Summary

Three days after the second shooting, Deems awakens in his hospital bed. Deems is preoccupied, mourning Beanie’s death and brooding over Lightbulb’s betrayal. Deems goes to get something from his bedside table and is shocked to see Sportcoat. Deems tells Sportcoat to leave. Sportcoat doesn’t, and Deems becomes increasingly aggravated, cursing out Sportcoat. Sportcoat suddenly gets on top of him, pinning him to the bed and holding a pillow to Deems’s face. He tells Deems that in his day, young black men like himself simply had their entire lives decided for them, and didn’t question it. Sportcoat releases the pillow and lets Deems breathe, before grabbing him by his hospital gown and pulling him in. Deems sees Sportcoat’s face, full of anger. Sportcoat tells Deems, “Now I know why I tried to kill you…the...