Southland

Several hours before his death, Curtis is playing ball with Jimmy and Cory. As things on television get worse, he decides to check on the store. Although Cory and Jimmy want to go with him, he tells them it isn’t safe and that he’ll see them later. Jimmy becomes angry at this treatment and begins calling Curtis names. The two exchange heated words. Curtis eventually ignores Jimmy’s taunts and leaves with the promise to return. Jimmy then leaves and goes home: “He was still furious at Curtis, and glad he’d cursed him out; he wouldn’t speak to him, he decided, for a week” (321). He watches on the news how bad things are getting, and his own mother is stuck at work due to the volatile situation. The next day, his mother’s kisses awaken him. Three hours later, Frank Sakai comes to him with the news that Curtis has died. The news shocks Jimmy, who strikes out at Frank until Frank manages to hold him down. Then Jimmy just uncontrollably cries in Frank’s arms. The chapter begins by saying that “what haunted Jimmy the most later was not his cousin’s death itself, but what happened a few hours before it” (319).

Jackie and Lanier don’t want to trust Paxton’s word as the final say: “[Paxton] could have been lying, just as he claimed his colleagues had done—he could have been protecting Lawson, or even himself” (322). Jackie remembers that they never contacted Akira, so she and Lanier, though their friendship is strained now due to the intimacy, come together again. They ask Rebecca to call Akira’s office as she speaks perfect Japanese, and Jackie takes over when Akira comes on. Akira confirms he’s the man in question, but that Lawson, in fact, didn’t kill the boys. He then tells his version of the story, which matches up with Paxton’s: “That older cop had some kind of grudge against Curtis—against Black kids in general, I think” (325). Akira, however, adds that he fled to Japan because he was the one who shot Lawson that very same day. When he fled the store, he retrieved his father’s gun and shot Lawson on Crenshaw. He’d lost a brother in the uprising in Culver City, and then David and Curtis, and some friends from Dorsey. L.A. was a sore spot, and a dangerous one, so he left and never looked back. Akira is initially hesitant about testifying, especially as he shot a police officer, but he really wants to see the person who killed his old friends brought to justice. Jackie says they will talk to the DA about immunity for him, so he agrees. With this, Jackie and Lanier have their evidence that Paxton is telling the truth and that Thomas, not Lawson, is their man.

Jackie sets up a meeting with the DA for the following week, which means the two must wait impatiently with the news. Lanier, however, can’t wait any longer. He can’t fathom how Thomas could think to murder kids and live with himself. He goes to Jackie’s and asks if she wants to accompany him to Thomas’s. She warns him against bothering Thomas, but he says he doesn’t care if it scares Thomas or is illegal. They drive in silence to the Hollywood Station and then follow Thomas home. When Thomas finally realizes someone is following him, he gets out of his car. Lanier confronts him, but Thomas just shrugs and laughs. He tells Lanier that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and that he has a lot of nerve bothering him at home. His smugness is the last straw. Lanier hits him, knocking him down and drawing blood. Jackie gets Lanier to leave, but not before Lanier tells Thomas that they’ve got him. Thomas just says that he’s a 35-year veteran and that it’s their word against his. As Lanier and Jackie drive back, they realize that Thomas is right: It’s their word against that of a beloved cop. With this realization, the two head their separate ways: “And so they separated, each left to fend for themselves with their anger, their dissatisfaction” (330).

A young man (presumably Frank) stays late at work to meet up with his lover (presumably Alma). She’s 18, and he’s 22. They keep their relationship a secret and continue to meet like this for about a year. They enjoy each other’s company and this chance at happiness for the both of them, despite the horrors of the world they’ve seen: “They ran into each other on the street sometimes, when they were with their friends or parents, and it thrilled them both to pretend they hardly knew one another, and were only saying hello to be polite” (332). One night, however, she begins talking about her friend who is getting married, and she wonders aloud if they’ll get married. She feels angry when his body tenses. She questions him about it, and he says that he obviously wants to get married. She wants to know why he hesitated in saying yes, and the two argue. She then dresses and leaves. Due to pride, he doesn’t go after her, and it’s not until more than two weeks later that he decides to go to her family’s place and inquire about her: “He needed to make her understand that she was his life, as vital as water or air” (335). When he arrives, however, her father tells him that she’s left town.

Jackie and Lanier drive to their meeting with the DA and wonder what will happen afterward. Lanier offers her the chance to help out at the Marcus Garvey Community Center. Although initially hesitant because of work and school, she says that it would be an honor: “But then she realized that these reactions were silly. It was a wonderful idea—a way to see Lanier regularly, and to honor her grandfather” (337). They then meet Lois, who feels like she might remember Lanier from a previous meeting in the past. They’re met by Pauline Richardson, who will sit in with District Attorney Alan Silverman. Lois, Lanier, and Jackie then explain everything to Silverman and Richardson, but they don’t bring up Frank and Alma’s love affair: “It was irrelevant, really, to the fact of the murder. But more importantly, Jackie realized, she wanted to protect Frank and Alma and their undercover love; she wanted it to remain theirs forever” (339).

They also explain that Paxton and others will testify. Silverman says that their best course is to alert the police or Internal Affairs (IA): If the witnesses corroborate their stories, they can likely take the case to court. Jackie and Lanier are understandably wary about letting IA handle the case, but they agree and give up the names and addresses. Richardson promises to keep them in the loop and assures them that if anyone can bring Thomas down, it’ll be Silverman. Outside, Lois thanks Jackie for all her help. She then offers the money for the store to the Marcus Garvey Community Center. Although Lanier is initially surprised, they all know that it’s what Frank would have wanted, so he accepts graciously.

Rebecca and Jackie get ready for a law school classmate’s party. Jackie still hasn’t ended things with Laura, though she knows it’s only a matter of time before one of them does. Rebecca dares her to undress in front of her, and the two do, as if embarrassed children. They both sense that the dynamic has shifted and that they’re into each other sexually and romantically. Rebecca kisses Jackie, and Jackie “shivered—how long since she’d shivered” (343). Jackie feels a surge of excitement, something she hasn’t felt in a long time. Then Rebecca kisses her again. They both promise each other that they are working with broken parts but that they will try their best if a relationship is on the table. For the first time in a long time, Jackie feels happy about her future.

An older man (presumably Frank) now looks at the younger men he’s hired in his store, and especially at the latest young man (presumably Curtis), “the one he loved most” (345). He’s instructing the kid on business matters so that he can one day take over the store. The kid came in earlier to help with the store due to the uprising. The kid shows his growing knowledge of keeping the books, including a hilarious bit when he says they need to buy several types of candy and that he always takes a candy bar to Angela. The man is getting ready to send the kid home due to the uprising, but more importantly, he is getting ready to hand the store over to the boy: “The man knew his proposition was going to make the boy happy; just anticipating his reaction made him smile” (346). He’s found another job for himself and has wanted to hand the store over to the boy for some time now. When things calm down, he will finally tell the boy the truth about his parentage. He argued nonstop with the boy’s mother about this, but he thinks it’s time to tell the boy. He tells the boy that, when the uprising is all over, he wants to speak with him about some things. The boy notes how serious the older man’s face is. Then, a Japanese American kid informs them that rioting is happening on Western. The older man sends all the boys home and then locks up and leaves. The boys, however, don’t want to leave the store defenseless. One older boy (presumably Derek) goes home, but the others return to the store with the intent of defending it. The boy unwittingly set to take over the store is proud that his friends are willing to help him protect the store that he loves:

And as he kept walking, and then jogging, down the sidewalk, toward the store, he thought about the man, the strange intensity in his voice just before the other boys came in, and wondered what he’d been planning to tell him (348).