Chapters 13–15 Summary and Analysis
Chapter 13
Mr. Lewis has been attacked by a group led by King and has a cut on his cheek and a swollen eye. He says King was looking for DeVante. Maverick demands that DeVante tell him the real reason he is in hiding, and DeVante starts to cry, then confesses he stole $5,000 from King to help his mother and sisters leave town.
Maverick decides to take DeVante to Carlos's house, where he will be safe. Carlos promises he won't ask DeVante to snitch and in fact says he has been put on leave, though he won't say why. He says DeVante cannot have a gun in his house and will be enrolled in an online school program.
The doorbell rings, and Chris comes in. He has never met Maverick before, and Maverick is surprised that Lisa clearly knows him, as does Nana. Starr admits that Chris is her boyfriend, and Maverick is wounded when he realizes Carlos knows this, too. He is also upset that Starr is dating a white boy.
Starr apologizes to Chris for her father's behavior but points out that Chris, too, had to explain to his parents that he was dating a Black girl. It is not a "black thing" to be concerned. Chris also says that Hailey and Maya feel guilty about their behavior. In the background, they can hear Lisa and Maverick arguing about whether or not to move out of Garden Heights.
After Chris leaves, DeVante asks why Starr is dating a white boy. He says that Khalil talked about Starr a lot and then tells her that Khalil wasn't a King Lord. He had refused to join the gang, and King was embarrassed about this. Khalil only became a drug dealer, Devante explains, in order to pay off his mother’s debt to King, from whom she had stolen. Devante says he is sorry about the way Khalil is being portrayed in the news, and Starr wonders if people would feel differently about Khalil if they understood his reasons for dealing.
Chapter 14
Starr leaves and goes to Maya's house, where Hailey's car is in the driveway. She rings the doorbell and is led upstairs to Maya's bedroom, where the girls are playing a video game.
The atmosphere is awkward, and Hailey asks why Starr is mad at them. Starr says it's because of the protest, and Maya tries to calm the situation by offering to apologize, but Hailey interjects that it's Starr who should apologize for the accusation of racism. The pair reach a stalemate, and Maya begins flicking through TV channels until the face of Brian Cruise Jr., or One-Fifteen—the officer who shot Khalil—appears. The channel is showing One-Fifteen's father's interview. He recounts what his son had claimed: that Khalil was speeding, that he and Starr appeared shifty, and that Khalil made a threatening remark. These are all lies, and Starr begins to shake. When One-Fifteen’s father says that his son has been attacked at work, Starr realizes this is why Carlos has been put on leave.
She is horrified when Hailey expresses sympathy for One-Fifteen, saying his life matters. Starr tries to leave, and Maya tries to stop her, saying they need to work things out. Starr brings up Hailey’s unfollowing her on Tumblr, and Hailey again becomes upset over being called racist, then leaves. Afterward, Maya says Hailey unfollowed Starr because of "black stuff" on her Tumblr, such as political material. She also says that Hailey has made racist remarks about her family, too, because they are Chinese.
When Starr returns to Carlos's house, he asks if...
(This entire section contains 1170 words.)
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she was with Chris. She says she wasn't, then asks whether Carlos hit One-Fifteen. Carlos admits that he did, because he loves his niece and One-Fifteen pointed a gun at her. He apologizes for what he said about Khalil being a drug dealer and says he would never have shot Khalil himself.
Chapter 15
Lisa takes her daughter to IHOP and asks what's wrong. Starr confesses that she feels guilty for having thought Khalil was a King Lord. Lisa says she thinks Khalil and Starr both liked each other as more than friends and that Starr is allowed to grieve for him.
Starr then confesses that she's upset about Hailey, and Lisa comments that Hailey has always wanted to control both Starr and Maya. She says Starr needs to decide whether the relationship is worth saving, as Lisa did with Maverick when he cheated on her with Iesha.
They return home, where Maverick is burning breakfast. He and Lisa argue; Maverick is still upset that Carlos knew about Chris before he did. However, he promises he will be at the DA's office later that day.
When the time comes, the DA explains the proceedings and asks several questions about the night of Khalil's death. She says she is committed to securing justice for Khalil. Afterward, Starr cries and Maverick holds her, his anger forgotten. He asks about Chris, and Starr tells him that Carlos found out about Chris by chance. She promises that nobody has turned her against Black men but says she didn't think Maverick would approve of their being an interracial couple.
King arrives at the store and demands to know where DeVante is. Maverick says he doesn't know, and King reveals that he knows Starr is the witness. He warns her to be careful what she says.
Later, Maverick promises he won't let anything happen to Starr, and Lisa reveals she has an interview for a much better-paying job that could help them leave Garden Heights.
Analysis
Starr experiences an epiphany in these chapters, while Maverick is forced to deal with something difficult through his discovery that his daughter is dating a white boy. The argument between Starr and her school friends parallels the argument she has with her father in that in both cases, there is a lack of communication preventing the participants from understanding one another. However, when the arguments finally break down, the outcomes are markedly different. When Starr finally addresses her concerns with Maya and Hailey, she realizes that Hailey has never truly been her friend and that their superficial similarities have always existed alongside Hailey's tendency to override her friends' preferences. Hailey also has racist beliefs, and by finally speaking out to Maya, Starr is able to reach an understanding that she is not the only one who has suffered. This makes her recognize still more clearly the importance of articulating oneself and standing up against injustice, which is a broader theme in the novel.
Meanwhile, when Starr speaks openly to her father about Chris, she is able to clear the air and establish that Maverick does not have a problem with Chris being white as such. Instead, he has been speaking from a place of fear: he wants reassurance that he has not set a bad example that would make Starr feel unwilling to date Black men. When Starr gives him this reassurance, the difficulty between the pair is resolved.