Chapters 13 through 15 Summary

Chapter 13: One Saturday in the summer, the narrator goes with Miss Irene and the rest of Neeka's family to visit Tash in prison. Neeka's father has to work and cannot go with them. The narrator endures a flavorless breakfast of oatmeal, and then a long train and bus trip to get to the prison Tash is in. Neeka is resentful of having to corral rambunctious Albert and Emmett, and she is in a foul mood on the ride over.

The family must take an East Side train to get to the bus to the prison, and the train is full of white people, making them feel uneasy, and putting Neeka into an even more foul mood. Neeka complains about her noisy family and how she cannot find her "Big Purpose" in the midst of such a family. The narrator envies her...