Content Warning: This section discusses racism and enslavement.

Twelve-year-old Lawrence is expelled from Andrew Jackson Middle School for getting into a fight. He has been in several this year, although he feels that he should not be blamed for any of them because he was only defending himself. However, his mother, Ma, feels differently, angrily scolding him for getting expelled and not arguing with the principal about Lawrence’s expulsion.

The two drive in silence to his grandmother Granny’s house. When they get there, Ma admits that the fight was not entirely his fault, saying that life is “hard.” Lawrence waits for her to apologize or ask how he is after being beaten up, but neither comes. Instead, she gets out of the car, leaving Lawrence angry that “no one care[s] about what had really happened” (4).

At the door, Ma stops Granny before she complains about Lawrence’s expulsion. She tells Granny that it wasn’t his fault. Lawrence is annoyed that she would say that to Granny and not Principal Spacey.

Lawrence goes to the back room and takes off his torn hoodie. It is a hoodie from Johnson C. Smith University, a gift from Uncle Bennie—his dad’s brother.