Summary

In Chapter 21, Desmond notes that Sherrena used the insurance money she received from Kamala’s destroyed apartment to bulldoze the building and buy four more units, doubling her ownership in the process. The chapter then returns to Doreen and the Hinkstons, who were still living in their substandard apartment. The family had given up on asking Sherrena to repair their plumbing, knowing she would likely refuse and blame them for any issues. Living in these conditions adversely affected the family’s mental and emotional health. Doreen stopped cooking, the children struggled in school, and trash accumulated throughout the apartment. The house’s condition, and the fact that it still absorbed most of their income, was a constant reminder of the poverty and encouraged them to think lowly of themselves. At the end of the chapter, Natasha gives birth the her son, naming him...