Summary

In Chapter 10, Maya introduces her extended St. Louis family. Her Grandma Baxter is a near-white woman with well known importance and clout in the city. Her sons, with high positions in government unheard of for black men at the time, are also well known as the muscle behind the business. Maya and Bailey are quickly brought up to speed on the crime family ways, and their family's position in the city. She and her brother are enrolled in school, but they find it remedial compared to Stamps. The teachers are rude and uppity. St. Louis does have benefits, however, in that Maya learns to love local foods. She loves watching her mother dance and sing the blues in her nightclub. At home, she can hear her uncle's plan for beatings. In one case, she hears of her mother beating a man for...