Chapters 25–26 Summary and Analysis
Chapter 25
The group rushes toward the back door, but it is barred, and they have no keys. Smoke begins to fill the store. Through the window, they can see Mr. Lewis, holding a baseball bat; Starr screams his name, and he realizes the store, like his own barber shop, is on fire. He begins screaming for help.
Mr. Reuben, who owns the neighborhood barbecue restaurant, and his nephew, Tim, go to the back door and begin pulling at it. Then Maverick appears with his keys and opens the door, pulling all the young people out into the alley. Lisa and Uncle Carlos run over to hug Starr.
Multiple people run out into the street with water to try and put out the fire. Then King appears with his lighter, and everyone realizes this is his doing.
Mr. Lewis begins shouting that King has burned the store and his barber shop down. When the police draw up, Maverick turns to them and repeats this, saying King started the fire. The crowd all begin to agree, with multiple people pointing at King and saying that he did it. The police officers then force King to the ground.
When an ambulance arrives, Starr tells the paramedics that King is responsible for DeVante's injuries. They all sit in the ambulance and watch the firefighters putting out the fire, but the store is gutted.
Maverick tells Chris he has new respect for him now that he's been here in Garden Heights all night during these events. He invites him to box together at the weekend, to get to know each other.
Carlos hugs DeVante and says he’s glad he’s safe and that he wants him to continue staying at his home. He also says that King will be convicted of arson but that it won't hold him for long.
DeVante asks if it would help if the police knew where King's stash was. He also says that he will testify against King if he is protected and if it will help Kenya, Lyric, and Iesha. He is willing to snitch on King because his voice is a weapon and because he has already been hurt anyway.
Chapter 26
The next morning, Ms. Ofrah calls to say she's proud of Starr. Starr has texts from Maya and Chris, who has been grounded, and also a text from Hailey. Hailey says she's sorry about the decision but also sorry that Starr is upset with her. Starr realizes this is not actually an apology; Hailey does not understand what she has done wrong, and that means Starr doesn't have to continue being her friend. She tells Hailey that nothing can go back to the way it used to be and deletes her number.
Starr is on the front page of the newspaper and has been on every news channel. She asks Maverick if it's okay for them to leave Garden Heights now; Maverick says they don't need to live there to change things. They only have to care.
The family all goes back to the store to wait for the insurance claims man. Mr. Lewis is sweeping the sidewalk. He tells Maverick that he needs to rebuild, as the neighborhood will die without a store. He also says that he himself had insurance, but he wants to retire. He wants to give Maverick his barber shop so that Maverick can rebuild an even bigger general store than before, to keep the neighborhood going.
Kenya arrives and apologizes for her father's actions. She also says that her mother is in the hospital, but the house has now been...
(This entire section contains 925 words.)
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raided and King taken away. She asks Starr whether Starr has been ashamed of her, because of her mother and father.
Starr promises she isn't ashamed of Kenya, and they agree to share Seven, who is their brother and loves all his siblings. Starr tells Kenya that they will rebuild the store.
Starr recognizes that this story is not just about Khalil, but also about the many other Black people who have been killed by police brutality. She promises never to forget Khalil, never to give up, and never to be quiet.
Analysis
In the final section of the novel, a troubling situation is drawn to a close that is, in many ways, to the benefit of Garden Heights. The gangster and drug lord King has been turned in by his neighbors, and his wife and children will be safe from him, as will DeVante and the Carters. DeVante has learned the importance of speaking out, taking courage from Starr. Meanwhile, Maverick and the Carters are going to continue their fight to unite and rejuvenate the Garden Heights neighborhood, even though they no longer live there themselves. They have all come to fully understand the importance of unity and of caring about people who are not cared about by the system.
For Starr, there is also a renewed sense of the importance of fighting. Starr recognizes that although the officer who killed Khalil was not indicted, she has still been able to create change by making her voice heard and forcing people to recognize the injustice of what was done. Even if the story has been resolved relatively well for Starr and her family, the story for many others is only just beginning. At the end of the novel, Starr lists the names of other Black people who have been subjected to police violence and vows that she will continue to raise her voice in defense of them, as well as in defense of Khalil.
