Summary

Chapter 5 begins with the flashback where chapter four ended. As the party wound down at Desirea's, the police showed up. Francis got defensive of Jelly when the police touched him. The tension between Francis and the police was palpable. The narrative then shifts further into the past to show that Francis had a temper. This is shown through an anecdote in which Michael and Francis were sitting at a bus stop in the rain when a group of youths walked up. One of the kids, named Scatter, started to pick on Michael and pulled a knife on him. Francis grabbed the knife by the blade, cutting himself but taking it away from Scatter. This confirmed Francis's reputation that "he could, when pushed, go mad" (123).

The narrative then shifts to the evening of Jelly's audition. Francis and Michael picked up Aisha, Raj, and Jelly on...