Summary
While Leonie is driving Michael home from Parchman, they get pulled over by a police officer. Fearing arrest for her possession of meth, Leonie swallows the entire stash whole. While the police officer stands at Leonie’s window, Richie warns Jojo that they will “chain him.” Jojo is asked to exit the vehicle, and he worries that he will be subject to police violence. He thinks about Kayla and the possibility of her being harmed.
The officer lets Jojo go, and Richie asks Jojo if River had ever told his grandson about Richie’s story. Richie remarks that Jojo resembles River, both physically and in his mannerisms. The crew drives for another two hours. Leonie is suffering from having taken too much meth, and her body contorts while she hallucinates in the front seat. Michael stops at a gas station in hopes of buying a remedy for Leonie.
Michael gives Jojo money to go inside and buy milk and charcoal. Jojo initially refuses, afraid of leaving Kayla alone with Richie. Michael grows aggravated at Jojo’s defiance, and Jojo fears that Michael will slap him. Jojo returns to the car with the requested items, but he has to go back into the store to purchase a tool to break down the charcoal into powder. While inside the gas station, he secretly purchases a lollipop for Kayla.
Michael mixes the charcoal powder into the milk, which emits an odor that sends the entire car reeling. He forces Leonie to drink the mixture, much like she had done to Kayla just a day before. While Leonie vomits in the gas station parking lot, Richie asks Jojo if Leonie is his mother. Jojo replies “no.” Richie tells Jojo that he knows he died while trying to escape Parchman, but he is haunted by the fact that he doesn’t know the details of his own death.
Richie asks Jojo if River has ever mentioned Richie’s death, but Jojo knows that Pop is sensitive to the subject—he prefers to avoid that conversation altogether. Richie tells Jojo he is searching for a “song” that he “knows he is a part of.” Jojo grows frustrated with Richie and says that he is speaking nonsensically. In the car, Richie and Jojo have a conversation about the things Jojo has yet to learn. Richie explains that Jojo doesn’t know about love or time.
Richie compares himself to Jojo, and he realizes that Jojo has an air of “innocence” about him. Because Richie has died, he is able to visit different points in time. He often travels between the past and present, though he never revisits the time he spent at Parchman. Richie recalls that while at Parchman, River had a girlfriend called the “Sunshine Woman.” Richie remembers that the Sunshine Woman told him and River that a young man was brutally lynched after he failed to cross the street for a white woman. River explained that Richie was too young to hear about such terrible news.
However, much to River’s dismay, Richie’s innocence had already been scarred. Before going to Parchman, Richie discovered the remains of a man who was the victim of a lynching. Richie was deeply affected by the Sunshine Woman’s story, and he made the decision to escape prison and flee north. Richie explains that he credits River for teaching him about love, home, and acceptance. When Jojo arrived to pick Michael up at Parchman, Richie was instructed by the white snake-bird to follow Jojo back to River in order to find his true “home.”
Analysis
As a ghost for the past seventy years, Richie has seen some ostensible societal progress. On one hand, Richie notices that young adolescent boys are no longer sent to Parchman and treated inhumanely. On the other hand, however, Black men remain targeted by the state in order to preserve white supremacy. Although Jojo is an innocent thirteen-year-old boy, he is subject to violent treatment by the cops. Richie’s warning further exemplifies how this novel is a coming-of-age story for Jojo. While he learns about the enslavement and oppression of his ancestors, Jojo also realizes that he is subject to racially motivated violence.
Leonie’s ingestion of meth demonstrates the sacrifices she must make as a mother and as a girlfriend. Although Leonie is often chastised by Jojo for her addiction and subsequent negligence, the reader learns that she attempts to care for her family in her own way. Leonie’s addiction primarily stems from the grief she feels due to the death of her brother, Given. When Leonie hallucinates, she is able to feel Given’s presence and receive his advice. The chapters that feature Leonie’s narration articulate her pain and allow the reader to empathize with her addictive tendencies.
The motif of vomiting reappears in this section. Following Kayla’s vomiting spell, Michael forces Leonie to be sick in order to cleanse her system from the meth. In these examples, vomiting can be seen as a symbol of the characters' attempts to purge themselves of toxic circumstances. Leonie’s drug addiction is a result of her socioeconomic conditions, as she is barred from employment opportunities because of her past. Leonie finds herself trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty and addiction, and her purge symbolizes her desire to rid herself of the things that oppress her.
When the story switches to Richie’s narration, the audience sees Jojo in a different light. Richie and Jojo are foils: each reflects the other's attributes. The two characters are technically the “same age,” but they lead very different lives. Some of their differences are due to the generations that set them apart and the laws established to address racial discrimination. The two characters also differ in their upbringings: Richie was left to raise himself, while Jojo is deeply connected to his loving grandparents.
When Richie observes Jojo, he is forced to reflect on his own innocent past. His memories of Pop, who he knew then as River, depict him as a loving, paternal figure who tried his best to protect Richie. Richie and Jojo both have things to learn from one another. Richie must discover what happened to him upon his escape from Parchman, and Jojo needs to learn from the lessons Richie teaches him. While both Richie and Jojo have somewhat limited experiences, they can both help each other on their respective journeys.
