shoe. He’s embarrassed to witness her poverty. She then goes over to Rodney and asks him if he thinks his teacher will announce the winners for the best posters. She says that she stayed up late working on hers but thinks that Rodney’s is better. After the race, Rodney and Octavia see two other classmates, Leon Simmons and Candida Winters, talking. Octavia figures they’re talking about her. Rodney feels more conspicuous around her and wants to get away. The other kids then mock Rodney and Octavia, declaring them a new couple. Octavia throws a rock at Leon. He mocks her with what he thinks is an African dance and calls her a Watusi. Octavia throws pebbles at him. They trade insults until Octavia silences him with the memory of Leon’s mother spanking him in front of his classmates for stealing. Rodney is both shocked and thrilled by her facility with insults. Octavia mistakes this for disapproval. 

At lunchtime, Rodney, as usual, doesn’t receive any cheese on his Chili-mac, while Octavia gets plenty. The cafeteria ladies don’t like him. Octavia silently invites him to sit with her, but he moves in the direction of Tasha Baxter, who is studying her lips in a mirror. Leon Simmons beats him to the empty seat and tells Rodney to sit with his girlfriend, meaning Octavia. Offended, Rodney says that Octavia certainly isn’t his girlfriend. The cafeteria erupts with laughter and Octavia leaves, “[dumping] her dime lunch into the large trash can without taking care to see that the tray is saved” (100). 

When he returns to the classroom, Rodney leaves “two rolls of Life Savers and a purple ring candy” (100) on Octavia’s desk, which she sweeps to the floor. Mr. Harrell announces a spelling test, which Rodney knows he won’t pass, despite having studied, because he can’t remember the words or their spelling rules. When the bell rings at 3, he lingers near the coat rack to try to speak to Octavia. However, she rebuffs him. 

Rodney walks across the street to Lewis’s Market. Mrs. Lewis, the shopkeeper, greets him. She believes that Rodney is a decent boy, so she doesn’t make him leave his backpack near the door, as she does with the other children. She has also known Rodney’s father since they were children. He watches Mrs. Lewis carefully as she reads a magazine. He secretly flips his middle finger up at her. When she looks up to ask if he needs something, he says no, while palming some pink peanut candy. His father, Claude, had once come into the store with him. He identified the pink candy as a peanut patty. Rodney opted for a candy called Alexander the Grape, convincing his father that he didn’t know what was good. Claude picked the peanut patty. While Mrs. Lewis put his candy into a paper bag, Rodney sneaked a box of Boston Baked Beans into his jacket pocket. 

Now, back in the store, Rodney looks at the peanut patty and thinks of how unappetizing it looks. He puts it back and shoplifts three boxes of Lemonheads instead. Just then, the doorbells ring. Leon Simmons enters. Mrs. Lewis orders him to leave his satchel at the door. Leon obeys and suggests that Mrs. Lewis sweep up the laundry detergent spilled on the floor before someone sues. Leon walks over to Rodney. Leon sees Rodney shoplifting the candy and distracts Mrs. Lewis by continuing on about litigious types. 

Rodney leaves the store and returns just in time to pick up his younger sister, Patricia. He remarks on how “[their] father’s eyes look so sweet in her little face” (105). He gives her “a candy necklace and an Astro Pop” (105). He doesn’t hold her hand, though his parents demanded that he do so. Instead, he walks near her toward the bus stop. He finds this ironic, thinking that someone should hold his hand, seeing as how all of the murdered children have been male. Still, he knows that he must watch his sister; an Impala almost hit her when she ran in the street once in pursuit of a dodge ball. 

Rodney suddenly hears footsteps behind him and takes Patricia’s hand. They walk quickly until Rodney hears a familiar voice—it belongs to Leon Simmons. Leon asks for some of the candy that he helped Rodney steal. Rodney is reluctant. He had been doing a fine job of stealing from Mrs. Lewis at least three times per week with no help from Leon. Rodney relents. Leon is shocked to see how much candy he managed to steal, especially since Mrs. Lewis forces even girls to leave their bags at the front of the store—a comment that offends Rodney. Leon is annoyed that Rodney doesn’t have any candy corn but promises that they’ll get some tomorrow. 

That night, the Greens watch television. Claude complains at the sight of Mayor Maynard Jackson, whom he calls a “yellow bastard” sitting before a heap of reward money (110). He mentions how Mayor Jackson didn’t seem to care about the welfare of children when the city’s sanitation workers went on strike, mentioning how Uncle Joe nearly lost his home during the stand-off. Monica Kaufman comes onto the television and announces that police discovered another child’s body. Just then, Rodney’s younger sister begins to sing the Safety Song. Rodney’s parents watch the TV screen in disbelief. 

Before going to sleep, Rodney tries to think of the time from before he was born. It makes him feel as though death is nothing he should fear. He thinks of the time that he nearly drowned when his father tried to teach him to swim. Claude then accused Rodney of “[acting] like a little girl” (113) when he cried. His mother, who was pregnant with his sister, comforted him, but her huge stomach left no room for him to curl into her lap. 

The next morning, Claude knocks on his son’s door, saying that he needs help with getting the drain pipe into place. Before Rodney goes out, he writes on a sheet of paper that his father took him out of the house early on a Tuesday morning. He folds the paper until it’s very small and prints Octavia’s name on it. When he walks outside, he presses his feet firmly into the mud, hoping to leave a trail. Rodney helps his father, but Claude’s ineptitude amuses him. He suppresses a laugh when Claude cuts his finger with his pocket knife. 

Later that morning, his mother drives him and Patricia to school before going to her yoga class. Rodney is 30 minutes early, and Leon is waiting for him. Rodney sees that he’s using a trash bag as a slicker. Leon reminds him about the candy corn. He then examines Rodney’s “sunshine-yellow raincoat”(117) and says that he has one just like it at home, but he forgot it. 

They enter Mrs. Lewis’s store. She tells them to leave their wet coats and bags by the door. She then says that Leon is too wet to go past the front counter. Whatever he wants, she says, Rodney can bring to him. As she says this, Rodney is reaching for the candy corn, which falls. He’s annoyed with Leon for not picking a quieter candy to steal. He lifts one packet, then picks up another that he’ll pretend to pay for. He hands the packet to Leon. Mrs. Lewis leans over with her eyes narrowed and asks Rodney what he got for himself. He says that he wanted Pop Rocks, knowing that Mrs. Lewis would say that those are illegal now. 

Mrs. Lewis asks Leon for a dime for the candy. He doesn’t have it and asks Rodney, who also has no extra money. Mrs. Lewis shoos Leon out of the store, annoyed that he doesn’t have money. She then speaks privately to Rodney, warning him not to fall in with the wrong crowd. She says that Leon will never amount to anything. She picks up his discarded Hefty bag and asks if that is all that he wants out of life.

It’s Tuesday, so Miss Russell, the art teacher, is in Rodney’s class. She arrives once per month. Octavia uses the easel next to his. Miss Russell pauses at Rodney’s canvas and marvels at it. She asks him what he wants to be when he grows up, and he struggles to formulate a response. He can’t imagine himself as an adult. He thinks of how his father can eat whatever he wants in the house, always getting the best of his mother’s often poorly-cooked meals. He tells Miss Russell that he wants to be a father, but she doesn’t hear him, so he says that he wants to be a fireman. Octavia looks at him as though he’s ridiculous. He compliments her painting, which looks to him like a butterfly, though she calls him stupid and says that it’s a painting of scrambled eggs and cheese. 

Later, Mr. Harrell announces the winners of the fall project. Tayari Jones gets first prize. Both Octavia and Rodney are convinced that her mother helped her, considering the poster’s “moving cardboard parts” (122). At lunchtime, Rodney goes to sit with Octavia, but he’s distracted by a call from Leon Simmons who’s sitting with Candida. Rodney gives Leon the candy corn that he stole. Rodney looks back at Octavia’s table and sees her sharing with another girl. Mr. Harrell orders Rodney to take a seat. He obeys, going back to Octavia. 

After school, the students get their report cards. Patricia is excited, while Rodney has resigned himself to his usual C’s and anticipates his father’s usual contempt and beatings in response. At dinner, Claude looks over the report cards. He proudly looks over his daughter’s excellent grades. While looking over Rodney’s, he declares that his son’s problem is that he’s never had to pick cotton. That night, he beats Rodney, who feels increasing hatred for his father. His mother waits out in the hall and asks if Claude has hurt him. His father answers that he’s only hurt Rodney’s feelings. 

The next morning, Rodney gets out of bed to use the bathroom. His father greets him and invites him into the kitchen, where he makes them breakfast. Knowing that children don’t drink coffee, Claude offers his son a Coke instead with his buttered toast. He tells Rodney about how his own father worked in a sawmill and couldn’t read but learned to write his name beautifully. He did his best to hide the fact when Claude was a boy. But, when he brought his son books, Claude noticed that they were pornographic, which revealed his father’s secret. Rodney’s grandfather was strict, too, about Claude doing his homework and would whip him with a switch if he even suspected that Claude wasn’t completing it. Claude thinks that his brother Joe would’ve been more successful if he had gotten the same beatings, but their father was too old by then to dole them out. While Joe picks up garbage, Claude is his own boss and has a wife who doesn’t have to work. At the end of this talk, Rodney goes to the bathroom and vomits Coke and buttered toast.

Rodney goes to school early that morning, but not before stopping into Mrs. Lewis’s store to steal two red lollipops. He sees Octavia eating breakfast and reading. Rodney gets in the breakfast line only for the cafeteria lady to tell him that breakfast is over. When the woman offers toast, Rodney begins to cry. She comforts the child, assuming he’s sick. She hugs him and he “[allows himself] to sink into the space between her arms” (134). After comforting him, she retrieves a banana and gives it to him. 

Rodney keeps the banana until recess. He sits under a slide on the playground to eat it. He falls asleep there until a seventh-grader wakes him up. The seventh-grader tells Rodney that his class has just gotten out of lunch. If he hurries, he may catch up with them as they head back to class. Rodney files into class with the other students in time, but Mr. Harrell orders him to step outside. When Rodney leaves, he sees his father waiting for him, covered in motor oil. He tells Rodney that Mrs. Lewis called and told him that Rodney had been “hanging with the wrong crowd” (136) and stealing candy from her store. Rodney begins to lie, but Claude promises that he’ll show Rodney to do as he says and not what his friends want him to do. He takes Rodney back into the classroom and beats him with his belt in front of the entire fifth-grade class. Rodney tries to cry out an admission of guilt, but no one hears him. Claude finishes the beating and tells Mr. Harrell that if Rodney gives him any trouble, he should call him. 

Rodney puts his head on his desk and falls asleep. The final bell awakens him. Octavia pats his arms and asks if he’s okay. He admits to her that he stole. She mishears him. He dismisses what he tried to say and hands her the red lollipops in his pocket.

Rodney walks out of school that afternoon without his tweed coat. He knows that his sister will be waiting for him, but he heads away from school. It’s cold and raining. He walks toward downtown, away from home. Someone in a blue sedan pulls up next to him and tells him that they need to get everyone off the street, due to a bank robbery in the area. The male driver produces what is supposed to be a badge, but Rodney can tell that it’s fake. He asks which way the driver is going. The man points downtown. Rodney gets into the car and presses his eyelids into his eyes until he sees the colors of marigolds that remind him of Octavia’s painting.