Scorpions

Jamal has his first day of work on Saturday. He’ll work at the shop for three hours, from ten until one o’clock, delivering groceries and helping to stock the shelves. Mr. Gonzalez warns him to be polite to customers and says that he’ll pay him $15 each time, plus he can earn more on tips. Jamal does some quick math to figure out that he’ll have to work 153 Saturdays to earn enough for Randy’s appeal. He dreams about using that money to buy a used car in which they could all drive upstate to visit Randy.

Jamal feels good about having a job. He delivers a few rounds of groceries. The third customer is a grumpy lady who wants a very heavy box carried a long way and up four flights of stairs. Jamal can barely do this task, and she insults him for being “weak” and “lazy” the whole way. At the end of the ordeal, she gives him a dime for a tip and tells him that she’ll recommend to Mr. Gonzalez that he’s fired. Instead of retaliating, Jamal says, “Yes, ma’am,” which softens her attitude. She ups his tip to a dollar. Later, Blood, a member of the Scorpions, comes in to buy some cigarettes. Jamal waits on him without Mr. Gonzalez seeing, but Blood says that he’s going to tell Indian that Jamal works here because Indian has been looking for him. Jamal knows that this means trouble.

On Sunday, Jamal and his family go to church. Mama is talking to a neighbor from the window after they get home when she sees Tito walking to their house looking distressed. Jamal learns that Abuela has found the gun and kicked Tito out. Mama comes over to see what’s wrong, and Tito tells her that his grandmother has told him to get out. Mama comforts him and reassures him that his Abuela is angry because she loves him. She doesn’t believe that Abuela really meant to kick him out for good. Mama fixes the boys a plate of food and sends Jamal home with Tito.

On the walk back to Tito’s, Jamal finally gets to talk with Tito about what happened. Tito told Abuela that he found the gun at school. Jamal is worried that she’ll call the police and wants to get the gun out of the apartment. Tito feels awful for making his grandma cry. In the apartment, Abuela is praying in her room with the door closed. Jamal grabs the gun from where Abuela has stashed it—in the refrigerator—and goes to leave, only pausing to hold Tito’s hand and tell him that he’s his “best friend in the whole world” (134). At Tito’s prompting, Jamal runs. He’s determined to throw the gun away but knows deep down that he won’t.

The next day, Jamal fails a social studies quiz about the War of 1812 and the French and Indian Wars. He and a classmate who also failed, Christian, find themselves outside the principal’s office with Ozzie, who got in trouble for throwing a spitball. Mr. Davidson assigns Christian and Ozzie detention. Jamal waits for his punishment, but Mr. Davidson doesn’t say anything until Dwayne comes into the office with his mother.

Dwayne has told his mother about the gun, and she wants Mr. Davidson to do something about it. He is cautious and doesn’t want to involve law enforcement. He asks each boy to tell their side of the story. Jamal claims that he did not have a gun. Dwayne’s mother walks out, angry, saying that she’s going to contact their lawyer. Mr. Davidson tells Jamal that he’ll wait in the cafeteria every day all day until Jamal’s mother comes in to see him. He says that he’d like to convince Mama to transfer Jamal to a school for children with “serious problems” where he won’t “contaminate” the rest of the student body.

Instead of reporting to the lunchroom, Jamal grabs his jacket and leaves. Later that day, Sassy asks why he left. The school has called, and she covered for him. He asks her not to tell Mama.

Tito comes to tell Jamal that Abuela is ill. Jamal goes to visit. He likes their apartment, which feels “older” than his but “really nice.” Jamal jokes with Abuela a bit and tells her that Tito is a very “good boy” who “don’t do nothing wrong” (142).

Jamal arrives at work to find Indian and Angel waiting for him. Mr. Gonzalez holds a baseball bat. Indian is high. He tells Jamal that he’s the “chief” now, steals a bunch of candy bars, and walks out. Angel makes a gun with his hands and aims it at Jamal on his way out the door. He says that Randy is “gone,” and Jamal is “next.”

Mr. Gonzalez won’t keep Jamal on, but he does pay him in spite of his friends’ protests. Mr. Gonzalez’s voice cracks as he gives Jamal some final advice to stay away from Indian and Angel. Jamal leaves with $21. He is angry that Indian and Angel could just come in and take his job from him so easily: “They were bigger than he was, and tougher. He knew it and they knew it. Everybody in the whole world knew it” (144). Jamal punches a wall outside until it hurts too much to bear.

When Jamal returns home, the lights are out. Sassy is there alone. Mama is at the hospital because Randy has been stabbed by another incarcerated person. She’s left a little money. Sassy went out to buy a bit of food with it and offers to make dinner. Jamal turns on the TV, trying to block out his thoughts. He reflects on how things always seem to happen to his family instead of being enacted by his family. He is sick of feeling helpless. He realizes that Angel and Indian must have known about Randy already. He doesn’t want to find Indian and Angel, but he can’t think of how he can stop them or take care of his family.

Sassy asks him about the rumors that she’s heard at school that he’s the leader of the Scorpions and has a gun. Jamal starts to deny her accusations and makes a move to leave, but Sassy tells him that she’ll find the gun if it’s in the house. He admits to having it but says that it’s at Tito’s. Sassy finishes dinner: fried chicken, peas, and rice. Jamal wants to get rid of the gun before Mama gets home. He tells Sassy that he’s going to go ditch it, but she wants to see it before he goes. He argues with her not to upset Mama more by telling her about it. Sassy doesn’t make a promise either way. Jamal is about to leave when Mama comes home.

Randy is still alive, but he’s very badly cut up. He’s bandaged up and on life support. Mama sobs, and Jamal comforts her. She knows that Randy’s life depends on getting him out of jail. She’s asked Reverend Biggs to come and pray with them. The Reverend reminds her to not focus on the difficulties in her life but rather be thankful for the good. Mama says that she’s trying to keep her other two children “on the right path” (154). Jamal looks away, noticing a cockroach crawling along the kitchen wall. Jamal and Sassy join them in prayer. Jamal watches Sassy praying hard. He knows that he’ll have to wait until tomorrow to get rid of the gun.

Mama notices that Jamal isn’t saying much. After the Reverend leaves, she tells him that she “can’t stand to have [him] weak” during this crisis (156). Jamal falls asleep exhausted, and Sassy wakes him up in the night. She tells him that she hasn’t told Mama about the gun and confesses that she didn’t really like Randy sometimes, which makes her feel guilty now. Jamal comforts her, and Sassy kisses him on the forehead. He lies awake and worries about how tough it is to be strong.

The next morning, Jamal meets Tito before school. He tells him that he’s going to return the gun to Mack and back out of the gang. Tito, knowing that he’s going to accompany Jamal, asks why he can’t wait until after school. Since Indian threatened his life and seems to have been involved with Randy’s stabbing, Jamal wants to get out of the Scorpions as soon as possible. Tito follows him to the crack house where they initially went to find Mack. A man blocks the entrance and says that he doesn’t know a Mack. Jamal shows off the pistol and says that he’s with the Scorpions. The guard doesn’t seem worried, but he does start to respect Jamal more. He says that Indian has told him that Mack isn’t in the Scorpions anymore. Jamal tries to look taller and replies, “That ain’t what I said” (160). The guard calls to one of his friends who confirms that Mack is in the park with “all them other winos” (160).

Tito doesn’t like the park. Filled with “winos” and “crackheads,” he’s frightened by how they all look like “thrown-away people.” He doesn’t want to grow up to be like that. Jamal says that they have to watch out for each other so that doesn’t happen.

They find Mack on a bench, drunk. He asks how Randy is. He says that Indian is trying to take over the Scorpions and kick him out because he’s too old and will be tried as an adult if he gets caught again. Indian has struck a deal with the local drug dealers, who want the Scorpions to kill some Spanish dealers who are trying to move in on their territory. They’re offering the gang $5,000 to do the job. Jamal says that they should leave the Scorpions and let Indian have it, but Mack says that they can’t do that while Randy still needs money for his appeal. Jamal says that he’ll mull it over, and Mack asks him for $10. Jamal gives him some of the money he earned from Mr. Gonzalez, and they leave.

Tito asks why Jamal didn’t give the gun back, and Jamal claims that the park is too public a place for doing that. Tito has the idea to tell Indian that Randy said that Indian could take over provided that he gives Jamal $2,000. Jamal thinks that’s a great idea, and they look for Indian. Only Blood is at the Scorpions’ base. He tells them to check at a local barbecue joint. Jamal writes down the telephone number for the restaurant.

Jamal uses the earnings that he has left to buy pizza, sodas, and candy for himself and Tito. He also buys an “official” drawing tablet and decides to sketch a portrait of Tito as his first drawing in it. They go to Grant’s Tomb, a memorial park honoring former US president Ulysses S. Grant, and Jamal spends half an hour drawing Tito. The boys talk about their dads—both aren’t sure that their fathers like them much. People stop and admire Jamal’s work, which makes him laugh, as if he were a real artist in Greenwich Village.

Tito asks if he’ll get rid of the gun if Indian agrees to his offer. Jamal can’t quite commit to it because he’s worried about protecting himself and Mama. Tito responds by recalling how a guy once beat him up—twice. He says that, in the end, it was alright because neither of them died. Tito wonders if it would have been alright if he had had a gun because he might have killed the guy instead of allowing himself to be beat up. Jamal asks if Tito would scare that guy with a gun to keep him from attacking him again. Tito says maybe, but he still has a “bad feeling” about the gun. Jamal finishes the portrait, which turns out to be a good likeness. He shows it to Tito, who gives it a thumbs up.