Dragons in a Bag

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and racism.

After he storms out of Ma’s apartment, Jaxon realizes that he’s still holding L. Roy Jenkins’s book about lizards. He never wants to see Ma again, so he decides to ask his mother to return the book for him later. Jaxon worries that he and his mother may have to move in with Ma unless Alicia and her lawyer win their court case. He wants to go to Vikram’s house, but he thinks that he should call his friend to let him know that he’s on his way first. He doesn’t have a cell phone, so he sits down on the front steps of a building next to Ma’s apartment and tries to think of a plan.

An out-of-breath Ma hurries after Jaxon, tells him that she needs to make a delivery, and asks him if he’ll accompany her. Although she doesn’t apologize for the things she said to the boy earlier, her tone is softer. Jaxon tells Ma to stop referring to him as “boy.” She asks him if he’s named after his father, but Jaxon doesn’t like to talk about him. He invites Ma to call him “Jax,” which is the nickname his mother uses for him.