Chapters 20–24 Summary
Chapter 20: Home, Sweet Harlem
Piri returns home to Harlem and visits his aunt. She tells him his mother is sick in the hospital. Piri rushes to Long Island to see his mother and finds her dying from an illness. That night, Momma dies.
After the burial, Piri stands at the grave and remembers when his mother told him that his father has another woman. Back at the Long Island home, he finds a picture of Poppa and a white woman. He takes the picture on a long walk and rips it into pieces.
That night, Poppa wakes Piri up by screaming at him about the picture. Piri says he swears he doesn’t have it, but Poppa slaps him, and he fights back. His sister breaks up the fight, and everyone goes back to sleep.
The next morning, the fighting starts again. Poppa starts beating Piri, but this time, Piri brings up the white woman and Poppa pretending to act white. Poppa tells Piri to leave and never return.
Chapter 21: Hung Down
Piri heads back to Harlem and goes from sniffing heroin once a week to shooting up seven times a day. He knows he’s in trouble, because he can’t make enough money to support his habit. He decides to push the drug to get more.
Piri starts working for Turkey, a known felon and dealer. Turkey gives him twenty-five bags, and for every three he sells, he can keep one. He tells Piri to stay honest, and if he can trust him, he’ll give him more work.
The next few weeks are hard. There is a heroin shortage, which brings Piri right back to the impoverished state he was in when he first returned to Harlem. He loses his apartment, he is hooked on heroin, and he owes Turkey money.
Piri becomes dope sick. He sees Waneko and asks him for a hit; Waneko gives him some heroin but tells him to wean off slowly. Piri heads to the roof to shoot up. He feels “normal” when he does, but he starts thinking about his life. He cares about Trina, and he doesn’t want to end up dead like the other junkies. He swears he’s going to stop for good.
The next day, Piri goes to Waneko for help. Waneko brings Piri home to Waneko’s mom, who has helped many stop using drugs. They lock Piri in a room with a bed, chair, and radio. After some time passes, Piri begins to panic, begging for a small hit to ease his pain.
Piri remembers puking, soiling himself, and screaming for help. He remembers Waneko and his mom coming in, cleaning him up, and putting him back to bed. Piri stays with them until he gets clean.
Chapter 22: Real Jesse Jameses
Piri is two months clean and working at a restaurant as a dishwasher. He’s making money and he’s happy, but when Little Louie comes to see him, things change. Louie tells Piri he wants to make fast cash and suggests the idea of “stick-ups.” Piri is taken aback but hates washing dishes. Louie says he knows some guys from Newark who do it all the time. Piri says he’s in, but when Louie tells Piri his friend Danny is white, Piri becomes unnerved. Louie tells Piri to stop being prejudiced.
A few days later, they meet Danny at a bar. The guys hit it off, and Danny drives them down to Newark. On the way, Danny makes a comment about everyone’s ethnicity. His friend Billy is Polish, Danny is Irish, and Louie is a light-skinned Puerto Rican,...
(This entire section contains 1347 words.)
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but Danny says, “who the hell knows” what Piri is. This comment angers Piri and makes him feel he has to prove himself.
Danny had planned on setting up a job to watch Piri and Louie work, but Piri takes matters into his own hands. Piri tells Danny to pull the car over and tells Louie to grab his unloaded gun. Louie warily follows Piri out of the car toward a cigar store. They walk to the back of the store, threaten the clerk, and get the money. Back at the car, it’s clear that Danny accepts Piri and Louie.
Over the next year, they pull off bigger jobs in “paddy” neighborhoods. They have a few close calls, but they’re making big money. When Danny wrecks his car, the group comes up with a new plan. They will go buy a car, but after the transaction, one of them will go back and beat the owner for the cash. Piri ends up with this task.
After the boys procure the car, Piri enters the used car office and threatens the manager, but the manager won’t back down. They fight until Piri starts shooting, and he doesn’t stop until the man stops moving. He panics and leaves but, realizing he forgot the cash, goes back to take the money. As he walks out, covered in blood, he notices a cop at the diner across the street and two other cops helping a man with his car. He prays he isn’t seen. He makes it home and pukes, disgusted with himself.
Chapter 23: Wish It Were You, Trina
After the incident, the group decides to stop doing stick-ups. Louie enlists in the army, Danny and Billy go back to Newark, and Piri ships out again. When Piri comes back to shore, he starts selling pot to get by but promises to never touch or sell heroin.
Trina’s mom is sick, so Piri escorts Trina to the airport and sees her off to Puerto Rico. He feels horrible after she leaves. Piri goes to see one of his friends, Chino, and ends up sleeping with his cousin, Dulcien. Shortly after, Dulcien returns to Puerto Rico, where she finds out she’s pregnant.
Meanwhile, Piri heads to Washington, DC, to work in a friend’s restaurant, but after some time, he receives word that Dulcien had his baby and was kicked out of her home. He also learns that Dulcien’s family hates him and that Trina knows about the baby. Piri had been working with Howard University to get back into school, but once he gets the call from Harlem, he knows he has to go back “home.”
He visits Trina, who is upset, but she promises to love Piri forever. He also visits Chino’s mom, who is furious. Piri tells her he’ll help. They fly Dulcien back from Puerto Rico, and Piri spends time with the baby boy, Pedro Luis. However, he tells Dulcien he loves Trina.
Chapter 24: If You’re Gonna Pray—Then Pray Big
Piri gives Dulcien what he can, but he’s not making enough money. When Louie comes back from the army, he and Piri call Danny and Billy. The group plans on robbing a nightclub early Saturday morning.
Trina is sick, so Piri tucks her in before he leaves. She tells Piri she has a bad feeling about him leaving, but Piri shakes it off. He prays that this will be his last job, that he’ll make enough to give it up forever.
Louie is also sick, so Piri meets Danny and Billy alone. They go out for drinks, then head to the nightclub. At two thirty in the morning, Piri takes the front door, Billy works the crowd, and Danny calls for the room to cooperate. Piri feels that there are too many people to maintain order.
As people try to leave the club, a lone cop shoots Piri. Piri fires back in retaliation, but things get hazy. He realizes he’s bleeding from the chest. People grab him and put him on a stretcher. He’s taken to a hospital, where he sees Danny and Billy, who are both badly injured.
Piri is taken into a room and prepared for surgery. He hears the doctor tell a priest that his chances aren’t good. Piri cries inside as he succumbs to the medicine and passes out.
