Summary

In Chapter 5, “1980,” six months before Pop disappears, he loses his job and grows increasingly distant. Diamond and Ma “start to keep secrets” from him so as not to upset him (53). Around this time, Diamond overhears Pop telling Ma he needs his family, as his roots are not in Swift River (55). Ma argues that they have not cared about him in years.

One day, a classmate calls Diamond a racial slur. She does not tell Pop. When she tells Ma, Ma says she wishes “she were Black” and tells Diamond to call the bully Fishbelly as revenge (57). Shortly thereafter, the boy calls Pop a racial slur too when he picks Diamond up from Boys and Girls Club (59). Pop demands to know what he said, but Diamond refuses to tell him. At home, he will not let her out of her room until she explains...