Chapters 9–13 Summary
Chapter 9: Babylon for the Babylonians
In 1944, Piri’s family moves to Long Island. Piri doesn’t want to leave Harlem, but his brother Paulie died after having his tonsils out, and Piri knows that Momma is grieving.
At his new school, Piri hears about lunchtime dance sessions. He heads over to the gym to check it out. He talks to a girl named Marcia but soon becomes unsure, wondering if people are being nice and he likes this new life, or if he’ll never fit into this new setting because of his darker skin color.
After Marcia tells Piri that she has a boyfriend, Piri gets upset and leaves the gym. His Italian friend Angelo sees him leaving and offers to leave with him after going to the bathroom. As Piri waits for Angelo, he overhears Marcia talking about how “that new colored boy” had the nerve to ask her to dance. Piri becomes enraged and wants to hit Marcia, but Angelo returns and tells him to let it go. Piri bolts from the gym and runs into the middle of a field. He swears he’ll never go back to that school.
Chapter 10: But Not for Me
Piri visits Harlem on the weekends, taking the train away from what he feels is a foreign country to go back “home.” He knows he will never be accepted by the white “paddies” on Long Island.
On top of Piri’s struggles at school, Momma tells Piri that Poppa is seeing another woman. Piri knows it’s true but had previously kept it from Momma to ease her pain. He decides to get a job at Pilgrim State Hospital in hopes of saving some money; he wants to help get Momma and the kids away from his father and fulfill his dream of returning to Harlem. The pay is low, but even so, Piri feels a sense of freedom.
One day at lunch, he holds the door for a blonde girl named Betty. Piri asks her to get a coffee, and they sit down and talk. Everyone stares, but Betty pays no attention to them. They begin hanging out, and Piri takes her to Harlem.
One night, on their way back to Long Island, two men begin talking about Piri on the train, using racial slurs to describe him sitting with a white girl. Piri gets up to fight, but Betty pulls him back. When they get home, they make love in a field. Piri loves Betty but can’t see past her race.
That night, he tells Momma he’s going back to Harlem, and when he makes enough money to get a place, he’ll send for her and the rest of the family. She gives him his blessing, and he leaves.
Chapter 11: How to Be a Negro Without Really Trying
Piri stays with friends and relatives in Harlem until he runs out of options. He starts sleeping on the streets and in any place he can keep warm.
One night, Piri meets a guy named Pane and his sister Lorry at a bar. They offer him a place to stay and welcome Piri into their basement apartment, which is one big room with homemade partitions. As everyone sleeps, Lorry invites Piri into her bed. They make love, and she becomes his woman. Even though she is thirty-three, it doesn’t matter. Piri, at sixteen, is becoming a man.
Lorry helps Piri get a job, but he quickly loses it, which makes him feel like he has to leave Lorry—especially because he has started fooling around with another woman in the building. One night, while...
(This entire section contains 1369 words.)
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another woman is making food for her child, Piri steals ten dollars from her and leaves. He heads to the Bronx to stay with a friend while he looks for work.
Piri and Little Louie, his old friend from 104th Street, answer an ad for housewares salesmen. At the interview, Piri goes first and speaks with a man named Mr. Christian. After a brief interview, Mr. Christian says he’ll call Piri.
Piri feels like he got the job, he doesn’t hear anything, and he finds out that Louie was hired. Piri feels sick and realizes that his dark skin color is the culprit.
Chapter 12: My Marine Tiger
Piri goes home to see Momma, but he dislikes Long Island. He loves the energy of Spanish Harlem, especially at night. Even with the darkness of hate and death, it’s home.
One afternoon in Harlem, Piri sees the most beautiful Puerto Rican girl he’s ever seen. She’s his friend Carlito’s cousin, and Carlito invites Piri over to meet her. Her name is Trinidad—Trina, for short. Piri and Trina start hanging out, and Piri feels like he’s got it made. He’s making money selling pot, he has a girlfriend, and he’s doing it all on his own.
Trina invites Piri to a family Christmas party. As he waits for Trina, he sees his boys in the candy store. They’re all snorting heroin and offer some to Piri. Piri refuses, but when they call him a punk, he snorts some and leaves.
Piri knows this choice will push him down a dark road, but he ignores the voice in his head and takes Trina to the party. Before they walk in, he tells her not to drink too much, but as he spends his time dancing with other women, Trina drinks.
After the party, Piri, Trina, Carlito, and Carlito’s sister Ava walk home, and Trina’s buzz comes back. She says she’s white and of age, so she can drink as much as she wants to. When they get to Carlito’s stoop, Piri and Trina fight. When she tries to go into the house, Piri grabs her. Trina pushes him away, which causes Piri to swing at her face, but he misses and breaks the glass door. He’s bleeding everywhere, and Trina gives him a towel.
Piri goes to the hospital. As he watches a black man get stitches, a junkie offers Piri some heroin. Piri snorts it and forgets his troubles. As the doctor stitches up Piri’s hand, he asks Piri if he’s “hooked.” The conversation concerns Piri, who wonders if it’s that obvious.
On New Year’s Eve, Piri brings Trina to a dance club, and when a random guy tries to dance too close, Piri stands up for her. No trouble starts, but Piri snorts more heroin in the bathroom and doesn’t seem to care about the consequences. He has his girl and his crew.
Chapter 13: Hung Up Between Two Sticks
One night, Piri and Louie get in a scuffle with some white kids. Piri is called racial slurs for being dark-skinned. He wonders why the words don’t bother the friends he has who are as dark as he is. Piri recalls how his mother is light-skinned, and how his brother and other siblings look like her. He thinks about his father’s dark skin and how the two of them look similar. He hates the fact he resents his father for being so dark.
Piri and his friend Brew begin playing “dozens,” a game where they call each other names, racial slurs in particular. Piri stops the game and starts sharing his feelings about race with Brew. Brew is a black man from the South who tells Piri he knows how he’s feeling. Piri attempts to draw a line between them, saying he’s Puerto Rican, but Brew points out that it doesn’t matter; Piri is just a few shades lighter than him. The idea that Piri is black makes him furious.
Piri tells Brew he feels caught in the middle, hating both white and black people because he can’t fit in on either side. Piri has no idea how bad it can get, Brew says, reminding him about Native Americans and the reality of the South. Piri says he wants to get papers for the National Maritime Union and go down South to see for himself. Brew thinks this is foolish, but he says he’ll go with Piri.
