Brother: A Novel

Michael recalls the police raiding Desirea’s. They harass the guests but find no evidence of drugs and make no arrests. Michael worries about Francis’s temper, which has become notorious after he challenged a knife-wielding neighborhood kid by holding the blade of the knife in his bare hand.

Francis brings Michael along to watch Jelly audition as a DJ. Jelly incorporates balwo, a Somalian style of singing, into his compositions. The neighborhood friends are all stunned by Jelly’s audition, but the promoter judges seem unfazed. Frustrated that Jelly didn’t get his due, Francis returns to the venue and gets in a fist fight with the bouncers. One of the judges calls Jelly and Francis “thugs” and threatens to call the police. Jelly helps Francis to the car, intending to take him to Desirea’s to clean up, but first they go to Ruth’s apartment at Michael’s insistence. Ruth wipes Francis’s blood with her nightgown as he tearfully apologizes to her.

In the present, Michael’s mother is walking with Jelly when she is struck by a car and injured. Michael accompanies her to the hospital, where she refuses to answer questions from the medical staff.