Summary

Chapter eight begins with Maryse, Chef, Emma, Molly’s apprentices, Nana Jean, Uncle Will, and others climbing up to the top of Stone Mountain where Birth of a Nation is playing. It is raining, something Nana Jean predicted. Maryse is exhausted, and she thinks, “Not sure what is keeping me going. Maybe just anger” (140).

They get to the top of the mountain, and they see the film playing. The people can see the film but not hear it. It is Butcher Clyde’s voice that everyone hears. In front of the movie, there is a platform with six Black people standing on it. Maryse understands that one of them must be Michael James. These people’s hands are tied and they have blindfolds on.

Maryse and Chef go closer to where the film is playing, and Maryse tells Chef about the offer she knows...